Wilton Photography

Crystal and Manny - Walla Walla Engagement Session

2011-10-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

Next year is coming fast! We're so excited for Crystal and Manny and looking forward to their summer wedding. We had a beautiful, lightly overcast day last week for their engagement session. Soft light, gorgeous people, beautiful color- a great way to spend an evening!

Jennifer and Zach - Walla Walla Wedding Photography

2011-10-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

We had such a wonderful day last week with Jennifer and Zach! We say it all the time, but it's true. Awesome people, loving families, close friends- it all makes for a spectacular wedding. Jennifer and Zach, thanks so much!

Jamie and Brandon – Walla Walla Wedding Photography

2011-10-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

Jamie and Brandon had beautiful weather for their outdoor wedding, held in Brandon's parents' exquisite backyard. We just loved the vintage-inspired details. Jamie and Brandon, thanks for letting us share in your amazing day. And thanks to Shannon Boettcher of fotoNovella for helping us out.

The Legend of the Hollow - Commercial Video Production

2011-10-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

After many hours of hard work, we are proud to announce "The Legend of the Hollow!" Ok, that seemed way too formal, but we're super excited to finally show everyone the product of countless hours of hard work. We'll explain a little more about the project in the future, but for now just enjoy the video and check out Ash Hollow's crazy split personality.

And don't miss Headless Red wine discounts on their YouTube page!

Headless Red Wine Teaser - more on its way

2011-09-27T17:45:00.000-07:00

Lest anyone think we've been slacking recently, here's a short teaser for a current project with Ash Hollow Winery. You may remember the still photographs we created for Ash Hollow a couple of years ago. Well, we're at it again, but this time we decided video would be a better way to tell the tale of the winery's resident horseman. We'll supply tons more details and making-of photos when the full video releases, but for now you might enjoy reading the tale that inspired the video.

Ira and Jerry - Walla Walla Wedding Photography

2011-09-19T22:51:00.000-07:00

What a fun wedding this was – each detail better than the last! Ira and Jerry started their friendship in grade school, so it was natural for their wedding day to be full of back-to-school memories. Ira and Jerry, we thank you for including us, like old friends, on such a memorable day. Congratulations!

Kristin and Christian - Walla Walla Wedding Photography

2011-09-13T14:29:00.000-07:00

We recently joined Kristin and Christian for their small family wedding outside of Walla Walla. These two are truly wonderful individuals who together make an amazing family. This was one of those occasions where we left the wedding just hoping that our presence and the work we did had blessed Kristin and Christian as much as we were blessed by them and their relationship.

Lexi and Ryan - Kennewick Wedding Photography

2011-09-08T17:54:00.000-07:00

Lexi and Ryan are a sweet, fun-loving couple. We had a blast shooting their wedding in Kennewick. Thanks so much, Lexi and Ryan, for allowing us to be a part of your beautiful wedding.

Kaitlyn and Will - Walla Walla Wedding Photography

2011-08-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

We spent the day with Kaitlyn and Will at their beautiful wedding a couple of weeks ago. After meeting with them for engagement photos earlier in the week, we were confident that we would have a great time at their wedding. We weren't disappointed.

It's a good sign that you'll love the photos when you can't stop smiling all day. These two and their families are very special. We just hope our photos do them justice.

Jamie and Brandon - Walla Walla Engagement Photography

2011-08-10T13:14:00.000-07:00

We have been looking forward to meeting Jamie and Brandon for quite a while, so we jumped when they called us for a last-minute engagement session. This couple is so sweet that we found ourselves constantly smiling while we edited their photos. Thanks so much Jamie and Brandon!

Lexi and Ryan - Tri-Cities Engagement Photography

2011-08-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

We met Lexi and Ryan near Wallula for their engagement session last week. As the sun set over the Columbia, we photographed this awesome couple near the mouth of the Walla Walla River and along the nearby train tracks. It really was a beautiful evening.

Philippines - Ahti Villiage

2011-07-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

Our third day on Boracay we made the short trip to an Ahti villiage on a neighboring island. The Ahti are descendents of Spanish slaves- Africans brought to the Philippine colony by their Spanish owners.

The Ahti live in the jungle a little ways off the road. Their schoolhouse and church overlook rows of rice fields, with a distant view of the Boracay and the South China Sea. Among their other ministries, our hosts on Boracay run a feeding station in this village.

These beautiful kids, their warmness of their community, and the incredible location of the Ahti village combined to make this the favorite of all the places Cari and I went in the Philippines.

Kristin and Christian - Walla Walla Engagement Photography

2011-07-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

We took Kristin and Christian into the Blue Mountains for a fairly low-key engagement session. Walking along the Walla Walla River was a wonderful way to get to know this sweet couple. We had a wonderful time.

Lynlee and Sean - Walla Walla Wedding Photography

2011-07-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

Lynlee and Sean had a beautiful wedding on a hilltop outside of town. Sean has been serving overseas and only returned to Walla Walla just before the wedding, so you can imagine his and Lynlee's excitement to finally be together. We wouldn't wish long separation on any couple, but the excitement did make this wedding particularly special to us.

Thank you so much, Sean and Lynlee, for making us part of your wedding day!

Jeanne and Rob - Walla Walla Wedding Photography

2011-07-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

Jeanne and Rob had an elegant, classic wedding at St. Pat's and reception at the Marcus Whitman. They were a pleasure to be around – such kind people and so in love! We had a wonderful day with them. Jeanne and Rob, we wish you the best!

Laura and Max - Walla Walla Wedding Photography

2011-06-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

Laura and Max are each representative of a large, caring family. It was such a joy to be present for the joining of those two families. The couple chose such fun, cheerful colors that even a last-minute switch of reception venues didn't put a damper on the festive atmosphere. We (along with every child present) particularly enjoyed their candy buffet. Laura and Max, thank you for letting us share in your happiness!

Laura and Max - Rehearsal Dinner

2011-06-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

The day before their wedding, Laura and Max held a party for friends, family, and everyone who helped with their wedding. I guess it would technically be called a "rehearsal dinner," but it looked much more like an excuse to gather loved ones and have a wonderful evening.

The dinner was held at their friends' small farm outside of town and included such niceties as barbecue, Laht Neppur root beer, line dancing, games, a dunk tank, and hay rides. Overall, a wonderful time.

Philippines - Boracay Feeding Station

2011-06-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

Among their other ministries, our hosts on Boracay organize a series of feeding stations for street kids. They maintain 17 of these stations in communities on Boracay and the surrounding islands. Once a day children come to the stations for a meal, vitamins, and basic first aid if necessary.

Along with providing for basic physical needs, these feeding stations provide a toehold into communities. Caring for the youngest community members builds trust, which can be further built into relationships. Now many of the communities also have adult Bible studies, and some have created schools and churches.

It's amazing to see how a ministry that started with a husband and wife, a scooter, and a big pot of soup has expanded into a network of 17 stations providing for hundreds of kids.

Our role in this process was to interact with the kids both personally and through performance. Leaving these kids was excruciating, but hopefully our impact will last as many of our group's games and performances will be used by our hosts.

Ira and Jerry - Walla Walla Engagement Photography

2011-06-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

I've hinted and teased about Ira and Jerry's engagement photos for a while, so here they are in all their grade-school grandeur. Less than three months to their wedding!

Philippines - Boracay Church Service

2011-06-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

Our first full day in Boracay was the first day of a passing Typhoon- so it rained... a lot.

We spent the morning in church, where we performed and Dr. Lou taught. We had a wonderful time and met some amazing people.

Augmenting the Sun - Walla Walla Engagement Photography

2011-06-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

Ira and Jerry are childhood sweethearts. To stay consistent with their wedding this fall, they wanted a "grade-school" theme for their engagement session (many more photos to come). When I heard this, I couldn't help but suggest that we photograph in a school bus.

The pressure was on. I suggested the bus; now I had to find one. After some searching we found a small bus (thanks to Liberty Christian School), and I started scouting locations. I wanted to make a couple of images that felt a little more "editorial" than "engagement," and this location along 5-mile Road was perfect. With any luck we could create a bright, cheerful look while maintaining saturated primary and secondary colors in the sky, bus, clothing, and green fields.

Shooting into the sun gave us a wonderful separation light on our subjects and beautiful saturation in the green fields, but it also created a problem. We could either expose for the highlights to maintain saturation in the sky, fields, and bus, or we could expose for the skin tones so we could see our wonderful couple.

In many cases it is perfectly acceptable to underexpose the subjects, but this was an engagement photo. It's about the people. But exposing for our subjects would wash out the colors that make this image so striking. Anticipating this problem, we brought along a portable flash. With this we could set our exposure dark enough to get the saturated background and then add light to our subjects.

The sun is just out of the photo, behind the hill visible on the left. We set our flash at about the same height as the sun but just over five feet to the left of the camera and adjusted its power to just less than the brightness of the sun. Putting our light close to the direction of the sun helps it blend into the photo. It almost looks like there is only one light source in the finished image.

Here's the finished photo again followed by one taken without the flash. I know which one I prefer.

Philippines - Boracay, a sense of place

2011-05-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

As an introduction to the next leg of our Philippines trip, I think it's probably best to spend less time on what we did and just show you where we went.

Boracay is a small island with some of the most amazing beaches in the world. Like many world-class vacation destinations, it is a testament to some of the more disturbing dichotomies of our world- extreme wealth and extreme poverty, incredible beauty and incredible destructive power, hunger and plenty. I will explain more about our daily activities and what actually drew us to Boracay in the next post. For now, I just hope you can get some sense of the place.

Philippines - Manila and Faith Academy

2011-05-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

Seoul- last stop before the Philippines.

Above is Faith Academy, our workplace and venue for the first leg of our journey. Our primary goal here was to workshop with students- teaching basic mime, physical theater, and a little dance. This was also a good opportunity to get to know everyone else in the group and rehearse for the rest of our trip.

Dr. Lou consulted on the design of Faith Academy's theatre, but he had never seen the finished facility before. It really is a wonderful tool for teaching and outreach.

Dr. Lou in the prop room.

In many parts of our country we don't consider the arts a vital part of education. I'm not the person to debate the merits of the arts and the relative value we assign to art, sports, math and science, literature, and other subjects and school-related activities. I can, however, attest to the excitement I saw among the students at our workshops, excitement for something as simple as learning how to communicate through gesture. I would also suggest that we all consider the potential to encourage and reach out to the people around us through the arts.

To generate extra student interest in the workshops, the group engaged in a little "encounter mime" during lunch. It was the first time I had seen anything quite like this, and I was amazed how the students reacted to purely non-verbal interaction. It was tons of fun.

Some of the students with previous mime experience look on proudly after putting Cari in a box.

The workshops were appropriately more formal, but they were just as much fun. I was impressed with how quickly the students picked up on technique and applied what they were learning.

We also got into a little stage combat, which kept people's attention.

Don't worry, no one was hurt during the workshops.

It was important to squeeze in rehearsals whenever possible. While everyone knew most of the same pieces and had the same training, many of us had not performed together before.

Our accommodation in Manila was in apartments across a small valley from Faith Academy. It was a pretty luxurious place, which wasn't bad given that we were trying to adjust to the heat while battling jet lag.

Next stop, Boracay.

Philippines - Introductions

2011-05-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

Our group in the Philippines consisted of seven individuals. Introductions follow.

Dr. Lou and Laura on Boracay, apparently with three coconuts each.

Me. It's always a good idea to hand your camera to a three year-old street kid, right?

Cari, enjoying a sublime Jonah's fruitshake.

Kristi, enjoying an exquisite Jonah's fruitshake.

Brandon, enjoying a spectacular Jonah's fruitshake.

Ashley Elizabeth, delirious with Jonah's fruitshake.

Philippines, 1st Installment - Manila Skyline

2011-05-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

We've been suspiciously absent on the blog and facebook recently, and I can finally explain why. Among other projects, Cari and I just returned from two weeks in the Philippines. We plan to share more details as we can, but the general idea is this:

We are convinced that God has given us creative gifts specifically to reach out to others. Making a living is wonderful but secondary. While we have found many local outlets for giving of our talents, we have always felt compelled to look overseas too.

In addition to being a wonderful photographer, Cari has a B.A. in Dance and has been in involved in theatre most of her adult life. Last fall we received an email from Cari's college theatre professor, asking us to consider going to the Philippines as part of a performing arts ministry. After just a couple days of thought and prayer, we blocked out two weeks in May and purchased plane tickets.

Over the last two weeks we have performed in churches, taught and entertained street kids, helped equip missionaries and pastors to better use the arts, and taught about 150 filipino students how to share truth using the performing arts.

Over the coming weeks we will do our best to give you an idea what we did in the Philippines and introduce you to some of the ongoing ministries we worked with.

As an introduction, here are a few photos of the Manila skyline. Many more photos to come.

Terra Project - Northwest Commercial Photography

2011-04-18T15:43:00.000-07:00

We recently photographed the assembly of some amazing, high-tech...well...um...huts. Maybe "huts" doesn't do them justice. These fiberglass shelters will become the framework for the first ever high-speed fiber optic and microwave telecommunication network in Southwest Alaska. Click the post's title for more information and photos.

The TERRA project, as this network is known, is an effort by the Alaska-based company, GCI (General Communication, Inc.). As this project is partly funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, it was important to show not just the technology and equipment but first and foremost the people whose hard work made all that technology come together.

Special thanks to Mechan Media, who we relied on for video capture (sorry, none to share yet); all of the contractors who graciously allowed us to intrude on their work (Reiff Mfg., Olmstead Electric, and Fire Pro, to name a few); and to RH Strategic, who asked us to help with this project in the first place.

New Zealand Landscapes - Personal Work

2011-03-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the gap in posts over the last month or so. We've been working on several projects, and I was in New Zealand until last Friday. We will keep sharing images as our other projects progress. For now, here are a few favorites from my time in the other hemisphere.

New Projects

2011-02-16T11:51:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy winter, starting new projects and rethinking old ones.

Above is a promo piece we just completed.

Laura and Max - Walla Walla Engagement Photography

2011-02-04T15:05:00.000-08:00

We had a beautiful engagement session with Laura and Max a little while back. These two are incredible people, and we're really excited for their wedding. Here are a few select photos.

Pretty Pictures - Mixing it up in Southern Utah

2011-01-05T11:28:00.000-08:00

Or at least southern Utah-ish. We may have just nicked Colorado too.

Last fall we needed to get out and see something different. We loaded up the car with as much food and camping equipment as would fit, threw in a camera, and headed south. We often use these trips to slow down, lower the cameras, and just look around us. Of course, it's nearly impossible for photographers to see something pretty without taking a few photos, so here is a selection.

Dominic - Senior Portrait Photography

2010-12-29T11:36:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share a couple of photos from the fall. Dominic likes walking around Bennington Lake, so we thought that would be a great location for his shoot. The lake was little more than a puddle at that time, so we descended into the lake bed and used the mud texture for effect. Add some dramatic lighting, simplify the compositions, and the photos above are result.

Lynlee and Sean - Downtown Walla Walla Engagement Photography

2010-12-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

Downtown Walla Walla is an incredible place for portraits, but we were slightly concerned when Lynlee and Sean scheduled their engagement photos for the middle of December. They must have known something we didn't, because last Wednesday was absolutely gorgeous. We didn't even have to pull out the umbrellas and blankets we packed in the car.

Lynlee specifically wanted to include Christmas lights in their photos so we started photographing just before sunset and continued until there was only a hint of color left in the sky. It was a beautiful evening, and we came back with some really fun images.

Willis & Toews - Environmental Business Portraits

2010-12-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

Last August we photographed Monte Willis and Debi Toews, co-founders of Willis & Toews, PLLC. Monte had the wonderful idea to use the historic Carnegie building in downtown Walla Walla as the backdrop for our shoot.

We scheduled for early morning to avoid the August heat and to take advantage of the soft morning light. We set up in the shade on the west side of the building and set the camera's exposure for the natural light (The rim light on the subjects is the sunrise starting to wrap around the building). We then set up a large softbox just to the left of the camera and set the flash to light their faces.

It's a fairly simple setup, but it demonstrates how proper planning can make shoots go quickly and easily. To get this nice light after 9 a.m., we would have had to change locations or create a much more complicated lighting setup using scrims, reflectors, and more lights.

Kiersten - Walla Walla High-School Senior Photography

2010-11-29T10:43:00.000-08:00

Here are a few photos from Kiersten's senior session. You may have guessed that this is from a few months ago, when the weather was a bit more photo-friendly. I have to say, Kiersten was wonderful to photograph. I absolutely love her hair!

Kyler - Walla Walla High School Senior

2010-11-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

We've been guilty of blog-neglect recently...sorry. Actually, we took a well-deserved vacation and then immediately moved. We're officially on self-imposed probation now, so expect more regular posts again.

Here are a few images from Kyler's senior shoot. Kyler was awesome- relaxed in front of the camera and easy to chat with. He even wore a red shirt, which played nicely off of the cool light later in the evening.

Commercial Photography - Lighting Breakdown

2010-10-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

Here is my first exposure of Park Manor's therapy pool room. It's not a mistake, and here's why...

This image for Park Manor's new brochure involved showing off their therapy pool and its underwater treadmill. Walking into the room, my first concern was trying to simplify the scene. After choosing a camera position that would best display the treadmill, we picked up everything we could and moved it behind the camera. While Mike, our model and marketing director, changed into something more pool-appropriate, I pointed my camera's spot meter out the window and set my camera's exposure accordingly. You've already seen the result.

The reason for this incredibly dark exposure is that I didn't want blown-out windows or closed blinds in the background of this photo. Not only are big, white spots distracting, but the area around Park Manor is gorgeous and deserves to play a supporting role in this photograph. I knew I wanted to shoot around f/8 to get good depth of focus, and the resulting exposure gave me 1/160th at ISO 200. If you only look out the windows this exposure looks perfect.

The next step was to flood the room with light. A small light source would cause distracting shadows all over the walls, so I made a big light by setting a flash just outside the room (camera left and on the far side of the pool) with a silver umbrella and putting a 3'x6' diffusion panel in front of it.

At full power, I now had a flash exposure just under f/8. The room looks great, but our subject's face is going to be pretty dark. To fix this, I added another flash in a medium softbox just to camera right and adjusted its power to give me f/8 right over the treadmill.

Mike hopped into the pool, and I shot a quick test image. The overall exposure looked pretty good.

I knew I wanted Mike to stand out a little more, so I added a small Nikon flash with a grid spot next to the pool on the left. Setting this flash's exposure to f/8 gave me a little more accent on Mike's right shoulder. I didn't want dramatic light, but I wanted to make sure Mike was obviously the subject. Here's the result.

Park Manor Brochure - Walla Walla Health Care Photography

2010-10-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

This summer we worked with Park Manor to produce a high quality brochure that area hospitals can use to help people make informed decisions about where they receive physical rehabilitation. I love working with people who value quality- quality in their facility, staff, and promotional materials.

Here's a quick flip through the brochure. I'll try to put up a behind the scenes of one of the images soon.

Eloisa and Cruz - Walla Walla Wedding Photography

2010-09-27T18:45:00.000-07:00

We've had a few narrow misses with the rain this year, but our luck is still holding. Eloisa and Cruz were married at Mill Creek Gardens just over a week ago. These two make a wonderful couple, and Cari and I feel privileged to have been a part of their wedding.

Chris and Andy - Walla Walla Wedding Photography

2010-09-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

Chris and Andy had a beautiful wedding at St. Paul's church, and an elegant reception in the gorgeous original ballrooms of the Marcus Whitman Hotel.

-enjoy-

American Girl Magazine Shoot

2010-09-09T11:53:00.000-07:00

Last spring we received an email from American Girl magazine regarding a feature in the upcoming September/October issue. As this was one of Cari's favorite childhood magazines, we quickly accepted the task of photographing Shayla, a local 11 year-old barrel racer, and her horse Missy.

I've seen barrel racing from a distance before, but it's a whole different experience when you're lying on your belly as the horse blitzes by, throwing dirt in every direction. On the loose dirt surface, and over the distance of a barrel race, I can't imagine anything turning sharper or accelerating faster.

To top it off, both Shayla and Missy were incredibly easy to photograph. All of you girls who grew up reading this magazine, doesn't Shayla just scream "american girl?"

The goal was to produce an action shot as the main image that would run as a 3/4 spread as well as several portraits for insets. My favorite image, above, ran in the table of contents. Hit the link to see the others that made it into the magazine, as well as a handful that didn't.

Eleanor and Daniel - Walla Walla Wedding Photography

2010-09-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

The Waterbrook Winery served as the backdrop for Eleanor and Daniel's wedding, but it takes more than a beautiful location for a wonderful wedding. Our favorite weddings to photograph are always full of the couple's close friends and family, and Eleanor and Daniel's wedding was no exception.

The beginning of the day was simply wonderful. Cari and I followed the bridal party as they prepared for the day. Threatening clouds shed their rain just before the ceremony, and the rays of sunlight that bathed the ceremony seemed made-to-order. The reception on the winery patio carried on through sunset and into the cool evening.

We'd like to say a special thank you Eleanor and Daniel for having us be part of their wedding day, and thank you to the friends and family who made their wedding so special.

A few anonymous details...

2010-09-03T14:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend's wedding was absolutely beautiful. Here are a few anonymous details.

More to come next week...

Brenda and Keith - Walla Walla Wedding Photography

2010-08-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

We knew this would be a fun day... Brenda and Keith are such a sweet, laid-back couple. They had a beautiful ceremony and reception at St. Pat's. The elegant simplicity and attention to detail made our job so easy. Brenda and Keith, thanks for making us a part of your wonderful day!

Eloisa and Cruz - Walla Walla Portrait Photography

2010-08-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

We've had a busy summer here at Wilton Photography, with lots of different projects going simultaneously. As a result, we've been neglecting a backlog of blog entries. Here's one from several weeks ago.

Eloisa and Cruz made the brilliant suggestion that we shoot engagement photos where they like jog on the southeast edge of Walla Walla. It was a wonderful place. Every hundred or so yards was a different, and unique, setting to shoot in. We had a great time.

Sarah and Willie - Walla Walla Wedding Photography

2010-08-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

Sarah and Willie were married at St. Pats in Walla Walla with a beautiful reception at Mill Creek Gardens. Yet another wonderful couple with a wonderful wedding. We are continually blessed with wonderful clients.