• Canon EOS REBEL T1i
• Photos for local store
• 2013

In 2009, I was working at a small gift store in Portland, Oregon. The owner had created an online presence to go with the brick and mortar store that had been in business for 20 years. At that time, they were creating a blog to help bring attention to the online store. They had been, for 20 years, a gift store that carried a large selection of cards, gifts, and jewelry, but had recently expanded into clothing.

I was working in the back of the store doing invoicing and pricing, but it was well known that I wanted to get into professional writing and photography (although I lacked a lot of the skills). My boss had just purchased the Canon EOS REBEL T1i and loaned out the heavy camera for me to learn some fashion photo skills by taking pictures that we could then add to the blog and the website.

These photos (which can be found on early posts) are a collection of one of the models, Sara who was also a fellow employee and friend. My house was walking distance away from the store, so we would gather up some clothing, walk to the house I shared with my friend (and home owner), and have a photoshoot in the house and around the yard.

It was a lot of fun, and sometimes wine was involved. I didn’t really know how to use the camera, but I knew a few things as far as composition and focus. I needed to focus on the clothing, however, I love to be artsy and Sara was so comfortable and playful in front of the camera it was difficult to resist taking fun photographs that were more about the model than the clothing.