#88....check!

88. Watch the movie "Born into Brothels"

Last night I had Liene Stevens of Blue Orchid Designs over. I've gotten to know her a little and we are becoming fast friends. She brought Philippino food and I gave her a little crochet lesson. Here's Liene starting a baby blanket:


She's going to be done with that in no time :).

We also watched the movie "Born into Brothels." I first heard about this movie by reading Liene's blog and it peaked my interest. So I put it on my list to make sure I didn't forget I wanted to watch it. I know it's an easy goal to complete, but I wanted to make sure I was intentional.


The movie was about a young photographer, Zana Briski, who spent a few years living in the red light district of Calcutta, India. She got to know many of the women who make their living through prostitution as well as their children who live in some of the worst conditions I've ever seen. She got all of the children cameras and film and began to teach them about photography. It's amazing everything she poured into them -- even working tirelessly to get many of them accepted into boarding schools so they could escape their bleak fate in the brothels. This movie is definitely a "must see." I'm going to watch it one more time before returning it to the video store just to try to take more of it in.

Thanks Liene for a fun night! Can't wait to do it again!

Who are these guys?

So, at WPPI I'm eating dinner with some of my closest photographer friends. I've known these guys for over a year now. And all of a sudden they start talking passionately about literature and Shakespeare and stuff and I feel like I'm in the twilight zone. These guys are fun-loving and passionate about photography and I know they're smart and stuff but I was a little stunned by the fact that they were all so impassioned by this topic.

I started video taping them about 10 minutes into the conversation so by now they'd already covered a lot of ground. And a warning to those of you who don't know Isaac Bailey, Stuart Thurkill or Jared Platt or who aren't fascinated by literature--you might find this video extremely boring. But if you do know them, I hope you'll find it as entertaining as I did.

My beloved assistant

I finally got to take Jamie to dinner for her birthday tonight. We went to Mexican and I of course had fajitas :). Above Jamie is enjoying her flan.

Jamie has stuck with me for a year and a half so far and tells me that she is going to work for me forever. I keep telling her I'm going to need her to sign a legal document stating that :).

It was fun filling her in on WPPI and hearing everything she is up to with her growing portrait business. She has evolved into an amazing photographer! I'm so proud that I can take a little credit for her.

Thanks for the fun night Jamie! And for being the fun, great person you are.

Last Day of WPPI

I'm sitting at the Las Vegas airport waiting for my delayed flight to board so I thought I'd post real quick. Above is a photo of me with my buddies Todd Watson and David Jay, the superstar masterminds behind ShowIt Web software that any photographer who is even slightly cool uses to post slideshows on their websites. I was glad to run into them on the tradeshow floor and connect for a minute since there are thousands of people here and it's pure craziness.

I'm coming home a little tired out but with some great ideas I'm going to pursue as well as a few new products and I'm a little closer to checking off a few more business goals on my 101 list. I'll have to post on those a little more in the future.

My plane just arrived so that's it for now...

Shooting in Las Vegas

I'm having a blast in Las Vegas at WPPI. This is my second year here and it's definitely different than the first year but still just as great. Last year everything was new and I soaked everything in like a sponge. This year, I feel more relaxed and ok with not doing EVERYTHING, which is impossible anyway, and I'm mostly just enjoying hanging out with friends and meeting new people. That's definitely the best thing about these type of conferences. It's always great to learn and be inspired but the networking and relationship-building is the most valuable.

My friend, Jared Platt, who is a great Phoenix photographer, just shot a wedding for a couple who is now on their honeymoon in Vegas. So he contacted them to do a fun shoot while he was here. I tagged along as did two other photographer friends, Isaac Bailey and Andy Andrews. I mostly had fun shooting the other photographers.

Here's Andy shooting Jared laying on the ground as he shot the couple:


Isaac shooting Jared as the couple stood ignored in the background:


The always goofy Isaac Bailey:


And the cute couple:



I'm sure everyone wondered what kind of celebrities these guys were having four photographers following them around the streets of Vegas :). It was fun.

I've got one more day here and then I'll be headed home. I'll have to share more with you on what I've gotten out of WPPI once I get back and have had a chance to reflect more on it all. Till then...

I'm in love

OK, so maybe not REAL love. But Josh Groban is AMAZING!! I just got back from his concert. His voice is pewer shooga. I can't believe his range and how effortlessly he sings. He had an amazing group of musicians with him too. It was a total feast for the ears. And the set was great as well.

A huge thanks to my friend Julie who surprised me with his CD and tickets for Christmas. I had so much fun on our hot date! My good friend Marisa also came with and it was so special because both girls have 3 kids and we actually got a chance to talk uninterupted :). Here we are eating Mexican before the concert:


Unfortunately, the mean guys at the gates wouldn't let me even take my little point and shoot camera into the concert so I don't have any fun shots to share with you. But it was a great night!

Bright and early tomorrow I'm off to Vegas for a photography convention. I'm looking forward to networking with friends and getting to know new people. I'm sure I'll come back inspired and challenged!

Me & Pat McMahon

So here it is--my first TV appearance. And I say "first" because I'm sure this appearance on a little-watched local Arizona channel will lead to my career in network television and major motion pictures. It's just a matter of time :).

Thanks to Ken, my favorite DJ, for hooking me up with Pat. And to Owen, my video guy for getting the footage converted. And I'd also like to thank my parents, God and the academy :).

Enjoy!

My first TV appearance!

This morning I was interviewed by Pat McMahon on his show on our local AZ channel. I tivo-ed it and it was pretty crazy seeing myself on TV. It was fun and I'm working at getting the footage converted so I can share my segment with you. So stay tuned for that...

Other than that, today is a pretty lazy rainy day. It's pouring like crazy outside! I love when it rains.

Oh--I sent out my March newsletter yesterday so hopefully you got that. If not, type your email into the box on the right side of my blog and you will receive my monthly newsletters.

Hope you have a great rest of your day!

Jake & Taryn

Saturday was Jake & Taryn's wedding. They got married at Sassi, a beautiful venue that I was excited to get the chance to shoot at. And it didn't disappoint. It was not only beautiful, but the staff there was such a joy to work with--everyone was so kind.

I also got to work with Kim Horn, an excellent wedding consultant, who helped the day to run SO smoothly.

Of course the day started with all the getting-ready fun:


Taryn seemed very calm:



The dress was unique and had a vintage feel to it:


The veil:


The bridesmaids wanted to check out the reception site:


Jake & Taryn wisely chose to see each other before the wedding and we got some great shots of the two of them:



Taryn's dad walked her down the isle:


Check out how gorgeous the ceremony site at Sassi is:



The family members and flower girls looking on:


Jake was so excited to marry Taryn:


Husband & wife!


The reception room was beautiful. Designs by Design did a great job with the floral arrangements.


The cake was simple and elegant and the best part about it was that it tasted SO good. One of the best I've had and I've eaten a lot of wedding cake :). I will definitely be referring them in the future. Way to go Barbara with Let Them Eat Cake!


Jake and Taryn also had one of my favorite bands: The Shining Star Band. They rocked throughout the reception--amazing stuff! Here's the romantic first dance:


It was a great day! To see a slideshow of more shots from the wedding, including some from the rehearsal, click here.

Thanks to Jake & Taryn for allowing me to be a part of your wedding as well as to all the amazing vendors who worked together to pull off a great day!

#11....check!

11. Order pens for my business

This is one of those things I've had on my list of things to do FOREVER--something that would be good to do but is easy to put off and never get around to. So I put it on my 101 in 1001 list and I got it done! I feel so official now having pens with my logo on them :).

At receptions I put out little forms for people to write their email addresses on if they want to be able to view all the photos online. So it's great to have these pens to put out with them. And if people take one home with them--great! I have 500. :)

Two weddings featured in March issue of WC!

I just got a copy of the March issue of the Wedding Chronicle and two of my weddings are featured in it! Paula and Brian got married in November at The Wrigly Mansion and Kim and John got married in November at Grayhawk Golf Club. Both were amazing weddings. Each spread in the publication features numerous photos telling the story of the event as well as a few paragraphs on how the couple met and how their wedding day was unique. You can pick up a copy to see for yourself at any AJ's fine foods.

I also want to send out a congrats to my fellow photographer friends who were also featured in this issue -- Michelle Meyer, Jennifer Bowen, Gino with Story by Photo, and Anne McCarthy with One Fine Day -- way to go guys!

My "American Idol" Friend

Sean Michel was one of the groomsmen at Clay & Rhonda's wedding and I met him the day before at my favorite Thai restaurant in Greenville. I found out that just a couple months ago, he auditioned in Memphis for American Idol and made it as far as Hollywood! As soon as I heard that, I remembered seeing that episode. Here's his audition:

It was fun getting to know him--he had a lot of fascinating stories to tell. He has a band that tours around America. Click here to find out more about it and hear some of their songs--good stuff!

Rhonda & Clay -- South Carolina Wedding

Rhonda & Clay are two friends who I love dearly. They got married on Saturday and I was so blessed to be able to be there to witness their vows and to document the day of their wedding. It was really special to me.

The girls hung out and got pretty in the morning at Rhonda's mom's house. Rhonda held nothing back from the camera:


Rhonda is the cutest lil' southern bell with a drawl and all. I find myself wanting to talk like her when I visit :).



She looked absolutely gorgeous and glowed all day:


Clay and Rhonda saw each other before the wedding and we got some great portraits around the Furman University Campus that was absolutely beautiful.

This is Clay and Rhonda seeing each other for the first time:






The bridal party was large and a lot of fun. I got to know most of them as we hung out in the days prior to the wedding. Clay and Rhonda are both so good at being friends and it showed by the quality people and the amazing support they had in this group. Some came from as far as Taiwan to be there.



The ceremony was in a beautiful chapel on the university campus. Rhonda's dad walked her down the long isle:


And gave her away:



The ceremony was really full of meaning. I cried a little :).


Man and wife! Finally! :)


The first dance was sweet:



And they had a fun sparkler good-bye.


It was over so quickly--everything just flew by!

To see a slideshow with more photos from the day click here. The song is sung by one of the groomsmen and was played at the wedding--more on him later.

Clay & Rhonda--I'm SOOOO happy for you guys and miss you already!