A Faux Wedding Shoot

When my friend Lauryl emailed me in the summer with a self confessed scheme I was a little worried she wanted me to fly a prop plane with an ad banner or walk up and down the beach accosting twitterpated looking people with our business cards. Instead, this was the fruit of that scheme...





Her design work. My photography. Together we will conquer the world... or not. Although I did work up a sweat climbing thistle ridden, rattle snake infested hills looking for the perfect manzanita branches to saw off. I also had one minor panic-stricken moment when I accidentally super glued my shutter-button finger to my thumb while fixing the fabric covered letters. But thorns, super glue, and a brisk wind aside, everything went off without a hitch. We got pictures that make me smile whenever I look at them, and really, what more can a photographer ask for?

Lauryl's mom did the invitations and name cards, and they're so cool, I want to get married again and have invitations like these.


I was so excited Janie over at The Brides Cafe, featured them on Monday. If you're checking out her blog, the DIY section rocks.

I might have been in the sun too long, we went camping this weekend in the desert and now I want to do a bridal shoot out there. We were at the Agua Caliente hot springs and besides the part where it just felt wrong to don a swimsuit in November, we had a ton of fun. I spent most of the weekend finding all kinds of photography potential and getting chills every time I looked across the horizon. The sky was that dark blue that looks photoshopped straight out of camera, the abstract sand art was pure awesomeness and if you can get over the chilly nights, biting wind and thick layer of white dust over everything, then it was pretty much paradise. The last two might also pose problems for a photoshoot, but if anyone knows of a bride who loves jeeps, blue skies and doesn't mind getting dirty. Let me know.

I met a crazy old Canadian who insisted we refer to him as The Crazy Canuck-istan (no lie). He was an outdoor photographer himself and was less than impressed when I mentioned I was a wedding photographer. I just wanted to talk shop with him and have a friendly fight around the campfire about Nikons vs Canons or whatever, but instead he mocked me for taking pictures of people. Something about how I have to find my subjects, and his are all over the world already waiting for him. I tried to tell him that rocks don't have souls and cacti don't fall so in love it makes my lens sizzle when I try to take pictures of them, but he wasn't interested. It's true though, a chiseled canyon that has seen thousands of seasons is impressive, but that same canyon sheltering a bride and groom whose love is about to stand the test of time is a million times more powerful. To me anyway... which is probably why it's a good thing I'm in my business and not his.

Zach and Becca

I'm still processing this wedding over in the digital darkroom, but here's a sneak preview. Let's just say it's hard to photograph a wedding where you know and love everyone so much it's hard to meter your camera through the moistness in your eyes.

What Happens...

Q: What happens when a fun loving sorority girl stays up all night talking and swapping ACT scores with a handsome but serious dude?

A: They fall in love and get married of course!

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I did Danielle's headshots back when I was pregnant with the sprite baby, then earlier this year I hung out with both her and her fiance Ben where we (er...I) may or may not have gotten lost, met at the beach, taken engagement photos, and then gone out to lunch where for some inexplicable reason I detailed the horrors of having your belly cut open and a child extracted via c-section. True story. And yet, after all that, they still wanted me to take their wedding photos.

There were so many fabulous details and wonderful pictures from the day, I couldn't choose which ones to put here. Ironically, fate intervened and Adobe Lightroom gave me the message of death telling me to pour the blood of my first born son over the keyboard or else it was leaving in eternal doom. No worries though, the pictures are safe and backed up on numerous hardrives and external devices in case of just such emergency, and my wonderful husband is fixing the problem. Ah the joys of switching from jpeg to raw, I'm feeling the love already.
These are the images that I managed to get off before the program commited suicide, so enjoy a teaser and I'll be back with more pictures, more excitement and more about the ongoing struggle between jpeg and raw.

Sometimes...

Sometimes, when you watch your friends go through hard times, your heart aches for them too. Sometimes you applaud them for their perseverance and faith, while you cheer from the sidelines. And sometimes you're just so doggone happy for them you have to put you camera down and just grin from ear to ear.

The Ghosts Of Cameras Past

Among the short list of things I wasn't allowed to have as a child (besides the typical no sugar, no barbie dolls and heaven forbid I listen to the backstreet boys), I also wasn't allowed to have a camera. Too expensive to develop the film is what my mom said, but I secretly was convinced I could be a famous photographer if someone would just let me get my hands on a camera. Shockingly, when I got my first camera (one of the first generation digital point and shoots) I couldn't take one decent picture. Two more point&shoots and an old Minolta DSLR later, and I was slowly improving. Upgraded to a brand new Olympus DSLR in 2003 and shot my first wedding. I don't even want to go back and see what I think of it now, but at the time I was stoked... and hooked.

I'm sure that in another five years I'll look back at the photos I'm shooting today and see improvements I could have made, things I did wrong, equipment I could have handled better. There will be hundreds of more hours I pour into this craft and profession that may never make me famous, but certainly does make me do a happy dance inside. And it's kind of like that elusive carrot on a stick, I'm always convinced the next step forward is going to be the best one...and then I discover you actually have to take another step, and another.

And so for all the people who love photography too, this blog will (hopefully) be filled with tips, rants, pictures and just generally all things photography.

Wedding Packages

VIP Package: $1,500
6 hrs coverage
CD of pictures with full reproduction rights
100 pictures edited with my own signature flare
Online proofing gallery



Celebrity Package: $2,000
8 hrs coverage
CD of pictures with full reproduction rights
200 pictures edited with my own signature flare
Online proofing gallery


Rockstar Package: $3,000
Unlimited coverage
CD of pictures with full reproduction rights
500 pictures edited with my own signature flare
Online proofing gallery

*Traveling expenses -  Any wedding over 50 miles away, may incur traveling expenses.