Some great friends of ours graciously offered to watch our two kids for a weekend, which allowed me and my sweetie to go on a babymoon!  Leavenworth is a cute little town with a Bavarian theme.  I just wanted to share some photos from our refreshing trip.

Riiiicola!!!

Hey pretty mama…

I had at least one authentic meal, sausage and Bavarian potato salad.

We did a lot of window shopping through the shops and boutiques.  Check out the picture below of a shop that I like to call the “Knick-Knack Attack!”  The walls of the entire shop were covered with little knick-knacks.

I often get asked to describe my wedding albums and I am always eager to reply.  These things are beautiful.  They are constructed with the utmost care, are guaranteed for life, are constructed with archival photographic paper, and are individually designed by me (I pour my heart into every one).  Check ‘em out.

Full.  Grain.  Leather.  These babies are so soft that you’ll love holding them as much as you’ll love opening them.

Good bindings are at the heart of quality albums.  With as often as you will open your album, the binding needs to stand the test of time.  My albums are bound with precision and crafted for quality.

Open up your album and feel the sophistication of linen texturing.

Your album will open up…all the way.  They lay flat and the seam is barely there.  All you see is you.  No need to squash your album to find what’s hiding in the gutter.

The album pages are STOUT - two millimeters thick.  That means they will endure the endless flipping that you and your friends will subject them to.  And, they feel and look good.

Want to hold one of these?  Contact me today.  Want to be featured in one?  All of my wedding clients receive one of these albums as part of their package.  

My friend/coworker is good friends with a farmer that grows cherries in Benton City.  She made arrangements for us to go picking!  Here are a few portraits from our outing.  We have a ton of cherries, now, and we are loving it.  My son had a single focus…can you guess what it was?  Eating cherries!

It’s funny because before that morning, he had only had a few cherries.  Up until our outing, he was scared of cherries because he had accidentally swallowed a pit.  He got over his fears.

Does anyone have a good recipe involving cherries?  Leave me your favorite cherry recipe in the comments.  On a related note, I don’t think it’s possible to eat this many cherries without being, uh, moved.  Do I need to be worried?

The Fourth of July provides a great opportunity to photograph fireworks.  The key to getting good pictures of your favorite pyrotechnics is to set a slow shutter speed and TURN OFF YOUR FLASH.  If you’re using a point and shoot, then look for the button that controls the flash - usually it is indicated by a lightning bolt - and press it until the flash is set to off.  Then, it’s mostly about timing.  Because most point and shoot cameras have a significant lag time between the moment you push the shutter release and the time the camera actually fires, you’ll have to anticipate the fullest “bloom” of the fireworks and depress the shutter BEFORE that moment.  If you happen to own an SLR, then the shutter issue is much less significant.  That’s my photo tip of the month!  Now, here are a few examples from our weekend…

By the way, we have the most awesome neighbors.  This spectacular show occurred three houses away from ours in the middle of our street.  It started a bit before 8 pm and lasted until 11 pm.  It’s a good time as all of our neighbors break out their lawn chairs and hang out together.

Here’s my boy in a ring of fire!  He really enjoyed playing with sparklers.

Happy Fourth of July!

So, last weekend I went to a wedding as a second shooter for another local photographer, Aaron Pelly.  We had bumped into each other a while back, and as photographers often do, started talking shop.  One thing led to another and soon we were discussing the benefits of second shooting.  Next thing you know, we were setting it up.  I will always remember last Saturday as the HOTTEST wedding ever…literally!  It was over 100°F.  In fact, the heat melted a stack of plastic cups together at the reception.  Well, no matter.  The heat could not put the damper on this event.

Here is a portrait of the candle lighter getting all dolled up.  She was a sweet, young lady, and she performed her job marvelously.

And, here is the bride hours just moments before the ceremony.

And, in preparation for the big event, energy food from Zip’s Burgers.  It’s always important to eat when possible on your wedding day!

Way on the other side of the church, the groom was busy getting his hair done, slipping into his trousers and dress shirt…10 minutes later, and voila!

I always find it fun to steal the Bride’s dress and spend a few minutes crafting a creative shot to showcase her fashion sense.  If you’ve got examples of creative wedding dress detail shots, share them in the comments.

The wedding ceremony took place at First Lutheran Church in Kennewick, Washington.  Here’s a shot from the ceremony.

I’m thankful that Aaron invited me to be a part of this couple’s big day.  Blessings to the families and the new couple.