Tag Archives: puyallup photographer

Family is Everything

June 8, 2022 by admin | Comments Off

Last weekend I was blessed to shoot a family photo session. If you remember the weekend weather…it wasn’t great. We even arranged to reschedule if, by 8:00 Saturday morning, the rain had not let up. Wow! Not only did it not rain, but the sky was just about perfect! As a photographer, I live for mornings like that; when I don’t have to worry about harsh light, shadows or squinty eyes. For me , it was a dream:)

This was our first time meeting (at least the extended family) and knowing what I know about family gatherings…you just never know what you’re gonna get (haha). Well, I am happy to say, I got it good;) What I observed in this family dynamic was an abundance of joy. They were genuinely having fun with each other and truly loved spending time together. And, this day was a special birthday celebration, as well. Rarely do I find this much harmony within a family.

What an honor it was for me to photograph this gorgeous family and document this precious time in their lives!

Family is EVERYTHING!!

~Lynette

Posted in Family Portratis, Portraits Also tagged , , , , , , |

We Won a 2022 Telly Award!

May 28, 2022 by admin | Comments Off

Hello friends,

We are excited and thrilled to announce that we have won a 2022 Telly Award (winner banner) for our production of “Around 2021“, a compilation of video that I shot around the region last year. It is a first for me to win at this level, especially since I haven’t really done much with video in the last few years-at least professionally.

The Telly Awards was founded in 1979 to honor excellence in local, regional and cable television commercials with non-broadcast video and television programming added soon after. With the recent evolution and rise of digital video (web series, VR, 360 and beyond), the Telly Awards today also reflects and celebrates this exciting new era of the moving image on and offline.

The Telly Awards annually showcases the best work created within television and across video, for all screens. Receiving over 12,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents, Telly Award winners represent work from some of the most respected advertising agencies, television stations, production companies and publishers from around the world. The Telly Awards recognizes work that has been created on the behalf of a client, for a specific brand and/or company (including your own) or self-directed as a creative endeavor.

To say that I am excited to have received such a prestigious honor is an understatement. However, I am humbled to have been invited to submit and be even considered for such an achievement as there are so many talented individuals and production companies creating and producing so many beautiful and entertaining programs and I would never want to presume that what we do is anything greater or more significant.

I want to thank you all for your support over the years and encouragement to keep going.

Blessings to you all.

Chris.

p.s. you can find the video at this YouTube link or on Vimeo.

Posted in Drone Photography, Landscape and Nature Photography, Photography Tips & Techniques, Shot of the Day Also tagged , , , , , , , , |

Paige is Graduating!!!

May 6, 2022 by admin | 1 Comment

It was such a privilege to meet up with Paige for her Senior Photo Session. And extra special because Chris and I are friends with her folks. In fact, we shot their wedding a few years ago…and now it’s time for their oldest to graduate!! We were blessed to have had some amazing weather on one of the only dry days these past couple of weeks.

Paige is an amazing young woman who is an honor student and plays water polo for Rogers High School. As you will see from the pics, she LOVES sunflowers!! We had a great time on the waterfront and in downtown Tacoma…and she was awesome!!

Congratulations, Paige! You will do great things!

Blessings,

~Lynette

Posted in Portraits, Senior Portraits Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Goodbye To My Sweet Doggy

April 14, 2022 by admin | 1 Comment

This past week we had to say goodbye to our sweet and beloved dog, Bowen. He was a 14 year old Australian Shepherd and he was a deep and loved part of our family.

Bowen entered our life in 2008 as a puppy, like most dogs do. He was a gift to me from my family for my 40th birthday. He quickly integrated into life with the McKenna family-even life with the other dog we had at the time. Like most puppy’s, he missed his birth family but he found comfort in his new family and quickly came to love us. At least that’s what he told us.

His teenage years were not untypical for dogs. He spent a lot of time chewing on slippers, learning his manners, and chasing the girl dogs around. We didn’t allow him to get his drivers license because as you know-lack of opposable thumbs. But the walks we took in the neighborhood and the time he got to spend chasing birds took his mind off that.

Later in life he found work in keeping the crows and squirrels away from the bird feeders around his yard. This was his calling and he was so good at it he earned “employee of the year” for 12 years running, 2010-2021. He reluctantly retired in summer 2021 after an L&I claim forced him to “let the crows have one every once in a while.”

In his spare time, Bowen liked to take walks with his peeps, run around the yard like he was possessed, chill by the fire, eat treats and occasional people food, chase his ball on the beach, and relax on the couch watching “Gold Rush” every Saturday morning with his daddy.

I know it’s cliche to say but he was my best friend. He followed me everywhere I went and he was never far from my side when I was at home. It has been a hard week for me since his passing and it will continue to be for a while. I will miss him deeply.

Goodbye, Bowen.

Love, Chris.

Posted in General, Shot of the Day Also tagged , |

Snow Days of Early 2022

March 7, 2022 by admin | Comments Off

Hello Friends,

So the title of this article might be a little misleading…it should probably have read something like ‘Snow Days of late 2021’, since technically the snow dropped right before the New Years. But since I had created and posted my 2021 pics and video earlier in December I’m going to go ahead and count this post as 2022 snow.

Anyway, we had a major dump of snow in the Puget Sound area and unlike most years where it melts the same day it falls, this one stuck around for the entire week. And because it did, people like myself were afforded the opportunity to get out and enjoy it.

All of these photographs were aerial shots I took with the drone in and around my neighborhood during the snow event. I couldn’t get much further out than that, but that’s ok since I like some of the photos I took here. I even think there is a drone selfie in there, long hair, beard, and all. Haha.

Enjoy the photographs and as always stay safe and blessings to you.

Chris.

Posted in Drone Photography, Landscape and Nature Photography Also tagged , , , , , , |

“Around 2021” My Year-end Aerial Video Compilation

January 31, 2022 by admin | Comments Off

Hello Friends,

It’s Monday and the end of the month, but we’re still in the first part of the year. For me at this moment in any year it’s hard to get excited about much. You know: short and cold days, long and cold nights, rain, wind, fog, etc. etc. But I have a dive trip coming up real soon and another later in the year so there’s that, and then there is my year-end video of drone footage.

I compiled a number of “shorts” throughout the year, some of those shorts were single knock-off videos and wouldn’t make it into the garbage can when compiling a year-end video, but this one is a little more deliberate and thought out, planned, executed, edited with love and care and contains footage that I have not released until this.

Some of the sites included in this video are around Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Puget Sound, Lake Tapps, and the Methow Valley to name just a few. I had a few snow scenes that technically I shot in 2021 but well after I started working on this video that didn’t make the cut. Those will definitely make it into the 2022 compilation.

I hope that you enjoy this video. Please follow the link back to YouTube, “like” the video, and comment if you so feel inclined.

Blessings,

Chris.

Posted in Drone Photography, Landscape and Nature Photography Also tagged , , , , , |

Giggsters One of Tacoma’s Best Landscape Photographers in 2021

January 6, 2022 by admin | 4 Comments

Hi Friends.

It’s no secret that the Pacific Northwest is home to some of the most majestic scenery in the United States. Breathtaking coastlines, lush forests, and gushing waterfalls lie around every corner, offering plenty of inspiration for landscape photographers. As a result, Tacoma and Pierce County is home to some of the best in the business, who have made documenting natural scenes their mission.

We are happy to report that I made Giggsters list as “One of Tacoma’s Best Landscape Photographers” for 2021. Quite an honor to be sure.

Head over to their page at this link to see: https://giggster.com/blog/landscape-photographers-tacoma-wa/

And as always, check out my landscape portfolio page or scroll through this blog to see some of my work.

Blessings,

Chris.

Posted in General, Landscape and Nature Photography Also tagged , , , , |

Peeps of 2021

December 31, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

It’s the end of 2021, and even though this has been a tough year all around, some pretty amazing photography was done at Chris McKenna Photography! These are just a few of my favs from each of my photo shoots this year. I did have to cancel a few due to weather and Covid, but will be rescheduling for sometime this spring. And, I can’t wait to share those with you when they happen!

Please enjoy a few of my pics from this past year. And, Happy New Year to you all!! See you in 2022!!

~Lynette

P.S. you can see more of our senior photos by clicking on this link: https://chrismckennaphotography.com/portfolio/seniors/ and more of our family portraits at this link: https://chrismckennaphotography.com/portfolio/portraits/

And don’t forget to visit us on SmugMug.

Posted in Baby and Children Portraits, Family Portraits, Portraits, Senior Portraits Also tagged , , , , , , , , |

It’s Another Snow Day 2021

December 31, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Happy New Years my Friends,

If you live in the Puget Sound region, you are well aware that we had a bit of a snow event that kicked off on Christmas Day. As I mentioned in my last post it wasn’t quite the white Christmas that we always dream about but it was close enough for us not to complain. That event kicked off the week with a number of inches and as it continued into the week picked up a few more inches.

So I took the drone out for a couple of flights as the weather allowed. First around the neighborhood and surrounding areas and then down to a local lake for a bit of a flyaround. I tried the another lake yesterday and I was able to unlock the drone and get it airborne-something that I hadn’t been able to do in at that location for a while. I got a few interesting shots and compiled a bit of video for your enjoyment.

Enjoy the video. I’ll post some of the pics next week.

Blessings,

Chris.

Posted in Drone Photography, Landscape and Nature Photography Also tagged , , , , , |

It’s a Snow Day 2021

December 28, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Greetings Friends,

And Merry Christmas / Happy New Years to you.

If you live in the Puget Sound region, you are well aware that we had a bit of a snow event that kicked off on Christmas Day. It wasn’t quite a white Christmas for us but it was close enough for us not to complain. Overnight we accumulated a number of inches and for this area it means catastrophe, meteorologicly speaking. And in continued into Sunday and subsided yesterday.

So I took the drone out for a bit of a flight. First around the neighborhood and surrounding areas and then down to a local lake for a bit of a flyaround. I tried another lake but I couldn’t unlock the drone and get it airborne due to my own mistake with the coding. Nonetheless, I got a few interesting shots and compiled a bit of video for your enjoyment.

Enjoy the video.

Blessings,

Chris.

Posted in Drone Photography, Landscape and Nature Photography Also tagged , , , , , , |