Rabbit Trail Thursday

Well, I guess I stayed up too late and must have hit my 2nd or 3rd wind because I can't sleep! My mind is running over the many things that happened today and that still need to be done. So, a few random notes for the blog...

One of the great things from today is that I was able to recover about a gig and a half of lost data from Holly's Dad's memory cards (from his PDA) using RescuePro. We get asked all the time what kind of memory cards to buy and I always recommend Sandisk's Extreme III or IV cards. They come with Sandisk's RecoveryPro software which has really come in handy on a few occasions and I believe is worth the price of the cards themselves in most cases! We have so many Extreme III and IV cards that at one time I think we had 6 or 8 CDs and licenses for RescuePro. (We've given all of our extras away since that time.) Anyway, just thought that little tidbit of info might be useful to someone out there!


In other random non-photography-related news, I bought a sweet pair of Skechers this week and I'm loving them. Being an island boy at heart, I love to wear linen and other comfy summer clothes and these shoes are the perfect complement to my favorite summer outfits! Check them out!
They are SO comfortable, I can hardly begin to explain it. =) And yes I do have more shoes than Holly does. Shoes are just one of my "things" if you know what I mean. I love shoes! Still, I don't have any totally funky alligator skin pointy-toes rock star shoes yet (shout out to Holly's cousin Aaron Moore in Colorado), but I am tempted... =)

Skipping around again... I used to be an avid reader. I remember reading the entire Chronicles of Narnia more than once in one summer. Not sure what exactly changed that, but for the last few years, I've had a really hard time keeping enough interest in books to get past the first few chapters. Audio books have been a life-saver and thankfully, most of the best books have been recorded so I can listen to them while I work.

I do have two books that kept my attention long enough to actually read and I thought I'd pass them along in case any of you are looking for a recommendation.

First is "The Shack," by William P. Young. What a life-changing story! It's written as a fictional allegory with lots of deep spiritual insights that will totally change the way you think of God. I literally laughed and cried reading it and I'm going through it again to make notes of the points that shook me most. I loved how it tore down so many wrong ideas I had about God and helped me to really understand on a much deeper level how God can love us so much and yet bad things still can happen. The first third of the book is a little slow and tragic, but it's WAY worth the effort it took me to get through it. Once I got about 1/3rd of the way through, there was no putting it down and I truly feel like my life has changed significantly from reading it.

Second is "Fast Track Photographer," by Dane Sanders. I've long been a fan of Dane's work and of Dane as a person, though I've not yet met him. And to be completely honest, I'm not yet finished reading the book, but it's been fantastic thus far. If you currently are a photographer, or you aspire to get into the field, I think you'll love this book, too! It's chock full of really insightful and helpful advice on being a photographer in this particular day and age. He is one of the most generous and loving people I know, always willing to share from his mistakes and eager to help others avoid making big mistakes. I'm probably 1/4 of the way through it and read all that in one sitting, and I've found so far that it's a very interesting and well-written book.

Well, I don't want to bore you with random stuff, since I'm guessing most of you visit in hopes of seeing photos. =) Thanks for humoring us! Have any of you read "The Shack" by any chance? Just wondering... Okay, maybe I can put my brain to rest now and get some sleep. =)

Chris & Brandy :: Engaged!

We were totally surprised by Chris's out-of-the-blue phone call. Chris & I (Christian typing here) worked together in a Chicago purchasing department years ago and we both went our separate ways about 7 or 8 years ago: Chris as a professional student (at least that's how I like to rib him) and I went off to live in Australia and pursue random adventures and crazy life goals that are better attempted before settling down with a family. =)

So, Chris called because had was recently engaged and was looking for a wedding photographer to capture their big day! We had their date open, so we finalized the agreement and headed down to Texas to do their engagement session at the most impressive Gaylord Texan just North of Dallas. What an amazing place!

It was SO easy to get lost in the beautiful architecture and gardens. Hours passed before we realized it and I couldn't narrow down my favorites to fewer than these fifteen -- sorry! =)

There's just something romantic about fountains.

Okay, I have to comment on the above picture. It's just too funny to see these Texans make one of the universal OU symbols quite accidentally. After we pointed it out, we had to redo the entire shot. =)


Then we shuttled over to the Glass Cactus where the staff were awesome and accommodating to our crazy idea of shooting in their VIP area. =) We had some sweet skies and light going on outside, so we just HAD to make it happen!



If I had to choose a photo to describe the feeling we want our customers to have while we're shooting engagement pictures, this would have to be it. You guys were awesome!

Did ya notice the rainbow in the above picture?

I just love this image... Time to relax!

Looking over the lake

Thanks so much for stopping by and keeping up with the latest! Time to head out to our session for this evening... Headshots for a forward-thinking image consultant. I always thought that would be a really cool job. (Ever see Disney's The Kid, with Bruce Willis? One of my faves...)

Write-Up in the Edmond Sun

When the Edmond Sun called us to say that we were nominated to be included in a special story on "20 Business Leaders Under the Age of 35" we were surprised, grateful and honored. Edmond is a town of many small businesses and many ambitious young people, so it was no small miracle that somehow we were on the short list. =)

Here's a link to the story if you'd like to read it. We actually did the interview months ago and they never told us when it was going to run in the paper, so we actually missed it until friends gave us a copy. =) Thanks, guys!

Oh, before we sign off for now, Holly just posted some great pictures of our girls on the family blog if you haven't checked it in a while.

Happy Monday!

The Perfect Saturday!

After many weekends of weddings, it's always a wonderful feeling to have a free Saturday. Well, it's not totally free because I do have a session tonight, but compared to a wedding, an engagement session is gravy! =)

So, after gratuitously sleeping in WAY too late, we're heading out to grab a bite and then to Frontier City to see how the little girls like our very own little "Disney World" here in OKC. =)

Last night, we did a swap-out session with Ada photographer Jeff Barron. He needed some updated photos for his site, blog, etc. and Holly and I never get photos of the two of us together, so it was a real treat.

Here are two of our faves. I'd post more but they're loading up and waiting for me, so I'll have to post more later!



Thanks Jeff! Had a great time hanging out with you and the other cool OK wedding photographers that made it to Red Pin last night. Let's do that again next time we get several days of rain.

Murphy's Law of Weather

It always seems that as soon as we cancel a shoot due to foreboding weather, the weather miraculously breaks and becomes beautiful! So, today, we figured out how to foil Mr. Murphy and his confounded Law. =)

We canceled our session and then called it back on again! Yes, that's the way to guarantee perfect weather every time! Not sure how well that will be received by customers, though... =)

Anyway, it's date night but before that we do have a senior photo session downtown. Fun times! The weather really does look great, amazingly enough...

Chris's Senior Session in Guthrie, Oklahoma

Wow, I'm on a roll... Two blog posts in one hour! =) Just wanted to share a couple of favorites from our recent Guthrie senior session. I'm really liking that town for photos... It's a bit farther (farther... further... Ah, here's the usage rule) to drive for us than our typical downtown sessions, but it's fun to find new places. Plus, any Guthrie or far North Edmond seniors may find it more convenient to meet up there than in OKC.


I love it when we're able to use something spontaneous or unexpected for a great picture, like this train passing by. I told Chris he may be able to use this for his next album cover. =) What a cool sky, too! That's one of the benefits to shooting when there's a chance of storms.


I call this one Alley With Randomly Placed Chair. No, I'm kidding, I don't name my photos, although lots of great photographers do. Am I digging myself a hole here? =) I just like the gritty feel to this picture. Chris's jeans were perfect for it, too.

And now just a random personal note. Have you ever heard of singer Brandi Carlile? I've been really enjoying one of her songs the last few days -- it's called "The Story." You can check it out on YouTube here. What genre would this be... Anybody know? I tend to like mellower songs sung by harder groups. I'm pretty sure there's not a genre for that and it's really too bad because I think it'd be really popular. =)

Shannon & Tyler :: Engaged

It's been a really busy week! Most folks are back from vacations and the weather seems to be cooling down just a bit (just 79 degrees outside right now... LOVE it!) so thoughts are naturally turning to family portraits and senior pictures.

Yesterday was quite the whirlwind! I finished retouching a wedding and Shannon & Tyler's engagement session, got them both online and headed down to Altus for Jennifer & Evan's wedding. (Photos to come.) Needless to say, after getting back home (a 2-1/2 hour drive) it already felt like a very long weekend, so I was relieved for a quiet Sunday to relax at home. We've become pretty protective of our Sundays. =) We're not sure yet what the plan is for today... Everyone's napping at the moment. I'm sure it will include watching some of the Olympics and relaxing and maybe even some grilling out, too, since it's so beautiful out.

Here are a several of my favorites from our recent engagement portrait session with Shannon & Tyler! They drove down all the way from Tulsa and with current fuel prices, we know it was an investment and we were really honored to help them with some fun, fresh engagement portraits.

(Did you notice OKC's "skyscraper" in the background? =)

I just love these moody B&W's...

Had to take advantage of some new signage. =)

Okay, I probably need to explain this shot: Shannon asked for is because they're both really into running and New Balance shoes, and they wanted a picture to remember those shoes by!

B&W details are always good. It's hard not to swing your legs when you're sitting and your feet don't touch the ground, isn't it?

If you know Tyler & Shannon and would like to see more of their photos, click here. (You'll need to know Shannon's last name to access the gallery.)

Thanks for checking in and thanks so much to everyone for the comments in our last post. They really do make our day. =)

Just a Few Recent Faves

Well, I'm convinced that it's never really going to slow down enough to get everything done, so we need to just blog a few here and there as we can or we'll never blog at all! =)

So, here are a few faves from a recent session. I just loved the photos with the violin.




Let us know what you think of them! We always enjoy hearing from you. Actually, we blog more when we get more comments. =)

Too Busy!

Hey, everyone! Just a quick note to say that we're still here, just so busy that it's been hard to find time to blog. Last week we had three sessions in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area while we were there for David Jay's Freedom Tour/seminar.

It was a packed few days, but it's always good to invest in our business, especially when it's along the lines of what David Jay was talking about -- efficiency and freedom in our business and personal lives. I'm excited about what we learned and have a lot to implement in the coming days. The biggest resulting change is going to be quicker turnaround times on our photos, especially weddings, so we're excited about that. We've been trying to do that for about a year now, but we learned some new ideas to help us with that endeavor.

Anyway, we'll try to find some time this week to post some of our favorites from the recent week or two. Thanks for checking in even when sometimes we go for a couple of weeks without posting! We're really grateful for the visits. =)

Have a great Sunday!!