I know Amanda from Austin and was thrilled to hear that she was engaged. She and Stefan are currently attending BYU-Idaho and so they came down to Utah to do the engagement shoot. We started off at Trolley Square in downtown Salt Lake and finished up at Liberty Park.
I tell you though, I have not ever shot outside when it was raining quite that hard! Snow yes, rain no. It was awesome! Everything was reflective and looked especially vibrant and alive. Thomas was running around like a crazy person trying to keep the equipment dry and I totally ruined a pair of shoes but it was completely worth it! To top it off, both Amanda and Stefan were fabulous and were perfectly happy to go out, get wet, and have fun.
A baseball love story...by Emily the Intern.
Danica and Ryan were a super cute and super fun couple. I arrived early so I had the opportunity to hang out with them for a few minutes before Whitney got to Provo and they seemed suuper shy. Danica even warned Whitney earlier in the week that she was going to have to work her magic with them and claimed that she and Ryan were going to be awkward. That couldn't have been further from the truth.
Here's the deal--if you're totally in love and could stare at each other for hours and love to laugh and have fun with each other, you're going look awesome in photographs. Having Whitney as your photographer helps, too. Not only was this a great shoot for me as a budding photographer, but it also helped me get some ideas of what poses I wanted for my own anniversary shoot that Whitney was doing for my husband and I a few weeks later.
We started off on Center St. in Provo and seriously, I love downtown. They've really improved it since I first moved here (five years ago as a freshman at BYU) and I love all the nook and cranny awesome and beautiful places you can find while walking around. It's also so fitting that we shot the engagements there, since these two met at a music show nearby.
Can I just tell you how much I love this shot shown above? One, I really love Danica's shoes... and maybe her skirt... and belt... and cardigan. Two, Whitney totally concocted this shot on a whim--this was just where Danica and Ryan made an outfit change and it was in-between locations. As they were changing Whitney scoped out the area and I could see her mind racing with ideas of poses. Three, I love the adorable-ness (yes, totally a word) of them holding hands underneath the table. It's like they were having a little moment and forgot we were even there.
And now for the finale. Little did I know, Ryan is a super devout baseball fan and a huge Boston Red Sox fan on top of that. Since my husband (whose name is also Ryan...confusing, I know) also loves baseball I asked him how big a fan he really was he said something like, 'Think of the biggest baseball fan you know. Now think of the biggest Red Sox fan. Put them together and I'm even more.' I wish I could remember his exact words, but he said something like that and he totally wasn't kidding. Even though my husband, Ryan, is at the top of his fantasy baseball team (whoop, whoop, haha) I would definitely have to agree that Danica's Ryan is the biggest baseball fan I know. And Danica's got a soft spot for the sport as well. She played softball in high school and as Whitney was suggesting poses--like, having Ryan show Danica how to hold a bat--she quickly tossed the suggestion out. She could totally hold her own and knew how to hold a bat thank-you-very-much. So they're totally a perfect matched and it showed.
Congrats on being awesome, Danica and Ryan!
People tease me all the time because when I see a beautiful scene like this I never take a picture of it.
It's not that I don't think it's beautiful, I'd just rather take a picture of this amazing scene with amazing people in front of it. But last night, I just couldn't resist. So here's proof that I do sometimes take pictures of the mountains!
Maria and Jonny were married last Friday at Log Haven up Mill Creek Canyon. It was a gorgeous day and quite the party. I had a blast, and am now able to share some of their formals session that we did a week before the wedding. We went to Memory Grove and the Capitol Building in downtown Salt Lake City.
I love love love this first photo. The light is so perfect, and highlights how stunning Maria is.
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Awesome sky? Check. Sufficiently dramatic pose? Check. Oozing self confidence and general fantabulousness? Check!
Isn't Maria gorgeous? I loved her dress! So elegant...
I love me some sweet sweet reflections! It's like they're standing on mirrored glass...
And when the sun goes down, you get that perfect time known simply as "the blue hour".
With signs in every retail store reminding me that Father's day is approaching, I've been thinking a lot about my Dad recently. I've mentioned that he was my introduction to the world of photography, but I haven't said how important his advice has been along the way. So I wanted to share the experience of deciding to do our first bridal fair.
I shot my first wedding in February of 2009, worked full time for most of that year in photography, and I took a class with Kenneth Linge called "The Wedding School." We reviewed photography techniques as well as business practices, and I felt ready to take my business to the next level - the world of bridal fairs. It was scary. Thomas and I calculated a $3000 budget to fund our first fair, and I didn't actually have that money at the time... but you can make money by spending money, right? I believe that the answer is yes, but only IF you spend it correctly.
This is where my Dad came in. Thomas and I were considering the possibility of a business loan, knowing that if I booked at least 3 weddings at the fair it would be paid. I talked with my dad about my fears, my concerns, but the exciting possibility of moving forward. And he gave me the best advice I've received about making a decision with this kind of risk.
He told me to ask myself three questions:
The best possible outcome? Oh, that's easy. I'll book 25 weddings that day and become rich and famous soon after. The worst possible outcome? Well, that's the scary part of risk. I don't book a thing, I have to pay back the $3000 from our emergency savings, and I lose all self esteem. And the most probable outcome? I took a guess: 2-4 weddings from that fair. But who knows!
I realized from asking these three questions that I was comfortable with the risk involved, even with the worst possible outcome. It wouldn't ruin us financially, and at the very least, 1000 brides would see my photos and people would start to recognize my name. So we went for it. And after all was said and done we booked close to 10 weddings as a result of doing the fair.
I was just thinking about this experience and all I learned, and I wanted to share the advice from my Dad. In a decision evaluating risk, I feel much more comfortable moving forward when I can ask these questions and know that I'm ok with the answers. To any other photographers that are starting out, or anybody else thinking about taking a risk, good luck as you are making your own decisions and watching your businesses progress!
Here's a look at the booth we managed to put together for our first fair...
... And we made a few improvements for the next year.
I mentioned in a previous post that my sister Jasmine recently got her MBA from BYU. She is moving in a couple of months to the Big Apple to start a job with Citigroup, which means that Thomas and I now have even MORE reason to plan a trip out there! (we've been talking about going out there for a long time; both of us are big broadway junkies and like big cities with lots of things to do in them)
She graduated about a little over a month ago, but I finally got around to editing all of them and I figured I would share them with y'all. She's gorgeous, she's successful, and she's going to take New York City by storm!
Can you believe both Thomas and I went to BYU and neither of us knew anything about this statue? Apparently it's one of the places you MUST take photos if you're graduating from the Y.
Given that Jaz has pretty much lived in the Tanner Building (the Business School's building on campus), we headed on over there for some fun architectural elements.
I love you sis! Congratulations!
Kandis and Greg are absolutely incredible to work with! Stand in the middle of the street? No problem! Have a romantic moment with dozens of cars driving by? They can handle it. I'll post more later, but this photo is from their engagement shoot in downtown SLC, and it is the realization of something I have been itching to do for months now. Every time I drove by that spot, I said to myself, "I've GOT to get a couple there... it would be awesome!"
And awesome it was.
A few highlights from Holli and David's engagement photos...
I just loved Holli's style. Just pieced together perfectly.
I want to say something like "Bad David! No biting the fiancee!" but really, these guys were just adorable.
