Congratulations Brian and Sarah

Brian and Sarah were married last Saturday. But wait ... that's like reading the end of the story without starting at the beginning.

You know I love photography. And so do a lot of other photographers. But I hear so many of them say that they really don't like weddings. And I think I know their reasons... and mainly it's just that weddings ... are a LOT of work! Especially in terms of how much a photographer can make off of shooting a wedding as compared to shooting a family portrait. (hint: you can shoot a lot more families per day and make the same amount of money in a day that it takes days, if not weeks, of work to make shooting a wedding)

But I don't care. That's not why I'm into photography.

I really love shooting weddings. And I love weddings because I love to be around happy people. Even more, I love being around people who are in love. You know what? The happier and the more in love they are, the happier and the more in love I feel. What was that song? Love makes the world go round.

Another big reason I love weddings (especially as compared to other types of photography) is that it's just ... so ... personal. It's as if I have "stepped into someone's life", even if only for a moment. From the engagement session on through to the bridals and finally spending a full day with the bride and groom at their wedding. It's that "connection" that I feel when all is said and done.

This blog post is, perhaps, a lot more sentimental than most of my posts, and certainly a lot wordier. So let's get back to the pictures.

Meet Brian and Sarah!



What a fun loving couple!



When you first meet Sarah, you might think she's a little shy. And maybe she is. But....



Brian knows how to win her over. He's always doing something. He really knows how to cheer her up and how to bring the best out of her.





You can see it in her eyes... she loves her man!







Usually the next step is to do bridals. And that's what I had scheduled with Sarah. But when we met up in American Fork Canyon, I discovered that Brian was with her and that he brought his clothes too. Woohoo! I love doing "formals" (I prefer this term over "bridals and groomals" because groomals just sounds funny).

And wow. I mean ... WOW! They were gorgeous. The location was gorgeous. Everything was just so perfect!

















And while I normally don't do both bridals and formals (as separate photo shoots, I mean), this was a special case .. and I seriously love that I got to do this for her. We went early on a Saturday morning to the Utah State Capitol Building and took these pictures:















And in case you were wondering......



Yes, Brian was at the bridal session as well. He really does bring out the best in Sarah!

Then came wedding day....























It was, indeed, a very windy day!







I love this couple. I wish Brian and Sarah all the best as they begin their journey together. May Brian always be her man, and may Sarah always light up his eyes, may they share this glowing love for each other throughout eternity!

Thank you for letting me be your photographer on such a special occasion!

Meet Dani Jae

 

I met Dani Jae (see her on MySpace and ModelMayhem) a couple of years ago at an East Bay Studios event. I've seen her around many times since then, but never really had a chance to do a photo shoot with her until last week.

One thing I really liked about working with Dani is that she is very versatile. Not only did she arrive with several outfits to choose from, but during the photo session her range of expression and ability to find eye pleasing poses on her own were amazing. She is very energetic, always on the go and she really contributes to the success of a photo shoot.

Dani had Makeup Artist (MUA) Erin Chaney handle her makeup for this shoot.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from our session:

  























View more photos from our session. And if you ever get a chance to work with her, I highly recommend you do so.

A Day with Photographer Vincent Versace

Awhile back I heard that Natural Light Photographer Vincent Versace was coming to town and would be speaking at Digitalfest 2009, hosted by Salt Lake Pictureline.

I was excited about that and signed up for the seminar so that both my daughter, Cassie, and I could attend. Shortly thereafter, we received notification by email that Vincent would be hosting a hands-on seminar for 15 students. I thought ... wow, what an opportunity! I called Cassie and immediately got us both signed up for the class.

And so yesterday was the big seminar (I'm guessing 400 people attended) and this morning was the hands-on class.

Cassie and I had a great time learning from him. Some of his quotes:

"Take portraits like landscapes and landscapes like portraits."

"Know your camera as well as you know yourself and you know the outcome of every picture."

"Stop taking pictures, be taken by them."

"Cropping is for wussies." (I liked that one!)

So this morning, after about an hour of classroom talk, we headed off to Red Butte Gardens where the plan was to spend a little bit of time working with a model and then to do some flower and landscape shots.

The model that showed up was none other than former Miss Utah Julia Batchison (twice Miss Utah, once for Miss USA and once for Miss America pagaents). She was absolutely stunning. You can see how all of the photographers were in awe:



Here are just a few of my favorite pictures of her:











You can see more pictures of Julia on my website.

I think, because she was so gorgeous, we ran out of time for the rest of the photo shoot. Vincent spent the rest of the time talking with the students and answering their questions before we headed back to Pictureline for lunch and wrap-up.



I did manage to grab a couple of garden shots myself before we left:





Thanks again for coming out and spending the day with us!

Dan Bryant Music

Dan Bryant, a talented pianist, composer, recording artist, multi-talented musician ... who is also my son-in-law ... is about to release his latest CD, this time full of his own arrangements of his favorite hymns and spiritual music, The Refiner's Fire, to be released November 22nd, but available for pre-order now.




The Refiner's Fire features:

• Dan Bryant on Piano, Drums, Guitar, Bass, Vocals


• The Toronto Roland Symphony Orchestra


• Solo artists:


• Sam Fultz (Vocalist)


• Ken Ballash (Violin)


• Skylar Murray (Saxaphone)


• Kelly Ehlers (Vocalist)


• Andrea Groneman (Vocalist)


• Jeff Smith (Vocalist)


• Nikki Ehlert (Vocalist)


• Amanda Belshe (Vocalist)


• Tricia Fielding (Vocalist)