Wedding Weekend

I took pictures at two weddings this weekend, one Friday and one Saturday. Both were very beautiful and it is so wonderful to see two people so much in love at each wedding!  What a gift.
I took over 1000 pictures at each one - between the ceremony, posed shots, candid shots and group shots of all those there that wanted to be part of the memories.  Still working through those pictures, but pulled a couple out for the blog from Matt and Jen's wedding (Friday wedding).
Matt is from Mississippi and Jen lives across the street from us. She asked if I would shoot her wedding as she loved the candid shots that I had done around the neighborhood. I, on the other hand, was a bit nervous since if I miss a candid shot no one but me knows!  If I miss a big shot at wedding everyone knows and it cannot be repeated.  Nevertheless - on we went.

I read a lot of articles on taking wedding pictures prior and thought about what equipment was going to be needed.  At these weddings, I shot everything with my 18-200mm lens on the D-300 and a flash with a diffuser on it. The Nikon SB-600 flash let me adjust +-1 on flash intensity and that really helped, especially in closeups and longer distances.  Both weddings were indoors and shooting with backdrop light really needs a filler.
Anyway I learned a lot and had a very good time.  Although weddings can make a lot of money, I think I will only do them for family and friends...and especially only for those that provide libations after!!
Enjoy!

Fiery Furnace

We visited Fiery Furnace for my last morning in Moab.  In all my visits to Arches I had never been here before and I know why!  I was saving it for this trip!
What a photographers treat!  High walls with lots of character, blue sky and clouds scudding across the openings above your head, incredible rock formations and plants to fill in for color at times!  Wow!
There are a few arches in there also, and we went to visit those and take pictures along the way.  Really could have spent a full day in there and come back for more.
Physically not all that simple, but not bad, and always take extra water and something for energy!  Here's a couple of shots from the day that are keepers.

Park Place

We took a walk down Park Place in Arches Nat'l Park yesterday afternoon.  The wind was fierce and the dust obscured almost everything.  The light was very different and changeable - sometimes the sun would pierce the haze and sometimes it would disappear completely.  The conditions make for a very intriguing challenge for photography - and decent conditions for converting to black and white.  Here's a couple I had to work over in Lightroom to get the feeling I wanted:

Not so Delicate!

We hiked to Delicate Arch last night!  It's been about 5 years since I was last here and I found myself very exhilarated to be back in/on the slickrock.  Walked around Delicate Arch and got some 'postcard' shots as well as some other neat shots.  Here's a couple.

Grandfather Raven, above, soared around the neighborhood with no fear! Very cool!!

This morning we went to Devils Garden at the end of the road and hiked in - I think there are 7 arches along the way.  I made a few but really enjoyed getting up close and friendly with other things than arches.  Here's a few from the hike:
First Landscape Arch:

Kind of a dreamy atmosphere above, but it reflected how I envisioned it. 
Animal tracks and sand to the left, always a treat to see.

The lighting and features in this area are incredible; we were there by 5:30 am and caught wonderful light.

This is a serendipity picture - I turned and saw this and took a picture - one of those times when everything works out.!!

Moab Adventure

I'm in Moab these four days (21 thru 24) in a creativity workshop led by John Paul Caponigro.  Early (very early - 4:30am) mornings and late nights make for long days filled with a lot of work.  John Paul provides assignments and then in mid-day critiques of what we've done.  I came to see if I could break through my sense of dead-endedness and I think that is just what is happening.  More later.  Meantime, here's a couple of shots, some from Goblin Valley last night and some from Canyonlands this morning.
Off to a mid-day critique and review, then to Delicate Arch for sunset shots.  Windy here so eating a lot of sand!
Later..

Utah Magnolia's

How many of us have wonderful memories of the magnolia tree and blossoms, that rich scent wafting down from above?  Our neighbors have wanted one and Diana found one that was rated hardy in our zone.  After a couple of years of babying, it has produced several flowers each year and their color is as rich as their heritage!

Just Beauty

I was looking for a picture of a friend's mother who just died (the mother) which I didn't find cause I don't think I ever took one.  But I did find some beauty from our Sedona trip with our friends, Rick and Carey.  Sometimes Sedona is like another world - perhaps more than one - and very many beautiful things to see.

All of these images were taken in the Tlaquepaque shopping area, a series of small shops interconnected by tunnels and walkways.  Art is everywhere and there is this beautiful old Catholic church that I always have to take a picture of some part of it.

And then there was glass art, one of our very favorites.  The glass artisans are incredible, and this piece was a tall (8 ft or so) outdoors sculpture of glass and steel.