Fairbanks, AK

Well, life has been a whirlwind the past couple weeks, so I'll try and post a few things to catch up till now. I am currently in Fairbanks, Alaska, for the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. I'm playing a ton of horn in all kinds of groups. A highlight is definitely playing the Schumann Konzertstucke with the orchestra, which is a piece for 4 solo horns and orchestra. Earlier in July I had the privilege of shooting Nicole and Paul's wedding in Long Beach. Brienne Michelle and Steven Hernandez helped me out and we had a blast the whole day! Here's a couple fabulous shots from that day. And there'll be a big post in August on these guys as well.

After the wedding, my sister Hannah came down to hang out for a few days. We had a blast and did all kinds of things, including her senior pictures. Here's a couple of the ones we liked...

Then I took off for Alaska on the 18th. The flight up was just beautiful and Seattle is one of my favorite places. Here's a few shots of flying into Seattle.

Leaving LAX

Here is Beautful Malibu, CA

Shortly after Malibu I saw this plane flying towards

us, which didn't look very safe, but we didn't crash. WooHoo!

It was the closes i've ever seen another plane to me in flight.

Here is the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The first bridge was

famous here because the natural resonant frequency of the bay

matched that of the bridge, which caused the bridge to rock and

roll violently till its collapse.

Mt. Rainier from the plane. A striking 14,411 ft which comes

straight up from almost sea level.

Here is the Columbia River, made famous by the Lewis and Clark

Expedition of 1803-1806, the first American overland trek to the

Pacific and back.

So, we made it to Alaska and have had a great first week to the festival. Here are some pictures from our hike in Denali National Park on Saturday.

The Birch Forests are just beautfiul. I love the contrast.

Panorama from the top

Sitting on the edge of the world
Alan, a trombonist from UCLA, enjoying the Alaskan summer sun.

Fireweed. The first thing to grow back after a forest fire.
"You lookin' at me?"
Our groundsquirrel company for lunch.
A leisurely lunch on top of the mountain.

The Crew: Alan, Crystal and me

Tammy and Kenneth Wedding

Warning: Due to the excessive happiness and good looks of the following subjects, this blog post has been lengthened extensively. 

Wow, what a day! Tammy and Kenneth tied the knot on June 27, 2009.  I have officially decided that due to the success of this shoot, I will only be working with good-looking and friendly people from this point forward.  The whole day ran so smoothly, from start to finish, and everyone was relaxed and happy to be there.  Tammy and Kenneth are perfect for each other, and I truly enjoyed working with them and all their friends.  It was a blessing to be around fellow believers and to get to capture this Christ-centered wedding day.  I was encouraged by how selflessly everyone interacted and built one another up.  Thanks Tammy and Kenneth for allowing me to capture the day!

Here are some "getting ready" shots:

my competition for the day

Bling

Tammy's sister did her makeup, and did a fantastic job.

The dress was killer. Absolutely Stunning.

Though, not so much on Mr. Dugan.

The ceremony was simple and beautiful:

Tammy's cousin from Ooooooooklahoma

The backlighting coming in the yellow windows

in the back was fantastic, although the whitebalance

did go a little haywire with the different temps of light.

"I've been waiting for this..."

Forged in the fires of.....

Nice shootin, Steve! This picture was taken by StevenJae

WooHoo!

This next section is a few of my favorites from the portraits.

Totally fun bridesmaids, but Tammy had them all beat.

Don't mess...

This one's for you, Brenda.  Nice Mini!

Tammy and Kenneth found this terrific spot to take pictures 

after the ceremony.  We had a blast at the beautiful location,

even after we received a stern verbal rebuke for trespassing on

to someone's property that we though was public. 

The Brandon Brothers

Can you tell?

This way they didn't get their socks mixed up.

The reception was a blast, and included live Mariachi music,

fresh-grilled carne asada, chips and salsa, and line dancing!

A very classy cake

Canta!

Splish-splash I was makin' a toast, all 

upon a Saturday night....