Sunday, July 19, 2009

melyssa, rob, and abby's engagement session

i have more photos from the road trip coming soon, but i've been dying to get melyssa and rob's e-session photos up on the blog. so here they are...

when i first talked with melyssa on the phone, we hit it off right away - so it was great to meet in person when she and rob came up to santa barbara for their engagement session. one thing that gets me fired up for their wedding, is that they consider photography an extremely important part of their wedding day. my kind of couple. plus, melyssa and rob love their dog. abby is like their child, so it was only right that abby be included in their e-session as one of the family. we had a great time up on the douglas family preserve and then down on hendry's beach for sunset. i can't wait for their awesome wedding at the santa barbara historical museum!






























Wednesday, July 15, 2009

photos from the road

been "roughing" it up here in oregon, and thought i'd share a few pics with y'all

before we made it to oregon, we stopped in auburn for a couple of nights and visited family. the kids don't have much experience with rivers and lakes, so it was fun to watch them float down the bear river...












the next stop was camping at trinity lake. all the kids "helped" us SO much. here is noah pounding in tent stake.




"we made it!"




gotta have smores when you camp. kaitlyn knows how they're done.




this is how kaitlyn does "camo" when she camps.




the next day was spent on the lake with friends. a completely new experience for the kids. almost better than disneyland.




a couple days later we were in beaverton to shoot my cousins wedding. it was the first time i'd ever shot a family member's wedding, and it was a blast. it was great for the kids to see what daddy does when he goes to weddings. they knew i took pictures, but they were always convinced i was in it for the cake. and, after having some cake at this wedding, i'm pretty sure they still think that's why i take pictures at so many weddings. jenny decked the boys out in linen shirts and pants, kaitlyn in a linen dress - they were irresistible - so i snapped away. they're gonna be heartbreakers all of 'em.














we hiked a gruelling 2.2 miles with the kids to the top of multnomah falls. they did great! we were out of trail mix, so the got peanut m&m's to tide them over.










brought a little tripod along and we were able to get a few rare family portraits.










we'll be camping again in the next couple of days, so i may be out of phone and email contact for a bit. we'll see how at&t does...they failed at trinity lake (folks with verizon we fine though).

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

the oregon trail...

ok, so not the official trail - but we're road tripping it family style. which means an overloaded minivan and frquent potty stops. we're shooting a wedding on saturday, but we'll be camping for a couple of days before then. so, no phone or email until friday.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

happy 4th of july!

we're off to the beach to celebrate the 4th with friends! just had to post a couple of patriotic shots of my kids!










Friday, July 3, 2009

cody and aynsley's wedding




cody and aynsley are two of the busiest folks in all of arizona, and as a result their wedding day was the first time i'd had the chance to meet them face to face. we of course had chatted on the phone and a had a conference call or two. but, it was an absolute joy to discover how down to earth and easy going they are - and even sweeter to see how much they are madly in love with each other. it was a bit of a gray santa barbara day, but everyone was stoked when a touch of blue sky poked through just in time for the ceremony. here are some of my favorite shots from the day. thanks to alex morgan for a couple of these shots as well.












































Thursday, June 25, 2009

jaymie and ales' destination wedding at dreams cancun resort



i can't even begin to tell you how awesome jaymie and ales' dreams cancun wedding was. and to think it almost didn't happen because of the swine flu! i'm fired up jaymie and ales went through with it. dreams is a beautiful resort with the best location in cancun at the end of the peninsula.

ok, so norm and i have never been made to feel more welcome at a wedding than we did on this trip. from the moment we arrived, we felt like guests...not the hired help. from the rehearsal to the wedding day to the trash the dress shoot we had a blast! norm and i even got to play beach volleyball against ales and his brother the day we left (i won't mention who won...it wouldn't be good for business). jaymie and ales are the kind of people that everyone wants to be around, and they make everyone they are talking to feel important. they're just great people. plus...they have twin boys. the 2nd cutest twin boys around (of course THE cutest if you ask them). how can you not love a couple with twin boys?

the trash the dress shoot was amazing! we went across to isla mujeres and cruised through town on a golf cart and then ended up in the water in time to catch that golden light. then, after jaymie and ales changed into some dry clothes - all four of us had some chips and guacamole with margaritas before heading back to dreams.

i had trouble narrowing down my favorite shots, so i just posted a bunch. thanks to norm for some of these as well!






















































































































Monday, June 22, 2009

jaymie and ales - dreams cancun wedding coming soon!

i'm so excited to share jaymie and ales' wedding photos with you - they had a gorgeous wedding at dreams cancun that was pure fun from beginning to end. details and photos to come very very soon...

...in the meantime, i have to tell a quick story. norm and i had a great flight on alaska airlines, and on our flight was a couple (not jaymie and ales) that was flying to cancun to get married. well ava the flight attendant was in a great mood and decided to have a contest. she passed out slips of paper to all the passengers and asked them to give the newlyweds some marriage advice. she then read them all and chose her favorites and read them over the loudspeaker. norm went the comedy route and earned a very repectable honorable mention. but, the grand prize went to yours truly. so, now i'm considering entering the marriage counseling biz as well - because i'm sure ava really know good advice when she hears it. here is a picture of me with ava and my grand prize (a glass of red wine):




also, flying over these islands - norm and i decided we'd buy this little island chain when when we're big 'n rich:




we were stoked with this view when we checked in to the resort: