I just got done listening to Mike Colón on the [b] school's study hall earlier today.  I met Mike years ago at WPPI and was instantly drawn to his style of photography and the approach he has taken in his business.  Fast forward a few years and I was able to have the opportunity to attend one of his workshops.  Since then, I have kept in touch and am proud to be able to call him both a mentor and a friend.  With that said, nothing could have prepared me for when I got a call from Mike inviting me on the Thirst Relief & Grace Ormonde benefit shoot.  Despite a lot of things going on, I knew there was a reason he called and that I had to go.  It was a great experience and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity. 

Back to today.  After I got done listening to the video stream, I knew I had my image for this weeks Tanzania Thursday!  The shot of Mike was taken on the bus ride to the safari we were going on.  He had just purchased a new toy, as you will see firmly clenched in his mouth.  Personally, I think he just hadn't gotten enough Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in, and needed to let off some steam.  While on the safari, we had come up on a couple of sleepy kitties, albeit big kitties!  I managed to get the other shot as the lioness was letting us know she knew we were there.  After going through things, I couldn't help but laugh at the similarities. 

In closing and before we get to the picture, I just wanted to say a huge "Thank You" to Mike for thinking of me for this trip, and for all he has done for us and a lot of others within the photo community.

 

So our awesome client, Aly, and mutual friend, Lacie, had a brilliant idea this fall.  Aly had so much fun at her wedding, that they thought it would be fun to play dress up again and do a "trash the dress" session :).  Most of the time we do these, we call it a day after session, but they both went and got a wedding dress, did a little of their own embellishing, and wanted to trash it!  In addition, as a florist, Lacie wanted to make some floral bouquets with a little more attitude then what she usually gets to.  We had everything all lined up to use some fall color, but the weather was not cooperating.  We decided to still give things a go.  Unfortunately, due to the inclimate weather, we ended up spending more time inside than originally planned, but it ended up making for a pretty fashionable backdrop.  Thankfully we brought one of our lights along, as it came in handy! 

We ended up having such a good time and shared a lot of laughs during the shoot.  Aly and Lacie both did a fantastic job and ended up braving the cold as dark approached, which allowed us to get some very cool images in a nearby tree grove/field.  Because of the shortened hours and everything else, we weren't able to shoot as long as planned.  However, we have already talked and are looking forward to continuing the session in the spring when it warms back up, giving these lovely ladies a chance to finish the trashing that they started!  If interested in contacting an awesome florist to do your flowers for an upcoming wedding or event, you can find Lacie here.  Without further delay, here are some highlights from the shoot!

For this edition of Tanzania Thursday, I wanted to post two images that I just love when put together.  The image on the left I took early one morning while taking some images on the beach with my friend and awesome Nebraska photographer, Shane Melenbacker.  Shane was taking some images of these cool trees that grow near the shore, and I wandered further down the beach.  I saw this guard who was guarding the entrance to one of the resorts.  I found it fascinating to see this man with a stoic look while on the beach with a rifle.  He was kind enough to let me take a few quick shots and this was my favorite.  The second image is a picture of the models for the Grace Ormonde Wedding Style shoot that we did.  They were getting their make-up done for the first shoot.  I just love how the expressions on these images correlate, yet they were there for completely different reasons!  Stay tuned as we are getting closer to being able to post images from the fashion shoots.

So this past fall, we ended up doing a fun little shoot with Aly (one our past brides) and Lacie (florist extraordinaire from Pearls and Lace).  I was going through them again tonight to get some ready for a blog post later in the week, and came across this shot that Stacey took.  Needless to say I couldn't wait to get the rest done to post this one as a preview!  I am in LOVE with this image, let me know if you feel the same.  Isn't my wife great!

Stacey and I have been out of town shooting the 40th Anniversary Production of The Nutcracker for the Wausau Dance Theatre.  This is our fourth year or so of shooting this event, and each year I come away more amazed.  When asked, we like to think our photography is defined as modern elegance.  Well here is a preview of our photography meeting this classic art form!  I hope you like it as much as we do.

If you are looking for something to do today, you should come see the final performance at Wausau's Grand Theater at 1:30 PM.  If so, look for us as we are taking Lauren to go see it.