Another Fall Engagement - Julie and Mike

I feel like a giddy little girl every time I drive through the fall leaves!  With Julie and Mike, we started at the bottom of Big Cottonwood Canyon with the intention of shooting up at the top, by Brighton.  But, being overwhelmed with the beautiful surroundings, I, pulled the car to the side of the road about a dozen times before finally getting to the top!  Everywhere I turned was stunning.  The colors, the light, the water...  Big Cottonwood was perfect for photos!

Julie and Mike were great also.  (And didn't call me crazy when I'd stop for a moment and exclaim "Holy crap!  Look at this beautiful place.  This is Utah!  I get to live here."

 

There are several stages to a photoshoot:

1. The planning.  Choosing a location, a time, a day, etc.

2. The preparation.  Being ready for the location, the weather, and any emergencies that might come up.

3. Taking the pictures.  This is the first step that I get really excited about.  As soon as I have a camera in hand, and we are walking through our location, laughing, playing, and shooting, I am happy.  There is nowhere I'd rather be.

4. Importing and sorting the photos.  I usually pass this job on to my assistant, as it is my least favorite part.  He goes through the 600 or so files, finds the best of the set, and rejects any that are duplicates or out of focus.  That leaves me with about 100 to edit.

5. The editing.  This is my Zen place.  I can practically edit while sleeping.  It's some part of my brain that will work in any situation - even if I'm sick, tired, unhappy, or if I'm double tasking and watching a movie!  Editing takes a long time.  And I enjoy it.

6. Social media and blog.  This is when the excitement from step 3 comes back into play.  I'm remembering the moments, the personalities, and the emotions.  I'm sharing the stories, finding the highlights.  As I am writing this blog post I wanted to share the steps and the process with you.  I am exhausted, but as I sit here and relive the experience of Julie and Mike's shoot, I have a huge smile on my face.  My words may not always be eloquent, but I try to share what is behind the photos too - the heart.

And what amazing people these two are!  My favorite part of my job, once again, is getting to meet and have my life influenced by so many different people.

 

Engagements: Natalie and Steven

Another Engagement session!  Yes, 'tis the season of Spring love.

I like to tell the engaged couple that our session is just "supervised flirting" and they are responsible for being playful and making each other laugh.   Natalie and Steven were quite cute with it. They flirted and played all throughout City Creek and the Gallivan Center downtown.  And it was a beautiful, beautiful day.

 

  

Going through so many engagement sessions this month, we plan to announce a special tomorrow!  Keep your eyes open, we will have an 80% discount for engagement sessions scheduled for the week of May 18!  Only those 7 days.  We will have lots of playful photos, and we are excited for this whirlwind week.  Check back tomorrow for details :)

And congratulations Natalie and Steven!

Engagements - Downtown Salt Lake

I had a lot of fun working with Kenzie and Alex.  It was the evening after our most recent bridal show, so an extremely long day.  We were sleep deprived and completely drained of energy from talking to people all day.  But what an INCREDIBLE day!  Then Kenzie and Alex show up with these beautiful smiling faces and all the energy came back!  It was a whirlwind hour full of enthusiasm, we just ran around downtown (started at the Capitol  and ended at the Gallivan Center).

 

One of my favorite things about shooting downtown is that it's no problem if we go past sunset!  There are plenty of other lights to play with.  We bring off camera flashes, of course, but it's the lights in the background that make the night photos interesting.

Click here to check out more of Kenzie and Alex's engagement photos

Engagements - Becca and Todd

Engagements at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and surrounding areas.  Becca and Todd were delightful - they were dancing and laughing... made me smile throughout the whole session.  If we can all be happy, photoshoots are fun!  It doesn't even feel like work.

 

Here's a fun story:  These two met online (rather common for many of the couples I come across these days!) and there first date was ... wait for it ... to the DMV.  They renewed their licenses together at the start of the relationship.  I think that's kind of adorable!

 

2013 Comes to a Close... Weddings in Review

  The clock struck midnight and everyone cheered, kissed, danced, hugged...  My phone buzzed with messages of gratitude,  messages of well wishes for future, and  messages of love, friendship, reflection.  I had a few moments to sit and reflect as well.  While there's nothing particularly different about the moment of midnight December 31st than any other moment, I still like to join everyone in reflection - what made this year great?  Another 365 days of life.  What do I want next year to be like?   Reflections and Resolutions.   I am grateful for 2013, for the challenges, the growth, the learning, and the many people who have impacted my life.  I've photographed some beautiful moments and worked with many beautiful, loving people.  That's why I like to photograph weddings:  There's very little more rewarding than seeing the way a bride and groom look at each other, recognizing TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF OUR LIVES.  I believe this is true every day, but I love capturing the moments when people are so aware of it.  It's inspiring.

As I stated at the beginning of the year, we were only going to accept 10 weddings in 2013.   We aren't keeping the same limit for 2014, but I'm glad we did this.  We stayed true to the limit, though I did take a few photos at my older brother's wedding (I couldn't help myself!).  That was a special day.  Such a unique, emotional experience!  Sometimes I think it's easier to hide behind the camera so no one knows how sentimental I am - They might not be able to see the tears that way :)

Here's my brother and his wife, Nathan and Liz: Ceremony and reception at South Padre Beach, Texas

I want to thank each couple for contributing to my year.  Thank you for inviting me to be there to witness and capture such monumental moments in your lives.  I feel incredibly humbled and grateful that my job includes opportunities like this.  Here's a photo-review of each wedding day in celebration of you!

1. Mattie and Carston

Ceremony: Bountiful Utah LDS Temple

Reception: Wight House, Bountiful UT

 

 

2. Kiera and Brandon - Los Angeles California LDS Temple

 

3. Michelle and Sam - Salt Lake City LDS Temple

 

4. Kathryn and Merrick - Timpanogos LDS Temple

 

5. Britney and Taylor

Ceremony: Salt Lake City LDS Temple

Luncheon: Joseph Smith Memorial Building

Reception: Huntington Beach, California

 

6. Jordyn and Colton

Ceremony: Timpanogos LDS Temple

Reception: Sleepy Ridge Reception Center (Orem, UT)

 

 

7. Sarah and Brady  -   Ceremony and Reception: Big Cottonwood Canyon, UT

 

 

And yes!! They had a life-sized Jenga game :):):)

8. Alexis and Bret - Ceremony and Reception at Noah's Reception Center

  

9. Melissa and Nathan - Ceremony and Reception at the Alpine Arts Center, Utah

 

 

10. Angela and James

Ceremony: Salt Lake City Temple

Reception: Bella Vista Reception Center

 

Thank you all for a wonderful year.  Congratulations at this exciting stage of life!  We are looking forward to the future and welcoming in 2014.  As a good friend of mine said, "A book of 365 blank pages starts today.  What are you going to create each day... each moment?"

Happy New Year to all!

Lexi & Brett Formals

Lexi is one of the most incredible people I know.  And she's worked as an assistant for me this summer, so it was extra exciting to do the photoshoots of her and her wonder Brett :).  This was one crazy day, though, because the weather acted up last minute and we had to change our plans for location.  There was a 10 minute break without rain, so luckily we got a few beautiful outdoor photos too!

 

I always encourage my clients to add something to their shoot to make it more personal.  Lexi brought the most beautiful "something" possible - her little daughter.  The three of them interact together had some really precious moments.  *Spoiler alert* - little Lindy actually joined them for their first dance at the wedding reception.  So sweet.

 

 

 

 

I don't remember what the story behind this last photo was - maybe "my cheeks hurt from smiling so much, Whitney!" - but I love it!

Temple Square Formals - Katherine & Shane

 

 

 

Downtown Salt Lake Engagements - Jordyn & Colton

 

This photo with the blue wall looked AMAZING printed on metal!  I feel like they should be fashion models here...  Adorable :)

 

City Creek was a really fun environment to shoot!  There was a cute old security guard who insisted we needed to stick around an extra 15 minutes because there was going to be FIRE coming out of the fountain.  (you can see in the photo above that it wasn't that exciting...  but it made me smile!)

This photo above is one of my favorites because I feel like I caught Jordyn and Colton on a date, not just a photoshoot.  Like they happened to be enjoying the atmosphere around City Creek, and they look like they were having fun.  I like to tell my clients that engagement photos are just supervised flirting.  Yes, I will give some direction, but mostly if you can just make each other laugh and enjoy the evening, everyone will be happier! I love seeing moments like these :)

 

I think this is the first engagement shoot I've ever done with a videographer there, but I've got to tell you - I would trust Chris McClain with my life.  Or my camera.  Or photos... Something like that!  It was wonderful to work as a team, his energy was so encouraging and positive.  Some photographers have horror stories about the video guy getting in the way, but in all the times I've worked with Chris, he's been amazing.

Formals - Capitol Building

  Mattie and Carston once again with bride and groom photos - part 2.   I love it when the couple decides to have both the bride and the groom at the bridals... groomals, formals... call it what you will!  It takes so much pressure off the schedule of the wedding day.  We also take the time to feature just the bride, in all her beauty!  Especially those eyes...

Carston, unfortunately, was a little bit sick this day, but we were quite impressed with how positive he was for the photos he jumped in, despite not feeling well.  Ahh, perfect smiles.  Looking at these photos below, I can't help but think what adorable kids these two will have!

 

And, of course, what would a bridal shoot be without shoes and flowers?