Las Vegas Wedding Photographer :: Pete & Trish

We called him Petey growing up. His full name: John Pete Swepston III. But we called him Petey. I remember him being about two or three years old. Beautiful blonde curly hair. He was the youngest of all of the cousins for a while, and Mom babysat him during the summer. We often rode our bikes all over town that summer. Petey sat in the seat on the back of Mom's bike.

I doubt that Petey can sit on the back of Mom's bike anymore. He's all grown up. And he's found a wonderful person with whom to share his life.

As weird as it is... I was nervous to see Pete (I kinda have to drop the "y" seeing as how he could put me in a choke hold quicker than I can add that second syllable to his name). And I was even more nervous to meet Trish!!! When we met up in Colorado I hadn't seen Pete in years, and had only spoke to Trish via Facebook.

What was I nervous for... I soon found out, NOTHING. Both Pete and Trish were so.much.fun!! We met up on Saturday to talk about the style of the shoot and to shop around a bit for clothes. I fell in love with Trish's charisma. She is so down to earth, and loves to laugh!! Especially with Pete.

The shoot was filled with laughter. And love. Which is something that I hope that Pete and Trish carry into their wedding and their marriage. I can not wait to shoot their wedding in September in New Mexico!!

Here are a few from the day...

My Daddy :: A Note on Father's Day

Is it weird that I didn't start calling him Daddy until I moved away?

Growing up Dad was always there. Always there when I needed him. And even better.... always there when I didn't think that I needed him, but he knew that I did (and he was right). I think that I took that for granted. So as I grew up he was just Dad. And then when I thought I was too cool of a teenager I started calling him Derrick, Derk, Big D... anything but Dad.

When I moved away he became Daddy.

Because when I moved away I needed him more than I ever realized, and for once in my life he couldn't always be there. So I regressed. I became a little girl who needed her Daddy... and probably cried every time that he couldn't be there.

Now I like to call him Daddy. When he answers his phone, "Hi Baby Girl..." and then I can say, "Hi Daddy!"... it makes me feel like he knows how much I miss him; how much I need him; how much I wished we lived down the road from one another. And I think that he can hear all of this in just one word. Daddy.

I love you -- I miss you. I can't wait to see you, Daddy. Happy Father's Day.

Happy Birthday Fraser!

As his wife, I could re-tell you the stories that have been re-told to me by his cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, sibling, parents and even his friends. As his wife, I could re-count the several birthdays that we have shared over the last nine years. As his wife, I could re-tell you the story he has told me several times over about his favorite birthday present. ever. But, as his wife, I could never tell you the story that started it all. The story of the day he was actually brought into this world. The story that can only be told by a mom.

So, here's a little something special for all of my faithful blog readers... Fraser's mom, as she remembers the day that Fraser changed her life.

Fraser's expected date of arrival in Terrace, BC, was May 25th, 1979, but by June 17th when he hadn't made his appearance, I went into the hospital to have labor induced. I had tried to do it myself in the week before by cutting the front lawn, which caused an outcry in the neighborhood much to the embarrassment of Fraser's father. At the hospital the induction didn't work out well and so Fraser was born by caesarian on June 18th. There was absolutely no sign of him being overdue! I guess he would have made his exit naturally if we had just waited.

I remember being wheeled up to a hospital room when it was all done, very groggy since it was termed an emergency caesarian so I had had a full anesthetic, and a nurse held a little blue bundle up to my face and I saw the cutest little round half-Japanese face that you could imagine. My first words were "Isn't he cute!" and then I passed out again.

Later that day I was given a better opportunity to examine him closely and thought I should win a reward for having the most perfect and most beautiful baby in the world. His little body was so perfectly formed and beyond compare in every regard. I was also pretty proud that he was a boy! Coming from a family in which I had no brothers and my own father had no brothers either, I was amazed that we had produced a boy. So his second name promptly became "Edwards", my maiden name. His first name came from the mighty Fraser River which runs through British Columbia. His father, being an avid fisherman, decided he was to be named after a river, and since Skeena and Zimacord were rivers his dad fished and really liked, I thought I better quickly come up with another river with a better name.

And that's the story of Fraser arriving in our great world. Love you little, love you big, love you like a little pig, Fraser! Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Fraser. I hope that your day was filled with love and happiness because that is how you make me feel, loved and happy.

Las Vegas Photographer :: My Facebook Pen Pal

When I was in third grade we did a project. We wrote letters to other children our age in China. Kinda like an arranged marriage, I didn't get to choose my pen pal. He didn't write me back. Isn't that just like a boy. Why did they make me write a boy? A girl woulda thought that I was totally legit. She woulda written me back quicker than I can finish a package of Oreos.

In seventh grade I started playing basketball for a club team. I had to travel every weekend to a city about 2 hours out of my hometown for practice. Tournaments were all over the place, and others on the team had to travel as well. I kept in contact with one of my team mates by writing letters back and forth. I can't even say that it was old school style due to our friend the Internet not being around yet, except for maybe in China. My Chinese pen pal probably wouldn't have e-mailed me even if we did have the Internet. Whatever.

I remember checking the mailbox frantically every day. Similar to how I check my Facebook now. Did she write, did she not? If not, why not? What was taking so long? Doesn't she like me? How could you not like me... I'm sooooo too cool for school.

Of course my teammate and I are not still writing back and forth, but the feeling of meeting someone new... someone who shares your same interests stuck around. When Ashley and I started chatting on Facebook I often told her that I was a nerd and yearned for photography friends. Friends that love nailing the exposure in an image just as much as I do. Surprisingly, my frantic Facebook checking... constant messages... declarations of my need for a friend... and my excitement when I finally met Ashley didn't scare her away!! Thank you Ashley for casting no judgment on your new friend.

In hopes to get to know Ashley a little bit more I asked her a few questions -- and asked her permission to put her answers here on my blog! So.... meet Ashley of Ashley Christina Photography.

Give me the low down on who Ashley Christina is...

Ashley Christina is a dork with a camera that loves capturing people as they really are. :) She is also a girl who discovered her love for photography when she became a mom. Being a mom made her realize that she needed to soak in all of these new and exciting moments...and the only way she was able to do that was with her camera.

What drove you to start a photography business....

There is nothing better to me than being able to hold a photo of your child in your hand and be speechless. Not because you have nothing to say, but because you are taken back to that exact moment. You hear their laugh, you smell their smell, you remember the way your heart fluttered at thinking, "their mine." That is what drove me to start a business. I wanted to give others that feeling and a chance to remember the most important times in their life.

If you could give one piece of advice to a novice photographer wanting to take the plunge... what would it be... ONE piece of advice!!

Talk to other photographers for advice and inspiration! yes.yes.yes!! (even if they are kinda creepy at first!!)

What is your ultimate short term goal..... long term goal??

Short term goal: To attend a photography workshop.

Long term goal: To enjoy this journey and continue to have fun!

Ashley, you rock! Thank you for being game enough to let me, and the Internet, into your world. :o)

Las Vegas Family Photographer :: McClane Family

Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made out of...

...or at least that is probably what the Daddy of these three adorable girls will be telling them until the day of their wedding!!

I had the privilege of being able to meet the most adorable family a few weeks ago. The McClane family showed up to their shoot ready to have a great time. They laughed and joked with one another, and we all marveled at the joy that is a new baby. We all laughed at one another as we each tried our best to get some smiles out of sweet little Emmie (Emerson); swept back tears when we saw how breathtakingly gorgeous Mikayla is; and oohed and awed at Ryleigh's adorable noises and perfect little face. Mom and Dad interacted as though they were naturals in front of the camera, and the love for their daughters is evident in the sparkle of their eyes. I already knew this before, but family is everything. The McClane family just nailed this point home even further.

We had a wonderful afternoon of photos, and then met back up a few weeks later to grab some more of just the girls. My time spent with this family is priceless.

McClane Family -- I wish you nothing but sugar and spice and all things nice!! Here are a few from our day. Enjoy!!

The Common Denominator

It is summer vacation. Last week the hubs and I jetted down to Puerto Rico for a week, so technically summer started last week, but today is the first day of my real summer vacation. For the next three months I am solely a mother, a wife, and a photographer. Now it is time to find the balance between the three. I have several goals in mind for the summer, but -- as always -- the list is extensive. Too extensive. I know that to change ones behavior it is best to focus on just one or maybe two behaviors at a time -- not good for my extensive list.

So on the arduous trip (16 hours to be exact) back to Las Vegas from Puerto Rico; I gave a lot of thought to my behaviors, and those in particular that I want to change. My 6th grade math teacher would be proud in that I found a common denominator. Productivity.

So for this summer I want to focus on being productive. It's that simple, right. I can allow myself a few breaks in the day to snuggle up with a good book, or catch up on crappy summer tv, but overall I will be productive.

Bring on the to-do lists.

And because it's just not fun to blog without a photo... here's a favorite from Puerto Rico. It's a little on the bright side, but still a classic Puerto Rican moment!!

Jasmine Star Workshop :: Part Deux

I fell in cyber-love with Gabriel and Carlie about a baby ago.

You see, Gabriel and Carlie designed their website using Showit. Jasmine also uses Showit, and she shot Gabriel and Carlie's wedding. So when Gabriel and Carlie published their website Jasmine blogged about it being recently published.

The moment I walked through the door into their boutique of a website I was hooked. Line and sinker. Of course, I devoured every page of their amazing site, and then clicked on the link to their blog. The first blog post that I saw was an adorable, heart-felt video that announced to the world that Carlie and Gabriel were expecting their first child. This was the second of two videos, so I went back in their blog and watched the first video and I fell in love with them. Not only as photographers, but as husband and wife, as soon-to-be parents, and as genuine people.

So, now it makes a little bit more sense to say that we met about a baby ago. (You can see little Lincoln in Jasmine's lap in the post below)

So when it came time to schedule marketing photos for my website/blog, and family photos I wrote a nervous e-mail to Gabriel. Nervous of course, because he was famous in my world.

{{sidebar: I jokingly told Gabriel during our shoot that he was my Brad Pitt, since he is famous in my world... Fraser was highly embarrassed by my slightly creepy outpour of admiration--- ha ha ha!!}}

Gabriel wrote back and the shoots were quickly set. I decided soon after to throw some day-after photos into the mix, and Gabriel was so great to take this news in stride... 3 photo shoots in two days... piece of cake for Gabriel -- wink wink.

--------------Fast forward about seven months---------------

When I found out that G+C were going to be the models for Jasmine's Workshop I leapt out of my seat!! Literally. Fraser thought I hurt myself. Or saw a bug.

Not only did I get to see my friends again, but I was going to be able to shoot them in a day-after style shoot!! The time that I got to spend with G+C and little Lincoln that day was fantastic!! I can honestly call them friends of mine, and I hope that they will do the same.

Gabriel, Carlie, and Lincoln: Please know that you will always have a free place to stay in Las Vegas, and we would love to have you guys anytime!! I can not wait to see more of what is in store for gabriel.ryan.photographers -- but more than that -- I can not wait to watch your beautiful family grow.

** I wish you nothing but wonderful blessings, and a lifetime of laughter.**

Seriously. Look at how beautiful Carlie is... wow!

I love the playful-ness here!! Definitely one of my favorites from the day!! :o)