I made the short trip out to Mesa, which is just outside of Pasco, WA. This couple’s family has a farm out there and with the sun just right, we had a lot of photographic options. These love birds were all sorts of fun and loved to kiss and make jokes. I’m posting some of my favorites. By the way, the groom-to-be is an ex-marine and deserves our gratitude. Just thought I’d give him and the other men and women of the armed forces a quick plug.

Playful.

Playful-er.

I usually don’t do a lot of post-processing/Photoshop work because I think that the effects that are popular today can get out-dated very easily tomorrow.  Your wedding photos will last your whole life.  Case in point, the then-popular black and white photos where the only thing in color is the flowers or the subjects eyes.  Very cool back then.  Not so much now.  But, what the heck…here’s one with some minimal post work.  Desaturate a bit, fancy sharpening, and POW.

Do these two seem to be kissing a lot?

Thanks for hangin’ with me even though it got downright frigid towards the end. Can’t wait to see you on your big day!

The winter is such a wonderful time.  I love the change of season and all of the excitement associated with anticipating the holiday season.  I also appreciate the cold months because it is the “slow” time of the year, which allows me to focus on the business aspects of our studio.  I have many exciting changes in the works from infrastructure to client offerings.  I’ll be rolling these changes out slowly, but here is a hint at some of the things to come.  Press the play button below. Of course, I’m using my family and their portraits as a guinea pig.  These are all portraits from the fall…from a visit from Yolanda’s family, to Lucas’ first day of preschool, to a trip to the pumpkin patch.  Blessings to you and yours this season.

What a fantastic couple!  I Had a really great time with them and their family last weekend.  And, unlike me, they gave me perfect directions to the ceremony and reception.  They have a hard time forgetting that I gave them terrible directions to the location where we did their engagement session. ; )  These guys are a lot of fun and they are super sweet.  Here’s some pics.

First sighting…these guys are so sweet and in love!

How is it possible that they ALL look so good?

It’s all about the “M” in this photo.  Thanks goes to the gentleman who held the flashlight.

The wonderful mother of the bride.

HITCHED!

It’s a special moment when you experience the space between tears and laughter.  Note to bride:  I’m so glad you grabbed your dad for this dance; and thanks for sharing it.

The band, RoadFever rocked the night.

Congratulations to the couple and their families!

Our friends from Seattle came to town and we were able to schedule a family portrait session.  They are such wonderful people and their baby girl is the sweetest thing.  She was so bubbly and well-tempered.  I was surprised to learn that she is usually even MORE smiley than she was the day of our shoot.  So, without further adieu…

This first portrait was an important one.  Baby is wearing an heirloom dress that has been in the family for six generations.  All the daughters have been photographed as babies wearing this dress.  What a wonderful job I have…being invited to take part of truly significant traditions like this one.

It’s a joy to see parents look at their children with wonder and love.

Baby giggles. Baby tongue. Baby feet!

Cool intimate moment between Daddy and his sweet baby girl.

Beautiful family.

With this portrait, I wanted to capture what happens to a person’s life when they have kids.  Our children become everything to us and we put them before our own needs.  We’re happy to fade into the background while we lift them up and encourage them.

Thank you for making the trip out from Seattle and for choosing me to be a part of your family portraits!  Blessings to you and your little one.  May you be graced with MANY more! ; )

Two lumberjacks go into the woods to determine who can axe trees down faster.  One lumberjack is big and muscular.  The other is of rather small height and build.  They begin swinging their axes and the big dude smiles with pride, confident that he will win by his strength.  He laughs out loud when as he watches the other lumberjack walk away from the tree several times.  He is baffled to see the small lumberjack’s tree come down while he still has a significant amount of cutting to do.  

“How did your tree fall so quickly?  I watched you take several breaks to rest!?” he asked his small competitor.

“I wasn’t resting…I was sharpening the axe.”

This week I had a chance to sharpen the old axe.  I was fortunate to be able to attend Zack Arias’ “OneLight” Workshop and David Beckstead’s “Shoot with Beckstead” workshop.  Great learning experience and wonderful chance to meet some other great photographers.  Special thanks to Dan and Caroline of Tinywater Photography in Sac-town for driving us around town all week.  Here are some of the fun images I shot.