I feel like I went camping with two lovers.

And from that, came an engagement session that was truly a dream for me to photograph.

I met up with Elizabeth and Matthew a week ago at Mount Lemmon in Tucson for their engagement session. We had initally planned to do this in the spring, but due to our mutual schedules not lining up until now in what probably worked out to be a blessing, we instead decided on August. Elizabeth had several ideas for her shoot, including going to the top of the ski resort there, which I loved because above all I want to capture the essence of the couple more than anything. And finding a field of sunflowers at the top is pretty awesome too.

After the ski resort we went to a place where Matt and Elizabeth frequently camp, and the perfect clearing for a picnic. Elizabeth brought everything, the food, drinks, flowers, and more, keeping with the theme that will be at her wedding next spring as well… yellows and whites with blue and green accents. I have no doubt it’s going to be beautiful!

I love this. Her great-great-grandmother’s quilt wrapped around them.

Matthew made this for Elizabeth, and it hangs around her neck every day.

Elizabeth and Matt, thank you for an amazing session and for being you.

PS – Rachel, thank you for making the drive down SO FUN and for your help! I wish we had video’ed more of our adventure, except the part where I closed the hatch on your head! ;-)

Choose any of the five beautiful two-sided designs and then add your own ribbon – or we can add it for you*. Cards come already cut to the round dimensions and with matching white envelopes.

Round Ornament Card Pricing:

25  Round Ornament Cards w/ Ribbon + Envelopes = $4.95/each

50-75  Round OrnamentCards w/ Ribbon + Envelopes = $3.85/each

100-175  Round Ornament Cards + Envelopes = 2.95/each (add $40 for pre-cut ribbons included in packaging – assembly not included)

200-300  Round Ornament Cards + Envelopes = 1.95/each (add $60 for pre-cut ribbons included in packaging – assembly not included)

****

If you are not quite ready to go round, we also have a coordinating set of 5×5 flat square cards available. They are available in the same designs as above and also come with matching white envelopes. All cards are available in packs of 25.

Square Card Pricing:

25  5×5 Cards + Envelopes = $2.95/each

50-75  5×5 Cards + Envelopes = $2.50/each

100-175  5×5 Cards + Envelopes = $2.20/each

200-300  5×5 Cards + Envelopes = $1.85/each

Colors, wording and font can be modified, but not the designs.

If you are interested in these cards, just drop us a note. Holiday session information coming soon!

We have been busy this past week! Five sessions in five days, the first of which was the Goldney family who recently came for a week long visit from Ohio. Glenn (pictured above with his partner Dale) organized this family photography session for his entire clan as a gift at the Paradise Valley resort where they stayed. The whole family spent a week exploring the Grand Canyon, hiking camelback, tanning poolside and generally enjoying quality family time. I thought it was so wonderful that they all do these big family trips every year or two together and that Glenn wanted to capture their family at this time in their lives.

We needed to start with a formal large group family portrait and then were able to get a little more casual with all the different smaller groups. These large group shots are a bit easier when everyone in the group is above the age of 5 :-)

Glenn’s sister and her husband

And their children. I love the silliness of the one on the right especially

Glenn and Dale

Love!

Glenn’s brother Nick and his girlfriend Erica

Mom and her husband John

John’s daughter and grand daughters

A few of the littlest grandkids. Rachel Janssen, a friend and former bride of mine, who has been helping me at some shoots and has recently started her own business came along to help shoot and got the one of little Miss M on the right.

After we took some down at the main resort, we decided to get a little more casual at the venue’s Ghost town outdoor meeting space.

I love these next two

Rachel got this cute one of Donna and John and the following one of the kids

This last one might be one of my new favs. I love the expression in Donna’s eyes.

We all decided to get a little silly at the end

Thank you Rachel for your help!

Ashley and Kyle’s gorgeous wedding at Montelucia Resort & Spa was recently featured on Elizabeth Anne Designs! I love this blog because it’s such a great resource for couples getting married who want lots of inspiration for all the small details that make up so much of the day. It’s also a great place to get daily tips from real brides and wedding professionals, and find vendors in your local area. Brides, if you have not bookmarked her site, definitely check it out!

We also just received Ashley and Kyle’s b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l wedding album in, so I will be sharing images from their album as well as a few others shortly. I’m so thrilled with how it came out! In the meantime, if you would like to see more images from their Montelucia wedding, click here for part 1 and here for part 2.

The very talented ladies at Outstanding Occasions designed and planned their wedding. Their event planning firm in here in Phoenix and they are truly among some of the best in town, so if you are looking for a wedding planner, definitely talk with Heather & Jennifer.

I also ordered a new one for Jordan’s room from our fun little green chair mini session earlier in the year. The framed print from before this one – a storyboard from when she was 18 months. It only took me almost 3 years to replace it!

I’m cheers’ing myself that I finally got some personal pictures off my computer on onto a wall!

On the business side of things, I’ve found two new fantastic interns whom I’m really so excited about. I will definitely introduce them to you in the coming weeks and share more about the projects they will be tackling. I think they are both going to be a great fit because they both bring unique and valuable skill sets to what I need in my business. I received so many emails from you guys out there (thank you, thank you to all who ‘applied’) and feel like several would have made a great fit, but these two just seem like in all facets they will be a super fit.

You will also finally (properly) meet my associate Jenny Bishop, who has been with me now for more than a year now. She has shot several portrait and newborn shoots for me and with me, and will now be branching into associate weddings as well, so I’m very excited about what that holds and will share more in the coming week. There are several behind the scenes marketing efforts going on to facilitate her role and how to share and present her packages/info/etc so I know this is an area the interns are going to help kick that ball through the uprights.

In the past two weeks, my fall season feels like it has officially kicked in with the uptick in photoshoots. We have lots on the books already Sept-October, and a busy wedding season Sept-November.  So I’m trying to organize, streamline, and simplify to plan ahead (while simultaneously attempting to execute on my idea-factory-little-bit-A.D.D-brain that loves to think big picture and create) for what will be a very jam-packed fall. I will announce any available holiday portrait shoot dates soon and plan to get the fall newsletter out to clients within the week.

Conversely, we have also honed certain practices, learned some important lessons and are trying to grow wiser in areas. Owning a business is not easy, and there have been days when it’s not fun, other days where its downright painful, either emotionally or in the pocket book, but I think they have been lessons learned and that I have grown from some experiences recently.

But perhaps the biggest deal to me of the past couple weeks… my Jordan started Kindergarden. I wasn’t prepared for what an emotional transition that first day is for a Mom. It’s such an exciting time, but one that is also filled with reflection, nostalgia, some nervousness and fears, and mostly a little bit of letting go. And that’s just our emotions. The kids have their whole bag of emotions too. Every Mom that I’ve talked to who has walked her Kindergardener (at least the first born) to the door that first day seems to express the same general emotions. It’s just kind of this unexpected little-big deal. One of my girlfriends said to me when Jordan was a baby, “The days are long but the years are short.” And I can’t think of anything that sums up motherhood more. If I could boil down the past two weeks for me to some sort of nutshell emotion, I can really only think reflection. And sincere gratitude. I’ve been especially reflective of just how fast her first 5 years have gone by, and now I get to watch her enter this next chapter in her life… childhood.

So how can I share all of that without a cruddy little point and shoot photo of her on the first day! My J (left) with her best friend E :-)

Mom and her boys

He was mesmerized by his big brother A

Speaking of movie stars, Chris saw Anne Hathaway walking down the street our second day there. Which is kind of ironic, considering my husband is one of the most ‘illiterate’ movie/actor/actress people I know and probably would have no idea if we sat down at a table next to George Clooney or Jennifer Aniston. (Except if it were Megan Fox – he would know if she sat down). I had gotten up a little earlier that morning and set out to find a cup of coffee and when we met up later Chris said, “Oh I saw that famous actress.” Me: “Which actress? Who was it?” Chris: “I don’t remember her name. But she is famous…. and brunette.” Me: “Are you serious? Do you know how many brunette actresses there are! Do you remember any movies she was in?” Chris: “Yeah, that one we just saw a few weeks ago.” Of course he does not remember the name of it! Ugggh.

So I start rattling off movies we have watched in the past month and none of them are ringing any bells to him. Finally he says, “She has that really big smile. Pretty.” I would have guessed Julia Roberts first but then recalled we had watched a Anne Hathaway movie recently… so finally I guessed it. This will be us through the years: He will see all the big movie stars and I will miss them, and then I will have to play 20 questions trying to figure out who he saw. I mean, these things are important, you know.

A day in to the trip, we decided to drive down the coast, intent on making to St-Tropez, but we never made it that far. The coast is longer than it appears on the map! The drive actually reminded me quite a bit of the Big Sur region of California…lots of winding turns along the rocky coast. Minus all the super-sized yachts docked just off shore, this one with its own helicopter.

Then we stumbled into St-Raphael and this cute fish boat and sailboat harbor.

The next day we rented a scooter and decided to see the region a little more al fresco.  We refer to each other as “Dumb and Dumber” while riding these things. Only I don’t warm him up like Jeff Daniels did to Jim Carrey :-)

This next shot is kind of meaningful to me, because the last time we rented a scooter was when we travelled to Italy about 7 years ago. While in Florence one day, Chris wanted to rent a Vespa and I was scared to death only because of how crazy the drivers are and how narrow the streets and I was nervous we would crash. Luckily he talked me into it and we had one of the most amazing days of our lives. He ended up proposing to me in a beautiful garden overlooking the city and afterwards we rode the scooter back down through these tree covered roads that I will never ever forget….

We had a lot of fun on this in France too. Chris is convinced its the best way to see European towns, and I kind of have to agree with him. (He is driving here and I just shot from the back as we rode around.)

Is it just me, or is there something kind of odd going on with the lady’s shoulder behind me? I just noticed that!

We went parasailing one day, which was so fun! We didn’t even have to get in the water – just lifted right off the back of the boat. Now that is my idea of parasailing! A little random tidbit about me: I don’t like being in water where I cant see below me….it’s a fear I’ve always had since seeing JAWS waaaay to early in life. (Note to self: don’t let kids watch scary movies about sharks before they are old.)

A few days later we ventured into Antibes, the town where Lisa and Ben’s wedding was. Old Antibes still has the original sea wall, kind of built up like a fortress to keep the enemies (from once upon a time) out I presume. To see a lot more images of Antibes, be sure to check out Lisa & Ben’s wedding. We did their bride and groom portrait time around this fantastic old town!

This cracked me up. I guess this cafe thought that Americans like french fries ON their sandwiches. I don’t know, some might, but this looks kind of gross to me.

We also visited the medieval Village of Eze, which is about half way between Nice and Monte Carlo. This ancient fortified village (oldest of the ruins date back to about 2000 BC) is at the top of the cliff that overlooks the Mediterranean sea, and its not an easy hike up the narrow pathways to the very top of the rock where the Jardin Exotique (garden) sits, but it was well worth it! We loved this village.

There is a church and cemetery up there as well.

Your’s truly – nice and sweaty from the hike. I probably should have worn better shoes, but I’m a flip flops type of girl most of the time. For all who know my graceful side, I only tripped twice.

:-)

These days, you can find several souvenir shops and cafes up there, as well as a hotel. AND THE BEST TOYSHOP EVER!

We took our time and plenty of breaks in the shady alleys. I think we managed to read more in a week than we have in several months!

Chris at the top of the rock.

All in all, we had a great time and it was so fun exploring a new part of the world we had never been. In a few years we’ll be able to take the kids with us and maybe do the southern coast of Italy or Greece. There are many places still to explore on the bucket list! It was so great to be away, amazing to photograph Lisa & Ben’s wedding, but we were also glad to get home and see the kiddos. You parents know the drill, once you have ‘em, you kind of want to explore the world with them. At least when the youngest outgrows the walking-in-every-direction-cant-sit-still-would-never-want-to-take-a-10-hour-flight-with-a-toddler-stage! :-)

I had the chance to work with some amazing local vendors on this wedding, including::

Venue: The Estancia Club, Scottsdale Arizona

Flowers: Flora Europa

Wedding Coordination/Planning: Imoni Events

Cake: La Dolce Pesca

Invitations & Paper Products: The Invitation Lady and So Inviting!

Entertainment/DJ: SKM Entertainment

Makeup: Linda Wagner

Bridal Gown: Destiny’s Bride

What happens when a charming British chap marries his beautiful, long time love in the southeastern Côte d’Azur region of France?

Pure magic.

Lisa and Ben were married last Saturday in Antibes, France in what amounted to a true destination wedding for almost everyone involved. While Lisa was born in France {she speaks both perfect English and French}, she moved down the Caribbean island of Saint Martin with her Mom when she was two and has grown up surrounded by those amazing green waters, scuba diving and the relaxed island lifestyle. Whether it was destiny {my thinking} or simply good timing that drove Ben to St. Martin 9 years ago out of a desire for a change from his life in England, it has worked out quite well for them. Ben and Lisa knew they wanted their wedding to be on the French Riviera, as it has been one of their favorite vacation spots over the years and the sheer beauty of the locale made it a no brainer for them.

Their wedding was specifically at a cliff side villa in Juan les Pins (sort of like a ‘suburb’ of Antibes, but I don’t think you can refer to it as a suburb) which is nestled in the hills right above Antibes. For some geographical perspective, Antibes sits between Cannes (where Chris and I put down our roots for the week) and Nice, both of which are just a little west of Monaco. The old, original Roman town of Antibes was our favorite spot (or one of two favorites), and it where Lisa and Ben wanted to go to do all their bride and groom portraits, much to my sheer delight. It is what you might imagine when you think of France and the little towns with cobblestone streets, narrow alleys, lots of street side cafes, shops and Boulangeries. It was also here in Old Antibes {at La ‘Enoteca restaurant} where Chris and I had our very favorite meal of the entire trip, but I digress.

I feel so thankful that Lisa found and hired me to photograph her wedding in this amazing place. My husband and I decided to combine this destination wedding into a long-overdue vacation for us on the front end, so we spent the week before the wedding exploring the area, sitting on the beach, parasailing, eating good food, reading several books between us, and of course sleeping in…. but more on that later. I have a lot of personal photos to share from this trip, but let’s now get to the best part, which was their wedding. It’s safe to say this is the longest post in the history of my blog, despite the fact that I normally don’t like it when photographers post a gazillion images of one shoot or wedding, but I did try and post a wide variety. We took so many images that day that we filled all 50 gigs of compact flash cards, so there are just so many favs.

One more quick note about my husband Chris, who shot their wedding with me: he was a rockstar who got some fantastic images! This is not what he does by trade but he is actually quite a good photographer so I knew I could very safely count on him. But he even far exceeded my expectations and was a stellar second shooter. Now, if I can just get him to quit his day job…. just kidding ;-)

I ADORE these shoes. Must. find. these. And. buy. them.

Chris hung out with Ben while he was getting ready and got these 4 shots of him

Lisa flew in her favorite hair and makeup artist from the islands

Lisa’s adorable ring bearer (1-1/2 year old son of her best friend/maid of honor)

If you follow me, you know I always love a timeless, grainy black and white image of the bride getting ready

Chris snapped this of Lisa’s friend walking out the door – love it.

Ben works for Luxury Diamonds, so he knows his stuff :-)

Chris took this of Ben and his Mom, right before they walked down the aisle.

Lisa’s Great Uncle walked her down the aisle

Some ceremony moments. In France (maybe all of Europe?), they incorporate the signing of the marriage license into the actual ceremony itself, unlike here in America where couples typically sign it after the ceremony.

I loved this little series of them while their parents were signing the license

Hi.

Husband and wife!

Details, details

There is Antibes, down in the background

After the ceremony, we left for Old Antibes and spent about 45 minutes walking through the streets and alleys

Lisa is a model, so my job was really hard here ;-)

An outtake from Chris. The streets are indeed narrow!

I have such a thing for European doors

Lisa very wisely wore flip flops for all the walking portions of our bride and groom time … in case you were worried she was walking barefoot ;-)

Ben working his mojo.

Bottom left shot above by Chris – love it!

Chris’s angle below

I know this one is completely blurry, but I still like it.

Then we headed back to the villa for the reception…

A few more details

Little Kym wanted nothing to do with us until Chris gave him his iPhone. I guess they really are the universal child-attention-getters.

Another outtake Chris got of me

Chris’s angle below of these sweet moment during the toasts.

Another image Chris took during the toasts that I love love.

Some first dance moments

One of my favorite parts – they brought out the cake right before they cut it WITH SPARKLERS ON IT! How cool is that? I think some more American brides should try this tradition. It was such a cool way to present the cake and everyone came over to check it out.

Lisa requested a painting with light image so I attempted it. I’ve done this only once or twice just playing at home but this was a first for a wedding. Aside from the fact that the motion of Lisa moving her arm has rendered it completely gone in the image, I kind of dig it. They held small votive candles and I just kept the bulb open on the camera for the amount of time they drew the heart with their arms.

The grand finale, sparkler exit

Words cannot express what an amazing time Chris and I had photographing and being a part of your wedding Lisa and Ben. You guys are just awesome and make the perfect couple. Remember, drinks are on us if you ever make it to Arizona!