Enko Photography came about in 2006, when the two of us connected through our shared affinity for creating beautiful photos! We already had extensive backgrounds in technology, art, and design, so digital photography proved to be the perfect fit for both of our creative impulses. We enjoy working as a team, sharing our ideas, and putting our unique perspectives together to create diverse images that you love as much as we do!

As business owners, we strive to provide you with services that you want, for prices and terms that work in today's world. Digital photography has changed a lot of the economics of the industry, and we don't see any reason to force the pricing policy from 10 years ago onto today's market. We'll fine-tune and touch-up every picture that goes to print, and we also believe in offering digital copies, for anyone who might be on a tight budget.

Sarah Giffrow, Co-Owner and Photographer

"I've been taking pictures ever since I got my first 35mm film camera when I was a kid. I had a knack for science and math when I was young, but I also had a craving for artistic things, and I'd always be snapping photos, drawing in notebooks, and playing with colors and forms. Even now, I find myself drawn to professions and activities that let me explore both the artistic and the technical, and photography is no exception to that.

I lived all over the country growing up, went on cross-country road trips with my dad, and got a lot of opportunities to look around and watch the landscape change. Still, those landscapes grabbed me the most when I got a good look at everyone and everything within them. I was most interested in how people and things lived in and adapted to their world, and how they interacted with each other and their surroundings.

After hopping around the country, I finally landed in Portland, a few years after completing my studies at the University of Oregon. I earned my degree in Multimedia Design, but I also found myself taking photos throughout those years. I made a point of studying artistic photography while working towards my degree, working primarily in film, and developing my own prints by hand.

As a photographer, I love the flexibility of the medium, and how the science of light, shadow, and form can transform the simplest things in endless ways. It's a thought process that seems to be without limits, and you can freely explore in any direction, so I'll enjoy photographing pretty much anything. Sometimes, you even surprise yourself at what you'll find in a reel of photos! The digital age of photography was also incredibly exciting to me, because it encourages experimentation, and it lets me use my technical knowledge in design and computers to bring more beauty and impact to my artistic work.

I'm also fascinated by how photography can highlight expression and emotion, and show little-seen aspects of the things and people that exist in the world. I find that I look at my subjects a bit differently than most, and I'm most interested in what naturally exists beneath the outside layers, beyond the first glance or even the second. I always enjoy working with people to find what they're looking for in an image, whether it means bringing their fantasy to life, or just capturing the essence of who they are every day. "

Ben Klusman, Co-Owner and Photographer

"Ever since I was a child, I have always been fascinated with photographs. I was a fine reader, but I would always flip through books with pictures, only reading if the picture caught my attention. I didn't have the opportunity to travel much, so photographs were often my way of seeing the world. National Geographic and travel magazines were often my favorite, with exotic pictures of waterfalls, tropical lagoons, or forbidding jungle forests.

Naturally, when I was in high school I studied photography at the local community college, and although I didn't study that in college, I still took pictures. The biggest challenge I faced was that, as a poor college student, I couldn't afford the price of film and development, so the rampant experimentation I craved was out of the question.

That all changed with the digital revolution when I bought my first digital camera, a canon A520. It was a nice, cheap starter camera but it still had the option of manual controls for everything. After shooting copiously with that, I realized it was time for something 'real', a digital SLR, and purchased a Canon 350D. The picture quality was amazing, and it really let me get serious with my photography. I began studying every photography technique I could find, and every aspect of the new digital SLR world. With a little work I realized that I was shooting pictures that matched or bettered many professional shots, and decided to try my hand at getting some gigs. Apparently others agreed, and I've been shooting professionally ever since. Now I often find myself being the one explaining techniques to co-shooters, or helping them find a setting on their camera.

As a Photographer, I don't feel I've found my 'niche' yet. I still enjoy shooting everything. When shooting events or other high-paced subjects, I love the demands it places on me, technically, to know every knob and switch of the camera, to remember ever compensation and setting that I'll need, because I often only get one shot. With people I love trying to find their personality and capture it. Often the most challenging thing there is making the subject feel comfortable and relaxed. I also love night photography due to the colors of light that get a chance to show off, once the overpowering sun goes down. Moonlight, yellow street lights, car lights, fluorescent lights from windows, and tungsten all come out and play together for my lens to capture, often dancing on water, too.

Artistically, I follow my hunches and my eye. Whenever I try to think about a shot too much it usually doesn't turn out very well. Things go better if I let my instincts take-over and just do their thing. That is my favorite part of photography. Sometimes, something happens, and you're taking pictures before you had time to think of it, and just going with everything. You never know what the pictures will be, and what surprise lies around the corner."