Mike and Jessica contacted me a few weeks ago wanting to do a quick shoot to get some photos for their holiday cards.  We met at Sugarhouse park on an overcast day.  The temperature was in the mid-30′s.  The pond at the park had mostly frozen over, yet the ducks and swans hadn’t left.

One of the things Mike and Jess wanted was to incorporate their new puppy, Cayenne, into the shoot.  She was a black lab, nine months old, with plenty of that puppy energy left in her.  As soon as Mike brought her out of the car, she was tugging at the leash, wanting to run free, to express her inner pup (encouraging her was the vast amount of fowl in the area).

At any rate, after much tugging and maneuvering, Cayenne managed to break free of the leash, not five minutes into our shoot.  She raced out onto the partially frozen lake, ready to play with the birds.  She realized all too quickly, however, that stopping on ice isn’t as easy as on other terrain.  She slid right on into the ice cold water.

In the beginning, this was all quite laughable.  However, as time progressed and Mike realized that Cayenne wasn’t about to yield to the orders of her master, he began to panic.  When he finally got ahold of her, we came to the realization that she wasn’t going to be a factor in the shoot, at least not initially.  She smelled of duck dung, and was muddier than any of us wanted to handle.

So, after putting Cayenne in the car (realizing he’d have to clean it later), Mike, Jess, and I started off to our first location.  The first pose I had in mind was Jessica piggy-backing on Mike.  If you know these two at all, you know that getting them to take this pose seriously was, to say the least, difficult.  Nevertheless, we still managed to snag a few shots great shots from it.

The next photo I wanted to capture was the two of them in a snowball fight.  Again, if you know Mike and Jessica, you know this was hilarious to watch.  Jess is the prim and proper one, while Mike (although he can look quite sharp when he needs to) is much more of a down-and-dirty kinda guy.  Watching these two throw snowballs at each other, while trying to remain composed enough to take the shots, was difficult, to say the least.

Once we’d finished with those shots, we headed back to the car to see if the dog was ready for some shots.  After ensuring her collar was just short of cinched around her neck, he brought Cayenne out of the car again.  And once we’d moved out of sight of the fowl, he took her off her leash to try for a pretty cool shot.  Apparently Cayenne like to jump and catch snow — so we gave that a go, and again, got some great shots.

All in all, I love Mike and Jess, and working with them to get these shots was entirely my pleasure.  Thanks you guys.

Despite having no other overlap in our lives, Syd and I have always made efforts to stay in touch.  We’d grab lunch or dinner every few months and catch up on life.  She really broke my heart when she went against her allegiances and decided to attend BYU instead of the University of Utah with me.  In spite of the distance, she and I still managed to catch up every few months, and as she would tell me, despite the large number of eligible (and quite willing) young bachelors at BYU, she couldn’t find anyone who she was really interested in.  Then one day, that all changed.

Relationships tend to evolve quickly down on the BYU campus, although it was still quite a surprise for me when I saw in my Facebook newsfeed that Sydney was engaged (I didn’t even know she was dating a guy).  Nevertheless, when I met Spencer a few weeks later, I couldn’t help but agree that the guy was a good guy, and I was thrilled when they asked me to photograph their rehearsal dinner.

I was quite impressed when I arrived at Spencer’s parent’s house, where the dinner was held.  Tucked back at the end of a cul-de-sac, the house was absolutely beautiful.  And everything Sydney and Spencer had done to decorate the place made it a photographer’s dream.  Everything was so vivid and colorful, and the two of them had left no detail unaddressed.  Couple that with the fantastic lighting created by the overcast day (and the frozen yogurt!), and it was simply perfect.  Thanks so much for letting me be a part of your special day, Sydney and Spencer, and congratulations.

My mom and I arrived in Ketchum late in the day on Thursday, July 1.  My dad and sister had arrived earlier in the day, but due to my mom’s work obligations and my need to be in class, we weren’t able to leave until later.  At any rate, we started the trip off right with a nice meal at a Mexican restaurant in Ketchum.  I ordered a chicken quesadilla, and I must say, it was quite delectable.

As the trip progressed, I found that the more pictures I took of Ketchum, the more I loved this little town – so much so, in fact, that I one day hope to buy a small condo in the town.  With Tully’s Coffee on the corner across from where we were staying, I loved getting up each morning and enjoying some coffee delight while diving headlong into a good book.

There was so much that I loved about Ketchum, it’s really quite difficult to sum it up in words.  Ketchum has enough in town that you can get everything you need, but not so much that you feel lost.  In fact, Ketchum is small enough that you can literally walk everywhere you need to go, even up into Sun Valley, which is only about two miles up the road.

I think one of the major perks to this trip for me was the nostalgia that came with Ketchum and Sun Valley.  When we were younger, my sister and I (and our parents) went on at least two trips to Sun Valley that I remember, often with family friends.  And it was on those trips that I built such fond memories of this amazing place, and those memories came surging back on this trip.

Overall, the trip to Ketchum was quite enjoyable.  Although the major disappointment for me was that, despite the fact that it was the Fourth of July weekend, I didn’t see one fireworks show.  I was either in bed (on the 3rd), or in the hot tub (on the 4th), both times not expecting the fireworks show to happen when it did.  So I was somewhat gipped this year, but it was nevertheless a good trip.  I definitely think this will become more of a tradition.

2010 has been a big year for my sister.  She finished out her senior year of high school, which included applying to quite a few colleges and ultimately selecting one (Westminster).  She graduated high school about two weeks ago, and in a few weeks will start playing soccer with the Westminster girls soccer team.  And then, in just a few short months, she’ll move into the dorms and start her first year of college.  So, to say that 2010 has been and will continue to be a big year for my sister may be a bit of an understatement.

But before all of the college stuff started to unfold, we had to stop and take time to celebrate the fact that she graduated high school.  (That’s not to say it was a surprise to us, although I feel that for many parents it is, in fact, a surprise and a relief.)  So, to celebrate, my sister and our parents decided to co-host a graduation party with three of my sister’s closest friends – Chelsea Reimer, and Tess & Emma Burrick (yes, they’re twins).

The party took place in the upstairs room of Squatter’s Pub & Brewery, in downtown Salt Lake City.  Now, let me stop here and just dwell on the fact that the party was at Squatter’s.  This meant two things.  First, the food was phenomenal.  And second, the beer and alcohol was quite delectable as well.

As the party unfolded, the room slowly began to fill with more and more people.  What started out as a room with maybe 20 people in it quickly became a room packed with at least 100.  Now, I’d be lying if I didn’t say this shoot was at least a little difficult for me.  I wasn’t the biggest fan of high school – way too much drama for me to handle – and this was, literally, like packing high school into a space that was no more than 1,500 square feet.  But, the party was still great (the food made up for it).

I think one of the most meaningful moments for me as the party unfolded was the moment my sister’s art teacher showed up.  To understand why this moment was as moving for me as it was, you have to understand a bit of my sister’s history with high school.

She and I went to the same high school – Judge Memorial High School, in the downtown suburbia of Salt Lake City.  This school, being a private school, literally stripped you of your rights the minute you walked in the door.  My sister called it a “prison”, and literally, it was.  But through her struggles with high school, she was able to develop a close relationship with this particular art teacher, who would allow her to vent her frustrations, and shared in many of them himself.

The reason this had such an impact on me is that it led me down a somewhat nostalgic path, on which I found myself looking back at all the teachers and mentors who had influenced me over the years – people who had encouraged me to be better than I thought I could be, who have become lifelong friends.  At any rate, the special relationship that develops between student and teacher, between mentee and mentor, is one that goes deep, and one that lasts a lifetime.

Well, now my sister’s graduated.  She’s done with high school, together with all its drama, and is moving onto newer and better things.  As I mentioned earlier, she’s planning on attending Westminster in the fall, and has been accepted onto the school’s soccer team as a midfielder.  All I can really say at this point is that I am incredibly proud of her, and I can’t wait to see how she develops and changes over the next four years as she decides what she wants to do with her life.

Ben and Cassidy started dating shortly after I met Cassidy.  The two of them were on the ballroom team at Utah State University, and they continued to dance together as their relationship grew.  Then about a year later, Ben proposed, and Cassidy said yes.

Getting to know these two, and being a part of their big day, has been nothing short of phenomenal.  Let’s first start with the fact that Cassidy is a Figge.  If you’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting any member of the Figge family, you know what I’m talking about.  The exuberant, yet nonchalant nature of their family creates this entertaining dynamic that you can’t help but get sucked into.  So spending an entire day with practically every member of the Figge clan was nothing short of fabulous.

The stress of the day began before I was even awake.  When Cassidy’s mother Wendy showed up at the cleaners to get the dress, which had gotten dirty during the Bridal shoot, she found out they hadn’t cleaned it because of a detail in the design they couldn’t handle.  After some stern talking to by Wendy (which I heard about later), they cleaned it.

Aside from the averted fiasco with the dress, there weren’t any other stressful moments, at least that I was aware of.  I think a major reason for that was Cassidy’s aunt (and David’s wife), Gretchen.  David and Gretchen plan weddings – it’s kind of their thing, and they’re good at it.  As a side note, Gretchen takes her job as a wedding planner so seriously that she has a hot pink tool belt specifically for the job, which she wore throughout the preparation.  I was quite amused.

All in all, the wedding went down without any serious problems.  The thing I enjoyed the most, by far, was the stress-free nature of both Ben and Cassidy.  Neither of them worried too much about the details, making my job as the photographer so much easier.  I count myself quite lucky to know both Ben and Cassidy, and I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of their special day.  Congratulations, you two!

Nevertheless, I owe them both for this shoot.  The day I shot this, I was somewhat mentally distracted, so I wasn’t exactly ready to coach these two in their modeling.  But I was quite amazed at how simple and easy they made my job.  The reason these photos turned out as well as they didn’t wasn’t my coaching, but rather the outstanding relationship that these two have.  The best part about these two, for me, isn’t just where they are now in their relationship, but also how far they’ve come.

I first met Ben at a student group that he and I are a part of, called Utenited.  And just a few months later, I met Nicole on a visit here from California, where she lived at the time.  Shortly thereafter, she moved out here – not for Ben (as some say), but for Utenited.  (If you’re curious about Utenited, check out utenited.com for more info.)

Since then, I’ve watched the both of them grow and mature in their relationship over the last three years, and it’s been so much fun.  The two of them have such a unique dynamic to their relationship that serves to gently and lovingly encourage each of them to grow as an individual, and to grow deeper in their love for the other.  I can’t say I’ve seen more than a few relationships quite like theirs.  The degree to which they both care about and love the other person is truly extraordinary.  Sure, they have their moments like everyone else, and they have to work through those.  But it’s the incredible love that these two have for each other that helps them push through those moments.