A Scary Task. . .

We have some wonderful friends- the Sampsons.  We have been camping and eating out with them for years- ever since all of our children were just little.  Here's the scary thing. . . their eldest daughter is engaged.  Now of course we think that she's WAY too young to get married (heck I was 24), but that's far from being relevant.  Miss Jamilyn asked me to take her engagement photos.  Whoa!  I am no professional photographer, but I figured that if they came out bad and she wanted someone else to do it, I would not be offended.

Today was about the clearest day that we have had in three weeks.  The inversion is icky, but we made it work.  Because it was pretty cold and we were losing sunlight at an alarming rate, we did this three-location shoot in about 20 minutes!  I didn't want poor Jamie to have a red nose!!!  I was worried that the shoot would be a disaster, be we got some good shots.  I did it all in manual mode- and shot them using RAW.  Although the results are not in the realm of professional, here are a few of my faves!

Congratulations Jamilyn and Kendall!

Family Portraits

Don't those two words just strike fear into a mom's heart? First you have to decide what to wear. Do you go matchy-matchy, coordinated, or anything goes? Unless you go with the last option, at least one person in the family doesn't have the right thing to wear. That means you have to go shopping! I decided on the coordinated look, but of course, I didn't own one thing that was blue! And I didn't want to go with a neutral color. Now, I like shopping, but there aren't many choices for men and women "of substance" and the teen set has their own ideas about what is hip. So, we ended up at the mall where C. J. Banks became my favorite store. I got two jackets for $34! Wooo hooo! Colby's friends helped me convince him that this Aeropostale shirt made him look extra handsome. So, once you get the clothes and they are all ironed and ready to go. . . that's when the hard part begins!

Every family has at least one member who does not enjoy being in front of the camera. With little children this is a nightmare, but as they get older you can reason with them a bit more. Bribes seem to work better asthey get older, too! (Especially when witholding the car keys is a true threat!) For this event I warned the kids what we were going to do and why, and they were pretty easy going about the whole thing. I needed a good photo of me and one of the family for the campaign materials, and once I explained that this family photo was going to be mailed to every single house in Lehi, cooperation soared.

It's nice to have a photographer in the family and I consider Dan Rice's sister Deana as an extended sister! She met us down by the railroad tracks behind the old Peck's Lumber. It was easier to be relaxed with someone you know and trust- and who understands your paranoia about double and triple chins!!!

Here are some of the photos she took last Monday- I am really excited to use these not only in my campaign materials, but in many Heritage Makers projects! Thanks, Deana!

All photography by Deana Phlegar. Contact me for her information!