Pacific Northwest, here I come!

Upon hearing that I was going to be in Seattle for a week, a friend of mine asked me "Are you ever really in town?" The answer to that is "not if I can help it". Before wedding season hits hard in May I like to get out there as much as I can! My penchant for travel is well known, and once again I've found a way to combine work and travel at a great workshop in Seattle, called
One Light

I'm gonna learn some kick butt new flash techniques, eat as much salmon and crab as I can stand and hopefully get out for some hiking and scenery pictures. So I'll be out of the studio from Saturday the 21 until Friday the 27th. Look for some cool photos when I get back!

My little brother Brad is getting married!

Well, he's not that little anymore, and he did make a bet with our youngest sister that he wouldn't be the last one to fall, but he is getting married this year on September 15. Here's some pictures with his lovely finance Nikki, from the engagement session I made him do. He wasn't keen on getting pictures taken; "I don't need all that fancy stuff you do, just a damn picture" but he was a good sport about it anyway. There might have been mention of a certain picture of him from our childhood that he didn't want featured on this blog, so perhaps it was somewhat coerced. Two words Brad...pink tu tu.

My kids ROCK

Many of you know that I have two boys, Caleb who is 13, and Joey who is 10. Both great kids, both very different. Caleb, whom is at the bottom of the picture, is impossibly tall at 5'8 and has not to my knowledge broke the 100 lbs mark. Joey, on the right, is a near clone of my late father, and has his mothers propensity for food. A long standing joke in the family is that Joey asked last year if he could have some girl scout cookies. I said sure, but only have a few, your brother will want some. When I went to put alway the box that was just opened one entire sleeve of thin mints was gone. When I scolded him for eating all those cookies, he said "There were two servings! I only ate one!"

Caleb just recently won a full 4 year scholarship to Marquette High School and I could not be prouder of him. He's worked very hard these past few years at school and he's really looking forward to going there. His plans are to go to Marquette High, get a job at either Blockbuster or Ted's Restaurant on 64th and North in Wauwatosa, graduate and go to Marquette University and be to someday be employed by either Microsoft or Nintendo. Cats and small children love him. He's the kind of kid you hope your daughter marries.

Joey has heard through the grapevine that you don't really have to go to college, but I will not confirm or deny that rumor. At any rate, he has said since he was about 6 that he was going to be a film director. For the last year he has been writing screenplays that I am not allowed to see since they are "in production". However he has produced a few shorts that have catapulted him into fame in the 5th grade at St Pius Grade School. They are called "Secret Agent Joey" and I'll post a few here for your enjoyment. Joey is the kind of kid you worry about marrying your daughter but you can't help but love him anyway.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qup0yVl-jM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksFqmL59OoU

Vegas, Baby

I just got back a few weeks ago from the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International Convention in Las Vegas. Oh, how I love me some Vegas. Once a year we gather and this is the time I use to replenish my creative soul before wedding season hits. I look at astounding photographs, allegedy attend seminars, hang out with some of the most amazing photographers on the planet picking their brains over late night dinners and Vodka Red Bulls at the Ghost bar....wait....I mean, in seminars. Lots and lots of seminars, did you hear me Mr. Tax man? And I go to a mind boggling trade show filled with more photography related stuff than you can imagine. I geek out at the Canon booth fondling lenses and whispering to my friends "It's a freaking f 1.2" in hushed tones silently wondering if I can cash in my kids college funds for a lens that costs more than my own wedding did in 1992. I look at really really awful wedding albums and really really cool ones, and all in all start plotting for my season. Mostly, I get really really excited to start shooting some weddings!!

I'd show you some photos, but...well...what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Aimee and David
March 17, 2007
Kenosha Wisconsin

I didn't have a chance to meet Aimee and David before the wedding, but I knew that David's parents would be coming from Columbia South America and spoke very little English. If I had not known that, I never would have guessed. Even though there was a language barrier, everyone at this wedding hugged and rejoyced like they had known each other forever. Aimee and David exchanged vows in both English and Spanish and David's mother made all of the food for the reception, which was outstanding.

And this wedding wins my "Funniest little kid processional" award EVER in the ten years that I have been shooting weddings. They ran up, they ran down, they dropped flowers, they cried, they laughed and the guests howled with laughter. Check out the slideshow, you'll see what I mean.

Congratulations Aimee and David!

Click here to view a wedding slide show of Aimee and David's wedding

Chef Britta, Private Palate

I haven't done food/product photography since I was a student in photo school. I have always preferred taking pictures of people rather than of "things". But when Britta told me that after I photographed the food for her I was invited to eat it, well....that changed my mind! Britta has started her own personal chef business and needed photos for her new website www.privatepalate.com

The food was awesome. Britta is lovely, and if you are looking for a personal chef for something as simple as a dinner party or a larger catered event, check her out!