Last week I photographed the beautiful, Allison. Allison is the daughter of some dear friends. I had the honor of standing up in their wedding a few years ago and now they have a precious little one that I can befriend. I do believe we are going to be good friends, Allison! Check out her slideshow here.
I have known Emily and Mitchell since they were in middle school and had no idea that each other existed. I can't help but love these two. Emily was also one of the beautiful bridesmaids in Luke and Mayerly's wedding a last month.
A few weeks ago they agreed to be models for me and my local second shooter, Marie. We had such a blast with them on the Palmer Flats. I tried out some new presets when processing their shoot and love how they turned out. What do yo think?
Congratulations Emily and Mitchell! I can't wait for your wedding next month.
Marie did a great job capturing the fun moments in between shots.
My favorite shot that Marie took that day. I still LOVE this one, Marie!
Such a great parting shot.
I put off buying a car. I have only owned 4 cars in my life and I don't like car shopping at all. I would rather do any number of disgusting jobs than go to a car lot and have to fend off the car salesmen. And I have known car salesmen in the past who are very nice people... I just hate that pressure feeling.
So I have been dragging my feet on buying a car in hopes that one would magically appear in the driveway for me... a big red bow with a gift tag would have been great. But it was time... I had a house sitting job starting and couldn't just juggle cars with Mom and Dad any more. One morning I remembered to check craigslist and one popped up that sounded good. I ran it by Dad and we went to go look at it. Now with the knowledge of my aversion to car salesmen I also have to admit that I was nervous about sleezy people selling shoddy cars on craigslist as well. I wanted to be completely confident in the seller if I wasn't going to turn and run. As the woman came out of the house when we pulled up, she looked at me and said, "You look familiar." I admitted that she, too, looked familiar. I drove the car and liked it very much. When I got back to the house we figured out that we went to the same church and had mutual friends, although we hadn't actually met. So... nice car. Check. Great seller. Check. No Pressure. Check.
And I now have this cute little suv. I love it when God takes care of the little things for us. It is almost like he put a car in my driveway with a big red bow and gift tag on it.
Yes, my dear friend is married. What a fun week of wedding preparations and celebrations. I wasn't the photographer in this one. I got to wear the bridesmaid dress. What an honor to stand up with my friends and witness such a day.
Some quick photos of the week...
Wedding Planner Karla Delong directing the family on decorations. That gym looked amazing when she was finished.
The girl cousins... they are a crazy fun bunch of girls.
A flower girl enjoying the bridal luncheon with the women.
Since the deck is nearly completed I had to show you these photos from last week.
My buddy, Tov... he generally looks this grubby during a bonfire.
When I moved back to Alaska this spring I knew two things: I was coming 'home' to an amazing place... and that it was going to be very different than when I lived here before. I mentally prepared myself for the changes. Friends I once depended on have moved away, others are married, and there are more new babies than I can count. I knew that my 'place' in this community did not exist as it once had. That I would be re-making my place and it would look very different. I am happy to say that the transition hasn't been nearly as traumatic as I thought it might be. I have caught up with many old friends and adjusted to the number of little ones running around. And I have begun to find my new 'place' here.
This summer has brought about a weekly bonfire with good friends. We sit around a smokey fire, soaking in incredible Alaskan views all around, eating great food that is provided potluck style, and enjoying some fantastic fellowship. This time with friends has been so very good for my soul.
Thanks for hosting, Zach and Jane. I don't want to even think about how lonely it will be without you.
This is my summer solstice photo taken June 21. According to my exif data for this photo it was 11:24 pm (the sun set about 11:42 pm). Note the snow on top of the mountain... it is JUNE ... ah Alaska!
The last two weeks have been racing by and I need to blog for you. I have several posts brewing. Including The project, another wedding shoot, some great Alaska bonfire time, a new to me car, and wearing a bridesmaid dress.
I am processing Luke and Mayerly's wedding photos in between other events, as well. This is a Thank You card I worked up for them. I like how it turned out. What do you think?
Outdoor weddings in Alaska can be tricky.
There is always the obvious chance of rain. Then you can't forget the ever present mosquito. It could turn cold or be 80 degrees. So we all held our breath after a very soggy rehearsal on Friday night. Saturday threatened rain, and some liquid sunshine fell. But it was only brief showers and beautiful clouds. The day was awesome thanks to the work of Karla of Karla Delong Weddings, and the ever-willing Fischer clan that put up the giant blue and white striped tent.
Luke and Mayerly were so relaxed. My favorite part of the day was when I had them all to myself for portraits. It was fun to see their easy smiles and joyful laughter.
Here is a sneak peak of the day and the link for the slide show!
Here are a few long-awaited photos of the deck project that so many of you have been clambering to see. Just today the joists starting going up. I obviously need to catch up on this project for you. Enjoy... and yes, the wedding photos will be coming soon. It takes awhile to process that many images!
It was 80 degrees here in Alaska today. And it was wonderful! The only thing that could have made it better would have been if I had spent the day camping or at least enjoying the outdoors with friends.
As you might have noticed, I am slowly transforming this blog into my photography blog. I tried to keep up with two blogs, but just couldn't make it happen. So this will be my main blog. I will attempt to include bits of my life and photography all wrapped together. Which, in reality, are quite hard to separate anyway.
I spent a little time working on my website today. It needed a little tweaking and a few added pages. Check out my changes.
Today's photo is in honor of the big wedding I have the honor of photographing this weekend. A little wedding inspiration.
Luke and Mayerly are two of the most kind-hearted, generous people I know. I watched them grow up and now have the honor of photographing their wedding next weekend. In anticipation of Luke and Mayerly's wedding, Marie (my second shooter) and I went out for a shoot with Luke and Mayerly. They took us to the home that Luke has been building for them. They looked great in the truly Alaskan surroundings and their future home.
Here is Luke and Mayerly's slideshow.
PS Awesome job, Marie! The top right one is Marie's and I LOVE it!
