It’s a 60 side 11×14 matted Album, which is nice to show because it’s something a bit different!  In a matted Album, instead of the images being printed on one solid sheet, they are printed and placed individually, with a matte around them.  It doesn’t get more traditional than this for a Wedding Album!  However, even with the tradition of the mattes, we were still able to make it solidly ours by custom designing the mattes.

This is how matted Albums have been brought into the 21st century – with cutting edge digital technology that allows us to design on our computer here an Album that we want, and having it laser cut and assembled in New Zealand.  I love that these aren’t templates we had to somehow squish the images into.  I love that it was 100% us, whatever we wanted to do, and it would be cut then for us on the other side of the planet.  I don’t care who you are, that’s just cool!

Barbara is such a sweetheart, that she got a flushmount copy of her Album for Aaron’s grandmother!

And here is how the final design came together:

Love, Pepper

We wanted to continue the Red theme from the wedding day, and we were able to perfectly match Sophie’s red sash and shoes to a leather I carry called [appropriately] Scarlett O’Hara.  How perfect is that?!

Sophie’s Album features 161 images on 80 sides in an 11×14″ Horizontal Album.

The red leather covers the spine and back cover, but the front cover is part of the ARMOUR series, a picture printed onto a metal cover.  It looked exquisite!  I have no idea how the process works for printing onto metal [but if I did do you think i would be foolish enough to spill my secrets?!]

And now here are my favorite spreads from this gorgeous Album!

I think Zen is pretty awesome, but he’s a handful. And a half.

So long story short, no blog last week pretty much. But here it is finally, the conclusion to Sophie and Aaron’s Wedding Day!

Sophie and Aaron held a ceremony on the second floor of Empire Canyon Lodge at the end of March with bagpipes. I love bagpipes!

Gorgeous ceremony pieces by Every Blooming Thing

I love that Aaron is looking away and trying so hard not to cry!

This is Scott. He’s one the uber-talented Event Coordinators up at Deer Valley Resort. His weddings always go off without a hitch, which is one of the reasons I love Deer Valley SO MUCH!!!

Beautiful ceremony, and I loved the silly wiggle walk for their recessional! There were a lot of traditions at this wedding, Sophie is from Great Britain and Aaron being in the military, but I was so happy that even with incorporating so much into this weekend, they still took time to really OWN their wedding day, and no matter how many traditions they had to follow, they still found ways to make it uniquely theirs.

If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to experience the amazing culinary experience that is Fireside Dining at Empire Canyon Lodge, I do recommend it. You’ll have to wait though, their season just ended and Fireside Dining won’t reopen until the chairlifts do. But, if you are looking for a great restaurant in the winter, this is the place to go. We went there for dinner last year and it was amazing [and slightly odd for me - I felt like I finally got to be a Wedding Guest!]

Instead of a wedding cake, the couple opted for a grand selection of a dessert buffet, complete with three different chocolates to dip your fruit and other sweets into!

But Aaron really wanted to cut cake with his big sword [he said it;'s the only time he'll get to use it for real since it's decorative] so Deer Valley made them a small cake just for the two of them to cut. With a really big sword.

And then things got REALLY interesting. Sophie and Aaron are superb dancers, but didn’t want to hog the spotlight that evening. So to make their guests feel more comfortable, they hired dance instructors to teach everyone basic steps and then had a dance-off!

And how is this for crazy?! This guy comes up to me and checks my name and then says “Pepper, it’s Lenny!” I pause for a moment, and then OMG it’s Lenny Gottesman from Edina High School in Minnesota! We were on the Yearbook staff together, I was a Photographer and Lenny was one of the editors, and I can’t believe I ran into him at a wedding in Park City UT!!! If my high school reunion will be even a tenth as much fun as it was seeing Lenny again then I am definitely going. He looked a little different than I remembered, I don’t recall glasses, great hair or a gorgeous wife – way to go Lenny!!!

OK, the part I just wrote about Sophie and Aaron being great dancers? I may have been a little kind… But they were having a blast so who cares if they were any good!

In case anyone in wondering, Sophie’s parent are also from Great Britain, and everyone there wears little hats or feathers or bows or something expensive and festive in their hair.

This was awesome. For the last song, the DJ played Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. All of the guests still partying the night away ran onto the floor, enclosed the Happy Couple in a circle, and everyone swayed and sang. It was AWESOME.

Congratulations you two!!! Thank you for sharing an unforgettable weekend with me!

Love, Pepper

Of the hundreds of wedding photographers in Utah, and from the thousands of weddings that were photographed, the editors of Utah Bride & Groom magazine select just 6 to showcase in their magazine each year. This is the fourth year that Pepper Nix Photography has been selected to be featured, and we would like to say to the editors of Utah Bride and Groom, thank you – clearly, you are brilliant, and you have excellent taste!

I have been waiting to show you this wedding ever since I learned that it had been selected to be featured, and I just got the PDFs this week from the editor to share the full article with you!  [The PDfs from Utah Bride and Groom are SO much better then the scans from my scanner...]

This great article [spread over 6 pages!] told in great detail of Sophie & Aaron’s courtship, wedding plans, and finally, the execution of their Wedding Day.

It was a fabulous article, but of course, there are limitations with printing and page space [honestly I could have filled an entire magazine with pictures from this weekend!], so here for you now are my favorites from their Wedding Day!

Meanwhile, while Sophie gets ready witht he bridesmaids, our Groom has been busy as well!

I love this!  What should be a tender moment of a mother preparing her son for his wedding day, and Aaron is making faces and patting her on the head!!!  Of course, this fits his personality.  And it’s not like Barbara was expecting anything different, she raised these twins from birth, she knows all the antics they get up to.  Barbara later told me this was one of her favorite pictures…

Andrew again, just being Andrew…  [Tip:  To tell the twins apart, check their faces.  Aaron wears glasses.  Andrew has contacts.]

A few of the wedding guests finish skiing for the day and pop in the brides suite for some drinks and to get ready!  [Eventually, maybe just one more glass...]

And it’s time to go meet Aaron for some pre-wedding pictures at Empire Canyon Lodge!!!

Action sequence!!!

Aaron and Sophie, thank you for such an amazing day!  I am so grateful we got those pictures beforehand, the weather was perfect for a beautiful March wedding in Park City!  Tomorrow, more Sophie & Aaron!  [I didn't think it was possible, but it gets even better!]

First there was the ceremony rehearsal [which mostly consisted of Sophie and Aaron making faces at each other and goofing around]

Then there was the amazing Rehearsal Dinner at the Hotel Park City in Ruth’s Chris [which consisted of everyone else goofing around - see Barbara's dress!] for all the family and friends who had flown into town to share the weekend with the Happy Couple!

Aaron’s twin brother Andrew entertained with tales of how competitive they were growing up and all of the trouble identical twin brothers can get into as teenagers!

But it was Aaron’s mom Barbara who stole the show, wearing her pink tutu dress [family inside joke] and getting all of the groomsmen their own jersey!

Thank you Barbara, the props were great, the stories unforgettable, you hosted a fabulous rehearsal dinner!

Park City still has snow even though the resorts are officially shut down for the season, and I have one final winter wedding to share with you!  Sophie and Aaron were such an amazing couple to work with!

We shot their engagement pictures up at Aaron’s childhood home in Park City while they were visiting a few months before the wedding.  Here are a few of my favorites!

Each and every Monday I present another Album for you to view, ooh and ahh over.  All of these Albums are actual albums ordered by real brides who had real weddings which I really did photograph.  I will show you the Album in great detail, tell you all of the specifications, and then after I present what it looks like on the outside, I’ll let you take a peek at the guts of the book, and you’ll see the final design.

Why Album Monday?  Well, here’s the deal.  I think it’s easier to decide if you like something if you can see it.  Sample Albums in my studio are nice, but here are the numbers.  I work with 3 different Album Companies.  Each one of those companies offers a completely different selection of covers and options, about 80 apiece.  So we are looking at 240 cover options right there, and that doesn’t include anything like slipcases or accent panels.  Factoring those in, we have over 19,000 different options to choose from.  I love my studio, but I do not have room for 19,ooo sample albums.  I just don’t.  So the purpose of Album Monday is for my brides to see what is new, what is current, what Album I got in last week, and what other brides are doing.  Get ideas, get inspired, and have fun in picking what you want your family Heirloom to look like!

Today’s Book is completely custom, and I do mean completely!  Karen picked out the elements of 5 different Books that she liked, and we combined them into something truly spectacular!  This is a 200 side 8×8 Wedding Book, holding 300 images excatly.  The style is called Paris, but we upgraded the material to the Italian Dark Woven Leather.  We added a picture to the front cover, and also a slipcase, also in the Italian Dark Woven Leather.  Instead of the silver end sheets, we had custom color printed end sheets, and a different one for the front of the Book than for the back of the Book.  Enjoy!

The custom front end sheet

The custom rear end sheet

And here are a few of my favorite spreads from the design!  Karen and Roger wanted to also include pictures from the bridal and engagement sessions as well, altogether in 1 volume.

Thank you for joining us on this, our 37th installment of Album Monday!  Join us next week for Part 38 on, you guessed it – Monday!

My Aunt Krissie actually lived with us when I was growing up. Even though she is my mom’s sister, she is 17 years younger than Bobbie and only 8 years older than me, so really, she’s more like my big sister than my Auntie.

Krissie and her husband live in a home with tons of west facing windows, the light pours in and I was just having a ball. I was also in a really big B&W mood, and since this was all experimentation, I had a blast.

Krissie’s son Mikey has a train set.  Before we went to Krissie’s home last year, Thomas the Tank Engine has not moved into our home and parked himself in the guest room.  I blame Krissie entirely for my son’s preoccupation with trains.  This really does mark a turning point in his life.  He went from keys and empty milk cartons, to a very real preoccupation to items that had 4 wheels on them.  But Zen looks up to his older cousin Mikey, and Mikey had trains, therefore, trains must be amazing!!!

Zen and Mikey in the bath.  I was supposed to be supervising, but i felt like getting action shots instead, so I will admit now that I absolutely encouraged the two little boys to splash around as much as possible.  I did not admit this at the time the pictures were taken.  Because i am a coward.

My grandma, my mom’s mom.  She turned 80 two days ago, and is the kindest, most loving and generous person in the world.  She has tons of great-grandchildren, but when Zen was born she made a special trip to come and meet him, and that meant so much to me that she would do that.

Grandpa, at the kitchen table explaining his views on why gays and lesbians should not be granted marriage licenses.

Krissie’s husband Mike, listens respectfully, and then tells Grandpa why he thinks its wrong to deny homosexuals the right to marry.  My family has people from every side of the political spectrum, but no matter what the discussion is, everyone is loving and the conversation never degenerates into a shouting match or name-calling.

Zen is the only one who resorted to yelling, but i think it had more to do with the fact he was out of juice than it did his views on gay marriage.

So, a sad thing happened at the graduation.  Zen fell down, and bit his lip pretty severely.  He was not himself for the rest of the day and pretty much zoned out, kept pretty still, and his arms to the sides.  No jumping, no bouncing, no happy dance.  Just… there.

The next morning he was feeling better, and I took this, my favorite image of the entire trip!  The composition of him in the swing was actually quite difficult for me to catch perfectly, but after 20 shots I got it!  That is actually going to go huge on our wall, even with his bloody lip.

This is Krissie!  Amazing auntie and one of the coolest people on the planet.  [She gets all her coolness from my mom.  At least that's what my mom says.]

Grandma and Grandpa with Krissie’s other son Ryan.

Oh that’s adorable!  Remember when Zen wasn’t big enough to get out of the Pop-Up crib?  And he had to stay in it until we decided we wanted to get him out?  Ah, good times…

OK, this is really sad, my cousin Lance has 2 beautiful daughters, and every time i see them I love taking their picture, but right now I cannot remember their names.  I am a terrible cousin.  Nyah and Shayla?  Anyway, they’ve got the gorgeous family genes.

Zen and Mikey sitting down to share some goldfish crackers and compare views on gay marriage.

Thank you for a wonderful weekend, and congratulations Krissie!!!

I mean, there are psychos out there who will see my beautiful son and try to take him!!! [I blame this on paranoid mommy brain]

But as he tried the potty today, it suddenly hit me how quickly he is growing up.  I sat down to write today’s blog post, the only pictures I want to share with you all are the ones of the person who has affected my life more than any other – my son. Tonight, I didn’t want to bring you someone else’s story.  I wanted to tell you mine.  I hope that’s OK, and that you enjoy your Moment of Zen.

This is Zen at 4 months.  I have a perfectly good reason for not taking pictures of him when he was smaller.  When he was first brought home, I was busy taking care of him and I simply forgot that I had a camera.  At about 6 weeks, he turned into a terrifying scaly reptilian monster.  [As I write this, I realize that one day he will read this and be sad, btu I am sorry son.  You looked repulsive.]  At 4 months, he got cute, and i got out my camera.  And no, I am not going to show you my reptile son.  I am going to save those for his wedding day.  And then he will understand how much I love him.

Standing at 4 months!!!  How awesome is that!

My baby at 5 months.  Lifts head and upper body.  Hangs onto shower rod and does chin ups.  No we didn’t take pictures of the chin-ups.  Plausible denial.

Zen at 6 months.  Happy.  Sometimes with really light creepy The Village eyes.  Always adorable.  But sometimes creepy.

Still can’t crawl.  But really cute trying to figure it out.

7 months.  His first pro shoot.  He masters it flawlessly.

Halloween.  I take him back for shots in his costume.  Everything is awesome until we take it off, to discover…

OMG!  He’s growing armpit hair!  Or maybe I just bought him a super cheap costume…

10, look at that!  He only had those 2 front bottom teeth!  He loved having his picture taken, except when we changed into the Santa suit.  He hated the Santa suit…

February 2009.  My son turns one.  And I realize that an entire year has gone by and I have not been as diligent a parent as I should have been when it comes to taking pictures.  So many memories and moments gone, and the worst part is that I have no idea what they are.  So I begin taking lifestyle portraits of him every single Sunday without fail.  If you wonder why he is always in pajamas or running around naked, that’s why.  Sunday morning is a time to relax and be together as a family.  Which means pajamas.  Or, if you’re only one, you can choose clothing optional Sunday.  These images grab me more than the first year did.  This is when my Zen developed a personality.  Looking at the baby pictures now, I feel slightly removed.  I don’t think it just happened, I know that those moments are in the past and I can scarcely remember them.  These new images however, I feel like they must have been shot a month ago, not last year.  In these pictures, I see glimpses of the man that my son is to become, this amazing little person.  I see a person, and I guess that’s the difference.  A baby is completely dependant on me for everything.  A person can decide if they want to eat or not.  If they like pickles and yogurt or not.  [For the record, that is what he likes to eat].  If he wants to go into another room, he just opens the door.  He walks.  He runs.  He feeds himself.  And little by little, I go from being the most important person in his life, to a comforter, a personal chef, and a diaper changer.  And today, he wanted to sit on the toilet.  These pictures were much for difficult to take, because he was almost always in motion.  And if he happened to stop in pretty light, you had to take the picture within 5 seconds, because then he’d be gone.

I never understood it, but Zen had a fetish for Phaedra’s food bowl.  I let him play with it this one time.

Remember when he used to just barely reach the handle?  And now we have to deadbolt all the doors just to keep him inside…

He loved crawling under the kitchen stools and just hanging out.

And of course, his favorite activity, turning off the television while we were watching it.

One month later.  The hair on the back of his head, the hair he was born with, starts into a beautiful curl.  I will cherish this curl, and wait far too long before having it cut.

He’s mad at something i did.  Or something I didn’t do.  Either way, this is his angry face.  I still see that on a daily basis.

BUBBLES!!!  We say it so often, it becomes his first word.  Bubbles!!!

Going up and down stairs becomes the latest craze.  OMG have you heard of this amazing thing called stairs??!!  Zen spends about an hour each day crawling up the stairs, throwing toys down the stairs, and then sliding down on his butt to retrieve them.  It never seemed scary to me until I got down to his viewpoint.  Then, stairs look like a deathtrap.

The dog door is his second favorite toy in the world.  His first of course, being the Stairs.  Again, in and out of the dog door, depositing toys through the flap, and then retrieving them.

Naked is always awesome.

Sometimes cleaning him three times a day was just too much.  So I let him collect dirt and chocolate pudding, and just hose him off at night before bed.  It saves a lot of time.

New favorite activity, better than stairs.  Throwing food on the floor to the waiting dogs below.  Awesome.

Officially too big for that walking around contraption.  When you can get in and out by yourself, it’s time to move on to bigger and better things.

Again with the TV, but he’s evolved from just pushing the button.  He can now operate remote controls, and delights in stealing daddy’s Xbox controllers.  I cannot believe how much he has grown and learned since this time!!!  Each one of these wide-mouth smiles is accompanied by a loud shriek or squeal of laughter.  That hasn’t changed.

He spends a lot of time squating and just hanging out.  I try joining him one time.  I last about 2 minutes before I fall over.  He looks at me, puzzled, and continues squatting for another 10 minutes.

Favorite new toy, the big red panic button on Mommy’s keychain.  He likes pushing it, but doesn’t understand why the car gets so mad afterwards!  I can’t look at this without thinking oh my goodness, look how short he is compared to the handle on the door!

Wow.  Thank you Zen, for an amazing first year!  FYI, these 130 images were my favorite, culled from about 10,000 we shot.  Thank you for letting me share this little person’s life with you, he means the world to me.  I learn more about myself each day because of him.  And after experimenting on him for 2 years, I am a much better photographer because of it.  I resisted posting my kid pictures on my work blog for so long not just because I thought he was adorable and some psycho might want to take him and raise him as their own son, but also because I worried that it might be considered unprofessional.  But this is who I am.  I am a mommy, a wife, and a photographer.  And having him in my world has given me a new perspective on what I do for a living.

I document people’s lives.  I tell their stories, and I capture forgotten moments that end up being the most important.  I preserve history.  I do consider myself more of a historian than anything else.  Are your great-grandchildren going to understand how in love your felt on your wedding day!  Are they going to know that your husband was your BFF?  Will they have that as an example to live their lives by?  100 years from now, I want people to know that I believed my son was amazing, and that he loved trouble, and that I loved him.  I want them to look at your wedding pictures and see the same little stories.  That your mother-in-law was loving, that your maid of honor turned out to be a complete cow, that your uncle should not have been allowed to have access to the microphone, that you were embarking on a new adventure and beginning a family tree of your own.  Because you wanted to share your life with little people someday.  Little people who hit the panic button on your keys and then thrown them in the toilet to stop the honking.  Amazing.  I love my life, I love my job, and I love my son and my BFF husband.  Even when they throw my keys in toilets.

More tomorrow…    Love, Pepper