Beckel Canvas

I have been working with Beckel Canvas for the past few months on their re-branding campaign. Beckel is a small, family owned canvas company in Portland. All their bags and tents are handmade in their shop on SE Clinton Street. Beckel is in the process of updating all of the photography on their website and print catalog and I am lucky enough to be part of the project. I recently did a lifestyle shoot in Laurelhurst and Forest Parks. Here are some of the photos.

New series: Cars

My office is in the Northwest neighborhood of Portland: a densely populated retail and residential neighborhood. Old Craftsman and Portland-style houses are packed tightly together with grand old apartment buildings and sleek new condominiums. The neighborhood gave birth to several characters in Matt Groening’s TV show, The Simpsons: Ned Flanders, the bully Kearney, Reverend Lovejoy, and Mayor Quimby all of which names are based on the alphabetically named streets.

This series started in my head a number of years ago when I lived in the neighborhood. There were so many times that I wished I had my camera to take a picture of some of the many beautiful and simple sites of the neighborhood. I have since moved out of the neighborhood, but continue to work there. Equipped with my iPhone 4s and Instagram, I have started documenting my lunch-hour walks around the neighborhood. This series has developed over the past few months and has since ventured out of the Northwest and into other Portland neighborhoods. Be sure to follow me on Instagram @markmirochaphotography and on Twitter @mmpdxphoto to see updates to this series.

Clint & Abby – Downtown Minneapolis engagement photos

I spent an afternoon in downtown Minneapolis with Clint and Abby last week. We started at the Gutherie Theater and slowly made our way through downtown to Nicolette Mall where we ended our session at The Local pub. I had a great time hanging out with these two. We’ve only been able to spend time together at weddings of friends over the last few years so it was nice to spend time with them in their day-to-day environment. Clint can make anyone laugh at the drop of the dime (as you can see from some of Abby’s expressions)! These guys were champs and braved the cold Minnesota air. The next time we see each other will be on the beach in Mexico at their wedding!

Lila & Wael – Minnehaha Falls, MN

I met Lila and Wael at Minnehaha Falls on a brisk morning last week. During my initial scout of the location before they arrived, it was so cold out that I had to go back into my car to regain feeling in my fingers. I was a little nervous about how long they would be able to make it. But let me tell you, these two were troopers! They were up for anything – including climbing up any icy rock face, walking on half frozen ice chunks, sitting dangerously close to a frozen creek, and most impressive – posing without their jackets on in 20* weather! I had a great time getting to know these two and look forward to seeing them again, hopefully next time with their kids.

Mark Mirocha Photography blog for iPad

Did you get an iPad for Christamas? Jump on over to the blog on your iPad and check out the mobile version!

Food!

I love to read all of the comments that I get on the blog, on my Facebook and on my Twitter. Invariably, the comment that I get most is “post more food pictures!”. I don’t know what it is, but people seem to love looking at pictures of food. Lydia and I do a lot of cooking at home. We are lucky to live in the Pacific Northwest where we can get beautiful, colorful, local produce year round. So, as you’ve requested, here are some images of food we’ve made over the past few months.

Broccoli rabe pizza

Cauliflower soup with mustard croutons

Prepping for a camping BBQ

My mom taught me well

An Indian spread

Kale growing in our garden

Potato and lentil soup

Spring rolls

A summer pasta

Summer crudite

Jean-Pierre Parent: OM Invasion

I did my first of many shoots with Jean-Pierre Parent of Om Invasion this weekend.  JP teaches a wide variety of classes, from “Gentle Yoga for Seniors”, to “Advanced Backbending, Arm Balances, and Inversions” with many stops in between. He also teaches therapeutic classes for specific physical and psyco-emotional benefits, like “Openings: Finding Space in Your Joints and Spine”, “Stoking the Digestive Fire: Easy Practices for Increased Metabolism, Immunity, and Enlightenment” and “Yoga for a Broken Heart” to individuals and groups.

Trained in India under the tutelage of Pujya Swamiji Chidanand Saraswati of the “Sankyayoga” tradition, or “Yoga of Self-Knowledge” JP treats the physical aspects of yoga as the doorway to the more subtle and effective aspects of yogic transformation, such as pranayama breathwork, kriyas (cleansing for the physical, emotional, and energy bodies), meditation, ritual, prayer and mantra, always with an undistracted focus on achieving observable and quantifiable positive results. His classes are tailored to individual needs, strengths and weaknesses, always presented with modifications for limited or more courageous days and are therefore accessible to all. JP’s teaching style is simultaneously irreverently fun and deeply spiritual, encouraging playful curiosity and self-discipline.

Check out Om Invasion and check back for upcoming shoots.

Bay Area Thanksgiving

I spent the holiday weekend with my family in The Bay Area…

Fall update

A few recent impressions of fall in the Northwest.

The change that I needed…

A number of years ago, when I was contemplating starting a photography business, a friend of mine who makes his living as a photographer told me to be careful about getting into photography professionally. He told me that he loved photography a lot more when he did it as a hobby than he did as a profession. He told that me that when he became a professional, he had to start taking pictures that people told him to take, and not the pictures that he wanted to take. At the time I appreciated the advice, but never thought it would be something that I ever had to worry about. I loved photography. It was my favorite hobby. I took my camera with me everywhere I went. I shot landscapes and portraits and shadows and buildings and friends and coffee mugs and window sills, anything and everything that I saw that struck me as beautiful.

Fast forward to now. I’ve been shooting professionally for awhile now and recently I have found myself seeing my camera as a hindrance. Merely a tool of my job. I kinda started resenting it. It was big, and heavy, and had too many lenses and settings and options. It wasn’t my adventurous companion anymore. Frankly, photography was starting to make me feel anxious. I had to be shooting more, shooting better, shooting all the time. I knew something needed to change.

I decided to dig out my dad’s Canon AT-1 film SLR. The camera that I learned photography on. I knew that it had light leaks and needed some repairs. I took it to Blue Moon Camera & Machine. I had it resealed and refurbished and $40 later, I had new tool. What I didn’t expect, was that I also had a new pair of eyes and new inspiration. Shooting pictures without a digital screen was fantastic. I slowed down. I surveyed the land for a longer time. I studied the light on my subject’s face for a longer time. I moved around more. Clicks were not infinite anymore and I loved it. Shooting film reinvigorated my love for observing.

I started shooting all those little beautiful things again. I’m carrying my camera everywhere I go again. I’m shooting as a hobby again. I’m shooting daily life. I’m shooting in my downtime, all the time. I’m making prints and giving them to friends.

It’s relaxing again.

And it was exactly the change that I needed…