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

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

Woohoo! Wedding season is well underway and I’ve been busy capturing my couple’s smooches, laughs and tears. Because the hustle and bustle that happens before the big day is always pretty chaotic, I always try to send my brides a little checklist. If they are avid email-checkers, like me, I email it. If they are married to their phone (an who isn’t!?) I send it as a text. If their heads are ready to explode and I think that one more “reminder” might just make them scream, I s

1. Hire a local planner Wedding planners are marvelous. They are like little fairy-godmothers that swoop in and fix things you never dreamed would need fixing. On my wedding day, I had carefully planned out all the little details. That included hand writing little seating cards for all my guests with antique playing card faces (my husband and I are Texas Hold'em players). Well, on the day of, it was really windy. So windy that all those perfectly laid out little cards blew ri

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

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

For #SneakPeakSunday, I’m sharing with you just a few images of the stunning wedding I was privileged to capture this weekend! Even in the sweltering heat of the Arizona summer, Kathy and Bill made the beauty of their day look effortless. Stay tuned for more images throughout the next several weeks as they work their way through post. Congrats you two! Can’t wait to share these all with you :) #lighting #wrigley #timeless #Scottsdale #weddings #weddingphotographer #phoenix #r

This week, I was lucky enough to be whisked away to glorious San Diego for a mini-vacation with my husband. He worked, I worked, but we got to do it from gas lamp district in southern California, so I have no complaints! Driving in from the airport, I passed the pier where Christy and Scott were married, and it brought back all the amazing memories and beautiful images of that day. And it inspired the Wedding Wednesday blog for this week! Christy is a gorgeous, petite angel I

Ok, we all know it’s hot enough to cook a pizza in an Arizona car at the moment…literally…I saw that on the news a week ago! I don’t care how “dry” the heat is, 112 degrees is HOT! And did I mention that this is monsoon season? So yeah, Arizona can be brutal this time of year. But while most brides-to-be are planning their wedding for the winter, fall or spring here in Arizona, there’s another piece to the bridal puzzle that seems to be giving a lot of my future clients some

For Sunday this week, I admit, I'm a little behind on the blogging : ( BUT! I did just send out the newest newsletter to all you lucky followers out there :) Didn't get it? Want it? Check it out at the link below and be sure to sign up to receive all the latest, each month. june's newsletter #destinationwedding #firstdance #countrychic #vendors #timeless #music #engaged #wedding #romantic #photojournalism #photography #weddingphotographer #photographer #weddings #enagement #p

This past Sunday, I was really lucky to be able to attend my dear friend Amber’s wedding (more images to come soon!). She is one of my sweetest, dearest friends, and while I knew it was a small, intimate affair, I wanted her to have some fabulous photographic memories to cherish, so I brought my gear along. This was an unusual shoot for me. My husband was there and so was my little cyclone of a two year old! So while wearing the mommy, wife, photographer hat all at the same

Well, I'm missing a Sunday blog post deadline, but that's only because my dear, sweet friend Amber got MARRIED tonight! It was a really sweet, intimate get together with family and friends. And, I brought my lens along :) Oh, the benefits of having a wedding photographer as a best bud! I'll be sharing some of the images soon. Stay tuned! #romantic #wedding #photography #lighting #weddings #photographer #weddingplanning #photographicstyle #weddingwire #weddingphotographer #wed

Amie, her mother, and her sister actually all made the long drive south from Flagstaff to meet with me after we had emailed a few times about her wedding. She loved my work, but wanted to meet in person to be sure we would be a good fit. Amie was sweet and kind with an infectious smile. After we worked out the details, it was decided that I would be her girl for wedding photography on the big day! The group then made the most of their time in the Valley by finishing their wed

Recently, I’ve been seeing a new trend popping up on social media (Instagram, specifically) that I’m kind of falling in love with. If you spent time and energy making sure that your wedding invitations and your RSVP cards turned out splendidly, why not share them during the wedding? I’ve seen some really beautiful images lately of a copy of the wedding invitation, combined with macro ring shots, or bouquet images. If you’re a bride who’s planning a gorgeous wedding, be sure t

For wedding Wednesday this week, I thought I’d post a fun, musical tip for brides who don’t have their first dance song picked out yet. Here are some classics and some fun new comers that are making a splash in 2016 1. All of me - Performed by John Legend 2. Terrafin Sea - performed by Ed Sheeran 3. I Don’t Dance - performed by Lee Brice 4. A Thousand Years - performed by Jasmine Thompson 5. Thinking Out Loud - performed by Ed Sheeran 6. Fields of Gold - performed by Eva Cas

The first thing I remember thinking when sipping my tea, waiting to meet Gino and Kirsten to talk about becoming their wedding photographer, was his name : ) Gino Donofrio. I remember thinking, “Wow! Can you get any more Italian than that!?” Gino actually contacted me first via email, to discuss my photography, and then I met both of them in person about a month before the big day, just to go over details. Gino and Kirsten are just a perfect couple. I’m sure a lot of people s

It was well over 100 degrees when I met with Matt and Emily to shoot their engagement session at the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale. We were in a bit of a time-crunch pickle as Matt was only in town briefly, and was headed back to Texas the following day. Usually, I really push for engagement shoots to be outdoors. The lighting is so much kinder to the skin, the backgrounds are muted and natural looking, and you don’t have to worry about the weird shadows that bad fluorescen

This is the story of Jenny and Dane. A wonderful couple who planned their wedding in the blistery mountains of Alaska, and ended up saying their “I dos” on a luscious tropical cliff, overlooking a turquoise bay in Kauai. Jenny has a natural ease and classic grace about her that translated perfectly into a stunning, elegant wedding. You would think that the stress of planning a wedding a world away, on her own, would frazzle any bride, but not Jenny! She found the venue, the c