New "About Us" Photos

Here are a few self portraits (that we took for our Photography Website - which we've recently updated) ... we set up in the middle of some random field in Central Oregon and had some fun snapping photos of each other. A massive shout-out to the self timer on our cameras - couldn't have done it without you :)

Good to be Home

Wanted to post some recent images of our little girl. She's developing more and more each day. Right now she's really into eating her hands, giggling and playing with anything in sight. Her smile is beautiful, she's getting more and more curious about her surroundings (and our cameras), and is extremely vocal. She's also starting to get quite a little attitude :)

Asia = Conquered

Well, our travels through Asia are over and I couldn't be happier to be home and with my beautiful girls (man, I missed them). Over the last two weeks we pretty much traveled every way imaginable: 747, small crappy Indian planes, first class, coach, bus, motorcycle, train, subway, taxi, rickshaw (motorbike taxi), ox & trailer, and loads of walking. And surprisingly enough, there was only a FEW times during our trip that I thought I would die... Indian drivers are NUTS :) In all, India was an amazing experience and very eye opening. It'll take me quite some time to process everything that happened - but I'm looking forward to it. Thailand was a real breath of fresh air after our time in India. We stayed in Bangkok for several days and I appreciated every second of it.

Although Bangkok is basically like NYC (huge, tons to do, and massive buildings), my favorite part of it was when we explored the city via small wooden boats. We cruised through the canals and witnessed some very peaceful life on the river. Also, at 3am when we were heading to the airport, I saw a dude riding an elephant through the city streets... that was sweet. I would go back to Thailand at the drop of a hat and want to explore it more in the future. I just loved it.

We also flew into the small international business hub called Singapore (a tiny Island nation off the coast of Malaysia) and it was insanely beautiful, clean and modern. It's 200+ square miles with close to 5 million people living on it. We stayed there for two days to recoup at the beach and hotel before our long travels home. It reminded me a lot of Honolulu, Oahu minus the rugged terrain.

To learn more about the trip to India and why we went, please visit the emote360 blog. I'm thankful to be home. Thank you all for your prayers during this trip. God really protected us and watched over all our production gear. There were many situations that were on the verge of quickly "going south", but thankfully did not. I believe that was the power of all of our prayers - so thank you very much.

India Updates

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you all know that our media team made it safely into India. For updates on our project, please visit the emote360 BLOG. We'll try and update it every couple of days.

To India with emote360

Well folks, I'm off to India for two weeks, and Courtney & Joelle are heading back to SoCal to kick it with friends and family. So we'll be out of touch until the 27th or so. (If you need to contact us, do so by emailing Courtney at courtney@garyachristenson.com). For those of you that don't know, I'm co-founder and art director of an organization called emote360 (www.emote360.com), it's a 501c3 non-profit production company that creates media for other non-profits. Three of us from emote360 are heading to India to make a documentary film about an organization called Harvest India - follow our trip on the emote360 blog. This expedition is just one of the many exciting trips that emote360 will be a part of this year. God has blessed us so much and it's a dream come true to use my gifts in this way. I'll be the documentary photographer for the emote360 media team. The imagery I capture will be used for promotional materials that I design for Harvest India (website, print collateral, DVD menu & design, use in the documentary film...etc). Please pray for safety while traveling and while on the ground in India (I'm sure you are aware of the conflicts that are happening over there).

For more detailed information on our trip please visit this LINK on the emote360 Blog which explains the purpose of the trip, the intense schedule, the funding needs and various ways you can help. Currently, 90% of our project expenses have been financially met with NO solicitation thus far (which is amazing and we’re extremely grateful to our big donors that made it possible for us to purchase tickets and get over there to capture the media we need), however, we’re still needing to raise $6,000 to help offset the projects total cost (post production of the final DVD). Please consider partnering with us to finish raising the support we need to create this documentary for Harvest India. Tax-deductible donations can be made by CLICKING HERE.

Any donation over $25 will receive the final DVD that we produce - as a Thank You Gift. With over 100 people visiting this blog on a daily basis (plus the traffic on the emote360 blog), it wouldn't take a large sum from each person to complete our fundraising efforts. Thanks for your consideration in helping emote360 help other nonprofits.

We'll be back blogging in a few weeks. Keep it classy America.

Wedding Albums

Just got more albums back from our printer! One 11x14 Bride & Groom Album and two smaller Parent Albums. We stankin' love these things, and are still convinced that this is THE BEST way to display photos. They're so style-ee & b-e-a-utiful, and it definitely gets a crap load of attention... just like our daughter - we'd pretty much describe Joelle that way too :) Have a great weekend everybody!

Client: OLC

Just finished up a BRANDING overhaul on a natural resources company called Oregon Lumber Components. The vision for this logo was a mixture of a few concepts:

1) Traditional Values meets Forward Thinking - Since they've been in the industry for several decades now, they wanted something that would show their heritage in the industry, but also help establish themselves as leaders for the future of earth-friendly wood products. So I brought in a fresh green & charcoal color scheme, accompanied with a serif font that give a "foundational" look to their logo. And then I created an icon that shows "forward thinking" and "conservation of natural resources" through recycling their products (round it goes).
2) Eco Friendly - the main product they produce is a massive collapsible shipping container used for food and liquid transportation on a world market. This shipping "box" is better on the environment than their competitors products and it's completely recyclable once the product has been used).

Overall, OLC is a really innovative company and I think the new brand accurately represents who they are and where they are going in the industry.

Portraits: Wilkens Family

We had the pleasure of taking some portraits of the Wilkens family over the holiday. We ventured out of town on a super chilly January afternoon and loved every second of it... it was seroiusly chilly vanilly. Sidenote: Check out how well everyone's spine is aligned with thier bodies... seriously, take a look... not a bone out of place :) ... Jim is actually a chiropractor (and a darn good one at that), so I had to throw that one in there.

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

Saint Dee-a-go

We just arrived back in Bend, OR after THE longest day of flying /slash/ sitting in airports... but at last, we are home. Joelle received 7 gold stars for flying so well, it was her first time... obviously, she's only 3 months old. And she spoke her first word while on the plane, we swear we heard her say "pharmaceutical" :) Anyways, we seriously had the best holiday in SoCal with Courtney's side of the family. We introduced Joelle to the beach (which she wasn't really a fan of), did some "polar bear club" surfing, played Wii, spent New Years with Court's 93.5 cousins (who are seriously the raddest), and just had lots - o - quality time with Court's immediate family (G-pa, G-ma, Bryce and Shaun). We appreciate our family and feel so loved by them. In a few weeks, Court is flying back to be with family while I go to India. Lots to look forward to in Oh Nine: International travels, vacationing in Maui, the potential of buying a house, watching Joelle develop, shooting more photos in various states and countries, and helping out more non-profit organizations... Happy New Year Everyone!



Trying to get Joelle in on some Wii... she loved watching.

Four generations of beautiful-ness

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.