Allison + Anastacio at Ashley Castle

It's been 7 months since I met with Allison and Anastacio to photograph their engagement photos and it was so nice to see them both again. Anastacio came in from Minneapolis earlier in the week to be with family and prepare for the wedding while Allison has been busy getting ready to move to Minnesota.


Two months ago Destination I Do magazine decided to use a couple of their engagement photos for an article about preparing for marriage. Alli has been friends with Jennifer, the publisher, since they were children and they were both excited to see the photos used in the magazine.

It was a beautiful 101 degree weather day! (just kidding) ;-)
It was definitely a hot day here in AZ and we tried to do as much as possible inside.

Alli's Beautiful Dress


Anastacio waiting to see Allison


Her father had a hard time giving her away


After the ceremony a HUGE dust and rain storm rolled through the Phoenix area changing our plans for outdoor photos. I loved this photo of limo driver trying to help the bride with his umbrella when all of a sudden a gust turns it inside-out.


We did a few photos inside at Ashley Castle in the beautiful bridal room.

Allison, a gorgeous bride




Finishing touches before the party


I'm really enjoying giving my couples a break from the craziness of the reception to have a little more time alone. And as you can tell they both enjoyed it as well.


And this is one of my favorite photos of the day. Alli looked stunning in her dress.


And a big thanks goes out to Rachel Priddy for coming along to help me out. Thanks Rachel!

Check out the slideshow here ---> Allison + Anastacio at Ashley Castle

Kevin Proposes to Dayna

This is such a cool story!

Kevin received one of my new Proposal Cards which holds a $1000 value good for me to come and secretly capture the guy proposing. So, Kevin called me last week and we started planning out where he wanted to propose and where I could hide to take photos without her knowing I was there.

So we headed out to the Desert Botanical Gardens a few days before to find just the right place. And on Sunday afternoon he brought Dayna for a nice stroll in the gardens which is one of her favorite places to go. And when he reached the bridge in the middle of the garden, he asked Dayna.

Bringing out the ring


YES! Of course!


So the story gets better...

After taking the photos I hopped into my car and chose my favorite print. I then printed, framed, and wrapped it up quickly.



Then I headed over Chelsea's Kitchen, the restaurant that Kevin said they would be at.

I had one of the waitresses bring the package over to Dayna while I hid behind a table of very curious women who thought I was photographing a celebrity at first. I told them that Tom and Katie were out on the patio, but that idea was quickly shot down.



As soon as she saw my logo stickers on the back of the package she knew that I had take a photo. She turned to Kevin with a big smile of approval on her face.

After quickly searching the the restaurant with her eyes trying to find me she opened the package to find the nicely printed photo in a frame all ready for her to show off.



Here's the photo I chose


It didn't take much longer for her to realize that something was going on at the nearby table of ladies who were all staring at her while I ducked down below the edge of the high-top table. She must have caught a glance of me because she got up from her seat and came around the table to give me a hug and "Thank you!"

It was also nice to hear her say, "Your going to photograph our wedding! I was going to call you anyways, but you're definitely going to be our photographer now!"

And they're wedding is going to be really sweet! They're planning on having the ceremony at the Botanical Gardens and then the reception will be held at the Bentley Projects art gallery in downtown Phoenix.

Congratulations Dayna and Kevin!

(more fun video footage coming soon!)


We'll be sending out a few Proposal Cards to all of our past clients as well as some of the resorts will have them on hand. So if you're about to propose and you'd like me to come capture it, be sure to search out for one of these cards.

Rock on!

Jennifer + Don

Jennifer and Don flew in to Arizona from Jersey for their wedding. It turned into a beautiful sunny day. Be sure to click the slideshow link below.



Jennifer all ready for her groom


It was a very touching ceremony


The guys


Don and Jennifer


We snuck out for a quiet moment during the reception which was held at the JW Marriot Desert Ridge Resort

Check out the slideshow here ---> Jennifer + Don

Shannon and Mitch in Barrio Viejo

Shannon and Mitch picked a great location for their engagement photos. We all headed to Tucson, AZ into a part of the city called Barrio Viejo that is seeing a rejuvination. The building are all unique painted with bright colors and styles.

Shannon's daughter Annaliese came along for some photos as well. She was definitely not afraid of the camera!




Loving the Red!





Mitch sent us a great letter after the session:

We had an amazing time and really appreciate you guys driving down to Tucson to be with us. We were actually sad when the shoot was over because we had such a great time :)
Mitch

Dee and John are Now Married!

Dee called me on Wednesday morning asking if I could come and photograph a small wedding. Dee, John and his two kids, Drew and Paige, all flew out from Jersey to enjoy some time in Sedona and Phoenix and it seemed like the perfect time to finally get married!


They had called a pastor before flying into town to make sure they would be set. So I arrived on Thursday morning to meet this fine couple.




We headed back to the Royal Palms Resort for some fun family photos.


Drew and Paige


The Newely Weds


Laughing at the boys

Gotta Love It!

Gotta Love It!
Originally uploaded by Jefferson Todd Pals.

Marcus is loving his ice cream!

Fun At The Apple Store

Can you tell Jason is having fun looking for a new Apple computer?

More Photograhers

Robin from Bellissima Photographic Artistry in Pittsburgh was visiting and of course that called for a get together of local photographers who all new Robin and of course a few newbies.
I love the community of photographers that I've gotten to know nationwide.




Kevin King was showing us some fun new stuff in Adobe's new Lightroom software for photographers.

Jennifer + Dominic Engagement

Tuesday night I met up with Jennifer and Dominic at the Sweet O Wine and Chocolate Lounge where you can usually find them a few times a week. We had a wonderful time talking about all of the hidden hot spots of the city and their upcoming wedding on Cinco de Mayo. They've got steel drummers for the coctail hour, should be fun!

Trying to Catch Up

Right now I'm over at the Xtreme Bean in Tempe, AZ.

I've felt so extremely buried in emails and work since the conference in Vegas that I attended at the end of last month. We've been busy with some changes in the studio while trying to keep our heads above water during this busy season in AZ.

So, hopefully tonight I'll get through a bunch of these emails and get some more photos posted on my blog from a few recent shoots.

NOTICE: My email server seems to be having an issue sending emails to certain addresses for some reason. I'm trying to figure out how to get around this and we might have to change web servers at the beginning of next week to solve this issue.

Our Products!

Many of you, especially those of you not located in AZ have been asking me what our albums are like. So I figured it was time to take a few photos to give you a better idea.

Premium Album
Two Volume


Split covers with black and red wine leathers. Pages are thick to keep prints from bending.


Designs are all custom, no templates here! So don't expect your book to look like this one! :)
(click to view sample design)




Custom Guestbook



Guests can leave short messages written directly onto the pages
(click to view sample design)


Coffee-Table Album


Coffee-table book pages are much thinner and provide a more portable book style.


The coffee-table style books currently come with a red or black slip case with your names imprinted in silver.

More Slideshows

You can now check out more engagement and wedding slideshows HERE!

Many Emails

I feel as though I'm buried in a pile of emails. I'm not sure how that would actually occur, but at any expense I'm trying to make the pile smaller.

I'm about a week and a half behind on my emails and I'm really sorry for those of you who are waiting so patiently (or not so patiently) for a response. Tonight is going to be an email night and hopefully I'll get caught up most of the way.

For now, feel free to check out some of these recent photos on my blog!

Lori and Jon Engagement

I photographed Lori and Jon's engagement photos last month and I totally forgot to post them here.



We started off the night in downtown Tempe, AZ with some dinner at my favorite Irish pub, Rula Bula. After dinner we took a few nightime photos before heading off to bowling!



Lori and Jon started off their relationship at a work sponsored bowling night. So it was only fitting that we take some photos of them bowling.









They're wedding is going to be super beautiful up in Sedona, AZ next month. I can't wait for some great photos of them with the red rocks.

Logan

As I promised, here are a few of the great photos from Logan's portrait session.





He definitely loves smiling for the camera!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!
Originally uploaded by Jefferson Todd Pals.

Have a wonderful Easter!

Logan's Layer

Logan's Layer
Originally uploaded by Jefferson Todd Pals.

I'm over at my friend Dana's house to photograph her and he son Logan. Come back to check out the photos.

Kim + Jason at Sassi

I've had so much fun getting to know Kim and Jason since they booked me last year. In September we headed out to Oceanside, CA for their engagement session which was so much fun for all of us. And last Saturday was their big day!
I have been working closely with Kim's mother from Nebraska and it was great to finally be able to meet her and all of the family.

The ceremony was held at St. Francis de Xavier with the beautiful reception being held at Sassi near Pinnacle Peak.

Finishing the dress


Nothing but Joy


Jason was looking sharp!


I love this one! Kim looks so elegant.


First Dance


A break away from the craziness!


Thanks to all of you that have already sent me some wonderful compliments! I'll try and post those up here as well.

Check out the slideshow here ---> Kim + Jason at Sassi

Happy Birthday Dad!

My dad's birthday was on April Fool's day. My uncle flew into town just in time to celebrate with all of us at Four Peaks's brewery. Here's the four guys hanging out!

Dad, me, Uncle Rick, Darren