The best post we can think of to ring in the new year is one of a couple we have come to love and admire!  Jennifer and James definitely know the adversities life can throw at you and have handled more than their fair share in 2010, but the past year also brought them extraordinary joy as well.  They not only celebrated their love of one another by getting married, they also welcomed their first beautiful baby, Braden James Calhoun (we will be sharing newborn photos of him in an upcoming posting,) into the world!

James and Jennifer had a lovely springtime wedding at Los Abrigados in Sedona last April.  We just feel so fortunate to have been a part of their wedding and to become friends with them in the process!  Thank you both so much ... may 2011 be bright and wonderful!!

I would like to thank my talented second photographer, Joyce Day, for working with me on this wedding and I would also like to thank our new Associate Photographer, Angie Gomez, for her contribution to this wedding (we will be formally announcing her as a part of our team on an upcoming blog posting!)

We would like to extend our best wishes to everyone for a happy and safe holiday season!!

For Christmas Eve we decided to take a road trip south of Tucson to visit Tumacacori National Historic Park for their festive luminaria display.  This is an annual event held each year on Christmas Eve and it was spectacular to witness!!

It's all in the details ... and Kari and Dave's wedding had plenty of details!!  Their wedding was held at Kari's parent's home in Scottsdale in early October.  Kari's mother, Nancy, is an interior decorator and her gift reflected in every gorgeous detail of this event (I am absolutely in love with every facet of her home by the way ... looks like it came straight out of the pages of a magazine.)

One other spectacular detail to mention, and this one wasn't planned.  When we first met with Kari and Dave, they mentioned how much they loved the dramatic skies in some of our photos.  They were hoping for some sort of drama to play out that day, and boy did it.  I know, the photo shown above doesn't look real, but rest assured it is very real and all that was done to it in photoshop was my normal tweak of the contract and saturation.  Just after their rooftop, sunset ceremony a dust storm swept down over the mountains, creating this amazing cloud formation.  It took shape just as the sun set and went through two main phases of color; first a brilliant yellow and finally a fiery pinkish-red.  It was seriously one of the most dramatic sights I have ever witnessed!  Kari was so excited.  Even when we said our goodbyes that night she said, "I can't believe we got one of your skies :-)!!!"  Well Kari, we most certainly did and we hope these photos help preserve that special wedding day memory for a lifetime to come!

I call Sarah "my stalker" :-).  She has been following us through our website and at bridal shows throughout the state for the past couple of years and when it finally came time to put all the wheels in motion for the planning of her and Sam's wedding, happily she contacted us to book our services.  We instantly fell in love with this couple and have had such a wonderful relationship with them ever since!

Sarah and Sam live in the valley but chose to have their wedding in the high country at Flagstaff's Snowbowl.  Their wedding took place in late September and though we were hoping for some fall color, the peak came a bit late this year.  They added their own color though, brightening up the ceremony site, and added many of their own unique touches.  Through much trial and error, Sam and Sarah made beautiful ceremony and reception centerpieces and accents with manzanita branches and aspen stumps ... so wonderfully creative.

Sarah and Sam, we love you both so much and hope you love these images you so trustingly allowed us to create.  You are an amazing and wonderful couple with so much love for one another.  You are an inspiration and we wish you a lifetime of joy together!

P.S.  Hope you loved Africa (lucky ducks; where they went on their honeymoon for a month) as much as I used to!  Watch out though, it will get into your blood :-).