Category Archives: portraits

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Couples Portraits: Chris + Genevieve

November 10, 2008 – 5:52 am

As many of you no doubt know by now, I’m officially on vacation for three weeks!  I’m currently back in London where I lived before moving out to Seattle, and it is so nice seeing family and friends, ogling the gorgeous architecture and shopping at all my favorite old haunts (Topshop, I missed you so!)  Of course, I had to bring a camera and a couple of lenses with me, and yesterday I met up with my good friends Chris and Genevieve for a quick trash the dress session (which I will hopefully post in the next week or so) and a mini couples session.

We grabbed a couple of shots in their very cool flat in the east end while Gen was getting her wedding dress, then at the end of the afternoon we braved the rain and gloomy clouds for a few shots in a square off Roseberry Avenue before heading into a pub on Exmouth Market for a quick pint.  Thank you guys for a really fun afternoon and I hope to see you both again before heading home!

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By Kate | Also posted in london, loved up & awesome | Comments (6)

Ballard and Discovery Park: Katie’s Senior Session

September 22, 2008 – 2:09 pm

I’ve been so excited to post these photos!  I met with Katie on Monday for my second ever senior portrait session and we had a blast!  We started out in downtown Ballard which is full of great colors, interesting textures and beautiful architecture.  After an hour or so we headed west to Discovery Park in Magnolia and played around with a mixture of natural light (such a perfect sunset) and my strobes.  My very favorite is this first photo of Katie, tickling her nose with a stalk of the long, long grass.  Thanks Katie for an amazing session and see you next summer for your wedding!

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By Kate | Also posted in seattle, seniors | Comments (1)

Family Frolics at Discovery Park: The Hansen Family

July 12, 2008 – 8:34 am

On Tuesday evening, I met up with the lovely Hansen family for some fun and casual portraits at Discovery Park.  It’s the second group of people I’ve introduced to this beautiful place, and I’m pretty sure they are already big fans.

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By Kate | Also posted in babies & kids, families, seattle | Comments (2)

The Loved Up & Awesome Shoot: Colette and Brandon

June 19, 2008 – 9:39 am

I love these guys! Colette and Brandon are a super awesome couple who aren’t engaged but wanted some great photos of themselves, so they contacted me for what can only be called a Loved Up & Awesome Shoot. Kind of like an engagement session without a ring. It was great!

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By Kate | Also posted in loved up & awesome, seattle | Comments (8)

Portraits at The Pavilion: The Rosenkranz & Goldstein Family

January 1, 2008 – 11:04 pm

Just after Christmas, I met up with the Rosenkranz and Goldstein family for a couple of hours of family portraiture. The original plan was to go to Seward Park, but rain was forecast so we decided to try out the warm and inviting Pavilion at the SAM Sculpture Park instead. It’s a great location for bad weather - the main room is pretty much surrounded by glass, so the natural light streaming in is almost as bright as outside, and the slight diffusion caused by the glass makes the light very soft and flattering. A new favorite spot for those rainy Seattle days methinks …

Our session was organized by Aubrey, a designer who lives here in Seattle with her two gorgeous daughters Sadie (age 2) and Ruby (just two months old) and her husband Andrew. They were joined by Andrew’s mom and dad, Sheila and Jerry, and his siblings Wendy and Mark. Wendy brought along her husband Rob and their kids Rachel and Lauren, and Mark brought along his two kids, Sophie and Isaac. Get well wishes to Mark’s wife Susanne who was unfortunately very poorly and unable to join us last Friday.

We shot mainly family and group photos, but of course I couldn’t resist throwing in a few minutes of candids too. Here are some of my favorites from our session - I hope you enjoy them!

By Kate McElwee | Also posted in families | Comments (0)

Merry Christmas … and happy new photoboothing!

December 26, 2007 – 4:01 pm

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season. I can’t believe that we even had some snow yesterday here in Seattle - what a treat! Christmas day started out very quiet for the McElwee household, just the three of us (Josh, Porter our black lab, and me) opening presents, phoning family and listening to Christmas music. In the afternoon we headed over to Ravenna to join our Seattle family (a.k.a. our closest friends) for Christmas dinner, games, drinks-a-plenty and much merriment. Wayne cooked up the most amazing ham I’ve ever had in my life (he bought it at A&J Meats on Queen Anne) and I spent most of the evening in a post-piggy food-coma. But I had a special task to do - trialling the photobooth I’ll be using at my next two weddings.

The photos below were all taken in Wayne & Stacey’s basement, with just a black backdrop and a couple of studio lights with umbrellas. It’s a set-up which is quick and easy for weddings and parties, and I’m really excited to be using it for the first time at Kathy Jo & Matt’s wedding this coming Saturday in Everett, and KerryAnn and Kevin’s New Year wedding! As you can see, a few merry people and a willing photographer (or photographer’s assistant) can result in some very fun pictures. I’ll be offering this to all of my 2008 wedding couples where time and space allow. Let me know if you’re interested!

Forrest holding his brother Rod’s baby girl Willow

Rod and baby Willow

Michelle and Jen giggling into their wine

Wayne and Stacey, our fantastic hosts

My husband Josh (about to be attacked by Wayne)

The boys - two Jehliks and a McElwee

By Kate McElwee | Also posted in fun, news, personal, photobooth | Comments (0)

Family Portrait Session in Rainy Tacoma

December 16, 2007 – 2:22 pm

A couple of weekends ago, on that miserable, snowy, murky Sunday we had, I took a little trip down to Tacoma for a family portrait session with Lita Monaghan and her family. Despite our crossed fingers and best hopes, our plans for a fun session in the park were completely thwarted - so Lita spent the morning turning her family living room into a beautiful portrait studio for me.

Lita comes from a fabulously warm, friendly, fun and large family - Her parents Hollis and Gena, siblings Malcolm, Jesse and girlfriend Laury, Nick and girlfriend Amy, Patricia and husband Robb and daughters Jaden and Beautie, and of course Lita’s own family: her husband Eric and their son Greyson and daughter Kelsey. Wow! 15 people, my biggest non-wedding group yet, in the smallest space I’ve worked in so far!

We started with some group shots of all fifteen family members, then moved onto smaller groupings and individual portraits. It was really nice working with such an easy-going and relaxed family - as soon as we finished one group, I was able to just see who wanted to have photos next - and the rest of the time they hung out, ate and drank, and caught up on the family news.

It was hard narrowing down the selection, but these are some of my favorites of the day.

By Kate McElwee | Comments (0)

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 | Also posted in fun, 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 | Also posted in families | 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. :D
  • 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 | Also posted in boudoir | 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 | Also posted in engagements, 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 | Also posted in babies & kids, families | Comments (2)