Julie & Rob's Engagement Shoot

Monday night I got to spend some time with a fun couple - Julie and Rob - and shoot their engagement shoot at the Hyatt Regency at Gainey Ranch. Rob is a pilot for Delta and Julie is a flight attendant and they have such a great story of how they met while they were flying to Europe. Between the two of them they have 4 boys and they are getting married in June in Sedona. After spending time with them, I'm even more excited for their wedding.

Rob was a little nervous to begin with (many people are since it's not a regular occurence getting your photos taken) but he ended up having fun with it. He and Julie are SO sweet together and even kind of goofy at times :). Here's some of my favorites from our shoot:












Thanks for a fun evening guys! I'm looking forward to June!

100th POST!!

This is my 100th blog post! Woo-Hoo! I started my blog last April and I've really enjoyed chronicling my life both in business and personally. It's turned out to be a lot more fun than I originally expected. I actually expected it NOT to be fun at all but just a constant burden hanging over my head. But here I am, 10 months later and I'm so glad I started. If you haven't started a blog for yourself, you definitely should. It's been so great for my business--totally FREE marketing--and it also serves as a sort of picture journal of my life. It's fun to look back and remember so many great memories from this past year.

The two scruffy creatures in the above photo are Pebbles and Kachina, my parents' minature schnauzers. I also consider them my dogs since they are 11 and 13 years old and I've lived with them a few times after college. The past week they have been living with me while my parents are on a cruise in the Carribean. It's been an adjustment for all of us. Kachina has left me more than a few presents on the floor and I'm going to have to have my rug professionally cleaned when they leave :). They also aren't used to stairs. Pebbles is old and really CAN'T come down the stairs. She tried and slid on her face most of the way. So I take pity on her and carry her down. Kachina comes down fine but is convinced she can't make it up the stairs. She really can but she doesn't think she can.

Here's Kachina's "please carry me up the stairs" face:



Pebbles is Kachina's mother and they are really cute together. They enjoy their afternoon naps on my sofa while I work at the computer:


I don't have any dogs of my own but have been thinking about getting one lately. I go back and forth. It's an extra responsibility I'm not used to but it's also fun to have someone SO excited to see you and cuddle. So we'll see...

Kara & Bob

Last Friday I shot Kara & Bob's wedding at Villa Siena in Gilbert. For Kara & Bob, this was a destination wedding--they live in Virgina near the DC area. Nearly all of their guests flew in from elsewhere and made it to the wedding despite the ice storms that have been plaguing the eastern half of the country.

I felt bad because Friday was a rainy, drizzley day and the ceremony had to be moved from the beautiful outdoor courtyard to an indoor ballroom at Villa Siena. But Kara and Bob were both so upbeat and didn't complain once.

I didn't know this couple too well before their wedding day but they really struck me as being made for each other and as extremely kind people. I really enjoyed myself on their wedding day.

I'm putting far too many photos on my blog from this wedding, but here goes. The day started at Dolce salon.


Kara's neice, Taylor, came along to hang out:


The stylist that did Kara's hair had a fun tatoo:


A cute shot of Kara during the hair process:


Next we went to Wild Horse Pass Resort where Kara and Bob were staying, along with a number of guests. Kara and Bob are such hospitable people. They were always offering to get us something. And I thought these were cute tags that they made up to put on welcome gifts they gave to their guests:


Kara's cute even when she's on the phone:


I was impressed with Bob's ironing skills:


Next we made our way to Villa Siena for the final preparation for the ceremony. Kara's dress was beautiful:


The shoes:


Kara's dad was very handsome and fun to photograph.


Getting the dress on:


Kara and Bob saw each other before the ceremony and it was a really special time. We got some great shots:






Kara and Bob were so sweet together and so easy to shoot:


This one is shot through an outdoor fireplace:


Kara looked so stunning:


Instead of a traditional guest book, the couple set out old-fashioned post cards for guests to write well-wishes on:


I got this fun shot of some guests coming in from the rain:


Kara's dad walked her down the isle:


Although it was sad that the ceremony was moved indoors, Villa Siena's ballroom was a beautiful setting for the ceremony:


I thought this was such a sweet shot of Bob's mom after the ceremony. She couldn't stop crying:


What a great wedding! If you'd like to see a slideshow with more photos from the day, click here.


Thanks Bob and Kara for allowing me to be a part of your beautiful wedding!

Josh & Molly's Engagement Shoot

Tonight I shot Josh & Molly's engagement photos. They are getting married in April and I'm really excited to be shooting their wedding. They both graduated from my alma mater - Azusa Pacific University. They're a little younger than me so we weren't there at the same time, but it's been fun to talk about our experiences and people that we all know.

Anyhow, it was a great day for a shoot. We walked around Scottsdale Civic Center and Old Town Scottsdale. Here's some of my favorite shots:


Everybody wants a shot in front of the "LOVE" sculpture.





There are so many sculptures and statues around the Civic Center area and we were talking about how cheesey it is when people on vacation always seem to pick random statues to take pictures in front of. There are so many better spots. So when we saw this statue we jokingly decided to take a photo with it. Here's Josh and Molly with their cowboy friend:







Thanks for the fun afternoon guys! I'm excited to see you again in a few short months!

My favorite Christmas Cards

So I know Christmas is long gone for this year but I was taking down some of my cards and decided I wanted to share with you some of my favorites I received this year. Every year I receive cards from people with their family picture on them and it's fun because I shot them! I love to see the creative cards that people come up with using my photos. So if you have a card with one of my photos on it--make sure to include me on your mailing list--I would love to receive one and add it to my collection!

Here's the four I received this year (all very poorly scanned in):






I guess it's time to take down the tree now...

Worden Family Portraits

I have to say this is my favorite family I've ever done family photos for. Definitely NOT the easiest. But my favorite. This is my sister, brother-in-law and two adorable nephews. We've attempted family photos numerous times throughout the years and it's always more work than usual because Noah (6) and Elijah (5) are both autistic. Noah's gotten a lot better and will hold still and try to smile at the camera. But he's easily distracted and Elijah is usually the distraction. The boy won't sit still and won't look at the camera no matter what a loud fool I make of myself :). But I love them to death so we always do our best. Even though it takes a lot of energy, we always end up with some cute photos in the end. The best thing to do is keep moving. So we do things that are fun for the boys. Noah loves swinging:


And recently he's taken up basketball:



It's pretty amazing. The basket towers over him but he ends up making his under-handed shots a good percentage of the time. Here's some more cute shots of him playing:



And a cute one of Josh and Noah. Josh is so good with the boys.


Here's my sister taking Elijah down the slide:


After some fun on the playground equipment we went on the merry-go-round. Elijah lit up.



And finally we ended our outing with a ride around Freestone park on the train.


I love this one of Elijah. Poor guy was SO cold by this point.


And one last shot of the whole clan:


I love you guys!!!

The Merz Family

Well, I made it home. It was tough to leave. I love this family so much. Thursday we did some family photos. They were troopers because the temperature was in the 30s!

This is Shannon & Andy's cute house that I got to stay in for the past week:


My room was on the 3rd floor and had slanted low ceilings that mirrored the roof line. It's very homey and charming.

Anyhow, all of the portraits we did were in the front and back yard and we defrosted inside between groupings.

Shannon & Andy mainly wanted photos of the kids but I made them take some just the two of them. They make such a cute couple. They've been married for 13 years and together for 20!




Here's Madeline (8) and Grace (3) together on the front porch swing:


And I love this shot of Grace looking up to Maddy:


Here's dad with his girls:


And finally, individual shots of the three kids:




I miss them already! Thanks so much for a great week you guys!! Love you!

Old stuff - bridges, barns & graveyards

Today we did some more fun exploring around New Hampshire. I love the history in this state! We first drove to a little town named Swanzey and found 5 covered bridges. I think the state has around 50 of them total.

This is the Carlton bridge. It was first built in 1789 and then rebuilt in 1869. It looks like it's been spruced up since then with a fresh coat of paint but talk about old!


This is the Cresson bridge. It looked pretty similar and was built in 1859.


The Thompson covered bridge had this marker in front of it saying it was originally constructed in 1832 and then reconstructed in 1993.


I liked the lattice work and walkway that made it unique:


I believe this bridge was called The Coombs. But it wasn't well marked and was much less travelled than the others we saw.


And finally, this is the Slate bridge. It was constructed just a few years ago in 2001 so it was very pretty and fresh.


Here's a side view--it was pretty long.


This sign warned those who crossed it:


The covered bridges were a lot of fun to see--not something you come across in Arizona.

On our drive we also came across this amazing abandoned barn. It is 3 stories tall and the roof is partially caved in. Many of the windows are broken out and the paint is peeling like crazy.





It was pretty amazing. I love old red barns and there's practically one around every turn in NH country. I think I'll do a photo study on them next time I'm here.

I'm also fascinated with really old graveyards. I know it might sound weird but it's really interesting to walk around them and look at the tombstones and wonder about people's lives back then. We came across this one on a hillside next to the road and it caught my interest right away. The tombstones were SO weathered and the leafless trees that surrounded them made for some striking images. My favorite is the one at the very top of this post.


Check out the intricacies and the weathered look of this marker:



Many of the tombstones were incredibly thin and some were difficult to read.


Others were very simple and clear. Many of the tombstones didn't have dates that people were born and the years that they died were largely in the 1800s.



This marker was very distressed and read: "Malachi W. son of Malachi & Tameson Richardson. Killed in battle at Cold Harbor, Va.. June 2, 1864. 21 yrs. 2 mos. & 22 dys."


Here were some beautiful markers of husbands and wives buried next to one another:


These two were born in the late 1700s:


And this was a very sad sight. Three tiny stones next to one another. All children of the same parents - two boys and one girl all born in the 1870s. One only lived to be 4 days old, one lived a year and another 3 years. Very sad. But a reminder of the infant mortality rate that existed not too long ago and what a difference modern medicine has made.


Even though sadness surrounds graveyards to some extent, I also find them very beautiful - a reminder of those who have gone before us and of the fact that our time here is short. As the old hymn says--"This world is not our home. We're just a passin' through..."

Exploring New Hampshire

Today the weather cleared up and Shannon, Grace, Marshall and I took a little road trip. We stopped at the beach and got out for a few minutes. It was a nice day but the harsh wind made it SO cold out on the coast. Here's a few fun shots I got at the beach:


Grace looked so cute in her red coat and stylin' sun glasses:


And Marshall was adorable with his hood up:


Here's the whole cute gang:


And Shannon made a sweet note in the sand for me:


After the beach we drove to this great little town named Exeter. I love all the history in New Hampshire. This little sign talks about how Exeter was one of the four original towns in the colony starting in 1638 and became the capital of the state during the American Revolution.


I also really like all the architecture and old buildings on the east coast. They have so much more character than a lot of our cookie-cutter houses and stucco bulidings in Arizona. Here's some other fun shots from our time in Exeter.

A cool red barn:


A fun old mailbox:


A piece of art on a shed alongside the road:


An old window on the side of a barn:


A rusty latch on an abandoned buliding (pictured at the top of this post):


And some tall marsh grass growing out of the wetlands:


After exploring a bit we had worked up an appetite for lunch and stopped and this cute cafe. Outside was this fun old bike:


Here's a cute shot of Shannon and Grace during lunch. Shannon is such a great mom! Even though I don't have kids of my own, I feel like I have learned so much from her example.


After lunch Grace wrapped herself up in the cafe curtains. It made for some cute shots:



And finally, on the way back to the car, Marshall and Grace did a little window shopping:



SO CUTE! I love these kids. It's going to be hard to leave in a few days.

New Hampshire friends

I'm in New Hampshire visiting some good friends of mine and taking a week partially off to relax a little. It's partially because I have my laptop and am still checking emails and blogging a little. But it has been such a relaxing really blessed time so far. I was hoping for some snow but the weather here is unseasonably warm and pretty much feels like it does in Phoenix right now. Although it has been raining pretty much non-stop since I've been here. So unfortunately I haven't been able to get outside with my camera to do some exploring. But I'm hoping to do so later this week.

Shannon and Andy have been married for 13 years and have 3 unbelievably adorable kids. I'm going to hopefully shoot some family portraits later this week but I shot a few photos of the kids around the house as we've been hanging out.

Madeline is in 3rd grade and super-smart. She's a great big-sister:


Grace is 3 and is very sweet and cuddly:


And Marshall is 1 and a little mischevious. But also SO cute:


Here's Marshall trying on his big sis's boots:


Anyhow, I hope to be able to shoot more in the next couple days so stay tuned for more NH fun!

Kelly & Tyler

Kelly & Tyler got married last Saturday on a slightly chilly but beautiful December day. It was a fun family affair with lots of people involved and plenty of action to shoot. The day started with the girls at the salon. Here's Kelly's cute toes:


There were five cute little girls involved in the ceremony and all of them had their hair done:


And their make-up:


The brightly-colored flowers:


The pretty bride:


The ceremony was held at Tyler and Kelly's local Catholic church. The sky was amazing:


I caught a sweet moment between this father and son as they waited for the ceremony to begin:


Kelly was walked down the isle by her father:


My second-shooter for this wedding was Ray Talamantes. He was a lot of fun to work with and got some great shots. These next three were his:


I love the colors in this shot and it has qualities that look like a painting:


The little girls were all SO cute. I like this shot Ray got of one of them at the reception:


And one last shot of the happy couple:


Click here to view the slideshow with more of my favorites from the day.

Thanks Kelly & Tyler for allowing me to be a part of your wedding!

Erik & Jenny's wedding in the Wedding Chronicle

The January/February issue of "The Wedding Chronicle" is out and I had another wedding featured in it! It's a full page spread and I'm excited because they picked some good photos to use.

I also enjoyed reading the story they featured with the photos. It reads: "Soon after meeting, Erik and Jenny knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. After a whirlwind romance and courtship, Erik proposed on a beautiful beach in Cabo San Lucas."

"Upon hearing of the engagement the most excited people were Jenny's three sisters who plunged right in. There were many plans to be made and even more details to be looked after, but Jenny and Erik had an army of loving, excited people to help them along."

"On a gorgeous day in April surrounded by families and friends from as far away as Brazil, the wedding party was led down the aisle by six little flower girls under the age of seven. Jenny and Erik said their vows encircled by love."

"Shortly after the wedding the couple left for a cruise on the Mediterranean. Everyone agrees it doesn't get any better than this."

If you'd like to see more photos from Erik & Jenny's wedding, click here to view their album.

Chris & Heidi

Last Friday I shot Chris & Heidi's wedding. I don't usually cover only a few hours of a wedding day but that's what Chris & Heidi wanted and it ended up working out for me to do it. The wedding was intimate and simple. Heidi is from China and moved here to marry Chris. Unfortunately her family wasn't able to come to the US for the wedding. Heidi looked lovely:


The day was a beautiful one for a wedding and the ceremony took place at the Church of Christ in Chandler:


Grandma was dressed up beautifully and I liked how these shots of her in the church turned out:



One of Heidi's friends escorted her down the isle:


I wasn't the only photographer at the wedding :) :


Man & wife:


A sweet moment right after the ceremony:


I liked the unique champagne glasses:


And the cute couple:



Thanks Chris & Heidi for allowing me to be a part of your wedding!