E-Photos: Shane & Jenn

Meet Shane & Jenn of Orange, CA... their "sexy powers" combined with our "photo powers" officially saved the world in 2008. While down in SoCal for Christmas and New Years, Courtney and I jumped at the opportunity to meet these two in Old Town Orange to snap some fun and creative portraits before their April wedding in Newport Beach. Shane and Jenn, you two were crazy amounts of fun to be around, and so beautiful together! We can't wait to see you guys again on your wedding day. We absolutely loved hanging out with you. Cheers.

Friends & Family of Shane & Jenn, SIGN THE GUESTBOOK to be notified (via email) when they release all their photos from this engagement session online.

Merry Christmas from SoCal

Joelle LOVES her Grandpa... and apparently LOVES smiling as of late. Too Cute. Anyways, Merry Christmas everybody and thank you for helping make 2008 a fabulous year for The Christensons. Thank you all for your visits, comments and encouragements on this blog. We wouldn't be where we are today without you all. Here's to the most blessed year of our life... Cheers!

NEXT T-shirt Designs

A couple apparel designs for World Relief NEXT. They wanted something a bit more edgy & messy to accompany their other shirt design with just their logo on it (not shown). This way they can have one styleee shirt for you to wear, and one normal shirt for your mom to wear... hee hee, your mom :) So everyone can be happy. And the best part, these puppies are only 2 color... so they can save some $$$ on printing and purchase a great quality T to print on. Non Quality Tees suck at being worn.

World Relief NEXT: Congo Part 2

Here is the booklet I recently designed for World Relief NEXT (through emote360). The piece feels great, looks dynamic, reads well and is very compelling. We also did a little handbill (Part 1) to drive folks to they're display table for their launch. We're excited to partner with these incredible people, and we're stoked to assist them in bringing positive change to this world.

Portraits: Bridges Family

Spent the afternoon with the always classy and outrageously sexy Bridges family. Darcy, Chris and Trenton. There is only one word that sums of their awesomeness... they... are... FABULOUS! Post Script: Darcy quite literally rocks Courtney's face off!!!

World Relief NEXT: Congo Part 1

Just received our first Congo print piece (Part 1) for the launch of World Relief NEXT this weekend. This particular handbill will be used to drive people to the NEXT display table where they can purchase a 16 page booklet I designed (Part 2) that will also have a handmade bracelet attached to the book. Proceeds from this product will help fund relief projects in Congo. It was a blast working with World Relief NEXT on these print projects. Looking forward to the future projects emote360 has lined up with World Relief NEXT.

Love Project

Helping my favorite bro-sephs at Love Project Maui with some designing goodness. A few print pieces for one of their latest projects. See you guys in Feb!

Holiday Ugly Sweater Party

Yup, this is really happening. We're throwing THE holiday party of the year. It's ganna be the craziest - festive - christmas caroling - photo sessioning - mixed holiday drinks - delish food - ugliest sweater competition - party that you've ever laid your eyes on. We're going all out this Christmas season to make it MORE Christmas-y than Christmas itself... to make up for all the Christmases that never really felt like the holidays should. Hello sleigh rides, snowball fights, snowmen, sledding, decorations, lights, cookies, candles and Bing Crosby. Pre-Merry Christmas to all.

Slices of Life

Left to Right: 1) Joey using her hand to play with a toy (she's growing up so fast). 2) I battled my brother (John) in some old school Axis & Allies. He won. We traveled down south to visit the Christenson side of the family for the holiday. 3) We took my sisters dog, Meka, on some walks... she's THE most rambunctious dog alive! 4) Ate way too much of moms home cooking 5) I married the prettiest girl in the universe (and the hottest mom on the planet).


Left to Right: 1) The first Christmas tree ornament I bought for Courtney. Don't ask me why I got her a bowler ornament. We suck at bowling. I really don't have an answer, it was just there and I loved it. 2) We've been taking lots of showers with Joelle. She's the happiest while in the shower. So we're there a lot. 3) My burly beard and I ventured out into the wild and chopped down the best Christmas tree ever. 4) Joelle is always soooo sleepy... boring... 5) Hunting with my pops in our new duck boat. I won. The ducks lost. And we'll part with an opened mouth smile from Joelle. Cheers.

Fall = Done

Impromptu photo session with Joelle and some leaves that we found while on a Sunday afternoon stroll through the park. Yah, I guess she's pretty cute ;) Look at that second chin she's got going on.

Here's a sneak peak into the real life of Joelle Zoe. (Aka, "little terror" - just kidding, she's actually a really good baby... most of the time.)

Joelle + Mac + iChat

Here's a few pictures of Joelle lovin' her moms Mac, and doing her first video chat with the Keating family... she loves it! We've been Video iChatting like crazy lately. It's pretty much mind blowing to think that we can have full on conversations with any one on the planet... and it's free and NO BIG DEAL anymore, it's just expected. What a crazy world we live in! Anyways, Courtney's created a public folder on Picasa with a few videos and photos for those of you that can't get enough of Joey - VIEW IT

GIVE US A JINGLE:
iChat user name: "garyachristenson", "cdchristenson"
Skype us: "garyachristenson", "courtneychristenson"

Print Piece: Emote360

We've been "busting our chops" (whatever that means) on emote360 stuff lately... we've basically started a small movement that we named Schmooze-Fest 2008 ("schmoozing: to chat in a friendly and persuasive manner especially so as to gain favor, business, or connections"). We've been attending meetings, chamber of commerce events, non-profit forums and all that crazy stuff. I secretly hate doing all the salesman stuff, it's pretty far out of my comfort zone, but we gotta get the word out somehow. So in order to properly schmooze, one must have something to handout to help inform (along with our b.cards of course), or as the biz calls it: "a leave-behind or handbill of sorts"... so we've been making some pretty sweet print pieces for emote360. We may suck at being salesmen and we don't have a sales strategy of any kind, but at least all our materials look slick. This particular large print piece has a nice heavy stock, die-cut corner, basic info on the back and some selective UV coating just on the logo and text... the little details make for an overall great impression.

Emote360 Pic's + Launch

Ben and I took some emote360 staff pics yesterday. The first series of images say "Trust us, we know what we're doing", the second shots say "We view things a little differently", and the third image says "We're secretly gorillas"... look at those lips, too funny. Or it could mean "We get punched a lot, and this is what it would like in slow motion"... whichever you prefer - tomAtoes tomOtoes. I had a mentor tell me to "Never take yourself too seriously" and I'm still livin' by it. In all seriousness, tomorrow officially launches the beginning of emote360. Please check out our New & Improved Website and Blog. We're stoked to start providing a solution to help nonprofits meet more real needs, and on a global scale.

Website: http://www.emote360.com/
Blog: http://blog.emote360.com/

Portraits: Parla Family

Spent the afternoon on an outdoor adventure to photograph "Team Parla"... who just so happens to have one of the cutest babies alive (2nd to Joelle of course).

Meet Anthony, Heather and Samantha. Anthony (lets call him "A-Train" for the time being) & Heather (aka "H-Bomb") were both born at a young age, grew up in Bend and fell madly in love with each other sometime back in the day. A-Train asked H-Bomb to marry him while on an afternoon hike through Shevlin Park. H-bomb agreed. A-Train made the arrangements and they got married in Shevlin Park. A year later they did the deed (probably at Shevlin Park), and before they knew it, Samantha was born... also at a very young age. They all return to Shevlin Park today to proclaim their love and celebrate their family. Oh, and Samantha's middle name is Shevlin. Now that's a lot of Shevlins.

Oh, and did I mention that A-Train is a rock-star...

Politics Smolitics

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Pretty funny video from the fine folks over at JibJab. On a more serious note, we hope you all are going out there and gettin' your VOTE-ON. It's pretty important that you do so... and quite the privilege! Here are some bipartisan resources to help with the overwhelming process: CNN has a great website full of insightful info: CNN ELECTIONS, and if you're an Orgonian, check this site out: OREGON LIVE It has a great process to help walk you through the issues - on a local and national level. It's very important that you understand what's happening LOCALLY, wherever you live. So we'd encourage you to be equipped and choose the right people for the right job.

emote360

Courtney and I are co-founders of a non-profit organization called emote360, and it is time to start giving it our undivided attention. "What in the world is emote360?" you ask. Well, lets fill you in!

Emote360 is a global non-profit media group based out of the Pacific Northwest, USA. Emote offers custom multimedia solutions for non-profit organizations who are in need of video and audio production, graphic design, photography, web design and media management consulting. Emote works exclusively with registered Non Profit organizations who are in process of obtaining their 501(c)3 status. We at emote believe our services don’t just stand upon a great price; we’re offering media that raises the bar in its quality and meaning.

SUMMED UP without all the technical jargon: "We exist to help non-profits generate more income, to ultimately further the work that they do on the ground." It all boils down to finding nonprofit organizations more moo-la. We just happen to utilize multimedia to get them there. We create multimedia materials that will enable nonprofits to spread awareness for their cause and in return raise donor support. It's pretty simple... but for most nonprofits, understanding and utilizing media is a daunting task that few handle well... so we're here to help.

Emote360 has been almost 2 years in the making, and we're stoked to be meeting needs on a global level. Emote artists have already been to countless countries around the world, and we're returning to India in January for another project. We're also very interested in telling the story of media professionals who are giving back, and to challenge other talented media folks to use their gifts to give back in a meaningful way. Over the past 3 months we've been blessed to assemble a dynamite board of directors (industry leaders in photography, graphic design, law, community development, global relief work... etc) and we've also created a core-team of media professionals who are already whipping out emote projects. Exciting times ahead! We'll keep you all posted through the emote BLOG. Can't wait to see what God does with emote360, we're just along for the ride!

Website: http://www.emote360.com/
Blog: http://blog.emote360.com/

Client Website: Tetherow

Before the weekend arrives in all of its glory, I wanted to quickly share a bit about a project I'm on as a designer. The images above and below are just brief screen captures of the art direction I've created for a dynamic flash website for Tetherow (the folks at Tetherow are THE best). Basically, it's a full screen, interactive, media heavy, top of the line website to SHOW who Tetherow is, without having to use too many words... verbiage is out, imagery is in - it's the new black :). We've been on-location over the past few months gathering photo & video content with helicopters, cranes, audio & video teams, cameramen... to get the media we need to display all throughout the website. Anyways, it's going to be the pinnacle of our work all wrapped up into one gorgeous (and extremely simple to use) website. It's ganna take some time to complete, but so far everything is coming together quite nicely thanks to the always wonderful Melissa over at Tetherow. I'll keep you all posted on the progress, I'm stoked to be involved in this project.

Click above image to view larger

Joelle Photos

Back by popular demand are more photos of Joey (aka Joelle Zoe... NOT "J.Z."for all you nick-namers out there :) You'd be surprised at how hard it has been to FINALLY get these photos... she's not that cooperative right now... at least as far as photography goes. Everything else with Joey is really pretty awesome. Court is recovering superbly! In all, we're one happy family. We really appreciate all the folks who have been dropping off meals... you guys have no idea how much we appreciate you! Thanks to the wonderful Mary Taft for setting all that up! We feel loved. Hope you all enjoy the images. We still think she's the most beautiful baby ever... and still the smallest baby ever.

[LIFE] Before Parenthood

We just received a book we created called "Life Before Parenthood"... it's been 2 years in the making. We sent it to print the day after Joelle was born. The book documents our life before we started on the journey of having children (from meeting in Maui, moving to Oregon and finding out that we were prego - the whole journey is documented in there). Hopefully we will never forget the stories and adventures we had as the "Gary & Courtney Show". It's definitely not about us anymore, and that's okay... it's the "Joelle Show" and she'll be the main star for a while :) We just wanted a way to preserve our story (accompanied with killer pictures of course). I think this is how we will do all our photo albums from here on out... in a professional book bound, hard cover, full bleed, 200+/- pg album... something that will last a life time.

FALL = FAV

Just wanted to share an image of Court and Joelle kickin' it outside our casa from a few days ago. We've been trying to get outside and enjoy the fall weather before the wrath of winter is upon us. It's stankin' beautiful out here! All the colors, the smells.... mmmmm. I (Gary) have been able to get outside and do some waterfowl hunting in the past few weeks. It's been a great season so far! I wish I could say the same for our fall soccer league :( If our indoor soccer team had a marketing slogan, it would be "Yah, you'll probably beat us, but we'll make you fight for it." Anyways, now that Fall is officially here, I need to grow a burly beard and start sporting the smelly flannels... then I'll be a true Oregonian.

Emote360 in ProPhoto Mag

Emote360 and Kevin Kubota have been featured in this months issue of Professional Photographer Magazine. Go ahead and pick up a copy at... places where you'll find magazines :) ... Barnes and Noble or your local 711 - I dunno. The article is near the end, pg 146, in the "Good Works" section, titled "Building A Future" - highlighting an emote360 trip to Rwanda with Ben Edwards & Kevin Kubota (named one of the top 10 photographers in the world - ALSO an emote360 board member - which is waaaay cooler :). It's a pretty sweet spotlight for emote360 as things are just getting underway for our organization. By this time next month, we'll be opening our doors for service. Exciting times! I'll post more info on this blog in a few weeks to help you understand who emote360 is (a nonprofit media company) and what it will accomplish (help other npos with their media needs), and our role in co-launching this organization. Stay tuned.

PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS

Here's a little highlight reel from some of our latest and greatest photography shoots (portrait, wedding, fams, maternity...etc). Go ahead and press that there PLAY button - we dare you! Really what I'm trying to do is test Vimeo and their video capabilities for use on this blog - so far I'm impressed. To see another video we embedded through Vimeo, check out our Boating Trip from a few months back. Anyways, we're anticipating a great year for our humble photo biz. We already have LOADS of o-nine photo shoots on the ole calendar (mainly in SoCal & Oregon... but we'll probably make it over to the islands as well (we heart traveling for photo shoots). Enjoy the show.

Visit our Photography Website - the answer is "YES", we would be honored to shoot (slash) photograph you. Send us an email and we'll make it happen.

OUR BLOG: Cleaner, Newer, Fresher

Hey all, with some down time on our hands, we cracked some serious html code and made some improvements on our blog. Here's just a few of the added features: 1) Increased the width of the blog to showcase more content, 2) Made the pictures HUGE for your viewing pleasure (you can still click on any image to view it even larger, but it's okay to be lazy every once in a while - we understand), 3) Added a sweet flash widget for Twitter (it's addicting, but man it's fun to know what friends and family are up to on a regular basis - JOIN IT), 4) We cleaned up the orange sidebar on the right for easy navigation to our website links and our older blog posts, 5) Took away that annoying Blogger Navbar, 6) We have less blog entries per page for faster loading - so to see older content on other pages, simply scroll down to the end of this page and click "Older Posts" 7) And we added a Welcome Message to introduce people to the blog and why it's important to us. In all, I like the changes and think it makes it more functional and efficient... which fits my personality to a "T" - I come across as a low key guy, but really I'm as high strung as the "Highest Octave G String" on a 12 string guitar :)

OUR BIRTH - as it happens

Well folks, it is indeed happening... we're having a baby TODAY! Good thing we've been studying our "Pregnancy & Baby Instructional Books" - (click above image) - man, we could have really screwed things up if we didn't read that book ;)

Okay lets fill you in! We'll use THIS Blog Post to keep you updated (so feel free to forward our link to friends & fam). Check back every couple of hours for more updates (they will appear below this paragraph). Keep us in your prayers.

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Sunday - 10:30am

We checked in at 9am for another fluid level test. They're checking fluid levels and... survey says: it's too low for Joelle to remain safe inside the womb, she'll be better off outside. Every visit has been progressively less fluid. Everything else (Joelle's vitals & Mom's vitals) are normal, we just don't have as much fluid as we'd like. Two healthy girls though! So that's a blessing! And Joelle is 37 weeks along, so she should fine-n-dandy. I guess we'll find out when they pull her out.

Sunday - 11:15am

It IS just about time. We're prepping for the surgery. Once they pull Joelle out, it'll be "Daddy Time" for the first half hour or so while they stitch Court back up. Then we'll all reunite back in our room... at least that's the plan.

Sunday - 1:00pm

Surgery wen't AWESOME. Joelle is beautiful... she looks like a Keating! Her and Court are bonding and eating... so weird... we're suddenly PARENTS! She's 6lbs 6oz and quite a crier.

Sunday - 4:15pm
Bath + Food for all + Nap + New room with a view + Fruit smoothies + Soft baby things + Amazing nurses = one happy family.

Sunday - 6:00pm
Had some time to bust out the "big camera" and snap some photos while everyone was resting in the afternoon light (these photos are already my all-time favorite images I've EVER taken). Now it's time for friends and family to start visiting! Time to show off our drop-dead gorgeous daughter!

Sunday - 8:30pm
We've had lots of awesome friends visit, baby and mom are doing fantastic and Grandpa and Grandma Keating (Dennis & Marsha) just flew in on a last minute flight from Socal to visit their first grand baby. Gary's mom, Laloni (she's already a professional grandma) is also here and we're all just enjoying Joelle... she's so tiny and cute! And she looks like Court's baby pic.

Sunday - 10:00pm
A massive "THANK YOU" to all of you out there - for your love and support. It is VERY much appreciated! We feel so blessed to have such outstanding friends and family. Good night everyone, we'll catch you all in the A.M.

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Monday - 11:30am

It was a looooong night. Baby and Mom are a-okay, the grandparents brought us some killer burritos and coffee (God bless you people)... so now we're just hanging out in ye ole room. We'll probably be in the hospital until Wed (maybe Tuesday if we obey the rules). Courtney is off of all the I.V.'s and tubes...etc. She's walking around and feeling REAL good - thanks to our friend Percocet. So far, nothing crazy to report... everyone is doing awesome.

Here's Joelle with "Marmee" (Gary's Mom's Grandma Name)

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Tuesday - 7:30am

Happy Anniversary Court! You amaze me and I couldn't be more in love with you than in this moment right now! Two years with the most smokin' hot lady in the universe... and I'm looking forward to the rest of my life with my two piping-hot bambinos!

Well, our second night here at the hospital was a lot better than our first. Joelle fed like a champ, we all got some sleep and Court just ordered the LARGEST breakfast known to man (dear room service: I could kiss you right now, you're the best). It looks pretty cold and miserable outside our window, so we're content to just remain inside and relax. Although, I (Gary) am about as cooped up as a caged Orangutan... I need to get out of this room for once :) Maybe I'll go make a "second breakfast" run for Court... she's an eating machine.

Tuesday - 9:00am
All the Docs just got done visiting us, they said Mom & Baby are rock stars. They also said we'll be released tomorrow morning - hurray! ... but also scary at the same time! They're just ganna let us walk out of here and be on our own... I don't know how I feel about that right now :)

Tuesday - 6:00pm
All is well with Team Christenson. Yup, still just chillin' in the ole hospital room. We're thankful for one more night under the superb care of St. Charles Hospital, but at the same time, we'll be stoked to be at home and under the care of Grandpa & Grandma Keating :) Oh, Courts milk came in surprisingly early and from what I can gather, it's pretty crazy! Joelle is beyond stoked to have a super full belly though.

Tuesday - 8:15pm
First things first, we love love love Joelle, there is nothing more beautiful or more precious in this world :) We just got done with a massive lasagna dinner and some beers provided by the lovely Marsha & Dennis, and we just received THE BEST floral arrangement piece from Mary Taft - she's so awesome! All the nurses and docs have commented on them. We got caught up on some SNL debate coverage and now it's bed time! Honestly, we're pretty wiped (especially Court), so keep her in your prayers these next couple weeks. For a healthy recovery and for lots-o-rest. We're expecting life to be kinda difficult for a bit, so please forgive us for not responding to emails and calls on a regular basis. We REALLY REALLY love you all and appreciate your encouragement and support in this journey. We couldn't do it without you. Hopefully we'll be reporting from home tomorrow. Sleep Tight.

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Wednesday - 9:00am

We're up, had a killer breakfast, Joelle is a pro at feeding and we're all really well rested! Joelle is seriously doing fabulous - she's even started gaining weight. Both our docs visited and gave us the go-ahead to take our kiddo home... Holla! We're way ahead of schedule and the nurses and docs are very impressed with both girls. Praise the Lord!

Wednesday - 2:00pm
We're home and loving every second of it. It's amazing how little you really need in life to survive. All we had in that little hospital room was a bathroom, 1.5 beds (mine was really more of a couch), an extra sink, our Cameras and my Mac Book Pro (a must have for life in general:). Now we come home to our awesome house full of all our CRAP that we just keep accumulating - don't get me wrong, we're lovin' the crap right now. It's all just extra fluff and really not that necessary to life, it's just comfort... but man it's great in this moment... we're blessed, or should I say spoiled ;) Welp, our house really does feel like a home now with the kiddo in it. Life is good my friends, and we feel a whole new purpose in life.