Image of the Week: Image(s) #12

(Upfront disclaimer: No, we're not models, and we don't pretend to be, in case you were wondering...LOL.)

Since Thurday evening we've been in Colorado, and we're having so much fun. Friday through Sunday we were with Amanda and Rob for their wedding weekend, and then Sunday night we drove to Aspen for a couple days of down-time and to celebrate the 6 years we have been married!!!

Tonight we went out to dinner, (they have phenomenal restaurants here!) and on the way back to our hotel we stopped to do a couple fun shots of each other.

It's interesting how the naked eye doesn't often notice reflections unless they're totally obvious. So tonight as we were shooting, using light from the street lamps and illumated storefronts, we noticed these cool reflections and thought they were fun.

Jerry Ghionis, in his workshop a couple weeks ago, really challenged us to look for reflections, even in places we can't imagine finding them. "Once you start seeing them," he said, "you'll find them everywhere."

Amanda and Rob's wedding

We were honored to photograph Amanda and Rob's wedding on Sunday. The wedding took place in Redstone, Colorado, about 45 miles from Aspen. It was a beautiful day and a magnificant hill-side setting.

Of course, Amanda was beautiful in her wedding gown and cowboy boots. As for Rob, he wore a black pinstripe suit, making him the most handsome guy on the mountain. After the reception we went with the bridal party over to the Gibson's house to get some shots in the river, which turned out to be more fun than should be allowed at a wedding. :)

Thanks so much, guys, for letting us be a part of your special weekend...we shared a special day, it was also our 6th wedding anniversary! It was a pleasure spending time with your families and getting to know them. It was indeed an occasion we'll never forget. May God continue to bless you as you begin your new life together. Have fun in Cozumel :)

GraphiStudio to sponsor elevate:Orlando2007

We are excited to announce our partnership with GraphiStudio, clearly one of the top wedding album companies in the world. We've been using Graphi books for the past two years and we've been thoroughly pleased with their innovation and quality.

A few weeks ago we spoke with our representatives at Graphi and talked with them about our upcoming seminar in January. They were excited about the possibilities and have agreed to sponsor the seminar and provide a variety of benefits to the our attendees. We're excited by this partnership and we look forward to working with Graphi on some additional initiatives in the future. Graphi is headquartered in Italy and has satellite offices in the United States.

Marveling Majesty (warning: long meaningful post)

We’re in the middle of an absolutely wonderful wedding weekend in Redstone, Colorado with Amanda and Rob and their family and friends. It is spectacular. We’ve been to Colorado once before, a couple summers ago when we spent time in Vail following a wedding.

If you’ve ever made the drive from Denver into the mountains along I-70 you know what I mean when I call it a constant gallery of God’s handiwork. Once again I was taken aback by the rugged natural beauty, recalling the same emotions that I felt two years ago when we first visited here, and a similar feeling to the first time Joy and I drove the Pacific Coast Highway from Carmel south through Big Sur. It’s a breathtaking, speechless sensation, to say the least.



Once while driving through Arizona with his wife Jamie, Christian songwriter Andrew Peterson was struck by the raw majesty of the Grand Canyon. He and his wife pulled off the road and they wrote the following song, which rings clearly in my mind every time I experience a setting like this.

“Nothing to Say”

Hey Jamie would you mind,
driving down this road awhile,
Arizona’s waiting on these eyes.
Rich is on the radio
and I think we ought to take it slow,
Arizona’s caught me by surprise.

Hey Jamie have you heard,
a picture paints a thousand words?
But the photographs don’t tell it all.
I see the eagles swim the canyon sea,
Creation yawns in front of me,
Oh Lord I’ve never felt so small.

And I don’t believe that I believed in You as deeply as today,
I reckon’ what I’m saying is there’s nothing more, nothing more to say…

And the mountains sing Your glory hallelujah
The canyons echo sweet amazing grace.
My spirit sails, the mighty gales are bellowing Your name,
And I’ve got nothing to say,
No, I’ve got nothing to say.

Hey Jamie, do you see,
I’m broken by this majesty.
So much glory and so little time.
So turn off the radio, let’s listen to the songs we know,
All praise to Him who reigns on high.

And I don’t believe that I believed in You as deeply as today,
I reckon’ what I’m saying is there’s nothing more, nothing more to say…

And the mountains sing Your glory hallelujah
The canyons echo sweet amazing grace.
My spirit sails, the mighty gales are bellowing Your name,
And I’ve got nothing to say,
No, I’ve got nothing to say.

Glory, glory hallelujah.
Glory, glory hallelujah.
Glory, glory hallelujah.

And the mountains sing Your glory hallelujah
The canyons echo sweet amazing grace.
My spirit sails, the mighty gales are bellowing Your name,
And I’ve got nothing to say,
No, I’ve got nothing to say.

Hey Jamie would you mind,
driving down this road a while,
Arizona’s caught me by surprise.
###


After about four hours and a brief stop at Vail, we arrived at our destination. Filoha Meadows is a small retreat just outside of Redstone on the Crystal River. No cell phone coverage…they don’t have towers there. No internet either, except for dial-up, and we didn’t bring a phone cord. What an inconvenience, I thought. Until I stepped outside again and realized where we were.



We had a great dinner with all the guests, and once the sun went down several of us, (Joy and I, Amanda and Rob, the bride and groom, Amanda's sister, Katie and friend, Bethany) jumped into the natural hot springs pool. The water was 130 degrees and that’s HOT…naturally hot. We had to turn on the cold-water hose just to make the water bearable. As we sat in the pool relaxing we gazed at the stars and into the heavens. The Big Dipper was bold and bright and to the left you could see the Milky Way. Miles from any nearby city, the stars shone brilliantly and once again I couldn’t help but pause in amazement. How small am I. And how big is God.



This afternoon we spent 5 hours four-wheeling in the mountains. It was a blast! (this picture has the bride and groom jumping off the cliff with Crystal Mill in the background). After rehearsal this evening we drove 20 miles to Carbondale to call and check on Graycen and find an internet connection. The wedding is tomorrow morning and then afterwards we’re going for a couple days in Aspen. Then we’ll head back to Denver across Independence Pass.



Our lives have really gotten busy. So often we’re traveling and spending time on the road. It’s easy to get so busy that you don’t take time to be thankful for what really matters in life. The wedding tomorrow (I mean this morning) is going to be beautiful.



And our time afterwards is going to be great. It’s so much fun out here and such an adventure. Each day, I’m excited to get up, put on my old cowboy boots, jump in the SUV and see where the road takes us. Stay tuned for pictures from this amazing wedding. :)

Fun at Solutions

Today I visited Solutions Bridal Designer House with Lisa Konecny from E-Events Design, one of our wedding designer friends. We're excited to be partnering with Solutions on an upcoming project. So we looked at a few gowns and needless to say there were just too many to choose from (I'm glad I'm not a bride!).

Monique is the salon manager and she was super-helpful. We had heard great stuff about her from some of the coordinators in town, and also from some of our brides. Isn't it great how positive word travels. And one of her associates, Brittany, was nominated to display a couple of the gowns for us. Of course she didn't realize that I had a camera in tote, but she was a good sport and even posed, allbeit reluctantly, for a few shots.

On August 7 we'll be doing a bridal fashion shoot, and we're really excited to have the support of Solutions Bridal, Lisa, hair olympian Dale Dees, and several others. Thanks so much guys, for making this possible.

Who loves to read?

Reading has never been my favorite passtime. Aside from personal devotions, my reading is limited to flipping through magazines that arrive at the house and an occasional online Wall Street Journal article that my friend Paul forwards me. Oh, and how could I forget to mention online photography forums...I visit those occasionally (wink, wink).

Don't get me wrong, every now and then I get inspired to read a book on investing or motivation or how to become a better person, but other than that, I could list about 100 things I'd probably rather be doing than reading. The list would include obvious things like golf, eating chips and salsa, watching golf on TV, having dinner at the Cheesecake Factory or Bucca di Beppo, going to golf tournaments, and on and on and on. But the list would also include some not so obvious things like vacuuming the living room and bathing our dog...LOL.


Contrary to her father's habits, Graycen loves to read. That she gets from her mother. She will walk around the room trying to hand the book to anyone who will read to her. And if no one is available she'll read to herself...out loud, of course.

Last night she sat in her rocking chair that her great grandparents had given her for Christmas and she grabbed the heaviest book she owns and started reading it. I grabbed a camera and the long lens and sat in the hallway watching her methodically thumb through "Tails" at least a dozen times before she was worn out. I can't imagine reading a book two times, let alone 12! With that said, it has to be the furriest, fuzziest, shiniest book I've ever seen and maybe if my books were like "Tails" I would enjoy reading too.

Unfortunately, the poor pig on the next-to-last page, his little curly tail is almost torn off, so I suppose I'm going to have to pretend I'm a pig doctor or veterinarian and make it better. Okay, I'm going to find the tape before she wakes up and wants to read.

Image of the Week: Image #11

For this week's installment of Image of the Week we selected one of the e-session pics that we shot of Natesha and Chris. I love walls, not just plain walls, but walls with interesting color and texture. This is obviously a wall of lockers. I've been wanting to do a locker e-session shot for a long time, but obviously had to wait until we found the right couple. Natesha and Chris were high-school sweethearts, so the shot made perfect sense. The lights were turned off in the hallway, but an occasional light remained on. We positioned them under one of the flourescent lights, just a few lockers down from the one Natesha used during her senior year. We grabbed the shot and then burned in the edges in PS. It was a fun shot and I'm sure it will have special meaning to them for years to come.