Yesterday was amazing! Vijya and Scott, thank you so much, you both are wonderful! Yesterday was a whirlwind for Susie and myself. Thank you for having us and I can’t wait to create your slide show and share you wedding here on the blog. Have a great honeymoon and we’ll see you in the studio soon!

Earlier this week Sara and I took the kids out to the beach at Mukilteo in hopes of getting a few portraits that I could make up into wall canvas prints for Mother’s Day. This was a great idea except for the fact that we both forgot Paige doesn’t like the beach…

Yep, she abhors getting sand between her toes and she thinks the beach smells bad. So, Sara ended up carrying her the entire time we were there. Thankfully though I got this shot of Cam playing at the water’s edge. Isn’t he cute?

Carrie was over to the studio recently to complete her senior package’s spring session. We totally lucked out with the weather. By the end of the session it got all nasty outside and started to pour. For her last set we did an more urban setting in downtown Everett so this time around we decided to shoot in the woods behind my studio and down by the lake. It was a lot of fun!

The rest of Carrie’s images will be online shortly: http://www.pictage.com/467475

Without further ado I present Stephanie & Peter Boyle, married April 12th, 2008 at the Payne family home in Titusville, Florida.

It was a scorching hot day in Florida April 12th and I think we were all a bit fried from the sun at our session at Daytona Beach the day before. Sara and I split up that morning. I dropped her off with the guys at Payne’s house and headed over to Stephanie’s grandparents house where she was starting her day.

Stephanie’s beautiful dress is a Watters design and it looked incredible on her. She finished off her look with a handmade purple sash. Stunning.

When all of the hair and makeup were finished we headed over to a local country club for Stephanie and Peter’s first meeting. The club was gracious enough to allow the use of their grounds for a few images and even lent us a golf cart so Stephanie didn’t have to trudge out onto the fairway on foot.

Their wedding was held in Stephanie’s parents’ (and neighbor’s!) backyard set in a lush Floridian green scape. It was a beautiful event surrounded by friends, family and children. A family friend drove in from out of state to perform their marriage ceremony. The kids were adorable!

I have to share a trick with you that I learned from their wedding - Having trouble coaxing your flower girls and ring bearers down the aisle? Solution - lollipops. Yes, lollipops. Bribe them! Someone came up with the brilliant idea to use 4 color coordinated suckers as lures for the kids. They were stuck into the ground at the head of the aisle and boy did the kids perform!

I hope you enjoy their wedding slideshow. All of their images will be online soon at Pictage.

Pine River Ranch is a quaint 1940s ranch turned bed and breakfast on 22 acres of land. The air is clean and crisp, the grounds are rustic and authentic and Tim Gellatly, the proprietor, is keen on making your wedding day perfect here on the ranch. The historic 1944 dairy barn has undergone serious renovation over the last year to transform it into one of the best rustic indoor/outdoor wedding venues in the state.

From the hand peeled log arbor and manicured lawns to the brand new hardwood floors in the barn loft, this place has you covered for an authentic barn wedding. Real wooden chairs are setup for your ceremony in the lush grass meadow facing the arbor. All of the linens, chairs, tables and table settings are provided in the rental agreement and Tim has contracted with only the best vendors in the area to provide outstanding catering services and even a horse and carriage for your transportation.

Weddings here are just plain gorgeous. The natural beauty of the grounds sucks you in. Aside from the ranch house and dairy barn, there isn’t another structure in sight.

After your wedding day you don’t have to pack up and drive back to Seattle. The ranch is a bed and breakfast after all. When you book your wedding at Pine River Ranch you have it exclusively, including their 6 guest suites. The entire wedding party can stay at the ranch.

Close to the Bavarian town of Leavenworth in Eastern Washington, Pine River Ranch is just shy of Lake Wenatchee on Highway 207.

For more information, give Tim a call or email. I’m sure he’d love to give you a private tour of the place.

Pine River Ranch
(800) 669-3877

Last week Sara and I flew down to Orlando, Florida for Stephanie and Peter’s amazing wedding. Here’s a slideshow from the engagement session we did at Daytona Beach Friday morning before the rehearsal. The weather was amazing both Friday and Saturday. It seems I get in trouble everywhere I go. I had Stephanie and Peter playing around in the water under the pier and not 20 minutes into shooting there we hear a broadcast announcement from the lifeguard PA system ‘There is no water activity allowed under the pier. If you’re under the pier please leave.’ Well then. Good thing I was finished anyway!

Stay tuned for the wedding slideshow, it’s up next!

I’m in studio today editing a fabulous engagement session for Stephanie and Peter where it was 85 and sunny on Daytona Beach and outside the studio window I have this. Snow! It’s mid April and it’s snowing like January in Seattle today.

If you have an iPhone, go ahead and browse to www.jefflaplante.com and you’ll be redirected automatically to iphone.jefflaplante.com.

Here’s what it looks like. (It’s fully functional so click around!)

Their whole set of images will be online soon at Pictage.com.
Go register for their event and you’ll be notified when they’re available for viewing.

Check out their hi-res wedding slideshow and Paris slideshow!

Urban Unveiled was a couple weeks ago and I just finished editing all the great images I shot of Luly Yang’s fashion show. It was a hot show with lots of great new looks from the renowed Seattle bridal couture designer.

Check out all the fashions below. Click on the thumbnails to see larger versions.

]]>

Andre Feriante held a charity concert at Benaroya Hall the 15th of February in celebration of Valentine’s Day. My friend Tolga Ural invited me to attend. Andre is a great performer and accomplished classical guitarist. It was a pleasure listening to his work. During the second half of the show, Andre invited several other artists to share the stage with him. Perhaps the most captivating was violinist Swil Kanim who played several pieces. They were profound, moving songs that captured my soul. Good stuff.

For more information about Andre and the other artists involved in the concert, have a look at Imagine CD’s website.

Here are a few of my favorite images from the evening.

View more images after the break.

My first wedding of 2008 was February 9th in Wenatchee, WA. Normally getting to Wenatchee from the Seattle side of the mountains entails driving about 2-3 hours across one of two major mountain passes between the Cascade range. However, due to heavy snow storms in the mountains both pases were closed most of the week! Not so good! Thank goodness I was able to book the last seat on a Horizon Air commuter plane out of Seattle to Wenatchee on Friday!

Danielle and Brian are such a sweet couple. I really enjoyed photographing them. They had their reception at the Chateau Faire Le Pont winery in Olds Station. Here is a slideshow of their wedding day and Sunday morning’s Trash the Dress session.

Their whole set of images will be online soon at Pictage.com so go register for their event and you’ll be notified when they’re available for viewing.

Check out their hi-res slideshow!

Last week Brian and Jennifer Hartman of Photo Elan hosted a get together of several local Seattle photographers. We met up at Mission in West Seattle for drinks and had a great time talking with old friends and meeting some new local talent as well.

Laurel McConnell brought along Sarah Rhoads, a new photographer on the Seattle scene. Also in attendance was Janet Klinger, Savanah Kent, Joann Arruda, Stephanie Cristalli, Dani Weiss, and Michael Rosenberg. I know I missed two people but I can’t recall who.. Email me and help me remember.

Check out the rest of the images after the break.

http://www.apple.com/aperture/

This is great news! Now I can process my D3 raw images in Aperture like I’m used to with my D2x and D200 files. Back in the saddle!

This update couldn’t have come at a better time as I had my first wedding of the season this weekend in Wenatchee. Check back in a few days for images from Danielle and Brian’s wedding day and Trash The Dress session!

The Project Red Dress fasion event was packet to the gills last Friday in the anticipation of seeing 12 aspiring designers’ creations. In the sold out room at the Seattle’s Macy’s building, Seattle Metropolitain magazine and Fashion Group International had a fabulous show!

The designers had only 16 hours over 4 days to complete their creations from nothing more than a bolt of fabric. It’s amazing what they have done with so little time.

The Judging was tough with top names on the panel such as Luly Yang of Seattle’s Luly Yang Couture, Seattle Metropolitain magazine’s own Laura Cassidy and Project Runway Finalist Nick Verreos.

A jersey knit dress took home first prize including a $3,000 scholarship and a Macy’s window display.

Win a ticket to the show! I’m going to give away 2 free tickets to the event and It’s easy to enter. Add a comment to this blog post and I’ll select two random people from the comments on Monday, February 11th. You’ll both get free tickets! Make sure you enter a valid email address when you comment so I can contact you.