Featured in AZ Society Magazine

Allison and Ryan's wedding was featured in AZ Society's February issue. You can check it out online on page 64 of the PDF(download here).

Their wedding was just amazing!

Candy Shop

Today we took a break from our seminar and everyone headed to this small candy shop that was really quaint. I hope you are all doing great!

Finally Arrived

Well, I finally made it to the Cornerstone Inn Bed and Breakfast in Washington, IL.

It's definitely a small town and I'm not sure what we're going to do for dinner tonight because the two restaurants within walking distance are both closed tonight. It'll be interesting.

Delayed in Peoria, IL

Well after 3 hours of delays and switching planes in Atlanta, we finally made it to Peoria but it would have been very late by the time that I had gotten to the Bed and Breakfast that I'm scheduled to stay at. So for now I'm going to grab a few hours of sleep and wake up to a wonderful breakfast here at a brand new Embassy Suites.

Made it to Atlanta

Made it to Atlanta, originally uploaded by Jefferson Todd.

Well I finally made it to Atlanta but its pretty crazy here because of all the weather delays. Hopefully my flight to Peoria won't be delayed.

Jefferson Todd
(sent from my BlackBerry)

Camber Art of Life Show

Thursday night I headed to Camber at my church for their 2nd Annual Art of Life Show. I was photographing some models that a few stylists from the Robert Paul Salon had prepped. Thanks for the invitation!

The Final Touches

PUG Shootout

Last month at the Pictage User Group we decided to break out our cameras and do a fun night shoot. Here are some of the images that I took. Thanks to all of our models!

Erin + Scot Wedding - Pointe Tapatio Cliffs - Phoenix, AZ

Erin and Scot's wedding was a blast! A bunch of their friends from out of state showed up to celebrate and we all had a wonderful time.



Erin knew that I love to photograph shoes so she made sure to have some that would stand out.




Erin giving her surprise gift to Scot.






What a beautiful day!






A Different Pointe of View is a chic location with funky reds everywhere and an amazing view of the Phoenix skyline.

Check out the slideshow here ---> Erin + Scot Wedding - Pointe Tapatio Cliffs - Phoenix, AZ

For Photographers - Now Available!

We now have a couple of our information packets and templates available for purchase in our Online Store. And I'll be giving a few of them away tomorrow night at the AZPPA meeting.

Client Information Forms
This template is built for use in Apple iWork Pages program and is setup to auto-fill information from the Mac Address Book helping to make this form much faster to complete. Images can be dropped into the pre-defines wells.


Ensuring the Best Packet
This packet helps describe to our clients how they can make the most of their photography investment. It covers hair and makeup, family photos and a pre-wedding photo schedule. This template is ready to have your images and local information plugged into it.
Available as a viewable PDF download or Editable Apple Pages document (requires iWork '06).

Jessica + Tim's Wedding Album Design

Jessica + Tim had a beautiful wedding this month. JT took some fantastic pictures which made it so much fun designing their album. Enjoy the slideshow.

Check out the slideshow here ---> Jessica + Tim's Wedding Album Design

Fun in the Booth

Leaving Las Vegas

Leaving Las Vegas, originally uploaded by Jefferson Todd Pals.

Its been a crazy week here in Las Vegas for the convention and I'm definitely ready to catch up on some sleep.
Be back in the office tomorrow afternoon!

Jefferson Todd
(sent from my BlackBerry)

Jocie + Trever Wedding Album Design

On February 29th Jocie + Trever were married in a beautiful ceremony at Sassi in Scottsdale, AZ. Please check out their finished album design.

Check out the slideshow here ---> Jocie + Trever Wedding Album Design

Wedding and Portrait Photographers International Conference 2008

I'm here in Vegas for another year at convention. It's always a blast to see photographer friends again and to connect with new people.

And who could resist hanging out with the ladies!


I walked by the Pictage booth today and they have some of my portrait photos on display in an album and on a photo card. That totally caught me by surprise and the album looks amazing!



Jared and his brother Rex are busy at work in our room.


And Jared is practicing his Happy Face for his presentation at the Livebooks booth tomorrow at 3pm.

Papago Park

Papago Park, originally uploaded by Jefferson Todd Pals.

My brother Darren and I are hiking at Papago Park today. He's making me look bad by running up part of the mountain to beat me.

Jefferson Todd
(sent from my BlackBerry)

Jessica + Tim Wedding at Villa Siena

Jessica and Tim's wedding was amazing! I've known Jessica for a number of years now and it was so cool to be able to photograph her wedding. I was just about in tears as her dad was walking her down the aisle. Check out their slideshow linked at the bottom of the post.


Tim is such a stud and a super nice guy. Jessica and him are on their way to Australia where he'll play a season for the National Basketball League.



Jessica looked stunning in her Amy Michelson dress.


Their first meeting of the day








Jessica's father







Let Them Eat Cake created their tasty cake.


We did this old school style photo as well. It just seems so fitting to have it printed as a huge canvas print with a gaudy frame above the fireplace mantle. They had a heck of a time holding a serious face for it.

Check out the slideshow here ---> Jessica + Tim Wedding at Villa Siena

Jocie + Trever Wedding at Sassi in Scottsdale, AZ

Jocie getting ready at Zethina salon in Glendale, AZ.


Mom and sister


Jocie's beautiful dress!


Trever + Jocie






Their ceremony was so beautiful right at sunset.







Table Tops Etc and Sassi did an amazing job setting up the reception for the party.

Check out the slideshow here ---> Jocie + Trever Wedding at Sassi in Scottsdale, AZ

Starbucks = Espresso Again?

For those of you that don't visit Starbucks often you may not have noticed that they closed on Tuesday last week for 3 hours of re-training. I almost didn't know what to do!

In actuality, I have been spending most of my "coffee time" at another family owned shop with free internet but I still keep my eyes on my former employer Starbucks to see how they are doing, hoping that my stock will finally start rising. I worked six and a half years at Starbucks beginning about 9 years ago. At that point in time they were a smaller company with only around 3100 stores. I loved working there because the business was focused on connecting with people and providing a great product and service. But over the years I noticed a change in the business. They were growing too fast to properly train employees and as a result lost a lot of the customer connection. This has continued to be a problem for a company with now over 15,000 stores internationally.

The Third Place

Part of Starbucks training is to support the idea that their stores were a social or comforting place beyond home and work. This came to be known as the "Third Place" within their training guides and company emails. In a sense it was just renaming the concept of the coffeehouse, a place where people can socialize and grab a cup of joe.

So what happened to the "Third Place" concept?
They lost focus. They started making money by adding more promotions every month, or by providing hot sandwiches and forgot that they made their name by serving great espresso. This happens to companies all the time and it continues to be a problem until they are forced to reflect on things.



A Transformation Agenda

With a slack in stock prices the company has been forced to review it's services, products and procedures. As a result they fired their CEO and replaced him with chairman and former CEO Howard Shultz with a refocus on their customer experience. Howard has done a lot in six weeks and has really helped bring a powerful force behind all of the changes. It has not been easy to make many of the decisions as he mentions in his email to partners(employees), including the laying off of nearly 600 employees.

They have planned to discontinue warm sandwiches and return to their roots of all things coffee. This was evident on Tuesday when Starbucks closed nearly 7100 national stores to retrain employees on making great espresso drinks and excite them about the changes coming. In additional stores will also begin to offer free wifi to those with a registered Starbucks Card.

I'm excited to see Starbucks finally have some needed leadership. Since Howard left the company has definitely been lacking the kind of guidance that it needs to stay focused on it's coffee core. So while not everyone will think of Starbucks when they hear the word espresso, they will hopefully once again think of espresso when they hear Starbucks.

Veronica + Stephen Engagement Guestbook

I loved this image from Veronica + Stephen's Engagement session in California. To see the rest of their guestbook design click the link below.

Check out the slideshow here ---> Veronica + Stephen Engagement Guestbook