Oh boy, I don’t even know where to start with this post!  I might get a little carried away with the images because 1- Todd and Kara are a beautiful couple and 2- The venue they got married at was a photographer’s paradise!  Kara is my dear friend Renee Bergmen’s bride… Renee, thank you so much girl for trusting me to fill your shoes for this wedding!  They were big shoes to fill!  Tara Malouf of Red Thread Photography came down from Washington so that we could capture this big event together!  As I am new to the wedding photography world, I am so blessed to be able to have amazing women like Renee and Tara to glean from.

One thing I love about weddings is all the awesome details, particularly gorgeous florals:

… and the shoes, and the dress…

Just look at the exquisite detail on that dress!  Love it!

And speaking of shoes, I have now made a good investment into some comfortable dressy shoes to get my feet through 8+ hours of running around when shooting weddings!  Very important!

The beautiful bride, Kara… 

 

The other thing that I am loving about photographing weddings… there’s such big emotion and it’s all real, ready to be captured!  Kara and Todd chose to see each other before the ceremony, so Tara and I stood at different angles and photographed this very sweet “first look” moment.

 

 

 

The wedding was at the Boojum Tree which is a fantastic location to get married!  So many great backdrops… loved it!

 

And I should mention that Sandy Walker of In Awe Weddings did a fantastic job coordinating the day and making sure everything ran smoothly!

 

 

This image just seemed to call for some antique processing… I use Nicole Van’s Antique processing actions and textures for any photographers that care to know.  Nichole’s stuff is awesome!

The ceremony was a couple hours before sunset, so the light on the ceremony just happened to fall only on Todd, Kara and the officiant!  Everyone else was shaded and it created this spotlight effect on them… kinda cool

The reception… first dance as man and wife

 

 

A great end to a beautiful day!  Thanks Todd and Kara for letting us share in such a joyous day with you!

It’s been ages since I have done a senior shoot, so when I got the opportunity to take this session, I hopped on it!  

We shot at a very cool location in the desert… after all, that’s where we live and might as well embrace it, right!  One great thing about AZ is all the mountains… not the “carpet of green” type of mountains, but colorful boulder type mountains!  John wanted to do his photos in the red rocks right here in the heart of Phoenix… great choice if you ask me!  I love how the location added a lot of masculinity to the backgrounds!  Anyways, I love to encourage my clients to think outside the box for their sessions… locations other than the traditional park setting.  Don’t get me wrong, parks are great and I still shoot at them all the time.  But there are lots of places that will add awesome backdrops to your photos that don’t have an ounce of green  

John is a fantastic saxophone player, can sing (the tux is for that), is involved in the discipline of martial arts (i can’t remember which one exactly, but let me tell you, he knows his stuff!), loves the Lord, and has a great dog (Tosh… hope i spelled that right?!) who came along for some final shots of our session.  Thanks for being so easy to photograph John!  Best wishes for an awesome first year away at University!

 

 

 

 

I love this photo!  I was in high school when I first started to love reading the Bible… not just at church on Sundays, but on my own.

 

 

 

This last one is just funny…

Thanks again John!  Enjoy the cool weather up at NAU!!

Can you imagine how excited my camera is to photograph these two little sweet peas?!?  B & C came to see me for some maternity photos not too long ago and ended the session feeling like they were old friends.  Daddy to be had us cracking up most the time and if things don’t work out in his current field of employment, he definitely has an eye for photography… I joked with him about this as he helped me arrange the details of each pose that we put his beautiful wife in

Now, I am normally a vibrant color girl, but B really likes vintage, so I kept that in mind while processing their images.  Once I got started, I really began to dig some of the results!  Good call on the soft, vintage finishing!  After all, they are having twin girls and that just seems to fit!  

They brought along these fabulous roses which added just the right touch!

Late afternoon sun rays that were pouring through the studio window…

There’s a tree right outside this window… the sun was in just the right spot to create some cool patterns on the window in this shot…

Double the blessing, double the love…

This was B’s idea and a pretty darn good one if you ask me!  She really wanted to find some stylish maternity wear that shouted “Twin Girls” or even “Twins” for that matter, but time ran out for the search and she came up with this idea…

Alright you guys, can’t wait to photograph those baby girls!  Thanks for letting me photograph them during this sweet time in the belly!

* For those mamas out there expecting twins, a good time for belly photos is usually between 26-29 weeks.  If you are expecting more than two, 20-24 weeks is usually the time frame.  Just an FYI as I get asked frequently when to get belly photos done.  I want you to still feel fabulous and not too uncomfortable for your photos, so plan accordingly when scheduling!