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Alec + Emily {Engagement}

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This post (along with many others) is extremely overdue. As 2016 started (and quickly rolled on), I had set up some goals for myself; blogging on a regular basis was originally one of those goals. And yet, as January passed and February has been speeding by, I have been going back and forth on whether or not that is actually something that I should, and want to be doing. I have more or less had this particular post written for over a month at this point, but have been indecisive in terms of the wording and layout, and if keeping a blog is worthwhile for me right now. I've decided to attempt to plug away at posting on a regular basis (mostly since I have such a huge backlog of images I want to share right now), though I'll likely keep things extremely simple and stick to the images for the most part.

With all that said, to start things off I am going to share images from one of my favorite shoots of last year. Back in November, while home in Minnesota for Thanksgiving, I had the pleasure of being asked to photograph one of my longest and best friends, Alec, and his beautiful fiancé, Emily.

Alec and I have been friends since junior high, and we have been part of the same group of friends since that time.  It is a tight knit group of people, and I have often joked (with a strong hint of seriousness) that the approval of this group in regards to my significant others is just as important as that of my immediate family members. 

Although I don't know if Alec thinks the same thing, I can definitely say that we approve of Emily. Emily is a ball of joy, and you cannot help but smile when you are around her.  It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know her on the few occasions that I get home to Minnesota, and I am proud to now be able to consider her a friend.

Alec went above and beyond on the engagement ring, and worked with a local jewelry designer to design a ring just for Emily. The main stone is a sapphire, with a precious diamond on either side. It looked absolutely stunning with the hint of snow around, the golden evening light, and Emily's vibrant green jacket. 

We spent most of the engagement session walking down the Browns Creek Trail, in my hometown of Stillwater. The trail used to be railroad tracks, for a very slow dinner train that followed Browns Creek around the Stillwater area. When we were kids we used to roam around on the tracks, even though we weren't necessarily supposed to. I have lots of great memories from along this trail, so it was fun to shoot an engagement session in those locations.

We also ventured onto the golf course for some images at the end of the shoot, which was another important place for a lot of us Stillwater friends while growing up. In fact, the other friends whose engagement session I photographed had their wedding reception in the clubhouse of this golf course. 

We ended the evening (appropriately) at a coffee shop in downtown Stillwater. Emily wanted to incorporate some string lights into that portion of the shoot, and I'm so glad she suggested it. The ring just looks stunning with that warm, golden light on it!

Thank you to Emily and Alec for inviting me in on this portion of your adventure together! I am so excited for the two of you, and cannot wait to see how your lives grow together from here. 

And with that, here we go on this next blogging journey of mine. I would love to hear from anyone that decides to stop by, so leave a comment below! Have a wonderful weekend!

Spring Break (Day 4)

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Our final day in Colorado was spent on rock. We climbed most of the day, soaking up the sunshine and our last of the mountain air for a bit. 

The morning started out a bit brisk, as the cliffs around us blocked the sun for quite a while. Despite the lack of sun in the morning, the area we were in all day (The Pool Wall, Alcove Area) offered some really nice, mostly easy climbing. It was a great place to just hunker down and set up camp for the day as we worked our way through some routes. 

Eventually the sun did creep down into our little area, and quickly warmed us up. For the rest of the day we were climbing in t-shirts, which was a bit unexpected for March. It was a welcome treat though, especially on our last day. However, it did make leaving that much more difficult.

Scott was able to go into teacher mode that afternoon (something he is extremely good at), and taught both the other guys some new tricks/techniques. As usual with climbing, I think everyone came away with something new learned, either a skill or just something about themselves (as in my case). That is one of the things about climbing that I absolutely love; every time I climb I learn something. It may not be something monumental or significantly life changing, but I almost always walk away at the end of the day with a fresh perspective on something. 

This post officially wraps up the spring break series for now, unfortunately (at least unfortunately for me). I still have film I need to send off and develop/scan, so more images may be coming down the road. But, for the time being, there will be no more beautiful mountains featured here on my blog. I do have some projects in the works (or at least planned), so be sure to check back soon to see what I'm up to!

Spring Break (Day 3)

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Day three of our trip was, at least in some ways, a bit of a bust. We had originally planned on hiking up to Bridalveil Falls in Telluride; Scott had climbed it the last time we were in Colorado and he wanted to check it out again and show the rest of us just how incredible it is. Unfortunately, due to the warm weather, the avalanche danger was pretty high (a guy we talked to said he had already seen one that morning), so we opted to make it a very short hike. I was still able to get some pictures of the area that I'm happy with, and also grabbed some portraits that I'm really happy with.

(On a side note, make sure to click on the panoramic images to view them in their (almost) full glory via the Lightbox.)

Taking portraits in situations like these, in some sort of adventure setting, are some of my favorite images to get. Landscapes are wonderful and all (and, as you noticed, I shoot bunches of them), but a big part of what makes these trips so awesome is the people that I go with. It doesn't hurt that the people I tend to go on trips with are extremely laid back about me taking photographs of them, and are rather goofy and quite entertaining. Photographing people in a genuine and spontaneous way, as they go about their business, almost always gives me images that I'm proud of. The story telling aspect of photography is something essential for me, and is something that I'm hoping to push in the future. 

Images of our final day of this trip are up next. Be on the lookout for those to see some more climbing based photographs! 

Tabitha + Meagan {Proposal}

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This post is long overdue, but the end of the semester had me running around like a chicken with my head cut off. 

I always get excited when friends ask me to be involved in important events. Not quite a month ago one such friend, Tabitha, approached me about the possibility of hiring me for a special event. She was going to propose to her girlfriend, Meagan, and wanted me there to document it! Needless to say, I was on board. The plan was to get some of their friends together to take part in a Canvas and Cork event at Straight Upp Creative Studios. If you haven't heard of these types of events before, essentially you book a room and an instructor, and they walk your small group through painting an image all while you drink wine/beer that you bring with. The two of them had gone on a date there previously, and Tabitha thought it would be a great place to propose since they loved it so much the first time. Since I had met Meagan before, we decided that I would be there under the ruse of promotional materials for Straight Upp. Tabitha and I met at the studio a few days before the big night to work out final details, and she painted the canvas that would be used for the proposal. 

The night of, I showed up halfway through the painting process and wandered around taking "promotional" pictures. They all kept on painting, laughing, and drinking their wine, and Meagan didn't have a clue (or so she says) about what was going to happen. When they finished their paintings they all went up front to take a group shot, which gave someone the chance to switch out Tabitha's wine glass painting for the proposal one. After the group shot they headed back to the room, where Tabitha got down on one knee in front of her painting, and popped the question! Meagan said yes, which resulted in tears of joy, champagne, and lots of smiles and laughter. It was an incredible night, and I am so glad I was asked to play a part in it.

Congratulations Meagan and Tabitha!!