o Tuesday's snow photos might've looked cold, but when Celsey and Morgan and I began our session on Sunday afternoon down in Denver the thermometer was at 20 degrees - and it got colder as we went along. By the end I couldn't feel my camera, or my lenses, not to mention my arms and legs. Fortunately Celsey and Morgan each had the other to keep them warm. This photo was the last one I took while we were together and it's my personal favorite.
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Celsey loves traintracks - and so do I. So we played around a bit near Union Station.
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I really love this one too.
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We tried to keep moving for fear we'd freeze in place if we stood still too long. Celsey and Morgan were great sports, though, and kept a playful spring in their step the entire time.
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I kinda have the feeling that Morgan always has that playful spring. They obviously have a lot of fun together!
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Thanks Celsey and Morgan for a wonderful time! Though the outside temperatures were plummeting, inside your hearts shine bright and warm. May your wedding be just as cozy!
My friend and college roomie Tyrone Wells released his new CD in stores across the country this week (though it's been on iTunes for a month now). The album is brilliant. Tyrone has always had a 'soul' kinda vibe, which I love, but at the same time that Soul/Blues style isn't really my style. Well, this album Tyrone purposefully set out to explore a new sound and wow - it's totally my style this time around. There are sounds here that remind me of Coldplay, or at least that European pop sound that I love. Maybe that's because he recorded this one in London? Who knows. But I do know this - it's really, really good - and we've been cranking it up in the car for the last month. Now even my four year old sings 'I wanna be yooouur Jacket...'!
PS. Tyrone is touring the country right now and will be playing in Colorado Springs on February 13th and in Denver on February 15th. I'll be there!
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As promised, I finished 'The Shack'. On page 80 there is this sentence: 'He had barely walked fifty feet up the trail when he felt a sudden rush of warm air overtake him from behind'. From that moment on, the book had me and I thouroughly enjoyed it. I think page 80 and onward was the story that William P. Young wanted to tell and it inspired me, made me pause to reflect, and all of that other good stuff. But I still stand by my statement that the first 79 pages contain the worst writing I've ever read. Fortunately, Young makes up for it with the rest of the book and his creative insight. Worth the time? Yes - and more!
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I got a chance this week to catch up with the Oscar Nominated film 'Encounters at the End of the World' by Werner Herzog. Herzog's first line of narration in the film went something like this: 'I told Discovery that my questions about Antarctica have nothing to do with cute, fluffy penguins'. What was amusing to me was that the best part of the movie had to do with a certain cute, fluffy penguin. Will it win the Oscar for Best Documentary? No, that award will most likely go to...
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'Man On Wire'. I got a chance to see this one again this week. I really love this film and I think I'd have to say that it's the only 'perfect' film I saw in 2008. 'Perfect' is a bit of a loaded term so let me briefly explain - I think 'Man On Wire' is flawless. That doesn't mean that it is my favorite (though, it might be) or that it hit me deeply and/or emotionally - I just think that this film is so finely crafted and flawlessly achieves exactly what it sets out to do. For all of you Netflix subscribers out there - you can watch this one 'instantly' on your computer. I'd recommend doing it right now!
ater this year Alexis and Sean will be wed at Devil's Thumb Ranch in Tabernash, CO. One of my photographer buddies told me that Devil's Thumb is his favorite wedding location in Colorado. I had actually never been there before until this past Saturday when I met up with Alexis and Sean for some engagement slash 'Save The Date' photos. And, wow! What a spectacular site! It is so cozy and inviting yet at the same time grand and elegant - with a touch of cowboy whimsy - and it just seems to fit Alexis and Sean perfectly.
Speaking of cowboys, here is the darling couple.
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We took a few photos around the ranch house (or, ranch palace?), enjoying the warmth while it lasted.
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And then we went out, braving the elements for some fun photos in the Colorado Snow!
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Believe it or not, it wasn't too cold. Unless, of course, you happened to fall in!
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Knee deep snow can be treacherous. Thank God, though, for soft landings! :)
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After the 'cozy and inviting' portion of our session, with a little 'cowboy whimsy' on the side, it was time for 'grand and elegant'. Don't they look great!
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High heels in knee deep snow is a challenge that Alexis didn't even bat an eye at. But occasionally Sean was able to help her out - Out of the snow, and into his arms...
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'Milo' joined our grand and elegant party - though I wouldn't use those words to describe him. Happy, Lovable, Playful - yeah, those words will do just fine.
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After jaunting around in the snow it's time to warm up a bit.
hey say that 1/3 of all engagements happen over the holiday season - which means that right now there are a lot of soon-to-be Brides out there (and some Grooms too!) making a TON of decisions right now - like thousands of them! That's why I think that it's a smart Bride who can make room in her budget for a great wedding planner. Even a day-of wedding coordinator can ease so much of the stress and help make your wedding day what you want it to be - a joyous celebration of your marriage!
In just a few weeks I'm going to be shooting a wedding in Beaver Creek with Wedding Planner extraordinaire Stacy Pisani of Alexan Events. I got a chance to connect with her this week to see some of the wonderful things she and the Bride (shout out to Alicia!) have cooked up for the big event. Check it out!
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And this represents just a super small portion of what goes into a wedding day. I don't think anyone who hires someone like Stacy, who is so gifted at what she does and so wonderful to work with, ever regrets the decision. In fact, I'm sure they'd all say that there was no way they could have done it without the help!
Kinda funny - all over Stacy's house were creative design ideas and elements - I don't think she ever stops! In her back yard she had a 'Fantasy Table' set up as a trial run before she set it up 'for real' at a local gathering (or, was it a competition?). Anyway, her fantasy table was so cute! I love the blue and orange here - and the cage stuffed with flowers - and the little wooden monkey!
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And I've just got to mention some of my other Wedding Planning friends that I love to work with like - Julie, Michelle, Ann, and Elly! You can always find links to these great ladies, as well as some of my other favorite vendors, up above by scrolling over 'links'.
So, Brides, don't let those details get you down! Do yourselves a huge favor - and recruit some help!
'm thinking in '09 I'm going to make these 'Thursday's Two-Cent Reviews' a regular feature. I'm an opinionated guy. Hopefully not annoyingly opinionated, but I do like to share - especially when it comes to movies. Just don't ask me what I thought as we walk out of the theatre because generally it takes me at least a day to digest what I've seen.
Anyway, today is a great day to kick off what will hopefully be a regular 'column' here because the Oscar Nominations were just announced less than one hour ago!
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I won't go into every category - I'm not even sure I even have an opinion in regards to every category - but I want to comment on a couple of things...
First, there were two 'long shots' that I was crossing my fingers on and one of them came through! Richard Jenkins was nominated for his performance in 'The Visitor' (bumping out would be nominees Clint Eastwood or Leonardo DiCaprio). His was one of my favorite performances of the year and I'm really happy to see him nominated here. My other longshot hopeful was wanting to see Wall-E get nominated for Best Picture (not just Best Animated Picture). Oh, well.
And speaking of Best Picture I guess the big surprise is seeing 'The Reader' pic up the nomination - bumping out 'The Dark Knight', 'Doubt', and 'Wall-E'. Hmm. Ok - doesn't have a chance though. 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' leads the way with 13 nominations and 'Slumdog Millionaire' came away with 10. As much as I might knock Benjamin Button, I really did enjoy it - but Best Picture? No way. And the best explanation I've seen as to why I feel this way is below, and it's laugh-out-loud hilarious!
Other thoughts?
Well, I've heard Melissa Leo is amazing in 'Frozen River' and I sure hope to catch that one before the ceremony if at all possible. I'm surprised (at myself?) that I haven't seen any of the Foreign Language nominees. I'm really surprised to only see 3 songs nominated for Best Song - and two of them are from 'Slumdog Millionaire'. I mean - Bruce Springsteen didn't make the cut!? And then, Best Documentary. I really think that this was the year for Documentary Film. 'Man On Wire' - if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and check it out! 'Encounters at the End of the World' is on the way to my house right now, and I've heard that 'Trouble The Water' is brilliant as well.
Final Thoughts? This might be the first year in a long time where I don't, personally, have an A+ movie on my list. But there are a number of great 'A' films - and 'Slumdog Millionaire' is one of them. So that's my pick this year. Go Dog!! (And I plan to give my best of the year list on February 19th, the Thursday before the Oscars.)
I think this Thursday spot will be a great place to recap what I've seen, read, heard in the last week and share my thoughts. So, here goes...
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I got to see 'Rachel Getting Married' last night before it disappeared from the theaters. I really enjoyed it - maybe in my top 5 of the year, but we haven't come out of that 24-hour window yet so we'll see... I think what I appreciated most about it was the honesty and intimacy of what was portrayed. I can't think of any other film that achieves what this one does by dropping us in the middle of this wedding like we're a part of the family, or a close family friend at least. Everything about this film was so honest - I mean even the cameramen were in the film! They just don't hide or deny anything. Really remarkable.
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'Le Samourai' was my most recently Netflixed film, and I'm so happy that I saw it. It's the first 'Jean-Pierre Melville' film that I've seen and obviously, the man was a great talent. This film is smart, wonderfully shot and I guess my greatest thrill was watching how so much of this film was 'silent' like the best parts of 'Wall-E'. Melville made a silent thriller/action flick here. Yeah, weird. And great.
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I heard some great things about this movie and so I Netflixed it. Well, I've never lived in China so I'm not sure I completely 'got it' but one thing is for sure - there are some shots in here that rival anything any cinematographer put on a screen this year. After about 72 hours digesting this one I settled on this thought: It's kindof like going to the Art Museum and sitting on one of those benches and staring at a painting. Slow? Boring? Hmmm... That's not really the point I guess, so maybe you can't use those words to describe the experience. Beautiful? Oh, yes.
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A critic on a film blog I follow listed this as his Best Picture of the year - so I queued it up and moved it to the top of the list. This one's one of my 'A' films of the year. It's not 'enjoyable' really, but that's not what it's trying to be. What it is is a powerful force of a film that had me clinching my gut and screaming 'STOP IT! FORGIVE!!! Some movies inspire us to appreciate and love one another (yes, Benjamin Button is one of those) and some movies kick us and punch us and scream at us and show us how stupid we are when we don't love one another. I take that back. This is the only one.
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I finally finished 'Brisingr' this week, the third book in the Eragon/Inheritance Cycle. I read 'Eragon' a few years back and enjoyed it quite a bit - surprised that a High School kid was able to craft such a book. I'm finding, though, that Paolini's latest efforts sound more like a High School aged author than his first, but I still enjoyed it. I don't dip into the fantasy/sci-fi bin too often, I'm not that geeky, but occasionally I enjoy the escape to a far off make believe world. I'm tempted right now to go and pick up 'Mistborn' for my next read, which my brother has raved about. But I'm holding back on jumping back in to another fantasy realm. I'm also taking a hard look at 'Agincourt' which just came out. Some Historical Fiction sounds pretty good right now. But I've promised to finish 'The Shack' first. I've had so many people tell me how great it is so I'm going to slug it out even though I find it to be the worst writing I've ever read. Funny thing is, most everyone who has recommended it to me has agreed that early on the writing is bad but they've encourage me to get through the first bit and to get to the 'good stuff'. We'll see...
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And finally, LOST. The Season Premiere was last night and I thought it was pretty good. I'm a faithful Lost fan and I'm really happy that it's back and I'm looking forward to what this season will bring. My favorite moments of last nights show involved Hurley and his family - from the 'I Love Shi-tzus' shirt, to the 'Why's there's a dead Pakistani on my coat?' line (or, was it 'couch'?) I was laughing every time they were on the screen. Don't know that there were any significant revelations except that now it appears to be a time-travel show. Hopefully that won't last long and they can get the record to stop skipping - I'm not a fan of Time Travel plots.
So, there you go, my two-cent reviews for this Thursday. Told you I had some opinions! I promise that future recaps won't be so long... Please let me know what YOU think below!
his offseason has been a tremendous time of tying up loose ends, getting some goals accomplished, and - best of all - spending time with my family! Now, I usually try to contain posts here to a common theme or thread with just one or two coherent streams of thought - but this one's a little bit different. Really it's just a bunch of random moments from the last 7 days smashed together into one brief post - the result of my commitment to bring my camera with me more often this year, wherever I go. But if you read anything, make sure to catch the end - we want to share with you the best news we've received in the last two years. Like jump-on-the-couch-and-shout-it type of news!
First, though, we'll go back to last Tuesday when I met with some of my local photographer friends for lunch. I love these meetups! So much of my work is spent alone in front of the computer and so I welcome any opportunity I have to get out and chit-chat with anyone, especially a great group of guys that I share a lot in common with. Here's Matt Walker of Jenna Walker Photography. My friend Kevin Von Qualen took the photo while playing with my new camera.
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And then Matt got some payback. Kevin, you just knew this was going to end up on my site didn't you!? All I can say is 'Goo goo g' joob'!
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This last weekend Kevin and his wife came over for dinner and brought over a bottle of their homemade wine. Notice that the bottle is empty. So tasty!
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Saturday night the Wilson family went out to Casa Bonita - partially in celebration of a wonderful week. Yes, they still have divers! Now, I must tell you about this photo... No, it's not the greatest. Really it's not that good at all (kinda bugs me that he's about to hit the branches of the palm tree). But what I need to tell you is this - 50mm 1.2 @ 1.2, 1/320 sec, ISO 25600. Yes, that's 25600 and no, I didn't type too many zeroes. The only thing I've done to this photo is resize it and apply very minimal sharpening for the web.
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On Sunday my daughter had a birthday party to attend at Jungle Quest - super cool place! Rose is so brave. She loves roller coasters and all things adventurous and has no problems jumping off high ledges!
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Philip, on the other hand, is not the adventurous type. He'd much rather keep his feet planted firmly on the ground.
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And finally, yesterday, the Wilson family (along with approximately half of Denver) went to Free Day at the Denver Zoo. My favorite animal at our zoo is the Red Panda. Usually there's only one of them - but this time, right as we walked up to their little area, a hidden door opened up and out came four of the cutest little animals on the planet!
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There are other animals to see there as well...
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And here's mama, enjoying the sunshine.
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And here's the great news...
Our Dossier is now in Ethiopia! This means that we are now 'in line' I guess you could say - and awaiting the referral phone call / email to let us know that they have a child for us. At that time we should receive a photograph or two and be able to see our little one for the very first time. So now, we wait...
irst of all - let me say that this is the final 'review' post that I've planned on. After this we'll focus on the present - or the future.
But I just have to take a glance back at some of my favorite Wedding Portraits from 2008.
I love the photojournalistic part of my job. Sitting back and creatively capturing those 'real' moments are what I love best. But my second favorite part of the wedding day is the time when it's just me and the Bride and the Groom taking some time out either before or after the ceremony to create some wonderful portraits of just the two of them. At one wedding I had two minutes to create a shot and snap it and at another I was given two hours! If you're getting married soon and you're planning your day - I'd say about 30 minutes is great if you can spare it. We'll get something awesome, I promise!
At any rate, here are some of my favorites of '08 in order of when they happened with occasional commentary. These are all images that I played a part in creating - large or small...
It was so cold this day in Denver we only got outside for about 5 minutes - but this photo was worth enduring the cold!
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Then a few days later up in Vail and the weather was terrific!
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This wasn't a wedding - but rather, the 'Anti' Workshop. Shooting at the Neon Boneyard in Las Vegas. Fun Times!
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And this one was actually the morning after the wedding when Angela and Drake agreed to wake up early for some photos the next day before I headed back to the US. I've received SO many comments about how sexy this photo is. Really, it was mostly Drake's idea!
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Photography is all about light. Seeing it. Working with it. And sometimes God smiles and shines these heavenly beams of light down from the heavens in the most perfect of ways. This was one of those moments.
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This thing is called 'The Gronk' - in Crested Butte.
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Beautiful orange sunset...
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...and speaking of Orange. Right after Laura and Frank's ceremony ended it began to rain. Then the rain stopped and the sky was filled with the most bizarre color I've seen all year. Because it was now dry we went outside for some portraits and formals - yes, in the weird light. I love this photo, but I had to doctor it a bit to get it to appear somewhat 'normal' so that Laura and Frank didn't look like they had just gone 'nuclear'!
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The Omni Interlocken is a fantastic resort. Very green, beautiful, with lots of great scenery. Yeah, and I like shooting in their golf cart tunnels too!
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Soft window light...
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They wanted something steamy. I think we got it. ;)
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And Wow, did Natalie and Chris ever pick the perfect Saturday for a wedding in Estes Park!
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Finally (and this one's out of order) I sign off with a shot from my brother Jonathan's wedding to my new, wonderful Sister-In-Law Angie.
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And now it's time to fill this site with some NEW amazing photographs. Bring on 2009!
