THE PETRIFIED FOREST AND NEW FRIENDS

After Nathalia's photo shoot, we took a detour through the Petrified Forest National Park on the way back home. It was a pleasant late-afternoon drive and we made a couple of unexpected friends along the way. Our new buddies were a couple of raven's, each with hand ... or would that be foot ... out for any morsels of food that might come their way. One was definitely less shy than the other and I think you can figure out from the photos which was which. Alas, we had to say goodbye to our new friends and make our way back home. We made one last stop along the way to photograph a very funny roadside attraction that we have passed by many times and always wanted to get a shot of - we finally did :-).

NATHALIA - FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

Tuesday we headed over to St. Johns in the White Mountains to photograph Nathalia for her upcoming First Holy Communion. Her mother, Franchesca, was so welcoming and sweet and everyone at the church was very kind to let us have free reign. Nathalia was absolutely beautiful in her dress and we had a lot of fun with the wind and her veil!

Nathalia, you were very patient with us and you did a fabulous job! We had a great time with you and your mother and we hope you like your photographs!

ALEXIS AND STEPHEN - ENGAGEMENT SHOOT

Monday we met with Alexis and Stephen to photograph their engagement shoot. Alexis and Stephen are getting married in Las Vegas, so we were commissioned for the engagement photos only. We headed down to beautiful Sedona for the shoot, beginning in Oak Creek Canyon. From there we went to Red Rock Crossing where we finished up.

Alexis and Stephen, we had a great time getting to know the two of you. You did a great job!! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and we wish you both the best!

THE GRANDEUR OF GRAND FALLS

Over the holiday weekend I spent both days visiting Grand Falls, the first day with a friend and the second day with Kevin and our dog, Yoshi. Grand Falls is located on the Navajo Nation about 45 minutes outside of Flagstaff. It is an amazing and very unexpected sight. In the middle of a flat, barren, dusty, treeless, tumbleweed infested desert suddenly appears a great chasm in the earth and in that chasm roars a mighty river with spectacular waterfalls ... but only at certain times. Dry most of the year, this place comes to life in times of good rain and snowfall. It is also surrounded by the softest, finest, black sand dunes I have ever seen. It was definitely worth enduring the ten miles of purely evil dirt road washboards to witness a little of nature's grandeur!

FEATURED IN THE WEDDING CHRONICLE

We are excited to have one of our weddings featured in the new edition of The Wedding Chronicle! The wedding is that of Jessica and Derek Nilson and can be found in the March/April publication. Jessica worked very hard to get her wedding in print, so we have to say thank you to her ... thanks Jess :-).

JANELLE AND PEDRO WEDDING

After shoots on Wednesday and Thursday in two different sections of the state, we moved on to Phoenix Friday evening for Janelle and Pedro's wedding on Saturday. This was definitely a grand event, beginning at 9:30AM at the hotel in which everyone stayed the night before. A limo picked up Janelle and her bridal party at 9:45AM to take them to their hair and makeup appointments at Dolce Salon and Spa in Chandler. The guys took time to play at Golfland throughout the morning.

After Dolce and a much needed lunch, the limo returned for the bridal party to drive them to the wedding venue at The Wright House in Mesa, during which time they popped a bottle of bubbly to toast the occasion. Once at the venue things rolled quickly with getting ready as Janelle and Pedro planned on seeing one another before the ceremony to do their formals. Check out the look on Pedro's face - absolutely priceless!!! And for good reason ... Janelle was a true vision in her beautiful gown covered in elegant lace and her catherdral length veil flowing in the wind - and let us not forget, the unique chocolate brown and white polka doted shoes. Janelle said during the limo ride that she was not altogether comfortable with the idea of all attentions being on her, but it was hard for it not be on this day.

After formals, the ceremony took place during perfect, golden late-afternoon light - just magical. After a few more formals the party began and raged through the night. A final limo arrived around 11:00PM to wisk the happy couple away after a grand sparkler send-off by family and friends. All in all, it was a perfect wedding story.

We wish to thank Janelle and Pedro and all of their family and friends for being so gracious and welcoming. You were all just so sweet and wonderful to be around and it made our nearly 14 hour day (the longest wedding for us to date) fly by. We also wish to extend a special thank you to Lori Painter of the Wright House who made the wedding and reception flow flawlessly. We hope you two are having fun in Jamaica and we hope you love the photos as much as we do!

JOYCE AND BETH - ENGAGEMENT SHOOT

After shooting in Springerville on Wednesday, we headed back west for another day of shooting. Thursday found us at the Grand Canyon for Joyce and Beth's engagement shoot. You may recognize Joyce as she recently joined our team and is learning the ropes of the wedding industry. Before she began working with us however, she hired us to document her and her partner's own wedding - funny how life works out sometimes. The day was partially sunny and not all that bad as far as temperatures go in Northern Arizona during March, but there was one negative element to contend with - wind ... and lots of it!!! I swear, we thought at times that we might blow right off the edge into the canyon's great abyss :-).

Despite the wind, we had a fantastic time! The wind actually created some really unique images as you can see from this posting. Joyce, we give you props for possibly being the only woman to hike all over the Grand Canyon in high heals ... glad we didn't lose you :-). Beth, kudos for doing photos on the dead tree at the edge of the canyon at Yaki Point - we know that took a lot of nerve on your part. We hope you like the results and can't wait for the wedding in September!

ASHLEE - FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

Last Wednesday we headed over to Springerville to photograph Ashlee for her First Holy Communion. For those of you who don't know where Springerville is, because we haven't run across many who do, it is a little blip on the map in Eastern Arizona on the New Mexica border.

Last year we photographed Ashlee's sister, Lacey, for the same celebration and as we got in our car to leave their mother, Leah, told us she would be calling on us same time next year. Well, sure enough she did and it was every bit as much fun as last year - though the weather was much nicer! Ashlee is quite the little character - full of attitude and spunk, and a pretty little girl to boot - but she knows when to be gracious and sweet as well :-).

Thank you Ashlee for being so great to work with! You took direction well and the results are beautiful!!! Thank you also to Leah for entrusting this very special occasion to us for a second time. We look forward to the family shoot this fall :-). See you then!

WPJA & [AG]WPJA QUARTER 4, 2007 CONTEST RESULTS

THIRD PLACE - CREATIVE PORTRAIT
Judges Comments: What I usually don't like in wedding pictures is that they are often too much orchestrated, organized. This is a really nice, natural, photojournalistic picture about daily life more than about wedding. There ia a story in the gestures, in the faces of the couple, in the open boxes on the bed, in the painting on the wall. Great Shot.

TWELFTH PLACE - DETAILS (FOUND)
Judges Comments: This detail of the bride's cross tells us something about her beyond the obvious and it's beautifully framed by their hands and the out of focus trees in the background, giving us a sense of place.

SEVENTEENTH PLACE - CEREMONY
Judges Comments: The look on the woman's face steals this image. Technically a little off in the printing (too light at top) but the look on the face makes up for all the other problems. Seeing the emotion and reacting to it is very important for the news photographer. It is what sets us apart.

NINETEENTH PLACE - RECEPTION
Judges Comments: Motion blur created in Photoshop is a hard thing to get exactly right. We really like the energy and angle taken by the photographer but the backs of the seats are too bright and compete with the subjects. A simple burn on the seats along with an overall contrast boost and you're good to go!

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We are super excited to announce that we received several awards in the Wedding Photojournalist Association's (WPJA) and the Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association's ([AG]WPJA) quartly photo competitions! We were accepted to the WPJA back in late October which was both an honor and a thill in itself as they only accept a very small percentage of applicants, and those who are currently members are some of the best weding photojournalist in the industry today. This was our first chance to participate in their international competitions and it was really overwhelming to place in four categories, three in the WPJA and one in the [AG]WPJA. These contest attract very stiff competition, so we are very grateful to have placed among such amazing artists! And of course, we would like to extend our sincerest thanks to those couples who allowed us the freedom to create these images. Thank you Cameron and Joel, Jessica and Derek, Kristen and Tony, and Laun and Christa for trusting in us to document your wedding day - there is no greater pleasure for us!

COVER PHOTO - THE MAVERICK MAGAZINE

One of our natures images is featured on the cover of this month's edition of "The Maverick" magazine. "The Maverick" is a local publication of Arizona's White Mountain region. We are frequently featured on their covers and in periodic "how to" nature and travel photography articles and we will be sure to start posting those from now on so everyone can see the other side to our photographic work :-).