kacy jo photography

New Blog!

2009-01-13T14:27:00.000-08:00

I will no longer be posting on this blog, please update your bookmarks and blog readers and head on over to www.kacyjo.net for all future posts!

It's much prettier, bigger pictures... you'll like it, just go. No pressure... do it. :)

a year in review...

2008-12-31T07:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess it's the time of year to look back on all of my 2008 shenanigans!

Let's see...

- Spent a month in Australia with friends

(Ben, me, Sarah, Irwin the koala bear, Katie, Jaime - check out my awesome sunburned face, it was early on in the trip...)

(rafting on the Tully river)

(note the huge hat to shield my sunburned face, haha)

- Immediately followed by 12 days in New Zealand

(on our way to Paradise - we saw it on the map and thought it was a good idea... and that van is way more comfortable than it looks - I should know, Heidi and I slept in it one night when we didn't like the looks of a hostel in Dunedin!)

(...and that would be Paradise)

- Turned 25 (quarter century, watch out!)

- Went to Vegas for WPPI, where I got a free upgrade to a pretty huge (nearly 2,000 sq ft) room

- Went to Berkeley for a photography workshop, then spent some time in San Francisco and Napa Valley

- Vermont/NYC trip w/ TJ for a wedding

(mmmm, trash in times square)

(yeah this is on top of the Empire State building, you can see tj in my glasses. It wasn't a well documented trip... lol)

- Suzy came to Oregon for 10 days to shoot weddings w/ me - and get into other trouble on the side :)

(at the rodeo in... oh I can't remember)

- Went to Maui for Kyla & James' wedding, and stuck around for a few days to do touristy things

(Haleakala crater)

(pit stop on the road to Hana)

- Went to Seattle to watch my cousin Danny FINALLY get married ;)

- Spent some time in Austin, TX for Suzy's birthday

- A few shorter camping/coast/Bend/Sunriver trips sprinkled throughout the year

All in all, I was away on trips 82 days (about 12 weeks) of this year. No wonder my mom calls me a gypsy...

Giving is Awesome (better late than never!)

2008-12-22T13:11:00.000-08:00

So far 469 photographers nationwide are giving away $499,095 worth of custom photography nationwide thru www.givingisawesome.com - I just checked the map and there isn't anyone representing the Willamette Valley... and someone has to push the total over the half mil mark :)

So without further adieu, the copy/pasted verbage from the site w/ my info thrown in, because I'm just not that eloquent. Most importantly, the winner will be chosen on New Year's Eve instead of Christmas Eve like everyone else, because... I said so. :)

----

You know someone. You know someone who's experienced a tragedy, is struggling to stay afloat, is raising kids while holding down more than one job, or is volunteering selflessly despite extenuating personal circumstances. You know someone who can't afford custom photography, but who would cherish it this holiday season. You know someone who deserves a year-round reminder of their family's spirit, love, and beauty.

You know someone. I guarantee it.

I want to know who they are, and I want to give them the chance to experience complimentary custom photography -- $2550 worth, to be exact. The winner will receive a session with me, a custom-designed album, and the final images on DVD with personal printing rights.

Oh, and the best part? The person who nominates the winner receives a $255 print credit. What better reason to show some love could there possibly be, people?

The rules:

* You cannot nominate yourself, and the person nominated must sincerely be incapable of purchasing my services. (Being unable to make mortgage payments for a two-million-dollar-vacation-home in Paris does not qualify as sincere financial need.)

* The nominee must reside in Oregon. Tell me who you know, what they're experiencing, and why they deserve my artwork. Please include a way to contact both your nominee and yourself as well.

* You must e-mail me the full story : kacy@kacyjo.com.

The winner will be announced on New Year's Eve -- get nominating! I can't wait to read all of your entries!

Open your heart to someone this holiday season -- and thanks for giving me the opportunity to open mine.

Happy Holidays!

Kacy Jo

Kristin & Matt on Deal or No Deal, Christmas Day!

2008-12-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

If your Christmas day festivities have wound down by evening and you need something to do, be sure to check out the Deal or No Deal Christmas special on NBC to see Kristin and Matt, Corvallis locals, try to win the big bucks!

They skipped their honeymoon to shoot the show just a few days after their wedding, so let's hope they at least win enough for an awesome belated honeymoon :)

The 2-hour special starts at 8pm on the 25th and features 2 contestants, they'll be the second half.

The show sent a videographer up to the wedding with strict orders to make them re-enact their vows saying "deal!" instead of "I do," - I'm not sure what it'll look like, but for the record that's not how the actual ceremony went, haha! :)

Snow!

2008-12-17T01:41:00.001-08:00

For those of you who aren't in the Northwest, we've been having some snow storms lately... Usually in the Willamette Valley we get a bit here and there, and it melts away pretty fast. Not this time!

These were all taken on Monday -

First I wandered around my neighborhood and successfully froze my face pretty well for an hour or so:

Then my friend Ben convinced a group of us to head up to Mary's Peak for a Christmas tree, which turned into quite the adventure.

Not long into the trip we came across an F350 on HWY 34 that was in a bit of a pickle - The photo would be a lot more dramatic if I had slid my way across the highway for a better angle, but that's a steep 40-foot drop that the front driver's side tire was hanging over (nice work purple truck dude). That'd be my friend Jon's truck behind it, about to pull it out. If I didn't drive a Ford truck myself I would appreciate the Dodge/Ford truck humor in it a little more...

After that debacle, we were off of the highway and headed up the mountain. Not more than 10 minutes in we came across a 4Runner stuck in the snow. Their friends in the Jeep were definitely no help, so Jon got to put his towing skills to work again...

When all was said and done, what we thought would be a 2 hour trip took around 6 hours. I guess buying a tree off of a lot is easier, but it doesn't make that good of a story! :)

Hope everyone is staying safe and warm!

Tanner & Auston w/ Duke

2008-12-13T17:36:00.000-08:00

This is what a super-tired, 5-week-old boxer puppy looks like:

This was a quick shoot for my friend's Christmas cards, I think poor Duke was a bit confused as to why he'd been taken away from his nap and thrown into the cold weather! :)

Photographers are dorks :)

2008-11-26T11:23:00.000-08:00

My friend Emily took this last Friday nite at a little photographer get-together we had in Portland to play around with lighting. Thanks Kevin for the push :)

Hannah: Senior Session

2008-11-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

A few from Hannah's senior session last week out at the farm! She was so cute, makes me wish my hair wasn't boring brown :)

Ariel

2008-11-18T23:53:00.000-08:00

Back to reality! I got back into Corvallis late yesterday - It was nice to have a weekend away from the computer, but not so nice playing catchup now that the computer and I have been reunited!

It helps that I get to look at pretty faces all day while I work on images, could be worse :) Here are a few more from Ariel's senior session last week:

And a few more of her and her boyfriend Chris:

Happy Birthday Kylyn!

2008-11-16T06:30:00.000-08:00

My youngest sister (and roommate) Kylyn turns the big 2-0 today!

Gone again!

2008-11-14T14:00:00.000-08:00

I'm headed to Sunriver for the weekend (be back Tuesday), armed with cough drops, Emergen-C and Throat Coat! Good thing my big plans were renting a stack of movies and taking a lot of naps in front of the fireplace.

Watch, within a few days there'll be a comment from my mom telling me I should be taking vitamins every day, not just when I get sick :)

Meanwhile enjoy this lovely photo Suzy took of me while we were goofing around in Texas last weekend - I'm on top of a school bus in an area where we were warned about rattlesnakes and chiggers, and that's Kim looking like she's doing a cartwheel between my legs in the background. Doesn't get much weirder than that! Well I'm sure it does, but maybe not weirder + blog appropriate :)

And just in case you need to see more of me (and who wouldn't? kidding!), you can check out the photos TJ took of me a few weeks ago. I'm pretty certain that I was the most difficult subject he's ever had to deal with, but he's still talking to me so it must not have been *that* bad. You can see more on TJ's blog.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ariel (and Chris)

2008-11-14T06:30:00.000-08:00

Just one from Ariel's senior session yesterday, more to come!

Happy Veterans Day!

2008-11-11T11:22:00.000-08:00

Doesn't quite have the same ring to it as "Happy Birthday!" or "Happy New Year!," but just wanted to say thank you to my grandpa, brother-in-law, friends and clients who have served our country (and anyone else for that matter!).

A few pics I dug up from my brother-in-law Mike's demobilization ceremony back in January of '06 - He was a lieutenant in the cavalry, hence the spurs and cowboy hat. I think they should've been riding horses though :)

Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch - Texas

2008-11-07T18:54:00.000-08:00

East Bound (...and Down)

2008-11-05T11:57:00.000-08:00

I'm taking off later today and will be back in the office on Monday - I'm headed to Austin, Texas for my friend Suzy's birthday! Our friend Kim will be flying in from Wisconsin as well.

Sounds like it'll be an interesting weekend, I'm talking to Suzy online right now and she's sending me links for a miniature horse farm at a monestary, an ice cream factory tour, and Wurstfest... among other things. So we'll see how it goes! :)

I'll be slow with email/phone calls til I get back, but it's only a few days so I'm sure you'll all survive without me :)

Hoppy Halloween!

2008-10-31T12:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't found any more Halloween photos from the past lately so here's one of the ones I posted two years ago. I'm the cowgirl, my sister Miranda is the plastic frog queen... or something...

Morgan

2008-10-29T16:02:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I asked Morgan to put her wedding dress back on and come out with me for another shoot - we got to do it a few weeks ago, here are a few of my favorites!

Morgan jumped in this box and declared herself a mail-order bride, haha :)

Thanks Morgan!

Krista

2008-10-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

Krista was so cute, we did her session at the farm last week and the weather turned out perfect. I love her glasses, almost makes me wish I didn't have perfect vision :)

Sidenote, that vine-covered building behind her in the last 2 shots was the "hideout" for my friends and I back in our much, much younger days. If you went in there today I'm pretty sure you'll still find "KK + JTT" doodled everywhere. And "SN + JTT," (sorry Ms. Nolan, gotta give your students some ammunition! haha) "LE + JTT" ..... we had a problem, I don't want to talk about it :)

And yes I'm over it, I think he's still super short and I have an 'over 6 foot' rule ;)

Open House Recap

2008-10-28T16:28:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who came out last Thursday for our open house! We had a great turnout, I would guesstimate over 75 people showed up - it was probably the free beer :)

A few images from the photo booth:

Melissa and Jenny, both photographers from Albany -

Myself and one of my best dude-friends, Ben - don't we look pretty?

Jeff (the man in charge) and I -

Lainie and Jeff posing w/ MOM magazine, the editors dropped by and I don't think they realized they were leaving us with a new prop! :)

I'll keep everyone posted on future get-togethers. Thanks again to those who came, it was fun to see everyone!

Caitlin

2008-10-22T14:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Caitlin and her mom came down from Portland and met me in Eugene for her senior session - They are both so funny, we had a great time!

Ashley + 'Vette - cont'd

2008-10-20T15:54:00.000-07:00

A few more of Ashley with her dad's 1962 Corvette out at Zenith Vineyard. Thank you to the owners for letting us have free run of the place for awhile! :)

Kristen

2008-10-17T20:25:00.000-07:00

Just in case anyone was wondering what I'm doing this fine Friday evening.... just finished editing Kristen's photos! I'm also watching Oprah, and my cat is next to me on the couch. Hmmm....

Kristen and her brother Keith, who was one of my senior victims a few years ago :)

Brian

2008-10-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

I'm on a senior blog posting roll today, hence the last few posts having zero words... What can I say, it's tough work putting thoughts into sentences and sometimes I just don't have the time :P

But here's my fav part of the conversation w/ Brian last Saturday:

Me: Isn't the homecoming dance tonite?

Brian: Yeah but I'm going to the Duck game.

Me: Ohhh you're gonna disappoint all the ladies??

Brian: Well my girlfriend's going with me.

Hahaha. My kind of people - except for the Duck part :)

I don't know whose dog this is but it made a cute prop for a second, haha!

Amanda

2008-10-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

Madison

2008-10-16T12:31:00.000-07:00