The Pacific Northwest is known for it's lush green forest, water and urban lifestyle. Outside from waterfront locations sight distances are limited.

But only a short drive to the East in Eastern Washington the environment changes drastically and the unsuspecting viewer may place the views into the Southwest.

For this Editorial I took advantage of this very different background for a harsher look...

This was a location in search of an image rather than the other way around as it would normally be.

The Hard Rock Cafe opened a while ago in Seattle, and one of the managers, Mat Hayward, is an old friend of mine and an accomplished photographer in his own right. When I had an opportunity to catch up with him as part of another event, I got to tour the rooftop terrace and immediately knew that I had to shoot there.

A few weeks later it all came together...

Marissa needed images for her portfolio that showed her with straight her and in more natural / simple light.

We looked at various ideas, and settled on a look that didn't give away that it was carefully designed, but looked almost like an impromptu Polaroid shot taken in a room with a big window...

Destiny needed images for her portfolio that included more smiles and light feeling.

I did some research into various portfolio poses that included smiles. To my surprise, after looking at pretty much any major model US model agency - there were no smiles. Everyone was serious.

In contrast, looking at Modelwerk in Germany, the complete opposite, many broad and almost over the top smiles...