Patrick Portrait

Patrick asked me to take his photo for professional purposes. If the light would have been better today we would have done inside shots, but alas, in Seattle you can't always ask for that. Here is my favorite.

Website Bio Revised

OK all, so after listening to your extremely helpful advice on writing my bio for my website, I have revised it and am much happier with the result. This is the bio I will be posting for now, although if revisions need to be made we can fix those as well. Let me know what you think and if I should use the black and white photo I posted earlier or the one that is up on my site now. Thanks for your help!

I am a commercial and fine art photographer who recently was transplanted in Seattle in order to follow her dreams. I grew up in Northwest Montana surrounded by family and friends who encouraged my creativity and passion of the arts. As a recent graduate of the Film and Photography Program at Montana State University in Bozeman, I am on a quest driven by obsession and…well, employment.

I love photographing people: portraits, nudes, fashion, weddings and children. Capturing moments full of emotion and life is what inspires me in my work. My photography tells a story: the beauty of humanity in all of its complexity.

My dream is to travel to different countries, learn to cook the local favorites and photograph everything along my journeys. Culture fascinates me. I am always looking for opportunities to increase my knowledge – reading books, organizing photo walks, entering art shows, meeting other artists, and experimenting with various photographic techniques and skills.

Inquiries? Musings? Advice? I look forward to hearing from you.

Pi Day

On Monday, March 14, we celebrated Pi Day (3.14). In years past Patrick and I have forgotten Pi Day until weeks later when we would randomly exclaim "Pi Day was 3 weeks ago!". So this year we made a concentrated effort to make a pie - we decided on Mango Blackberry. Sounds odd, but really, it was the only fruit worth getting at Costco when we went. Originally our plan was to be eating our pie at 1:59 (3.14159) but it was still baking, so we ate later. Turned out great and we look forward to another wacky pie recipe for next year's Pi Day.

Julia - Angel Child

One of the things I will miss most being away from Bozeman - Julia :) She's so adorable and my perfect baby model. This was the shoot a few weeks before I moved to Seattle. Hugs Julia!

Help Portrait Promo Video 2011

This idea is so inspiring. I have been interested in social documentaries, non-profit organizations and donating my time lately and I have discovered Help-Portrait. I want to get involved! Any takers to help me out? I am thinking about talking to the Photographic Center NW to see if they would want to be involved and I would volunteer my time to organize it all. Any advice on organizing, publicizing, etc? Also, if you get a chance, check out Jeremy Cowart's Haiti project - LOVE IT! Use your camera for good...not evil :)

Website Bio

I realized recently that as of Friday, my bio was somewhat out of date on my website. After realizing that my previous bio was blah and that writing one wasn't as easy as I expected, I eventually came up with the following. I searched "photographer website bios" on Google and didn't come up with a whole lot of advice other than to 1) try not to mention the hobby to professional journey of your photographer career (if applicable) because I guess that's considered cheesy 2) there are suggestions to include your dog, husband or other extraneous life aspects... 3) don't be lengthy and boring 4) don't brag about how awesome you are, because nobody wants to read some one's self-inflicted ego boost. I read a really good article by Kah Kit Young about writing a photography bio.

So here is what I need to know: How does my bio sound? Too much info? Not enough? Spelling errors (God forbid)? Bore you out of your mind? Should I use this black and white image (assuming Leslie gives me permission) or the one I currently have, or a different one all together? Any advice is helpful!

© Photo by Leslie McDaniel

I am a commercial and fine art photographer who recently leapt in faith of following her dreams in Seattle. I grew up in Northwest Montana surrounded by family and friends who encouraged my creativity and passion of the arts. As a recent graduate of the Film and Photography Program at Montana State University in Bozeman, I am on a quest driven by obsession and…well, employment.

My dream is to travel to different countries, learn to cook the local favorites and photograph everything along my journeys. Culture fascinates me. I am always looking for opportunities to increase my knowledge – reading books, entering art shows, meeting other artists, and experimenting with various photographic techniques and skills.

Inquiries? Musings? Advice? I look forward to hearing from you.

Bonnie Dog

Bonnie, Mary and Andy's dog. Big brown eyes.

Friends I Have Met In Bozeman: Robert

Granny's Donuts in Bozeman has the best donuts. Ever. You may think you've eaten the most delicious fried piece of wonder, but unless you have been here, you haven't. Sorry. Robert, the owner and I am pretty sure the only employee here, makes this place what it is. He makes his fruit donuts with fresh fruit and pie filling, his orange cream donuts are better than you can ever imagine and he uses chocolate ganache as the frosting on his chocolate donuts. It's one place in Bozeman I am REALLY going to miss. We asked Robert if he has ever shipped his donuts anywhere, he told us he did once, to a guy getting heart surgery. Ironic, but funny. I think the first time I ever went to Granny's Robert was topping a maple bar with bacon (maple bacon bar...) and he paused, looked up, and asked us if he wanted the triple-bypass donut. Although tempting, the name made me reconsider. He gets special orders for these donuts; they are that good. Robert and Patrick have had some fun discussions about politics and science, I just revel in the fact that he loves making people happy by making donuts everyday. When I brought my mom to Granny's for the first time (she's hooked now), he gave her an old-fashioned donut and offered to make her a pot of tea (it was a really cute single serving pot that he made just for her). We're in love. With Granny's. And with Robert.