Aaron and Kirsten are on our Great Bride and Groom list forever.  We loved working with them!  They had a wonderful attitude about the day.  It was their perspective and good nature quality about them that pulled the whole day together for everyone.  Now, the Lake Union Grill is an all in one inclusive place to get married, have a great party, take a stroll to the U-Bridge, get some sun, and soak up the vibe from your guests! Within a 5 minute walk around The LUG you can be at the edge of Lake Union, under a willow tree, under the Channel Bridge, or under the Lake Union Grill.

We just got back from David and Jennifer’s wedding in Maui. It has been several years since I have been to the islands. It is like going to visit an old friend I haven’t seen in a while. . . . always on my mind, but it is about time I got back and said hello. This trip was even better than before. Number one, and any photographer will tell you that when there is a strong rapport between the Bride and Groom AND the photographer - amazing things can happen. And amazing things did happen, but more on that later. We arrived on Thursday (5/8) around 2pm, picked up the rental car from National, 3 minutes later we were at Costco picking up food, Loud Hawaiian shirts, Great Hawaiian Music, POG, Longboard beer (lager, please). We then headed toward Lahaina Town. We checked in and quickly headed to The Olde Lahaina Luau. What a visual feast! We got some great images of David & Jennifer and their families. Anytime I have the chance to join a rehearsal dinner while on a destination wedding I am there. It is a great way to meet people and let them see my style before the big day.
Working at the Ritz (or any of the customer driven Luxury hotels anywhere) is a surreal experience. Somehow, and I haven’t figured that out yet - but the valet already knows your name when you pull up. I first experienced this when I did a wedding at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka’upulehu. I drove up and the valet said welcome to the Four Seasons Mr. Larsen. I thought I had a name tag on. . The day was smooth and soft as the trade winds that caressed the island. From the ceremony held on the beach, to the romp with David and Jennifer on the Beach, to the images of them literally dancing on the clouds. I also worked with a very cool, and laid back Cinematographer named Etan Kruptnick. He is from http://www.hawaiivideomemories.com. I love working with Videographers who share my passion for giving the clients 110%. Never mind who looks the best, what matters is that we both gave everything to make sure that David and Jennifer the very best COMBINED creative efforts. Here are some of the images. . . . Wow what a couple days. . . . .

This was one of a couple sessions that I had this week which stood out. I photographed Ulrike and Jason’s wedding in 2006, and during the post wedding re-orders they picked up the cutest puppy (Sorry, Jason - I knew I would forget your puppies last name), but I had them bring their new dog by so I could get a couple images of it was sooooo cute! I received an email from Jason the day I sent out the Mother’s Day Special letting me know they had a new addition to the Family, Jonas. As I learned, Jonas was 9 weeks early and weighed a little over three pounds. I could be off a bit on the weight, but needless to say Jason and Ulrike’s first couple months were to and from the hospital.

I can say from just watching Jonas - he is a gentle soul. There is also a survivor in him. It was a beautiful session with friends. . . . .

For the last couple Fridays I have been going to Sacred Heart School in Bellevue where my son Julian attends. We met last Friday and talked a bit about the project we are putting together for the School Auction. In the past, I tried to put together a lesson plan and really push the class. But, I quickly learned that the kids will last about 5 minutes before they start to squirm, warble, and get restless fast. Granted they were 2nd graders, and this is a 6th grade class - needless to say I wasn’t too hopeful. Boy was I surprised! They were attentive, and alert. So this past Friday we put the class in motion. They had 20 minutes to take images of the anything they wanted to on the grounds of the school. I was worried it wouldn’t be enough time. About 10 minutes into it I think they got everything they needed. After that it was images of car grills, and some of the good shots were of them taking images of the insides of their mouths, shoes, rocks. We tried to keep in mind that the focus (pardon the easy pun) was on composition, depth of field and converging lines. After the class they left all the cameras with Marie and I. We downloaded the files (well, attempted is a better word. I was impressed with the different thype of media that was pulled out of the cameras, as well as the images that were still on the Cameras!

the final project is going to be twp very large boards that we are putting together for the Auction. Each student will have one image (their best) with a photo of themselves, as well as their signature. Each board represents each class room. They should be about 24X30, compress mounted and coated ready to hang. I will post a couple images from the shoot in a couple days. I will try to remember to get an image of the final product as well.

Cheers!

~C

Did an amazing session at Carla & David’s house on Sunday. It is so great to be able to keep in touch with the couples whose weddings I photograph. Carla and David are wonderful people, great hosts, and super parents. Here is a link to the session:

http://clarsen.zenfolio.com/p179240798/ Take a peek

Enjoy!

~C

June3rd - We arrived after an all night flight from Houston to the warm damp skies of Zihuatanejo. It has been a couple years since I last photographed here, and I really missed the gorgeous green jungles. Our clients are from Austin, Texas. Michelle Cruz & Arnold. Michele and I had not met yet, but I felt I knew her from some of the images that she forwarded to me from her engagement shoot. She has an amazing presence in front of the camera. The wedding reception was at La Casa Que Canta Resort, it had expanded a bit since I had last been there. It was evidently in the movie “When a Man Loves a Woman”, it certainly be the place where I would like to hang out for a while. The wedding itself was at a Small Catholic Church in Downtown Zihuatanejo. A very open air Church, which was good especially after it had rained that morning and the steam and humidity was coming off the streets in force. The reception following was a gathering of very close friends , and family. At the end of the evening it felt like we were family too. We even had the chance to go out the next day and photograph them right on the beach. The weather is very interesting in Zihuatanejo during June. It probably rained harder than I had ever seen it rain any where, but from 12 to 3pm everyday the Sun came out in full blast force heat.

We are going to have a Mini open house on the 9th of April and we would love it if you would stop by and say hello!