The Wedding that Wasn't and Then Was

A couple of weeks ago, Rich's Aunt Sue called and asked me if I'd be willing to be the photographer for her son Matt's wedding in Idaho Falls.  It's been a while since I've done a photo shoot, especially a wedding, but I agreed to take the pictures.

We arranged to stay with some good friends of ours in Idaho, packed up on Friday, and headed out.  The wedding wasn't until Saturday, but we thought it would be fun to spend some time with our friends.  We'd been on the road for about an hour when I got a call from Aunt Sue telling me the wedding was off.  After much debate, we decided to make the trip anyway because it would be fun to see our friends, and we are already 1/3 of the way there.

We had a great time with our friends.  I just visited with Brook all day while Connor and Kenzie played with the other kids and Aiden and Rich went apple picking and potato gleaning with Nathan.

I got a phone call on Saturday from Aunt Sue about 3:00 saying the wedding was back on and asked if I could come take pictures at 5:00.  So, we packed up all of our stuff, said goodbye to our friends, went to the park where the wedding was, and took pictures.  Then we hit the road and headed home.

It was a nice, but short weekend.  Here are some of the pictures from the wedding.

Photography Class Assignment 1

I'm taking a photography class.  I decided something with assignments would be really good for me; force me to take some pictures.  Here is technical assignment number 1, which was on shutter speed.

Photoshop

I love Photoshop!  And, I think I'm getting pretty good at it.  I've been using for 3-4 years now, and I learn more of what it'll do every week.  I took some pictures of a family about a month ago.  The conditions were not good for good photos.  The sun was very bright and harsh, and my choices were back lit subjects or squinty eyes.  Photoshop to the rescue.

I also edited some one of our family pictures that we took a couple weeks ago.  The sun was just sneaking into the lense, giving the photo a washed out look.

Here are the before and after edits:

Before

After

Before

After

Justin and Becca

This year for our family pictures, we went with Rich's cousin Justin and his family.  I took pictures of him as a THANK YOU for getting me the employee discount on my favorite Adobe software.  He is also a photographer hobbyist and took family pictures for us.  Here are some of the highlights:

Flattered

I was very flattered today. I printed a copy of the tulip picture below this week and the lab I ordered it from asked if they could use the picture in their marketing efforts. I'm glad they liked my work.

Temple Square

Here are a couple photos I snapped while at Temple Square yesterday. I was pretty happy with them.

New Background for the Rinquests.

From Rinquest

2008 Gallery Book

I recently submitted a "portfolio" book of some of my favorite pictures of the year to the publisher I use for my clients' photo books. It includes some of my nature, portrait, and wedding photos. You can click on the link to it on the right if you'd like to see it:



I was very excited by the following comments I got back from the publisher:

"Thank you for your order. Your book was such a pleasure to review. I have to mention that your photography stands out above the rest...from your nature to your weddings, I am truly impressed by your talent."

It's nice to have your work appreciated.

Megan and Christopher

Friday, December 5th was my cousin Megan's wedding. Here are some pictures I took of her special day.

Almarie Bridals

On Nov 22, I was able to meet Almarie and Tyler at Memory Grove for her bridals. Here are a few pictures from the day.

The Blackwood Family

These pictures were taken of the Blackwood family on November 15, 2008 at the Salt Lake Temple and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. What a special day for their family. The baby, who they adopted six months ago, was sealed to them. She is beautiful! I feel really priveledged to have been able to take some pictures for them to remember the day. Congratulations, Blackwoods!

The Hill Family

I took these pictures of the Hill family at Memory Grove on Saturday, November 15. The little boys were absolutely amazing. We took pictures for two hours and the held up the whole time. I had a lot of fun with the whole family.

Carter Family with new background

Here are the walking pictures of the Carter's that include more of the background at Wheeler Farm.

Erin and Clay

Here is the sharper image of Erin and Clay.

The Bakers

Lastly, here are some pictures we took of my family over the weekend, also at Murray Park. Special thanks to Clark and Katie for their help it taking them.

Clark and Katie

Here are the pictures of Clark, Katie, and Aspen from this weekend. We also took these at Murray Park.

Cody and Veronica

Here are some pictures I took of the Andrews over the weekend at Murray Park.

Another Option for the Smiths

Here is another family photo of the Smith's.

Scott and Sandy Family

Here are a few pics I took this weekend of Scott and Sandy's family. I took these at Shoneshone Falls and Twin Falls in Twin Falls, ID.

Almarie and Tyler

I took Almarie and Tyler's engagement pictures at Gardner Village. Here's one of my favorites.