Shanna Chess Photography

I had such a great time at Cindi and Blake's wedding.  They are such a fun and laid back couple.  Their wedding party was full of loving and hilarious people as well.  And their families are amazing.  We started off the day with the Bride and Bridesmaids arriving at the venue with just Cindi needing to get into her dress.  The boys arrived and we went right into the First Look.  I just loved Blake's facial expressions :)  The venue, Oak Knoll Acres, was just perfect for their personalities--a beautiful remodeled barn in Creswell.  The wedding party photos were so much fun!  We loved the spot with the tall trees lining the outside of a field so took most of the formal portraits there.  The ceremony was beautiful and quick and even their dog, Wyatt came out to congratulate them after exchanging their vows.  And of course the reception was a blast!  People dancing and even taking the microphone for some rapping and singing :) ...

Raelee turned ONE on July 2nd, but with the Fourth of July holiday in there, we waited until this past weekend to have her party.  I decided on an Alice in Wonderland theme a while ago and loved the play on words for "Raelee in ONE-derland" and with the help of Pinterest and some creative thought, I put this party together.  Of course with help from my husband, a good friend, my dad and my stepmom :)  I am part of our local MOMs Club and every year we have a family picnic.  Last year our President chose the picnic shelters in Lively Park behind SPLASH! in Springfield.  I saw them and fell in love!  Well, as much as you can fall in love with picnic shelters :)  They are super tall with lovely curves and lines.  They are CLEAN!  Which is rare for a picnic shelter at a public park.  There are huge gas grills, hot plates, sinks with running hot/cold water, power, tons of nice picnic tables, high tables for food and a very nice park.   ...

Had such a lovely afternoon celebrating the impending arrival of Erin's second little boy :)  They aren't sharing the name yet and it is driving everyone bonkers!  But I'm lucky to be able to meet him shortly after his anticipated arrival to take his newborn photographs. Laura was the gracious hostess and had the shower in her beautiful home in Veneta.  Her back yard has the most amazing views of the mountains on the way to Florence, so it was the perfect setting for the tables to be set up.  There was amazing food, yummy desserts and fun games!  Erin was showered with amazing gifts and a good time was had by all :)  Enjoy!

Raelee is going to be One next month and is having a Very Merry First Un-Birthday Tea Party in ONE-derland :) So of course, she needed an Alice dress, made my Knotted Wear 4 Kids , and a black bow on her adorable little head, made by The Rogue Baby .  And I special ordered a custom backdrop from Butterfly Backdrops that will also be used in the photo booth at her party. Enjoy!

I can't believe Fiona is 4!  It doesn't seem that long ago that I did their first photo session as a family when she was only 2.5 :)  Her mom went all out for this adorable and fun party!  It was filled with crafts, princess dresses, a fashion show, yummy food and cupcakes! Happy Birthday to Fiona and Bijoux!

Please bare with me.  I am trying to figure out Google+ and I noticed there were pictures that I uploaded to this blog on there.  I only saw really old images and things like my logo or the background design that I uploaded when I first opened my business.  So I deleted them from Google+.  Apparently, that deletes them, and ALL OF MY PHOTOS EVER UPLOADED from this blog as well :(  Yes, I am yelling. This will take a very long time and some images are off my computers and on my external hard drive by now. I need to decide how far back I am wanting to fix the posts. So I am slowly re-uploading and editing blog posts from the past almost 2 years.  Ugh.  It may take a while.  All the pictures can be seen in my portfolio here .  Sorry and thanks for your understanding!

Kelsey had such a fun Birthday party at the Science Factory this past weekend!  A fun tie-dyed theme, a magic show and a bubble experiment.  Oh, and who could forget the delicious cake from Sweet Life!?  Happy 9th Birthday Kelsey!

I love this couple.  I had so much fun photographing their beautiful wedding.  They are so much fun!  Andrea was I'm sure, the most laid back bride ever.  She was a delight to work with and looked absolutely gorgeous.  Curt was very GQ-esque in his tux :)  The event was in Springfield, Oregon at Along Came Trudy .  A gorgeous and rustic wedding venue surrounded by orchards and next to the McKenzie River.  The ceremony took place right by the river and the bride and groom exited via boat :)  The reception was in an open barn with lovely white lights strung throughout.  Guests enjoyed the wood fired pizza, huge sweets and dessert tables, and a s'mores bar. Congrats to Mr. & Mrs. Edwards!  Enjoy the pictures here and check out their PASS Gallery :) http://shannachessphotography.pass.us/edwardswedding/

So excited to photograph my first wedding as the primary photographer today.  Congratulations to Curt and Andrea!  I had the pleasure of photographing their engagement photos and their maternity photos.  Can't wait to share images from today.  It's going to be an amazingly beautiful day!

I had the pleasure of working alongside my  wedding photographer the last weekend of June.  Bryan and I have stayed in touch over the last 4 years since my wedding and he has been a great mentor to me when it comes to photography.  I was so happy when he moved back to Oregon so that I had a family photographer that I could trust for my personal family photos, and someone that would be a nearby resource when I needed photography help.  When I was hired to do my first wedding (coming later this summer!), I decided to ask Bryan if he had any weddings that I could 2nd shoot for so I would be more prepared.  And sure enough, he had one on June 30th!  We weren't sure if I would make it or not, because it was a mere 5 days before my due date (and 2 days before I actually delivered!) but I made it!  And I was able to be his 2nd shooter for about 5 hours that day. Tyler and Bethany had a gorgeous ceremony and reception in Creswell, Oregon at River's Edge. ...

Savannah is 2 and such a big girl!  Had a great time watching her demolish a cupcake and go down some really steep and fast slides at Putter's in Eugene, Oregon.  The place was packed  with birthday parties so it is for sure the place to celebrate on the weekends!  A great time was had by all, especially the little birthday girl, her parents Duane and Amber, and her big sister Kelsey.

I had the honor of photographing Kelsey's 8th Birthday Party at Bounce Gymnastics here in town.  Such a fun group of little girls :)  It was a great party! Enjoy!