this week

Hey everybody, sorry I've been such a blog slacker this week. I've been a little under the weather fighting a cold but I've mostly just been holed up in my office chipping away at my TO DO list, trying to get as much as possible accomplished before the fall wedding season begins for me next weekend. I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but the above photo is my current TO DO list. Yes, I am a total type A personality and find fulfillment in crossing off items on a list. The only problem is--and you can possibly relate--things often seem to get added at a higher rate than they get crossed off. So I feel a bit like a hamster on a wheel. But I guess that's the nature of life and running a business.

I'm excited to report that there's a few more things crossed off than last week, two of which are my last album designs from past weddings! Yay! I'm all caught up in one area at least! It feels great to get them done. Click here to see Chris & Courtney's album design and here to see Daniel & Jessica's.

Well, I hope you all have a great weekend!

Hope

Life gives us so many reasons to celebrate. I love that I get to work at other people's celebrations. Weddings are positive and joyous.

Maybe this is one of the reasons I never cease to be startled and saddened by some of the really dark, hard realities of life. I was talking with my friend Jessica the other day about some of the hard things we and other friends have been through just in the past few years. It's unbelieveable to me how many really heart-wrenching things happen just to me and people I love, not to mention all the things we hear about other people living through on the news.

I read a paraphrase of Revelation 22:4-5 today:

"Some day all of the darkenss will lift, and we will need no candle, no sun, for the Lord God will be our light. We will see His face, His name will be on our forehead, and we will reign with him forever and ever."

Thank God for such a hope! This is the reality we were created for.

I was just really encouraged by this verse today and wanted to share it with you.

Shooting with MichelleAllen

I apologize right up front. I got a little carried away and there are way too many images in this post.

Yesterday I got to tag along with my friend Kim Jarman from MichelleAllen Photography as a second shooter for Morgan and Brett's wedding at The Four Seasons Troon North. It was so much fun to shoot completely photojournalistically without having the preasure of running the portraits or making sure to get each shot. I just got to be creative and have fun. Kim is a great friend of mine and a talented photographer. I had so much fun spending the day with her. Here's a couple shots I got of her in action. Check out all that gear!



It was such a perfect day for a wedding yesterday. And what a beautiful setting:


Here's some fun shots of the preparation process--always a fun time of anticipation:








Morgan was such a beautiful bride! I couldn't pick which of these shots I loved more of her:





I hid behind a cactus for this shot while Kim was shooting some portraits:


These three little boys kept stealing the show the whole day. It's unbelieveable how cute little tuxes are:



The ceremony was beautiful. The lighting was perfect and Morgan and Brett just lit up when they saw each other:







The flowers were beautiful. I loved the colors:




I'm not sure what was so funny at this point but possibly something one of the groomsmen was saying or a face he was making?


Another cute little boy shot:


Man and wife:




And here's the cute, happy couple. Lots of kissing shots I noticed :)




The reception was a fun party with The Groove Merchants providing the music:






And I had to get a shot of these beautiful desserts. They were almost too pretty to eat, but not quite :) Very delicious too.


Thanks Kim for letting me tag along! You're great!

Cranking out the Albums

I love designing albums. And it's a good thing because this has been the summer-o-albums. So many of my clients with Spring weddings ordered albums, which I love--everyone should have one--and I've been playing catch-up all summer. I just finished Megan & Jared's album which means 8 down, 2 to go. Almost done! So Courtney & Chris and Jessica & Daniel--your designs are right around the corner! I am determined to finish before the chaos of the Oct/Dec wedding season ensues. Click here to view Megan & Jared's album design. Their wedding was in April at the Phoenix Country Club and was amazing. They are such a fun couple.

Photos selected to appear in local publicaton!

I'm excited to report that one of my weddings from last Spring got selected for publication in the September/October 2006 issue of The Wedding Chronicle, a local wedding newspaper in Arizona! Chris & Courtney got married last March at the Royal Palms and it was such a beautiful wedding. To see a few of the photos featured in this full page spread click here and you will be taken to the slideshow of their wedding.

D-backs game

Last night I got to go to my 3rd Arizona Diamondbacks game of the season with my parents. I love going to games with them. They buy me food and we cheer loud and talk about how great certain players are and how stupid others are--it's a great bonding experience.

Last night was such a beautiful evening in AZ. It was refreshing because there was actually a cool breeze as we walked to the park--the first one I've felt here in months! And they opened the roof! Here's a shot from our seats on the 1st base line:


Pretty good seats! I don't think I've introduced them on my blog yet, but here's the people responsible for my existence:


They are so special to me--thanks mom and dad for your support! Here's a shot of me and my dad (gotta love the guy in the background with his tongue sticking out):


This game was my last one watching Luis Gonzalez as a D-back. He's going to be a free agent at the end of the season and only has a few home games left. It's sad because he's been the heart and soul of the team for so long. He hit the single that won the final game of the world series in 2001 and is a huge fan favorite. It was touching last night because there were tons of fans holding signs in support of him that they showed on the big screen throughout the night. And everyone would stand and applaud for a long time when he would come to bat.

This girl was cute a few rows in front of us. She was supporting Gonzo on the front of her sign:


And had this on the back:

It made me smile cause I love the race they have between relish, mustard & ketchup. And it's funny because ketchup actually won last night! What are the chances?

Here's my cute parents sharing an ice cream:

And my dad with carmel on his chin:


It was an exciting game. We were ahead of the Colorado Rockies 6-4 in the top of the ninth and our stupid closer Valverde walked someone, gave away a triple and then threw a wild pitch and all of a sudden, it was a tied game! And it stayed that way until the 16th inning! Being the faithful fans we are, we stayed to cheer the team to victory. We got to experience another 7th inning stretch and sing "Take me out to the Ball Game" again in the 14th inning. My dad wanted to leave but I kept saying I was sure this was going to be our inning.

Here he is in the 15th:

But truthfully, this was just the first time I caught him on camera dozing off. I think it started back in the 3rd inning. :)

Finally in the 16th with 1 out and the bases loaded, Chad Tracy hit a sac fly to bring a runner home. And the final score was:


We left the ballbark happy and exhausted after over 5 hours at:


Go D-backs!! We will miss you Gonzo!! Thanks for all the memories.

Making the best of it

I just came across this post on Crystal Goss's blog and it was so touching! The bride broke her leg 2 weeks before the wedding and had to use a crutch to make it down the isle. But she had such a great attitude about the whole thing and really made the most of it. And Crystal got some amazing images.

Click here to read the full story.

Another beautiful album design

I'm excited about another one of our recent album designs and I wanted to share it with you. This is Amy & Andrew's wedding. They got married at the beginning of August in San Diego. Click here to view the design.

1st Issue of Monthly Newsletter Out!

I'm excited to report that I just sent out my first issue of my monthly e-newsletter! I think this will be a great way to keep in touch with clients, vendors, photographers and family and friends. If you would like to subscribe just enter your email address into the box on the sidebar and you'll be added to the list! Then make sure to add melissa@melissajill.com to your address book to ensure the newsletter doesn't get stuck in your spam filter. Hope you enjoy the newsletter!

Cute Portland Couple

I shot Diana & Tad's wedding in Portland at the end of August but wasn't able to post any photos of the two of them...until now. I got the ok to post two photos so here they are--the get-a-way car and just them being cute together.

Thanks again guys--your wedding was awesome!

Ari & Megan's Engagement Shoot

Tonight I shot Ari & Megan's engagement photos. They are a great, easy-going couple who are obviously into each other. They decided to bring their dogs, Vegas and Kira along since they are such a huge part of the family:


They were a handful but it was definitely worth it because they are so important to Megan & Ari and we got some fun shots. Here are a few of my favorites with the dogs:




And a bunch more favorites of just Megan & Ari:








Thanks for being so fun to work with you guys!

Swanson Family Portraits

Today I got to shoot portraits of some close friends. Scott & Julie have been friends of mine for over 10 years and I joke about moving in with them because I hang out at their house so much. They have 3 boys -- Hayden is 6, Sammy is 3 and Colton just turned 1. Julie is so brave to try to get photos of the whole family with three boys at these ages. It's a miracle if we ever get everyone looking in the same direction let alone smiling simultaneously. It was crazy! And she works so hard to get them ready and looking their best. She got Sammy all put together and then he showed us this:

One of the main reasons for this photo shoot was to get Dotey's one year portraits. "Dotey" is what Sammy first called Colton and it has stuck. Everyone calls him "Dotey" or "Doten" and when he finally goes to school and the teacher calls his actual name, I don't think he'll respond. He has no idea that "Colton" is his name. Boy is he a cutie:


Here's the whole family in the backyard:

And a miraculous shot of all the boys looking at the camera at the same time. Gotta love the matching shirts:


After everyone was all posed-out, we finished off the shoot with some fun rides:

Community

Today was another great day at PartnerCon. We heard from a panel of photographers, including one of my mentors David Jay, who talked about community.

For the most part, the wedding photography industry is very unique in that we have a mentality of abundance and seek to help each other out with our businesses rather than compete with one another. It's such a great thing, I think, and has blessed me greatly in my business. The idea is that community and giving to one another only helps us and makes us stronger. We all gain knowledge from one another and when you give you find out that you get a lot back in return.

I also went to 3 classes given by 4 great photographers: Davina Fear, Nathan & Amber Holritz and Me Ra Koh. Davina is a really genuine, fun mom from Utah who talked about being who you are and getting to know your clients:


I came away from her talk inspired with some new fun ideas for engagement shoots. So if you have an engagement shoot coming up soon, we should definitely talk.

Nathan & Amber talked about how to make working from home work for you and I was definitely challenged in the area of setting and sticking to a schedule. I think I could accomplish a lot more on a day to day basis if I thought through and was more intentional about how I spend my time.

And Me Ra Koh was so refreshing in that she shared a lot about her life--the good and the bad--in her journey to where she is today--a nationally known photographer who charges 10-15k per wedding. Some well-known photographers who I look up to are really great and share a lot about their success but they have this "bigger than life" mystique and seem to have it all together. I appreciated so much Me Ra's vulnerability in sharing the struggles as well as successes.

So now I'm back home and have time to reflect on and process everything. Even more than the knowledge I gained this year at the conference, I am so thankful for the networking and relationship building that took place. Building a community with other photographers, both on a local and national level, makes my job so fun, inspires me and infuses me with even more passion for what I get to do for a living. Thanks guys!

Pictage Partner Conference

Today has been great. I love hanging out with photographers--what a fun bunch of people. We had some fun with the fish eye in the morning session. Here's a shot of Stuart Thurlkill, me and my new friend Mark who wins the award for facial hair:


A weird cartoon-distortion phenomenon happens when you take a photo of someone with the fish eye lens only inches from their face. Let me demonstrate:


Mark reminds me here of Yosemite Sam:


And on the bus tonight I got this cute photo of a little girl a couple seats in front of me:


No distortion there--just pure cute-ness.

You might think from seeing these photos that all we do is get together in LA and goof off for a few days and call it a "conference" but we like to call it "networking" and we do listen to speakers and sometimes take notes. One more day to go...I'll try to retain something productive to share with you tomorrow :).

To LA

Today I headed with some other photographer friends to LA for a photography conference. I'm really excited to see some friends from all over the country and I always come away from these conferences inspired and challenged. They're great! I'll post some other fun photos in the next couple days. Here's one of Jen, Kim and I on the plane:

Happy sad Labor Day

Hope you all enjoyed your Labor Day today. I got to hang out with my family which is always one of my favorite things to do. On our way back from the park, I saw what I think is the brightest rainbow I've ever seen:


It was unbelieveable. The picture just doesn't do it justice. Anyhow, this is kind of a random post, but I also wanted to say that I'm so sad that Steve Irwin, the Austrailian Crocidile guy, died today. So sad!


He was just so hilarious and always made me smile. The world has definitely lost a gem.

Voice of the Martyrs

I love posting photos and new work on my blog and sharing it with all of you. But I also want my blog to be about who I am and what I believe in. So if you're here to see photos, feel free to skip this post. This is a non-photo post :).

Years ago when I was in college (I can't believe how long it's been!) at Azusa Pacific University in CA, I sang in choir. That may sound kind of nerdy to you but it was an amazing choir that I was privileged to be a part of. We gave concerts around southern CA weekly. And one week we sang for the leadership of a non-profit ministry -- Voice of the Martyrs. I hadn't heard of them previously but they have since had a huge impact on my life. We were there to encourage them but we ended up being the ones encouraged. As we sang praises to the Lord they didn't just observe as an audience, but they entered into worship with us and God's presence was heavily felt in the room. I grabbed one of their free newsletters after the concert and found out more of what they're about.

Pastor Richard Wurmbrand founded VOM over 30 years ago. He was in prison in Romania for 14 years for his faith in Christ. In the `60s he and his family were ransomed out of Romania for $10,000 and came to the U.S. where he began traveling, educating the free world of the atrocities committed against Christians in Communist and other restricted countries. VOM's five main purposes are based on Hebrews 13:3 -- "Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering." Their purposes are:

1 - To encourage and empower Christians to fulfill the Great Commission in areas of the world where they are persecuted for their involvement in propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ. We accomplish this by providing Bibles, literature, radio broadcasts, and other forms of aid.

2 - To give relief to the families of Christian martyrs in these areas of the world.

3 - To equip local Christians to win to Christ their enemies who are opposed to the gospel in countries where believers are actively persecuted for their Christian witness.

4 - To undertake projects of encouragement, helping believers rebuild their lives and Christian witness in countries that have formerly suffered Communist oppression.

5 - To emphasize the fellowship of all believers by informing the world of atrocities committed against Christians and by remembering their courage and faith.

As I read their monthly newsletter, my eyes were opened to "the real news" - what's really going on around the world that the media never tells us. It's unbelievable. Growing up in America with the freedoms we enjoy, I never would have thought that people in other nations suffered so gravely for what they, and I, believe. Hearing these true stories motivates me to pray for these people in other nations who I will not meet in this lifetime but with whom I have much in common. Their faith strengthens and encourages me in mine.

If you are interested in being encouraged and hearing "the real news," click here and sign up for a free newsletter. It just might change your life like it did mine.

Destination I Do Fall 2006 Issue

The new issue of the national bridal magazine Destination I Do is out and they used another photo of mine for the cover! This makes 3 covers since they started in the fall of 2004. I'm so honored because the magazine is top quality and I think this one is the best one yet. I think they used around 20 photos of mine throughout the inside pages as well. Check out a few of my favorite spreads:




If you're planning a destination wedding or just want to check out a cool bridal magazine, pick up a copy at your local Barnes & Noble.

Thanks Jen & Carolyn! As always, it's wonderful to work with you! Congrats on a great issue!