Shoot Shack: Adrian + Holly

Down the Aisle: Clar + Mike

Being invited back to photograph the wedding of a sibling of a previous client is among the most ultimate in compliments. It's been nearly four years since I shot Trevor + Allison's wedding, and it was a blast to see everyone again (along with a new grand daughter to boot). Clar and Mike are both fortunate to have such loving, supportive, and connected families. From the toast Mike's brother gave to Clar's dance with her dad... there were plenty of joyful tears to go around.

Trevor, Allison, and Lillia! (Guessing on the spelling... hope I'm at least close?)

Down the Aisle: Megan + John

I remember when Megan was just a kid, and I'd see her around at neighborhood and school events. This weekend, escorted by her father, a very grown up Megan walked down the aisle and into John's arms. It was an honor to be there to capture the beginning of their new adventure. Much love!

Love Shoot: Lacey + Andrew

It's spring here in Nebraska, which means the lilacs are blooming, the birds are chirping, and for Lacey and Andrew—wedding bells will soon be ringing! July here we come!

Love Shoot: Halley + Chad

Often times, I come into my clients' lives amidst a sea of chaos and change: graduations, studying for the bar exam followed by taking the bar exam, wedding planning, showers, rehearsals, and—not to mention—starting a new life together. Despite the whirlwind of to-do's, these two are incredibly at ease. 'Tis the season of life! I look forward to celebrating with you in August... until then—remember to breathe!

Down the Aisle: Amanda + Chelsea

I first met Chelsea years ago when I had the honor of creating her senior portraits, and to hear that she was planning a wedding made me feel as excited as it did old!  (Where has the time gone anyway?) Mother nature smiled on us last Friday as we captured these portraits in the gorgeous light of the setting sun...

A frame and two adorable flower girls are like frosting on the cake, making any image that much sweeter...

Chelsea nailed the schedule for the day, and we reaped the benefits with this light...

The kids! So sweet, so helpful, so eager to be part of the fun...

Congratulations ladies... I'm so thrilled to be part of your day!

Valentine's Day Treat (via Photoshop)

In the spirit of Valentine's Day this year, I put together a fun little tutorial over on the creativeLIVE blog explaining how to make this cute desktop wallpaper design. Enjoy!

Get This Book and Learn to Use Your Camera. Finally.

Whether you have a shiny new camera or an old battle scared one, learning how to use it (I mean really use it, not just crossing your fingers and shooting in auto-mode) is guaranteed to change your entire photo-taking life. Going from snapshots to great shots is a whole lot easier when you have some help. And it just so happens that Peachpit Press has a whole series of books to help you do just that—literally. A couple years ago I wrote Your Camera Loves You: Learn to Love it Back. I'm proud that it's been repackaged to fit within the Snapshots to Great Shots series, featuring the new title, Getting Started in Digital Photography.

Same great content, apt new title. (And cover). Yes, that's my adorable nephew and brother-in-law on the cover. Aren't they cute?

Get it. Love it. (Then—for bonus points, write a review about it. Emir loves to track that stuff, and it's sad to see a book with little to no reviews! ;)

Happy picture making!

xoxo

Favorite 2013 Wedding Moments

Few things remind you how much you love doing what you do, like taking some time off. I made the decision to keep the fall/winter months of 2013 to myself, and it has recharged my batteries—big time.  Now that 2014 is upon us, I can't wait to dive into another great season spent documenting ceremonies of love and the beginnings of new families. In celebration of that, here's a look back at some of my favorite wedding photo moments (in random order) from 2013.

xoxo

Tech Help: Missing Airplay Icon

After milking the last drop of usefulness from my old MacBook Pro, I finally bit the bullet and upgraded to a new (Retina) model. One of the things I was most looking forward to was the ability to restore balance to Emir's AppleTV access from his MacBook Air (my old MacBook was too old to support AirPlay). After migration was complete, I was super bummed to discover a missing AirPlay icon. Was Mavericks buggy? Was I an idiot? Countless web searches revealed similar problems but surprisingly, somehow, I couldn't find the solution. (I could still stream via AirPlay, but only  by manually manipulating my Display Preferences, not via the shortcut icon.)

"Call Apple Support" was on my to-do list for weeks. I finally bumped it to the top of the list. Turns out, the solution was embarassingly simple, and I had been painfully close to discovering it on my own, but had always had both settings set to the affirmative, and that was the problem.

Counterintuitively, the trick is to leave "AirPlay Display" set to off, while turning "Show Mirroring Options" on. Am I the only one who missed this? Why wasn't it set on by default? (Maybe due to migrating from a non-AirPlay enabled MacBook?)

Either way, if you find this helpful—you're welcome. :)