Shelby's Bridals

Ok, every now and then things just really work out exactly the way we need them to. As I mentioned in their engagement post both Shelby and Steve are very outdoorsy people, and so Shelby wanted some nice shots for her bridals outdoors as well. When we took the engagements we got some beautiful snow-covered landscapes, and even got a great shot of them kissing in the snow. However, it has been super warm, with no snow to be found, and most outdoor locations have been a little drab to say the least. So when we scheduled Shelby's bridal photography for last Saturday we really just crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. There were some projected intermittent flurries of snow, but the probabilities weren't especially high.
We decided to start the session up in Salt Lake in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and then head down to Provo for a couple outdoor locations she wanted to shoot at. The JSMB went swimmingly, and as we headed down to Provo for the first location we started to see a couple of flakes of snow. Then we started to see some more. Then there was a LOT more. It was coming down heavily, but unfortunately still wasn't sticking to the ground very well. At this moment I started to get a little nervous. I worried we might get lots of snow coming down on us, making it difficult to shoot, and still not get any pretty ground cover. I commented to Thomas that what we really needed was for it just to snow like crazy for about ten minutes, dump an inch or two on the ground, and then just stop snowing altogether. He laughed and agreed that it would be nice, but I shouldn't get my hopes up. So we got down to the orchard and started waiting for Shelby and her mother to get there. Once they did we chatted for a few minutes hoping the snow would start to stick/start lightening up. We finally decided to just start anyways, as we were losing light, and brought out the umbrellas.
I guess Shelby's been living right, or somebody in charge must just like us, because about 10 minutes after we started shooting, the snow just stopped, leaving about 1 or 2 inches of snow everywhere- just enough to turn the orchard this gorgeous pristine white. I kept giggling uncontrollably as I was shooting, because it was just so perfect. Sometimes I just love this job.
To top it off, we decided to head over to Utah Lake to see what kind of colors we might get with the sunset. We ended up with this just incredible blue sky, and the snow just covering the ice on the lake. The only word I can think to describe it is magical.










To see more of this shoot click here for the full gallery.

Kelsey and Alec's Beach Bride and Groom shoot

The day before Kelsey and Alec's wedding in the Redlands California temple, we met up at Dana Point in Orange County for a bride and groom shoot and some more bridals. It's a beautiful beach, and it was a gorgeous day with lots of huge clouds and some great color in the sunset. It was such a welcome change from the cold weather we had been having up here in Utah, and Thomas and I loved spending Thanksgiving in a location where you could walk around barefoot outside in shorts and a t-shirt. The only chilly point was when we got wet in the ocean while taking some of the shots; it was worth the sacrifice, but MAN that water that cold! :)








Click here to see the rest of the gallery.

Kelsey's Bridals

Well, Kelsey and Alec got married this last weekend and everyone was able to see how beautiful she looked in her dress. Thus, I am now able to put up the post showing her bridal shoot. It was a lot of fun, one of the sessions up above Sundance while the Fall colors were still in abundance, and we were joined by Kelsey's entourage- all 4 of her roommates. :)
Kelsey is an amazing singer, and is a member of an all-girl musical group at BYU, so we managed to get a couple of pictures of her singing in her dress. She and her group ended up performing at the reception out in California. I'll definitely be adding a post after I get the photos from the wedding day processed.







To see more of this bridal shoot, click here.

Kaylee's Bridals

I love shooting happy people. Kaylee is one of the happiest and most cheerful people I have met while doing photography. When I did Kaylee and LJ's engagements we laughed the entire session. It was easily one of my favorite shoots to photograph from the last six months. Kaylee and I met in downtown Provo for the session, and got some nice colorful backgrounds (this is another of the last couple fall color shoots). Kaylee's dress was gorgeous, I had never seen a dress quite like it before. Doing so many weddings as a photographer it is interesting that I have many more opinions and viewpoints on things like dresses, cakes, tuxedos, decorations and the like than when Thomas and I got married. I think looking back I wish I had gone with a more unique dress (I went pretty traditional with mine). I do love seeing all the different dresses with the brides that I shoot however! It's the huge variation that make it so interesting.
I am looking forward to photographing Kaylee and Lj's wedding this Saturday at the Draper Temple. It's almost a shame that neither Thomas or I really follow professional sports- Lj's father evidently played football in the NFL and I think it might be possible some other professional football players will be attending. Maybe I'll just casually talk to the biggest guys in the room and enthusiastically say "You know, you're big enough that you could probably play football! Ever think about it?" :D






To see a few more photos of Kaylee, click here.

Janine's Bridals

For this bridal shoot we trekked on out to a private lake in West Jordan that I had shot before and Janine liked. Unfortunately, on the way up there the clutch went out on our car! We managed to make it to the location without too many difficulties, but it did start the session out on a bit of a harried tone as we were rushing to begin before we lost too much light. Fortunately, Janine was up for the challenge and was such a trooper as it turned out to be a VERY windy and VERY chilly day. Janine's future-sister-in-law was along to help as an assistant, and she said later she thought it was strange at the beginning of the shoot that Thomas and I had brought along our pea coats; by sunset the wind had picked up across the water and even with our coats we were shivering!
I had seen helium balloons used in other bridal sessions, so I was interested to see how they turned out as a prop. They added an interesting element to the photos, though they were a little difficult to work with in the wind... :D









To see the rest of Janine's bridal session, click here.

Christie and Norman- Bride and Groom Shoot

Here's a few shots from Christie and Norman's Bride and Groom shoot. They'll be getting married soon at the Mount Timpanogos temple in American Fork, and they wanted some bride and groom shots for their reception. I met them randomly at the Timp temple one evening when I was doing some night temple shots with Thomas; they had just gotten engaged and asked Thomas to take a couple of pictures of them with their cell phone. Thomas called me over and I took a couple quick shots of them with my camera and emailed them them to Christie. Later on Christie contacted me about doing some more shots of them; they didn't need the full wedding package, but I was happy to schedule a couple of hours and do an enhanced bridal session.

Alexis and Alan's Bride and Groom Shoot

All right, I guess from the poll a couple weeks ago regarding what to call this type of shoot the consensus was that "Bride and Groom" made the most sense. Thus, this is the term I will begin using primarily to discuss this type of photos... though I still kind of like Mer's suggestion in the comments:
"Or you could always be brutally honest: "Prenuptual Vanity Shots: I wanna have lots of ammo when I show my exes and frenemies how hot my man is and how good I looked in that dress. BONUS! After you've had five children, you'll have proof that you once did, in fact, wear a size 2."
Anyways, here are some of Alexis and Alan's bridal-groomal-formal-bride-and-groom-pre-nuptial-vanity pictures. I think we managed to take these photos at the peak of the fall colors up in Sundance, and I was elated to see how vibrant they turned out. It certainly made editing the photos a breeze, which is always a bonus. :D
Alexis looked beautiful in her wedding dress, and Alan was sporting a very sweet brown pinstripe tux. I think shooting their wedding this November will be awesome!








Check out the rest of this gallery here.

Kari's Bridals

For Kari's bridal photos we headed on up to the Garden Park Ward in Salt Lake City. This beautiful little spot is full of trees, footbridges, neat architecture, and a waterfall. It's also just a stones throw from downtown SLC and where my mother grew up. She used to call it her "secret place" and go there to play and spend time with her friend. They both thought that no one else knew about it. :) Later on, she and my dad got their engagement pictures done there. I was pretty excited to check it out because I had heard so many good things about the location.
Kari was so pleasant to be around and laughed the entire time. I thought it was kind of unbelievable as she had gotten up at FOUR IN THE MORNING to meet the MUA and get her hair and makeup done. Small price for beauty, I suppose. We had a wonderful early morning bridals shoot, and Kari looked gorgeous in her dress. Good times were had by all.








To see more of Kari's bridal shoot, click here.

What's in a name? "Formals" vs "Groomals" vs "Bride and Groom"

There's an increasing trend in wedding photography both in and outside of Utah to include the groom in the traditional pre-wedding bridal shoot. It appears that the old superstition of it being bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding is fading. As a photographer, I love this! It's a great opportunity to get photos of the bride and groom in a comfortable setting, at a time of the day with good natural light, and in different and fun locations. The couple isn't stressed about making it to the luncheon / dinner / reception, there isn't a huge and distracting crowd of people behind me with cameras of their own, and we can often bring along lighting equipment and other setups that aren't as practical on the wedding day.

The problem is, what should I call the photos??? The bridal photos are almost universally known simply as "Bridals". However, when you throw a groom in the mix, it's really not just a "Bridal" shoot anymore. Several photographers I know and other photogs I see around the internet have taken to use the word "Groomals". Other photographers label the pictures as a "Bride and Groom" shoot. I, along with a few others, usually label them "Formals".

What should it be? What sounds the best, and what describes the pictures most clearly? As a wedding photographer I want to be able to label photos in a way that is easily understood. When you see the word "Formals", does it convey what the shoot is about, or does it conjure up images of stilted prom photos in front of an ugly backdrop? "Groomals" seems to be the most common, but it just sounds weird to me. "Bride and Groom" could work as a category, but it doesn't really seem specific enough.
Let your opinion be known! Rock out on the poll and elaborate on your vote in the comments. I'd love to hear what seems the most natural and intuitive label.

-