Snohomish Senior Photos

A few weekends ago I met with my coworker and her daughter (who is also my coworker) to take some senior portraits for her.  She is graduating from high school this Spring/Summer but currently works part time with us.  She requested that we take some photos in Snohomish, so that's where we went!  Luckily, I had been in the Snohomish area the weekend before for a wedding, and was able to scout out a couple of possible locations.

The location we went to offered a variety of backgrounds to work with.  We were also very fortunate that we had sunlight that evening, as just the weekend before it was snowing in nearby locations! We've have had our usual iffy weather in the greater Seattle area this Spring. 

My personal favorites from the day were all taken close to the nearby lake, probably because I love the cool colors to balance out the warmth.  There were also a family of ducks passing through, who made an appearance in a few of the photos. 

We cap off this session with a tightly-framed smile.  The best smiles are always sealed by the eyes.  I aim to capture a sparkle in the eyes while shooting smiling portraits.

Overall it was a wonderful photoshoot - we came away with a ton of photos in a short period of time, had weather and location on our side, and my coworker was very relaxed for it being her first photoshoot! It's that much easier to capture a person's personality if they're ready to smile big and to try fun positions on the fly!

Record Store Day 2018: Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio

Album cover photography: Bebe Labree - promotional photo courtesy of the artist

This Record Store Day (April 21, 2018) is especially exciting because a few of my photos are going to be included as a part of an incredible release!  Seattle locals, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, performed a live session with KEXP at the Upstream Music Festival last year - I was the photographer for the session, and that performance has now been pressed as an official Record Store Day 2018 release! For the album art, a few of the photos I took are going to be included.  

The performance was a highlight of mine from the 3-day Seattle festival's debut.  People we lined up around the outside of The Little London Plane in the Pioneer Square neighborhood.  There was an entire warm up set performed before the live streamed performance, so we essentially got two individual shows!  It was quite a treat.

The band is also currently on a quick tour in support of the Record Store Day release:

Photography: Bebe Labree - poster courtesy of the artist

Here are a few of my favorite photos that I took during the live performance, as well as the video shot by the wonderful team at KEXP covering the event.  If you want a taste of what is going to be on the official album release, this video is what you want to check out!

This performance was just a blast to be a part of!  I'm so lucky to be able to shoot photos for KEXP and to have such incredible local talent to enjoy!

U.S Girls at KEXP 3.26.18

My schedule hasn’t lined up well for covering KEXP instudio sessions lately, so I made it work for me this past Monday.  I signed up for an afternoon shoot with the band U.S. Girls, whom I admit I wasn’t very familiar with.  I have seen my friends attending their concerts or sets at festivals lately, and after a quick listen to their music, I was intrigued. 

I found out that U.S. Girls is the project of vocalist Meghan Remy, who previously was known for her punk background and activism.  Though U.S. Girls ventures into pop and funk in some cases, the content and messages of the songs are still quite progressive and contemplative regarding the current state of U.S. politics.

U.S. Girls also incorporates much collaboration from other artists. “Over 20” musicians have contributed, Remy says, on her latest album In a Poem Unlimited.  Remy encourages people to review liner notes for albums, because she believes you'll likely enjoy the other projects done by  those who have worked on her record.  For her current tour, Remy brought 7 other band mates who all seemed as invested as she in their live performance at KEXP.

A few songs off of In a Poem Unlimited that were played during the instudio were “M.A.H.,” which features the lyrics “As if you couldn't tell, I'm mad as hell  // I won't forget, so why should I forgive?” and “Velvet 4 Sale,” a track which eloquently investigates the feeling of vulnerabilty that automatically comes with being born as a woman, and the contemplation of purchasing a gun (to take up arms) for safety.

Though Remy’s messages are serious and purposeful, the actual tonality of the music is light and funky.  Sometimes, Remy’s voice is obviously a throw-back to another era of female musicians, transporting me to a disco dancefloor while in 2018 - this ridiculousness is multiplied by the fact that I’ve never been on one. Expectations of what femininity looks like and sounds like in the music industry of today do not matter.  Remy solidifies this with her juxtaposition of vibrant music and weighty ideas.  What’s so weird about wanting to dance and fight the machine at the same time?

With the current political climate, it makes sense that there would be a desire for such expression.  I can’t think of a better city than Seattle to embrace the messages of Remy and co., which means it came as no surprise to me that U.S. Girls performed later the same evening to a sold out crowd at The Sunset Tavern in Ballard.