gwyneth colleen photography » portland, or wedding photographer

kris & kristen-engaged

confession: whenever i am hired by photographers, i am both hugely flattered and enormously intimidated. kris & kristen are both photographers, like…went to college and got photography degrees photographers. with FILM. (film is scary, man.) kris works in a still life studio and kristen works for CARL ZEISS. holy crap.

anyway, they drove up to portsmouth yesterday, and we had a FANTASTIC time. i couldn’t get over how different kris was on the phone vs how he was in person. on the phone, he was very academic and proper sounding…in person…well, let’s just say i have almost as many outtakes where was making some ridiculous face or pretending to eat kristen’s head as i do keepers. his explanation/excuse? “i’m a gemini.” (he had to explain the whole “twin…2 people in one body…? nothing?” to me. for the record, i’m not much into astrology, but he definitely did have…variety…in his personas. :-D)

also, these two are TALL! i am 5’3″. that, in case you didn’t know, is NOT tall. also…i have a sprained ankle, so i was hobbling about. put a definite cramp in my “climb on stuff!” style of shooting. but we got some great shots, and i got to explore new parts of portsmouth i hadn’t shot in before (in the name of gwyn-not-walking-too-much.) all in all, i’d say it was a resounding success!

without further ado:

also, i think this was a record for me…shoot one day, DONE the next? wow. go me.

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heather & andy: wedding

i met heather almost 10 years ago…we both did a year long internship program for recent high school graduates.  heather and i worked for the same boss, and i reconnected with her last summer when i went out to indiana to photograph a college friend’s wedding.  so when i saw notice on one of the too many social networking sites our generation is plagued by that she was engaged, i sent her a sort of silly, tongue-in-cheek, “i know a wedding photographer :-D” email.

to my surprise, she wrote back and said, “tell me more!”

i went out to indiana last month not knowing a whole lot about what they had planned, but the entire day was just…amazing. their close friend and former pastor performed the ceremony–it’s always so much more meaningful when the officiant KNOWS the people committing their lives to each other and can add a personal touch. the wedding was a testament to how much their friends love them; so many people came together to make the day a success!

anyway, i’m in love with the photos…without further ado:


the girls all made their own bouquets.


how gorgeous is she?!  SERIOUSLY.

first look


waiting for showtime…as soon as i walked into the house where they were having their wedding, i saw this area and thought, “must photograph heather here!”  then, as wedding days are wont to do, the day ran away from me…so when i saw her sitting here of her own accord, i repositioned her slightly, and this is the magic that ensued.  i love, love, love this image!


like i said…having an officiant who knows you makes the ceremony that much more special.


(bustling…i love the story this photo tells…especially the cat.  that little cat was so sweet and friendly…and clearly wanted to be part of the festivities!)


stealing a moment during the family formals…and being introduced to the party as MR. & MRS.!

speaking of family formals…i frequently have the groups do some silly stuff…to loosen them up and get those natural smiles i love so much.  in indiana…there’s no other option than to tell them to pretend they’re riding millennium force at cedar point!  (incidentally…i once rode that ONE too many times, and, uh…regretted it on the car ride home.  i also regretted the taco bell grilled stuffed burrito i ate.)


this is jess, one of heather’s oldest childhood friends.  i also knew her from the internship program we did after hs.  now she’s married to her hot husband jay, and they have an extremely hilarious baby named kian…he makes…pretty much the best. faces. ever.  (click on the link below to see some of them.)

h & a had wedding pie instead of wedding cake…it went perfectly with their backyard indiana barbecue wedding.


b&g portraits with delicious evening light, and a special first dance


they topped off the evening with a sparkler exit.  i think more people should do these…it was so cool!

i didn’t include dancing photos, but DANG…their friends could MOOOVE…i was so entertained watching them all.  definitely click to see the rest of the photos here.

heather and andy…you are absolutely fabulous, and so are all the people who love you!  thanks again for bringing me out to be part of your day.

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Sarah14 July 2008 - 09:08

Yay! I’ve been waiting for these! Absolutely gorgeous, just as I knew they would be–Heather is such a classicly beautiful bride, and OMG, that necklace? Killer.

Also, GREAT job on the ring shot.

Rachel15 July 2008 - 14:29

dang! these are all so, so delicious. you kicked this wedding’s ass, G!

Jonathan18 October 2008 - 11:03

Gwyneth,
These shots are amazing. Now I feel like I was there.

-Jon, in Indy
(who sadly missed the wedding)

[…] heather and andy’s AWESOMETASTIC indiana wedding was featured over there yesterday. made my day! (it also helped that i got a new camera, new phone, new flash, and new computer program ALL IN THE SAME DAY.) […]

my website is fixed!!!

after 2+ weeks of non-functionality, my website has returned to the land of the…living?  do websites live?  i don’t know.  i’m just ecstatic that it’s there again.

the good folks at inmotion hosting have been INCREDIBLE.  seriously, i was sold when i first called them (i was thinking about switching hosts back in may…i was with ixwebhosting and their email settings pretty much only work if you have outlook or entourage…they don’t play nicely with thunderbird or apple mail…my mail clients of choice.) and they not only picked up right away, they answered all my questions and the person i spoke with gave me his direct extension to call if i wanted to go ahead and purchase my hosting from them.

throughout all the issues i’ve had, they’ve answered emails in a timely manner and been willing to speak with me when i’ve called.  today, they picked up the phone and called ME to figure this thing out once and for all.

i’m planning on overhauling my site in the next couple days…i’ve shot some killer weddings, and while i love al the couples that are showcased on my site right now, they’ve been on there for nearly a year–since i first launched it last september!  so stay tuned.

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Luanne31 August 2008 - 15:21

I OF COURSE LOVE THERE PICTURES & AM LOOKING FORWARD TO THE WEDDING PICTURES!!!!

P.S.-Note my E-mail change again…

need a wedding planner?

i first met jennie, um…last winterish?  i honestly can’t quite remember, but i was SOOOO excited about her wedding…she was planning a 50s themed garden affair…i think she was even going to rent a classic car for photos.  are you kidding me?  yes, please.  actually, can i have 2nds?  3rds?

i remember at that meeting being SO impressed by how organised she was.  she had this binder that was just…magical.

they had to postpone their wedding till 2009 (so i am getting re-excited…), but in the meantime, she’s started a wedding planning business.  and let me tell you what…if i had to have someone help me organise an event right now…i would most definitely be checking in with her.

learn a bit more about the fabulous jennie dee here
(isn’t the background music fun?)

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also…since i’ve been a member of oplove.org, for, y’know, like…2 months?  i’ve received exactly ZERO inquiries about it!  i have no idea how to go about letting people know that there are photographers just chomping at the bit to come record their joyous reunions or tearful goodbyes…or maybe some moments in between.  if you’re in the area and know someone stationed at hanscom or portsmouth…i think there’s an air national guard group here, too…please tell them about oplove.org

or…if you or your man are in the military, and you’re getting married and want a photographer who *gets* the whole military thing…please give me a call!  i will commiserate with you about long deployments, etc, etc…

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