You've picked out the perfect venue, your dress is to die for, and your groom's suit is stylin'! You're ready for your dream wedding! But before you tie a bow around all your pre-wedding prep, here are a few super simply "to-do's" you can check off your list to make your "getting ready" shots picture perfect: 1. A Little White Robe: White is perfect because it's super easy to find and it'll build anticipation in the album spread, creating visual suspense for the big reveal of

A quick note tonight about a thought that’s been bouncing around in my head during these past few months of training. My whole life, probably since my awkward teenage years, I’ve never considered myself photogenic. Actually, to this date, I still am not super comfortable IN FRONT of the lens. But the more I learn about light and how true photographic artists use it to shape the face, I’m realizing more and more that there really is no such thing as a “photogenic.” It’s true!

Eeek! Another posting deadline missed. But, in my defense, I did fly back from San Francisco last night AND it was the midseason premiere of the Walking Dead (I had to see the battle against Negan start!) So I’m sure you all forgive this one being a little late : ) Tonight, I wanted to share an insight I’ve had over the past year of shooting weddings. And it’s an insight into a mistake that I made as a bride, six years ago when I married my sweetie. I remember talking with my

A quick update tonight on the training I've been taking through Creative Live with Roberto Valenzuela! I'm about two thirds of the way through now and I've see Roberto handle some problematic scenes and I've also learned some amazing, "gold rules" for posing! So I thought I'd share a few with you guys tonight! Amazing Light-Bulb Moment #1: 1. You don't have to memorize millions of poses to keep the creativity flowing Roberto spent quality time during this training, talking ab

The past few weeks I've been deep in training and education mode. Several of my brides have been asking me about boudoir shoots. While I haven't ventured into this realm of photography until recently, I love the concept behind it. Boudoir shoots are incredibly empowering and also make truly stunning images. And what better time to take these images than on the wedding day? You've got your hair and makeup all done up, you've probably got some fantastic heels to wear, and if yo

Tonight, the blog is graced with the love story of Melissa and Ryan! But it doesn’t actually start with those two. Melissa’s dad, Graham, is the one who first contacted me. He found me on WeddingWire and told me he was actually in New Zealand (!) but that since he was a photographer in his own right, he had been tasked with finding the wedding photographer for his daughter’s big day. We chatted over email a bit, he sent my work off to the couple, and POOF! it was a magical, d

I’ve been working my tail off on post for the past few weeks, so just a quick note tonight for my photographer buddies out there. It started churning around in my head a few weeks ago, after something my husband said. I was working on post and specifically, I was retouching a beautiful brides skin on a black and white image. My hubby walked by the office and said: “That’s a great one, hon. And you’ve got the perfect background music for it too.” That was all he said as he wen

I was lucky enough to meet these two at the WeddingWire Fall Fete this past October, where they entered to win a free engagement shoot I gave away : ) I was beyond stoked when I drew their name out of the entry box! Ted and “Edy” actually met 10 years ago at a restaurant. They dated for a while, but at the time, Ted was in business school and Edy was a flight attendant. Their hectic busy schedules just didn’t leave a whole lot of time for love at that point. The, five years l

Been busy snapping away at back to back weddings the past few weekends, but wanted to share some fun captures :) Mel and Ryan had a little desert storm drop in on their wedding ceremony, but that's good luck! And it left us with an incredible desert storm sky for their couple shots! (stay tuned for more). My obsession with gorgeous window light and veils has continued! There really isn't anything more intoxicating than a bride wrapped in the translucent, sheer shell of a veil

Laurel and Justin actually found me on Facebook! Gotta love my fellow millennials : ) When she first reached out, I found out that they were actually based in Chicago and that their wedding at the Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch would be a destination wedding for most of their friends and family. The couple flew out to meet vendors and get a feel for the Valley a few months later. I met them at the Cartel Coffee shop in Scottsdale and loved how prepared Laurel was! I fou

Just a quick little note tonight to let you all know that the WeddingWire Fall Fete hit their blog today! If you missed it last month, the Fete was a fun little fall wedding vendor showcase that was free for engaged couples here in the valley. I'm beyond stoked that such a massive vendor company chose me to cover their event and that they showcased a bunch of my images on the blog! Check it out here. Also, more fun wedding photography tools have been added to the site! While

It might just be happening to me, but I’m starting to see a trend running through several of my recent wedding bookings . . . indoor ceremony locations! (Cue the scary, dramatic music) Maybe now that it's cooling off for our wedding season here in Arizona, I'll be seeing less of it, but for now, let's talk about how to deal : ) There are a couple reasons most wedding photographers aren’t huge fans of indoor ceremony locations, but the main one is that usually, indoor locatio

A few weekends ago, I was fortunate enough to shoot, again, at the Royal Palms. Angela and David's wedding created an amazing mix of lighting environments for me to play with. I’m falling more and more in love with the dramatic directional lighting I used to capture the shots below in Angela’s bridal suite. But the Palms is also an amazing location because of all the soft, glorious light that pours in and through its outdoor corridors and walkways. And of course my veil obse

Whew! The beginning of this season has been a busy one! And sadly, that’s made me neglect the blog a bit : ( But don’t worry! I’ll be catching you up on all the fun I’ve been having over the next couple of weeks. At the end of September, I shot a wedding in a beautiful church in central Phoenix (St. Catherine of Sienna’s) followed by a reception at one of my favorite locations (the Royal Palms Resort). It was a fantastically fun wedding! The bride and groom moved here to the

Just a very quick post tonight (I'm a little worn out from this weekend!). I was so honored to be the photographer for a stunning wedding at St. Catherine of Sienna's Catholic Church on Saturday. The ceremony was a classic, Latin Mass, and the reception was at one of my favorite spots in the valley (the Royal Palms). In getting my artistic-mind right for this shoot, I was watching one of Jerry Ghionis's many Chapter Indexes, and I found out that I have a new obsession...veils

You ever have one of those weeks where there just doesn't seem to be enough time in a 24 hour day? Well, I'm there this week! So I thought for my mid-week post, I'd throw out a couple questions to the soon-to-be brides and grooms out there. Which of the following describes how you want your wedding to be captured? 1. I want it to feel light, etherial and dream like. 2. I want drama! I want to look at my photos and say "WOW! That's amazing!" 3. I want a combo of both the dream

A few weekends back, I had the chance to shoot Kathy and Bill’s wedding at the Wrigley Mansion. For this particular wedding, I had the chance to shoot in a space I was familiar with (Kathy and Bill had be take their engagement shots here as well). Going into this wedding, I had to very clear goals in mind: 1. Keep the bridal portraits soft 2. Use a new backlighting technique with my flash during the first dance. Specifically, I wanted to be sure that the bridal portraits were

Man! I seem to be missing blogging due dates left an right these past few weeks. But that’s because I’ve been busy working away on some post processing of Kathy and Bill's wedding, playing with Wyatt, and melting in the Arizona Heat! But enough excuses : ) For this late Wedding Wednesday post, I want to tell you about the latest step in my artistic journey. A few weeks back, I posted about the struggle I was having trying to decide which type of wedding photographer I wanted

I’ve been busy working away on Kathy and Bill’s wedding, so just a quick note here to mention that I ended up trying out a new flash technique at their reception! I’m pretty pleased with the images straight out of camera, but I’m going to “magic” them up a bit in post before sharing. Stay tuned! #wrigley #enagement #weddingplanning #wedding #firstdance #photography #phoenix #weddingphotographer #weddingphotography #photographicstyle #weddings

This #weddingwednesday, I’d like to share the story of the Lori and Andrew, the sweet couple I had the pleasure of meeting this past spring. Lori found me, as so many of my brides do, on WeddingWire and asked if we could meet up in person to discuss the details with her fiancé, Andrew. I met the couple at Inside the Bungalow, a quaint little coffee shop / event site in downtown Mesa, just off of Main street. I remember thinking that the whole place had a sort of shabby chic f