Twelve Months, Twelve Temples! {Utah Fine Art Photography}

I'm a little scary with resolutions. Once they are written down they are basically set in stone for me and I review my list every day. I was a little nervous to make photographing a different temple every month as one of my New Year's resolutions for 2011. I knew this goal would require travel and though I adore adventures more than I have words to describe you just never know where life will take you in a year.

I decided to photograph the Provo Utah temple in November. November is actually one of my favorite months to photograph in. I love the softer, more muted colors. My little boy came with me. I made sure to have plenty of snacks and Angry Birds on my phone for him to play and he was happy. We like to have adventures together.

It rained almost the entire drive down and I was discouraged, but it stopped just as we got there. The rain turned out to be a blessing because the light was pretty, the colors extra saturated and the clouds were a lovely added element. The rain also added a fun Hollywood effect. It wet-down the road in front of the temple which added a bit of reflection.


Manti was my final temple. I'd wanted to photograph it all year but was daunted by the three plus hour drive. My husband and I planned on driving down and staying overnight but that didn't work out. Todd is a lodging snob and when he looked into Hotels in the area he said that all he could find was a BandB where your rooms were named after LDS Prophets. His words..."I am NOT getting jiggy in the Joseph Smith room." I laughed hysterically and told him I was going to post that on facebook. He promptly threatened me with all sorts of doom and destruction if I did so....don't tell him I posted it on my blog! ;)

Once again my little five-year-old was my adventure buddy. I came prepared with even more snacks and games but he was more interesterd in just chilling on the drive down and sleeping on the drive back. It may have been the inversion. It was extra nasty during that week (Dec. 19th is when we went down) and though I thought it would clear once we got out of Salt Lake it lasted clear to Manti. It was a huge relief to get back to my beautiful Valley where there were clear blue skies. Y'all have my sincere sympathy for having to live with the yucky inversion smog.

We didn't have quite as much fun at the Manti temple as we did at the Provo Temple. There weren't any water fountains for Noah to admire and it was bitter miserable cold. We still had fun. Noah goes to Kindergarten next year and though I never thought I'd be one of THOSE Mom's I am already getting sad at the idea of losing my adventure buddy. We have so much fun.

I did it. Twelve temples in twelve months. I'm humbly proud of fulfilling this resolution. It really was an effort, which of course is the point of resolutions. I have something different in mind for 2012 which I am excited to get started on. The best way to learn and grow is to just get out there and shoot.

Happy Shooting everyone and to all a most Happy New Year!

p.s. There are more photographs of both temples on my Boutique site.

link to the Provo Temple Pictures
http://fineart.illuminephotography.com/provotemple

link to the Manti Temple Pictures
http://fineart.illuminephotography.com/mantitemple

Clark and Dana's Wedding Storyline Album {Utah Wedding Photography}

I was blessed with the opportunity to photograph the wedding of a dear, dear friend in November. It was a wonderful, wonderful day. I was so excited to get to work on the images and especially to create her Storyline. I take hundreds of photographs during a wedding but I don't feel that the story of the day can be told flipping through image after image so I love to create Storyline Albums. It's my favorite part of the wedding. The entire day is easily at your fingertips and the emotion just shines through. I love videos but I'll be honest, I rarely watch mine. But a photo album you can just grab when the mood strikes, start at the beginning or flip to your favorite part, and relive the day quickly and easily.

















A little fun backstory for this day...we tried photographing the shots above first thing but though a few lovely flakes were coming down while we set up they turned into a full on blizzard and we had to run for cover. Now their reception was at the Chateau Le Jardin which is exquisite but it's a greenhouse so my camera gear promptly fogged up and though I tried to appear outwardly calm and professional I was inwardly panicking because of course, our time was limited and we really couldn't wait for an hour to defog. I pulled my filter off and repeatedly wiped down my glass and took photographs as best as I could. If you look at the page spread two above this one you will notice how soft it is. I decided to just go for artistic effect. Luckily the snow calmed down (of course) and we were able to go back outside and that helped a lot. I didn't dare go outside for the rest of the night until they left in case it happened again so that is why I don't have a photograph of the venue from the outside at night. Ironically I have had people tell me that the softer photographs are actually their favorite!







Congratulations Clark and Dana!!!

My Golden Family...Merry Christmas! {Utah Family Photography}

I love this family and they have had a busy year, note the addition of a brand new son-in-law {I got to photograph the wedding-yay!}. There aren't words for how much I love them and I was thrilled that with how busy they were we were still able to get a family session and Christmas card in. I talked them into a two-sided card this year, change is good right? They were thrilled, I was thrilled, life is good. Happy Holidays everyone!

The Lund Family {Utah Family Photography}

I love fall and this has been one of my favorite locations to shoot in for about a year, partly because I can have good light for longer than usual and partly because as yet the hordes have not discovered it. This is a wonderful family whom I have known for as long as I can remember. Their youngest son was leaving on a mission four days after these pictures were taken and Saturday Oct. 1, 2011 found us traipsing through the weeds in the dark{ish} at seven am. It was darker than I expected and I was panicking a bit. At the last second I threw my studio lights in the car and when I got there {I like to arrive early and set up} it was pretty darn pitch black and there were mysterious shapes lurking...I admit to being a little apprehensive. I told myself that they were most likely deer and would leave as I got closer, sure enough they were and they did. Curse you Dave Carver for telling me all of your bigfoot stories!!!

You can see here that the sun is coming up over the mountains, the light sure moved fast but we were able to get all that we needed before various members of the family had to rush off to other engagements.

I love this picture. I love his eyes. I always try to take at least one photograph of small children looking up at me because that is the way parents see their children most often and it is a reminder in later years of when they were small. Ironically the family was concerned because this little guy is usually super smiley but he is not a morning person at all. It's still my favorite picture.

This is Joni and she is a sweetheart. I really like this picture of her, I think her wonderful personality shines through.

Some back-story to this session was that the night before was the closing night and cast party for a show that I had been doing at Centerpoint Legacy Theatre. I got home probably around 3-4 am, took a two hour nap and then ran out to photograph this session still in full stage hair and make-up and in my ensemble from the night before...that just makes me laugh.

Here is a link to my facebook business page if you would like to see a few more. :)

https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10150402810018727.353188.111853783726&type=3

Valenzuela Beloved Session {Utah Photography}

What is a Beloved Session? I am so glad you asked. Beloved Sessions are designed to show connections and relationships. This genre of photography originated with the amazingly talented Jesh de Rox. I came across an article about the meaning behind his work and was hooked. I couldn't wait to shoot a session of my own and I knew that this couple would be perfect. They are just so darn gorgeous and so in love with each other. It is a pleasure to work with them.

Beloved Sessions certainly don't have to be of a couple. I have seen some truly beautiful artwork of a parent and child as well as other relationships. It's all about showing the connections between people...I think it would be fun to do a session with a group of really close friends.

I just love how the shot above turned out. The texture of the trees is fantastic. I wanted an almost fairytale look for this one. With all of them I was looking for soft, almost dreamy quality, and a whole lotta love!

I am such a sucker for lens flare but I really try hard not to overdo it!

I only posted a few here, there are more on my facebook page, here is the link...

https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10150347414668727.345247.111853783726&type=3

Thank you for stopping by! :)

Seven Down...Eighteen to Go!! {Utah Photography}

October 2011 marked the one year anniversary of me earnestly working towards my Master Of Photography degree through Professional Photographers of America (PPA). To earn said degree you have to earn twenty-five merits, thirteen of which MUST be print merits and twelve CAN be service/education merits. It arduous, it's expensive, and it's awesome! I attended this Super Monday workshop sponsored by PPA in order to earn an education merit. It was taught by the amazingly talented Miyo Strong of Busath Studio and Gardens and was titled Weddings that Wow. It was a lot of fun. We worked mainly on lighting and as I am trying to mesh supplementary lighting into my shooting style I found it very beneficial.

Come to find out that our lovely female model is from Eden, it's a small world!

I like to take behind the scenes shots...the mob of photographers makes me giggle. I used this in a montage with one of the couple for my My World shot from that day.


This bride was renewing her vows and she had the COOLEST accessories and tattoos. I'm not showing all the details to save space but they were to die for. Awesome jewelry, awesome hairpiece, awesome dress! I love when people have a strong personal style. Know who you are and LOVE it people!!
So one year down and I have five education/service merits and two print merits. Not bad for a first year....eighteen to go!!

Personality and Then Some!! {Utah Family Photography}

My poor siblings! It has to be annoying sometimes to have a photographer for a sister who is always bugging you about pictures. Luckily this time my sister-in-law Becca got the ball rolling so I feel a lot less naggy. ;) This is my sister Katie and her family, I think this (the photo above) is my favorite of their family that we took that day. I called her when Becca asked me about doing their family because I figured I could do two birds with one stone, so to speak. We had fun! I just wish my other two siblings were around. My sister Leah lives in the land down under but hopefully we will get her and her family here this summer. Photo-op!

The point of this location really is to get the colorful graffiti but I'm a sucker for black and white and I still like the patterns that the paint creates.

My nieces are too, too cute! Riley's magic word was gummies. To see her face here you wouldn't know how un-thrilled with taking pictures she was but say the word gummies and she was all smiles.

So cute!

Awwww, you two are the best!

I love this photo, looking at my nephew Davis (the little guy in the middle) makes me crack up every time. He is a character and then some, what a personality!

I had fun playing with this image in photoshop. Sometimes I just take a picture and run with it. I was playing with color and then I thought, "Hey, why not pop the color in the flower" then "I'll make the skirt match" then "What about her eyes". It's fun to do that sometimes.


Mason is such a sweetie!


This is my favorite of course, I love goofy pics. I think Davis was getting tired and done so we did a sill pic to help get a little more time out of him. I do that a lot when shooting families, it works most all of the time. If I can get the kids to feel like they have a part in what is going on they are more interested in the process and cooperate better.

....aaaaaaand scene! Well, at least until next year...ummm time. ;)