Destination Virginia

I'm going to be on the road for a week starting tomorrow. I'm catching a train to Washington, DC and then going to Virginia for a week long mission trip with students from my church. This is going to be an exciting, exhausting and rewarding week. I'm really looking forward to the time to serve others and revisit the place where I first fell in love with photography.
DC is my photographic home. I went on an 8th grade trip there (a very long time ago) and the whole world exploded visually for me. My family didn't own a camera at the time and I started borrowing cameras from everyone on the trip to shoot what I was seeing. When I got home I started saving money and dreaming about my first camera. It's hard to believe my career as a photographer started on an 8th grade trip...
Pray for me while I'm gone. I can't wait to come home to show you the photographs!

Two Very Different Portrait Sittings

Portraits are exciting for me. I love to spend a bit of time with a person to get to know them and see a bit of their personality. That personality must show through the photographs we create - that is success...

Recently I had two very different couple for two Very different sittings in exactly the same location. I think this is a great peek at how different portraits can be depending on the people in them.

***Slideshow***

A Different Kind of Week

Every year I pour myself into a week of VBS at my church. I love kids and I love my church. It's a natural thing for me. Take a peek at my week.

Wedding Photography

I have been doing a lot of thinking recently about why I photograph weddings. It was kind of a shock for me to realize I have been doing weddings since 1989. That's a long time!

My junior year of high school my logic teacher told me I was going to photograph his wedding. I told him he was nuts, that I hadn't done one yet and that I wasn't about to photograph someone who could influence my graduation as my first. He insisted that not doing it might effect my graduation as well.

I called a good friend and photographic mentor and told her my situation. She easily said that I was ready and all I needed was some prep on the logistics etc. I was still unconvinced. Well, Carolyn had a two wedding Saturday scheduled soon after that conversation. I learned more that day than I realized. I was exhausted but unbelievably excited by the end of that day.

My first wedding went by with a relatively low level of stress. I think I was nursing batteries to make it through the end of the day, but I made it. He ordered reprints from me every year for a few years as an anniversary gift for his wife.

I've photographed a ton of weddings since then. I've made it a point to find opportunities to spend time around other wedding photographers who work in inspiring ways. I have also continued to challenge myself by raising the standard for my own photography. I've realized that I can never "arrive" and stop learning. I will continue to grow as long as I have the desire to do so.

I think I still photograph weddings because I love them. It is a great opportunity for me to spend the best day of a couple's life with them, share their joy, document it and preserve it so they can show the photographs to their kids and grand-kids. I'm creating history for those families.

Other photographers find weddings to be stressful or boring. I find them exciting and fun. There are so many opportunities for amazing photography. The key for me has always been to know a couple and enjoy who they are. When I can do that, my best work happens.

I think it's that emotional investment in a couple that really sets my work apart. I'm not working from a prescribed list of my favorite shots, I'm inventing, exploring and discovering what works for each couple as the day goes on.

One big change I've made in my business approach is I've stopped worrying about how many hours I'm working on a wedding. This opens doors for me to capture even more of the wedding day, create a better story and be available to all the moments of the day, not just the ceremony, formals and reception. I wish I had made that realization a long time ago.

Have a Great Fourth of July!

Album Design

Yesterday afternoon I finished working on the rough design for Amy and Darren. I'm a little biased, but I think their album is beautiful. Decide for yourself.