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...

February 28, 2009: another Portland wedding booked!

This is a quick note to share the happy news that I've booked a second wedding since moving to Portland. I'll be shooting Tamar and Charles's wedding on August 8, 2009.

This wedding should be gorgeous--apparently the weather in early August in Portland is typically beautiful. Lots of flowers, mellow (80s) temperatures, etc.

Look for their engagement session coming in March or April!

Read more...

february 24, 2009: Blissed Out Photography news!

I am thrilled to report that I've booked my first Portland wedding for 2009! This is super exciting, since I've been actively promoting Blissed Out since January, and I have renewed energy to publicize even more!

Katharine and David are an amazing couple--I'm so excited to shoot their wedding and engagement session! From the beginning of our email exchange I had a good feeling about the two of them, and our subsequent meeting confirmed it. They're laid-back, fun, and completely in love, which is a great combination for a fantastic wedding day.

I'm going to be shooting this wedding with Lisa, of Portland Child Photography. I really love her work, and I look forward to working with her in October.

Another exciting recent development is that this will not be my first wedding of 2009--I'm going back to Alabama to shoot a 3-day Hindu wedding with my friend Ashley, of Vertical House Photography, in July. I'm so excited about this opportunity.

Speaking of Alabama, my friends April and Anthony have opened their own photography business, TripodFish Photo, which serves Huntsville. If you're in the area, check them out--they've also been added to the right hand column on this blog, along with other Huntsville-based photographers I know.

There have been a few slight changes to the rates, and there are going to be big ones after March 31. If you're in Portland interested in a session/wedding photography, definitely take advantage of the introductory specials now! Of course, I'll still be more than happy to work with you after that date!

I think there may be a few sessions on the horizon in the coming weeks...stay tuned!

Stephanie

Read more...

february 5, 2009: kizzy

Kizzy and I had a portrait session last week, and between editing and battling the flu (which both my husband and I are currently up against!), I completely forgot to update this blog with some of the photos!

More can be found here.

Also, I'd like to introduce you to my new website design! I tried my hardest to create something that I feel represents the nature of my photography accurately. I've asked quite a few people to look it over, and the reviews have been positive.

With that, I'm going to go back to bed and wake up when the flu leaves. I've had to move a session from this week until next, and have a few coming up, so there should be more activity on here in the coming weeks!

Read more...

february 5, 2009: emily

Emily and I met up downtown for a portrait session--it went fantastically! Not only did we have a great time, I found a dozen more spots to use in the future. I absolutely love this city!!

The blog will be undergoing a few iterations for the next few weeks--I'm trying to create something, and that will include lots and lots of trial and error! The website will remain the same. I'm also talking to someone about designing a logo--HTML I can handle, but logo design? Ayiyi!

Stephanie

Read more...

february 3, 2009: b. in the park!

Today I had the funniest shoot with a little one-year-old, B. At first, he was quite curious about the camera and the pregnant woman behind it, but he soon lost interest in me in favor of other happenings and people--an old man playing tennis against a wall, pine cones on the ground, and boys playing soccer, to name a few. I completely understand--life is fascinating!

Anyway, we had a great session, and I'm really happy with the photos I have so far. Here's a peek:

The quality isn't the greatest on Blogger due to the resizing that is mandatory to post photos on here. However, you can click the photos to view them larger, which should help! As always, you can see these and more at my flickr, and there will also be a few up in the children's gallery on http://www.blissedoutphotography.com/.

Stephanie

Read more...

january 26, 2009: kanani

Today I had the most amazing portrait session with Kanani, (and her friend, Amy, who popped up in a few photos!)! Portland is brilliant for portraits, as there's so much activity going on in the city. Plus, the sessions give me a great chance to get around to parts of the city I have yet to explore.

I'll update the website with a few of these later today/sometime tomorrow, I just wanted to go ahead and share them with everyone via the blog. This session was such a blast, and I'm loving the results!

Stephanie

Read more...

january 18, 2009: stephanie & rich

Ooh, I love Portland!!!

Today I had a session with Stephanie and Rich at Division Street, and it was so fantastic and fun. I was excited right away when they got out of their car, because Stephanie has an awesome-colored scarf, and Rich has an awesome-colored beard, and the two elements combined had me pumped. This was also my first "real" session in Portland, so I was really into getting back in the photographer game.

There are more photos at my flickr, and later, at the website.

I'm going to get back to editing, but I couldn't resist posting a few of these. Thanks to Stephanie and Rich for the great session!

Stephanie

Read more...

JANUARY-MARCH 2009: SPECIALS

I've recently launched a few specials (for portraits, weddings, and maternity). They are:

JANUARY 2009-MARCH 2009 PORTRAIT SPECIALS:Book ANY portrait session between January and March 2009 for:$15 off Portrait Package A; $30 off Portrait Package B; $50 off Portrait Package C;(Portrait session much take place before May 2009)

JANUARY 2009-MARCH 2009 WEDDING SPECIALS:Book ANY wedding between January and March 2009 for:$50 off Wedding Package A; $100 off Wedding Package B; $150 off Wedding Package C; $300 off Wedding Package D(Wedding can take place anytime before or after March 2009, but must be booked by the end of March)

JANUARY 2009-MARCH 2009 MATERNITY SPECIALS:Book MONTHLY maternity sessions between January and March 2009 and receive $100 off the entire package(Maternity sessions must begin by July 2009)

In addition, there are some new changes at the website! A new splash page, an additional blog, a new header, AND I've discovered how to add music! So I put Debussy's "Clair de lune", which I first heard in Seven Years in Tibet. This was kind of a struggle for me, but I think that that piece is so classic, so it won out. I very nearly put a .mid file of "Going to California" (by Led Zeppelin), but the quality wasn't the best. I'm also on the hunt for "City of Blinding Lights" (instrumental), so if anyone finds it, please let me know!

I'm launching quite a few advertising campaigns this week, so hopefully they'll stir some things up! I'm very dedicated to Blissed Out right now, much more than I will admit I have been in the past. I'm gearing up to make a few equipment investments, and hopefully all of this will work out.

I guess we'll see!

Stephanie

Read more...

january 2, 2009: headshots for Juliet

Juliet emailed me a few days ago and asked if I could take a few quick headshots for her. I was very happy to do so, and Juliet became my first Portland-based session, even if it lasted about fifteen minutes and took place right outside my apartment building!

Here are a few of the before & after shots. I apologize for the small size, but I wanted them to line up next to one another.

I have a portrait session lined up on soon (assuming the weather cooperates), so Sunday and Monday I plan to scout the perfect locations. Portland is full of so many interesting places. I think I'll get my husband to model for me for the day. :)

Until next time,

Stephanie

Read more...