MALLORY & BRIAN'S WEDDING

It's been a blessing to get to know Mallory and Brian over the past year and then to be a part of every intimate moment of the couple's big day. These two have an obvious passion for the Lord that is reflected through their family and friends.

I love shooting weddings at Redeemer Presbyterian Church because there are so many great details and locations to get some awesome shots... like these!

I love stained glass and bright colors!

This couple knew how to work it for me!

There are so many great shots from this day that I could load this post with images; however, it would be better to just check out this rockin' slideshow and enjoy the thumbnails after! Thanks Mallory & Brian for some of my most favorite shots ever!!!

NEW FRIENDS IN LA

California brought many exciting opportunities for me! Besides shooting the ESPY’s Pre-Party and celebrating my second anniversary of the birthing of my business with friends Deyl and DJ, I was fortunate enough to have a great hostess for the week, Mary Lynn Rajskub. Also known as Chloe on the hit tv series 24, she and her new husband Matt Rolph are blessed to be the parents of an adorable little boy, Val (Valentine). I’m extremely grateful for their hospitality and enjoyed the laughs from some of Mary Lynn’s comments. If you’ve never seen her on 24 or had the opportunity to see any of her interviews, check out any of her YouTube clips. She’s stinking hilarious! We also took some time out to get some family photos for her and US Magazine. Here’s a sweet photo of them below. Can’t wait to see them again!

Deyl & DJ in Santa Barbara

While in LA for the ESPY’s Pre-Party, I also celebrated the two year anniversary of the birthing of my photography business with my friends Deyl Kearin and David Jay! It was two years ago when I came to Santa Barbara after reading The Four Hour Work Week to brainstorm ideas with Deyl, a great “out of the box” thinker. He introduced me to his best friend DJ (David Jay), a heck of an entrepreneur and not a bad photographer, who let me ask every question possible about photography and shoot with him at a wedding in Chicago on my way back home at the end of the week. This newly gained wisdom and hands-on experience with DJ sparked the beginning of my official business. To celebrate this anniversary, I spent some time in Santa Barbara and went out to eat with them for some great Indian food! I’m thankful to them for continuing to encourage my vision and even more excited seeing first hand how their visions are being lived out.

Deyl is at an exciting stage of life as he has recently witnessed a true miracle in the birth of his daughter, his first child. It was fun to have a good laugh thinking back on those days seven years ago for me! (Deep thought…Wow! My daughter is 7! Man, I’m old!) DJ has some sweet stuff going on with his “ShowIt” business and the programs he designed to help photographers. Check out his stuff and even get a free website that is above and beyond anything else out there available. What’s great is that more than photographers are using it to promote their business.

ESPY's Pre-Party

As I mentioned in my recent post, I was out of town for three weeks traveling in California for some shoots and Colorado for a family vacation and some business meetings. In California, I had the privilege to reconnect with my great friend Jen Beaver of All Access Promotions and shoot a pre-party for the ESPY’s in LA. As usual, she put on a great event and I was glad to reconnect with some of my friends from the INDY 500 event this past year. Mark Ballas and Derek Hough, from Dancing With The Stars and the Ballas Hough Band, are great guys that have given me some generous props since the INDY 500. Joanna Pacitti, Mark Ballas’ girlfriend and American Idol star, is another whom I’m thankful for her kind words.

In addition to meeting Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson and Tony Gonzalez (always a big help on my fantasy football team), I enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with NFL Hall of Famer, Warren Moon. Warren is one of the main hosts of the ESPY’s Pre-Party event every year. I continue to enjoy having the opportunity to work with athletes and celebrities and see how sincere and real many of them are when they are not surrounded by fans.

Here’s a brief slideshow of the event!