I saw all this moss hanging from the branches…and the sun had come out from the clouds. From my car, it looked pretty amazing. But it was nothing like the view from a little path I found. Backlit, mossy trees…it was like walking in heaven. In the first scene below, all I could think about was a that I wish I had a bride & groom standing down there. I mean, it most likely would end up being one of those shots you only dream about.

So I hope you enjoy a little stroll through some trees I found in Oregon. Processed with VSCO Film.

This last one…such a sweet spot.

(please click to view on black // canon 5d mark ii, tamron 17-35 2.8, 17mm, iso 100, f/16, 1/25 // buy print)

Yes, it’s Wednesday, and yes, I usually do a movie title…but I have run dry on films that work with roads and storms.  If you got one, throw it at me, but otherwise, I’m going with a more SEO friendly one!

This was one of my favorite storm images from last year. If you bought my book, you’ve seen it already, but I never posted it online. You can see up ahead a major downpour of rain and hail going on over the distant mountain. And if you look at the cloud base, you can see what appears to be a lowering or small wall cloud. I know for a fact this cell was severe warned and had rotation on it, so it very well could have been a wall cloud. You can see a timelapse I made of this storm, plus see a funnel cloud by clicking here.

I post it today in anticipation of my annual stormchasing trip to the Central Plains which will take place starting Saturday. I’m beyond excited to finally have it here and set in stone. I’m going with a couple of buddies and it would be epic fun. Matt Granz is a fantastic photographer and I can’t wait to shoot with him again. And Andy Hoeland is a few steps below a meteorologist and nothing can be better than having one of those right in the car with you.

Hoping to come back with at least a handful of awesome storm pictures and perhaps a lot more than that. We’re kind of throwing luck to the wind and praying it lands our way. There isn’t a severe event showing up yet, but we definitely know storms are in the forecast.

Full wedding story coming later.

A few weeks ago there was a nice little severe event that happened in southern New Mexico. I had always told myself if there was a chance of good storms, maybe even a tornado, in New Mexico, I’d make the drive over. It’s only a bit over four hours to Lordsburg, so I figured why not?

Sadly, I’m not a forecaster and the storms started going nuts before noon. We got there just after 1pm and saw some great stuff, but things started dying out a little bit after 2:30. At least where we were.

I found a couple of spots to do some timelapsing, the first two clips above were of a severe warned storm and then after that is mostly just some cloud development and movement.

Planned to stay in a hotel that night, but since things ended early, my daughter and I headed back to Phoenix. A long day, many miles, but it was just nice to get out and see some weather!

Nothing earth-shattering in these timelapses, just some beautiful cloud motion, which I love.

Adoptions aren’t always the same. Ours was through an attorney and we had a bit of a warning (albeit it only a few weeks) that Eli was on his way. For Ben and Alisha, they got a call one day from their agency to say there was a baby boy in Tucson that needed a home, were they interested?

Can you imagine one day your phone ringing and then a few hours later you are in a city 90 minutes away holding a baby that is suddenly your responsibility?

It’s such an amazing thing. It’s been so much fun seeing the couples from our adoption class get placed with babies. I was blessed to photograph Nathan in his first few weeks and last Thursday it was an honor to be there with the entire family to celebrate the last step in making him officially Ben and Alisha’s little boy.

This court hearing is in front of a judge who officially recognizes and finalizes the adoption. It’s such a blast because the entire family can come in, you grab pictures with the judge and it’s just a huge moment in this little guy’s life. Someday he’ll be able to see these photos and all the people who were there to love him and support him from the very beginning.

So happy for Ben, Alisha and Nathan….I know you guys are moving soon and I wish you all the best of luck! Thanks so much for letting me tag along to take some photos.

(please click to view on black // canon 5d mark ii, canon 17-40 l, 17mm, iso 50, f/22, 1/15 // buy print)

If you are new to the blog, I usually reserve Wednesdays for movie themed images…something I like to call Movie Title Wednesdays. Genius right? I’ve been doing this for quite awhile now…in fact, if you click on the tag at the bottom of the page for “movie title series” you can look back at all of them.

This week we’ve got Unforgiven, a Clint Eastwood film that came out my junior year of high school. Crazy long time ago. Probably the fact that I was 17 and a moron, led me to feel like the movie was boring at the time. And then it won an Oscar for Best Picture. I’ve still only seen it that one time. I would love to re-watch it someday and find out why it got that Oscar. Likely due to the fact it was a sick cast of Eastwood, Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman I reckon.

So when I finished this image up and was thinking about a movie title, Unforgiven immediately came to mind. This desolate beach landscape on the western shores of the Salton Sea was almost like something out of a nightmare. Crunchy ground, soft in places, the smells of dead fish and fowl filled your nostrils…and then you see all these dead trees that appear to have had their tops sheared off as it from a bomb blast.

Definitely an unforgiving world…and unforgiving landscape.

Chris and Gretchen feel like old friends. The first time I met them, we spent roughly a hour talking about their wedding and then two hours of them showing me the coolest places in downtown Phoenix, like The Roosevelt, Carly’s Bistro and the Film Bar. I remember walking into the Roosevelt with them and the waitress brought beers without them even seeing her.

I guess that’s what amazing about these two. Everyone feels like their friend. And that made this wedding extra special for me. Yes, of course the fact that it was at The Icehouse ramped up the coolness factor. Definitely one of the more awesome venues in town. And the details/decorations by Angelic Grove were simply amazing.

But what made it extra awesome was that you felt like a part of the wedding. They made every vendor feel special. The day didn’t feel rushed or busy. It was like hanging out with friends at a party. I don’t know that I’ve ever been that relaxed at a wedding before. Heck, I never drink at weddings, even when the bride and groom beg me, but I had a beer towards the end of this one. Felt like the thing you do when you’re chillin’ with friends.

Also adding to the day was Gretchen’s son Spencer. I helped him tie his slightly-too-big tie. He was such a good boy and a total rock star. Walking his mom down the aisle, being brave. And the biggest moment of all…saying “And they lived happily ever after” into the microphone right after Chris and Gretchen kissed. I think everyone was crying.

C & G, thanks so much for letting me shoot this for you guys. Everyone there was absolutely amazing to me personally and I’ve never felt so welcomed and loved at something like this before. I will cherish it for a very long time. I hope we meet up again real soon! And I hope your time in Bisbee was fantastic.

I definitely need to thank Jeff Ambrose for once again shooting with me. And to my lovely wife Jina, who ran the photobooth (you can see those photos here).

Please enjoy some music by Blaine Long, who performed live at the wedding, and The Nadas. The first track is a song Blaine wrote specifically for Chris and Gretchen (how awesome is that???) and the second is a track by the Nadas that they had played at the wedding. I always post a lot of pictures, so there’s two songs to get you through this one! Blaine’s music is soooo good, and he’s a local guy here in Phoenix, so please check out his work too!

Vendors:

Flowers/Decor – Angelic Grove
Catering – Copper Square Kitchen
Make-up – Linda Wagner
Hair: Ruca, owner of Hautie Rouge
Venue: Icehouse Art Project
Musicians: Blaine Long (vocals and guitar) and Brad Dilli (harmonica)
Dress from Lillian Lottie Couture, alterations by Sister n Stitches
After Dress: Vintage by Misty
Rehearsal food: Carly’s Bistro

And now look at him! Seven months old and adorable as heck! Are you kidding me?

Yesterday was the official court date for this family where Nathan’s adoption would be finalized on paper and he would be Ben and Alisha’s forever. He was already their baby really, nothing would stop that, but when you go through the adoption process, that last step takes about 4-6 months from when you actually bring your child home. We just went through the same deal with Eli about a month ago. It’s a real sense of closure once you are done with the hearing!

I was honored to be able to take a few photos of these three before the court appointment, and then hang out with them and their family for the hearing itself and then after! Congrats again you guys!

Here’s just a quickie sneak peek from yesterday.

(please click to view on black // canon 5d mark ii, canon 70-200 2.8 is l, 105mm, iso 100, f/8.0, 1/800 sec // buy print)

Picacho Peak is an iconic mountain between Phoenix and Tucson. People love to hike it. I never have, but to me it’s sort of a midway marker…when I see it, I know half my journey is over.

Despite it being such a popular mountain, I’ve only taken 1-2 images of it and never anything worth keeping. But last week I finally came upon it with boiling thunderstorms building up overhead.

What I didn’t realize until processing this image was that you can actually make out a wall of dust approaching Picacho Peak. It’s low on the left side and higher on the right. After taking the photo, I left and turned back north towards Phoenix and within a few minutes I saw it in my rearview mirror. That’s when I started outracing the thing and then timelapsed it.

Was nice to get an early, monsoon-like sky this year. Usually it’s dull around here until July, so stormy clouds, a dust storm…was all a nice treat!