This was 2018

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

One of my annual traditions around these parts is to post a nice recap of the year in photos. They range from road trips with friends,  family pics, wedding, photoshoots and of course, storm images. It felt like a different year overall, a little more subdued, with spring chasing offering slightly less excitement this time around and a couple less weddings. But wow it was a blast of a year regardless!

The year kicked off at a little shoot with a former bride and groom from Australia and their new baby girl, and then I was off on a road trip with Jay, Jason and Andrew to Death Valley and the eastern Sierras. From there it was wedding season, then storm chasing on the plains, followed by epic haboob and lightning action across Arizona during the monsoon, and finally fall weddings and family portraits. Toss in some wonderful family moments, it was a year to remember.

It also marked my fourth year as a full-time photographer and it keeps getting better and better. I still feel incredibly blessed that I get to do this everyday.

Hope you enjoy this look back at some of my favorite images, including at least a photo from almost every wedding and family session!

The Gray Family

/0 Comments/in /by

Jake, Sydney and Bennett used to be our neighbors but sadly moved out of our wonderful culdesac. We miss them dearly, so it was so fun to get together with them to celebrate the little dude’s first birthday and do a little cake smash!

Oh and toss in their doggy Fran…it was just perfect!

The Tinder & Giesinger Families

/0 Comments/in /by

Spending each year with these two families is such a treat…seven years in a row. Love watching them grow up and hearing all the latest news!

The Shell Family

/0 Comments/in , /by

Just over a month ago I did a photoshoot for the Shell family. I know Emma and Brian from their wedding years ago and then a couple of family shoots since then. Very special people to me, such a beautiful family.

The purpose of the shoot was to get the entire family together to capture some memories, especially with Heather, who had gotten real sick and was going through chemo. At the time of the shoot they had gotten some bad news that the cancer had spread more than they had thought it would.

I am just so devastated to hear that Heather passed away peacefully with her family yesterday. To meet someone so beautiful, so happy and funny, and to watch her enjoy being with her family, her niece and nephew…and then a month later to be gone. I have no words for this. Shoots like this remind me of how important photography can be to people who lose loved ones. I’m honored to have been able to be with the Shell family for a bit and capture some moments.

If anyone has anything extra, they are trying to raise money to help pay for her medical costs. Give it a thought if you have a moment.

https://www.gofundme.com/healing-fund-for-heather

Hoisington, Kansas

/0 Comments/in /by

Not gonna lie…I wish that bolt hadn’t blown out. This was shot at f/8 and ISO 100 during the DAY and it was still so powerful it blew out like this. However, the storm itself was so awesome and I still dig that bolt enough that I wanted to edit it and share it with you all.

From May 1st near Hoisington, Kansas…this supercell eventually would cross I-70 and drop a wedge tornado near Tescott.

The Rice Family

/0 Comments/in /by

An unbelievably fun family shoot, with a dad tossing his daughter so high at the end, my heart jumped! Love it!

The Mannarelli Family (and 1 year birthday cake smash!)

/0 Comments/in /by

Every now and then I get to do a cake smash shoot…I think the last was like 4 years ago haha. This was a blast. Not to mention I’ve know Jenae and her mom & dad forever. So amazing to think that Jenae used to be this little girl who adopted me as a big brother way back then (goodness like 20 years ago), and now here she is married with a boy of her own. Congrats guys!

And so fun to have the grandparents along as well!

The Tillinghast Family

/0 Comments/in /by

This is about the third time I’ve shot the Tillinghast family and it’s always a blast. Nick is an incredibly talented photographer who has been killing it lately, and it’s been awesome watching that happen! Love this entire group, hope you enjoy these images!

The Madru Family

/0 Comments/in /by

So awesome seeing Ted and Tiffany again…loved meeting them back for their wedding a few years ago….and now they’ve added a little one to the mix!

 

This was 2017

/3 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

I usually get this blog post out before the end of the year, but aside from two weddings I had to shoot in the last three days of 2017, I took some much needed time off. So January 1st it is! It was a crazy year…the busiest one for me so far in many ways. Mostly on the storm chasing front. I drove more than ever before…35,000 miles during the spring, about 14,000 during the summer. Long days on the road and many, many days away from my family. Two workshops during the summer down in Tucson. It was incredibly rewarding, but the grind was wearing. I welcomed the offseason big time.

Being able to switch gears from storms to portraits I fully believe helps keep me balanced. I photographed 32 weddings and did around 52 other photoshoots. I met some insanely awesome people this year, traveled to cool locations and captured some super fun events.

This blog post is in chronological order. I released four time-lapse films this year which are scattered about in the midst of waaay too many photos below. But I took out so many ones I loved out already, I couldn’t cut anymore. These posts are also just for me personally, to be able to look back and quickly remember what happened in a year.

Highlights for me are of course the four films, but a road trip through Oregon with my buddies early in the year, a trip to California Adventures with the family, adding our pup Winnie to the mix, having Anderson Cooper walk in to a wedding reception, a rainy shoot in Sedona, an Antelope Canyon elopement, the McLean tornado, two plains storm-chasing tours, incredible mammatus and asperitas sunsets, visiting Montana twice, a trip to Holland with Jina, taking Lyla and Eli along for a late June chase in Colorado, haboobs in southwestern AZ, a landspout tornado in downtown Phoenix, lightning at the Grand Canyon (FINALLY), shooting a wedding in a monsoon downpour, photographing a wedding where Lyla was the flower girl, seeing families I love for late year Christmas photos, taking some last images of my late Grandma and finally, seeing an epic rocket launch.

Thank you all so much for your support during the year, it means so much to me! I hope you enjoy this look back at 2017!