Pumpkins and Falling Leaves – portrait and artistic photography in Portland, OR

We got together with Alyson and Jeff on a chilly fall day, to snag some casual engagement photos! They took advantage of our Try Us On special by scheduling their engagement shoot with us, and because they also booked us for their wedding, they got to keep the engagement photos at no charge. (Hint: you can still get in on this special, just by mentioning that you saw it on our blog! Be sure to contact us to book an engagement portrait session, before our wedding calendar fills up.)

The weather at the park was beautiful, and there was plenty of fall color to play with… and we even had pumpkins on hand to pose with! They started the session trying to look more sedate and composed for the photos, but Jeff–or as Alyson likes to call him, “El Jefe”–is apparently pretty notorious for not keeping a straight face in photos. But, we LOVE it when our portrait clients loosen up and clown around during a session, so we captured some parent-pleasing photos, and the spontaneous shots that showed them as the clever, funny, and utterly non-serious people they are when they’re together.

We’re really jazzed to be the photographers shooting Alyson and Jeff’s wedding this coming Fall. It’s shaping up to be a blast, and we’re sure it’ll be anything but ordinary… just how we like it.

Enko Photography – event, portrait, and artistic photographers in Portland, Oregon

Punching it up with photo processing

Here’s a before/after from a recent session! Since we have a variety of clients, we play with a lot of different levels of processing and retouching, depending on the individual. For a portrait, we want you to see YOU in the photo, so we’ll clear up the occasional pimple, and mainly play with the color and style of the shot. As far as we’re concerned, Perfection in a Portrait is about capturing who you are, not making you look like a glossy magazine ad.

For commercial clients, however, it’s all about the product, and that often means more involved processing and corrections. For model portfolios, we like to land somewhere in-between. We never want to retouch someone to the point where they’re unrecognizable! But, most modelphotos involve at least some touch-up, so we’ll fix blemishes, stray hairs, and other distracting elements. Then, anyone looking through the model’s book will simply focus on her beauty and potential for a job!

And here’s the before:

Enko Photography – fashion, editorial, and commercial photography based in Portland, Oregon

Summery Model Portfolio Session

Here are a few images from our session with Crystal, an experienced model who recently signed with a new agency here in Portland, Merrick Talent. We only had time for a short session, but Crystal and her supportive mom were up for the short hike to a great sandy beach location in North Portland.

We captured a lot of great images in a short time, and tried a few subtle variations on light and processing… these are just a few of them! Crystal loved the proofs so much that she added extra shots to her package after the shoot, and she’ll be featuring her favorite photo from our shoot on her new comp cards. We hope she books some great new work in the future!

Enko Photography – fashion, editorial, and commercial photography based in Portland, Oregon

Autumn Lifestyle

Emmy booked a shoot with us to update her modeling portfolio, so we started off with an updated headshot, and an in-studio fashion look. The final look was a bit more spontaneous, however, because she also needed lifestyle images for her portfolio, since she often books with commercial clients. When we saw the winter hat and scarf she’d brought with her, shooting outdoors with the changing leaves sounded like the perfect fit for her lifestyle look! 

Make-up/Hair: Amy Vaillancourt-Sals

Enko Photography – fashion, editorial, and commercial photography based in Portland, Oregon

Marathon runner

Here’s another photo from one of our athletic shoots a few weeks ago. This woman’s background as a marathon runner meant that she’d explored quite a lot of beautiful country–when you’re logging so many miles, you want to have something nice to look at–so it seemed fitting to follow her lead on where to shoot! The location you see in the background is her favorite spot along her regular route, and the fact that it was both a beautiful and personal location for her made it the perfect place to shoot her doing what she loves.

Model: Cara (SportsUnlimited)

Enko Photography – commercial and athletic photography based in Portland, Oregon

Love What You Do

This past weekend was non-stop busy: two wedding bookings on Saturday, an afternoon reception on Sunday, and a model shoot after the reception! Hopefully, we’ll get enough processing done that we can come up for air and share some new wedding shots towards the end of the week.

It’s amazing, at times, that we don’t get sick of taking pictures, since we already spend so much of our time with cameras in front of our faces. I figure it’s a good sign, though, because we must love what we’re doing, if we’re spending so much of our work and our play time doing it.

Even when we’re just clowning around at the coast with some friends, it’s hard to resist grabbing a nice shot. To tide you over, here’s one from a few weeks ago. Don’t forget to enjoy the gorgeous summer weather!

Enko Photography – wedding, event, and artistic photographers in Portland, Oregon

Dark Glasses

Just stopping in with a quick shot from last week. The rest of the shoot was mainly commercial/lifestyle, but we couldn’t help detouring a little into fashion shooting, especially when she had such a great outfit on.

I liked how this one turned out after I finished processing it, and it required very little work. It was also simple on setup: the lighting was all afternoon sun. Sometimes, you just can’t beat Mother Nature!

This was one of many shoots we’ve done incorporating accessories from Orange Moon Creations. They’re a startup operation, and their knit bags, such as the one in the photo, are hand-made and felted at their home base in Boston, MA.

We also did a series of shoots a few months back with their newest product, musicMitts, but instead of using models, we worked with local musicians to show off the gloves in a realistic context.

This shot was deemed a little too “street” for what the company was after, and it doesn’t showcase the gloves as well as it could, but it’s easily one of my favorites from the shoot. We created a great mood with a simple setup, and the colors came together wonderfully.

We regularly offer catalog and advertisement photography, and we always do our best to tailor each project to your needs and your budget. Our rates can be surprisingly affordable, so whether you’re a company that’s just getting started, or one that’s more established, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Enko Photography – fashion and commercial photography out of Portland, Oregon

In Service To America

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to dive into something a little different from our usual: commercial and stock photos for the Americorps VISTA program! As part of their effort to support and train their volunteers, VISTA has taken on the ambitious project of bringing their vast resources into an online format. Of course, this meant adding fresh, new photos of volunteers, demonstrating some of the activities might do during their volunteer service.

Even without a full hair and makeup team, the experience was definitely hectic. Many of our “models” were actual volunteers in the VISTA program, and it was hard enough just making sure that schedules aligned, and our people were in the right place at the right time! Still, it was great to meet such a diverse group of people, and I think our shots will make a great addition to the online project.

If you’re looking to give a little something back to the community, be sure to check out the VISTA program, which takes volunteers from all walks of life, from all over the country.

–Sarah

More images after the cut!

Model Portfolio: Kristen!

Model portfolio work presents some fun challenges for a photographer. You have to figure out pretty quickly what they’re good at, what their best features are, and highlight those things as best you can. When I’m dealing with a model who has some experience, however, I do like to throw them a bit of a curveball. It helps to add diversity to their portfolios, and if all goes well, it’ll open them up to booking more jobs!

Kristen had quite a bit of experience modeling for local photographers, but a quick glance through her book showed that she’d mainly done fashion and concept work… so, how could I resist shooting a few commercial/lifestyle images to round out her portfolio?

We went with a fresh face, a cute-but-casual outfit, and a local coffee shop, and I asked her to turn on the charm. She obliged, and we got some lovely, natural-looking shots.

After our trip to the coffee shop, we took the few minutes we had left to do a fashion look, which was definitely her forte. She had to dash off to work, so between that and the cold, windy weather, we only got about 30 shots, but a lot of them were great ones that showed off her intensity and her long-looking legs!

I thought this shoot was a great example of what we can accomplish with even the simplest of model portfolio shoots. The clothes and jewelry were all from Kristen’s own wardrobe, the locations were all within 5 minutes of the studio, and we were still able to hit upon two very different styles that’ll add diversity to her portfolio.

Also, credit is definitely due for our makeup artist/hairstylist, the amazing Sabrina Cayne! Her work is proof positive of what a huge difference a good makeup artist can make on a photoshoot.

A few extra images are after the cut… enjoy!

–Sarah

Mother and Daughter

I think that one of my favorite things is shooting with a family when they’re “at play.” You know, those moments when they’re just having fun being together, and they aren’t worried about putting on a cheesy smile for the camera. The results are natural, genuine, and happy, and the dynamic of their relationship really starts to come through.

Our mother/daughter shoot with Ashley and Teagan really delivered, in that department, and I had a great time working with them! Ashley had requested a clean and simple setting with an airy quality to it, and it was a pitch-perfect match for their pale, white dresses.

The rest of the shoot was just straight-up fun: the two of them played together while we captured the results. No posing, no “move your hand two inches to the left,” just relaxed, natural energy. We all loved the shots, and I’ll definitely aim to bring that kind of life to all our family portrait sessions in the future!

Enko Photography – family portrait photography serving the Portland Metro Area