Inspiration - A Winter Night in Park City

It can be easy for me to get stuck in a routine - get the camera gear ready, shoot a wedding, hope I got everything the clients needed, then spend hours at the computer editing the photos.  Please don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job - I love the variety of people I get to meet, I love the emotions I get to capture - to freeze a moment forever.  I love how beautiful the world is.  Nature, people, buildings, light, all of it.  And I have an amazing career of showing people how I see the world.  Showing how beautiful the world is.  But still, photography is a business to me.  I'm working for clients, and even though I love it, it's still work.  Hard work.  So I am generally less inclined to pick up the camera unless I'm getting a paycheck.

A recent debate in my life is whether photography is art.  For me, the answer has been no.  I feel like I capture what is already there when I take photos, whereas music or other artistic pursuits in my life are creating something internally and finding a medium to communicate it externally.   However, I received quite a compliment this week.  And this helped me rethink my approach.  There was a comment on one of my photos that said: "...You have such an amazing eye. I'm one of those people who's always sort of thought that photography wasn't really 'art' but seeing some of the truly astonishing photos you've posted, has changed my mind. You really have a gift for framing scenes in a way that shows others the beauty in the world, which we might not see on our own."  Wow...   That one comment gave so much purpose to what I do.  It's beautiful.

Then I have a day like today.  Today, I saw the beauty of the seasons changing from Fall to Winter.  And I couldn't help myself... I pulled over on the side of the highway, put my camera on the car, and started taking photos.  It was inspiring to breathe the fresh, crisp air, to photograph a scene I knew (the famous Park City barn) in a new light.

It was simply beautiful.

And this is what I want the world to see.  There were dozens and dozens of cars that drove past me while I was taking these photos.  None of them stopped to see what I saw, and that's ok.  They were on their way to whatever night life was going on, or maybe headed home after a long work day. I don't know that any of the drivers were even aware that there were mountains with a beautiful field and snow covered barn... it was quite dark.  But I wanted to yell "The world is a beautiful place!  Open your eyes!"

The 30 second version of the rest of my night - I met a pleasant crowd of people at a karaoke bar on Main St, sang several songs, then walked through the beautiful night in an area of Park City I had never been.  Inspired by beauty.  The people, the nature, the air, the energy, the little stream, the way the leaves sat on the pathway, the way the light hit that wall... I believe with all my heart that there is beauty everywhere we look.  If we are willing to look for it.

And now, goodnight!!  Sweet dreams to all.

Mountains... "For a Change of Scenery"

I never really liked the movie "Little Mermaid," but I LOVED one song from it - "Under the Sea."  Bear with me for a moment, and this statement will soon be relevant.

I love the mountains and the snow for photos, but when winter comes around in Utah, all I want to do is go somewhere warm and spend time at the beach (hence the cruise).  So when Nicole emailed me and said she's getting married in Miami etc... all I could think about was gorgeous beach engagements and just how picturesque that would be.  But it turns out she wanted to come up to Utah for engagements!  In the snow.  And dead trees.  Because, as she said "it's a background I can't get in Miami!"  I had to change my perspective a little bit and recognize just how beautiful my state gets.  I've always loved Fall and Summer, but sometimes I get grumpy during winter and forget to look around.  I appreciated the reminder.

We had the beautiful location of the Park City Historic Barn, snow on the fields.  It was very picturesque.  They were a pretty good-lookin' couple too!

 

Nicole had one picture she wanted and showed up with these cute scrabble tiles to say "forever and always."  Such a cute idea, we had fun playing with it!

 

And isn't her ring incredible???

 

Nicole & Blake: Park City Engagement Photos

  Nicole and Blake drove down from Rexburg, ID where they both attend BYU for our engagement photo session.  We managed to get a beautiful and sunny day- even if it was a little windy and only about 20 degrees outside. :D  These two were awesome to work with!

 

Weren't Nicole's shoes cute?

 

I love shooting the historic old white barn in Park City.  It's such a landmark, and has some fantastic advantages if you are looking for different "nature" shots.  There's a great field, stream, some nice fence lines and this awesome historic farmhouse all in the same location.

 

Check out their full gallery here!  There are a lot more awesome photos of these two....

Park City Engagements: Alicia & Craig

  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!