Had a blast at a wedding in Pendleton a short while ago.  After a touching ceremony, the party moved to the Pendleton Roundup.  I must say, this bride and her family/friends know how to throw a party!  These two were a ton of fun to hang out with and I’m so glad that I got the chance to document their day.  Have a look…

All eyes on the bride…she deserved every look!

The groom wasn’t too shabby either.

OSU…the groom made these cuff links.

Elegant and a little bit country.  BTW, now my wife wants a pair of boots just like these.

I thought this was a wonderful moment during the ceremony…joy, tears, rings.  Awesome.

It’s almost like I paid this flower girl. Hmm…

The proud new married couple.

Yea, they sometimes do come out of gumball machines.

The party was off the hook!

Off.  The.  Hook!

Note the lady in blue and her strategic elbow placement.  We like to call them “turn signals.”

Surprise!  Look what the groom found!

“You…me…dance floor.”

You guys were awesome!  Congratulations and blessings to you.

I know that I’ve been falling behind on maintaining the blog. There is a glitch that popped up after some recent upgrades. The only workaround I’ve found involves a bunch of mouse clicks and tedious work. Makes me appreciate Facebook! Anyway, here are some favorites from a recent wedding between a marine and his sweetie. These two are such great people and definitely deserve some good cookies.

Bride getting ready

Groom with fellow marines

Da' boys

The beautiful bride

The ladies

Details from the reception (btw, it's called a "cover" not a "hat")

Bride and groom portrait

The rings

Totally reminds me of "An Officer and a Gentleman"

Cool cake topper

He's taken...sorry ladies.

Fun at the reception

The young...

...and the young at heart.

Weddings are the best!  And each one is so unique.  The bride, during her toast, said that one of the most important things about her wedding was having good friends and family present to share the celebration. Where else do you get to spend the better part of a day celebrating with your closest peeps eating good food and dancing to great music? This couple knows how to throw a party! See for yourself…

Wedding Couple in front of St. Joseph's

Bride and Groom Portrait

Groom Portrait

Bride Portrait

Bride's Bouquet

St. Josephs' Church Detail

Father walking bride down the aisle

Wedding Ceremony

Wedding Rings and a Camaro!

Boy dancing at reception

Bride and Groom First Dance

Reception dancing

Running Man Groom

Groom doing the running man…it’s pure awesomeness!

Boy Dancing

Bride Partying at Reception

Girl Dancing at Wedding Reception

Wedding photography is about so much more than just pictures.  It’s about relationship.  When my clients are comfortable with me and we enjoy each other’s company, it shows in the pictures.  You can relax and be yourself.  You don’t mind so much that I am going to stick my big ol’ camera in yer face and ask you hold your fiance in unexpected ways.  Photographic art becomes something that we create together through an enjoyable experience.

Case in point…Krissy and Brian.  These two are more than clients to me.  I truly consider them my friends.  Hopefully it’s mutual…guys, what do ya’ say?  So, while it is a bit unusual, I’m posting their wedding album proofs on the old blog because I want to share these guys’ photographic story.  It’s that special.  By the way, the song that you hear in the background was the song from their first dance.  They discovered it from a posting on this very blog!  Love you guys!

Click this link for their wedding album proofs.  Oh, and for you super-critics, these have not been touched up or color corrected.  : P

Had a blast at a recent wedding with the sweetest couple.  These two are great people and I’m glad to now be able to call them friends!  I really enjoy how much personality this couple has.  They know what they like and they don’t waste time!  A few details to start out with.

For you photogs out there, I added a bit of off-light pizzazz to the cake shot.  I placed one red-gelled light behind the curtain for some flavor and to complement the pink decorations.  I used a second flash hidden behind the cake and aimed at the topper to make the letters stand out.

The beautiful bride getting ready.

The groom…finished in under 10 minutes.  No fussy hair to deal with.  ; )

[note to groom:  I heard several guests whispering how hot you looked.]

[note to whisperers of the female variety:  Sorry!  This one is now taken.]

First look…so sweet.

The product of some serious people-shuffling.  I think it turned out well.  BTW, to the two Captain Morgans (you know who you are), click here.

One of the couple’s pastimes is gaming.  When I saw the keyboard, I knew what I had to do…

One of the sweetest, most emotional father-daughter dances I’ve seen in a while.

om, nom, nom, nom.

Hey you two, thanks for inviting me in to your wedding celebrations.  When you have kids, you better call me!

I was fortunate enough to spend the day with a wonderful family last weekend as these two lovebirds got hitched at the Cathedral of JOY in Richland.  This wedding was especially fun for me because there were quite a few kids that I got to hang out with during the few down times.  My wife will attest that I am childish child-like.  Well, I’m happy to share some of my favorites from the day.

Another kind of love…mothers and sons.

I’ve lived pretty much up and down the West Coast.  The Bay Area, Los Angeles, Seattle, and now…the Tri-Cities, WA.  My journey has led to me to progressively less, umm diverse regions.  While I love the place in which I live now, it is definitely not high ranking on the “Most Ethni-City List.”  In fact, the other day I was kinda’ laughing at myself as I imagined what other people thought when they observed me.

I’m Chinese, driving a 2000 Ford F-150 in my blue jeans, listening to Alan Jackson (I’m genre agnostic); work gloves on the floor boards, thinking about when I would be able to go hunting with my friend.  My friends are teasing me, saying that they are going to buy me a cowboy hat.  Imagine that.

I came across this video, which encompasses perfectly my experience in the Tri-Cities.  Again, I love it here, so I’m not complaining.  Just reflecting.  Enjoy!

I had the honor of shooting this young couple’s wedding.  The bride’s father happens to be someone very important to me and my family; he is our Pastor.  So, I’ve included a few more pictures than usual in a single post…hope you enjoy!

The wedding had a winter theme which is interesting because they both just graduated from the University of Hawaii.  How do they even know what winter looks like?  They grew up in the Tri-Cities, of course.

Yeah, they grow in trees!

The sweet flower girl getting ready for the ceremony.

Here are the groomsmen folding Origami trying to properly fold the handkerchief.

One of my favorite parts of the wedding day is the first look.  I love the anticipation!

She stopped his heart!

Love in an elevator!

Dive, dive, dive!!!  You can’t get the garter unless you give 110%.

Aaron Pelly was kind enough to second shoot for me.  He did a great job…here are a few of his photos.

Blessings to you guys and your families!  It was such an honor to be a part of your day.

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!

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.