Phoenix Wedding Photographer tests out new printer!

For Christmas, Ryan got me an awesome new printer! It’s an Epson Ultra Hi-Definition RX595 Photo printer. It prints great high quality photos and works as a full color scanner as well. My absolute favorite feature though is that it can print full color graphics directly onto a CD or DVD disc. Yahoo! No more labeling discs with a sharpie or dealing with annoying sticky labels that never look quite right! I can’t even tell you how excited I am to be able to do all of this right out of my home. I can’t wait to start sending out discs!

Merry Christmas to me!

Phoenix Wedding Photographer enjoys lunch with Melissa Jill of Melissa Jill Photography.

On Saturday, I had the tremendous pleasure of having lunch with Melissa Hester of Melissa Jill Photography. Melissa is a SUPER talented wedding photographer. She shot the wedding of our friends Greg & Shannon back in August and I’ve been a big fan of her work ever since.

I guess you could call me a bit of a “blog stalker” when it comes to her. I actually check her blog just about every day on my lunch break at work. What can I say? I’m a huge fan of her work! Melissa is the definition of a true wedding photojournalist. She does an amazing job of capturing the true emotions and beauty of the weddings she shoots. Her photos not only tell the story of each couple, but they are creative and artistic at the same time.

Since I’ve been following her blog for a while, it was kind of funny to actually have the chance to sit down and talk to her in person. She not only blogs about her work, but she also includes entries about her personal life, like a list of personal goals, photos of her family (and her very cute puppy). I went into our lunch knowing all kinds of things about her even though she had only met me for about 2 minutes during the busy process of shooting a wedding.

I was very pleased to discover that the real life Melissa is just as kind and genuine as the Melissa from her blog. She was full of great advice and shared many of her experiences as a wedding photographer. It was so nice to spend time with someone who has already walked down the path that we’re on.

Overall, I learned a ton and really enjoyed getting to know her. Thanks for a wonderful afternoon Melissa!

Phoenix Wedding Photographers shoot “sister” portraits at Scottsdale Civic Plaza.

My Dad decided that there was only one thing he wanted for Christmas this year: portraits of his three daughters. Since I’m a photographer, this should have been a simple request, however, I AM one of his three daughters. So it was up to my talented husband Ryan to take over the shooting responsibilities!

Our business plans have always included both Ryan and I behind the camera, but so far, most of the bookings we’ve had have been on the weekends, and he’s usually working at his day job. (If only paying the bills wasn’t so important! We don’t really need electricity, do we?) Anyhow, this was Ryan’s first official shoot and I have to say, I think he did exceptionally well!

Here’s a few of my favorites:

I love my sisters! Unfortunatly, we hardly get to see each other outside the holidays because our schedules are so different. Both of my sisters (Cheri on the left and Amy on the right) are nurses. Amy works as a labor and delivey nurse and Cheri works with troubled teenagers. I guess I just never got the medical field bug. I like Scrubs as much as the next gal, but I don’t want to work there!

I loved the tree with all the orange leaves in the background for this next shot! It’s so rare to see the passing of the seasons here in Arizona. This shot looks more like a fall day back east than a winter day in the desert.

A little sister silliness . . . (my idea of course!)

Amy has recently taken up Yoga, so she was the inspiration for these next shots – Ryan laughed the whole time he was shooting this part – so what if we look a little silly!

Ryan stood on top of a rather precarious trash can to get this next shot!

This last shot is my absolute favorite. Aren’t we a cute family? Merry Christmas Dad!

To view more images for this shoot, click here.