Who needs a studio, when you have this.  I don’t want to be giving away my sweet locations, because then everyone photographer in town will want to shoot there.  Let’s just say it rhymes with ‘trailer park’.

JR had spent the previous 10+ hours scanning country music stations on his drive up from the Bay Area.  And still they were game for any number of antics.  I’m so much looking forward to their May wedding.

Once upon a time on a Friday in April when the sun was so beautiful + bright + dearly missed that it brings a tear to your eye, Melissa + Lon flew in from Colorado to scope out Timberline Lodge and go over details for their September wedding.   In fact, the sun was so bright and the snow so, well, white, it was difficult to spend much time in the actual out of doors without serious eye protection.  {tho said eye protection does provide for some fun reflective images}.

Thank you so much to the both of you, and your most endearing and wonderful chauffers, for sharing some of your time with me.  I can’t wait for September.

But wait, there’s even more love for Loaves + Fishes.  And all the support for them that’s made possible through corporate sponsorship and volunteers  that our own home grown New Seasons Market provides.

Last week, after a stop at the SE Belmont Center where a competitive game of B-I-N-G-O was in full swing, deliveries were made and documented, thanks to  Brian Rohter, former New Seasons CEO + current board member + active Loaves + Fishes volunteer.  He was generous enough to share with us one of the sweethearts on his route.  At 80+ years young, she’s still paying it forward by sewing dresses that are delivered to orphanages in Eastern Europe.

I’ll be lucky if I can still velcro my shoes.

In doing what I love every day, I’ve been so fortunate to meet and work with some of the most amazing people + organizations of Portland who are truly changing lives.  {And I say that with zero concern for my hip factor when I consider how corny that may sound}.

As many of you know Loaves + Fishes is one of them.  I have photographed with them for four years now and could spend days happily going door to door with their volunteers, documenting deliveries + gratitude + stories.   In total, they provide more than 5,000 meals a day to local seniors through their 34 dining centers and home delivery.  And recently, Dave’s Killer Bread stepped up and made a commitment to donate over 800 loaves of bread a week to their centers.  If you haven’t had his bread, it is da bomb and so packed full of nutty goodness, eating a slice or two a day is probably the equivalent of running 3 miles a day.   And for some of these sweet folks pushing through their 90’s with humor and health intact, that’s saying something.

So a few weeks ago, we packed up the van with meals + Dave + his bread and made a few deliveries.