istockphoto - Family at the Park

One of my highest selling photos on istock is of an adorable red-headed preschooler playing on a playground.  I was thrilled to spend an hour with little Collin and his siblings at Sugarhouse Park to do a second shoot last week!  Such happy happy kids.  And beyond that, I think this session proved to me that winter was over.  An hour at the park with the sun shining down... It's going to be an amazing couple of months!

Here's the best photo from last year:

And here are some of the photos from this recent session:

 

 

  

  

 

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?

Salt Lake Engagement Photos - Kiera & Brandon

  A walk around downtown Salt Lake City with Kiera and Brandon!  I always recommend each couple brings a few outfits, and with each outfit change  I got more and more impressed.  I secretly wish that I could own wearing those pants!  ...and the yellow skirt... and the purple shoes...  But at least Kiera looked amazing in them!

I love how sweetly they were looking at each other here:

And it was a cold day!  Seriously guys, I was wearing a pea coat.  But these two just kept smiling, you can't even tell from the photos.  I keep thinking I should set a soundtrack to each photoshoot I do.  This one would definitely be "I've got my love to keep me warm" by Billie Holiday

 

I want to put this photo in a magazine somewhere.  Or maybe on my wall.  We could do that too!

 

Purple shoes... awesome, right???

I hope these two keep smiling like this for the rest of their lives!  Oh, how I love working with happy people.  And we'll be shooting the wedding in a couple weeks in Los Angeles! California, here we come.

A Bountiful Wedding

Today, Mattie and Carston are getting married at the Bountiful Temple!  I'm just packing up my gear and getting ready to drive there, but I wanted to post a few photos from their formals session to celebrate this day:

I often ask the couple if they have any specific poses or places they want photos.  When I asked Mattie, she got the cutest twitterpated look on her face and said "I want one of him hugging me like this."  That moment was precious!  It's fun seeing two people so flirty, so excited to be next to each other.  And they both have such beautiful smiles!!

 

Congratulations Mattie and Carston!  And may you have many happy years ahead of you.

STOCK PHOTOS - Snowboarding

Another stock photoshoot!  Brighton Ski Resort, snowboarding.  It was such a perfect day, we took jackets off for a couple of the runs.

  

The model: Rob Bennion.  He is actually a DJ and saxophone player as well as the owner a talent agency, but today he was our snowboarder!  I love it when people have multiple interests in their lives!  Rob is a very positive person and always loves being outside.  When we saw how sunny it was, he was quite excited that he didn't need his winter coat.  It was a great positive energy to have around for the shoot.

 

And here are a couple behind-the-scenes shots of me taken with an iphone:

 

It was quite a challenge to board with the camera on my back!  And a little bit nerve-wracking to hold it on the ski lift.  So high up there...  one wrong move and Oops!

Days Like Today Make It All Worth It!

  I woke up exhausted this morning!  For the last 3 days I've had unbelievable amounts of energy combined with insomnia, so I have been working out - push ups, planks, running, elliptical  pull ups, dancing, stairs, and whatever else I can think of!  Then today, my body finally slowed down and said "thanks for the workout".  Tired, groggy, and very sore today, but then I had a photoshoot this evening that reminded me why I love my job.  Even when I am tired and not sure if I want to leave the comfort of my office, working in front of my computer with a tv show going on the other screen, I go to a session and remember that it's all about the people.  And I really do love it.

I get to work with amazing people like Mattie and Carston.  These two are just adorable!

I know Mattie from when I was a teenager in Austin, she has a smile that is absolutely contagious.  So positive, so loving, so happy!  I love to be around people like her.  She and her family moved every couple years, and after Austin they moved to France.  She speaks the language quite well and actually taught an elementary school immersion program for a few years.  Luckily, there was "A Bit of Paris" here in Utah also...

 

This shoot was so much fun because it felt like we were just hanging out.  Laughing, talking, exploring - we hiked around and found some cool little places I had never been!

And Carston is a cop.  Which means we got to play with the car!!  I titled this next photo "What a woman will do to get out of a speeding ticket" which might be a controversial title, but I love the photo anyway.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE OF THEIR ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS.

99... and 100!!!

I'm excited to announce that reached 100 downloads for one of the photos in my istock portfolio.

This is one of the first important benchmarks, when several more in the future I'm sure!  I took this photo at a 4th of July festival down in Provo, UT several years ago.   I'm looking forward to colorful summer days like this one coming up and also looking forward to focusing in on stock photography!  We'll see where this journey takes us...

My Little Sister Gets Married

Angela and Dallin got married on a cold winter day at the Bountiful LDS temple.  Generally, photos are only taken outside the temple, but the Bountiful temple has a beautiful area downstairs that they allow photos for the cold weather times.  And I am so glad we had that option!  Poor girl, she was freezing.  Here they are symbolically walking away into their new life.  (Maybe a little cheesy, but I'm going to say it anyway!)

Now, Dallin grew up with all sisters and is an incredibly thoughtful person.  He actually surprised Angela with this beautiful necklace the day before their wedding.  So sweet!

 

As I mentioned, Dallin is the only boy in his family and as I've had the chance to get to know some of his sisters, I can't help but love them.  Such a positive, caring, supportive family.  And Angela fits right in.  My favorite photos of all the job I've done are always of people laughing.  I thought this one was a perfect moment:

There's always a big debate about having a family member photograph a wedding. I walked Angela through options of other photographers, looking at different styles, but she told me she's used to my photos and just likes my style.  So, I brought an assistant I trusted and had him take the photos I needed to be in.  Thanks Justin!  It was neat being part of both, but I don't think I could have relaxed enough to sit and watch someone else do the photography for hers.  I wanted to make sure it was done right and I wanted to be catching those moment.  She's beautiful, and they are so happy, and the photography needs to show it.  The balance between being part of the experience and working was surprisingly perfect for me.  Exhausting!  But definitely worth it.

 

Influential People In My Life

Hi friends.  Thanks for visiting my blog.  It's quite apparent that I've struggled keeping up with writing posts and updating this site... but I've just made a resolution that I believe will change this.  Yesterday, I had an amazing photoshoot, and then I met with some prospective clients that made me say "wow.  I love my job.  I get to work with some of the most amazing people."  So, here's my lightbulb moment:  The reason I love my job is because of the people, so I want to tell their stories here on my blog instead of just showing you the photos.  I have a lot of catching up to do and a lot of people to tell you about, but I'm really excited to write these posts now!  

Let me back up to 2012 and tell you about my little sister and her husband.

Angela is amazing.  She is caring, beautiful, talented, and extremely dedicated.  I am constantly impressed by her ability to work hard on school and work, even when it seems easier to give up...  I took this photo just for fun back in 2010 when they were dating, before she traveled to New Zealand as a missionary for a year and a half.

Now, through the years I have learned that while my siblings are quite grateful to have a photographer as a sister, it's also kind of awkward for them.  I remember putting a couple of these photos of Angela and Dallin on facebook and several people thought they were engaged - why else would you have professional photos as a couple?  But then, two years later, I took some more photos which actually were engagement photos!  What do you think?  Do they look older to you?

These were taken at our family reunion in upstate New York the DAY they got engaged.  How's that for pressure?  The boyfriend comes to the family reunion to ask permission for the daughter's hand and to propose to her there.  Wow.  But Dallin is so mature and respectful, he handled the pressure quite well.  It was so fun for me to do photos of them - to watch them let go of inhibitions a little bit and actually kiss in front of me!!  Of course I have to tease my sister a little bit about it... isn't that what siblings are for?   But I couldn't help smiling and actually got a bit emotional just to see how happy he made her.  In fact, if I can make myself vulnerable enough to admit it, I actually get tears in my eyes looking through the photos now.  I am so grateful she found someone like him who will treat her well and make her happy!

  OK Whitney... enough of that sentimental emotional stuff for now.  Time to see more of their photos!

 

Choosing which photos to put on a blog has always been difficult for me.  I know which photos look the most professional, I know which photos they put on their wall, which photos their friends comment on... but instead of the most professional photos, I want to show you the little bits of uniqueness, the reason why I love my job.  Every couple brings such a different emotion to it, a different personality and looking through photos like these - the laughing, the romance, the funny faces - it makes me smile.  Besides, Angela has a pretty amazing monkey face in this next photo :)

Ok, now this was just adorable.  I've done the "first look" a few times to capture the moment when the groom first sees the bride in her dress.  I have never seen a couple this cute, though.  Angela couldn't stop laughing and Dallin kept telling her how beautiful she was.  And it was true.  She looks amazing! These are some of the photos from the formals at Bountiful temple.

  

I feel pretty lucky to have the opportunity to capture such special moments as these.  It's really amazing that all I have to do is click a button and then that moment is recorded for the rest of our lives.  It wasn't hard to find moments with Angela and Dallin, though, they were so in their own world that sometimes I wasn't even sure if they knew I was there!  The day for this formals shoot was FREEZING too.  I am so impressed with how "cheerfully cooperative" they were.  (That's the phrase from my wedding contract that most people laugh at, but I think it's the perfect phrase.  I love to work with cheerfully cooperative people!

 

 

I'll often do photos at a few locations for a shoot like this, but Ang and Dallin said they'd rather have more photos with the temple. Not only does it make a beautiful backdrop for an evening shoot, but it gives more meaning to the photos as the location also represents the commitment they are making to each other.  I think this photo sums it up - the temple, the romance of the sunset, two happy and beautiful people.  I'm so proud of them!