Portland Fashion Photographer: Powerhouse Series

Muah: Terri Reece, Stylist: Savannah Smith, Ryan Artists Model: Mar Shank

Miguel Ángel Cotto Best Wallpapers

Miguel Ángel Cotto

Miguel Ángel Cotto was born October 29, 1980 Puerto Rico. Her family is a family of boxers. Having played a record 39 times: win 37 (Wins by KO 30), Losses 2. His brother (Jose Miguel Cotto) and cousin (Abner Cotto) is also an accomplished boxer. Cotto is the WBA light middleweight champion and also had a four-time world champion in three weight divisions (light welterweight, welterweight, light & medium enterprises. After winning the battle to face Antonio Margarito for the second time on December 3, 2011 at Madison Square Garden to the dispute WBA "Super" light middle-class degree, Coto prepared for facing Pacquiao.

Miguel Ángel Cotto Great Boxer



Miguel Ángel Cotto

Portland Fashion Photographer: Traveling

I had fun in Texas. Unexpected fun, yes, but still. It was awesome.

My plan was to travel down to Zapata over the weekend so that I could visit my childhood best friend and cousin, Roxy. I was going to stay with her and visit the town to take pictures where I grew up just an hour from her place. My camera was packed and I was ready to go!

Anyhow, none of that happened. All my plans? Out the window of my brothers broken window. First of all, my brothers car broke down the day after I arrived, so I couldn't meet up with Roxy in San Antonio as planned. Secondly, it rained and poured all weekend so that I could barely pull my camera out to take a couple snapshots of the area. Lastly, I thought I was leaving Monday morning and didn't realize my mistake till checking in for my flight at 5am. 

"Ma'am," the woman said in her thick Texan accent. "Please step out of the first class line. Your flight doesn't leave until tomorrow."

Apparently I was more tired than I thought. 

Crazily though, I had the most awesome, fun, relaxing time visiting my family and hanging and driving with broken windows rolled down. It was kind of like going back in time to old family road trips where we would would have to pull the car over every 30 minutes to prevent from puking. But as an adult I get to call SHOT GUN!

And speaking of shot guns, I actually shot my first one at my Aunt Rosie's house which ended up being such an incredible shot of adrenaline I screamed and whooped and then calmly stated I would not be doing that again. (Surprised I didn't blow my hand off to be honest). 

My little brother and sister who are both 9 years younger than me felt like peers this visit which made for some fun conversations. I love getting to know my loved ones in new ways. Cherish and I stayed up all night one night watching youtube videos and laughing hysterically. Who else am I going to do that with?

Anyhow, in a window of dry weather my brother and I hiked through some trails toward the lake by their country house and took some snapshots. It was really pretty peaceful and reminded me of the dessert hills I played in as a kid. And in the end, it felt like I got more than the experience I went looking for. 

Portland Fashion Photographer: Texas Rain

After flying through record-breaking winds and nearly throwing up on my fellow passengers, I finally arrived in San Antonio, Texas. The city felt grey and beyond the city lights loomed an empty dessert I could only imagine. It felt more or less like Portland until we reached the first country road and then began passing so many deer I lost count. An adventure? Hell yes! The one I expected? Um... definitely not.

Anyhow, I squeezed in a FULL day of shopping at some of my new favorite stores including Barney's New York and Neimen Marcus. I had to remind myself that Christmas is around the corner and I've already got presents under the tree. Still, I was able to get away with a few new outfits that will carry me through the winter and into fall.

Here at the house we have been having fun. I woke up one morning to my brother Sam yelling at me to come see the deer. Oh, it's going to be a couple of cute little domestic deer, I thought, but no. Of course, I stepped outside to an entire COLONY (do they run in colonies?) eating gingerly from Sam's hand. Thank God the tiniest ones were smart enough to dart away. I mean, really? Domestic deer colonies?

Here are some fun shots I took of my beautiful sister, Lorinda (yes, very similar names) one rained-in-day.

Portland Fashion Photographer: Beached

Model: Cassie Meder
Stylist: Melissa LaChance
Wardrobe: Isaac Hers
Muah: Christine Marie
Portland Commercial Photographer Lavenda Memory

Portland Fashion Photographer: Solestruck BTS

Set up my "photo booth" during the shoot for Solestruck last night and here is the recap:









What? You didn't know that photo shoots were a party on set? Well, now you do ( :

Portland Fashion Photographer: American Boy

This editorial has been featured on Image Amplified!













We shot this editorial in model, Ivan Heimbuch's downtown studio. We used the natural light (which was limited) available and really tried to tell a personal story in this series. Wardrobe and hair were both me, but I feel like it came out quite nice.
_______________________
By Portland editorial photographer, Lavenda Memory.

Portland Fashion Photographer: Fun on the Job

God, I love my job! Going into work today (aka a beautiful studio space where our shoot was taking place) I had to shake off some bad energy and get into work mode. It was a teeny bit harder than usual, but seriously- there is almost nothing that can cure a bad day better than an awesome fashion shoot!

First thing first, I checked in with my beautiful model, Meredith Aledaide, and our talented makeup artist, Terri Reece, on the final direction for makeup and hair. I LOVE getting to collaborate on the overall transformation! Afterward, I looked out the designers pieces and we chatted about our inspirations for the shoot. When it was finally time to get behind the camera I was in full fledged work mode and not thinking about anything except directing something super cool and capturing the peak moments.

The cool thing about today was that our wardrobe stylist, Melissa Lechance, (along with our second model of the day, Megan Hodge) didn't arrived until her scheduled 3 hours into the shoot session... which meant that I got to take a break mid-way through the day to play with clothes and the most beautiful Solestruck shoes!

Thanks so much to the designers of all the gorgeous headpieces, Lorri and Denise!

I had an idea after lunch to set up a "photo booth" (aka my macbook) so that we could snap away throughout the day. Here are some out takes documenting our fun day:

Portland Commercial Photographer Lavenda Memory

Portland Fashion Photographer: Fair Weather

I snapped a photo of this gorgeous cloud cover back in August. These days I am super lucky to get a day where it's not pouring on me. (Sad face). Truly a sunny-weather girl, this time of year- without fail- I find myself itching to get out of town, or at least find a cozy fire somewhere and throw off my shoes.
Needless to say, Portland's winters pose a challenge for photographers like myself who enjoy shooting mostly on-location. Instead of complaining about it every year, however, I've come to terms with Portlands wet winters and have figured out some good compromises.
The first thing I do is let the client know that overcast skies are actually a GOOD thing! Most of my clients don't know that clouds act like a giant diffuser of the sun and actually soften the light so that it's even and more flattering. Obviously, everyone is pretty excited about flattering light so we get off to a good start!
Secondly, I try and find a location with cover. Just yesterday I had a session that required some good, natural light despite the on again off again downpour. I chose a location beneath a bridge so that when the rain lifted a couple minutes we could step out and shoot, or take advantage of the cover while it poured.
Lastly, I've become a pro at spying those gorgeous suns on the weather forecast and of course try and schedule accordingly!

Portland Fashion Photographer: Power House

A quick peak at this gorgeous editorial I shot with the following team:

Muse Model: Maria Shank

Makeup and Hair: Terri Reece

Stylist: Savannah Smith

Portland Commercial Photographer: Lavenda Memory

Portland Fashion Photographer: Inside Stuff

The cool thing about photography as an art form is that the final image captured is 100% your point of view. I love hearing clients say, "I've never seen myself that way" (yes, even models) after viewing their proofs or a final series. I always think to myself- Cool, well that's definitely how I see you...

Anyhow, a huge influence on my work and vision comes from my upbringing in the deep, deep south. My childhood holds this ethereal reality that though I've probably romanticized, I draw on for visual and emotional inspirations. 
When I'm feeling inspired to capture, other little side effects occur too- like writing, or painting or strumming pitifully at my acoustic guitar. Luckily I don't know how to post my strummings, so instead here's a poem and a photo.

These photos below are from a test I did with model, Kara Jean and the following poem is an inside scoop on my inspirations. It's a bit nostalgic, a bit dark, and whatever else you can say about a poem.


MUAH: Terri Reece
Styling: Me

the shadows sat with me
cooling my dark shoulders
as the screen pressed against my arm.

she was speaking low and the hum of her voice
reminded me of fireflies
caught in my jar
their lights dimming
me not knowing why.

and then the buzz became louder
and the screen hit my elbow
as my eyes flickered and hungered for fireflies
but then I remembered-
there was no jar
only her
buzzing

only not buzzing
screaming, really

and the screen pushed a delicate grid of diamonds
onto my brow as my pupils swelled and
swallowed the moonlight.

and then there was cold steel.


inside, only me
outside, cruel steel-
a blade,
then blood
and then more buzzing
only not buzzing

screaming-

a man this time
a retreat this time

then blue and
red
and blue
and red
fireflies

flitting across the mesquite tree
lapping across the dark porch
searching out
with red hands
then blue.

I remembered the ocean as I cupped my ears
against the siren screams

against the cold snap of steel across
her wrists

I listened to the sea until the
red
and the blue
disappeared
with her somewhere inside

then touched my ocean fingers
to the diamond grid imprinted on my face.

Portland Fashion Photographer: Katie O'Grady

I first met Katie O'Grady in an acting class where she was teaching. I remember being very surprised by how tiny she is in real life. On film and in print this woman has a lot of presence so I was shocked to see her teeny frame striding through the room.
Star of the movie Rid of Me (now out in theaters), Katie is a strong, determined woman who actually produced and put tons of footwork into her current film. You know all the unglamorous work that runs on and on past the filming? Yep- Katie was there for that!
The first time I shot Katie was for the Cover of About Face Magazine and while I enjoyed shooting her in her home for that feature, I was dying to do an extended session with her. When she contacted me a couple months back about this shoot I was ecstatic! She wanted to capture a timeless quality in the images for a "character" series and I was all IN!













Location courtesy of Holly Stalder
Makeup and Hair: Terri Reece
Portland Celebrity Photographer: Lavenda Memory

Portland Fashion Photographer: Color Story

I am about a week behind with editing, because so much work seems to come in all at once. Winter is motivating for editing, however, because there is no sunshine to tempt me away from my desk.
Every job is a different work load- from head shots to look books- I try and give an accurate estimate for turn arounds.

This series is a fun little set I did with Eclexion Boutique for my book. I would like to get it on some blogs and what not, so I can't post too many of the key shots till I hear back. Besides, I've still got a week to catch up on!

Portland Fashion Photographer: This Girl

I love, love, love to play through photography. It's a relief to step behind my camera and to drop all expectations- to simply observe, interact and then capture. And not to be all cheesy or anything... but it's very nice be inspired by new moments. That's why I like shooting new locations.

The test today was super fun because I had never seen the model, Kara Jean's house. We shot for the first time early summer when there was no need to be indoors. But this time we planned to use her house because of a snapshot I had seen of her bedroom. And her house was perfection!

The house was new to me- the colors, the smells, the sounds- And every interaction I had inside the house was a first, so I felt inspired to simply move things around and play. Thanks goodness she has a terrific sense of style- that certainly doesn't hurt! The walls were bright, the furniture was vintage and spoke of character... It was cool and fun and playful.

Here is a favorite shot inside Kara's bedroom, against a wall decorated with tree bark:



Hair and Makeup: Terri Reece
Styling: Myself
Portland Editorial Photographer Lavenda Memory