Vanessa: Trash the Dress

When Melissa's mother, Vanessa, told me she'd like to do a Trash the Dress session, the first thing I thought was, isn't this a little late? Her parents are celebrating their 30 year anniversary early next year and she thought it would be a fun gift for her husband. The second thing I thought was, sweet! A wedding dress from the 70's could be cool! Since she had no use for her dress that's been hanging in a closet for the last 30 years, and not only wanted to trash it, she wanted to destroy it with scissors. (Contrary to what this might be suggesting, they have a happy marriage :). When we asked her why she wanted to cut up her dress, she said she thought it was ugly, so why not? Although it was a cold morning, she agreed to sit in a creek while destroying her dress. She ended up not really needing the scissors because it was easy to rip. Overall, we had a lot of fun photographing Vanessa. The moral of this story is: it's never too late to Trash your dress!

Caitlin & Mark's engagement session: Yakima, WA

Caitlin and Mark's wedding is coming up next month so we just barely squeezed in an Engagement session. We believe that doing an engagement session always sets us way ahead when it comes to the wedding day. Besides creating the best engagement photos we can, we get to know the couple and become familiar with photographing them. Almost like practicing for the big day. With Mark and Caitlin we found out they like casual looking photos but also don't mind taking some direction to different ideas. Our end result was creating genuine moments of fun and romance!



We started at the residential property of their soon to be wedding in June. Next, we headed to downtown Yakima to add an "urban flair" to the session. ("Urban" only meaning side streets, colorful grafetti, and old trains. That's about as urban as Yakima was going to get. :)







We finished the night at outside of the First Presbyterian church



Overall, we got some fun portraits that really showcased their obvious love for each other. Congrats on the engagement, Mark and Caitlin and we can't wait to capture your wedding day next month!


And Melissa made me add this last one... She likes to make fun of how I lay on the ground...

Article related links:
www.RossJamesPhotography.com
First Presbyterian Church of Yakima
The Depot Restaurant and Lounge - They have a good plate of Nachos!

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Monica & Brian's Engagement Session: Spokane, WA

For Monica and Brian's engagement session we met them downtown Spokane and relived the day Brian proposed by walking to all the places they went together that day. Brian first surprised Monica by standing in a mall display window next to some mannequins with a SURPRISE! sign. Monica worked there and he knew she would be walking by... I can't think of a better way to surprise her!

So we thought we could get away with taking some photos in the mall where this went down but we pretty much immediately got kicked out by a security guard. So we made our way to the restaurant RAW sushi & island grill [website] where the couple ate dinner the evening of his proposal.


Then we made our way to Riverfront Park [website]





I took this below while Melissa was photographing Monica and Brian. That's Melissa with the camera, she shoots primarily black and white (like the 2 above). This bridge is where the proposal actually happened.


Monica and Brian - we are really looking forward to your wedding day!

Article relate links:
www.RossJamesPhotography.com
Brian Wilkins - Swiftpage CSR
RAW sushi & island grill
Spokane Riverfront Park

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Shelly: Trash the Dress

"Trash the wedding dress?" We know, we know... trashing a wedding dress is a little bit crazy, but before you start wondering why a recently married bride would "trash" her expensive wedding dress or why she would even want to, let me explain the idea behind this type of photography session called "Trash the Dress":

The idea behind a "Trash the Dress" session is based on "creation, not destruction"according to the official website www.trashthedress.com . While the wedding day is all about romantic, heart fluttering portraits, "Trash the Dress" sessions are all about edgy, fashion inspired images that take place in unexpected locations. Many brides are choosing to create extraordinary bridal portraits after their wedding day, instead of storing the dress in a closet, never to be worn again. And if the dress has to get muddy or wet in the process, so be it. It's not for everyone, but if you're thinking about trying it, ask us about the 50 ideas we have for amazing "Trash the Dress" sessions. (A bathtub in the forest, a golf course, romantic canoe ride, baking a wedding cake, swimming pool, and the list goes on...)

For Shelly's session it was raining in Seattle and her dress did not get trashed... just a little wet :) We revisited the Seattle Sculpture Park where we created some of Chau and Shelly's engagement photos (click here if you haven't seen them).


This look familiar? Your probably remembering this photo we did last year at the Seattle Sculpture park, same people same place :)



more at the Seattle sculpture park


a nearby parking garage





We made these indoor photos after a very nice dinner at Nijo Sushi bar & grill in Seattle. I had the Franks & Beans sushi and Tempura green tea ice cream. It was amazing :) But anyways, just down the hall were some stairs and some spot lights hitting the wall and we turned it into our last set for the evening.





Chau and Shelly's rings on chopsticks while we were waiting for our sushi.

Chris & Tana's wedding day

Here's for all of you who are just waiting to see some of Chris and Tana's photos on May 3rd at the Party Barn (Springwood Ranch). We're still working on editing all of them, but for now here's a short video slideshow (24 photos).


[youtube link]

Chris and Tana- we really enjoyed working with you and hope you are having a blast on your honeymoon in Florida!

Our Website- www.rossjamesphotography.com

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Published on TrashtheDress.com!

We are very excited to have our pictures from Venesa's last session featured on TrashtheDress.com!

Check it out here, or go to A Cowgirl Trashes Her Dress to read about the session.

Dan & Melissa: Engagement Session

Dan & Melissa live in Texas and are planning a June wedding. We scheduled their engagement session while they were back in Washington state visiting family. They wanted their session to take place in Ellensburg, because they met while attending Central Washington University. In discussing the session, we decided to "re-live" their first couple of dates in Ellensburg. We started at the CWU campus, since that's where they met. Next, we headed to Winegars, a local ice cream shop that they enjoyed going to. We all got a good laugh watching their son, Hayden, play with the icecream spoons. After we were stuffed from icecream, we headed to the Tav, another local place they both enjoyed going to while living in Ellensburg. They played a round of pool, then we headed to the Ellensburg Bowling Alley where they had their very first date. Talk about memories! We finished the session at Pasta Company Restaurant, a place they love to eat at, and also where they had their second date. Dan, Melissa, and Hayden: you were a joy to work with and we are looking forward to your wedding in June!