Kristine Paulsen Photography – Lifestyle Portraits, Editorial and Wedding Photography in Missoula Montana

I love light. And I love that Joelle and I got to really play around with it during our latest Missoula fashion session. The weather couldn’t have been better – a balmy 87 degrees (in April of all things!), a slight breeze, topped off with a drop-dead-gorgeous sunset. That’s definitely the recipe for a sweet session. And, of course, Joelle was brilliant, too. :)

P.S. If you’ve got a dress you want to rock like Joelle did, let me know! These types of sessions are a blast and a great way to show off that prom dress or wedding dress! And I’m sure Joelle can attest to that, too.

A huge big shout out to the people who helped make this shoot happen:

Hair: by Boom Swagger Salon.

Makeup: by Alchemy Mineral Blends.

Clothing: blue top, white shorts, white bag, gray tree-print dress, black and white top, and jean shorts from One Eleven.

On the docket: portraits!

Cheers,

-Kristine

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So I love color. Especially bright colors. LOVE LOVE LOVE them. And I admittedly get beyond excited when I have the opportunity to have fun playing around with it. For Joelle’s model shoot we styled her wardrobe to contain little pops of color and interest – from fire engine red skinny jeans, to bright bags, to a super fun animal print coat and a red and purple clutch.

The light also happened to be deliciously awesome during our shoot (after a few weeks of reschedules due to rain, rain, rain), and I had fun working with it – both on its softer side, and more on its harsh, shadowy side. I love getting to exercise my creative photo muscles, so this was a really fun shoot for me. And Joelle, too. :)

We had a blast playing up the fun pieces of clothing, not to mention Joelle’s own natural beauty. And I’m happy to say we’ve got plans for more shoots in the future, so stay posted – we’ll be sharing many more fun photos to come!

Thanks again to Joelle for “working it,” to Alchemy Mineral Blends for doing Joelle’s makeup, and for One Eleven and the Mood Boutique for providing us with some of these great items for Joelle to model. To learn more about which store carries which fashion piece, please check out the images, and scroll down below the photos for info.

You can find these items at the following locations – some items may no longer be available, or inventory may have changed, so act fast if you want to get your hands on any of these fun pieces! I know I’ve got my eye on a few….

Lacy tank, red skinny jeans, cream off-shoulder sweater, dark wash jeans, orange bag, turquoise bag, Frye heels: the Mood Boutique downtown Missoula, Montana.

Brown and black flower patterned lacy dress, animal print coat, red and lavender clutch: One Eleven, downtown Missoula, Montana.

On the docket: portrait sessions! Stay tuned!

Cheers,

-Kristine

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This past spring I had the wonderful opportunity to help produce a documentary about the Paxson Art Project taking place in Paxson Elementary School in Missoula, a program that was developed by the Zootown Arts Community Center (ZACC). Visiting artists came into the school and taught kids from kindergarten through fifth grade new art concepts. Currently these kids only receive 6 hours of art per year. Yes, you heard that right – per YEAR.

I stopped by these visiting artists’ classes and put together an informative video about the project which will be shown to folks around the area to hopefully help educate them about the need for art for kids.

Please take a moment to view this video, and if you find this as important as I do, please feel free to share with others. Thank you!

The video is about 10 minutes long (but so worth the watch), so you may want to get the video started by pressing the play button. Once it begins loading, I’d suggest pressing pause until the video is fully loaded, then begin watching. Don’t forget to have your volume turned on! Also, if you’d like to watch the video in HD (high definition, please click the link below the video to be taken to the Vimeo site to watch in HD.)

On the docket: portraits and weddings!

Cheers!

-Kristine

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Remember a few months ago when I was off gallivanting in Portland, Oregon? It wasn’t all gallivanting, and, in addition to a lovely portrait session I did on Cannon Beach, I was also working with Pedal Portland to help develop and design their new website for their new business – from their logo, to their video, to their finished website. We had a great time making photos for the site, creating some multimedia content, and overall, creating something that could really benefit Portland people interested in exploring urban bicycling.

Take a peek at the video we produced – and if you like amusing bloopers, stick around ’til the end. :)

So, drum roll please….I’d love to introduce Pedal Portland’s website! Please check it out and tell your friends (especially if you’re in the Portland area). Enjoy! (Click on the image below to visit the website – if you want to see a cool animation, be sure to use either a Chrome or Safari browser as Firefox isn’t able to show the animation in its full glory.)

On the docket: weddings, portraits and bridal sessions! Woo hoo!

Cheers,

-Kristine

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Getting back to my photojournalism roots a bit, last week I was hired by Cork Tree Creative to photograph a press conference with Governor Brian Schweitzer and Ray Stillwell at the old Smurfit-Stone mill site to announce Green Investment Group, Inc.’s (GIGI) acquisition of the site. This is the seventh Smurfit-Stone paper mill acquired since 2006 by GIGI, an Alton, Illinois-based company that acquires and redevelops Brownfield sites throughout North America. (A Brownfield site is an abandoned or underutilized industrial or commercial site that is well-positioned for redevelopment.)

Plans for the future use of the Missoula site are currently being formulated and will continue during the course of the coming months.  As plans are finalized, work will focus on clean-up and reconfiguration of the site to analyze the potential use of the existing facilities and land.

Ray Stillwell, principal of Green Investment Group, Inc., stated, “The Missoula property offers many opportunities for continued progress in the region. As with all of our projects, our main goal is to work with the community and local officials to develop a site that complements the other industries in the area and meets the economic needs and interests of its people by creating jobs in sustainable growth industries.”

Gov. Brian Schweitzer commented, “Green Investment Group has a proven track record of investing the necessary funds to save the industrial infrastructure and create good-paying jobs.  We welcome them to Montana.”

Thanks again to Cork Tree Creative and Ray Stillwell for contracting me for the shoot. It was nice to hang with the press folks again and make some images for you of this event. I look forward to working with you again in the future!

On the docket: engagement and portrait sessions!

Cheers,

-Kristine

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I had the pleasure of photographing another Recessionista shoot for the Missoula YWCA the other day (though I think Bradley may prefer the term “Recessionist-O”), with fab volunteer models, Bradley and Sara. (Our first shoot was featured a few months ago.) We were going for a bit more of a springtime theme this time around, and had a great time making some fun images for campaigns you’ll see around Missoula establishments. And remember, these clothes came straight from Secret Seconds shops around Missoula, so pop on in, get yourself some new springtime duds, and do the YWCA a favor, too! All sales at YWCA Secret Seconds help women and children in crisis, including the YWCA’s domestic violence shelter.

Thanks again, Sara and Bradley! What a fun shoot – I think we definitely fulfilled our laughter quota for the day!

On the docket – portrait and engagement sessions!

Cheers!

-Kristine

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Today’s Wordless Wednesday post features a video I just put together for Peter the Pie Guy who’s become a regular at the Missoula Clark Fork River Market on Saturdays in the spring and summer selling his made-from-scratch pies.

I call this: { Peter the Pie Guy – an Ode to Betty Lou } Now, let’s let him do the talking! (Click the play button below to get it started. You may want to press play and then pause to let the video start loading. To watch in HD, click the HD button and follow the instructions.)

On the docket: engagement sessions!

Cheers!

-Kristine

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Ok, so I’m veering a bit from a traditional Wordless Wednesday post and instead want to give a shout out to LunaFest, which is taking place Wednesday, March 16th at the Wilma Theater in downtown Missoula to help benefit the YWCA of Missoula. What is LunaFest, you ask? To quote from the Missoula LunaFest’s website:

LUNAFEST was established in 2000 by LUNA, the makers of the Whole Nutrition Bar for Women, to simultaneously promote women filmmakers, raise awareness for women’s issues, and support worthy women’s nonprofit organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada.

LUNAFEST is completely funded by LUNA and run by a small, dedicated group of LUNA employees. 100 percent of all proceeds are donated to charity – 15 percent to the Breast Cancer Fund and the remaining 85 percent of proceeds go directly back to hosting community organizations.

Over the years, as LUNAFEST has grown from a single annual event to more than 150 festivals each season, LUNA’s commitment to this worthwhile program has grown as well. We are continually inspired by the individual and collective efforts of women – and we are awed by the results. To date, LUNAFEST has raised over $570,000 for worthwhile women’s organizations, while raising hope and awareness for the stories of women everywhere.

They’ll be showing films, there will be a great auction to take advantage of some seriously awesome services provided by Missoula folks (did I mention you can bid on a portrait session by me? :) ), and you’ll get to walk away knowing your money has helped a very worthy cause.

So, yes, not much of a Wordless Wednesday post, but I’ll post a photo from a shoot I donated to the YWCA – you can add your own words to it. :)

{ Looking Up to the Ladies }

On the docket: engagement sessions!

Cheers!

-Kristine

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I had such a fabulous time the past several days volunteering my photography for YWCA’s Secret Seconds 2011 Recessionista campaign. The models totally rocked their shoots as well as the Secret Seconds clothing they were showcasing, we all had a blast and made some great images to help promote an extremely worthy cause. You can grab some affordable styles and make a difference, too – all sales at YWCA Secret Seconds help women and children in crisis, including the YWCA’s domestic violence shelter.

Thanks ladies! I’m looking forward to doing this again!

Cheers!

-Kristine

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So, I love dairy products. There. I said it. It’s out. I love them unabashedly, wholeheartedly, forever. Especially ice cream. And especially when it’s ice cream made by Big Dipper in Missoula, Montana. Their rich, creamy, unique flavors are just several of many reasons to love their ice cream. Throw in great community involvement and business-to-business collaboration and you’ve got a perfect recipe for a wonderful, local ice cream shop. There’s a reason people love this place.

There have been some great changes and additions to the shop in Missoula (new neon signage as well as the Coneboy ice cream truck) and I was asked to make some photographs for Big Dipper to highlight these changes. I have a weakness for multimedia, too, so I made a short video to document the fun atmosphere of this business. But enough chit chat – on to the photos and video! Be sure to have your sound on for the video and click the play button to get it started. (There are two versions – a longer one with a staff interview and shorter one without the interview.) Also, I’ve got to give a huge thanks to the participants in the photos and video! You were great!

P.S. Can you find the actual big dipper in the sky? I was so happy the sky was clear so the stars were visible!

Here’s the long version of the video (2 minutes 16 seconds):

Here’s the shorter version of the video (1 minute 51 seconds):

On the docket: senior sessions and family sessions!

Cheers!

-Kristine

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