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Utah is gorgeous. Anywhere you go is a great backdrop for family photos! I met Dani years ago when we both worked at ATEC, then when her family started to grow she called me for some photos! Her littles made me so happy, they're so cute and personable. I had way too much fun with this shoot!
Salt Lake Temple is one of the most popular temples to get married in. Usually I'm a bit stressed out because I know there is going to be a ton of brides there on any given saturday, and you want to make sure your bride gets the best of everything! Luckily the temple wasn't too busy and we were able to get all the shots I wanted. Also Reika and Brady decided to break up the wedding day and have the reception the night before which worked out well!
Fourth of July fun and celebrations!
I have been sick since wednesday of last week, so even though I'm still congested I was not going to miss the 4th! I'll just take it easy tomorrow, it's my birthday afterall!
We headed down to the Freedom Festival in Downtown Provo to see what was going on! Mostly vendors and lots of people.
The point of view from the parking garage was pretty cool! I liked that they had the rides right there, it's different to see people on the rides this high up!
So I love my birthday, which is July 5th. It's the best day because everyone is super stoked about the 4th and I have fireworks. I usually celebrate on the 4th but I also celebrate on the 5th to be honest. Birthdays are awesome.
Memorial day Jessie (my sister in law) and I took the kids to Camp Floyd and did American things. Like dress up as civil war soldiers, play games, and hung out in tents. The kids loved it, and I think it was an educational day, I'm all about learning new things. Thanks for letting me tag along Morris fam!
I can't even begin to tell you what it's like editing 90 photos of white cabinets. It was actually really challenging, and I had my favorites believe it or not. I really love working with the guys down at Krosswood they are quite nice and fun to shoot with. I know nothing about cabinets and doors and they know not too much about photography so it's a good exchange. But it was a great experience and I hope they are successful with my photos and get more business from them. I think it's important for businesses to realize the value of photography and that it really is an investment.
Anyway, here is a gallery of a few of the cabinets I've been obsessing over for the last 2 weeks.
It took me a total of 20+ hours editing for this project, editing, edits, editing the edits and resizing each one. Totally worth it. They're gorgeous.
P.S Moulding is a flipping nightmare.
I've been working on this show for the last year. In the fall I really decided to go for it and just focus on the salt around the lake. I'm so enamored with the Great Salt Lake and all its imperfections, beauty, and even horror. The salt is brutal, it's hard on plants, animals and the land surrounding the lake. It changes every day, nothing stays forever even the lake which in it's hayday used to cover almost the entire western half of utah. This show was the love child of my sciencey love affair with biology and geology, I just wish I could understand the math! If I did, you'd be reading about my science degree!
Anyway onward!
Artist Statement:
The Great Salt Lake is often misunderstood and described as being a dead lake; there are a lot of misconceptions about the role the lake plays in the northern Utah community. Economically the lake brings in over a billion dollars from hunting, fishing, bird watching, mineral and shrimp extraction, and tourism. One contributing factor to the beauty of the lake is its high salinity. In some parts the lake is over 28% salinity, which is above the saturation point. This causes salt and minerals to deposit along the lakeshore, on rocks, boats, plants, and in some parts even crystallizing on top of the water. The relationship of salt to the surrounding land is profound; sixteen hundred square miles of saltwater and forty miles of salt flats provides a rich ecosystem for many types of animals, provides inspiring views, and is incredibly useful to us. The vast salt quantities of the lake are not what make it dead, but rather what make it uniquely and diversely alive.
-Laura Fox
The days before my BFF Amy was able to come here from AZ and essentially be my most awesome assistant. Though I have a wonderful husband who worked just as hard as anyone, it was nice to have the extra support. Thank you myAmy!
I hosted my show at the Boxcar Gallery in Provo, it's run by Jake Buntjer and his crew of artists. It's a new place that is in a state of constant remodeling at the moment, but Jake made a perfectly beautiful and wide open space for us.
The show was a success! My father and mother in law SURPRISED me big time and came all the way here from San Diego, I was SERIOUSLY so happy. I'm so thankful they were able to make it and make my day that much more special.
There were so many pictures I left out, but here are a few of my favorites that I cut but still love!
And that's a wrap! I have a few hoops to jump through and one math class and I'm done!
Thank you to all that came and supported me, and to all those who supported me from afar! I love you all!
I've known Kashia and Riley for around 4 years or so, when Kashia and I first met we hit it off immediately. Ever since then, I take their pictures! Riley just graduated and so his family was in town so they had me come up to the Salt Lake capital to meet them and shoot a quick family session!
Getting married? Graduating? Engaged? Most people want to document these occasions and have either the digital copies or printed copies to look back on. Trying to save some money on a photographer by having a cousin or an uncle twice removed, but with a nice camera who is willing to be your photographer for the day, is quite the risk but what a steal right?!
Lets look at it from another angle: Weddings are EXPENSIVE.
I know, I got married once. It feels like everywhere you turn anything labled "wedding" prices are most likely higher. Just the basics like flowers, dress, cake etc will run a good chunk of your expenses. More and more people are opting out of the photographer because we are expensive. But often I'm called last minute for a botched bridal, or photoshop work on the priceless photos people are trying to save. Hiring a professional is worth it: the flowers will wilt, the dress will be vacuum sealed, the cake will be eaten and life moves on. But the pictures are the one thing that capture that day, and keep it just the way it was for decades.
My husband and I at our engagements, I love this because it's us exactly how we were 5 years ago (we were pretty goofy).
Andrew and I taken by my Brother in law Scott, who is also a photographer-we lucked out.
We edit your photos with knowledge and training.
In any given photo I will make up to 30 changes within a minute or two, often I will come back to it a day later and make more fine tuned changes. I often take twice as long to edit the photos as I do actually shooting. Shooting digital, and especially shooting RAW the image is muddy and swelled with information that needs to be tweaked. Even the photographers of old edited their photos. Ansel Adams himself was a master in the darkroom, creating his photos. Taking the picture doesn't mean it's done, there is still processing. I also color calibrate my computer screen, and printers, so if you get prints, they won't be weird colors.
Before edits straight out of camera.
After edits
We've done this before:
We know the timelines, we know how to make picture taking go quick. We get it done! There is so much going on at graduations, weddings, or engagements. We definitely know how to make the session go smoothly and quickly because days of big events everyone is tired and emotionally wiped out. In a good way of course!
Riley and his sister demonstrate great strength after a session.
I highly recommend hiring professional photographers for your life events. Reunions, weddings, etc. Also finding the right photographer will make all the difference, so look around! Find one you click with, style you dig, and personality you get along with, and you will get the photos you want and love.
After staying with myAmy, I headed back to Murrieta where my husband was with his parents. We were to spend Christmas in California this year! The drive from Yuma to Murrieta can be a bit boring, especially if you take the freeway. It gets you there quicker, but for a photographer that's no bueno. I have taken 2 different routes up until then, but I decided to cut through california and head through the Anza Borrego desert. I was not disappointed.
I find a good storm on a landscape makes for a much more interesting subject. Especially a dusty storm.
Andrew and I drove to Murrieta for Christmas this year, and we left early so I could spend time with my Amy. She lives in Yuma and it really is one of my favorite places. In fact I recently entered a photo essay about it to PDN, we shall see if anything comes of it. Until then! Here are a few of my favorites from those few days!
The Salton sea, Bougainvilleas, cotton fields, farms at first light and Alena and Scarlett out in the desert. I love this place.
This was probably one of my favorite shoots here in utah so far! This family of 9 has 1 cute little girl and 6 BOYS. They were well behaved and I had a blast. Thank you Stevensons!
So every couple of years my sweet awesome friends Laura and James will fly me out to wherever they are to take their family photos. James is a doctor and he's finishing up his doctor stuff in Savannah so I got to hang out with their cute family for the weekend. We even went to Florida for a day!
The last leg of our trip was spent in Florence Oregon, where we pretty much just explored on our own and took time to take pictures. There were a lot of fires in the northwest this summer so the light was fantastic, and made for some really gorgeous scenery.
Andrew and I Visited with my uncle Scott (godfather) in Medford Oregon before heading out on our last leg of our trip. His wife, Grace is from the Philippines and she's super quirky. His two kids are Katie and Sammy. My uncle Tom is his bestie!
We camped in the redwoods on the california/oregon border. And it was magnificent. We got there a little late, but I was able to wake up early and shoot in the morning sun. The ocean pics before are heading into the forest. Seriously beautiful country! America is stunning.
Andrew and I headed west from Tahoe to see my Aunt on my mom's side, we also stopped in Sacramento to see my Aunt on my dad's side too, but I was too nervous to get pictures.
The drive was awesome, I love point reyes.
We stayed right on Tomales Bay, I did some work for my Aunt and her non-profit planned ferralhood, I shot a bunch of photos for her organization to put on a website I was designing. Also I got some time in with my Aunt which is always nice! During our stay Aunt Kathy took me around to all the beautiful places in Point Reyes, including the lighthouse and points around the beaches. I also got to see an old family friend Lori, who I've heard about my whole life. She's my Aunt Kathy's BFF, so it was nice to get some photos of them. Make sure to head over to Aunt Kathy's site www.plannedferralhood.com and look around! And if so inclined, donate!
August 16th 2015
Mono lake day two was really not that impressive, not for taking pictures. There were a lot of loud people yelling and being obnoxious and I couldn't really get the right feel for the place. But I shot anyway and did have a few moments of solidarity and meditation.
We ended up leaving early-ish because there was a lot of smoke and it tended to muddy up the light and I knew my pictures just wouldn't satisfy me until later that evening, and we needed to get back to Tahoe (where uncle Tom lives) because Andrew and I were headed to Point Reyes the following day. So we bombed around a bit and went to a couple of cool lakes in the back mountain country. It was pretty Podunk and not a place I ever thought was California.
August 15, 2015
Next stop was Mono Lake.
Mono lake is super old, like 1-3 million years old so I wanted to check it out and get a feel for it. Let me just say that it stinks. Real bad. But there is a ton of wildlife that really dig it so I can't complain. They live there. The first day we were there, the Walker fire had just started so we had this massive fire as a backdrop to the lake!
The next day wasn't as awesome, and the smoke made everything look fuzzy. I'm glad we got there when we did.
August 15th, 2015
Brace yourselves, vacation pictures are coming.
Andrew and I saved up all summer so we could take our excursion. Can I just say we left with only a couple hundred in our account and actually made it to all the places we meant to go. Granted we got paid a week in to our trip, but holy cow! It was a bit stressful at first. I felt very adventurous, and a risk taker. We were very blessed!
We stopped in Lake Tahoe to visit my Uncle Tom for the weekend and so I could shoot and explore Mono Lake. We stopped in Bodie first and shot all around, it was very touristy but it was still an interesting place.
All the people just left over time, they left their belongings, tables set, billiards loaded, bottles on bars etc. It was a very cool ghost town. Most of these shots were through old windows since they won't let the public in. I'm glad we went but I don't think I will go back. It just felt really touristy.
Just a quick session yielded some amazing results! I really love little boys and their mischievousness!
