Archives : 2010 : January

Wedding Musician Duo "the Ashlings" at The Oxford Hotel in Bend, Oregon

Lauren Brauns and Amy Mitchell have filled this town with soft, sultry harmony for a few years now (playing under The Sweet Harlots).  Now they have a new gig to add to their repertoire – Weddings.  This dynamic duo – named “the Ashlings,” with Laurel having the most incredible voice and guitar and Amy, a beautiful cellist and backup vocalist, will no doubt be a wonderful addition to wedding music in Bend and surrounding Central Oregon.  Amy Mitchell, part of a string quartet that played at our wedding (a few years ago!), added a beautiful range of traditional classics; together with Laurel, they make the most perfect blend of traditional and folk.  Listen and learn more on their website:  http://www.laurelbrauns.com.

It was our pleasure to take some photography to enhance them breaking into the wedding market.  What better place to do it than The Oxford Hotel (new to downtown Bend, Oregon!), which is spread with modern decor and sophisticated style.  It was the perfect backdrop for the photo shoot.  We always have fun with these two and as usual the photo session was filled with laughs and Byron trying to be a ‘model’ and show them ‘the look.’    Special thanks to Ben Perle over at the Oxford for allowing us to lug all of our gear in to do the shoot in the first place!

We can’t wait to do some weddings together, so be sure to book these two fabulous musicians for a great addition to your wedding event.

- B&W

How swank is that?!  (Wendy’s favorite)

A beautiful portrait – can’t you see this on a poster?

These two are never far from a smile…

Here’s a picture of the ‘egg’ (the silver coffee table) we kept laughing at.  Damn, I want me a green rug like that though…

Official Coverage Of Facebook's New Data Center In Prineville, Oregon

Wow, what a day!  Lot’s of, “I wish I could tell you what’s going to happen/who’s moving to town but…I’d have to kill you…” type stuff has shrouded this event from the beginning.  Well, it was finally unveiled today that Facebook will build and own their first data center, (rather than lease) in Prineville, Oregon.  Evidently, the high desert’s dry climate is perfect for this type of operation and for all of us in Central Oregon we couldn’t be happier.  From what it sounds like, all it takes is someone like Facebook to make the first leap and from there, other big guns in the tech industry, etc will be sure to follow.

It was great to be part of something like this.  The event was basically on the site where the facility will be built, with the tents set up at the end of a road and security super tight.  Most of the people attending, (including myself) didn’t know what business was coming until today.  I’m really amazed this secret was able to last this long…especially with how powerful Facebook is!  Excavation only began on the 130+ acre site about two weeks ago but when the GM overseeing construction drove me around to get some images, it was evident that by the beginning of 2011 they would be up and running-think, TIGHT schedule.

At around noon, Prineville Mayor Mike Wendel announced to everyone the big news and after several speeches, the official ground breaking ceremony occurred, lunch was served and within 1.5 hours everyone had moved on to their next appointment.  I love challenges, and today I got to hammer out one of my quickest photo edits to date, since one of the stipulations for my shooting the event was that the PR firm in charge of the events media distribution needed the images literally after I was done shooting.  Pressures a good thing….especially when things go right!  So here’s to Facebook for putting Central Oregon in front of the world’s eyes.  Oh, did I say again how much I love my job?!!

Big shout out to all my friends who did an outstanding day today.  This includes Heidi Berkman with H. Berkman & Associates Inc., the Marketing & Special Events Consultant-541.480.8700 who made everything go silky smooth, Pinnacle Media’s Matt and JoAnn Hand for handling the video content, and Joolz Restaurant from downtown Bend for providing the amazing food.

Cheers-

Getting ready for the fun…

Mayor of Prineville, Mike Wendel showing some of the excitement we all are feeling!

Facebook’s Director of Site Operations, Tom Furlong (brown jacket) celebrating with others that got the job done!

Three of the finance wizards from Facebook–you can thank them for making it happen.

Miles Of Fun As MLK Service Day Kicks Off For Volunteer Connect

Man, yesterday was stressful.  My wife says I’m sensitive but when I was going over to the vet to pickup Miles from having his “lumpotomy”, (he gets this non-life threatening tumor growing on his side and when it gets to grapefruit size it’s time to lighten the load for him), I was really, really happy to see he was wanting to get out of the cage!

We’ve had our two dogs Miles and Dizzy for 12 of their 13 years now and XC skied, mtn biked, ran and played literally 7 days a week with them.  So yea, I was stressed I’d loose my terror of a lab that has done everything from destroy a new 4 month old couch, to eating 2 full boxes of chocolate fudge Cliff Bars (remember Ben?), to endless counter robberies of steaks, Costco apple pies and anything else that resembled food.

Between dropping Miles off and picking him up, the one redeeming event that allowed me to have a semi-productive day and not let worrying about my dog fill all thoughts was volunteering to shoot some images for the Volunteer Connect projects happening around Bend, Oregon during Martin Luther King Day.  Helping out the community, seeing old friends and laughing with others took my mind off my furry friend. Cheers to all those hard working volunteers!

In the end, both my dogs lay next to me while I write this and I can’t help but wonder when they’ll be ready for the next adventure….Miles, get your head out of the trash dude…..yea, things really never change.

This is our Miles. He definitely has attitude and this shows it!

Paw’s R US

Not trying to play favorites, I needed to include Dizzy as well.

Friends With Flowers volunteers creating love for terminally ill patients in Central Oregon

Over at the Bethlehem Inn, volunteers fixing bikes for a good cause!

At the Bend Community Center volunteers work to create blankets for the homeless.

This young dude was a rock star, putting air into all the bike tires and doing bike maintenance!

Why Am I A Photographer?

You could say that I really liked picture books as a kid.  All those colors….Seriously though, I’ve always been one to enjoy creating the story in my head while looking at the photo rather than vice-versa.  I love how a photo can draw you in and whether it’s complex or simplistic in nature is irrelevant-what matters is the connection the viewer makes between the image and his/her past experiences.  It’s trying to change your perspective on those past experiences that makes photography such an amazing tool.  Photos speak differently to each one of us and since they are subjective, (like all art) the viewer gets to create their own reality.  My teachers in elementary school were not far off when they said I was a daydreamer!

I love how photographs can change people’s perspectives on even the most ingrained concepts!  How many of us have seen one “good” photo of ourselves (not even spectacularly great) and consequently not only gained an immense amount of confidence from that image but reversed years….OK, more like decades of panic when a cameras pointed in your direction.

What was the title of this blog anyways?  Oh yeah, the bottom line is that I’m a photographer because it challenges me to look at our world in ways the average person might not, or even care to.  When we get older we think we’ve figured it all out and I want to blur the lines to give people options for creating their own personal realities….which are, of course, amazingly wonderful, productive and positive realities….right?!  Random thought, “What would interest newborns if they could take photos?”