A pinch of this, and dash of that...

I love food.  Really.  I told Thomas once that we could live in a cardboard box as long as we could go out to a really nice meal once a week.
...BUT... I hate to cook.  I despise spending hours in the kitchen only only to create a crummy tasting meal.  Or inviting people for dinner and having it be perfect right at 6pm....  only for them to arrive late.  The meal ends up cold, usually microwaved to heat it back up, and usually isn't satisfying at all!
I don't like the clean up much, either, but that's a different story.   :)

Luckily, I have a wonderful husband who is a great cook and is interested in learning more about it.  So, in an attempt to get me away from the computer and my 70-hour work weeks, we finally decided to take some classes together.  I tried putting work behind me, but of course took photos while everyone else cooked.  Then I ate the food.  It was a perfect evening for both of us!

Thomas and I both LOVE LOVE LOVE Indian food, and so I am very excited that he is experimenting with more Indian dishes.  The woman teaching the class is opening a restaurant and publishing a cookbook.  I may or may not have some news soon about the photographer who will be doing the photos for the cookbook.  Needless to say, working one on one with a chef as she cooks through her recipes to parade in front of a camera might lead to a few more lessons for Thomas.

And someone has to eat the food, right?  We wouldn't want it to go to waste, after all.

Me and My Story

My dad is really my inspiration for photography.  He's a Real Estate Developer by career, but a photographer by heart.  He even set up a family photo contest and brought in a professional photographer to judge it. My first professional camera was a gift from him, and I am so grateful he has encouraged me along the way.
I never considered being a photographer until about 3 years ago.  In Kindergarten, I'd say, "when I grow up, I either want to be a doctor or a garbage man. Doctors help people, and garbage men get to ride on the back of the truck!"

Really though, most of my life has been about sports or music.  I played and refereed soccer for many years, sang, and played piano, French horn, and guitar.  I studied Music Education at BYU, and had planned on becoming a middle school band director.  But things never work out quite how we plan.

The truth about my story is that photography chose me.  I never expected to be here, but I'm so grateful for the path life has taken.

Growing up, my parents were always supportive and encouraging of our hobbies.  Most of my hobbies were sports and music related, but I always had a camera.  Some of my siblings and I would do fashion shoots in Elementary school.  Yes, fashion shoots.  We would find outfits from the dress-up box (consisting mostly of my Mom's amazing 70's style performance costumes) and we would take photos.  I cringe to think of the outfits we encouraged my poor younger brother to wear.
I still remember my first camera: teal & pink, 100% plastic.  But as a 7 year old, I couldn't be happier. My spending money around that time went primarily towards candy and getting my film developed... though I have to admit that the majority probably went to candy.  And it still does.  I was, am, and forever will be completely and utterly addicted to sugar.
In 2008 I married Thomas.  We met two years earlier in a swing dancing club.  We danced our way through 2 years of dating and finally he convinced me to say yes.  I love that he encouraged me in my hobby of photography and helped it to become a career.  Thomas even dove in and learned about cameras, the theory and techniques of photography, and he often shoots with me at weddings.  I am so grateful to be able to share the talent most important to me with the person most important to me.  Our wedding day wasn't anywhere near magazine worthy, but it was still one of the happiest days of my life.  One of the things that sparked my interest in wedding photography as a career was watching the process from the other side of the lens.

I liked the idea of being there at the wedding to capture perfect moments. To see people as they are and preserve the purest looks of love, commitment, and joy.  Photography to me is not about poses, outfits, or locations.  It is about expressions, emotions, and interactions.  That's why I do what I do.

2011 -

We had such a wonderful time at the Showcase this year!  We met so many beautiful brides and awesome vendors.
We decided to highlight our new favorite print product in our booth this year: metal prints!  These are a modern look and a completely new concept - the metal is heated up and the ink is infused into the pores.  Along with the two 50 inch monitors showing some of our favorites vertical photos from the last year, we also printed out 8 20x30 horizontal prints on a glossy metal.  Combined with a little catchlight from below, the metal prints just glowed- it was jaw dropping.  We had brides and vendors both coming to the booth asking us if they were backlit somehow.  Not backlit, just awesome.
If you are looking for a print surface for your portrait or wedding photo, and want something modern, frameless, where the colors will really pop- you have to go with metal.  They are absolutely GORGEOUS.  Feel free to contact me to set up a consultation to view examples in my studio in Lehi.
We're so grateful we had Jacque from Riehl Events (www.riehlevents.com) to help us with our booth.  She was able to work with us to create something we really felt that expressed our style and showcased our photos.  She and her team went above and beyond this weekend, and we can say without a doubt that if you are a bride looking for help coordinating and creating a beautiful wedding day you should give Jacque a call.  Right now.
We were also so happy we were able to get to know some more vendors better this year.  We got to know the folks from Midway representing Johnson Mill (gorgeous location- we stayed there our last anniversary).  We loved chatting with Carrie from Carrie's Cakes. She is absolutely adorable and actually rides a pink scooter!  How cute is that?  We Ooo and Awed at the custom vintage wedding gowns created by Betsy of Modest Couture- she had some truly unique designs, from fun to elegant... I was very jealous.  Finally, we privileged to meet Something Vintage Something Blue.  They have some of the most AMAZING vintage cars available for weddings.  Thomas was drooling all day over "Daisy", the 1937 Buick special series 40 they were showing at the Showcase this year.  Absolutely gorgeous cars!

Merry Christmas!

I'm off to Spokane with Thomas to visit my family for the holiday.  I hope all of you have a very merry Christmas, and that the holidays are a time for you full of love, laughter, and delicious FOOD!
As a special Christmas gift this year, we managed to find our box of ornaments that we thought had been lost in our last move.  I was especially excited about it as it contained all the ornaments I had received each year since I was a baby.  In my family, each year we each got an ornament that represented a little bit of that year, and I was given the collection when I got married a few years ago.  Some are beautiful, some are funny, and some are just sentimental.
Here's a peek of our tree, and a few of the ornaments on it....

The first one was a wedding gift to us from my mother-in-law, who has hand-made these satin bells for her tree.  Each bell represents over 40 hours of work! The second was my very first ornament ever!

I was originally a music education major in college, I played soccer for 8 years growing up and refereed for 3 years after that, and I was an adorable kindergartner.

Now the first photo might confuse you, until you realize what the little red bird is- it's a kiwi!  For those of you who might not know, I am a first-generation American.  My mother is from England, and my father is from New Zealand, and so I am half-kiwi.  The second photo pretty much sums up my sophomore year of college- I was diagnosed with mono (later it turned out that it was a misdiagnosis, but that's a story for another time), and went from sleeping an average of 3-4 hours a night to about 13-14.

The final photo is my first Christmas gift from my husband Thomas.  We decided to continue the tradition I grew up with and give each other an ornament each year.  This year I got this awesome pewter camera.  Given that I have been working about 60 hour weeks all year, eating, sleeping, and breathing photography, this ornament sums up my year to a T.  Here's looking forward to another year of wonderful times behind my lens!

Got my eye on you

Noteworthy- Riverwoods Concert

Tonight Thomas and I went to the Riverwoods Mall in Orem for their big reopening-Christmas-lights-lots-of-little-food-stands thing.  Noteworthy was performing on the brand new outdoor stage right next to Tucanos (mmmmmm.... Tucanos).  I was asked to photograph the concert for some candid shots they would use for promotional photos/facebook profiles.... just as important, right?  Loved watching them sing and ended up with several photos I was happy with. 
After the concert, Riverwoods had an awesome "We-know-it's-not-even-Thanksgiving-but-we're-still-going-to-celebrate-Christmas" ceremonial turning on of the Christmas lights all around the shopping center.  So I will pass that along to y'all:  Merry Christmas!...  6 weeks early.  Yeah...

They shared fun facts about each member of the group between songs.  Katie Jensen's special talent can be seen below. 0.O

Noteworthy

Noteworthy, the female a capella group from BYU, is the group I ended up photographing by proxy at Kelsey and Alec's wedding last November.  Kelsey was a member of the group, and they were due to appear on Sing-Off, the a cappella competition show on ABC the next week.  So they all drove down to Redlands for Kelsey's wedding, performed at her reception, and Kelsey and Alec ended up spending part of their honeymoon at the ABC sound stage.
We headed on out to the Salt Flats for these promotional photos, and had a blast shooting all of the girls.  They are all fantastically talented, and they each had so much personality that it was tons of fun to work with them.

1st Anniversary

Yesterday my husband Thomas and I celebrated our first anniversary. We went up Thursday and stayed at Johnson's Mill Bed and Breakfast in Midway (where I shot Doug and Cassie's Wedding earlier this year- absolutely GORGEOUS location) and we had a wonderful time. Our friend Grant recommended this pizza place there in midway that we went to for dinner, and it was some of the best true "italian style" pizza that I have ever had. As an additional bonus, they had some live music there the whole time we were eating. The lake was beautiful, the room was amazing, and we went on leisurely walks to take photos of the grounds while we were there. It's a very peaceful place, and I highly recommend you look into it if you are looking at staying somewhere for a special occasion in Utah.

The swans, I am told are not the modest type. And it was true: they came right up to me as I was taking their photos as if they knew what was going on.

Thomas bought me some beautiful flowers and an anniversary band. I certainly feel loved.

4th of July

Thomas and I got up super early in the morning and went on down to Provo to catch the final day of the annual hot air balloon festival. There were SOOO many people there, and I loved seeing all the colorful balloons as they were being filled up and prepared for launch. I felt incredibly jealous as they all began to lift off, one by one and soar away into the sky. Someday we're going to have to find an opportunity to take a ride in one of those things....

As they got ready to lift off I went to the edge of the field and Thomas gave me a lift up on top of this crazy high wall (Thomas thinks it was only 12ft or so, I think it was MUCH higher!) to get some better shots.

To see some more shots, check out the gallery on smugmug!

May God bless America.