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Wednesday, July 21, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Portrait photographer returns to roots in Sisters
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
There is a certain magic
involved in truly beautiful
portrait photography. Not
every photographer has it 4
even some who are otherwise
gifted in capturing landscapes
or action. It has to do with
connection, with an ineffable
ability to allow the subject to
be calm, open up and reveal
their true nature.
Loma Smith-Weber of
Loma Smith Photography
has the magic. She has built
a thriving practice in portrait
photography over decades 4
and now she is headquartered
in Sisters.
<My tagline is: 8touch-
ing hearts and dancing
with souls,9= Smith-Weber
explained. <My art is very
personal and I would say
self-esteem-enhancing for my
clients.=
Smith-Weber loves to
shoot in natural locations, and
she spends a lot of time find-
ing the right ones for her sub-
jects. She truly enjoys engag-
ing with people, which tends
to put them at ease. Then,
venturing out into nature for a
shoot, they get to know each
other.
<I make it like an adven-
ture,= she said.
With the groundwork laid
in, backed by years of training
and experience, sessions go
smoothly.
<I let the universe and the
magic kind of take over,= the
photographer said. <I don9t
really have an ego in it.=
The result is exceptional
photography that captures
people in their essence.
<Portraits show up that I
never really planned,= she
said.
Smith-Weber didn9t sim-
ply pick up a camera and start
taking people9s pictures. The
technical and artistic aspects
of her work are built on a rig-
orously developed foundation.
She studied at the University
of Oregon under Milton
Halberstadt, a renowned fine
art and commercial photogra-
pher, a close friend of the leg-
endary Ansel Adams.
From Halberstadt she
learned how to work with
light and nature.
<We would go out and sit
in the woods and we9d watch
the light go through the whole
scene,= she recalled.
Photography was not,
however, an automatic career
course for the young artist.
Life9s adventures took her to
the New England coast in the
1980s, where she worked on
boats off Nantucket and Cape
Cod. That life led her to pur-
sue a different path.
<I really wanted to be an
interior architect in the boat-
ing world,= she said.
She went to school to chase
that dream 4 but found that
photography kept calling to
her, especially portraiture. For
a time, she operated a studio
in Cherry Creek, Colorado.
Married and with a couple
of children in Los Angeles,
she put career aside for a time,
but kept her hand in with head
shots for actors and the like.
When she and her husband
moved to Bend, she started
her photography business up
again.
Her husband died, and she
and her children moved to
West Linn, where she opened
a portrait studio. Business
really took off, as people dis-
covered her exceptional abil-
ity to capture personalities in
photographs.
Loma would meet her cur-
rent husband John Weber in
the most serendipitous man-
ner: They shared a table at
a busy Seasons restaurant
in Sisters. John has roots in
Sisters, and, as it turns out, so
does Loma.
<I was born in Sisters,= she
said. <My dad was a logger
with Barclay [Logging].=
She learned to ski at
Hoodoo on wooden skis made
by her brothers, and devel-
oped a love for hiking and
other outdoor adventures that
drives her to this day.
The couple took some time
to travel, and then decided to
return to those roots, mov-
ing to Sisters a year or so
ago. The time out on the road
in an Airstream reaffirmed
Loma9s commitment to por-
trait photography.
She is interested in putting
her work on unique materials
Sisters wine bar to close doors
After battling through a
tough year of COVID-19 pan-
demic restrictions, followed
by staffing shortages, Cork
Cellars is closing its doors.
Jeannie Gilgenberg-Buck
and Tom Buck made the
announcement last week on
social media.
<It makes us very sad
to announce that after six
(mostly) wonderful years,
we will be closing our doors.
We9ve been honored to have
had the opportunity to be a
part of this community for
the last six years, and will be
forever grateful for all of the
support that we9ve received.
We9ve enjoyed the wonder-
ful people we9ve met, and
will miss you all very much.
As of now, our last day being
open for business will be
July 24, but that may change
due to changes in staffing
availability.=
Jeannie told The Nugget
that COVID-19 restrictions on
capacity, which the small res-
taurant couldn9t really adapt
to overcome, key staff mov-
ing away, and an acute short-
age of work staff that has hit
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virtually every Sisters restau-
rant made it not viable to carry
on. She said the decision was
unrelated to a fine imposed
by OSHA after the restaurant
opened during a time when
indoor dining was banned.
That fine is under appeal.
The couple took ownership
of Cork Cellars in 2015, mov-
ing north from Los Angeles.
PHOTO PROVIDED
Loma Smith-Weber has established her renowned portrait photography
practice in Sisters, the town of her birth.
and in continuing to use her
work to enhance people9s
lives.
She has seen that beauti-
ful portraits have a big impact
on how people feel about
themselves.
<It9s getting them to let
go and their hearts open up,
and they feel beautiful,= she
said. <And if you feel beauti-
ful, you are beautiful. That9s
my trick. I help people to feel
beautiful.=
To view a portfolio, visit
www.lomasmith.com. She can
be reached at 503-475-0988
or loma@lomasmith.com.
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