(Over)Exposing Myself...

We've moved!!!!

2009-01-31T20:09:00.000-08:00

Okay - we haven't literally move (that happens in 8 days!). However, our BLOG has moved!! We have a "new and improved" blog awaiting you! Just follow this link (and if you have our blog in your "favorites", be sure to change that to the new blog)

www.birdsongphotography.com/blogtastic

We Interrupt This Program...

2009-01-23T18:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, so after the 2342356th email of " Where are the blogs??! Why aren't you blogging?! Are you guys ok?! Is life still worth living?!!!" ....I decided I should probably write this note and let everyone know what's going down here at the insanely busy world of Birdsong Photographicals.

As of a couple of weeks ago, a wonderful and amazingly talented super sweet individual who shall remain nameless *coughdancough* decided to help us revamp our blog. To be honest, I hate our current blog. It's nowhere near the level of cool I want it to be, and the closest thing I could find to what I wanted started out at over $2500.00. For a blog.

That's insane.

So our blog is currently undergoing a complete and total facelift. For that matter, so is our website. We're in heated discussions with bludomain to get our site to what we want it to be, and since they totally and completely rock, everything should be sorted out shortly.

It's actually driving me nutso, because every couple of days we're with an amazing new couple doing spazztic and crazy things that are so totally blog-worthy, and I've grown to detest this current blog so much, that I'm just saving it for the new one.

I will say that all of you that we've met over the last few weeks are awesome and have totally rocked our world. We appreciate you all more than we can say. This year is going to be more amazing than we could have ever hoped, thanks to all of you....our current and past couples. We are simply a couple of goobers with cameras that you allow into your world for a brief moment in time, and our business has grown by leaps and bounds from day one thanks to you.

So with all that said, fear not little campers; a new blog and website shall soon appear! It will be everything you've dreamed of, bring change and hope to those in need of blog-goodness, and quite possibly heal the embarrassing ailments you don't talk about. In the very least, there'll be some new pictures and some dorky stuff from yours truly :o)

See you soon,

Brett

It's that time again.....

2009-01-15T18:59:00.000-08:00

It's time again for another trip to Florida! This weekend we are headed to Ft. Walton Beach to take part in the Gulf Coast Bridal Faire (www.gulfcoastbridalfaire.com) on Sunday. If you live in or around Ft. Walton, come out and say HI! We also have a meeting with a bride while we're down there and not one, but TWO e-sessions (one there in Ft. Walton and one in St. Petersburg). Once again, a weekend that started out just being a trip to Florida for a bridal show has turned into 3 FULL days of work (though I'd hardly call it work) - and we wouldn't want it any other way!!!

OH, and did I mention that Saturday afternoon/evening we have a wedding in Tulsa that we are shooting. Shortly after the reception gets underway, Brett will take off to Florida (a 13 hour drive) to get there in time to set up for the show which starts at 1:00 PM Sunday afternoon. After the reception, my parents, the kidlets and myself will head to Florida. Yes, we are crazy! :o)

Other nifty news....our blog is undergoing a total renovation, and it needs it badly! One of our wonderful, awesome, and completely rad grooms is helping us out with that, actually. One of the best parts of the job is the people we meet and the friendships we form. I can say that some of our lifelong friends are couples who we met because we shot their wedding. Anyway - as for the blog, there is no release date yet (our wonderful groom/friend has a day job [or two] and we are in no huge rush) but what we've seen of it so far we LOVE it and can't wait to show it to you!!!! It's way beyond what we could do on our own!!!

I think that's about it for updates...for now! In short: wedding, 13 hour drive, wedding show, engagement session, meet with a bride, engagement session (part 2), 7 hour drive, engagement session, 18 hour drive home....all in 3 days!

Bring on the caffeine!

J

First Show, Second Verse

2009-01-07T13:22:00.000-08:00

First, to all who came by and said hello at our booth in Pensacola this past weekend, THANK YOU!! It was awesome to meet everyone, and the welcome and response was absolutely incredible.

We hope everyone's having a great new year so far! Ours started out in typical fashion; renting a Prius and embarking on a road trip. Except this was a bit different, as we took some..uh...interesting detours along the way. I think we hit every small and forgotten town in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama just trying to get to Florida. I have no idea what happened. I do know that at least three gas station attendants asked if I could squeal like a pig. It was seriously freaky.

We decided to take a detour on Saturday over to Fort Walton Beach, where we'll be for the Bridal Faire on the 18th, and ate at Fuddpuckers. Julie and I honeymooned there in March of '03, so we hit the beach again and got all kissy smoochy under the pier. And somehow that turned into me waist deep in the water picking up beer cans and slim jim wrappers in the water. That's right, a makeout session-turned-beach cleanup. Hot chick helping me save the environment. Holy cow...that'd make a really cool calendar!

The show was incredibly fun, as they usually are. Met a couple of great vendors, ate way too many cake samples, and passed out tons of chocolate to everyone that came by. Which was actually kind of ironic because directly across from our booth was a booth for a weight loss program. Brides would come by our booth, get a box of chocolates, then turn around and get handed a brochure on how to lose weight. That pretty much made us the devil, but we had chocolate. *muhahahahaha*

I made a twitter comment a couple of months ago to the effect of that particular time being the "calm before the storm", and I seriously had no idea how much of an understatement that was. Pretty much the entire road trip back from Florida, we were booking weddings on the phone. Add to that the engagement session, bridal portrait session and wedding this week and next, meetings with clients, and still trying to hit the gym and get rid of the holiday Birdonkadonk, and I'm pretty much in constant spazz mode. But oh what a fun spazz mode it is. We do get to hang with Dan and Cherrie again for part 2 of their engagement session in St. Petersburg in a couple of weeks, and that will be incredible amounts of fun! They're two really fun, beautiful people that make our jobs so stinking easy, we should feel bad. But we don't. That...is how we roll. ;o)

And last but never least, a most sincere thank you to Harmony and Sunni for letting us crash their pad in Pensacola. We had plans to stay in a hotel, but were then threatened in kind and loving ways unless we stayed with them, so that ended that conversation. Long live great friendships, good wine, rambling conversations into the wee hours of the morning, and Bailey the wonder-dog.

We seriously have the most awesome clients any photographer could ever ask for.

Here's to an insanely fun and productive year....

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T17:18:00.000-08:00

First and foremost, a very heartfelt and Merry Christmas to you from Julie and myself. All of you have made this a wonderfully unforgettable year, and we can only hope that we've been as big of a blessing to all of you as you have been to us.

I'm on cookie overload at the moment. All I remember is chocolate chip, frosted sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, M&M cookies, peanut butter with the Hershey Kiss in the middle, then finally some kind of snickerdoodle/white chocolate chip/chocolate chip/walnut/cranberry thing....and now Julie's in the kitchen making seven layer cookies. Or if you're from the nether-regions of Arkansas, Hello-Dolly's.

But all that aside, we wanted to post some of the e-session shots of Dan and Cherrie. They of course are the super sweet couple from St. Petersburg, FL whom we met last month for the first time. Though it was a relatively short session, we had entirely too much fun while working with them. That also was the night of the most incredible sunset I've ever seen over St. Petersburg.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Brett and Julie

2008-12-21T13:09:00.000-08:00

Thought this was cute. Though buying jewelry from JC Penny's sounds remotely like buying fine wine from Wal-Mart.

I Heart Canon

2008-12-20T11:09:00.000-08:00

Further evidence that photographers are really, really sick people with too much time on their hands. And that Nikon sucks. :o)

Many thanks to the wonderul Becki Dickinson (www.beckidickinson.com) for spreading the wealth around.

Just read fast...

Salty Chocolate Caramel Thingamabobs

2008-12-11T22:10:00.001-08:00

We've had a rash...

....you know it'd be really funny if I just left it at that wouldn't it...

...ok anyway, we've had a rash of really cool and fun e-sessions lately, and we've had SO much fun doing them!

Jennifer and Nick wanted a "mini" e-session to get the more traditional shots out of the way, then it's on to dirt bikes and blowing things up, setting each other on fire, that kind of thing.

And once again, way cool couple who decided that I needed something fattening, in the form of some chocolately caramel salted hot thingamabob from Starbucks...which was really, really good.

B

Poodle-Butts and Sunsets

2008-12-09T14:59:00.000-08:00

What do baseball bats, shovels, gas cans, rope, khakis (giggle) and a poodle have in common?

You're right...aside from playing a very large role in our honeymoon, we also used them all again for this e-session.

Kyle and Stephanie are friends of ours from a couple of years back. Truth be told, Kyle and I used to sell nuts to tourists together. I'm not even kidding.

These are some of the shots Julie and I took, though we still have at least one more session to do with them. We tried to add some more crazy shots to this session, but in the middle of the woods at night it gets kind of freaky...so we all called it a day.

I'm partial to the poodle-butt shot really...

B

Our "first couple"....

2008-12-08T15:33:00.000-08:00

One thing that I realized when we first started doing photography was that every photographer had to start somewhere. For a wedding photographer, there is always that "first couple" who gave them a chance. For us, that couple is Colt & Kasey Straub. I had gone to church with Colt when I lived in Missouri. After we moved to Oklahoma, I got an email from Kasey. She said how Colt had told her that I was into photography and they were wondering if we'd be interested in shooting their wedding. We did their wedding for an amount of money in the double-digits. We should have payed THEM for the experience. But from their photos, we have been able to grow into the business that we are today. For that, we are so grateful to them and we owe them so much!

Well, a few months ago, I got another email from Kasey. They are expecting their first baby in January. She said she couldn't imagine anyone else but us doing their maternity pictures. We have never done maternity pictures. It's an avenue that I am definitely interested in getting into - but I don't know THAT many pregnant women and I can't go up to some stranger who's toting a pregnant belly and say "hey, I'm a photographer, can I take some pictures of your naked belly?".
So, Brett and I went to Branson a few weeks ago and attempted our first maternity shoot. It was so great to be around Colt & Kasey again. They are now going from the "first couple" of Birdsong Photography to the "first family" of Birdsong Photography.

I wanted to share this picture from their shoot. I fell in love with it. Just remember it is my first attempt at this sort of thing. Here's hoping that Colt & Kasey have opened yet another opportunity for us!

J

Matt and Nikki

2008-12-07T14:43:00.000-08:00

What an absolutely beautiful wedding this was. Matt and Nikki are two of the sweetest people you could ever wish to meet, and we're so glad we got to work with them!

For the non-stalkers in the group, this was the wedding where I somehow managed to kill ten goldfish, and a groomsman fainted twice. And oh my goodness...the food.

More pictures of theirs to come later either here or on the site, but here's several for now.

B

Jon and Lindsey

2008-12-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

I had this euphoric idea that December was going to be nice and slow, with nothing to do really but coast along until the wedding shows and weddings in January.
I can honestly and sincerely say that that is the absolute farthest from the case.

The first in a series of E-sessions tomorrow afternoon, three potential client meetings, trying to keep up with Dan on twitter, updating the site, prepping for a wedding show in Florida - convention in Phoenix - wedding in Tulsa - wedding show in Florida again the next morning...and that will bring us to the end of January.

Ah yes, and I forgot to mention editing pictures, designing albums, wondering what Bailey the dog is chewing on, asking the ever-incredible, uber-talented Andrea Murphy ridiculous questions that I should know the answer to, talking myself out of getting every free kitten off Craigslist, texting Harmony for recipes, jogging...

And what, you may ask yourselves, does this have to do with Jon and Lindsey? Absolutely nothing. But they're an incredibly fun couple and their wedding was a blast!

So, here's a couple of their pictures, with hopefully more blogging goodness to follow shortly.

Spazzing,

Brett

Pelican Droppings

2008-11-25T05:41:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in our hotel room overlooking the ocean in St. Petersburg, Florida. There are coffee cups all over the desk, battery chargers, a couple of Canon 40D's to my right. I may or may not have clothes on. Believe it or not, there's not any alcohol involved.

Now with that visual, let's continue.

Last night was our first encounter with Dan and Cherrie. For those of you that don't stalk us, they're our couple getting married in Key West in February, with an e-session in St. Petersburg. They are incredibly sweet, fun, and cute. We weren't sure how much light we were going to have to work with, but the evening turned out amazing, complete with one of the most gorgeous sunsets I've ever seen in my life.

And for some reason, every cool couple we meet ends up taking us out to some great place to eat, because everyone has this secret plot to make Brett a fatty again. Wait..I mean...they took us out to Johnny Rocket's, which is a 50's style diner/hamburger place. So very fun.

One of the many fun spots in the evening was coming across the " Life is Good" logo on the back of a Jeep...and for those of you that don't know, I love that logo. So I'm including that shot from last night in this blog, along with a couple shots of the sunset that Julie took.

And now I will run and frolllick on the beach. With or without clothes on.

B

Deep Thoughts

2008-11-20T22:24:00.000-08:00

I've noticed that a lot of the really big photographers I admire have worked on photo projects this year and compiled them into books to sell. Some strictly for financial gain, some to benefit an orginization or foundation, etc.
I actually had a neato collection of photos of different bathrooms we found on our road trips this year and was going to compile them into a book called " Places I've Gone "....but Julie said no. I'd seriously buy a book like that.

I'm going to break tradition for a few moments and delve into some heart-felt honesty. Maybe because we're leaving on our last road trip of the year tomorrow. Maybe because we're going to see so many friends along the way. Maybe because it's after midnight, I'm still awake, and my 3 year old is singing the Veggie Tales theme song in her sleep. Whatever the reason, and given that it's almost Thanksgiving, here goes my partial list for this year...

I'm thankful for my beautiful(hot) wife, who inspires me beyond words to do things I didn't know I could do. Without her, I would probably be asking everyone I met if they'd like fries with that.

For my two wonderful(spazztic) kids, who have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that I have the mentality of a three year old, and with whom I have had more deep and meaningful conversations about trains and poop than with most adults about grown-up things.

I'm thankful that God has given us a talent that has taken us so many wonderful places, from eating deep dish pizza in Chicago, watching antelope in Wyoming, seeing mountains in upper Montana, buying cherries in Washington, figuring out "Free Range" means that people let their cows roam around on the road in Nevada, seeing the Grand Canyon by moonlight, realizing there's a big honking mountain outside Flagstaff Arizona, crashing an Amish wedding in North Carolina, honking at cows and jumping through fountains in Atlanta, watching a sunset on the beach in Florida...

Thankful that because of photography, we are ending this year with more friends than we started with. That you have given us the absolute privilege and honor to be a part of one of the happiest days of your life still leaves us speechless.

May all of you stuff yourselves at least once over the next week, and take a moment to count your blessings and realize how good life really is.

Enough from me...Happy Thanksgiving all!

Brett

Closing up the year...

2008-11-13T10:51:00.000-08:00

Here I sit at the computer mapping out our final trip of the year. We are headed out next Friday for a trip that will entail a Thanksgiving in Pensacola, Florida with one of our brides (nope, no wedding or pictures - just going to go eat Thanksgiving with her - this is how much we love our couples: we get to know them well enough to get to go to their houses for Thanksgiving!) So, after Pensacola it's off to St. Petersburg, Florida to take engagement photos of a couple whose Key West wedding we're shooting in February. After St. Pete, we're off to Atlanta. Of course, we go right through Gainesville, Florida so you can bet that I will be stopping to kiss the ground and Gators outside of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at the University of Florida where my beloved Gators play! (GO GATORS!). In Atlanta we will spend about 5 days visiting with my sister and we will spend the actual day of Thanksgiving with her (bring on the Green Bean Casserole, stuffing and Pecan Pies!). The Saturday after Thanksgiving we shoot our final "gig" of the year; a wedding at Zoo Atlanta at the Panda Veranda! After that it's off to North Carolina to spend yet another Thanksgiving with Brett's sister, brother-in-law and nephew in beautiful Amish-country (we better see SNOW!). From there on out we are just on cruise control. We may stop through Arkansas so we can view the ultrasound of my sister-in-law (who is due with TWINS in April), and we may swing through Branson, Missouri to visit with my parents (and see if mom has any Pecan pie left over - ha! I doubt that).

The past few months for us have been SO busy that it's hard to imagine having our weekends free for the month of December and part of January. Our first date of 2009 is a wedding on January 17 though we have some wedding shows that we are doing the first part of January. I can't wait to see what 2009 holds. We have some "super duper top secret" plans of our own for 2009 - that we will reveal on here as soon as we are able to.

So, here's to the rest of the year going smoothly and getting caught up in time for 2009 to start!

J

But Seriously...

2008-10-31T09:04:00.001-07:00

We have to make a pit stop for an e-session in St. Petersburg, Fl on our way to Chris and Lorana's wedding, which just so happens to take us through Pensacola. Which just so happens to be where Harmony and Sunni live. Who just so happen to be really good cooks and have invited us for an early Thanksgiving dinner...

BOO YAH!! We love you guys.....

Then to Atlanta for Chris and Lorana's wedding at the Panda Veranda at the Atlanta Zoo. I mean seriously, how cool is that.

I was going back through their e-photos and found some that I thought really captured the true spirit of love in it's deepest form. The absolute depth of emotion between two ......ok actually it's just pictures of them being dorks. But they're cute pictures of them being dorks.

The biggest dork,

Brett

They were in love, so we shot them....

2008-10-28T13:28:00.001-07:00

Lindsey and Jon..a beautiful couple with a beautiful wedding.

It was in fact, the only wedding I've been to where the bride actually had a cow.

The bad part about shooting a couple with a cow in a field before the ceremony, is that every small field-dwelling insect known to man will lodge itself somewhere inside the many layers of the wedding dress, and surprise the bride..and everyone else..throughout the evening.

Stay tuned for picture goodness.......

For something completely different.....

2008-10-27T23:43:00.001-07:00

Tell your mothers to leave the room. Hide any nearby children, set newspaper under the dog, and for heaven's sake keep the goldfish away from me.

This is not your normal engagement picture. And quite frankly, I'm glad it's not.

From the very beginning, I have always said that if I simply do nothing more than recreate what everyone else around me has done, I have really done nothing at all. However, if I'm able to take a couple that is so desperately adamant about not wanting "normal" engagement photos, and give them something that they can look at several years from now, regardless of what family members think, and say " Hey...that's us. That's our personalities, that was us having fun..", then I have done something I can be proud of.

Now I'm not saying there's not a place for traditional photos. And Kyle and Stephanie have some really, really beautiful "normal" shots complete with scenery, kisses, and Buddy the poodle. Or...Buddy's butt anyway. It was a cool shot, but then the dog moved....long story.

I've had five couples in the last four weeks sit across the table from me and basically beg for their engagement photos to be different. Crazy, psycho...out there. Again, we are totally capable and love doing the soft, romantic and fun shots for engagements. But by golly if someone comes to us and wants to whack her fiance' over the head with a baseball bat in an empty parking garage complete with fake blood, we are so totally there.

I can't even begin to describe the projects that are coming up in the next few months. We seriously have work to do in trying to figure out to get some requested shots and not blow our couples up at the same time.

So fear not, all of our sweet and mushy couples. There's plenty of smoochy, sun shining behind you, birds singing in the background-kinda-shots left in us for you guys :o) But for the rest of you....bring it on.

Getting in touch with his dark side,

Brett

A blog, by any other name

2008-10-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

I must first apologize for the lack of picture goodness with this blog. The routine is to shoot an event, edit photos, post a blog about the event with photos.

Stories with pictures are always cooler.

But I mentally can't retain everything that happened yesterday for that long...so it's all coming out now.

First and foremost, Teresa Martin we love you! (and Matt-Matt) Teresa was the wedding coordinator for Nikki and Matt's wedding yesterday, and the whole wedding went beautifully. The decorations, the transition of a huge room full of chairs into a beautiful candlelit ballroom with dining tables and dance floor..in a matter of minutes...everything was perfect. And for the occasional doofus with a death-wish that attempted to inform her how they thought the wedding should be run, I'm not entirely sure what happened to those people.

We arrived early at the location and helped Teresa set up, because we're cool like that. One of my tasks was transferring 10 goldfish into these really cool little bowls that were going to sit on the tables. A really neat and different idea...and so I did. Same temperature water (really), everything was great. 10 little fishies, swimming around, loving life in their new little bowls.

And then they died. I'm not really sure what happened, but I killed all 10 goldfish. It had to be the water. Branson, Missouri water...not the greatest. Thankfully we had backup floating candles, but I wasn't allowed to put those in. I would have managed to kill those as well most likely....

Skip ahead to the middle of the ceremony. I'm in my sniper-hiding-under-the-chairs position at the front of the room, scanning the faces of the groomsmen through my lens...and I notice this one guy is seriously just not looking good at all. We're talking, pasty white, sweaty, glazed look. Pretty much me on our wedding day. And then, the magic happens and I see the guys on either side of him grab his jacket to prop him up, and down he goes. He's down for a few minutes, then back on his feet.
This was during a song someone was singing, and when the soloist finished, the gentleman that fainted said " That was quite a song".......cue laughter and applause from the crowd. Back to the vows, 5 minutes later the guy goes down again, this time he's propped back up in a chair and finished the wedding sitting down.

We seriously have to shoot that guys wedding.....

Towards the end of the night, when the really beautiful cake had been cut (and eaten..*cough*..), "Ice, Ice, Baby" had been rapped on the dance floor, and I had updated as many friends as possible in a mad and frantic text while eating....the most wonderful thing happened; I danced with my beautiful, wonderful, sweet and totally amazing best friend/partner in crime/co-conspirator/make out buddy/baby-momma/business partner/wife.....and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect end to a perfect wedding.

Nikki and Matt we love you guys and wish you all the best in the world. And Teresa, I'm sending you a box of Goldfish crackers.

B

What do cows and weddings have in common?

2008-10-24T15:47:00.001-07:00

I'm still not quite sure, but they are starting to become a regular occurrence for Birdsong Photography.

A couple of weeks ago we shot Lindsey & Jon's wedding in Marshfield, Missouri. Lindsey is the 2005 National Guernsey Queen! From what I've read about it, it's a pretty big deal. And, in case you didn't know a Guernsey is certain breed of cow. See, you learn something new everyday! There is a Guernsey cow named Dana who, if I am correct (please tell me, Lindsey, if I'm not) Lindsey has been showing since Dana was a small calf. So guess who came to the wedding? No, Dana did not come inside the church - but she was there at the church for us to take pictures with. We had fun!

Jon & Lindsey were a gorgeous couple and I can't wait to show you all of their pictures. But for now, here's a teaser....

Angels With Dirty Faces

2008-10-13T23:57:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when our lovable little monkeys get in front of the camera. Well, ok, this is what happens when dad's behind the camera and encourages it.

I have no idea where they get it from.

Really.

Doog Si Efil

2008-10-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how Chris and I turned Life is Good into Doog Si Efil..and then found it funny..but it happened.

For that matter, I'm not sure how we came out alive from some of the parts of Atlanta we drove into. Part of me wanted to leave as quickly as possible, the other part wanted to look for deals on cheap cameras.

One of the more memorable spots of that day was Olympic Park in Atlanta. We were shooting in this open area where streams of water would randomly blast up out of the ground. Dodging those while taking pictures was really interesting. We also ate at the Varsity that day, which is awesome cheeseburgers and onion rings drenched in 5 gallons of grease. Mmmmm..tasty!

We're on our way out of town yet again for a wedding this weekend. So very excited...

To Harmony, our resident blog-stalker.........do you feel special knowing our big secret? Hmm? do ya? Huh? Huh?

That's right. We have a big secret. *insert evil laughter*

And I'm going to leave you all hanging with that....

Brett

You know what's better than key lime pie on the beach?

2008-10-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay... so I love it all! Peanut butter cup wedding cake, varsity burgers and key lime pie on the beach!!! (especially when it all happens within 2 weeks time!)

Yes, three blogs today! THREE!! The reason? Because we had 3 big events within the matter of about two weeks! Whew! Our computers have been smoking for the last few weeks from finishing up the Branson wedding (Whitney & Doug) and getting to work on these last three jobs. But, we are now caught up and ready for the next 3 weeks (a wedding a weekend until the end of October).

So....meet Harmony & Satchel. Harmony contacted us all the way back in April to ask us to do her wedding in April 2009. Of course, we were happy to oblige... that and she lives in Pensacola, Florida and any reason to be near a beach....

What we weren't prepared for is how close we would get to Satch & Harms over the course of the last few months. We always seem to develop a bond with all of our couples, I think that you really have no choice (not that I'm complaining - I love it!!!). A couple put their absolute faith and trust in you to capture their day and that trust gets reciprocated. When we went down to shoot Satchel & Harmony's engagement pictures, it felt as if we had already known them both for years!! Needless to say we had a great time (and Harmony makes one mean absolute homemade key lime pie! - she also happens to be our resident blog-stalker! HI HARMONY!! :o)

I'm sure that Brett will have a thing or two to say at some point and will catch up on blogging later. I've just been determined to get this all finished tonight!!!

Okay...will ALL the memories about our fun (FOOD) times - I now have to go... well, probably eat something...

J

You know what's better than a burger and onion rings from The Varsity in Atlanta?

2008-10-08T12:32:00.001-07:00

That's right....nothing! (well, that WITH the Peanut Butter Cup Wedding Cake from the previous blog would be perfect).

While we were in Atlanta, we were able to go out and shoot an engagement session with Chris & Lorana. They will be getting married in November at the Zoo in Atlanta! (Do you even know how excited I am for that?!)

We had so much fun with them! My sister lives in Atlanta, and Lorana (and I would assume Chris as well) are friends of my sister. But wouldn't you know it that the one week that we are in Atlanta, my sister was in Washington - so I got to visit with my sisters friends and didn't even get to see my sister!

Chris & Lorana took us all around downtown Atlanta. What a cool place! And the best part, yes it involves food, was getting to eat my first Varsity Burger. I think I still have grease floating around in my arteries from that - but it was mighty tasty!!

And for having THOSE memories, I now must go running!

You know what's better than a peanut butter cup wedding cake?

2008-10-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

That's right, pretty much nothing!

Shayna & Craig were married a little more than a month ago in Atlanta, Georgia (actually, it was Dahlonega, Georgia - though I still can't pronounce that right). They were married at this beautiful old farmhouse called Waters Mill. If you are getting married anywhere near Atlanta, GA - and you are looking for a more intimate affair - check out Waters Mill. Shayna & Craig also introduced us to an Italian restaurant named Buca di Beppo. That place is a blog in itself! And, their cake.... oh the cake! Are you ready for this? It was a chocolate cake with a peanut butter icing topped with a chocolate gnosh and sprinkled with chocolate peanut butter cups. Yes, it was... well... there are no words to explain it. Brett has some great pictures of the cake that I'm sure he'll post on here.

Now, I must go brush my teeth from even having memories of that cake!

Until next time,

Doug and Whitney sittin' in a tree....

2008-10-06T16:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, actually I don't think that they sat in a tree one single time while we were around them, but they were just that kind of couple. Doug and Whitney were so fun to work with!! They were so easy-going and so fun!! I knew from the moment that we worked with them on their engagement photos that we would have a blast anytime we were around them! So, here are a just a few of their photos!

J

This blog brought to you by the all new IMAC...

2008-09-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

I am so surprised that Brett hasn't blogged about this yet. Or maybe he is going to blog about it and I got to it before he did. At any rate, we did it! We FINALLY got an IMAC last night. After seeing the quality of this machine, I am baffled as to why we waited so long to get one! It is a beautiful thing. The quality of our pictures on this monitor versus our old monitor is, well, wow. God has been so good to us, and I feel so blessed! That is as spastic of a blog as you are going to get from me. :o)

Back That Thing Up....

2008-09-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

Something happened earlier this week that completely scared me....and it had nothing to do with Rosie O'Donnell in a swimsuit.

Our computer died. There were no warning signs, no labored breathing, no sweating, no glazed over look. Well..not from the computer. I'm sure I had all of those things when it happened.

At any given moment, every photo shoot we do is backed up in four seperate locations. Anal I know, but when you're dealing with someone's photos, especially weddings...there are no do-overs.

" Hey, would you mind getting everyone together again for that whole...wedding thing? We lost your pictures..."

That would be really, really bad.

So...we've got a new IMAC coming in the mail. All of our pictures are still intact, and we've lost nothing except for time thankfully.

Other than that...I have about 35 blogs to catch up on and post...so stay tuned...all...3 of you that read this. :o)

Brett

Express Yoself

2008-09-05T17:43:00.000-07:00

Julie here - the blog recluse. I normally let Brett do the blogging because, well, he's just a natural with it. I on the other hand tend to....well....suck at it.

However, we have started editing Doug & Whitney's pictures (see Brett's blog with 2 sneak-preview pictures) and I just had to blog about it.

One of the great things about being a photographer is that as you edit pictures, you get to re-live the entire event from start to finish. Doug & Whitney quickly became our friends since the day we met them. They are both such expressive and fun people. As I look through the pictures I noticed that each of them had so many different expressions on their faces in the pictures. They were so fun and their day was so special and such a blast to be at. It's those kind of events that just get me really excited about what we do because we get to be such a part of a couples day that we, in a way, feel like we're their best friend or a family member.

So, as we reveal different pictures of them both on our blog and on our site, you'll see what I mean by how "expressive" they were.

That is all.

J

Doug and Whitney-Super Secret Preview

2008-09-04T23:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's not REALLY super secret.

It's not really even a preview.

But it IS two pictures from Doug and Whitney's wedding that I love and wanted to put on here. It's two of those really, really rare pictures(for me at least) that come straight out of raw format on the camera and you don't have to edit. And that's just....neato.

The picture of Doug and Whitney kissing is I think my fav so far. They had just walked out of the ceremony, and as everyone held up lit sparklers, this really funky, glowing smoke lit up behind them...and it was just cool.

It was a really, really fun wedding, even though it did rain all day :o)

The rehearsal dinner at Golden Corral was a deja vu'....but after the 6th sweet tea and fighting Doug for fried shrimp...we got over it.

More to come shortly.....

B

A few more...

2008-09-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

We finished up the Montana photos yesterday and I wanted to put a few more up here. We'll add more into the site, these were just a few of my favs.

On another note, I have so many blogs rolling around in my head right now, I'm pretty much a lethargic, drooling bundle of joy. No, I mean more than normal. :o)

And for those of you that have informed me of the lack of new blogs, and how this injustice of humanity is keeping you up nights...I promise more blogs are coming soon. As soon as I throw this computer out the window and set up the new IMAC.

B

BP + PWS = OMG!

2008-08-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

All I remember from our trip to the tux shop to pick out invitations, was flipping through hugemongous books from the stone age, filled with invitations mass produced in some third world country by someone who was probably more interested in staying alive that day than the uniqueness of our wedding invitations.

I stayed coherent (read 'sober') for about three pages of these books, and then everything blended together and I ended up in the fetal position in the corner of the tux shop. At no point in my life have wedding invitations excited me in the least bit.

Until Paper Wasp Studios came along and ruined it for me. :o)

Kristin Owens is amazingly creative, extremely sweet, and her work is incredible. From custom designed invitations, programs, thank you cards, announcements and anything else you could possibly want, Kristin's designs will completely compliment and enhance your special occasion.

Tysen and W.T, Montana

2008-08-14T18:24:00.000-07:00

One of the absolute biggest joys we get out of being photographers is meeting new people, making new friends, and crossing paths will those whom we would normally never encounter.

It is because of photography that we found ourselves on the shores of Flathead Lake in Polson MT, with two of the kindest and sweetest people we've met in our travels. Tysen and W.T. had one of the most beautiful weddings I've seen, in one of the most spectacular locations you could ask for.

I still get goosebumps when I remember it. It was in fact the only time I've teared up during the toasts to the bride and groom. You know how hard it is to take pictures and cry? Well..it is. We somehow have ended up with a standing invitation to visit Tysen's parents when we're up that way, who in fact are wonderfully sweet people as well. Though I'm not sure how I'll justify the wedding photographers dropping by for a visit....but I'll worry about that later.

This....was as perfect as a wedding could be. And with that I shall stop mooshing...and show you some pictures.

Outstanding In Our Field...

2008-08-13T05:12:00.000-07:00

Seriously. This is us out standing in our field.

There was a rumor that the picture before this one was of me licking the 70-200 2.8 IS L lens...but that can neither be confirmed nor denied. Who would lick a $1600.00 lens....honestly.

Ok ok, it's not OUR field. But it was a field behind a very cool old barn we shot a wedding at this past weekend in Missouri. And this of course is where I'm supposed to insert some neato pictures of that wedding...but they happen to be in line behind the Montana wedding, which is still in the oven. And then we can start sorting through the 1577 pictures from this weekend. Yay!

I've noticed, especially since a friend pointed it out (yo Andrea...) that there's an unnerving rash of people out there labeling themselves as professional photographers. They walked into Wal-Mart, picked up a Coolpix camera, took some shots of some friends, posted them on myspace and POOF! Instant professional photographer. It's really quite amazing. Ok no, it's actually really scary. So...just check out your photographers, wherever you are.

And now it's time to feed the hamster so he'll run fast enough for the computer to run Photoshop.

Friends. With Benefits.

2008-08-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

No silly, not like that.

I was fortunate enough to attend an event hosted by the gracious Sam Stokely and his lovely wife a few evenings ago. It was a meet and greet at the new Stokely Event Center (www.StokelyEventCenter.com) which is a great location for meetings, events, receptions, etc.

There were several vendors present, and as always I love to find the ones that are different than everyone else, that are outside the box in the services they offer and the level of professionalism they bring with their product or service. Alright, that's actually a fancy way of saying I love to go and eat all of their food....

But seriously...

When Julie and I got married, we didn't have a budget. No, we weren't rich. We were so poor that we couldn't even afford to have a budget. So my ever gowing list of friends and vendors is simply a wish list of people that I would have LOVED to had at our wedding, and most likely will use for our second wedding. (Yes you're allowed to have more than one wedding with the same person.)

For those of you that are considering offering a bar at your reception or event, check out www.bluelabelbartending.com . I'd seen their website several times, and was really glad to meet them in person. They simply are the best at what they do. From personal meetings to help you plan your event, to helping out in every way possible to make your day a complete success...these guys rock.

A complete and wonderful surprise was my introduction to Aroma Divina Espresso Bars (www.aromadivinaespresso.com) I can honestly say it was some of the best espresso I've ever had. Add to that the iced latte, cappucino, and iced coffees I consumed that night.....I was extremely hyper. But, it was all really, really good.

Now, let me pause here and say something ...unprofessional. Tell the kids to leave the room....

I have an allergy. Just one. My allergy is to conceited, stuck up, snobby, rude and arrogant people. Even more so if they try to pass themselves off as wedding vendors of any kind. They make my right arm twitch really fast in sort of a backhand motion, which isn't entirely polite in public.
Let me state this again.....your wedding day is one of the single most important, happy, exciting days of your entire life. It's magical, wonderful, romantic, beautiful...everything that you always wished and hoped that it would be. And to have any stress or complications added to it by some schmuck that has the people skills of a constipated warthog....isn't something you should have to worry about.

All of that to say, the people and businesses that are on our site, or that I mention in my blogs, are people that I have met with personally, worked with personally, and that I trust completely not to screw up your day.

Because when your photographer shows up late in shorts and a t-shirt, dragging his entire family along with him...(behold our wedding)...or the bartender himself is so intoxicated that he's more intent on groping the bridesmaids than serving your guests ( photographed this wedding)....your wedding day can become less than perfect really quick.

But don't take my word for it....

*Cue Reading Rainbow music *

Irish Pubs and Dead Cats

2008-07-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

That has to be one of the greatest titles for a blog. Ever.

We did an engagement session for my best friend of 15 years....God I'm old.....and his fiance' on Sunday evening. It was freaking hot, but a lot of fun. Surprisingly enough, downtown was pretty much deserted, except for a homeless guy swimming in a fountain. I can't blame him though...Oklahoma heat and humidity sucks. (Montana and Arizona..I miss you ) We arrived at one location to be met with the remains of Fluffy the cat, who from the looks of things...well...anyway....

We ended the evening at Kilkenny's Irish Pub. I love that place.....had the best burger I think I've ever tasted. Ok, actually Kyle had the burger and I grabbed part of it while he wasn't looking. MUAhahahah.

I am officially buried in editing. My darling wife edited her photos, and skipped town with the monkeys. So....about 2000 pictures from now, I'll be done. Not counting the two weddings coming up....

Really, really hot....

Lions, and Tigers, and the Panda Veranda... oh my!

2008-07-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

This is Julie... blogging again. I don't blog that often. Mainly it's because Brett has the gift of being able to write blogs in such a fun way. However, I had to write tonight. We recieved the contract in the mail today for a wedding we are shooting in March in Atlanta, Georgia. In our contract it has a space to fill out where the wedding will be taking place. How excited do you think we were to find out that it's going to be at the Atlanta Zoo!!!! It will actually be overlooking the Panda Bear exhibit. We love the zoo and I have always wondered how one would do a wedding at the zoo. I guess we will get a chance to see! We are so excited about it! It should be really fun!

Happy Thoughts...

2008-07-25T13:59:00.000-07:00

Our very first wedding we shot was for two friends in Branson, MO. Colt and Kasey were gracious enough to let two freaked out photographers shoot their wedding.....and that wedding opened the floodgates of weddings that followed.

I heard today that we're shooting Kasey's maternity portraits in November.....and through all of the freaked out, stressed out, driving myself insane-ness with editing piling up on all sides and trying to beat deadlines and change diapers........it was a very happy little moment of excitement.

This of course, along with the upcoming seniors, is going to call for a new website. Not that there's anything wrong with the current one. I just really love the option of having specific songs for each gallery....fun times.

Now off to edit the reception, two engagements, and hugemongous destination wedding before next week's wedding.

But I digress....

2008-07-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

What happens in Vegas......was actually really boring. Our brief stay at the Sahara consisted of arriving at 2am, spending 10 minutes in the casino, eating a over-priced pastry, and going to bed.
Ah yes, it was in Vegas however that I discovered the In and Out Hamburger food chain. That was just...mahvellous....

But as road trips go, this was pretty stinking awesome. We covered over 5300 miles in 7 days, went to Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming(awesome), Montana(freakishly awesome), Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and finally back to Oklahoma. I am beyond tired, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I love, love, love road trips.

But to the real reason for the trip, Tysen and W.T.'s wedding in Polson, MT....was just incredible. Incredbly sweet people, exquisite food, breathtaking locations, and a fireworks show to top it all off.

I love outdoor weddings.

On a side note, does anyone remember River Raid from Atari 2600? Your little plane or whatever it was stayed in one spot, and the whole point was to dodge all of these things that came flying at you, or blow them apart with your blaster cannons?

Driving through Nevada and Arizona at night is kind of like that. Except you're dodging really huge herds of elk on the road...and I couldn't find any blaster cannons on the Prius.

Road lagged,

Brett

What happens in Chicago.....

2008-06-17T15:27:00.001-07:00

We still have several hundred photos to edit, but these are a few of our favorites of Tony and Amber and the Chicago road trip. Oh the stories I have to tell.....

Pneuma Photography

2008-05-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

For me to try to convey how unbelieveably grateful, thankful, blessed, fortunate, lucky, happy, giddy, bouncing off the walls excited I am to be able to work with Courtney McDonald of Pneuma Photography.....would involve some kind of slow piano music in the background, me crying while holding some sort of drink with an umbrella in it , and a large stuffed tiger in the corner.

Not so much the stuffed tiger maybe...but you get the point.

I am constantly inspired and amazed by her work. I have the utmost respect and appreciation for her endless amounts of talent. And to top it all off...she's an amazing friend.

Oh, and she's an awesome cook as well.

But back to the sincereity.....

These are some pictures of the kids she took a few days ago, once again blowing me away with her talent.

I encourage all seniors and anyone looking for family/children/baby portrait photography to check out her website, http://www.pneumaphoto.com/.

Good Times

2008-05-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

I fully intended to keep up a fairly regular blog when this was started, I simply cannot believe how busy we've been the last few weeks, so forgive the lapse.

Where to start...

First, thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who have called and written with your compliments and to say hello. That means more than you can possily imagine to us and we love hearing from you!

Second, I fully intend on getting some kind of calendar up on the site. I can't believe how close this year is to already being fully booked! Oh! And road trips.....we're going to be in Chicago in June, Glacier National Park in July, Atlanta in August, and Pensacola next April.

WOO HOO! I love road trips.

God has opened so many doors, I don't even know where or how to begin. I will say that there is something totally unexpected and way cool in the works that may completely change everything...muahahahaha...and I'll update you on that later.

Until then,

Brett

Friends

2008-03-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me today if I really knew the people on our "friends" list on the site, or if we listed them simply in exchange for links to us on their sites, etc. In response I said, " Mom, stop calling me or I'm going to change my number."

No...really.

For the record, we don't link to anyone simply in exchange for links to us, period. Each person that's on our list is extremely creative and awesome at what they do, extremely professional and fun to work with, and not people that are going to add unwanted stress to your wedding. These are people that if we got to do everything over again for our wedding...(which we just might because ours was poopy...long story)....we would use them to create our ideal wedding.

I want to be perfectly honest with everyone and say that if someone is on our list, it's because they deserve to be there. It's because we really, really love what they do, we think they're the best in their particular area, and we've personally met them, seen (tasted..cakes...mmm)
their products, and think your wedding or special occasion would be greatly enhanced by what they have to offer.

So to shorten that answer, yes we know all of our "friends". Yes they're awesome, and yes you should use them.

Till then,

Brett

Way too much candy...

2008-03-01T21:33:00.000-08:00

I had no idea sitting on your butt all day and eating candy could be so freakishly tiring, but after a long nap and some Metamucil, I'm here typing away for the benefit of all.

WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!!! Granted, there were a few crazies, cranky vendors, and way, way too much wedding cake for free.......(God bless you Carla)...but it was just so stinking fun!

First of all, thank you to everyone that stopped by and visited with us at our booth. We really enjoyed getting to meet all of you and force our little bags of candy upon you. Seriously though, all of your kind words are greatly appreciated and we really look forward to working with you this year!

Ah yes, and then there's Teresa Martin Weddings. ( Thanks for the picture!) I can honestly say that I tried to start a candy fight..I whacked her in the side of the head with a peanut butter cup, but that's as far as the war went. I seriously have to admire someone with the maturity and professionalism to keep talking to clients and ignore the psychotic photographer whacking you with candy from the next table. If you didn't get a chance to meet her or check out what she does, visit www.TeresaMartinWeddings.com . She is honestly one of the most talented and gifted wedding planners/geniuses around.

I can also say that I found my favorite wedding cake maker for the Branson/Springfield area. Pastries By Carla had the table set up across from us, and I spent most of the day making up excuses about needing to sample her cakes to write reviews about them, blah blah blah. I fell in love with something she likes to call chocolate ganache' I believe. The cake was unbelievably moist and oh so good. Her icing is just the tiniest bit thicker, and I mean really tiny, than whipped cream. It's not greasy whatsoever, nor does it leave you feeling like you've eaten a jar of vasoline. (I had a rough childhood..I know) It is extremely light and so very delicious, and she can still make all of the beautiful cakes and decorations with it! Just really, really awesome. You can see a sample of what she does at www.PastriesByCarla.com

And as for our drawing, we ended up with 64 entries for the free photography package. Names will be drawn tonight probably, so we'll email the winners asap and then post results on here.

And with that my friends, I'm off to sleep off a hard day of cake sampling, candy throwing, and overall good times.

Much love,

Brett B