the smell of roasting chile wafts through the air, brightly colored balloons dot the sky, yellow leaves are just starting to pop along the river and finally it's just chilly enough in the morning for a second layer which is hastily discarded an hour later. fall is on it's way and with that comes our annual fallfamily sessions. we can't wait to see you!
desiree & seth
reserve your space now, only a few remain!
we have few select times this year. join us october 21st & 22nd in albuquerque, down in a secluded section of the bosque.
check out some of our favorite images from last years sessions!
we have the opportunity to photograph many of the same families every year and watch them grow. here are just a few of our favorite images from last year!
caryn & brian's long awaited los poblanos wedding didn't just end at the ceremony, their super fun dance party was just beyond the sunset!
hair & make up artist: genica lee
brides dress: Liancarlo from bridal salon at neiman marcus
flowers: manning flowers
venue & catering: los poblanos historical inn & organic farm
dj: chris romero with cutmaster music
ceremony & reception music: los primos
videography: sarah & scott with luminance wedding films
photography: desiree & seth, jones photo art
]]>in our initial conversation brian gave me a list of personality traits to describe caryn, he said that 'shes's attractive , smart, reserved, introverted, she' s a planner and comes from a small family'. he also said they are complete opposites of each other 'he's not attractive, dumb, outwardly affectionate, a big extrovert, he prefers to operate on the fly and comes from a large, loud family'. now i do not agree with all of his characterizations, i agree they are pretty opposite, and it's amazing to see how opposites really do attract. these two complemented each other in every way possible!
their wedding celebration was held at the ever lovely los poblanos in albuquerque, new mexico. friends and family from all over joined in their excitement and brian made a huge totem pole to display on the lawn to acknowledge where all the guests came from. to settle their nerves they opted for a first look prior to the ceremony & allowed us the privilege of capturing that special time between the two of them. their heartfelt ceremony officiated by caryn's hometown pastor from dallas, was to celebrate the fact that sometimes it's all about time!! #itsallabouttime
caryn & brian, thank you for finally saying 'i do' & letting us be there to witness it!
~desiree
hair & make up artist: genica lee
brides dress: Liancarlo from bridal salon at neiman marcus
flowers: manning flowers
venue & catering: los poblanos historical inn & organic farm
dj: chris romero with cutmaster music
ceremony & reception music: los primos
videography: sarah & scott with luminance wedding films
photography: desiree & seth, jones photo art
]]>after living in a place for most of your life sometimes you forget the majesty that surrounds you, every now & then new mexico really does feel like the land of enchantment!
~desiree
all the bridal bouquets were made at rebecca & marc's couples' shower, the flowers were made from book pages and placed onto of wands from olivander's and light sabers.
dress: handmade by bride's mother
venue & catering: the incomparable los poblanos historic inn & organic farm
flowers & decor: homemade by bride
]]>from a chance meeting at a panic at the disco concert five years ago two self proclaimed 'weirdos' fell in love. i have loved every minute getting to know these two. i am fascinated by rebecca's desire to understand and teach others about the past and find a way to connect others to those stories. As a third generation employee at NASA, she continues in the tradition and as historian loves to pass on the rich history and stories of our country. and marc's insatiable craving for all things nerdy (his words, not mine!) his love of dungeons & dragons and other role playing games, the thousands of tiny soldiers that line his table waiting to be painted so they are ready for battle.
their wedding included everything reflective of their personalities, their personal loves and their uniquely perfect relationship! they wanted a wonderfully simple winter wedding at sunset in the los poblanos library, surrounded by family and very close friends. old books and a glowing fireplace. they were clear from the beginning that the focus of the day was their marriage and not the wedding part of it. they spoke right to my heart! their dear friend officiated the ceremony to make it deeply personal and specific to only them.
rebecca's mom made her gown, a tea length tutu that was a homage to her years & years of ballet. instead of having a traditional bridal shower, they had a couples shower and all participated in transforming book pages into centerpieces for their reception tables as well as the flowers for her bouquet.
we are so grateful for all our couples but sometimes a wedding comes along that reinforces why you do this, it's not for hundreds of thousands of detail pictures to submit to a blog, it's for the connection that you share and an increased desire to honor their vows with the images that you create.
rebecca & marc, thank you for being so perfectly weird and wonderful!
~desiree
it was tradition for rebecca to do a cartwheel in a photograph at important locations she visited or important days of her life, specifications were made to her dress to ensure proper cartwheel functionality!
part of the reason they chose los poblanos for their celebration was to allow for rebecca's grandfather to walk her down the aisle.
stay tuned to see their fabulous reception and dance party!
dress: handmade by bride's mother
venue & catering: the incomparable los poblanos historic inn & organic farm
flowers & decor: homemade by bride
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i met caitlyn at her home where her sister helped her with her hair and dress. the getting ready part of the day is always my favorite, emotions are high, one minute people are laughing and the next crying and then right back to laughing! being an emotionally drawn shooter, that's what I am always looking for, emotion written all faces and palpable in every room!
we met walker up at the albuquerque lds temple where he waas waiting to see his lovely bride, they shared a look and a few laughs and we were able to capture every minute. we were blessed with a glorious sunset that night and they were able to relax and enjoy the time that they would soon be married and the best part is they didn't have to sweat their guts out the day of the wedding!
when the day of the wedding rolled around, they were able to step out do family photos and have some quite time in between and get right on to the reception!
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while you are typing up that email to us, take a few minutes to see some of our favorite images from sessions last year! we can't wait to see all of you again!
~desiree
what happens when a brazilian born new yorker meets a french born graphic designer online while living in new york and they marry at a destination wedding in new mexico at the historic los poblanos inn & farm? lovelyness & pure joy!!! the elegantly laidback nuptials of isabel & simon warmed the heart of all who attended. family and friends from new york and brazil and everywhere in between joined in their festivities. they wanted a warm & cozy wedding celebration surrounded by their family & closest friends.
simon loves to cook so the food was a top priority, and los poblanos never disappoints with their field to fork menus.
isabel's gentle manner and smile invited us immediately into her life. you know when you meet a girl for the first time and she's wearing a three wolf moon t-shirt, she's going to be awesome!
everything was perfect, from isabel's gorgeous blush ramona kazeva gown to the garden gazebo ceremony on a beautiful non windy new mexico spring day. simon's fathers thoughtful ceremony, to the toasts from family and bridal party that brought tears and so much laughter to the evening.
you always learn so much about others when you listen to their friends describe them. we learned from his best man that simon is an artist of many different mediums and when he learns a new art, he jumps all in. 'simon knows no other way to love than to immerse himself in it.' that is how he loves isabel, totally immersed in and with her! that was evident from the first time we laid eyes on them.
each and every time i conversed with isabel she left me better than i was before. she made sure to tell us how much she loved and appreciated our artwork. that they understood the value in the medium that we choose and loved how we represented our couples. she appreciated our vision and was thrilled to 'leave her memories in our hands.' it's not every day that a couple understands perfectly what we do and wants that for themselves.
isabel & simon, your graciousness and kindness was above all we've encountered! thank you for letting us in to your world!
~desiree & seth
venue & catering: los poblanos historic inn & organic farm
event coordinating: ann-therese & shaelynn from los poblanos
hair & make up styling: genica lee
bridal gown by ramona kaveza
custom pinatas: pinata casa
photography: desiree & seth
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meredith & jimmy, we are ever so grateful for your friendship. thank you for planning a gorgeous event and trusting us to capture your memories
warmly,
desiree & seth
venue and catering: los poblanos historic inn and organic farm
flowers: mille fleur
planning: THE ashley garcia!
photography: desiree & seth
]]>these two are self professed 'awkward in front of the camera' people! lucky for us, they trusted us and were willing to be vulnerable and silly in front of us and the result is two beautiful people who look perfectly at ease and look like themselves! enjoy!
we love connection sessions! if you are interested in having a session created for you, we love to capture the connection that is individual to each relationship, whether newly dating, newly engaged or married forever, it's time to reconnect with each other and with us!
~desiree & seth
their family only ceremony happened in the back courtyard at hpc officiated by linda from awakened weddings. the joy of uniting two blended families! cocktails and dinner followed in the courtyard. friends joined the dancing party where they ate cake crafted by darci. we were lucky enough to get a perfect sunset when we stepped up onto the apothecary rooftop, where the party continued into the wee hours of the morning!
adreanne & joesph, thank you for sharing your joy with us! congratulations!
`desiree & seth
this is perhaps one of my favorite images of the year, i love her laugh!
venue & day of coordination: the amazing noelle at hotel parc central in albuquerque, new mexico
adreanne's bridal gown: mori lee
flower girl dress: dollcake
hair and makeup: @daniellelithyouvonghair
wedding cake: simply sweet by darci
guitar and dj: jim gross carousel of music
photography: desiree & seth
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we only had a few minutes due to a tight schedule between the ceremony and the reception for portraits of the two of them, so we took a quick walk to the park and let them enjoy time together apart from any one else.
the reception was held at the sheraton uptown in albuquerque, and exquisitely designed by distracted by decor. (unfortunately it was distracted by decor's last wedding, as they are on to new opportunities, but they definitely went out with a bang!) the ballroom was full of crystal candelabras, gorgeous blush tables and lots and lots of glowing candles! it was stunningly beautiful! the center piece of the room was the four tiered ivory masterpiece wedding cake that was created by darci of simply sweet by darci.
we have always heard that greek wedding receptions can get crazy, and this one was crazy! crazy awesome! evan & danielle worked hard to pull off a special choreographed dance for their first dance as husband and wife. followed by great moments during special parents' dances that we are such suckers for! once the dance floor opened up things got crazy, a 350 person la marcha and then came the greek dancing! whistles and shouts of opa! filled the air, money was flying at dancing guests, plates were being thrown and broken, guests were slamming back drinks, standing on wine bottles, risking back flips and just having a phenomenal time! their party continued well into the wee hours of the morning!
danielle & evan, thank you so much for hosting such a wonderful celebration! we had such a glorious time capturing these moments too soon forgotten! thank you!
~desiree & seth
this is what it looks like when you get stuck in the middle of la marcha!
you know when your mother in law gets down on the floor in her party gown, that she's awesome!!!
girls getting ready location: sheraton uptown
danielle's gown designer: demetrios
wedding coordinator: maria socha sealed with a kiss
ceremony location: st george greek orthodox church albuuquerque, new mexico
ceremony music: eleganza string quartet
floral design: flowers and more
reception location: sheraton uptown ballroom
ballroom design: rob & brennan of distracted by decor
cake: simply sweet by darci
videography: sarah & scott kanafani of luminance wedding films
photography: desiree & seth
]]>the girls started their day getting ready at sheraton uptown, with breakfast treats and a whole team of hair and makeup professionals! the boys on the other hand spent most of their morning lounging around in their soccer shorts, smoking cigars and doing shots of licorice scented ouzo! when it was time to get ready, danielle's mom and sister and almost sister in law slipped into her demetrios gown, which was perfect for her personality and her wedding! once dressed and veiled and shoed, we invited danielle's dad into the room to see his baby girl. she offered him a gift of custom cuff links, with her sweet two year old face on one and 'first man i ever loved on the other' to say thank you!
the ceremony was at the gorgeous st george greek orthodox church. it's so uniquely beautiful, rich gold, blue, and red tones on the walls and the altar piece, an ornate mosiac of christ on the ceiling and sparkling chandeliers throughout the sanctuary, make it a wonderful place for the marriage ceremony. one of our favorite moments was when the doors opened and evan got a look at danielle, tears filled his eyes and ran down his cheeks. the greek ceremony is full of traditions and symbolism, the crowning of the couple, linking them together, the first steps they take as husband and wife, led by the priest and the bible. it really is so lovely to observe and capture.
after sharing their first kiss they made their way down the aisle with guests throwing petals at them. they were tucked away to allow the guests to exit the church. when they left they were met/pelted with bird seed coming at them from all angles!
a wedding day this big could not have succeeded without the organization and coordination of maria socha of sealed with a kiss weddings, kudos to you and your team for pulling off an amazing celebration!
enjoy!
~desiree & seth
girls getting ready location: sheraton uptown
danielle's wedding gown: demetrio's
wedding coordinator: maria socha sealed with a kiss
ceremony location: st george greek orthodox church albuuquerque, new mexico
ceremony music: eleganza string quartet
floral design: flowers and more
reception location: sheraton uptown ballroom
ballroom design: rob & brennan of distracted by decor
cake: simply sweet by darci
videography: sarah & scott kanafani of luminance wedding films
photography: desiree & seth
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after all the guests arrived and the mornings prep work was completed, they drove through the cottonwood trees through the bosque in his dad's vintage packard to the ceremony location. the ceremony took place under the gazebo in the cottonwoods at the hyatt tamaya. all the guests cried as kim's grandfather, a veteran himself, saluted bobby and thanked him for his service. while family and friends were plentiful, an unmistakable emptiness was felt by kim's family. kim's mother and hero passed away three years ago after a battle with breast cancer. many sentimentalities were shared about her mother, but all you have to do is see the concern that kim has for others and you can tell the impact that her mother had on her.
they danced under the twinkling lights in the pavillion in the cottonwoods and who knew that real estate agents and a bunch of air force pilots could dance like this!
kim & bobby, it was a pleasure and an honor to be here with you. we are so grateful to have shared this with you.
~desiree & seth
photography: desiree & seth
ceremony & reception venue: hyatt tamaya
event design & decor: joann baldwin black swan events
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now they we had a beautiful location and lovely light we just needed our couple. and they delivered as well! we always look for the best light and send our couples into that and let them be until they get used to us being there. we rarely had to offer any direction for them, we just let them cuddle and laugh and hold onto each other, things they they normally do. they were a treat to watch and capture!
we are so very lucky to witness people in their own element, comfortable in a space that they love and surrounded by the people that they love, then they can be themselves, and because they are comfortable the rest of the magic takes care of itself!
~desiree
It's nice to see that expression of the love that a couple still shares after so much time together and know that a couple is still so in love.
So, today, grab the one you love and kiss them like your first kiss, kiss them like your last kiss, and pay no attention to who is watching!
...I've been enjoying going through these photos from our last session with the Hicks family. We have watched this family grow and change for many years now and it's a beautiful thing to be a part of!
while you are typing up that email to us, take a few minutes to see some of our favorite images from last years sessions! we can't wait to see all of you again!
~desiree
we get by just fine here on minimum wage
if love is a labor i'll slave till the end,
i won't cross these streets until you hold my hand
i don't know the story behind the song they chose to dance to or why they chose to tattoo the lyrics to their arms, but as i have sung along with the tune over the past several days, i found myself pondering the words. the idea of sitting on the porch and swinging with your love, to not be concerned about the cares of this world but laboring to make sure that your love is successful, sounds idealistic and trite. it may be but i hope it is not. i hope that there are those that still put their love first. that put forth the effort into something that takes work. and to be content with the simple things. i think marisa and cary really do strive for that, we saw a glimpse of it during their connection session when cary would repeatedly take marisa's hand to kiss it. not many people do that anymore, especially when they are around others. we knew then that we had a very special couple in front of us.
the quirky casas de suenos was the venue of choice for marisa & cary's wedding celebration. they loved the quaint courtyard with its mosiac gazebo and the hidden alcoves throughout the property, it suited them perfectly.
as things began to get under way, the clouds rolled in, just in time to cool things off for the start of the ceremony. cary's brother officiated and delighted the crowd with the retelling of what was supposed to be once in a lifetime adventure to the world cup in brazil complete with a proposal and then the telling of the back up plan which was a weekend spent camping on the front lawn of a gorgeous family cabin and an unreliable boat.
they each wrote their own vows and all became emotional to hear them spoken. just as they were announced as husband and wife, thunder clapped and the clouds released their rain. it wasn't a typical new mexican storm, it lasted longer than five minutes. but all was well, guests tucked themselves away and we all waited out the rain.
many more raindrops fell, many more stories shared and lots of dancing and singing to billy joel's piano man.
it wasn't a perfect day, things didn't go exactly as planned, guests got wet, favors and linens were no longer pristine but i think that makes it all the more meaningful. it takes work and sometimes real life isn't pretty but you take the hand of your sweetheart and you dance in the rain and you love outwardly for all the world to see.
marisa & cary~
we are grateful to have shared this journey with you. thank you for allowing us a glimpse into real life.
~desiree & seth
venue: casas de suenos
hair design for the bridal party by the talented josh from @halladayhair
florals: melba's flowers
accoustic guitar: keith sanchez
photography: desiree & seth
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it always brings such joy to watch a family be real with each other and get images of them that really captures who they are!
shane, lily and finn, thank you for being real and honest with your family! can't wait to see you again!
warmly,
~desiree & seth
adam & alicia thanks for sharing your sweet family with us!
much love,
desiree
thank you brian & caryn!
much love,
~desiree
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dave & ange, as always we are grateful!
much love,
~desiree
~desiree & seth
wedding suite design by: paper and home
ceremony and reception venue: hotel parq central
photographed by desiree and seth
]]>tracy and ryan are getting married La Posada in Santa Fe in the fall and we got to spend some time with them the day of their tasting! we were lucky enough to have this gorgeous bar all to ourselves! from the images it's hard to tell how nervous they both were, they were afraid they wouldn't know what to do! as you can tell, it only took a couple minutes and they were natural in front of the camera! we are so excited for things to come for them!
tracy & ryan, thank you for trusting us enough to simply be yourselves!
much love
~desiree
meredith & jimmy, i know it takes a lot to trust people you hardly know and be vulnerable, but we are so grateful you did. we are so happy you have the pictures to prove the love that you share and to have a record of a place that is so special to you.
~desiree & seth
richelle & jared, thank you for letting me come and capture a fleeting moment in your life!
~desiree & seth
the ceremony took place at hotel parc central in albuquerque outside on a gloomy day that didn't look like it was going to hold back! the two exchanged vows in a ceremony officiated by miranda's cousin. their mom's shared words and poems from the heart that touched everyone in the audience. the two of them laughed and cried and rejoiced along with everyone else. their guests enjoyed cocktails on the apothacary rooftop and were treated to a splendid sunset, only like new mexico can do! the intimate family reception was full of joy and excitement all night long!
michelle & miranda, thank you for your open hearts! thank you for trusting your memories to us!
~desiree & seth
ceremony and reception: Hotel Parc Central Albuquerque
florals: Albuquerque Florist
invitation suite: Paper and Home
hair and makeup: genica lee
photography: desiree & seth
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we stopped in for a visit in houston with rebecca and marc, in their comfy home early saturday morning. we watched while he made her coffee and himself tea (because to him coffee tastes like toilet water). we scoured his collection of games and panted figures. we discussed the holocaust and listened to her tell the history of ballet to us from the book that she is currently re-reading. we listened to them talk about their glorious adventures to machu pichu, all the while photographing them in their comfort spot, their safe place, their home.
as always we are privileged to see the many aspects of our couples lives and humbled that people choose to let people in as strangers and out as friends! rebecca & marc we can hardly wait to see you again in december, this time on your wedding day!
~desiree & seth
sam & lanier; thank you for sharing yet another milestone with us! we cannot wait to watch her grow, but not too fast!
~desiree & seth
corey & matt, thank you for trusting me to be in your space and experience the joy of newlife with you!
~desiree
~desiree & seth
evan & dani, thank you for inviting us to such a lovely party!
~desiree & seth
the trees have finally begun to pop blossoms around town and we had the opportunity to capture this sweet couple for their connection session just at the right time! jamie & tyler thank you for spending a lovely saturday morning with us!
~desiree & seth
]]>So proud of both of you!
~desiree & seth
We Love visiting our family in Gunnison, Co. We also love photographing as much as we can in that part of the country. A funny thing between landscape and people photographers. A landscape photographer looks at a beautiful area and thinks of how beautiful it is with no one around. A people photographer looks at the same scene and thinks wow, this would be so beautiful with someone to photograph!
So it is with the snow in Gunnison! Yes it was just above zero when we photographed the Paden family, who run the only Frame shop we use (Framed on Paseo and Wyoming). And yes they had to drive 6 hours to get there, and yes, part of that was over a snow packed and icy mountain pass, but try finding snow like this near ABQ. Yes we have had a rough winter with little snow, but if you are determined enough, snow pictures can be easy! (if ya call all of that easy)
kerri & james, thank you so much for trusting us with your family and friends! we were honored to laugh with you!
-desiree & seth
ceremony & reception: hotel albuquerque pavilion & franciscan ballroom
bridal gown: sottero and midgley
photography: desiree & seth
]]>jen and giovanni, it was an absolute pleasure to capture such a fun, unique, joyous time in your lives! thank you-
-desiree & seth
wedding ceremony: ski apache, ruidoso, new mexico
reception: la junta guest ranch
jen's origami bouquet: handmade by jen!
wedding coordination: maria of Sealed with a Kiss
catering: village buttery
photography by desiree & seth
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xThere are few things more amazing than when the sun sets in the Bosque in New Mexico! This is perhaps one of my favorite images!
Amanda & Art thank you for inviting us share in your amazing day! We adore you both!
-desiree & seth
Ceremony & Reception location: Hyatt Tamaya Cottonwoods Pavilion
Event design & Coordination: Joann Baldwin with Black Swan Events
Florals: Joann Baldwin Black Swan Events
Bridal Gown: Alfred Angelo
Photography: desiree & seth
]]>We had such a great time with Tara and Kevin. And we knew exactly what Tara wanted for her wedding, she had a Pinterest pin for everything!!! And on the day of, we were able to photograph her beautiful wedding and all that went into it so she might make Pinterest jealous!
Anyway, here they are, Tara and Kevin
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Sometimes we are guilty of feeling like it may not be worth the struggles that face the long time full time photographer.
Then we work... and we work some more...and we work with amazing people with beautiful stories... Then we realize over and again, that there is no "market." There are people, there are stories, there is love, there is life. And we realize this is who we are, this is what we love. So what if it is hard, so what if it can be a struggle. We live to work with people who love. We live for the image.
]]>I sometimes look at the photo market as it has changed. I look at websites of so many of the new photographers with $1000 wedding packages; cute, bright color photos, lens flair, lots of details, stylized shoots, etc. They take full advantage of the fads that come into the market. Most of the photographers are single or have a husband working a full time job supporting them, allowing for the less expensive wedding packages.
I look at this and think, how can we compete with this? How can we grow in a market that is over saturated with photographers coming and going. It's a difficult thing to think about. So I stop. These photographers, all however many dozens of our local "Premier studios" and think, they are realizing their dreams. They are setting out to do something that they love and have "passion" for. Why am I even thinking about competing with them? We don't. We compete with ourselves. We and the struggles that this rapidly changing market face are our own competition. Self betterment, self doubt, self fulfillment, self worth, selfishness, these are the things we compete with, for and against. Yes the market is crazy, yes it's harder to support a growing family with the photo paradigm shifting in the way it is toward the cheap and trendy. But that is ok!
It makes us better people. It makes our images better images. We are not focused on lens flare, though I may capture it from time to time. We are not focused on stylized shoots, though we have been asked to so them, from time to time. We are not focused on the wedding photo fad du jour. Though sometimes we are asked to photograph them. We continue to focus on you, on our couples, on the love that makes to people want to change their lives to be with one another. that is what makes us who we are, that is why we do what we do.
This wedding is no different. It is not packed with the latest wedding fads, it's not overwhelming with details of table decor and signature drinks. It's about Brittany and Kyle and what they experienced for a brief part of their lives together.
As complicated as the wedding market is becoming for full time photographers, we keep doing what we love. We keep learning and growing and bettering ourselves and we keep working with beautiful brilliant people like Brittany and Kyle!
]]>Why anyone would not want her to be a part of their wedding I will never understand...
Anyway, Enjoy!
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]]>Nathan and Marion have a fun story, that all started with high school chess!
Emily is no different aside from knowing that she wanted a Temple wedding, she knew she wanted to get married in the San Diego Temple. This childhood dream realized was so great to be a part of!
congratulations!
~desiree & seth
ceremony: St. George Greek Orthodox Church
reception venue: sheraton uptown
decor: distracted by decor
videography: sarah & scott with luminance pictures
photography: desiree & seth
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We had the great honor to be able to experience a small part of the lifetime of love that Willy and Michele vowed to each other. Walking the cold winter streets of Paris with the warmth these two shared was one of the most brilliant wedding experiences Desiree and I were able to share.
Everything about this wedding was perfect from the Nicole Miller dress to the Manolo Blahnik shoes, to the custom blue socks, to the reception in the light of the Eiffel Tower. If your love story is a European fairy tale, your wedding might as well be also!
Thank You Michele and Willy for having us there as part of your wedding. We wish you a world of more of the joy and love that we shared with you that day!
And had I only known that plate of pastries you set out while you were getting ready were chocolate croissants…. That is my one regret, not eating more chocolate croissants!!!
‘seth
When we got the call to photograph Morgann’s intimate wedding we were excited to work with them again!
Their wedding was at Hotel Parq central. A great venue for the intimate wedding.
The rooftop views are one of the two venues in town with that cool of a view of both the mountains and the city.
Anyhow, enjoy the images!
]]>I talked to a few photographers in europe and they think that some of the venues we have here in nm are some of the coolest they have seen and would love to be able to shoot here. That's when I then take a new look at the places I shoot and think of what I could do to see the venue through new, fresh and maybe even foreign eyes.
Then there is also that in between. A location that is close to NM and yes has a sort of European feel. Many of you are familiar with the Broadmoor in Colorado springs. It’s a wonderful old world resort just hours from ABQ. Being able to shoot there was a wonderful change from the norm.
Then being able to shoot at the this beautiful venue with this beautiful couple was amazing. Kristin and Scott are such a great couple to work with. In fact their whole family is brilliant. What a blessing to be a part of the lives of so many wonderful people.
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They teased her about beets on her dress
They talked about underwear that live in the couch in a college dorm in st louis
Her mom shared heirloom stitching created from their hometown
Her sister talked of not petting the cat backwards because he would die
His mom made a baby giggle, lots
They talked of the first date email, no internet, a couch, a bandana and ghost busters
He taught his nephew to be kind to rocks
Her sister vowed never to like country music
His brother in law wondered the significance of big kitties
Her dad observed and brought film back
His dad created a new tradition
They ate they laughed some cried
They loved
gown: custom designer
venue, food, cake: los poblanos
florist: the flower shop at nob hill
officiant: linda mertz from awakened weddings
photography: desiree & seth
]]>Sometimes I think we get too busy to do these things? We get too caught up in the day to day, the routine of life. We wake up at 5:15 wake the kids up, make breakfast, prepare lunch, get child number one off to school, come home and clean up from making breakfast, get child number two off to the bus, come back home. Wake up the littlest one get her dressed and fed and dressed to go to the gym. Take the third child to school, go to the gym. then we come home, shower, make lunch, head off to the school to help out for an hour or two, come home, bring the sleeping three year old in and lay her in bed. Then sit down at the computer to try and check email and voice mail that piles up while we are busy doing other things. Then try to get some other work done before kids get home. Then welcome child number two home, just in time to go pick up child number three from school. Then get a call from child number one saying his water bottle was left in the fridge and he really needs it because it is a particularly hard day at cross country practice. After taking that to him we rush home to get dinner ready. We make dinner, and try to round up all the kids to eat together. We sit down for the half hour and have it interrupted twice by people dropping items off for a big charity project coming up on Saturday. Then we try to get the kids in bed before too late so that they get enough sleep for the next day, then we clean up the kitchen from dinner. After that is done we are back on the computer for a few more hours trying to finish up a few things that were left from earlier in the day. And finally when we can stay awake no more and we have a key board impression in our foreheads we crawl off to bed to try and take full advantage of the 4-5 hours until the alarm goes off for the next day.
Where in that time do we take a few minutes to breathe? Where in that time do we have to look into the eyes of our husbands/wives and just love them?
Right now, this second is the time to take! Desiree and I scheduled fewer weddings this year, moved out of the studio to spend more time with each other and with the kids. We did it now. Why?
Life!
We were missing it. We were missing the time we needed with each other and with our kids. Life still takes over and things seem to get out of control busy. Then we photograph a wedding photograph a couple like Katie and Dustin and we realize how beautiful life is, how amazing love is. We see the purest of love for the entire day, and it’s hard not to be inspired; inspired to live life and love purely! Enjoy these images and let your self be inspired by the love they have!
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]]>Ashley and Michael are no different. Two different people from two different backgrounds finding themselves together, in love. Meeting and falling in love as teenagers, joining their lives as adults and becoming one! What a beautiful story they have. There are fairy tale castles involved, no comically missed romances, just true honest love.
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]]>Check out the slideshow above! (it’s 7 + minutes and may load a bit slow!) or check out a few highlights below!
]]>When October 12th and 19th
We still have spaces available for 2013. As always, they won’t last long so scedule your sessions soon! ]]>
Fourteen years one month and three days ago, I sat in a hospital room with Desiree, we were both young and nervous. We had been married for almost two years and we were expecting our first child, our first son.
Desiree laid in a hospital bed with the fetal heart rate monitor on and we watched as our baby’s heart rate would fluctuate between a normal range and 50 bpm. After laboring for quite some time with no progress and the continual drop in the baby’s heart rate the dr said he was going to throw in the towel. We discovered with our next child that Desiree had to have c-sections because of the size and shape and position of her pelvis would not allow a our kids big ole melons to pass through. Back in the day should would most likely have been one of those women who died in childbirth.
So the nurses wheeled Desiree down the hall and through the construction site to the brand new operating room of the round rock hospital. She was the first surgery in the be OR and it was some kind of experience, it took awhile for the drs and nurses to find everything they need and no one knew how to fix the heat and on and on, but I digress…
I held her hand as they began the section, she shook under the anesthetic; she was scared and nervous and excited. They delivered our son, and because he was so relaxed, they were concerned for him and rushed him right away over to the baby area and rubbed him and face him oxygen and on and on. We didn’t hear him cry for a couple of days, turns out he was just a really chill baby. While they were working on our news little baby boy Desiree was going through the rest of the surgery unable to see or hold that little boy she has been growing inside her for the past nine months. It took a while before the baby dr felt good enough to wrap him up and let Desiree see him. The nurse wrapped him up and I walked him back over to let Desiree see her son. I cried.
We took a day or so to name him. And he almost had four names but we compromised and introduced our family to kimball walker Michael jones.
Desiree was a mother.
Being parents, as we grew to find out, was not an easy undertaking. Being a mother was more than just being a parent. Desiree slept little, worked a lot, and loved deeply.
Ammon Kai, our next son was born 2 years and a few months after Kimball. Just shy of three years after that, Kelsyn Malachi was born. Three sons, three strong willed boys joined our family. Each of them has their own very distinct, very different personalities.
Throughout this time of trying to raise boys she was also a full time photographer helping me build a business. Just a couple of days before delivering Kelsyn she was on her feet for ten hours photographing a wedding. She worked tirelessly to build our business to what it is. Most people would agree that our success is thanks to her. I did play but a small role in the growth of our business. Desiree and I also chose to remove our kids from APS public schools and put them in charter schools. This has also been a very difficult thing to do over the past few years. We have had them at two different charter schools, our daily commute to and from school takes two hours out of the day. We did this, not because it was easy, but because Desiree knew it was best for our children.
Three and a half years ago our little girl was born. We thought we were done with the three boys and there is a significant gap in age between Kelsyn and Eden, but our family was not complete without Eden and though we felt it, it took the sacred words of a 4 year old to make us realize that we were missing Eden in our family.
Desiree now has her little girl to go shopping with, to do hair with, so to the salon and paint toes together. Even though Eden Ainsley is a total spitfire of a red head. she has completed us.
Desiree continues to love and nurture all four of our children. She continues to work tireless hours photographing families and babies. She still gets called away from our family at all hours to photograph families through NILMDTS.org. This week she was called out three times because the other two photographers were unable to go or could not be reached. Desiree always goes when called, she is the area coordinator and when the other photographers can’t be reached, she takes up the slack and helps these other families who are going through great family tragedies. It has been a great burden on our family, but that is Desiree. She cares for others and for other mothers especially, that she will sacrifice of herself, her sleep, her time with family, and whatever else it takes to help these families. And it is often a stressful thankless job.
I am so proud of Desiree for all that she is and does. For her tireless dedication to her family and people she works with. She is kind, she is beautiful, she is loving and cares deeply for people, she is a role model, a businesswoman, she is an artists and documentarian, she is a wife, she is a teacher, a leader, a spiritual guide. She is my best friend, my other half. She is my inspiration and my support and she is a mother. In every sense of the word she is a mother.
I know this post may be a bit back and forth, there is so much I could say about Desiree; so much that I wish people knew about her and could see for themselves. It’s hard to express all this in a small blog post. So I hope this is just a small glimpse of what a mother is and does.
Happy Mother’s day to you all and especially to your Desiree!
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Growing up, my house was the cool place to be. Our friends were always welcome to hang out, watch movies, jump on the trampoline and ‘puzzle’ with my parents. My mom always kept the fridge well stocked and it was not uncommon to come home and find the house full of all my guy friends (because they knew the code to the garage!) helping themselves to the goodies that mom had made! Our house was the place we would end up after homecoming or prom that we would watch a movie and mom would make breakfast burritos. Our home was always full of laughter and love and was one that the Spirit of Heavenly Father was present. My mom is an over achiever, she has always gone above and beyond with everything she does, but especially anything for her girls! She chose to work as an educational assistant at our elementary school while we were there so that she was home when we got home and wasn’t working over the summer she made sure we had her undivided attention. When we got a little older she worked the graveyard shift so that she again was present when we would get home from school. She was our girl scout leader from daisy, to brownies to junior scouts. Every morning before school she would make breakfast, which was never cereal, but breakfast sandwiches or homemade blueberry muffins and smoothies. She was at every game I cheered at, was constantly making inspirational gifts for all the cheerleaders, and she was at all of my sisters ballet practices and preformances. She was and still is OUR biggest cheerleader. Even now she is the first to comment on every facebook picture or blog post. She knows the story behind every one of our couples, she loves to share in their journey and wants everyone to know that her daughter and son in law are the best photographers around! Some of my best memories are laughing with my mom, she has a laugh that is big and boisterous and contagious. Half the time we start laughing and it continues on because of her laugh. We were always the family in the corner of the resturant causing a raucous, we were never trying to be rude or obnoxious but something would happen and we wound all end up in fits of laughter. One time in particular we were at gardunos and we started talking about the song ‘purple people eater’ at that point we discovered that my mom could not say it. No matter how hard she tried, the words got tangled up in her mouth, ‘one hind flying furple meople eater’ is as close to it as she can get. Its a great party trick and we ask her to do it on occasion just for a good laugh. She loves to sing along with the radio, even if shes not sure about the words she sings with pure conviction, surely gwen stefani sings ‘talk to the spider web cuz I’m not home’ or Bush’s song glycerine is always sung ‘kiss her ring’. My mom is so fun, she is not afraid to look silly in front of others, she nevers ages because she’s a kid at heart. I always said that I wanted to be like her, fun and silly, honest and kind, thoughtful and full of hope, I hope someday I can be. I have a long way to go, but I have a great example. Tonight as we all sat around the kitchen table in our home, the home that my parents built and we grew up in, and looked through shoeboxes of photographs, we laughed and told stories, some that we had never heard before! We teased each other because of really bad 80′s hairstyles and outfits, we cried over loved ones no longer with us, and beamed with pride as we shared photos with our kids, a new generation to carry on the legacy that each of our mothers gives to us. I am so grateful for this great plan of happiness that we are able to come to this earth as families, some immediate and some more distant and learn and grow and help each other along the way. I am also truly grateful for the sacrifice that I know all mothers have given, often everyday to help their children the best way they know how.
]]>I thought about that and, though I agree to an extent, I would change that to anyone can father a child but it takes a real man to be a daddy. Then I thought about moms and mothers. I think of the difference between mommies and mothers. To me a mommy is the one to kiss our ouwies when we get hurt. A mommy is the one who hangs our picture up on the fridge with a big smile on her face. A mommy, sings us songs at night, takes us out for ice cream, plays soccer in the yard, jumps on the trampoline, flies kites, takes us for rides, gives us hugs and kisses, plays house with us, paints tiny toenails, cuts crust off of bread, makes hot chocolate…should I go on?…I could for hours… A mother is a little different, a mother endures 9 months of the all that comes with growing a baby, a mother stays up through the night with a newborn baby, a mother drives us to the emergency room after we break a bone, gets up every morning to make breakfast and school lunch, works a full time job and still has time to take us to baseball practice and cook dinner and clean up after dinner, a mother buys school clothes, patches holes in knees, changes diapers, forces medicine into us when we refuse to take it because we are so sick, a mother cries at night when she worries about her future of her kids, a mother cooks, cleans, washes, dries, folds, dusts, gets stains out, gets, groceries and gas, sets up play dates, takes us to camp, makes sure we have water and toilet paper when we go camping. And a mother makes sure all of our ties are straight and we all have belts on before church sunday morning. A mother kneels down with us at night in prayer. A mother teaches us how to love and show charity.
Almost anyone can be a mommy, but it takes a real woman to be a mother.
To the mothers in our lives we love you all and thank you for making the world a better place to be.
To celebrate the strength, and enduring love that our mothers have for us, give them a break from the day to day with a photo session for moms; a Mother and Me session, a Connection session with mom and dad, a family lifestyle session, a newborn baby session with mommy. This mother’s day do something different, give your mom a gift certificate for a photo session with Desiree and Seth. As a special Mothers Day gift with the purchase of the gift certificate for a session, mom gets a 4×8 fold out mini-book. (perfect to keep in mom’s purse and show friends and family.)
If you yourself are a mom, you can easily forward this on to your husband, kids, friends, cousin in Alaska, you know, whoever!!! (sometimes we husbands, sons, and dads need little hints from our wonderful wives, parents, and kids!) It’s even a great gift to give a close friend for Mother’s Day!
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Toward the end of 1943 a pregnant Mardell Speers saw her new husband off. He was off to Polebrook near the Brittish coast close to the English Channel. She didn’t know if she would ever see her husband Richard, (Dick a.k.a.” Papa D” to his great grand-kids) Speers again, or if he would ever meet their son.
Papa D served as the navigator on the B17 “Piccadilly Commando.” On December 31st 1943 the 351st set out on a bombing run to Bordeaux, France. They completed their mission and began to fly back to their base. As they neared the English Channel they were attacked by Nazi forces. Many, many planes went down with their crew, never to return home. Papa D’s bomber was hit. They could not get back to England and were forced to ditch. They were able to successfully bring the plane down into the water near Guernsey Island.
I could go into many more details but I won’t. The short story is, he was captured by the Nazis and thrown into a prison camp for the next year and a half.
While, he was imprisoned, his wife and new baby stayed at home waiting for letters or telegrams or any news on their beloved husband or father.
Papa d, my grandpa, was great at writing letters home, if only to say that he loved his family and missed them and asked when he would hear from them. We are fortunate to have those letters and can see the love they had for each other. Growing up we never heard much about the time that we was a POW. Then, in 1990 a dive group found the Picadilly Commando at the bottom of the English Channel and wanted to know the story of it’s occupants.
That broke the ice and Grandpa started to share some of the stories of how things happened and what life was like in the Nazi prison camp. One of the things I remember most is that when asked how he made it through he said it was the picture that he had of Grandma, lovingly taped to the inside of his Red Cross issued journal. Everyone in the camp knew of Mardell, he talked about her all the time and in his journal are several renderings of that image by different soldiers. When we would talk with the other members of his crew even 60 years later they would say how much he missed her and talked about his Mardell all the time.
I wish I had a scan of that image right now, but I don’t, the image I am attaching to this is of my grandma playing with her oldest son, Robert at her family’s’ home in Utah. It stands as a reminder that a simple photograph and the memories it holds can be so powerful, can evoke strength, can lift spirits and can unite families even across generations.
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Desiree has a wonderful gift for capturing life. One of her favorite things to do is photograph births; the epitome of fear, anxiety, pain, excitement, joy and love. This emotion filled time is such a beautifully amazing thing to be a part of.
This is a special mom for us. Sarah was a teacher for two of our sons in elementary school. She was an amazing teacher and was so great with our boys. We were initially concerned when Ammon seemed to be really slow learning to read. She kept reassuring us that he was doing fine. Even though he was the youngest in the class she thought he was perfectly on track. He has now he has probably read more books in the past 5-6 years than I have even considered reading in my entire life.
Anyway, we photographed her and her husband’s beautiful wedding in the east mountains. Then, this last year, Desiree was able to be there for the birth of their baby. The photos from the birth were so amazing; seeing the look on Jeret’s face as Sarah delivered their little son into the world was so touching that looking at them almost brings me to tears.
I know I will never be able to fully grasp the great miracle of growing and delivering a baby. I was there for the birth of our four kids. I sang songs to them while they were in Desiree’s tummy. I felt them kick against my face through her tummy. I listened to their heartbeat at the office visits. I was also, because of the c sections, the first one to hold each of the kids. Through all of that I still can not even imagine what it is like to have that little life that little body growing and developing inside your own body; to be it’s sole source of everything it needs to survive. I can’t image what it is like to feel him moving around all the time. It’s not just about feeling the body grow but the spirit inside as well.
What an incredible blessing to be a part of that miracle of life. And only a woman, a mom, can fully understand that true miracle of life
Sarah is now part of that miracle. She and her husband made vows to each other at their wedding. Now together they brought a beautiful little Baby J to their family.
We hear it all the time and many photographers know how it is to be truly lucky to be able to do what we do. Desiree is especially lucky to be able to by a part of such intimate times in people’s lives.
Happy Mother’s Day Sarah! And happy Mother’s Day to all the other women brave enough to take on this incredible role!
To celebrate the strength, and enduring love that our mothers have for us, give them a break from the day to day with a photo session for moms; a Mother and Me session, a Connection session with mom and dad, a family lifestyle session, a newborn baby session with mommy. This mother’s day do something different, give your mom a gift certificate for a photo session with Desiree and Seth. As a special Mothers Day gift with the purchase of the gift certificate for a session, mom gets a 4×8 fold out mini-book. (perfect to keep in mom’s purse and show friends and family.)
If you yourself are a mom, you can easily forward this on to your husband, kids, friends, cousin in Alaska, you know, whoever!!! (sometimes we husbands, sons, and dads need little hints from our wonderful wives, parents, and kids!) It’s even a great gift to give a close friend for Mother’s Day!
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When I was a little older than our oldest son, I remember my dad was trying to finish college and was working as well. There was a time that we didn’t see him much bcz of his school and work. In order to make ends meet, my mother worked as a night auditor at a new hotel that had just opened up on the edge of the small town I grew up in. She also was on a road crew holding traffic signs for hours at a time.
We were taught to do our own laundry and cook a few meals. For a time, I thought it was tough… I look back on it now and realize, if we thought it was tough, my mom must have thought it was incredibly difficult; working nights, taking care of four kids, supporting a husband through school and work (and his grades during this time were stellar, even in art class). I know she didn’t want to do that. Who wants to see their spouse for only a short time each day? Who wants to leave their little children at home and go work all night long? Or go out and stand on a hot old road with men yelling obscenities as they drive by? I certainly don’t. (especially the men yelling obscenities, I would find that moderately difficult to endure all day) I can’t imagine having to live like that and still try to teach my kids right from wrong, good from bad, and give them the start in life that they need.
In addition to her working and taking care of everything else, she did her best to teach me and my brother manners and etiquette. We attended our church meetings, took care of our homework (for the most part) and were only grounded for a couple of summers.
I remember sneaking back into my window early one morning, I was out all night hanging out with some friends. She was up early, not being able to sleep. She saw me walking past the front door and just as I was climbing into my basement window I looked up to see my mom standing there. She invited me back up to watch the beautiful sunrise as I cleaned the garage by myself and thought about what I would do the whole summer at home as I was grounded until school started.
Of course that lasted all of no time, when some friends came over that my mom really liked and I was out with them with no issue at all!
My mother did her best raising us and she endured many trials and struggles to help give us the start that we need. There are so many moms out there right now that are enduring struggles and trials and their single purpose is to give their kids a good life.
I look back on the photos that I have of my family and my parents and remember the joy and the love that we shared growing up. It takes seeing only one image to bring back all of those feelings. We are so lucky to have these photos even though they are few.
I love you Mom. Happy Mother’s Day!
‘Seth
To celebrate the strength, and enduring love that our mothers have for us, give them a break from the day to day with a photo session for moms; a Mother and Me session, a Connection session with mom and dad, a family lifestyle session, a newborn baby session with mommy. This mother’s day do something different, give your mom a gift certificate for a photo session with Desiree and Seth. As a special Mothers Day gift with the purchase of the gift certificate for a session, mom gets a 4×8 fold out mini-book. (perfect to keep in mom’s purse and show friends and family.)
If you yourself are a mom, you can easily forward this on to your husband, kids, friends, cousin in Alaska, you know, whoever!!! (sometimes we husbands, sons, and dads need little hints from our wonderful wives, parents, and kids!) It’s even a great gift to give a close friend for Mother’s Day!
Happy Mother’s Day!
]]>Here is a preview from the session!
]]>Desiree and I are incredibly lucky to be able to do what we love. Not only are we doing what we love for a living, we get to raise our four amazing kids which is what we love doing more than anything. This all started 16 years ago today when Desiree and I had our first date!
To celebrate Valentine ’s Day, the anniversary of out fist date, and all this love stuff that seems to go around at this time of year Desiree and I are giving a connection session away. This session, though, is very special. It’s not a puppy love connection session, or even a new love connection session. This session we are reserving for a couple married more than 20 years. And we want you to nominate the couple. Think of your parents, god parents, grandparents, yes even your in-laws.
So how do you do this?
It’s easy, comment here, post on our walls
Facebook.com/jonesphotoart
facebook.com/DesireeandSeth
comment on the blog
or send us an email
Tell us who they are, how you know them, and when they were last photographed as a couple If you have a photograph we would love to have you post it as well so we can see the face behind the nominees. Finally tell us why you think they should have this connection session!
You can nominate more than one couple, and you have from now through Sunday to nominate them. On Monday we will pick a couple that we will be photographing and contact the person who nominated that couple. The cool thing is that you get to be the one letting them know that they are getting a session with Desiree and Seth!
So here is it, we are sharing the love, so it’s up to y’all to spread the love!!!
]]>Some of you know Noelle and Christopher from their connection session and their wedding. We also posted a few of Noelle’s parents connection session images with the old white corvette.
Anyway, when it was time to plan their after session, they, as most couples do, left it up to us. Well I had really wanted to shoot in the Jemez mountains burn scar from the huge fire they had up there last year. I thought the juxtaposition of a beautiful bride in her dress and the black burned trees would be very interesting…
It’s funny, the juxtaposition i wanted in the beginning, I was not able to fully capture, but it is what I didn’t plan to capture that i have fallen in love with.
Noelle is crazy by the way. She walked right out to the edge of these several hundred foot high cliffs, tossed her dress over the edge and struck a pose. I had visions of Ophelia, like white falling dress over the cliff craziness… Well she pulled it off like nothing, I think Christopher was more on the cautious side. He just kind of edged in next to her… with out looking over the edge too much. I was half waiting to see Noelle spit off the edge of the cliff to see how long it took to hit bottom. (she is however much to refined for that) I, of course, wasted no time spitting a big’n right over the edge…it vanished before I could see it hit…
Anyway, the picture that really shows the true grandeur of these cliffs and the craziness of Noelle’s proximity to the edge is not in these images. It is a vertical pano and just didn’t fit well into the blog… maybe I will post it on it’s own later!!!
]]>We often hear of wedding horror stories but how ’bout this one… not but a few weeks before a wedding the venue that you had booked for months burns to the ground…
Could you imagine? all the planning and effort and then have it all gone, up in flames. And to be told by your dad who was with the fire department and on scene watching it burn…
Well this is exactly what happened to Stephanie and Aaron. You locals may remember hearing about the fire at Rancho de Corrales. It was a total loss and what seemed like a total loss for Stephanie and Aaron.
But after some searching and some good local businesses taking care of our own, these two had a beautiful wedding/reception at two beautiful venues!
The ceremony took place in the 1629 club at the Casa Rondena Winery. And the reception held at Vernon’s Hidden Valley Steakhouse. Yes the wedding ended up being a bit smaller than originally planned for but it only meant that those closest to Stephanie and Aaron were able to share this truly beautiful wedding.
We enjoyed working with these two so much that we used them as models for a styled shoot we did late this last fall for a new wedding venue near old town. Those images will be posted soon as well!!!
a quick note on the images, Stephanie had a vision for the formal pictures for her wedding. She wanted an old Hollywood feel to them? I think we were able to realize her visions!!!
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]]>It’s funny we were at a bridal show recently and we were talking about couples that we have worked with. Someone mentioned the number of couples their studio shoots in a year and it was in the hundreds. With that many weddings being shot by a number of photographers how can a relationship be built with the couple. I don’t think it can. They don’t know and won’t remember all the names of the families they work with. They don’t know the inside jokes or when Shelby or Justin will say ‘gross’. We do, and Desiree especially does, so when Hayley’s folks come out to do pictures, we know that Michael, Hayley’s dad, really has a soft tenderness under that big rough cowboy exterior and that Melissa, is so proud of the girls she loves that it won’t take much to make her eyes water the thought of them.
When we were asked to photograph Hayley and Jared, we were so excited to work with the family again. We didn’t feel like we were working, we were there with friends being a part of a wedding and we just happened to be photographing it as well.
Hayley was so beautiful, and the ceremony, equally so. It was preformed by her father. Shelby and Justin stood by on each of their respective sides as the only attendants. It was a perfect family event. Though there are no other weddings in the family’s future we hope to be a part of the photographic future of this beautiful family in any capacity we can!
And I think I got this whole blog typed without a reference that would invoke a “Gross!” 
]]>Sometimes one can’t help but smiling. Every time we met with Eric and Addy we would smile or laugh or more often than not both.
With a contagious love is how some of us choose to live our lives, I wish more of us would live with that same love that Eric and Addy do!
]]>Scotsmen and aliens… well there were no aliens but there were definitely kilts and cowboy hats and just for fun one of these images does have a hidden alien in it. (no hints but have fun looking)
Anyway, this was an awesome wedding that went down on the streets of Bonanza, the same place cowboys and aliens was filmed, as well as a slew of other films.
We and everyone that was there had a great time.
Karen and Arjn were married in the saloon and celebrated the reception, chuck wagon style, in the livery stable. We had a photo booth set up in the old jail, and guests were able to walk the streets of the town and feel like they were walking though the old west.
Tucked into the kilts of the groomsmen were Colt .45 peacemakers. Not what you would expect to find in a kilt, but hey it was all about the eclectic nature of the event!
Well of all the locations we have shot at this is definitely one I am exited to revisit!!!!
]]>As many of you have heard we have been followed around lately by a little black rain cloud that has ceaselessly dumped buckets of bad luck upon us! And it was never more apparent than in the journey to get to guatemala to photograph isaac and Elisa’s wedding ceremony. It was almost the journey that wasn’t, but Seth prevailed through flight cancellations, being a ticketed passenger on a non existent fight, lost luggage and more.
After the grueling 36 hour long trip to Guatemala, he proceeded to travel for 4 hours by pickup to the tiny city of Panajanchel and then traveled by ferry to la Casa del Mundo on lago Atilan.. An inland lake surrounded by rugged cliffs and three forested volcanos. Having all of an hour and a half of sleep in two days, Seth, was refreshed by a 30 minute nap and ready to get to work! Casa del Mundo was ‘just a cool place! ‘ the rooms are built into the cliff walls Amazing fresh produce brought in from the local Panajanchel market by boat every morning. Seth walked from his room down several hundred steep rock steps to the ceremony site, past the kitchen where they were preparing the wedding feast of freshly butchered chickens, fresh tomatoes and avocados. Local women, dressed in traditional mayan attire, were carefully putting together the wedding cake. Though the hotel itself is not very old, it has a feel of an old mayan village. The ceremony took place on a patio reaching out over the water and was actually the second level of the patio currently under six feet of water after a recent earthquake. Seth made his way back up the steep steps to Elisa’s room which was a beautiful casita with a view of one of the lakes three volcanos. Her mom, isaacs mom and sister in law were helping her to get ready. Isaac was with his dad and a few cousins who made the journey. Isaac’s dad Tom performed the intimate ceremony which was witnessed by close family and friends followed by the most AMAZING reception food! Stories and congratulatory toasts were shared over the candlelit dinner and for one brief day the dreaded black rain cloud lifted and Seth was able to photograph a beautiful couple with their amazing family in a beautiful and magical place.
The next day we were back to trying to find luggage and more canceled flights…but that’s a whole other story!
]]>It is said that the eyes are the window to the soul. That may be true, but I think that the smile is the soul’s ways of expressing itself to the world.
Some people smile because that is what they think people want to see. Some people smile because they are truly happy.
Gretchen is a truly happy person and we were able to see that so much through her beautiful smile. Gretchen and Andrew were married at the beautiful Los Poblanos Inn and Cultural Center.
Not only was Gretchen the epitome of joy but Andrew was the the penultimate mans man. From the custom cowboy boots to the cigars, the only thing he was missing was the mustache, but his dad had a mustache to put Tom Selleck’s to shame.
It’s so fun to be able to work with such fun people all the time. Desiree and I get to meet so many different kinds of people from all walks of life with all types of attitudes and personalities. Fortunately we are able to choose the people we want to work with for their weddings and if every couple we meet was like these two we would be shooting two weddings per weekend.
]]>Fall into Christmas 2012
Yes it’s time again! When the smell of roasted green chili is all around. The light roars of the burners from rising hot air balloons hang on the crisp morning air the leaves are about to change blanketing the earth in golds, ochres, and crimsons. Of all times of the year, this is the most beautiful for family photos.
You know you can’t wait until December 20th only to grab the best snapshot of your family and run down to Sam’s Club to order a hundred photo print cards with some holiday clip art on it. Why can’t you do that? Because that is what everyone else does! And that is just not you! So, do something different. Have the most amazing Christmas cards!
This year, in addition to our local sessions, we are setting aside a weekend to shoot in one of the most beautiful places in the southwest. Imagine standing in front of a huge grove of aspen the second largest in the world. It’s rich yellows blanket the ground as far as you can see. From this sea of yellow, a rugged mountain range reaches out toward the sky. This is where we are setting aside a special weekend to photograph your families. Because this is going to be such an amazing location, we are already almost booked, we only have three spots left. So, if you want something unlike anything anyone you know is going to have, schedule your session with us as soon as you can!!!
As you know, we have been spending a great deal of time in Colorado. I am never satisfied with just going to your standard popular touristy spots so we started exploring the area for it’s more beautiful and not at popular places, and just outside of the cute little town of Gunnison, CO we found one of the most amazing places. It’s so beautiful we have to share it with our couples and families!!!
So here is the lowdown on this years Christmas card special.
What:
Family photo session with 25 custom Holiday cards
Where:
Gunnison, CO
If you want to see just how amazing this place is, do a Google image search for Kebler Pass. Yep, you know you want to go there!!! Make it a weekend, stay in one of the little hotels in the area and see the sites! It’s breathtaking country!
Albuquerque, NM
The spot we had reserved for these sessions has been overrun by bears and is closed until they pack it in for the winter. As cool as it would be to have bears in your family photos the National Forest Service frown on that sort of thing. Keeping the wildlife wild or something…
Anyway are waiting a bit for the leaves to start to turn and will then pick the perfect place for our families who want to keep their session local! Don’t let this delay you from booking though, as with the last several years, once we are booked at the special price, that’s it!!!
We are however running a continuous special through the end of October for any available time and location, but it’s always better to do it on the day we are doing most of them!
We may add a third date and location but that will probably be a last minute thing, you know how we roll!!!
When:
Gunnison, CO Saturday September 22nd
Albuquerque, NM Saturday October 13th
How much?
Cool thing about it, it’s the same cost as last year!!!
Only
199
for the session, and the cards.
Yes that includes the sessions in Colorado!!!
Sessions scheduled any other time between now and October 31 will be 250!
Some of the greatest times we have as photographers are those times we get to spend with our couples when we are not photographing them. Of course we always have a great time photographing them but then there are times like this one where we get to spend some time just talking. We get to learn so much about who people really are. It’s pretty cool.
So as most readers know I watch movies, lots of movies, and I like talking about them. No, I don’t remember names of any actors/directors/or DPs, I should, but whatever… so anyway we got to talking about films, well one film, ‘Scent of a Woman.’ On the face of it Scent of a Woman is another Al Pacino movie. But there is a lot more to the movie. Anyway, that got us to talking about woman. And we men are pretty lucky. We get to be in the presence of such beauty.
Both Isaac and I have a beautiful wife, with beautiful smiles, laughs and hearts. It’s amazing that God created something so amazing. The beauty of the woman has both fascinated and intrigued men forever. And gotten a lot of men in a lot of trouble… It’s that blessing/curse type of thing. But when you are able to find someone like I did in Desiree and Isaac did in Elisa, that blessing is just that, a true blessing. And we should do our best to treat that woman that amazing creation with love, respect, integrity, passion, kindness, and tenderness.
So ladies, (I address this to you, as most of the folks that read this blog are ladies!) when you think of the last gifts you have received, what were they? Anything memorable? New earrings? You know, the ones next to all the other pairs you own… New shoes? No they weren’t the ones you wanted but you just don’t have the heart to return them. An expensive dinner at a steakhouse? Yes, the food looked good but you didn’t want steak so you ended up spending $30.00 on a piece of salmon that just didn’t taste like you thought it would.
I know what I am talking about. After almost 15 years of marriage, I have struggled, I can’t tell you how many times, with a gift.
So along comes Drew. Newly married and wanting to get his wife an anniversary gift. So what does he do?
He got in touch with us to surprise Katie with a connection session. I can’t tell you how impressed we were at the thought he put into his wife’s gift. So, with dog in-tow, we spent some time with them recently down by the river, listening to their story and enjoying their company!
So wedding season has begun and I really can’t think of a better way to start it than with the wedding of Michael and Jesse.
We work with beautiful couples all the time and often we work with beautiful people. These two are are both a beautiful couple and beautiful people, with a beautiful story.
Michael is a soldier. He was active duty in Afghanistan you can watch the clip below for his story.
Jesse is a girl, a beautiful girl that had a soldier of her own who died in the explosion that wounded Michael.
While Michael was recovering Jesse went to visit him in the hospital. He hugged her and the first thing he noticed was her size, just the perfect height. The next thing he noticed was a spiritual connection. It was an instant and deep connection. Not long after that, they were married, and life continued.
Recently they took their marriage to the LDS Temple and sealed their relationship and their children to them for eternity.
Michael continues as a soldier and currently works in San Antonio. He and Jesse are true heroes and testaments of the compassion, love, and charity that still exist in the world.
If you want learn more about their story, you tube, or google search michael malarsie. or visit his blog http://www.mmalarsie.blogspot.com/
We started with laughing under a large cottonwood tree
We moved into the thick bosque along the river
I found a throwing knife in the leaves, I thought there was blood on it, it was corrosion
We laughed some more
I heard a muffled bang in the distance, maybe a gunshot, maybe not
We took pictures and laughed some more
We laughed some more
The cops showed up
“What’s going on? You got a permit to have those lights in those trees?”
I said no
he was cool with it
“Did you hear any gunshots?”
I told him I had, but they weren’t close
we laughed again, nervously
It got dark
We went home
It was a good session
There are still some people who think that I, Seth, am the one behind our photography.
That is nowhere near the case. I edit photos, photograph weddings, sessions, etc with Desiree and I do most of the shooting for our commercial work.
Desiree photographs those things with me, that I mentioned, then she shoots with NILMDTS, all the baby sessions, births, and some other sessions when I am not able. In addition to that, she does all the consultations, meetings, and scheduling. She actually does pretty much all of our appointments, all of our ordering, invoicing, album design and print order editing. She is also a full time mom taking care of our four kids.
Not often, but sometimes, she has to shoot a connection or maternity session by herself. This was one of those occasions. I was away and could not be with her for this shoot. Though she still gets nervous shooting these by herself she does a brilliant job. She is also much nicer to work with and a whole lot better lookin’ than I am!
So, that said, here is Gretchen and Andrew’s session that Desiree shot by herself. I only recently met Gretchen. I did edit her pictures and through that and the work that Desiree did capturing them, I felt like I had known her the whole time!
We can’t wait for the wedding!
Where do people fall in love, how do people fall in love?
What do people fall in love with?
Do we fall in love with shoes?
Do we fall in love with a suit?
Do we fall in love with eyes, lips, ankles?
Do we fall in love with a voice, a smell, a touch?
Do we fall in love with beauty or with a feeling?
Can we fall in love with a job?
Ashley fell in love with a boy. Michael fell in love with a girl.
Desiree and I fell in love with our jobs, and the rest is history
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Warm winds blow on the dry grasses, spreading seeds on parched ground
The thin clouds lightly veil the sun’s rays
In the distance, antelope quietly graze
Trains speed by carrying anonymous goods to anonymous people
Desiree stands with her hair blowing in the wind, camera to her eye
I kneel in the weeds next to a pile of broken wood and chunks of rusted metal
I see life happen through the 50mm glass of my lens
Matt reaches out and softly touches Corey
Their baby boy growing inside of her
I hear the shutter of Desiree’s camera open and close
Corey smiles as her eyes meet Matt’s
He leans in and kisses her
Again, their eyes meet
A semi passes behind us, the roar of it’s breaking engine cutting through the quiet
The sun comes out from behind it’s veil again
The day continues
Several years ago Brent and amber thought they were done with kids. They had three kids already and the last one pregnancy was so rough that they knew, they were not able to have more. Somehow though deep down they knew that their family was not complete.
After much prayer and soul searching they were lead to an orphanage in china and to their waiting son. Stephen was already a special little kid. Like memo, he has a lucky fin, his right hand did not develop as it should have.
They brought him back to his new life and new family and life was alright. That is until late last year.
Toward the end of the year Stephen was having some pretty bad headaches and nausea. They got so bad they took him in and discovered a baseball size tumor in Stephen’s brain.
They had surgery right away and removed a good chunk of it, but this type of tumor is so rare that it was outside of the abilities of the local drs to take care of. Stephen was transferred to to st Jude’s children’s research center in Memphis. The he had another surgery and underwent a high level radiation on his brain to get rid of the cancer. Because of the rarity and the rapid speed of this cancer, it has been an uphill battle.
Most recently they have hit some road bumps, well maybe even road blocks. They had finished with the radiation and took a make a wish trip to Disney world. They had no sooner finished the trip when Stephen started suffering severe sciatic nerve pain. He was suppose to return to st Jude’s but was delayed because of the pain and other related nerve problems. They were finally able to dial in a good mix of pain killers nerve blockers and steroids to get his to be able to travel to st Jude’s. When he arrived they went right in to diagnosing the new pain and doing other tests to get him ready for his chemo. They discovered that the nerve pain was being caused by an egg sized tumor on his pelvis
This tumor looks to be at/rt because of the speed of growth. This tumor in tangled up in major nerves and arteries and will be a beast to get rid of. On top of that they found another trouble spot in Stephens brain. Which is likely either a fungal infection or another tumor. Either scenario is not good. That combined with the pelvic tumor adds up to a less than hopeful scenario.
We have all been praying for the family, even little Eden ask heavenly father to bless Stephen. The family is asking for prayers still and maybe now more than ever. The prayers they ask for now are ones of peace and comfort. There is always a chance that things will work out fine. But the most likely is they will soon be home on hospice spending as much time with their sweet son as possible.
So please, pray for their family pray for comfort for them and a peace for Stephen. So that the pain he must suffer will be lightened.
Thank you.
And if you want to read the story of Stephen’s journey and struggle through this, through the eyes of his parents, visit their blog.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/stephenpeterson/journal
