Dancemania is probably an understatement because the ladies at Oula’s first annual dance party at the Stensrud Building in Missoula seriously ROCKED their FEET off. I had such a blast photographing so many happy people shaking their groove thang (huge kudos to Kali Lindner who created Oula!), and I hope you’ll investigate all the awesomeness that is Oula. (I swear, if I hadn’t been photographing, I would have been a “dancemaniac” as well!)

This fab party was put together by the lovely Kelsey Motes-Conners from Glacier Parks Weddings and Events, who did a seriously wonderful job. Accents of fuschia along with pink drinks really popped and added to the lively atmosphere. Not to mention, a variety of great prizes from local vendors – shop local y’all!

And now, on to the photos! There’s more where these came from, so if you’d like to see the rest of the photos, hop on over to the online gallery to peruse at your leisure. Enjoy!

Don’t forget to give a little Facebook love to both Oula and Glacier Parks Weddings and Events! :)

On the docket: portraits!

Cheers,

-Kristine

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

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

I decided to swing by for the opening day at the Western Montana Fair since my mom was in town visiting. She and I are big fans of cute animals, and we happened to find some super adorable ones at the fair. There were chickens, geese, ducks, rabbits, goats, llamas, bulls – you name it. I’m always impressed by the kids (and adults) who take such good care of their animals. This young man with the rabbit was no exception. His rabbit, R.J., was getting all sorts of pets and hugs from his youthful owner. He was kind enough to let me take some photos of him with his rabbit (who is a lion head breed, by the way), and to tell me a bit about how his day showing him had gone. (R.J. did pretty well!)

Our next visit was the goats, and….I think I kind of love goats. They’re so darn cute! Take a look at those little guys – they were so inquisitive and curious about my camera. Actually, they probably wanted to eat it – I was laughing so hard taking their pictures. So enjoyable!

But, here I am getting chatty again – enjoy the images! P.S. The last image is of two goats, not a two-headed goat. It’s the fair not the circus. ;)

On the docket: senior portrait sessions (do you have yours booked yet?) and another gorgeous wedding! Stay tuned my friends!

Cheers!

-Kristine

No, not a photo of me (thank goodness!), but one of the photos I shot for the Missoula County DUI Task Force. Remember a few months back when I was hired by the Century Council to photograph their grand announcement of Cops in Shops in Montana? (See this blog post to read about it.) I made several images for them of a local Missoula cop getting tough on alcohol in a grocery store.

And now, it’s up on a billboard! Pretty cool!  I can’t get over just how large that photo is. I actually saw it after shooting a short and very sweet wedding at the Gibson Mansion. (Congratulations Stacey and Bryan!) They had a lovely ceremony and are such a nice couple and family. I can’t wait to post a few of my favorite pictures from their day.

But for now, I’ll leave you with billboard photos:

The task force was very nice and gave me photo credit.

If you want to check it out yourself, the billboard is near the Stephens Ave. and SW Higgins intersection, right around Romeo’s Italian Kitchen and near Pattee Creek Market.

Cheers,

-Kristine

I recently blogged about an event that I photographed Wednesday, the Cops in Shops kickoff event for the state of Montana.  The Century Council blogged about it the other day and put up a few photos of the Attorney General Steve Bullock.  I’m going to include a few more that I thought were kinda fun.  One of the police officers posed with his motorcycle in the beer aisle of the Safeway on Broadway looking very stern (he was such a good sport!)…don’t try to fake your age, folks!  We also did a few shots with him acting as a cashier checking someone’s ID.  These may be used on some billboards, too – I don’t know if that’s a for sure thing or not yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I hear!  In the meantime, here’s the screen grab from the Century Council’s blog…scroll down to the end of this post for the motorcycle photos:

Also – the Chronicle of Higher Education published their story about Susie, the woman whom I photographed in Pablo, Montana.  I took a screen grab – here it is!

And now, some police photos: