Kate McElwee Photography

Monthly Archives: November 2007

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Trash the Dress: Madness & Mayhem in Seattle

November 30, 2007 – 2:28 pm

On Sunday I had the strangest task that’s been requested of me so far: a trash the dress group marathon for eight (yes, eight!) recently married ladies. It was insane! I met up with Michelle, Tanya, Mica, Taryn, Tami, Elizabeth, Liz and Jen at the Olympic Sculpture Park. We took some group and individual shots on the beach at Myrtle Edwards Park, then some group shots at the ampersand sculpture, ‘Love & Loss’. We then caught our party bus, first to Pier 57 for the carousel, then on to Post Alley for some silhouettes in the alley and some shots with the bubblegum wall.

Next stop was the highlight of the day - photos with the famous flying fish at Pike Place Fish Market. The guys there were so much fun - they gave each bride a fish to kiss, they threw a few with us, and they even led the ladies behind the counter for some group shots. We ended up being surrounded by a huge crowd - all wondering what on earth this craziness was!

Next up: Fado’s Irish Pub for a quick bite to eat and a lunchtime tipple, then on to Gas Works Park for sunset photos on the hill. We tried to get some fun shots with the bubbles that Michelle had bought for the session, but with sun down it got icy cold and we were happy just to huddle up under the painted gasworks for some industrial shots.

Last stop of the day was EMP. It was pretty dark by now, but I did get some fun photos on the pink wall and under the fairy lights. There’s also a super-silly jumping photo which we’ll hopefully be able to recreate in the summer … if this wasn’t trashing enough for these crazy ladies. And here are a few of my favorites …

By Kate McElwee | Posted in fun, portraits, trash the dress | Comments (8)

Family Portraits in Kirkland: The Woods Family

November 28, 2007 – 12:40 pm

On Saturday, I met up with Natalie and Scott, whose wedding reception I’ll be photographing in October next year, and Natalie’s family, for some pre-Christmas family portraits. I’m not sure if you’ve realized yet how much I love dogs, but if you have then you’ll be able to imagine my excitement at getting to meet and photograph their four doggies too! Natalie and Scott brought along their lab/boxer mix Tess, Natalie’s brother Preston brought his brown lab mix Layla, and their sister Andrea and parents Ross and Kelly brought along their dogs, Homer (a great dane/hound mix) and Bear (a lab/akita mix). It was so cute watching them all interact with each other!

We were all expecting bad weather, so they suggested meeting at Kirkland Marina Park for photos, as there is at least a covered area there. In fact, the afternoon could not have been any more beautiful. It was chilly but bright, and the sky was blue with just a few light-softening clouds. Perfect! And the lack of rain meant we were able to wander around the park, up to the stately Heritage Hall across the street, and around onto the jetties. Here are some of my favorite photos from our session.

By Kate McElwee | Posted in families, portraits | Comments (8)

November Boudoir Marathon Teasers

November 20, 2007 – 5:59 pm

What a crazy weekend of boudoir! Back at my usual studio in Ballard, this time I had seven boudoir sessions spread over Saturday and Sunday, and all of the ladies were awesome. It was a really nice number of sessions to have scheduled, and I didn’t feel *completely* burned out by Sunday evening, which was definitely a plus. I also had time to do a couple of fun self-portraits for my 365 project - remember that? - I haven’t been posting them (I’ve had too much work going on!) but I’m on track with my one-portrait-a-day and it’s day 41 already.

I think everyone really enjoyed their sessions - here’s some of the feedback I got after sending the teasers out yesterday evening:

OMG I LOVE IT!!!! I seriously can’t wait to see the rest of them … That photo makes me look like a pin-up model, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for.
I can’t wait to see the rest! Thank you so much, I had a such a great time!!!
Ohmigawd! Is that really me? … I have already told a bunch of my friends about how cool this was! Don’t be surprised if some of them want to come for boudoir sessions too!
I think the picture is beautiful. The lighting makes my skin look amazing!
Wowser! It’s beautiful Kate, thank you so much! I love it … you’re an amazing photographer and you made me feel so comfortable!

Anyway, four of the ladies were brave and generous enough to allow me to share their photos with you - so here are their teasers … enjoy!

By Kate McElwee | Posted in boudoir, portraits | Comments (0)

Engaged in Seattle: Amanda & Tieming

November 16, 2007 – 8:18 pm

My first of two engagement sessions last Sunday was with Amanda and Tieming. We met up at Kerry Park, just a few minutes’ walk from their home on Queen Anne, and were greeted by a horribly cold and windy morning. The sky was true Seattle winter: gray, murky, cloudy and dull. It didn’t look promising. But Amanda and Tieming must be professional Seattleites - they arrived bright and cheery and so full of energy that the miserable weather suddenly seemed unimportant.

We took a few shots at Kerry Park overlooking downtown and the Seattle Center, then we bundled into my warm little car and headed to the end of the road for the view over the Sound. The sky was so gray that it pretty much blended into the ocean; it was a relief knowing that our next destination would have some color!

We drove down to Pike Place and had a wander through the market area. First some shots at my favorite green wall, then down the staircase to Post Alley. I think my favorite shots from the day took place here: the silhouetted figures in the tiny alley, the photos against the bubblegum wall, and the engagement photo/beer promotion in front of the garage door (I couldn’t resist - Pike Brewery puts out some of my favorite local ales!) We finished with a few more shots around the market and at the little park nearby, and finally with a photo of Amanda’s gorgeous ring, using her bright blue scarf as the backdrop.

I’m super excited to be photographing Amanda and Tieming’s wedding next October at Ray’s Boathouse (yum!) and to getting to know them better over the next eleven months.

By Kate McElwee | Posted in engagements, portraits, seattle | Comments (2)

Fall Portraits on the UW Campus: Melody & Family

November 14, 2007 – 9:16 pm

Last Saturday I had the enormous pleasure of meeting - and photographing - one of the most beautiful, friendly and warm families I’ve ever met! Melody arranged a huge family portrait session with her husband Pat and their son Caden, her parents Galen and Shelly, and her siblings Meagan and Joel, on the University of Washington campus. It was such a beautiful setting, and we even had some sunshine for the occasion.

It was a fun morning; I started with some warm-up shots of little Caden who just three weeks ago began walking (and he romped like crazy all day - it was super cute!) He wasn’t in a very smiley mood, but he does have a wonderfully expressive face, and is a delight to photograph. When we had the entire clan assembled, we found a lovely clearing for the ‘formal’ family portraits. They’re not exactly formal - it’s not really my style! - but we got some good group shots with a ton of variations.

Next stop was the huge fountain which was actually running (presumably because it was Veterans’ Day). Caden found some cute little girls to chase after, and I tried some fun shots with the fountain in the background. Last stop was upper campus where we found a huge tree stump with two tiers - perfect for some more group shots. For the last twenty minutes, I put on my telephoto lens and asked everyone to just mess about, chat, walk around … whatever they fancied. I think this is when I got the best images - I love just taking candids of friends and family enjoying spending time together.

By Kate McElwee | Posted in babies & kids, families, portraits | Comments (2)

Gasworks Park: Engagement Session with Mindy & Chris

November 12, 2007 – 2:25 pm

Wow, November may just be the busiest month I’ve had all year, and I don’t even have any weddings scheduled this month! I’ve been doing a lot of portrait sessions, including three engagement sessions and a family portrait session over the last five days. I’m hoping to post photos from each session over the course of the next week, and I thought it would be fun to start off the week with a few of my favorite images from Mindy & Chris’s engagement session last Thursday.

Mindy and Chris live just north of Seattle, and they wanted to meet me somewhere outdoors with covered options in case it rained (it didn’t, hurray!) I chose Gasworks Park as it has that awesome brightly-colored covered area, and of course it’s a spectacular setting anyway. I also wanted somewhere that is dog-friendly, as they wanted me to meet their gorgeous Golden Retriever, Stella. Well, it turns out that they had never been to Gasworks before, and they loved it! It’s such a fun place to work, and I think Stella had the time of her life that day. She had other doggies to sniff out, lots of green grass to romp around in and she even jumped into Lake Union on a duck chase at one point! Anyway, here are a few of my favorite shots from their session.

By Kate McElwee | Posted in engagements, portraits | Comments (0)

Senior Portrait Session with Dana at Bellevue Botanical Garden

November 7, 2007 – 1:27 pm

Last Wednesday was really exciting - I got to shoot my first senior portrait session! It’s not something I’ve been actively looking to do, but now that I have my first senior session under my belt, I’m really looking forward to doing more. There’s something very special about capturing people at such an important, transitional time in their lives, and I feel honored to have been asked by Dana’s mom Debbie to take these photos. Debbie is one of my wedding clients, by the way - she and Mark are getting married in downtown Seattle in February.

Dana was an absolute dream to work with too - she is very cute, amazingly comfortable in front of the camera, and I just love her personality too! She is sweet, smart and fun. Her huge brown eyes were the focus for many of the portraits - they are too gorgeous too ignore! - but I also loved her smile too. Here’s a selection of my favorites from our session at the Bellevue Botanical Garden (a great spot that I’ll be using again and again for my Eastside clients):

By Kate McElwee | Posted in portraits, seniors | Comments (1)

Volunteer Park & OSP Engagement Session: Gretchen & Ben

November 6, 2007 – 3:42 pm

Last Sunday, I met up with Gretchen and Ben in Volunteer Park, Capitol Hill, for the start of their engagement session marathon (it’ll become clear in a moment). They are having a tropical theme for their wedding, and wanted to try to capture a little tropical color for their engagement photos … in Seattle, at the end of October. It was definitely a challenge before we even began! We took a few shots in the dahlia garden to get some color, then walked over to the magnificent Black Sun sculpture in front of the Asian Art Museum. We completely forgot to use the brightly-colored umbrellas they’d bought especially for the session … Not to worry, we’d use them at our next location, the Olympic Sculpture Park …

So we drove down there separately, parked and met up again … Oops, no umbrellas. Ben ran back to the car to get them. Big oops - no umbrellas in the car either, they were back at home in Capitol Hill. We went ahead with the Sculpture Park session anyway, and got some lovely late afternoon light down on the beach by Myrtle Edwards Park, and then had fun with the ampersand that forms part of the Love & Loss exhibit.

It was beginning to get a little late after we’d finished up in the Sculpture Park, so I agreed to meet them the following weekend for a 10-minute umbrella session - and I’m so glad I did! I think some of my favorite images were captured this Sunday, back at Volunteer Park, despite the gray cloud. It’s funny how things work out. I hope you like the shots I’ve chosen!

By Kate McElwee | Posted in engagements | Comments (7)

Fall in the Backyard: Sheila & Baylor’s Puyallup Wedding

November 1, 2007 – 10:26 am

It’s been such a busy week! Last Thursday I had two shoots - my first official baby session with little Cian, followed that evening by a band session with Blue Fuse … followed at the weekend with Sheila and Baylor’s wedding on Saturday and then an engagement shoot with Gretchen and Ben on Sunday! Oh, and yesterday, I had my first senior portrait session with the beautiful and lovely Dana … photos from all of these will come soon!

But back to the wedding … Sheila and Baylor got married in Sheila’s backyard in Puyallup - not the most glamorous venue you might think, but you’d be wrong. They spent the week before cleaning, tidying, decorating and polishing and when I showed up on Saturday morning the yard had been transformed into one of the prettiest venues I’ve ever seen! They went with a beautiful fall theme: tons of oranges, reds and yellows, gorgeous wreaths of fall leaves, and an amazing floral display.

The entire event was intimate and relaxed, with just their closest family there, plus yours truly taking photos, and Reverend Ray Van Winkle performing the ceremony (and I would like to mention here that Reverend Ray is fantastic - definitely someone to have on your must-meet vendor list!) After the ceremony, we took some group shots outside, then moved into the house where Sheila’s mom had prepared a wonderful feast for the two families. After the cake-cutting and toasts, I headed up to Seattle to take couple portraits at some of Sheila and Baylor’s favorite Seattle landmarks: Kerry Park, Seattle Center, Pike Place, Post Alley … and Jabu’s - Baylor’s favorite bar, and the location for a few games of Pacman and some Jaeger shots!

Congratulations to Sheila and Baylor, and I hope you enjoy your teasers!