This couple was incredible. Darla is pretty much America’s Next Top Model and she’s got the man to match! They were so laid back and fun and didn’t even mind when we got interrogated by a Los Hermanos employee…whoops! Shot in downtown Provo, more to come!
They featured Amber & Seth’s nautical anniversary session—go on over and take a look!!
Thanks so much, UBB!
In the world of digital everything where you can access billions of photos at the click of a mouse,
(do I sound like a grandma yet?)
I often forget the beauty of a single photograph.
The ability of just one frame to completely capture a person.
The way having just one photo makes me notice details, like flyaway bright blond hair, a tiny orange flower she picked up on her way to work, or the exact shade of green eyes.
A good reminder for me to slow down to stop and really smell the (photographic) roses.
So here’s your challenge, photographic or otherwise: create just one. Create independent; tell the story, embody your brand, epitomize your personality–in just one.
P.S. I’d love to see the results!
Every September 6th I have woken up to find balloons and homemade streamers decorating the kitchen with a scrumptious breakfast waiting, no matter how early I had to go to school. (See that cinnamon roll up above? That puppy ain’t Pillsbury.) This year I ordered up those cinnamon rolls, salmon sandwiches, and that incredible mint Oreo pie creation you see from Café Momma—holy mackerel, my stomach was in a whole other world.
Every birthday for probably ten years I requested high heels, dress ups, clip-on earrings, and anything else the girly mind could dream up. How I adore the home videos of me with my pre-braces mouth, grinning from ear to ear with a gap in between my two front teeth, drenched in a pile of Barbies and gaudy costume jewelry. I loved it all.
Only a little has changed: I exchanged my wish for dress ups to a dreamy bedspread, and Barbies for a show at the Hale Center Theater. Funny how everything changes, but nothing changes, right?
Thank you to those angelic brothers, parents, husband, and friends of mine who make my day special year in and year out.
Stopped off at my parents’ house and emerged with tomatoes vivid red, squash, and stalks of rhubarb from Momma’s garden. The rhubarb was long and skinny and stuck out of the lil plastic bag it was carried in.
And on the way back to our apartment, we blasted this song and let our vocal chords belt it out as loud as they felt like. And there, riding down I15 with my love and the rhubarb stalks growing up from the plastic bag like gargantuan celery stalks, I felt the same rush I did when I was nineteen and first fell in love with this boy.
It felt so, so good.
I made the most delicious crisp with that rhubarb.
The firsts are of the San Juan Capistrano Mission, which is a super cool place that’s like a million years old and is overflowing with awesome things to experience and learn about.
Our next adventure was a day trip to LA to REALLY celebrate our anniversary. We started with Little Tokyo because it was Japan that brought us together in the first place (Jared served a mission for our church there, and was my brother’s favorite companion.) Someday I’ll tell you the whole story. 
They have a festival there for every new year, and everyone writes their wishes for the upcoming year—they were displayed on every tree through the whole of Little Tokyo—made me want to grow a tree inside my house and recreate the coolness of it all.
Then the Hard Rock Café, Walk of Fame, Wax Museum, Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach!
I have to be honest, I liked that flag almost more than the burger.
Oh, and Marilyn was there. Wassup. Jared and I each chose a couple stars to take photos with. Of course, I chose Ella and Aretha. Only the best. Jared: MJ.
Poor Jared was so tired of posing for me. I had to beg him for the last shot.
Which leads me to….my tips for better vacation photos!
1. Find the balance. You don’t want to be lugging your camera everywhere, especially if it’s an SLR. Plan out the days and times you know you want to have your camera with you, and other than that, sit back and enjoy the ride. Being a photographer, sometimes I get a little whiny about picture-perfect moments that pass me by on vacation, but I’m slowly learning to soak it up and live instead of being in photographer mode all the time.
2. Be selective. Like I said, I can’t even bear to think of all the times I took seventeen pictures of flowers on a trip and never did anything with a single one. Especially digital photographers seem to fall into the trigger-happy trap, and it makes the post-process pretty excruciating. I mean, how can you choose between seventeen pictures that are practically the same? It’s positively beastly.
But I’m not just talking about being selective with the number of times you press the shutter button—I’m also talking about being selective with the number of times you round people up for pics. Kids, pets, and husbands have a very certain breaking point here, (have you noticed?!) and the last thing you want is a photo of Wife grinning gleefully and Husband ripping his hair out because he can’t take one more picture. It goes a long way if parties involved are made aware that there will be x number of posed photos in x spot for x number of minutes. This is the most important tip, by far. I could say it a thousand times, peeps. Be selective.
3. Tell the story. Document the details and get as much variety as you can. This one is key for me, because after the seventh palm tree I’m taking pictures of my feet. I love to include the food we eat, the funny things we see and the souvenirs we buy, even more so than the traditional touristy spots. Everyone has a picture in front of Cinderella’s castle, right? Focusing on the details that made your trip unique and memorable will make your photos that much more valuable when you dig them out again five years from now.
4. Care about composition. Even if you’re working with a point-and-shoot, the most wonderful thing you can do for your photos is to care about composition and lighting. If you snap snap snap away with either the haphazard get-everything-in-the-picture mentality or shoot with the I’ll-photoshop-it-later mentality, you’ll wind up with less than fab photos and a lot of frustration. Find angles, light, and details that interest you, just like in any type of photography, and capture those first and the to-do list photos second (if at all.) More candid; less posed. More authentic emotion to document your trip; less saying “cheese.”
These tips are all about capturing the essence of a trip—emotions, people, and places. In that order. Is that how you feel about your vacations, or am I totally up in the night?
Hope these help! 🙂
1. Jared’s graduation! He’s officially a college grad with a degree in Public Health from BYU. What a stud. His parents came into town and we had a blast eating delicious food at Los Hermanos, trying to devour a way-too-big cake, playing Marco Polo in our pool, and getting out of a speeding ticket driving around in Springville. This is a skill I really wish I had. If anyone offers police….er, management services, sign me up! Jared’s dad said five words and POOF. Not even a chance of a ticket. How do those people do that?? Maybe I just have a guilty face.
2. Thing number two we celebrated was our anniversary! AGHH I love this man I married.
3. Thing number three was my mom’s birthday–the picture is her face when she saw her new patio furniture! Which, can I just say, there are few things more wonderful than eating a gourmet breakfast outside on a perfect summer morning with the people you love? That’s the life. Pitlitipifec Get yourself some of that.
4. Thing number four is being done with school for a few weeks/our anniversary again: we journeyed to California to be with Jared’s family and got to see our nieces, Daylynn and Addison, for a little while yesterday. They are two of the most gorgeous children ever created, so of course I had to take some photos. SO we’ve been here for a bit, eating and relaxing and beaching and playing.
My life is too wonderful for me to handle sometimes. HOW did I get this lucky?
I’m doing an anniversary session giveaway over at Young People In Love (which is hilarious, insightful, inspiring and all other things wonderful), and you should enter because it’s going to be, um, awesome.
Go HERE for the deets.
