Archives : Central Oregon

Monica & Todd’s Spring Engagment Photo Shoot At Drake Park In Central Oregon

I faintly remembered them saying we’d meet over underneath the arbor by Mirror Pond Gallery.  It’s funny how you can miss a really cool spot that you’ve walked a hundred times, but when I slowly looked around the area I’d parked next to, something drew me to an area I’ve never paid much attention to.  I saw this small arbor on the other side of the Mirror Pond Gallery and thought “wow, what a cool place to shoot.”  So I get out my camera, check some angles and I begin to think to myself, “if this was so close to where I’ve walked so many times before, imagine what I can find if I were to get lost!”

Monica and Todd come walking up a few moments after my revelation and began to tell me that it was under this cool new arbor, I thought only I knew about, they got engaged.  So begins the perfect place to start an engagement shoot on a wild and windy day in Bend, Oregon.  As some of you know, when two people are in love, their eyes are a complete give away.  Wendy calls it the, “look” and as a photographer, a persons eyes are EVERYTHING to an image.  Looking at how Monica and Todd gazed at each other was more than enough to convince me that they not only have a deep caring for each other but a mutual respect that will bond them forever.

So, here’s to  Monica and Todd, may your eye’s always reflect the love in your hearts!

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!

The Best Wedding Images Of 2009 From Byron Roe Photography – Bend, OR

As Wendy and I leap into the new year we look forward to making new friends who are keen to our unique style of wedding photography, as well as keeping up with all our new wedding couple friends we made through out 2009.  Thank you all for having the utmost faith in our talents as photographers for our inaugural year.  It was a privileged to be part of each and every one of your special days!

Since everyone else is doing their “best of….” for 09, I thought we needed the best bride & groom images of 2009 as well!  So here are the coolest images, (in our opinion) from the weddings we shot though out the year.  I did the preliminary choosing without Wendy but I knew that it would be better to have lots of choices to pick from since they were destined to be debated once she looked at them!  One of the great things, (among many others) about wedding photography is that they’re always unique and never dull.  So sit back, relax and enjoy these images that were so inspiring for us to create.

Max King Of Bend, Oregon Wins XTERRA Trail Run Worlds 2009

Back when we had an autumn in Bend, Oregon this year, I got the chance to go out with Max King for a photoshoot.  With more evergreens than deciduous trees in Central Oregon you have to know where to go for some color so I took him up to a very unusual spot that has a very dense but small area of aspens surrounded by green for miles.  Even though the colors were amazing the temperature was in the 40′s so my hat goes off to Max who not only stuck it out during the photoshoot but had a great attitude as well.  Max looks in top form as he just claimed his second title as XTERRA trail running world champion about a week ago in Ka’a'awa, Oahu-Hawaii.  About a month ago he won the USA Track and Field National Trail Marathon (six days after finishing 18th at the New York City Marathon).  Congrats Max!

Charity Auctions And Cover Shots For The Source Weekly In Bend, Oregon

Last week my friend Elise and I met at Powell’s Candy in downtown Bend, Oregon to meet up with the Big Brother/Big Sister couple and their “little” Mac for the cover photoshoot.  Having been in education prior to beginning full time as a photographer and starting my own business I’ve worked at most of the schools in the area as a substitute teacher.  So when Mac came up to me and asked, “were you a teacher ever?” I gave him a sly smile and before I could think of a good line I was laughing, since I did remember him in classes and it’s so common for me to have kids come up and ask, “are you Mr. Roe”?.  Ah, they grow up so quick!

So at 9:00am in the morning it’s not super warm out and I’m having Mac sit on a blisteringly cold metal bench while I shoot photos of him for the inside shot.  Mac’s not too into the whole thing and can only think about his freezing bottom so the brick wall ends up being a better choice as he gave more than a painful expression!  The cover shot was just as fun and after experimenting with having the “bigs” do rabbit ears to Mac with the lollipops I wanted to create this look where the two adults were the ones with the candy (looking more like kids) than Mac.  I’m happy with the results as it creates a fun subtle air for an important cause.

In addition, I donated a really cool framed print of the Painted Hills to be auctioned off.  So come on and put your money to a good cause!  You can access it online at www.tsweekly.com/