CRP is moving!/ Gainesville Florida Family Photographer

That's right, you heard it here first (well, some of you may have heard it already)...Christine Richmond Photography is packin' the wagon again and headed back to the sunshine state (photo shoots in January...what?). It's sad and happy at the same time. I'm am so grateful to all of the wonderful families I've worked with here that have allowed me to capture their special moments, and there is much I will miss about Portland including its endless locations. But don't fret, I plan to venture back to the great Northwest and offer a weekend of sessions every so often, so keep your eyes out. And for you Florida folks, check in with me starting in September to book your sessions. In the meantime, it's off to the Emerald Isle for a well deserved vacation followed by the chaos of moving 3,000 miles across the country with a three year old, dog, and cat in tow!

Location, Location, Location/ Portland Children's Portraits

Q and I are having a great time being back in Florida seeing old friends, and of course taking pictures. One of the reasons I love doing sessions here is that there are new locations to find, and my family and good friends know that I love location hunting. But sometimes you just may not feel like hopping in your car or getting on the Max to find a new spot. Sometimes the best spots are right in front of you. Sometimes the greatest challenge is not in finding that great grove or beautiful field, but in finding what's right at your fingertips. Sometimes the best locations are at your front door, or down the street. I know I could think of a few dozen great spots along our daily dog walk just in my neighborhood, and I bet you could find some too, within a few blocks of your house. So, put on your "location goggles" as I call them, and the next time you're out taking a stroll, look around you and start framing the pictures in your mind. Look for textures, walls, stairs, lines, splashes of color, garage doors...you get the idea. Q and I have been talking about taking pictures down our street for months. Every day we walk past not one, not two, but half a dozen cool old trucks within 3 blocks of our house. So finally, on a beautiful Sunday evening last week, we went and took our truck walk. I was ready to be done after the first two or three spots, but Q wanted to keep on going, and stop at every neighbor's front steps on the way home! So here are some shots from our street, hope you enjoy them. And a challenge to all of you budding photographers out there, take a walk on your street and see what you can find!

Giving Back/ Portland Child Photographer

I wanted to mention three wonderful organizations that I'm part of that allow photographers to give a little back to the community and people going through difficult times in their lives. There are quite a few organizations out there, but I think these three are particularly important. If you know of anyone who could benefit, please pass on this information or send them my way.

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep is an amazing organization that provides private, beautiful portrait session for families whose babies have been born still, or will never leave the hospital. The work that photographers and volunteers do is beyond priceless and is near and dear to my heart. For families dealing with the grief and pain of losing a child, photographs can be an important part of the healing process, providing them a way to honor, cherish, and share the spirit of their babies. Portland is lucky in that it has a great network of hospitals and photographers who support the program, but there is always the need for more help. Even if you're not a photographer there are still ways to help including opportunities to volunteer as assistants (hint, hint).

The Littlest Heroes Project provides free photo sessions to children with serious illnesses or life altering disabilities. When families are dealing with the challenges of handling a difficult diagnosis, photographs are often understandably not at the top of their list of priorities. But when the battle is over, photographs are an important reminder of the journey each family has faced. I'm really looking forward to doing these "day in the life" type of session that capture the everyday moments that are so easily forgotten.

Think Pink Photography is a network of photographers who have come together to celebrate life and support the cause of fighting women and men who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Photographers provide complimentary portrait sessions to individuals and families before, during, or after treatment.

All of these organizations provide an incredible service to families and the community. Please help spread the word, and they can always use donations.

Sea Foam and Sand Angels/ Portland Lifestyle Photography

I've been a bad blogger as of late. I wish I could say it's because I've been busy with sessions, but the real reason is I just haven't been in the mood to write. Or, if I have, there's been a 3 year old begging to play hide and seek or Candyland and he wins out every time. So, while there are no new sessions to post right now, I thought I'd share some personal pictures. I've been to many beaches in the world, and have many fond memories of camping out on the sands of Zanzibar, and waking up to the sound of rolling waves on Koh Samui. But take away the exotic factor and I'd have to say my favorite beach of anywhere is Cannon Beach right here in Oregon. Having grown up in Florida, I never was very fond of swimming in salt water or coming home with blistering sunburns. I was always much more excited about being there during a Florida thunderstorm, or in the winter when it was colder, which is why the beaches here in the Northwest are perfect. It's almost never warm enough to actually swim and the storms are amazing. In fact, the night we were there this past weekend the pounding hail and driving winds made for a restless night. Nevertheless, the storm let up on Saturday and Q and his friends headed back down to the sand to do some important digging and sea foam collecting. While the perfectionist in me sometimes craves that perfectly composted, perfectly exposed shot, the artist in me loves days like this when I can just step back and capture the action however it plays out. The sun may be too bright, the shadows too contrasty, or I may have forgotten to change some settings, but the imperfections sometimes make the pictures more real.

Look at their excitement and joy in the littlest things...running from the waves, collecting sea foam, making sand angels, kicking up mud. They don't mind getting sand in their boots, or mud in their hair. They giggle at the sea gulls' calls, and jump up and down at finding sea shells. Seeing the beach through a child's eyes is humbling...inspiring...enlightening. When Q grows up I hope he'll be able to see the many beautiful beaches of the world, but I also hope the he will always consider the beaches of his childhood special and never forget the joy of collecting sea foam, or making angels in the sand.

Self-Portraits are hard!

So after two years of not having a family picture taken, I decided to try my hand at taking some family self-portraits. After striking out on my hunt for a wireless remote that I wouldn't have to buy from China on ebay, I had to resort to using the timer which, while not hard, is certainly inconvenient. Needless to say, when I normally would have taken a few hundred shots at a family shoot, I left with maybe a dozen of all of us. Luckily my two year old is well schooled by now in the art of being a model for me, so he dutifully stared down the camera like a pro. Promises of a tootsie pop helped at the first location, but you'll notice there are no pictures of us by the river, which was location #2. The allure of rocks and water were just to much for him!