This weekend I attended a photography workshop in Tulsa, OK. Why Tulsa, you might ask? Well, sometimes the photography industry seems a little out of reach for me. I've always been a bit hesitant at going to photo workshops afraid it wouldn't be helpful/that I'd be way too intimidated to actually feel comfortable (LOL). But when I heard one of my favorite photographers, Melissa Marshall, was hosting a small photo workshop with Abby Roses open to 10 female photographers, that seemed so much less intimidating to me than these huge workshops with hundreds of people in attendance. So I quickly sent in an application and to my surprise, I got in! 

I'd been stoked for weeks leading up to it and I knew it would be fun, but I had no clue it would be this great. Not only was I challenged and inspired in my photography, but I feel like my actual soul was nourished.

Since graduating art school and since moving out of my studio about a year ago, I haven't done a lot of my own concept-based work, and the more I make art for other people, the more I deeply desire to make art for myself. My medium in the past has mostly been sculpture, but my medium as of late is a camera and I feel a conviction that I need to start using it with more direct intent. 

I realized over the course of the winter doing shoots in the snow that I actually really dislike shooting in the snow. And the reason is that it acts as a huge reflector, sandwiching light and making people look a little washed out. Normally I fight that and have to add back in a lot of contrast and definition, but I wanted to do a shoot embracing what the snow does to skin tones instead of fighting it. 

To tell this story right, we have to tell another one first. 

It all started on a cold winter night at Enchanted Rock State Park during our 6th annual New Years Eve camping trip. It's always a special time, but this year was particularly significant. First of all, it was the night I proposed to Megan, and second, it was the night Zach and Deborah met each other for the very first time. 

Cute, right? Well, not exactly. Unless you find the faint sound of a home-brewed beer hurled in the woods attractive. Let's just say that Zach didn't make a great first impression that night, so likewise, we were a little surprised to see them start dating not too long afterward.

Don't know what exactly Zach did to recover from that infamous night, but I'm so glad he did. Because sober, Zach and Deborah are an incredible pair. 

Shannon & Steffan reached out to us through Instagram to see if we'd be interested in traveling to Page, Arizona for their engagement shoot to explore a slot canyon and Horseshoe Bend. We just so happened to be going there that week to backpack the Grand Canyon. So they met us in Page and we spent the day hiking through a slot canyon and watching sunset at Horseshoe Bend