Washington, D.C. Part 3

Not too much to show for today. I woke up late after finally catching up on some sleep and then walked to the closest Starbucks. While I was sitting there I ran into a guy from Ethiopia named Job. He was visiting a friend here in D.C. for the week and was headed home today. It was great talking to him. He's here in the U.S. helping to serve his countrymen in the U.N. We had an interesting talk about culture differences and one topic that came up was divorce. He mentioned about how in his country divorce was tabooed and it seldom happened. I told him that I only wished that it would be viewed the same here. Too many people start a marriage with the idea that divorce is always an option. It's just too sad.
Thanks for the wonderful conversation Job!!

After our talk I decided to take a trip down to Dupont Circle and then walked up Embassy Row and got lost for a short while. I found myself in Rock Creek Park finally which is where this wonderful leaf was found. It was less eventful day but I enjoyed it. Hopefully I'll get more done tomorrow which will be my last full day.



I also added some photos to the end of the slideshow from part 1 & 2.

Washington, D.C. Part 2

WOW...I'm tired!! After sleeping in way too late we went and wore ourselves out again.
After moving our luggage to our next hotel we headed to the Capital, but first viewed the Library of Congress. After that we headed to a few of the Smithsonian Museums (Air/Space, Natural History, and American History). Then we marched over to the National Archives to view the Declaration and the Constitution. What an amazing experience!! I've definitely got to bring my future kids here once they are old enough to handle all of the walking and appreciate all of the history!!

One amazing thing to note about D.C. is that all of the curbs on the roads are made out of granite!! All except one that I spotted! ;-)

Well the slideshow is updated with new pics so check out the link! SLIDESHOW

Washington, D.C. Part 1

Ok, so it's just about 3am here in D.C. but I couldn't resist editing some of my pictures from today and posting some for all of you to see.

Being here for the first time is definitely an amazing experience!! I definitely can't express in words what I'm thinking and feeling but I've done my best to capture it as best as I can express with my camera.
I hope you all enjoy!

Below are a few pictures, but most are here at the SLIDESHOW

Arlington Cemetery


Me in front of the Lincoln Memorial, which was under renovation. :-(


Washington Monument and Reflecting Pond


Ford Theater sign


My Dad and I in front of The White House

Trilogy Power Ranch

I'm sitting in my hotel in D.C. right now and I'm sad to say that I haven't yet taken any pictures. But I haven't really seen anything new yet, except the changing colors of the trees.

I did want to update my blog though since it has been a little while since my last entry.

On Tuesday I went to the site of my next wedding shoot to see what lighting would be like around the ceremony time.
The wedding is on Nov. 5th so it should be about the same lighting. Check it out...








Can't wait to shoot you wedding Shannon and Dustin!!
Here's a couple awesome shots from their engagement session!

Shootin' with Melissa Jill

Last weekend was a blast!! I was able to join Melissa Jill at a wedding. She let me come along as a second photographer and I had a blast!! Thanks again Melissa!!
Here's Melissa cheerie after a 10 hour day!

And a wonderful chimping shot of Shannon and I!!


Here are also a few pictures that I took during the day. I totally hate having to limit myself to a few photos for this blog.
Although I think I've still got about 12 photos to show you! :-)













Well I have to say it was a wonderful day!!

Thanks Jennifer and Landon!!
And thanks again Melissa!!

Starbucks Shin-Dig

Well last night we had a going away party for Breanna and I. It was great to hangout with everybody from Starbucks. I'm definitely going to miss the times that I've had there.

Jeff and his buddies made us some AMAZING food last night.

They made us some Shish-Kabobs and some Portabella Mushrooms with Roasted Red Peppers that were soaked in honey and cinnamon. AMAZING!!! They also made some wonderful corn on the cob with garlic and butter on the grill. It was probably one of the best BBQs that I've ever had.


Eden and Isaac were also able to join in the fun!!

And I definitely want to say thanks to Ashley who allowed us to have the party at her place.

Thanks everyone for the fun time, and thanks to Scottie for taking a bunch of pictures during the night!

OK, Just got a slideshow posted now!!! Check it out: Starbucks Party Slideshow

Coffee Barista No More!!

Well It's official!!! I'm now fully self-employed!!
Last Thursday was my last day serving coffee part-time at Starbucks. I had worked for Starbucks since my senior year of high school 6 years ago.
It's great to finally be on my own. Of course now there is the pressure of booking photo shoots to survive!!
I'm looking forward to the journey ahead. God has blessed me in so many ways since I decided to leave Starbucks and I know that he will guide and bless me in what is ahead.

I hope to be able to work with many of you who are reading this. It is such a pleasure to be doing what I love for work.
If you know of anybody needing a wedding photographer to some senior portraits done please send them to my website or have them give me a call.

Thanks so much to all of you that have encouraged me through all of these recent changes. And your prayers are much appreciated!!

Praise and Worship

This weekend was BUSY! It started off with going to first Fridays (another blog entry) and then a family portrait session on Saturday then up to photography my friend Greg playing praise and worship songs on Sunday morning for the high school group at Grace Community Church, and then ending with my last booked wedding video. I'm definitely worn out!!

I had a great time taking pictures of Greg on Sunday! He's been a great friend and was in need of some photographs for his portfolio. He's currently an intern for the High School ministry at Grace and he hopes to be part of a missions organization eventually. Here's a few photos that I took while he lead praise and worship for the group.




Greg, thanks for asking me to do this!

First Friday...My October Adventure!

First Fridays are always interesting! On the first Friday of each month the art galleries in downtown Phoenix all open for 5 hours (6-11pm) to the general public. It's definitely an interesting thing. Most of the art is 'modern' art and is definitely 'different'. I'm not such a big fan of most of the art, but it is a great time for me to be able to have some fun with my camera.
A few friends and I went downtown and had a good time hanging out. We did run into a slight problem though. We didn't realize that the free shuttle had it's last run at 11pm and we ended up getting stuck about 20 city blocks from where our cars were at 11:30pm. So, we started walking. We made it all safely to our cars and will definitely keep track of time next time we take the shuttle anywhere.
Here's a few fun pictures from out adventurous night:

Breaking My Rule

Today I went to go shoot some family portraits for some friends. One of my rules is for me not to do family portraits. I don't enjoy them. They are just too 'posed' for me and are not fun to shoot.
We were going to shoot many of them outside today, but the wind was crazy and so we were not able to do the outside shots today, but we decided to try and get a Christmas picture done.
The little girl Lauren took a good while to warm up to me, but after a little while she started playing to the camera. She seemed to have a fun time for every picture beyond that point, except for the posed pictures!
I definitely think that the pictures will be much better once we shoot them outside, but here are a few cute ones of Lauren and one of the fam!



Thanks guys!! The next group of shots are gonna be great!

Local Boys of Dogtown

I was driving up to my house when I noticed a group of 6 skaters out front. They were all Darren's (my younger brother) friends. He was out of town but they were having fun using one of the wooden ramps that he has.
I thought I would grab my camera to capture a few pictures. Darren is going to kill me because this is the first time I've spent any time shooting skating stuff and he's in Oregon right now.

Here's the gang hanging out.


I thought the clouds in this picture were amazing!