Emily and Mitchell

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.

A New-to-me Car

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.

Anita's Married!

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.

The Project - part 3

Since the deck is nearly completed I had to show you these photos from last week.

Alaska Bonfire

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!

On the Run

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?

Luke and Mayerly Fischer

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!

THE Project - Part 2

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!

Website Update

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

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!

Newborn Shoot

A little over a week ago I had the honor of meeting little Jordan. She was kind enough to let me hold her and introduce myself before I pulled out my camera. She is a beautiful baby and I am so happy for my dear friends. Thanks for letting me photograph your sweet one!

Her slide show is here.

Morgan's Wedding Shower

Last weekend I had the honor of photographing the lovely Morgan's wedding shower. It was the most beautiful wedding shower ever. Here are a few photos to tease you. I have put up a slideshow of images from the afternoon. Click Here to see the slide show. You want to go, it is worth it!



What a view!


The most delicious lemon cake I have ever tasted!

THE Project

Here is a fun slide show I created with a new piece of software I just got. It was a good excuse to learn my new program.

Hope you enjoy the transformation. There will be more to come as the new deck gets added on.

Alaska in Summer

For those who have never been to Alaska in summer, it is akin to a spiritual experience. I am claiming this as my excuse to not blogging lately. The weather has been simply divine and I am having a very hard time staying indoors. This makes many things take a back seat to the heavenly scents that blow through the trees.

Although there is much that is to savor, we have been working on THE project around here. Removing and replacing our very large deck. It had been showing its age and started to become a health hazard as more and more boards rotted through. I do have a progression of photos of its demise, but they are yet to be uploaded to the computer. Maybe tomorrow... it is suppose to rain.

Back in the USA

What a great adventure the last two weeks have been. A fantastic way to spend a birthday, but I am glad to be home. Here is a little slideshow of some of my favorite photos of the trip.

Still Here

I haven't blogged in a few days. Amy showed up on Thursday and Lorrie left this morning. We had tea at Kensington Gardens, saw Wicked the musical, found a normal shopping area, went to the British Museum, heard Vivaldi at St Martins-on-the-Green, and lots more. Just a few more days.

The Tower of London

Today we spent 5 hours at the Tower of London. I think I am starting to pick up on the British history and line of kings. Our guide was Fell, today. He was a Yoeman Warder and had a fantastic sense of humor. Wish I could share his photo with you on this post, but no way to get it to you yet.

Amy comes tomorrow morning.

PS Sarah, I saw where 3 of the 6 wives' were buried and thought of you all day. Glad to hear you are still in Wasilla ;-) I will know where to find you with your London treasure I picked up for you.

Oxford

We spent the day in Oxford... so much history is such a small area. Time is a bookstore, dinner in a pub, a lovely guide named Charles that taught us all about Oxford and British history, evensong at Christ Church College chapel. One lovely day!

Across the Pond

So things never quite work out like you plan. Murphy's law is in effect especially in the case of travel. I made it to Chicago with no problem. But the next morning when I was checking in for my flight at 7am, I was informed that it had been canceled and I was rescheduled for the 5pm flight. There went my hopes of flying during the day and arriving at night. Then after a phone conference with Lorrie, who had received a 4am call about the cancellation which I had missed, we discovered that we were no longer seated next to each other. At one point, just before the flight we thought we had fixed the seat arrangement only to find stubborn neighbors that would not be persuaded to change with us. So I sat with a young mom, pinned in my bulkhead seat by a bassinet and Lorrie with a grumpy woman 10 rows back.

We arrived at 6am, stood in a very long customs line, and then took a bus to the hotel we had booked and paid for... but which we only spend 3 short hours in... enough to shower and re-group. The tube took us to our stop and we found our hotel with no problem. The room... 5th floor with no elevator. So we are getting good exercise. We headed out to find a meal and then to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. On our subway ride home it was all we could do to keep our eyes open. We bought sandwiches at the train station and ate them in our room to the BBC and promptly fell asleep with the tv on and still in our clothes. An hour or so later we woke and really went to bed... I think it was 9pm.

This morning we let ourselves sleep in before heading to the British Gallery and Westminster Abby. We had some yummy fish and chips this evening... with terrible service. But here we are back at the hotel and thinking about heading to bed.

More to come...