This weekend, I attended the first 2012 Walk Through a Wedding workshop hosted by the fabulous Justin & Mary. It ROCKED MY WORLD. Although, I have to admit that I was pretty intimidated because it was my first workshop, and workshops are supposed to make you bare your soul, admit to your mistakes, and most importantly, try something new, fail, and then TRY again.

And that is exactly what happened. As much as it hurt to realize the mistakes I’ve made in building my business, it was also very refreshing that I wasn’t alone. That WE weren’t alone. From seasoned pros to those of us just starting out, the 18 of us bonded over learning and pushing ourselves to try and make mistakes and then try again. Eighteen of us, with different backgrounds, different “whys,” different influences…and we were all there for one common goal: to become better photographers.

One of my favorite parts (and I had many!) was the beginning of the second day. Mary asked us, “What does photography mean to you?” It got me thinking WHY I love shooting weddings, why I love shooting people. It isn’t the “glory” or “fame” you get as wedding photographer…it isn’t about that. For me, it’s about capturing those fleeting moments in between the big events. The moments that otherwise would have been forgotten if not for that photograph freezing that particular moment in time. The moments that, collectively, make up real life.

When Chris picked me up (we were heading to NYC to celebrate the last few hours of his birthday at Ippudo– noodles for long life!), I was talking a mile a minute. Talking so fast that I was breathless and nearly forgetting what I had to say because I had SO MUCH to tell him. Talking so fast that I’m fairly certain certain parts didn’t make sense because my brain was going way faster than my mouth. He soaked it all in, quietly nodding, holding my hand, with the car radio turned down low. When I said all that I could and finally took a few seconds to sort through my thoughts, I asked him what was his Why, what made him want to photograph weddings and people.

“It’s capturing those fleeting moments in between,” he said, not even pausing to think about it.

I couldn’t believe it– his Why is the same as mine. And we’ve never explicitly asked ourselves why we do what we do. That fire in my soul– my husband not only understands that, but he encourages me to keep it burning. He is the wood to my bonfire. It was then that I realized that we were meant to do this; we were working for the same Why, without even knowing it. But now, we’ll continue working for the same Why…together.

Just a quick sneak peek of this weekend– I’m still reeling from it, but stay tuned for some more images! ;)

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I love it when movies have blooper reels at the end, especially in Rush Hour with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Priceless!

Likewise, I love it when I’m going through images from a shoot and find a bunch of hilarious outtakes. These don’t usually make it on the blog, but it always gives us a good chuckle. I found out during Christine and Christian’s shoot that photos with pets = a ton of bloopers. Here are my favorites!

This started off normal…Kenji and Mochi were behaving and actually looking at the camera! Then…Mochi got distracted and started licking Kenji. Oh, dogs…

Kenji did NOT want to pose…in fact, he was so interested in running around that he actually BUSTED OUT OF HIS COLLAR.

…………yeah.

After Christian got him to calm down and brought him back, he proceeded to act cute and lick Christine’s face off.

Don’t worry Kenji, you’re SUPER cute! How could you not love a face like this?!

After moving to the UNLV Library, we realized it wasn’t just pets that made photos funny. We told Christine to reach up while Christian crouched down. It wasn’t until later we noticed it looked like Christian was Tebowing:

Happy Wednesday!

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The lights. The energy. The sounds. The smell of cigarette smoke winding its way lazily around people betting their hard-earned money. The soft clink of casino chips against each other as a lady pushes a stack across the table, betting it all on black. The tinkling of a slot machine as its reels turn, its spinner is holding his breath in the hopes of hitting the jackpot. The pounding bass barely contained in the walls of the club.

I’m in Vegas and I’m not feeling it.

But let me clarify. I don’t like the stereotypical Vegas. You know, the kind you see on tv and movies with all its glitz, glamour, and Ocean’s Eleven fame. Rather, I like the low-key, underrated Vegas, the kind that locals appreciate and tourists and gamblers miss out on. Off the beaten path, so to speak.

This weekend, Chris and I were in Sin City, and though we were on the Strip for a grand total of 90 minutes for lunch, we had a blast hanging out with good friends and trying out new places to eat. We lost a dollar gambling, but hey, you gotta let loose once in a while, right? ;)

I like comfortable and cozy, and I’ll always choose comfortable and cozy over glitzy and high energy…even in Las Vegas.

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