Portland Wedding Photographer | CL Steele Studio » Photography

Portland Engagement Session | Jerry + Ashley

JD — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:10:01 +0000

Living in the Pacific Northwest you come to realize that we have two seasons… Season 1 – Light Gray and Season 2 – Dark Gray. The day of Jerry + Ashley’s engagement session you could see the clouds rolling in and I would classify this as “Season-1″! They are total outdoors people and we were planning to do their engagement session up on Mt. Hood. However that day, they were calling for snow, wind and all kinds of yuckiness! This I would classify as Season-2! (Yes people, I realize yuckiness is not a word, but it just fits!) So we all decided the mountain would not be our destination unfortunately.

So, Jerry + Ashley purchased their first home within the last year and we decided to do some pictures at their house. Which is totally adorable and they’ve done such a great job making it their own. Ashley is an AWESOME artist and her walls just come alive with the pieces she has made. She is truly talented! They actually used one of her creations for their wedding invitations! Pretty groovy if you ask me! I am in awww because, I can barely make a stick figure! It was also awesome because we got the pleasure of meeting “Mr. M” he is a character.

Then we went down, toward the Portland area with these two super cool peeps! We REALLY wish the weather would have been better on Mt. Hood you guys! However, we had a great afternoon just hanging out with you.

*CHEERS* To making the best of the NW weather Jerry + Ashley!

~JD + Chris

Venue: Log House Gardens – Salem, OR
Catering: It’s Party Time

Fabulous Friday | Wedding Flowers

JD — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:33:48 +0000

Well hello there! Good Morning! It is Friday which means it’s time for our FABULOUS FRIDAY post! Today it is simple and to the point…wedding flowers! Bridal Bouquets, table arrangements and bridal party bouquets are FABULOUS! So here are a few of our fav’s! Have a great day! Enjoy!

*CHEERS* To pretty flowers!

~JD

Jessica’s flower’s from Snap Dragon Studios !

Liz’s wedding bouquet at McMenamin’s Edgefield !

Alice’s wedding bouquet from aNeMonE paper flowers !

Keva’s wedding bouquet at Holy Names Heritage Center !

Inamorata…

JD — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 03:50:24 +0000

While we were at Ken and Kim’s Willamette Valley Vineyard’s wedding amongst all the party people, this couple just made me stare. I was gawking, smiling and in total adoration. Embarrassing if you get busted, right!? I admit it, I am a total people watcher and I have to remind our daughter all the time- “Hey Looky-Lou it’s not nice to stare.” Sometimes we should listen to our own advice.

But this couple had that “THING”… Ya know, that “THING” that makes people stay in love. She was stunning and he looked at her, like she was the only one in the room. She definitely is the only woman for him, I’m sure of that. It was like they were on their first date and she smiled at him, with a tenderness that knows all secrets. It was awesome. I watched them dance all night. They lasted longer than anyone else on the dance floor. When they stopped to sit for a minute, I actually went up to them and asked them how long they had been married. I can’t seem to recall the exact number now, but I want to say it was like 15-20 years. I love that they keep it ALIVE and that they haven’t forgotten after all this time, what it’s really about. I don’t think I will ever forget that. Because they were ravishing and their fire was definitely burning. That floor for sure has some remnant marks, of the fire from under their heels that night…

in am o ra ta

[in-am-uh-rah-tuh, ]

–noun, plural -tas.

a woman who loves or is loved; female sweetheart or lover.

ROCK THE DRESS!

JD — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 00:55:33 +0000

I remember back to the days of picking out the perfect dress for a big school dance. Deciding on how to wear the hair, do the nails, find the jewelry and the shoes. It was like the red carpet event of High school. I also remember waking up the next day and thinking “THAT’S IT???” Sadly putting the plastic bag, over the beautiful gown, only to never be worn again. Fast forward “a few years”… So, I got to thinking…why not have a photo shoot and let some girls pull that plastic bag off those prized gowns!? I know, I would have LOVED to do something like this. I know today’s girls WANT to do this! So, we are gonna DO IT! With Chris’s mad photography skills and my twist on makeup and hair , I’m sure this could be an adventure! That’s right…makeup, hair and lots of unique pictures. Something I’m sure a girl from “1997″ would never have…

We put a shout out to our local High school dance team members and we had quite a few girls interested. We just couldn’t pick, so we did the random drawing out of the hat. We are looking forward to this photo session. It will be a lot of fun.

So let’s get ready to rock the dress LIZZY and JANAE!

Contest Finalists!

Chris — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:36:26 +0000

We would like to thank you all for your entries. We wish you the best of luck! We will leave these up for ONE week, please get friends and family involved. Have them LIKE us and vote! Each family posted the reason why THEIR family should win and we enclosed their submitted pictures, below their entries! Now it’s at your fingertips friends! Vote for your favorite family!

POWELL-GREGORY FAMILY… I am entering my family because I would love to have a family picture in our new home. We have 4 humans and 2 dogs I would like to include in this picture. We have overcome many obstacles as a family and another was recently thrown at us with a very serious “hidden disease” is what it is usually called with some tumors found by my brain. Having a family photo on the wall to look at would mean the world to me while I battle this illness. We are a very close family and enjoy outdoor activities like BBQ’s, camping, hiking, and just walking around the neighborhood with our dogs. It would be nice to have some pics done here in our new backyard. My kids have worked hard all year long and maintained excellent grades keeping their GPA’s up above a 3 pt. My husband is the sole supporter right now which puts quite a bit of stress on him financially but once I am able to see the surgeon and have the tumors removed (hopefully they do not grow back) I will be going back to work full time to help pull my weight around the house financially. My kids and husband are very supportive and have never once complained…it would be nice to give them something to remember…something to show them that I love them back.

Thanks for reading my story. Best of luck in this contest!!

Jenni Powell-Gregory

McGLOTHLIN FAMILY…What’s the old saying “you can’t pick your family”? Well, I would pick all 3 that I have been blessed with! My family is my life, they keep me smiling, busy, and a little bit crazy too! =) Having a “Non-Wedding” image of us would be AWESOME… and to NOT be the one taking the picture & running back to make it in the shot… would be even better! =) We’re a family that as you know, loves to live life laughing… to be able to capture that with ALL of us in “our” environment would be AWESOME!!! =)

Mac, Jess, Zay, & Mya-Mooey!

DUCKETT FAMILY…I was so excited to hear about your contests. I have enjoyed all of your wonderful photos and am so excited to have a chance to win. I have three beautiful boys that are full of personality. Your photos see a part of people that they may not even see themselves, as if you capture a part of their personality, their charm, their soul. I want to have you capture that light in my boys that I see and love. Please consider my family. Thank you!! and to all of you voting. Pick me Pick me..

Saedis D

SEVITS FAMILY…Hello there! I am Amanda Sevits and I am entering the generous contest you are holding. In this picture, I am joined with my husband Andy, my daughter Charlie, and my son Grady.

You may ask why I would want to win such a prize? Well, I’ve seen your work before and love it! You did my sister’s (Jessica O’Brien-McGlothlin) wedding and truly captured what memories are all about.

Another thing to point out- those Sears photos that you swore would not be allowed to have your name printed on …. well, those are kind of like all our family pictures have consisted of. Ok, it wasn’t Sears that we went to, but JCPenny (just as bad, right?).

If you do chose my adorable family for this package, you will be fully entertained by my kids alone. My 4 year old son will want to be around your wife the ENTIRE time. He’ll probably tell her she’s pretty and give her a hug. My daughter will yell and scream at you and be a sassy frass the entire two hours. As for my husband and I, you will absolutely be able to capture our true feelings with the lense.

Good luck choosing! Thank you.

Amanda Sevits

BRYANT FAMILY…Hi my name is Cindy. I have two kids named Andrew (14) and Ashley (11). We would love to have our family picture taken together. We have never done anything like this before and it would mean a lot to everyone in this family. I am a hard working single mother with two amazing kids that always help out as much as they can. (Andrew) “I want to say that this is very important to my mom I really want this for her”. (Ashley) “since this is important to my mommy I would love her to take this opportunity for our family to have our first professional family photo.”

Thanks, From the Bryant Family

Take Our Poll

….aaaand we are live!

Chris — Wed, 19 May 2010 23:26:29 +0000

Tap, tap, tap…this thing on? Yes? Woot!

Well, here we are the final upgrade for the new look of CL Steele Studio – the blog! As you can see we put a lot of work into making our website, blog, facebook page, and proofing system all look and feel the same. This all means a better experience for you, the viewer and client! Things will now be easier to navigate around in, have a familiar feel, and most importantly display images as awesome as they can be. No more tiny thumbnail images that you have to look close to make out the details. Everywhere you go on our sites now you will see big, beautiful images – they way they were intended to be!

JD and I will both be updating the blog and Facebook pages so we can keep everyone as up to date as possible on the happenings here. We have a lot to share and hope to make a bunch of new friends in the process. So sit back, relax, grab a frosty beverage, and have a look around all our new sites. Oh, and leave us a comment and let us know what you think. We are glad your here!