Travis & Brianne’s Magical Day

It was a brisk, very cold, but sunny December morning, and love . . . was . . . in . . . the . . .air!!! At least for Brianne and Travis . . . :)

It was such a beautiful day and I really enjoyed the experience of photographing their wedding. I always seem to be more endeared to the couples where I’ve gone from start to finish with the pictures (engagements, bridals, wedding, reception) because I’m truly able to feel of the excitement and I feel so much more apart of the day, and I feel like they are truly my friends! I couldn’t be more happy for Travis and Bri! They were so relaxed and were able to really have some fun to create some beautiful picture moments.

Their excitement was intoxicatingly wonderful for everyone!

 

This next picture was a funny moment. I always LOVE to do weddings of my previous brides’ friends because that means I can run into them! Melissa and Tyler are really close to Bri and Travis, and wanted a picture with them because Tyler had to run off to work. Well We’re just missing two important people to make this picture work . . . . Oops! Wrong couple! Haha!!! They ceased the moment for a funny picture!

There we go . . . the right brides with the right grooms! :)

And knowing me with my soft spot for brother/sister pictures, I loved these next two:

 

Sometimes I wish I could blog all of the pictures. There really were some fun moments. Like when no one was standing on the stairs, and Bri was by herself, so she posed. Then the picture of Travis’ pouty face with her laughing after she said she didn’t need him in the picture :) Haha! Then this next picture of them just being their awesome selves!

 

Rock it out Brianne! You’re hot!

  And the guys just being themselves:

I actually really like this next one

OOh and THIS one:

 

 “Hallelujah!”

 

Not exactly sure what is going on in this next one . . . . but it was funny :)

Ok, another fun moment. And only those super busy brides will have total sympathy for this (like me). This was their only “food” that whole day (besides maybe a piece of toast for breakfast). Two Big Macs were the only way to go! They were literally eating as fast as possible in between the greeting line and the rest of the program.

And of course I had a little bit of creative fun with it ;)

Bri literally gave Travis no warning for this. At one moment they were trying to figure out how to get the cake on the plate to all of the sudden cake in Travis’ face.

He was a pretty good sport :)

Haha!

The “Girls” (insert whatever they call their fun little gang of ladies ;) (what was it again Bri?) Any ways, these ladies were the bomb at Melissa’s wedding, and did not disappoint at Brianne’s! Lots and lots of fun!

The Daddy-Daughter Dance and Mother-Son Dance were so special. Brianne and her dad had some very tender moments. Here were just a few:

The grand exit!! Yeah! I remember being totally exhausted that day (the cold weather for some reason makes me all that more extra tired), but I had a huge smile on my face! The reception wrapped up nicely the whole day as well as my fun experience with these two! I am so happy for them and their marriage! I wish them all the happiness! Thank you so much Brianne and Travis for letting me be a part of this very special day in your lives!

My Fabulous 2009 Couples!

 

First off . . . Do you all just love the new look to my blog??? I sure do, and I have my amazing husband, John, to thank for it. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing, but eventually he figured it out, and I just love it! So thanks John!!!

Ok, on to the post . . .Yes, the title says it all! I wanted to just reminisce a little about some of the couples I worked with back in 2009. It was seriously an amazing year! And a lot of change for me too! I just really appreciate those who came along on the ride with me as I fell in love again with wedding photography!  So here we go . . . I just posted one picture of each couple and tried to find a picture that I loved that I didn’t post on the blog or website (the new one is coming in less than a week!). There may be a few ones at the beginning which I may have repeated, so sorry if that’s the case. But I believe most of these are new ones that I love.

Elise and Scott asked me to do their engagements even though they were getting married in Texas. I had a total blast with them!   Reagan and Sam: I totally loved hanging out with them and creating some of my most unique pictures for their engagement and then bridal session, which I totally loved!

Charaty & Mike: I was honored to photograph their ceremony and their groomal session. I adore this picture of them!

 

One of my best friends got married in April! Jenny and Brandon! I just love these two, and we had quite the rainy day in April!

Greg & Shandi: What a BEAUTIFUL Manti temple wedding day in May! I miss spring already. This was also the day that changed my life when I got my Canon 5D Mark II. I seriously don’t know how I lived without it before then :) haha!

 

Blythe & Rob also got married in May. I had one of the shortest after-wedding session with the two of them, but got some of my very favorite pictures too at the beautiful Mt. Timpanogos Temple.

Tyler & Melissa:  I loved this wedding! Seriously, such a fun one in June! They get the very best dancing-at-the-reception award! It was a blast!

 

Adam & Stephanie: For being a July wedding, when it was supposed to be really hot, it was an amazingly beautiful day! It was my first time meeting them on their wedding day, but they were so easy to like, get along with, and I had a fabulous time!

Emily & Robert: This was one of my first “family” weddings. Robert is John’s nephew and it was fun to have family around for the whole experience. Haha this is also the wedding where I had a huge eye infection (thought it was allergies), so I was blind for the whole wedding experience, until picture time where I disobeyed the doctor’s orders, and stuck in my contacts any ways so I could actually see! Fun day though!

Nicole & Cody: They got married up in the Big Cottonwood Canyon in September. We were so happy that it didn’t rain (since it did for a little bit), and they were awesome to do their pictures before the ceremony when the light was just right. I loved the location we went to for their together picts.

Jessica & Kevin: I just blogged their wedding! So we all know what a fun day that was! Cold a chilly, but if you look at this picture, there’s actually green in November! It’s amazing!

Travis & Brianne: They got married in December! But you would never know it by their pictures since there was barely any snow! It was cold though and they braved it! We had such a fun time, were exhausted by the end, but I left the reception that night with a smile on my face because I was so happy for them! (I will blog their wedding soon!)

Aaron & Melanie:  So technically they got married a week ago in January, but I couldn’t help posting them a sneak peek of their wedding. It was my first time at the Draper Temple, and I loved it! It was totally freezing, but again, I always get the best couples who are brave and do whatever it takes for the pictures.

 

2009 was so great! I debated whether to do something like this for my portrait clients, but had no idea how I would do something like that since that’s a whole different story, but the portrait year was so great too! I want to thank all of my 2009 clients for being so amazing, patient, fun, energetic, and open with me to allow me to capture who you are and tell your story of wherever you were in your life at that moment. I gained so many wonderful friends this past year whom I’ll always remember, and hope that I can keep in contact with. Thanks for helping me become the photographer as well as person that I want to be. You all are amazing!!! Thanks again!

May you all have a wonderful 2010 year!  :)

Jessica & Kevin’s Beautiful Day – Part 1

  It was a very beautiful November day when the Princess Jessica and Prince Kevin sealed their love forever in their castle. They both totally radiated and I was so happy to be apart of their very special day. I was doing my own smiling a lot that day too at seeing how happy everyone was, it would have been hard to not feel the excitement!

 

 

 

Because I am a big sister to brothers, I couldn’t help but feel extra love for the next picture.

 

 

My newest fun thing I like to do at the SLC temple. I love how it turns out every time! (and by the way, I have some really great silent cheerers. . . so we don’t make too much noise. Great job everyone!)

For some reason I really like this next one.

Ok, on to Jessica and Kevin by themselves.

This has been one of my top weddings of 2009, and Kevin & Jessica are just so awesome to work with! (I still need to post their amazing groomal session!) They are just those kinds of people who make everyone around them feel important and special. You can’t help but smile when you are around the two of them. They both truly radiate on the inside and out. I feel like a better person after being around them and am so glad to call them my new friends!

It was amazing seeing the love in their eyes for one another. I wish them all the happiness!

  Haha! Love this next one!

The fountains were on for like 20 seconds after we saw them, and I caught this shot real fast.

Um, one of my favs!

John caught these next two. Loved his perspective.

And I adore this next one of John’s too:

We’ll end with my favorite. I cut down this post a lot, but not enough, so their reception is coming in another post. Hope you enjoyed this preview! Happy Monday!

Wedding sneak peek . . .

As I  was deep in slumber last night, and knew I was preparing myself to go to another wedding today, I was awoken with the fact that I am a total slacker and hadn’t yet posted a picture of my last wedding! Even though I attempted to sleep longer, it was a fitful sleep knowing that I am not where I want to be when it comes to being on top of things, so I bring you these two pictures as penance for my being a slacker ;)

Any ways, this wedding was a total blast as well!  They are such a fun couple and totally fun to hang out with! I have lot  of funny pictures from their wedding, but this morning was feeling a little more serene, so I picked some pretty artsy ones :)

Amelia's Senior pictures

She really does brighten my day when I see her! This is my awesome niece, Amelia. I was so excited to take her senior pictures back in October. I had so much fun hanging out with her. She'll definitely go far in life with her motivation and detemination. She is a very talented pianist, and has been doing it since she was a little girl, and now is pretty amazing at it! She found a very generous neighbor who let us use their beautiful piano in their home for part of the session.
Here are just a few of my favorites from Amelia's session:
























Thanks so much for hanging out with me, Amelia! I had a total blast! Good luck with after you graduate in 2010!

Shout out to other seniors out there . . . Now is the time to book your senior session, so that I can fit you in before you graduate! It's definitely a fun session and focuses on you and what you're good at. Email me if you're interested!

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm currently working on today . . .

Yep, I missed a day, but I’ll make it up to you all next week! I’ll post some more of this beautiful winter groomal session, and I’ll give you a few tips I’ve learned to making it easier to take pictures in the winter. This beautiful couple is getting married in about a week and I’m thrilled! More about this beautiful couple soon :)

Have a wonderful Friday and weekend!! Go have some fun!

Cody & Nicole’s Wedding

Yep I’m really back!!! There’s another fun wedding that I haven’t shared with you. You can tell it definitely was before all this cold winter. Cody & Nicole tied the knot in September! They were so awesome and woke up early before their ceremony to do pictures of just the two of them. Nicole brought us to this awesome spot up the canyon, and I think it worked out perfect!!! The landscape around was breathtaking, not to mention the awesome couple! Here are a couple of my favs:

Here was our little duck friend from the very first picture:

Keeping it real :)

I think this is my favorite one of Nicole:

Nicole’s beautiful daughter, and Cody’s cute son:

The groom is patiently waiting for his bride :) Haha!

This was seriously such a tender moment:

(Thanks John for this next perfect capture)

Enjoy some more favorite moments from their ceremony. I have John to thank for a lot of these pictures too. I seriously have realized that I can’t do without him for weddings. So he’s on this wedding photography boat whether he likes it or not ;) hehe!! Any ways, enjoy!

Congrats Nicole and Cody! Thanks so much for letting me be a part of your very fun day!!

Melissa & Tyler's Wedding!

Ok, guess what??? This week I'll be doing one blog post a day!!! There are a few posts which I just need to show you all and so this way, I can quickly catch up! This post today is the oldest which I haven't shared with you all, yet it was seriously one of my favorite weddings of 2009. This couple rocked and the wedding was so much fun! You may remember them from their engagement and bridal session: Tyler and Melissa! Well they got married back in June! I think this was one of my very busiest weddings too and I think this one took the record for the most pictures, so thinking of blogging it was like trying to pick my favorite puppy from the pet store. Too many cute ones! But I decided that I would finally like to share with you all my favorites! John was my faithful second shooter here, and he seriously rocked this wedding too! He caught this first one:

and I caught this one right before they came out:









All these girls were hilarious! Lots of energy, and their laughs were definitely contagious ;)


Melissa's brothers also had tons of energy. We caught so many goofy ones of them throughout the entire day. . . .more picts of them later in this post . . .


Ok, so I promise I didn't tell Tyler to this next thing . . . We simply took a nice smiling picture of his mom and him, and then I said, "Do you want to do anything fun? Do you want to kiss your mom on her cheek?" Then this is how it played out. I just kept clickin' ;)

Haha! Any ways, thought you'd all enjoy that! Tyler's mom was such a good sport!

Well on to the pictures of just the two of them:

John caught another very similar picture to this that I absolutely love, but this is my version of it:


Ok, let me say something about Reception halls. I've been to quite a few now. And each has a different feel to it. Some have a fun feeling to them, some beautiful, some classy, some totally unique to themselves. But this past summer I had the opportunity to photograph at two Garden Nursery's, and as far as pictures go, I love these places the best! They get fantastic lighting (because the ceilings are clear, so lots of light pours in), and because it was summertime and the light doesn't go down till later, I was able to not use my flash till the very last 15 minutes! Wahoo! Every natural light photographers dream! So I seriously had a blast! The Reception halls' lighting should be a factor that you consider when deciding where to go. Garden Nursery's aren't the only ones with great lighting, but you should look for places that have large windows with lots of light pouring in if you want even better reception pictures. And also consider the timing that you schedule your reception at (For winter receptions, this is way harder because the light goes down so much earlier!) But if possible, schedule it during a time where the light is still up, if this is the kind of look you want for your reception.

























We got some very tender Daddy-Daughter dance pictures.








Ok, let me say something about Reception Dances. . . they can seriously be a blast!! This one definitely was (in case you couldn't already tell from the fun pictures). Do you know what the key was though? The Bride and Groom starting the dance, as well as sticking in there with it. I think most people like to dance and have a good time, but sometimes it's not comfortable being the first one out on the dance floor. However, if the bride and groom welcome everyone, as well as have their bridesmaids and groomsmen get out there to start up with the energy, then other guests will follow and start dancing too. I cannot do this dance justice with the pictures on the blog because there were way too many . . . we'll just say I barely made it through the reception with the amount of cards GB's that I have (and that had never happened before!) But seriously this dance went on for a good solid hour! It wasn't like a couple songs and then everyone sat down, this one went on and on! And the more time that went by, the crazier it became! It was such a blast! I could maybe be caught seeing dancing myself as I snapped away and sang with the music! It was a total blast!

This three boys were the craziest of everyone though ;)









The line dances were so much fun!

Oh yep! You'd better believe it Father of the Bride . . . I caught you being goofy as well while pulling your dance moves!

It was the most fun, crazy, beautiful, awesome night! I went home exhausted and wiped, but with a smile on my face and lots of fun memories!

Well that post has been a long time in coming, but was so much fun! Wish I could have shared more pictures . . . but there were just too many fun ones! Thanks Tyler and Melissa for making it so memorable for me as well as all your guests, I'm sure.

Another fun post to come tomorrow! Till then, have a wonderful day!!!

New Year. New Goals

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!. . . . Isn't that great? A NEW year. A new fresh start to doing better and becoming the people we'd like to become. A year to try a little harder. A year to love a little deeper. Forgive a little sooner. Strive with more vigor.



Yep. That's what I'm going to try to do in my own life.



And I also have another goal . . . to blog with a little more diligence ;) I have had so many wonderful clients this past year whom I missed sharing their pictures. I may go back in January and share a few of them from as early as June! Ah! Yep I got that behind with some. But it's a new year . . . and mostly I'll be focusing on blog trekking forward!!! :)



I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season! See you all soon!



P.S. the baby in this picture is very special to me. . . I'll tell you why. It's the first baby of one of my first brides of '08. He was born on my birthday. He also was named after my son, Caleb. . . . well ok, maybe not in honor of my son, but it's still a great name :) I loved seeing his parents again and meeting him for the first time yesterday. He's such a fresh breath of Heaven.

Long time comin' . . . .

Has it been long enough yet? Have you missed me???? Well I've missed all of you. The past month and a half has been good and bad. Photography wise it's been amazingly great! I've had so many wonderful clients whom I love so much and have made it so much fun for me! Mid November I hit some stumbling blocks in my personal life, but we're doing ok now. So I'm sorry I've been a stranger. Blogging seriously was one of the last things on my to-do list. Even though today I've got oodles to do as it's the last weekend before CHRISTMAS, but wanted to share a few picts from some of the sessions over the past month.

The very first picture on the post: Jessica and Kevin are MARRIED!!! I can't even express how wonderful it was to be apart of their very special day. (Sorry your teaser picture has been a long time in coming). More about them and their wonderful wedding later. But Congrats!!!

Next one . . . Another way fun 2010 Senior! Julie was so awesome and we had a blast together! Love the colors in this next one!

And some cute babies:

Oh yes . . . . And yesterday my other fabulous couple this winter got married too!!!! Travis and Brianne had a wonderful day yesterday. Here's just a sneak for the rest of you out there of their groomals.



This next one is my favorite: (well one of them . . . ;)



Ok and because I have no idea if I'll have time to do another post before Christmas. Here's from me to you:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

(May Christ's love be in your hearts and homes this season and coming year)

Groomal session sneak peek . . .

Yep, I'm still here! I'm just a crazy editing woman this week! But I couldn't hold Jessica and Kevin in suspense any longer from their amazing groomal session!

I seriously loved the images we got that evening, but also the fun we had doing it! But this will have to tie you all over till more of them. Enjoy!

Travis & Bri: Together.

Bri decided to go to the play that night. It just had to be that night, but she didn't know it. There's just something special about going to your own old high school's play, even after you're graduated. She just didn't know why it was special until she saw him in the audience. Her heart skipped a few beats, and her eyes did a double-take. It was Travis.

She had secretly harbored a crush on him during her sophomore year in high school. But the timing was never quite right, since she was dating someone else at the time. Yet, the two of them were able to establish a friendship, and for that she was grateful. She just hoped it could continue now that their paths had crossed again.

Travis was also smitten. Bri was beautiful, friendly, and fun to be around. As luck would have it, Bri reminded him of a date he owed her after he had to say no to a girls-choice dance she'd asked him to years ago. He was grateful for an excuse to ask her for her phone number.

Bri didn't think he'd actually call her. But he did, and they were able to deepen their friendship through dating. However, they weren't meant to be together quite yet . . .

Travis left the state and served a mission for the LDS church. He hoped that Bri would continue to keep in touch with him. He knew his path needed to go in this direction at this time in his life, but he didn't want to lose her.

The one thing consistent about life besides change, is busy-ness. Bri wrote him a couple letters, but other than that sort of lost contact with Travis. But something brought her back. Some nagging feeling that she didn't want to lose him either.

For the third time, Travis and Bri came back into each others' lives. That's when love was able to enter their lives more fully. The timing was right and their feelings for one another was deep and mutual.

I had so much fun photographing these two and am so excited to be photographing their wedding this December! Enjoy "some" of my favorites from their session!



I really like this "washed-out" look to this picture . . . Bri is so gorgeous!

And for some Halloween spirit . . . . yet romantic . . .

I seriously love these next two because they are so natural and real.

I usually always try to be "artistic" in all of my poses, angles, etc. But never underestimate the power of the moment! Un-posed, totally natural! I sure love those moments once in a while too when they come of their own accord!





Johnny's picture (he mostly was holding lights, reflectors, etc. for me, and so he only got a few of his own pictures. But the actual few that he got, I love!)

Um . . . yep my very fav!:

These two actually became "officially" engaged the night before, and are far apart due to Travis' schooling in Wyoming. I hope some of these picts can give them some comfort while away from one another for the next couple months. It can definitely be hard to be engaged long-distantly! But December will come sooner than you know!

Thanks again Bri & Travis for letting me be apart of this special time in your lives and capture it in a way that will be memorable for years to come!

Family Moment

I love this family. One of my very first clients, whom I've grown to love so much. Here's your sneak peek! I love this moment

Watch out photographers!

This past weekend, I went to Rock that OFC, and met some wonderful other photographers. One in particular, Heidi, had a very awful thing happen to her just days after the workshop. I am still so sick just thinking about it and cannot even believe that there are people out there who are so cruel.

Read about her tragedy here,
http://www.heidijphotography.com/blog/?p=346

KSL even covered the story to help spread the word, go here to see it:
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=8491548

And then there is another photographer who has set up a way to donate to help Heidi out as much as possible, so go here to hear all of the different ways that you can donate and help (especially if you are a photographer, you should check this out since he's offering mentoring, actions, and templates) Go here if you can and want to help donate to Heidi's cause:

http://dustinizatt.com/blog/desperate-help-needed-please-read-and-spread-the-word/

My heart truly goes out to her! Photography for many people is a livelihood and there is so much more than just the money (which is a TON too!) that is invested while trying to make this a business. Heidi, I'm sure, put her heart into making photography become a reality for her, and I just can't believe someone would try to take that away from her.

She's definitely not the only victim according to the KSL report. So PLEASE be careful if you're a photographer out there! DON'T leave your stuff in your car, even for a minute. Also one photographer said to take a step further, and take memory cards out of your camera right after you're done and keep them on you at all times, so if in the case your camera does get stolen, at least you didn't also loose the images. Also get your gear insured!!!

Well any professional photographers out there can definitely understand the extent of Heidi's loss. Please help if you can, and also learn from her story.

Kevin & Jessica = In Love

They were both very outgoing. They both knew how to make everyone around them feel special. They were both leaders in their own way. They both just didn't know at the time that they were meant for each other.

As EFY (especially for youth) counselors, they were so busy helping the youth have a wonderful time, that they didn't take the time to get to know one another. But even through the busy-ness, Kevin was aware of Jessica.

As fate would have it, they both went to the same college and just so happened to be in the same class. Jessica recognized Kevin from their adventures during the summer, so it was easy for them to become better friends. Kevin noticed the warm generous smile that Jessica gave to all. She not only radiated beauty on the outside, but more importantly on the inside. He had a chance to finally take some action and ask her out.

Jessica was a busy girl. On top of work and school, she also had other guys asking her out. Kevin made several attempts to go on a date with her, however, she had to say no each time, promising him that she really wanted to, but just couldn't because of her schedule.

Luckily, Kevin did not give up. After many attempts, and as a reward to all his efforts, he finally got an evening date with her all to himself. From there on out, everything came naturally. Their love for one another was effortless. They were able to now combine forces and make the world a better place through their kindness and love for everyone.

When I first met these two, there was no mistake of their love for one another. A simple look that occured between them, radiated love.

I also had such a wonderful time taking their engagements! These two seriously have the most sincere, yet contagious laughs and smiles! They are just so much fun to be around! They both really do know how to make everyone around them feel special :)

Enjoy some of my favorites from their awesome engagement session! This first place was the place of one of their first dates.















Oooh! I love the rain in this next one! How often do you get light rain mixed with the sun? Not often, but it sure makes for some awesome pictures!

Thanks Jessica & Kevin for such a fun time! I can't even tell you how incredibly lucky I feel to be photographing your wedding next month! I feel like I'm a better person just from knowing you both!

Their groomal session is yet happen. . . but it will be AMAZING too! Just pray that we'll get some good weather next week!

Let me know what you think! Have a great day!

Rock that OCF Workshop

This past weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to my first workshop. Ali Hohn, from Minnesota, flew in for the weekend to teach us all how to Rock our Off Camera Flashes! 10 of us photographers dove right in! I'm really excited by what I learned. I originally was very anti-flash, but with some of the new techniques I've learned, I'm now excited! But my Christmas list is now much too big for my own good :)

I had a really fun time getting to know the other photographers and Ali. Thanks again Ali for teaching us what you do best!

Enjoy some of my favorite pictures that I got this past weekend:

P.S. how do you all like my new logo (watermark)?? Still working on updating everything!

Oh yes, and I did notice that I missed the 2nd "h" in photography . . . I'm too lazy to fix it, but it'll be fixed in future watermarks/logos :)

Amelia's Teaser

Such a fun session . . . it always helps when it's my beautiful niece! I was also in love with this gate which just happened to be their neighbors! She's an awesome senior this year and we have lots of picture awesome-ness coming your way!

Little Boys

Little Boys:

Little Boys are silly and energetic

Little Boys are curious:

Little Boys aren't crazy about photo sessions sometimes ;)

We can still call little boys beautiful in their own way:

Little Boys (and probably big boys) will eat anything, any way they can get it!

Little boys are sweet and wonderful and we love them!

I've had the pleasure to work with some really cute little boys lately (including my own), and wanted to show a couple of the cute and yet "realistic" pictures that make me smile :)

Have a great day!

A Wedding Sneak Peek . . .

This first one makes me sigh . . .

And this one makes me laugh!!! :)

Nicole & Cody's Groomals

What is this, you say? 3 full posts in less than 24 hours? Yep! I'm on a roll today! Feeling the blog power! Maybe more to come, who knows!

This first one is definitely one of my favorites :)

If you haven't already (especially because I just barely posted their full engagment post) scroll down and read their story first. I always like knowing a couple's story before seeing their pictures. For some reason I appreciate the pictures more that way. Nicole and Cody are awesome! It was fun to be apart of their wedding (which happened in September). Here are some of their awesome groomal pictures! Enjoy!

I heart this next one taken by John.

It was a beautiful day! I seriously am loving these water pictures. It's funny because in all of their sessions: engagements, bridals, and wedding, we incorporated water! Not necessarily on purpose, but I still love it! I'll post a sneak peek of their wedding soon!

Let me know what you think!