The Drazan Family * Portland Family Portrait Photography

Continuing with my string of posts (read the two previous posts) related to Facebook and photography, let me tell you the story of Christine Drazan.

Christine and I were friends in college, nearly 20 years ago, at George Fox.  The last time I saw her was at her wedding, in the mid-nineties.  As happens in life, our paths parted, and we lost track of each other.

This past year, while browsing through classmates at Fox on Facebook, I discovered Christine, and we reconnected.  It was great to hear how she was doing, and to know that her family of 5 is doing well.  Shortly thereafter, she invited Shannon and I to her summertime garden party, in celebration of her birthday.  It was a delightful evening of catching up with old friends, and making new ones.

Later in the summer, Christine asked if I would be willing to photograph her family for her.  The speed at which her children were growing and changing made her want to document them as they grew, and furthermore, she needed some artwork for her walls.  I told her I’d be happy to create some beautiful artwork, using her children as subjects.

The Drazans live on a couple acres outside of Portland, and it was a lot of fun to photograph her kids playing there.  We spent a few hours together, wandering their property, playing on the swings, visiting with their dogs (pointers) and pigeons.

In the end, Christine and Dan have in their hands a beautiful 10×10 book which I designed for them, as well as a set of canvas wall prints that are now gracing their living room and kitchen, along with various other prints for Dan’s office and the childrens’ bedrooms.  One of the more gratifying parts of my work is knowing that people look at my photographs every single day of the year–on their walls and in books, in their wallets and online–and smile.