Engagement

Late Fall Wedding: Engagements and a Sneak Peek

in , , ,

  Silvina and Josh were married yesterday!  We did their engagement photos a couple weeks ago up Big Cottonwood Canyon before most of the fall colors disappeared, and as yesterday was the day they officially started their new lives together, I figured it was the right time to share them. :)

 

Josh is a full-time manager for a security sales company based in Utah, and spends 4 months out of the year working basically around the clock managing an office in different parts of the country.  He met Silvina on a company trip down to Cancun, where she was visiting with her family from her native Argentina.  Out of all the places to meet the love of your life, Cancun definitely sounds like one of the most awesome.

 

 

It's interesting how Josh doesn't speak any Spanish at all, but they manage to communicate so well.  The best thing about being around them was how easily Josh was able to make Silvina laugh.

 

  

  

 

 

Yesterday was a special day- it was 11/11/11, and while Silvina and Josh's wedding at the South Jordan Courthouse was actually at 11am, the funny thing was that ALL of the weddings that day were "at 11."  The judge ordered that the official clock be stopped at 11, so he was able to perform all three of the ceremonies from the day at 11/11/11 at 11.  Pretty cool.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Take me out to the ball game....

in

  When we take wedding photos, it's rare that the groom is as excited about the experience as the bride.  Craig was such a trooper to be game for all the shoots Alicia had lined up, and so she wanted to set up something to show off his passion.  She's also friends with Danica, and miiiight have gotten a little inspiration from their engagement photos.

 

So here's engagments part 2: the baseball edition.

 

 

 

 

You might not be able to see it very well, but Alicia isn't exactly a baseball player herself.  When it was her turn to pitch, the ball may or may not have exactly crossed the plate.

 

 

 

Craig was a pitcher for the Utah Valley University baseball team.  He doesn't play now, but you can still see how he's in his element on the mound.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe photos, especially wedding photos, should highlight and celebrate life.  All the emotions, passions, quirks and challenges that are involved.  For Craig and his fiancee, a big part of life centers around a baseball diamond.  I love we were able to do this shoot and show it off properly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Park City Engagements: Alicia & Craig

in

  Alicia and Craig were looking for a natural, more "prairie-ish"  setting, so we started out the shoot on the outskirts of Park City right by the McPolin barn.  The white barn is a Park City landmark, and it's got some wonderful fences and tall, wispy grasses.

 

 

 

 

Afterwards we headed to Park City itself to get some engagement photos around Main Street.  There were some fantastic fall colors still around, and Main Street always has some great lights around the buildings so we can get some awesome night shots.

 

 

 

 

 

I kinda fell in love with this Bistro.  It was so cute!

 

  

 

Gotta love that golden hue you can get with the right kind of lights in the background. I always feel a little more at home in Park City too.  It's got a feel a lot more similar to my hometown Austin than other parts of Utah I have been to.  Artsy, fun, and full of friendly people.

 

 

Check out their full Park City gallery here.  We actually did three different engagement shoots with these two, so stay tuned for photos from the other two days!

 

 

 

 

Big Cottonwood Canyon Engagements

in

  I met Falisha at Chris and Tara's wedding and got to take a few cute candids of her and her fiancee Driton.  They are getting married next spring, however they wanted some fall colors for their engagements so we headed on up Big Cottonwood Canyon to see what we could find.  We ended up finding some fantastic colors- greens, reds, oranges, and yellows galore, but we also got some great variety with some of the rock formations in the canyon as well as the river running down it.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

These two were so much fun to hang around with, that even after the shoot we all went and got some yummy sushi together.  I love when I can just hang out with my clients and get to know them better aside from in front of the camera.

 

 

 

 

Why I love my job

in

   

I love happy people. Growing up, most of my closest friends were theatre-folk. Expressive, confident, and happy. I like being around people who enjoy life and like being with each other.

 

Doing engagements for Alishia & Tyler made my day! These two are just plain adorable. And I love that everyone can see how in love they are.

 

   I got a greeting card once that said "Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional." It was so much fun to take photos of Alishia & Tyler swinging and riding in the little red wagon, I got all sentimental remembering my childhood!

 

My favorite was a facebook comment on Alishia's page where she posted the photo below: "This picture looks most like my experience with you as a quasi-roommate. Approval++"

  

 

We had this magical mix of those bright late-summerish greens and all the awesome fall colors for the shoot. I honestly could not think of a better or more vibrant background to show off how awesome this couple is.

    

  

 

Be sure and check out their full engagement gallery here. The first half of their photos are up, and the remaining ones will follow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michelle and Trey: Engagement Photos on the Riverwalk

in ,

  While we were down in Austin Texas for Katherine and Matt's wedding, I had the privilege of photographing engagements for another close friend.

 

Trey was one of my favorite people back in high school, where we were both part of the french horn section of the Westlake High School Marching Band.  (It's true.  I was a nerd.  But a really cool nerd.)  So first, here are their photos, then I'll share a few from the good ol' days.

 

Because we had a wedding dinner that evening, the only time we could do these engagements was about 4 hours after sunset in San Antonio!  It was a challenge, but Trey and Michelle were amazing!  And with the cool atmosphere of the San Antonio Riverwalk night life and the help of my lighting specialist (Thomas carried all the light stands and flashes as we walked the whole way - he might say he was the sherpa, but I'll give him more credit than that), we were good to go!

 

  

  

 

 

Going back to Austin always makes sentimental.  I loved my high school years and it's always fun to get back in touch with friends from band (or choir, church, theatre, soccer, etc.)  When I got in touch with Trey a month or two ago, I took some time to back through old photos and it brought back so many memories!  Below are (left) 3 of us French horn players during a Westlake football game and (Right) more band nerds partying in the... wait for it... that's right.  Taco bell parking lot.  It was tradition.  And the cool place to be.  That's Trey's car we're sitting on.  It's possible that he and I took it up to 100mph on the freeway when we discovered we had taken a wrong turn that made it way late on the way to an important music competition.  That car rattled, but we made it to the competition and Trey performed so well he went on to the next round.  Must have been the adrenaline. :)

 

 

  

 

 

 

Stevie & Conrad- Engagements at Weber State and the Great Salt Lake

in

  I had never even been to Weber before, but since Stevie and Conrad met while going to school there, that was where we started.  And I am so glad we did!  I had no idea that the campus at Weber had so much to offer for photos, and I will definitely be back.  After running around the university for a bit, we headed over to Saltair to finish up and get some sunsets and photos with the stars (the huge balls of gas billions of miles away, not the celebrities).

 

 

Just look at how gorgeous this location was, and how perfect the light!  The sun made this gorgeous spotlight right on them, it was fantastic.  One small note of trivia- this was literally taken in the first 30 seconds of shooting.  No need for warm up or get loose for this couple; they were great right from the beginning.

 

 

We were grateful for a clear sky that night so we could see all the stars that were out.  You wouldn't know it looking at the photo, but it was essentially pitch black when I took this last one...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Engaged in Italy, In Love in Utah

in

  Andrea was in the same MBA program with Luke, and Chris and Tara, and when he contacted me about doing some pre-shoots for him I was delighted.  He and his beautiful fiancee Danielle got engaged while they were visiting Italy.  Andrea was able to show Danielle around his country, and with the home-court advantage scored himself big points in the romance column.  I mean, how many people get to go to Italy to get engaged?  (besides Italians. :D)

 

 

So we scheduled an engagement session as soon as they got back so they could have some prints for their wedding and reception in Oregon.  We shot around Lehi and Saratoga Springs in Utah County, and had some beautiful sunshine to enjoy.

 

  

 

Don't you love how golden the light can be in summer?  Makes a romantic kiss just that more special.

 

 

Now if you've been following this blog at all, you know I love night shots.  They're fun, they can be dramatic and mysterious, and it's one of the situations I get to really play around and come up with something that I feel is new.  I loved the different photos we got with Andrea and Danielle- a little bit of mystique, a little bit of silliness, and a whole lot of kaPOW!

 

  

 

This next one is currently Andrea's profile picture on Facebook.  When he added it, he got several comments (many of them in Italian).  With a little help from Google Translate, I was able to catch my favorite one.  "You two look just like actors... are you making a movie??!?"

 

Oh yeah!