I took a walk with a boy, his dog, and a super fairy girl.

How do you define a family?  Let me photograph the ways…. {and then I’m going to see about getting myself adopted into their fabulous little clan}.

What has become now my earmark for the coming of summer, on a painfully beautiful day last weekend, I photographed once again for the annual Oregon Humane Society Doggie Dash.  Though my task at hand was to focus on capturing the businesses and sponsors that come out to support this amazing event, I couldn’t NOT allow myself to document participants of both the 2-legged and 4-legged variety, who did not disappoint in keeping me well entertained and inspired by their stories.

And no small feat in this browbeaten economy, OHS surpassed their fundraising goal and brought in a total of $394,274!

As they do at OHS, so shall I sign off with…. For The Animals.

Oh…did I mention the *free* mimosas?!Pulling out all the stops for fundraising efforts.“You tell anyone you saw me in this getup, and so help me dog….”

My first chapter book, given to me by my 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Rodriguez, was Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.  I grew up on a diet of minimally processed foods and very little sugar {think zucchini birthday cake}, so I was understandably transported by Gene Wilder’s movie adaptation of the book, and even more smitten by Johnny Depp in the role 30 years later {yes, a weakness of mine, EVEN when he’s sporting a purple cape and a top hat}.

I needed to explain all of the above, so that you can imagine then my thrill when I was asked to take some production stills of our neighborhood middle school play, Willy Wonka Jr.  The show runs this weekend, Thursday May 10  through Saturday May 12 and at $7 for the cost of admission, it’s a golden ticket not to be missed.

I wish life’s decisions were still a simple matter of who was going to sleep next to whom in the stuffy lineup.

And his dad thought it might be a nice idea to hire a professional to take a few photos.  I’m not so sure Andrew was totally on board with the idea, but “these aren’t for you, they’re for your grandparents” won him over.  He was a VERY good sport about it and his date could not have been any sweeter.  They oozed infinitely more confidence than I ever mustered my entire high school career, much less prom night.

Recently I had the opportunity to photograph {again!} for 1859 magazine’s Spring 2012 issue.  I was tasked with taking portraits of two Portland women who were being profiled in this issue… Kara Goucher, a hero in the world of women’s running and bound for the Olympics this summer, where she’ll be competing in the women’s marathon.  And  Myrna Yoder, an icon in the local art community, known for her most amazing murals that grace many-a-wall at McMenamin’s locations throughout Portland.

I had to pinch myself {twice}…I’m so fortunate in my work to meet such incredible, interesting, and inspiring women who are following their own passions to such great heights.