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.

About a month ago, this wonderful family braved the chilly weather with me and we got some fun family portraits.  We photographers are like the Post Office (but nicer) - we’ll work through rain, sleet, or snow.

Everyone say, “Squeeze!”

Get close, stay warm!

Who, I ask, can resist a good pile of leaves?

The happily married couple…good looks begets good looks.

Happy Winter, everyone.  Stay warm.

I mostly grew up in California, where winter and Christmas meant, at best, cool weather and rain. Now that I’m in Washington, I really appreciate the snow we get during the winter. Here’s a quick pic from my phone.

I get lots of questions about the possibility of doing portraits in cold weather.  Can we do them?  Will they look good?  My answer is “YES!”  Winter portraits in the snow and/or cold weather can be tons of fun, and I can work with you to produce great results. It just takes flexible folks that are willing to put on their sweaters and scarves and hang out in the crisp air.  The same can be true of night-time portraits.  I’ll post some recent examples soon.

Interested? Give me a call!

Times have been challenging recently and this blog has suffered.  In late October, I injured my knee, in which I had already completely torn my ACL.  After a visit to the doctor, I found out that I had torn my meniscus and, surprise, my ACL was still torn.  The treatment?  ACL reconstruction and removal of the torn meniscus.  Ugh.  Well, the procedure was performed in late November and I’m on the mend.  The good news is that I will be up and ready for my weddings and none of my clients need to worry.  Bad news is that the past month has been crazy hectic.  And here I thought I would have plenty of time to watch movies and play MarioKart on the Wii while I was recovering.  Uh…no such luck.  Thanks for being patient and I should return to my normal bloginess soon.

With the holidays coming up and with my first weddings for 2009 coming right around the corner, love is in the air.  I leave you with this awesome love song, which any Mario Kart fan should truly appreciate.  Blessings to all.

Did I mention how awesome my wife is?  She has totally stepped up to take care of me and the kids.

Yesterday marked my seventh anniversary with my wonderful wife. I wrote a poem for her based on something I read in the Bible. I share it now in the hopes that she would be honored and that she would know how much I love and appreciate her.

Whom have I found?

Who is she, more precious than jewels,
Trusted by the man who’s heart she holds?
She does him good, and not harm,
All the days of her life.
Her selflessness and sacrificial efforts
Yield provision and comfort for this blessed one.
Clothed with strength and dignity,
She speaks wisdom and kindness.
She is deserving of praise
For many women have done excellently,
But she surpasses them all.
Whom have I found?
Whom have I found?
Only you, my beloved wife.
Only you, my precious Yolanda.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart!
I love you more now than ever.

Here’s a picture of us taken with my phone at our celebratory dinner at Tagaris Winery.

Now, get out and vote!  ; )

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! ; )