Every Little Moment Photography

After 8 days of the Cans For Comments drive, we reached 26 comments. yay!

Thats 26 cans of green beans. Or 26 boxes of Mac & Cheese. Or 26 cans of SPAM. (except, probably not) However we decide to divvy it up, its 26 small ways to help.

We will document our trip the the grocery store to prove we are following through, so stay check back for that riveting post. In the meantime, we have lots….yes, LOTS of sessions from November that have yet to see blogging light, so those are next on the agenda.

Hope everyone is having a safe and happy holiday season.  We are so excited for many of the things we have up our sleeves for 2009 and we hope to see you there!

There is a little movement going around the photography world called Cans For Comments, and we are more than happy to jump on the bandwagon!!  (Or CAN-wagon!  Bahaha.)

It’s simple. You comment. We donate a can or non-perishable item to a local food bank for every comment received. You make us feel warm, fuzzy and loved, and someone less fortunate gets to eat. Win-win, no? So comment long, comment short, comment often or only once…just do it! More and more we are hearing of food shelters coming up short this season. This is such a simple way to do a little for someone else! (Oh, and it’s going on for the next 7 days.)

Want to make an even bigger difference? Check out these other photographers who are also participating. (And why not continue to pay it forward and start this on your own blog–photographer or not?)

Think! Photographics
Anne Ruthman
Krystel Wyman
Chris + Lynn
Sweet Pea Photography
Bebb Studio
Blue Olive Photography
CJ Scott
Amber Hughes Photography
Michael Wachniak
John Heil
Erin Gilmore Photography
Jerk With A Camera
Jamie Delaine
Shandro Photo
Christine Tremoulet
Perspective Eye
In The Moment Photography
Edison Photography
Anika London
Nicole Hensley Photography
Rob & Lauren
Ohana
Melissa Zihlman
Justin Groupp
Lisa Lacroix
J Castro Photography
Three Heart Blog
Crystal Genes Photography
Heather Garland Photography
Adrienne Gunde Photography
Shaina Pearce Photography
Andrea Murphy Photography

..and I’m sure many, many more.

Thanks for the help!

p.s. This post will be at the top of the blog all week, so scroll down for more photo goodness. But not until you leave a comment.

I am playing a bit of blog catch-up, so expect to see lots of new posts in the coming days! I’ll try to space them out a little so you’re not wow-ed out all at once!

Remember B? I spent an afternoon with the whole family this time. This little girl is growing up so fast, and is quite the busy body! She wanted nothing to do with posing or sitting still…it was a warm fall day with leaves and too much to play with and look at! She makes the cutest expressions, though, so it all seems to work out in the end.

Look at this sweet face, and amazing eyes!

Brittani and Jake got married a few months ago (I know, bad blogger award) and it was FANTASTIC. These two were such a blast to hang out with.

We started the day at a hotel where Brit and her sisters spent the night having a big sleepover. What a fun way to spend the night before your wedding!!

Brit’s colors were purple and green…check out her killer shoes!!

Not to mention her killer ring, which just so happens to match her colors perfectly!! Good job, Jake! (I happen to know he picked it out on his own)

We all know the rule about seeing the groom before the wedding…but it’s okay to text message him, right?!

They tied the knot at the beautiful Bountiful Temple . We hadn’t done a wedding there before, and as you know…we love new places!

Brittani and her Daddy. He was a little camera shy, but she wouldn’t hear of it!

These two were so cute and cuddly all day long…it made our job incredibly easy! Just sit back and catch those moments as they happen!

Cool tidbit about the Bountiful Temple: there is a spot inside you can shoot! How cool is that? (Disclaimer: They are really strict about the inside shooting area. You will get a stern talking to by a sweet little temple worker if you try to catch any quick photos outside the designated area. I may or may not know from experience. Consider yourself warned!)

I think this would make a gorgeous canvas to hang on the wall:

After the temple it was on to the reception! Their reception was held in Brittani’s backyard, and it turned out gorgeous. Perfect weather, perfect lighting…she couldn’t ask for more!

Her cake was really cool. It was all melty looking, with wildflowers all over…definitely unique!

Remember that yummy light I talked about??

The bouquet toss…caught by Brittani’s aunt!

And…they’re off!

Just a little side note to any upcoming brides: Brittani and Jake purchased a wedding package that includes an Italian leather storybook album. These things are so delicious and yummy and beautiful…if you are getting married, you NEED ONE!! We are designing theirs as we speak, and oh man, it’s going to be amazing. I’ll be sure to post photos of it when it is finished, but rest assured it is awwwwwesome.

That’s right folks.  December 1st has arrived.  If you’ll remember, we are taking a much needed vacation for the entire month.

What does that mean exactly?  It means that we will not be doing any shoots until January.*  We’re gonna kick back, relax, and enjoy the holidays.  We’ll be working on a little business pick-me-up for the new year and we’re hoping to finally blog about all these photo shoots that have kept us so busy, so keep checking back.

What does that NOT mean?  It doesn’t mean we are disappearing for a month.  We will still be around to answer questions and emails, and we are still available for our current clients (print orders, albums, etc.)  Also, we are actively booking for 2009, so we’re still accepting client consultations.

We plan to be back into full swing come January, but in the meantime, we’ll still be around; just taking it easy for awhile.  Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions at all.

*Ok, there are a few possible exceptions.  Newborn sessions (we never pass those up) and engagement sessions (if you book us for a spring wedding) are the only types of shoots we will accept for now.

Meet Rachel and Taylor. A fun-loving, adventurous, drop dead gorgeous couple! We had so much fun shooting their engagement photos a few weeks ago. I don’t think they could have picked a better day. The weather was gorgeous and it was the perfect time of year for a Provo Canyon photo shoot.

We started off the shoot at one of our favorite locations, Sundance! Everywhere we turned we saw beautiful fall leaves bathed in gorgeous sunlight.

Does this place look familiar? Taylor loved this location so much, he begged us to take him there as well. I’m glad we obliged, because these photos turned out HOT!

Then we headed down the canyon a bit and stopped at Vivian Park for a few more. I loooove all the colors in this photo. Mother Nature makes such a good backdrop.

It’s hard to pick a favorite photo from this session, but this one is a pretty strong candidate! I think it is so gentle and tender, but sexy at the same time.

*Sigh* I loooooove our Utah mountains. And this just might be my favorite pose ever.

We finished off the day at our brand new, super top secret, best location EVER.   Ok, it’s not really top secret, but we’ve been looking for a place like this forever and we FINALLY found it. It has all the criteria we need. A wide open field with no buildings or houses behind it. It can’t be private property, because we don’t like to be arrested for trespassing. And, it has to be relatively close to us. We don’t like driving for hours if we don’t have to.  Places like this aren’t exactly a dime a dozen in North Utah County, so imagine our excitement when we stumbled across this place.  Rachel and Taylor were the lucky couple who got to break it in for us.

Here’s my advice for the day:  Make friends with senior citizens.  They know stuff.  Like awesome locations for photo shoots.

Needless to say, it was a great shoot.  Rachel and Taylor?  You guys are totally awesome.  Thanks for a killer day.

I love shooting engagement sessions. LOVE. It’s such a privilege for me to witness the love and excitement of a new couple who are ready to start their life together. The moments they share together are so real and special.

Shelly and Danny are no exception. I had such a fun afternoon with these two as we hit the streets of downtown Provo. They were so comfortable and easy to work with; a photographer’s dream! Not to mention they couldn’t stop smiling and kissing and doing other cute, engaged people things. And you know how I love that!

Totally unprompted from me. I seriously love these two.

This might be my favorite brick wall ever.

It is spots like this that make me LOVE doing urban shoots. You never know the cool locations you’ll stumble upon. I already have a love affair with graffiti, but this wall might be my most favorite ever!

You’re always bound to get a few gawking passersby, so I tend to exploit our couples. Embrace the staring strangers! You’re in love, so let’s show it off!

Again with the cool locations you just stumble upon. I love, love, love the brick and the shape of the doorway.

After exploring downtown, Shelly and Danny took me to Rock Canyon Park just as the sun was going down. This is where they shared their first kiss, so it was the perfect location to wrap up the shoot.

This photo was a special request from Danny. He wanted a dramatic silhouette of him and his girl. I’ve got to hand it to you Danny. It turned out awesome!

Well, you two, the wedding day is almost here! I hope it’s a beautiful day for you. Thanks for such a fun afternoon!

When Alexis told me about her water park wedding reception, I knew this pair had a fun day planned for their friends and family.  And boy was I right!  Alexis and Rob first met at Seven Peaks when she was working as a life guard.  What better place to celebrate their new life together?  And besides, it’s not every day that you get a wedding invitation telling you to bring a towel and swimsuit.

Not your typical bridal party!

They started the night off with a splash!  I don’t know many brides who would jump into a pool on their wedding day.

Yeah…I’d say their guests enjoyed themselves.

Okay, okay.  Their wedding wasn’t ALL water slides and cannon balls.  The reception/totally awesome party was held the night before the ceremony.  I’d say the bridal party cleans up pretty well, don’t you think?

After a delicious breakfast with friends and family at Thanksgiving Point, we stole the couple away for a few photos before heading up to the temple.  We just had to take advantage of the famous Thanksgiving Point gardens.

The ceremony was held at the stunning Jordan River Temple in South Jordan, Utah.

Rob and Alexis looked stunning as well.  Rob rocked his tux and Alexis was amazing in her gorgeous dress.

They look pretty dang happy to be tying the knot, wouldn’t you say?

I think it’s safe to say that it was a pretty amazing day for the new Mr. and Mrs. Duffin.

Alexis and Rob, thank you so much for giving us the chance attend our first (and probably last) water park wedding.  You two sure know how to celebrate!  I hope your life together is always as exciting as the way it started out.

Here’s a little preview of Shelly and Danny’s engagement session! You know me and my polaroids these days…

Stay tuned for the rest of their DARLING session. (Eeek, it’s so cute!)

That’s right folks.  We’re back from vacation!  (Ok, we’ve actually been home for a week now.  Don’t judge, we’ve been insanely busy.)

Wisconsin was awesome.  We had such an amazing weekend with our good friend Amy and it was so nice to have a break from everything.  Don’t for one second think that this was a lounge-around-and-do-nothing vacation.  With two weddings, one engagement shoot, and lots of just-for-fun shooting, we barely had a spare second.  We need a vacation to rest up from our vacation!

I know you want to see all the awesome photos we took, right?  All in good time.  Seriously, we have to get caught up first.  (If you’re waiting for your photos from a recent shoot, hang in there.  We’re working hard!)  We’ll definitely be blogging about all of our Wisconsin adventures in the weeks to come, so stay tuned.  For now, sit down, relax and enjoy:

SAM AND AUBREY’S “WISCONSIN OR BUST 2008 EXTRAVAGANZA!”

For whatever reason, the airline people decided to ruin our lives by making it ridiculously expensive to fly from SLC to the airport in Appleton, WI.  (Basically next door to Amy.)  Instead, we decided to fly into Chicago, rent a car, and make the 3+ hour drive to Neenah.  It made for a much longer voyage that should have been necessary, but we saved a couple hundred bucks.  Totally worth it.  Besides, we’re always up for a road trip.

We had an uneventful flight from SLC to O’Hare.  (Except for the guy who started yelling at everyone for touching his computer bag.  He was a jerk.)  We picked up our rental car, a totally sexy Chevy HHR, and hit the road.

Aubrey did awesome as our navigator/map reader/GPS programmer/iPod controller.  Turns out we didn’t even really need our maps.  We borrowed my dad’s GPS and it was totally awesome.  You should get one.

I took the driver’s seat and I am very proud to say that while in a strange and distant land, I didn’t once get lost, wreck the car, or kill anyone.  (Thank you, thank you…)

I’m totally digging the rental.  Doesn’t it look good on me?

I was NOT, however, digging the Chicago traffic.  An insane amount of construction mixed with rush hour is not very fun.  It made I-15 seem like a rural country highway.  The construction on our way home was so bad, that it doubled our drive time. DOUBLED.  It sucked.

Toll booths.  This was something new.  We don’t have toll booths in Utah.  At least none that I know about.

Amy gave us a heads up, so we had plenty of dollar bills on hand.  We were not, however, prepared for the last toll booth of the trip, right next to the airport.  This particular booth only accepted coins and didn’t have a person at the booth.  AND the toll was not $1.00 like all the rest, but only $.80.  Who in the world carries $.80 for a toll booth?  We didn’t not have said $.80 and had to just drive on by.  (Here’s to hoping the Illinois transit people haven’t sent out the hounds to track us down.)

WISCONSIN WELCOMES YOU!  (I know it’s blurry.  All the rules of photography are off when you’ve been traveling all day, are shooting with a little point and shoot, and are speeding down the freeway and therefore only have one shot.)

Wisconsin has lots and lots and lots of water towers.  Seriously.  They were like LDS church buildings in Utah.  They were on every corner.

(We’re thinking of starting a new genre of photography: The Drive By.  What do you think?)

Skip ahead five days and we’re FINALLY almost home.  I say finally not because we wanted to leave Wisconsin, but because our return journey included five states, four airports, and three different airplanes.  (Stupid layovers.  Don’t ever fly from Chicago to Salt Lake via St. Louis and Denver.  It was the longest day ever.)

Well, I’ve summed up the coming and going parts of our trip.  A lot happened in between those two parts and we’ll get to those soon.  (I have to break them up or else this would be the longest blog post in the history of the world.)  We have lots of amazing photos to show off, so keep checking back!

Ok, now for a little business.  If our lack of blogging recently doesn’t explain, let me.  We’ve been CRAZY busy the last few weeks.  Lots and lots of photo shoots, editing, meeting with clients, etc.  Add our vacation on top of that and we’re basically slammed.

Aubrey and I have decided that we need a little breather, so we’ve made the decision to take the month of December off.  With the exception of newborns and possibly engagement sessions for spring weddings, we won’t be taking on any sessions for the entire month.  Don’t worry though!  We still have several spots left in November and we are now actively booking for 2009.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

One more note, we are planning on raising our prices at the beginning of next year.  That includes both wedding and portrait packages.  If you want to secure our 2008 prices, book us now before they’re gone forever!