It’s not very often you get to shoot the wedding of someone you babysat. But that’s the case with this one. I remember Spencer when he was a rambunctious little guy who wanted to talk about nothing other than baseball. I must be getting old because now that kid went & got married & I think we barely even discussed the current horrors of the Mariners. In other words, it was pretty cool to be able to photograph Spencer & Tara’s wedding. Not only that, Since Spencer & I share a few cousins I got to hang out with Emma & Deonna a little too.

I don’t think there’s much I can say that the photos don’t other than the wedding took place at one of my favorite places on earth, Tacoma’s Point Defiance (I think I’ve mentioned that a few times before)! I loved the uniqueness of the whole day. The orange & gray colors were perfect. I love Converse shoes & the fact that they matched Spencer’s tie & even the wallpaper in his room was a nice touch.

Then there’s the Donuts. Mmmm, donuts as Homer would say. Spencer & Tara met while she was in line buying donuts for her class so they’re a pretty important part of their relationship (I wish I had a reason, any reason, to like donuts like that). These donuts were brilliantly good & they were specially prepared for the bride & groom by Legendary Doughnuts.

Since this was the third of four weddings that weekend (& the only one west of the mountains) we didn’t have time to shoot the “day after session” the  day after their wedding. So we’ll call it a “week after” session since I had a Seattle wedding the next weekend. We decided to meet up in downtown Tacoma & hang around the Museum of Glass. I loved the challenge of trying to take unique portraits in a location that’s so loved by photographers. I’ll let you decide whether I succeeded or not. Regardless, we had a blast & these two super-photogenic subjects were a great inspiration.

Photos from the “Day (week) After Session” we had in downtown Tacoma.

This is why I shoot all-day weddings.

The day was relaxed & paced nicely with enough time for the wedding party to hang out & enjoy each other rather than running from one event to the next. After Renee got ready at Josefine’s Salon we headed to the Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral where Bob saw Renee for the first time. I mentioned to Renee that since we had time it might be fun for the wedding party to go relax for a while. So after the first look was done, we hoofed it through the sprinkling rain drops to The  Rocket Bakery. You have no idea how much I love this kind of thing. The photos are so natural because they can just interact with each other. No posing necessary.

This was also the first wedding where I’ve had a bride wear her mother’s wedding gown—albeit a little modified. She took her mom’s lace sleeves & turned them in to a beautiful modern veil & train. Not only was it beautiful, it matched her personality perfectly.

Another thing I love about this wedding (& Renee & Bob) was how much laughter was heard throughout the day. From the Love Tester to the Riverfront Park Carousel to the post reception bike ride, this day was built for fun (& beautiful photos)—even with the pervasive wet stuff.

So excited to post this engagement session. I had a blast spending some time with Tiffany & Nate on a rainy & windy day that cleared up just as we left The Rocket Bakery. I guess my magical weather controlling powers work during engagement sessions as well as wedding days. Of course, now that I say that, I’m guaranteed rain for my next 10 sessions.

One of the things I enjoy is being able to really get an idea of each couple’s relationship as I spend time behind the camera. It was plainly obvious that Tiff & Nate just really enjoy being around each other—which makes my job much easier. You’ll see…

I’m so excited to post these photos from Emily &  Josh’s engagement session. We hung out in downtown Spokane for a couple of hours & got some pretty stinking cool shots, if I do say so myself. Of course, I had some pretty incredible ‘models’ which made life easy for me.

Before the session Josh called me and told me he finally had the ring and wanted to officially propose during our session. We worked out a game plan where I got a ‘phone call’  and had to walk away for a minute which was his chance to catch Emily off guard with the ring. I’m pretty sure she knew it was coming anyway, but at least now have these photos of this special moment—how cool is that.

Attention guys: If you want ‘spy’ photos of your proposal get in contact with me & I’ll make it happen—By the way, there’s veeeery special pricing for that kind of session.

FYI one of these photos is actually a mixture of 41 different images.

The injury of the day was my crashing on a rock (during the proposal—embarrassing!) and gashing my hand. The camera got some scratches as well, but fortunately it’s built like a rock so no problem there.

Can’t wait for these guys’ wedding next month!

Many thanks to Eric Strate for his help holding the light & getting some additional shots of the proposal from a far off bridge as well as some shots of me working.

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