Marie and Mike live in Canada and were hoping to have their wedding in Sedona this past year.  Unfortunately, that didn't work out so they had a small wedding in Canada instead and later decided to take a trip here to have their photos done at Red Rock Crossing.  It started out as a portrait shoot since they included their adorable (and I mean ADORABLE) daughter, Ava, and quickly morphed into a trash the dress shoot for the whole family.  As Marie saw it, she was going to leave the dress behind since she would have no need for it in the future ... hence, I gained a dress for future model shoots - THANKS MARIE :-)!

The day after the wedding, we met up with Lisa and James for their trash-the-dress shoot.  This shoot was totally off the hook.  We had such a blast!!

We started at Lisa's parent's farm, which is full of everything imaginable to use as a prop or backdrop for this kind of shoot.  We had a lot of fun rummaging through the garage, and with a little help from Lisa's father, we got some crazy shots :-)!  The farm equipment was fun too as was the participation of many adorable dogs, including Quizas.  Lisa's brother, a photography buff himself,  took us to the far reaches of the farm where they grow all sorts of palm trees and we got some beautiful shots in the deep green forests ... not to mention a few mosquito bites :-).  The family definitely participated in this event and had fun doing it!  We hope they love the photos!!

We finished up the shoot at the beach and WOW, no holding back.  When we told them to jump in the water, they jumped.  When the waves battered them, they just got back in them again for another take.  They were amazing!!  I have to say though, I got just as soaked as they did almost ... drenched up to my neck.  The water was warm though, kind of like bath water :-).  Lisa opted not to keep the crinoline and tossed it in the trash as we left the beach ... made for a cute departing shot!!  Thanks so much you two, this was soooooo much fun!!

The day after the wedding, Michele and Josh opted for a trash-the-dress shoot.  They were worried that it wouldn't be exciting to us beacuse we are able to do so many of these shoots in beautiful places like Sedona.  On the contrary though.  We love places that are fresh and new for us.  China, Michigan was full of rustic old barns, lovely fields of wildflowers and miles and miles of corn fields ... we have always wanted to do a photo shoot in the corn fields.  This was like being a kid in a candy store to us ... we ate it up!!

There was only one drawback.  People, I have lived in Florida for heaven sakes.  I have trudged through some seriously mosquito infested swamps.  I have even been to Africa and slept along river banks swarming with the blood-sucking creatures, but Michigan ... Michigan in the summer is as bad as any swarm I have ever had the misfortune to be in.  I hate mosquitos ... they love me ...

Now that I am finally caught up on my wedding postings, I have a chance to post some personal stuff, and it has been accumulating so get ready :-).

Back in April my friend, Phuong, came to visit me.  We have been friends for a very long time and I hadn't seen her in 10 years, so it was a wonderful visit.  She stayed for almost 5 weeks and in that time we just had to make her play dress-up and do a couple of trash-the-dress shoots at some fabulous Arizona locals!

We had an absolute blast doing these shoots and quite a bit of planning went into them.  We wanted them to be very haute couture with heavy makeup, sexy stockings, costume jewelry, a really hip black wig with blue highlights mixed in, oh ... and some peacock feathers thrown in as a headdress for good measure :-).  Our backdrops would be the Grand Canyon and the Superstition Mountain Range.  The Grand Canyon shoot was amazing and Phuong was so excited to shoot there, but that excitement was tempered as the sun began to drop ... it was freezing cold.  You would never know it by the photos though.  She looked stunning in every image!!

Stay tuned for our month-long adventure as "Tina and Phuong take on Arizona" - coming soon!

The Grand Canyon Shoot ... always love the wind at the Canyon!!

A couple of weeks ago we met with Jodee and Todd for a Trash the Dress shoot.  Jodee and Todd were married out of state in Louisville, Kentucky last October and Jodee contacted us because she wanted one last shoot in her dress before she either sells or donates it.  She also just wanted to make some fun photographs with Todd where they didn't have to worry about timelines or getting the dress dirty :-)!

We met up at the Mesa Arts Center (a really cool location for shooting) and finished up in the Superstition Range.  We have to give props to both Jodee and Todd because it was sooooo disturbingly HOT ..... 105 degrees hot!!  Needless to say we had to take many breaks for water and shade so no one would end up in the hospital with a heat related illness :-).  They really did an amazing job and never once complained.  We even let them have fun at the end of the shoot at the Arts Center, allowing them to take a dip in one of the many fountains.  Made for fun photos too :-)!

Jodee and Todd, it was such a pleasure meeting and working with you both!  You were so nice, fun to be around and wonderful at posing for the cameras :-).  By the way, I just have to throw this out there because I was thinking it the whole day and never mentioned it ... I really think Jodee looks like a young version of Jodie Foster - who agrees??  Thanks guys and enjoy!