Jasper | Portland, Oregon Children's Photographer

Our beautiful baby, Jasper, is very nearly two months old (he will be on Wednesday!). I've been lying low, hanging out at home with my husband, baby, and our dog, but Blissed Out will be back in the swing of things in the coming weeks. I have two engagement sessions coming up, so check back for more updates!

Motherhood is one of the more intense rides I've ever taken, and I'm loving every single second of it--the challenges and the rewards. Jasper is positively one of the most interesting individuals I've ever met, and Sean and I are continually awed by him. He's not a huge fan of posing for photos, despite my efforts, so I'm happy to snap him whenever I can.

If you're interested, you can always follow our exploits at Casa de Kaloi.

Read more...

A Very Special Announcement!

I have a HUGE announcement to make!

As you may recall, I was recently pregnant with our first baby. Well, on Friday, March 27, Jasper Puna'ikaika Kaloi made his fantastic debut into the world at 1:21 a.m. and surprised us all! I suppose it wasn't really a surprise at that point, because I was very aware of the fact that I was in labor (as was the hospital staff, my husband, and our midwife), but you get what I'm saying.

If you're curious, the middle name is Hawaiian (my husband is Hawaiian on his father's side), and essentially means "a spring of strength and energy." Jasper is definitely that!

Anyway, Jasper was born a little early (31 weeks, 5 days--no worries though, he's doing an amazing job so far!), so I'm pretty busy right now going back and forth between home and hospital. My calendar is going to be a little wonky for a while, as we're not 100% when Jasper will be home. I'm mentioning this because my available & unavailable dates will most likely change as things become more clear. I'm removing the unavailable dates I had blocked off for the month of April, but leaving May and June as blocked off. HOWEVER, if you are interested in a session/wedding in May or June, please contact me, and we'll see what's shaking.

Read more...

Maternity photos by Lisa Teso of Portland Child Photography

I have been VERY fortunate since arriving to Portland, and managed to connect with an awesome photographer, Lisa Teso, (of Portland Child Photography). Lisa is not only shooting my Portland weddings (the ones I have booked so far, anyway!) with me, but she also shot my 30 week maternity photos last week!

Lisa took these photos, and I did the editing. I've recently downloaded a load of new actions and the like, so I took these photos as an opportunity to play around with what I now have.

I know it's probably pretty rare that a photographer promotes another photographer who lives in the same area, and is therefore competition, but I had to say something about Lisa's awesome work! I've always felt that one of the most wonderful aspects of photography, and art in general, is the communal sharing of ideas, inspirations, and philosophies. Also, If you help others, it tends to come back around to you in a great way. :)

Anyway, if you're currently pregnant or planning to be, I definitely think you should have maternity portraits made! OF COURSE, I would be thrilled to shoot them myself, but if you don't choose me, there are plenty of talented people (as evidenced by this post!) in Portland to do so.

Read more...

march 13, 2009: e-session with Tamar and Charles

Time is completely escaping me! I'm getting more and more caught up in getting everything ready for our baby (who will be making his or her arrival in 9 1/2 weeks or so!), and I completely forgot to update with this session!

As I mentioned previously, I'm shooting Tamar and Charles's wedding on August 8. Lisa, of Portland Child Photography, will also be shooting this wedding with me. I'm more than positive we're going to get great results!

Tamar and Charles are wonderful, and after our hour-long trek through Forest Park, we captured some really tender, sweet moments. Personally, I feel like the minimalistic nature of the photos portrays these two perfectly-there is a lot of love between the two of them, and it's wonderful to be around.

Thanks for the great session! Can't wait until the 8th. :)

Stephanie

Read more...

march 12, 2009: old town with ashlee

Ashlee and I had a portrait session this past Thursday. We were originally supposed to shoot earlier in the week, but the crazy weather we've been having lately (sunshine, snow flurries, rain, and hail--all in one day!) thwarted our plans. However, Thursday turned out to be a much better choice!

This session was a great journey for me, as I found a whole host of new locations in the Old Town/Chinatown area that I'm itching to try! I'm sure they'll make an appearance on the blog sooner or later.

If you're interested, there are more photos from this session here. The set isn't complete yet, but should be in a few days or so.

Stephanie

Read more...

march 5, 2009: the sudden death squad

The Sudden Death Squad is a local band that's, obviously, based in Portland. They were super patient with my street-wandering (does that sound bad?) ways--the session was on SE Foster, which I haven't explored a lot, so I was really excited to find new walls! and fences! and streets! and they were good at basically following me and letting me do my thing.

It's always fun to work with fellow artists/creative spirits, so I had a blast. The band has a new CD coming out sooooon, so check out their myspace page!

As always, you can view more at the set on my flickr page. It's not complete yet, but will be within a week or so.

Stephanie

Read more...

march 2, 2009: Ciera's maternity photos

Ciera and I had a quick maternity session on Monday at Ladd's Circle Park. I'm not going to sugar coat it--I really need to learn Portland! I thought the park was larger than it was in actuality, and also didn't bank on it being muddy from rain. But! We soldiered onward, and came up with some pretty good portraits.



Ciera is due about 2 1/2 weeks before I am (I'm May 24, she's May 1), which is exciting. I'm sure it was quite amusing to see two pregnant women tromping around in the mud, with a two year old (Ciera's son) running around them.

We had a great, and memorable, time! Thanks for braving the mud, Ciera!

Stephanie

Read more...