Looking forward to summer albums!

Here is a few pages from Cade and Tosha's album. The wheat was out in Richmond and the wedding was at the Logan Temple and the Old Rock church outside.

The Old Rock Church has a great outdoor venue now which I am happy about because I have never been fond of shooting inside that building. My favorite reception halls in Cache Valley are The Riter Mansion and The Alumni House at USU. Both have outdoor and indoor capabilities in case of bad weather. More importantly they both have great lighting in the evening. I should also mention that I like to shoot at Sherwood Hills in the Summer. It is great, even lighting.

So just a tip: Lighting is everything in photography and you can have the most beautiful place on earth to take pictures and if the lighting is crummy, the pictures won't be as pleasing( They won't be crummy because we can compensate for bad lighting). I have always appreciated when a bride consults me on locations and times because they both can make my job really easy or really difficult. More importantly the pictures can be so beautiful in favorable lighting conditions. I have yet to find a photographer who has been able to control the sun!

Viva Las Vegas!

I just spent 4 days in Las Vegas. It was the annual WPPI photographer convention. It was amazing!! I am not the same person I was a week ago. I assure you I have so much to learn and I don't feel like I am scratching the surface yet.

It brought back a "flood" of memories. Pun intended. Ten years ago I witnessed the worst flood Vegas has had in its populated history. I left for work one morning early and the skies were clear. By afternoon there was a humungous river one block from my house. I literally watched buses and cars getting swept away and finally even a house floating down that river. It was like nothing I have ever witnessed. I have video somewhere.

Anyway, I have lived in Las Vegas twice, once when I worked the summer doing concrete when I was 16 and then again when I was 21 fresh off my mission. About six years ago I even had a very large clientele down there. I was going down about every other month and taking a lot of family and children portraits. Eventually I ended up buying a condo down there as an "investment" thinking that I could use it and ride the real estate wave that was surreal at the time. I literally spent 10 minutes in that condo, total!! I sold it just barely in the nick of time before that house of cards came tumbling down. Disaster averted big time. After the housing bust down there no one was in the mood to spend money on photography any more so I haven't shot anything down there till this week.

My brother had a friend who was kind enough to let us stay at his house. They were great hosts. The kids weren't cooperating so we literally did a 5 minute photo shoot. I always try to take some pics of families who host. So if you are in Hawaii and reading this keep that in mind.

Back to back Groomals last week

I just spent 5 days in Arizona with some of my best friends in the whole world, Janet and Clint Andersen. I guarantee Clint is the only 58 year old ever who had 9 splints put in his heart( in the last year) to play 11 games of basketball like we did 2 nights ago. Yeah, 11 games. Janet said that the doctor wanted him to exercise and test out how far he can push his heart. We pushed it to the limits. They were shorter games but 11 games of playing with Collin, Matt and Clint is like playing in dog years, it is 7 times harder than a regular game. Collin was on my team and on game 6 he hurt his hand twice and we thought he may have even broken his hand. He didn't even consider the option of stopping and since I needed him I just smiled and told him to take a couple minutes to let it heal. Collin and I ended up winning best of 11. We ripped through that court like a CAT 5 hurricane!!

I was down there mostly to finish up a project that I started in December down in Terlinqua, Texas on the border of Mexico. It is a documentary of an extraordinary man who has worked for Clint for 17 years as a concrete laborer. His wages were less than most but he saved and sacrificed and now owns 8 homes outright, paid for in cash. He is a fascinating character and has been gracious enough to share his story which I will post when it is done.

I will do an entire post on Texas when I get a chance because I loved it down there. I ate a hamburger in Terlingua that was bigger than my smallest child. If you are someone who wants to hide from the law I have the perfect place for you. Stay tuned..

Most of my photo shoots I put a lot of time into prior to the shoot. I spend a lot of time location scouting because every couple is so different. I have learned over the last ten years that you can't set your plans in stone because things change so quickly. Everything I do revolves around light. Light changes frequently which is why I have to be familiar with how a camera records light in every situation. These two shoots were within 24 hours and yet the light changed so drastically that I only photographed 1 of the 10 locations I had planned. Everything you see here was completely improvised on the shoot. We started at an elementary school because Anna forgot her bouquet and for the sake of time I met them out by their house which was by the school. We shot these first two right there then all heck broke loose when the school bell rang to let school out. We moved quickly to another location a block down the road where I had never shot (the second image).

Just about anywhere can be a great location if you understand light a little bit. I don't know why I am telling you this. Maybe a little bragging and complaining. Honestly, mostly a photographer's job consists of making lemonade out of lemons.

If I had one advice for brides I would say if you want great photographs consult the photographer on lighting before you choose where you have your reception, ceremony, time of day, etc... IT IS ALL ABOUT THE LIGHTING!!!

Of course there are ways of making the best of a bad lighting situation but some weddings just look better because of lighting. (Tangent, sorry)

This entire shoot was improvised. We didn't go to one spot that I planned but sometimes that is the funnest way to shoot. The important thing is the couple. Anna won a free bridal session from the USU bridal faire so I had not met them till that day. Great couple and I wish them a long and happy life together!

I smell spring...

Well, variety is the spice of life they say. A few years ago I coined the term "varietist" to explain to someone that I have a hard time doing the same thing over and over. I love new things, new adventures, new places, new people. Not to take away from old people, old places, etc. I still love those things but I am more like a stream than a pond. I don't like stagnancy. I love photographing all sorts of different things. Anyway, last week I had the opportunity to shoot Steven Covey and Jon Huntsman down at the Huntsman headquarters. One of the side benefits of being in situations like this is that I get to learn from great people. My favorite quote from Covey was that "retirement is a sick concept". He has 10 books in the works and has just become a tenured professor at the Jon M Huntsman school of business at Utah State. I love his principle based thought process. I think that some things will always be relevant. I highly recommend reading The 7 habits of Highly Effective People. Life changer! This picture was these two getting interviewed by Fox 13 Neil Cavuto.

You might not know this but a few years ago I worked briefly for a company in Salt Lake. While I did not enjoy it and I missed photography greatly I did have one or two highlights. One was that the night I saw Jason Hewlitt perform I was awarded a new car, a nice new car. I was awarded a Mini Cooper which as you know is built by BMW in their Mini Cooper factory in England. It was very exciting choosing everything and finally getting it a few months later. Anyway I had the opportunity to shoot pictures at a birthday party at the Salt Lake Country Club on the 12th and Jason was the main act. He is a phenomenal performer. Check him out at: jasonhewlett.com/

Meanwhile, I had the privilege of going up to Beaver Ski Resort with Dakota and Heather. We were able to get an entire ski lift to ourselves because of Heather's connections. It was snowy on the way up by died down. Going out to these trees was more of a chore than it looks. I was soaked all the way up my thighs when we got done. Snowshoes would've been nice. This is a stark contrast to their wedding location, Hawaii!! Two extremes.

Been cold lately.......

I'll tell you what I have been having a blast in this cold weather. These photos are from last friday with JaNea and Shawn and their dog Duke. I saw JaNea at a wedding I was shooting last summer and I knew her name, where she was from, that her family had a grocery store, and all sorts of eery details that only a stalker would know and neither of us have any idea how we know each other. Like my dad I have a gift for remembering "important" details such as birthdays from kids who sat next to me in first grade and where I was when I ate just about any meal I have ever eaten. Anyway, it is twilight zone material.

I am way looking forward to shooting this wedding in Logan and then the reception in a small town that I forget the name of but I love small towns.

A recap of last week...

I have decided that rather than battle trying to blog everyday I am going to try for once a week. I have so much material but I am going to start over and move forward cause with wedding season upon us in the spring I am beginning to get busy with bridal and engagement sittings.

I am thrilled with this upcoming season. I have so many things I want to do and try and then in March I am going to Vegas for WPPI, a photographer conference. I can't wait. I have a lot of fun weddings booked. I will be in Long Island, New York in May for a fun wedding. I look forward to spring here though cause it is incredible.

Anyway, here are two couples who I got to know this week. I look forward to Dan and Laurel's wedding coming up in March. Great people.

Sorensens extended

It's hard to believe that it was like 20 degrees outside. We did this shoot in perty near 10 minutes. Gotta act fast this time of year. This was taken at the mouth of Butterfield Canyon near Kennecott Copper Mine on Friday. I have been doing a lot of family shoots lately, for a time everyday for almost two months. I love it.

Anyway, I can't say enough about the Sorensens. I have learned so much from them over the 18 years that I have known them. Growin up I had my own bed at their house I was over so much. Some of the greatest people I know.

Sorensen Fam

Had a great time the last few days with the Sorensens. Been friends longer than we haven't!!

MUSTANGS!!!

These boys are rockin'. They are having a great season. I didn't know too much about valley football till I took these images. I am a big fan now. I wish these boys luck today against Salem Hills. No Mercy boys!!

Bingham Family

Some recent pics of places we have gone...

This is that bridge that many have seen wobble and fall into the sea. It was rebuilt.
View coming into Bear Lake from Logan Canyon.

Ty and Candice- Logan Temple