music 101 : sterling singers

Tonight I had the incredible opportunity to take photos for the Sterling Singers during their Music 101 concert at the First Presbyterian Church, in Salt Lake City, UT, USA. Music performed by the choir included works from Vivaldi, Bach, Händel, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Bruckner, Brahms, and Fauré.

The church has many vibrant stain glass windows.

Near the main entrance, this Bible was beautifully displayed.

Kelly DeHaan, the conductor and masterful art director of the choir, taught his audience of pupils about each composer before the choir and organ or piano filled the church with the composer's inspired work.

Here, Kelly is sharing about his favorite composer of the evening, Beethoven, as choir members thoughtfully listen.

The choir truly sounded as though it were a choir of angels. Several times throughout the concert I had to simply stop shooting and focus all my attention to the music because I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of it all. I love music. I love singing. I love listing to inspired music performed by angelic voices.

The final song of the evening was a tribute to the Savior. During this number, my camera sat in my lap as tears welled in my eyes; what a fitting tribute to Him who has given us all.

monet to picasso

Tonight Clark and I went to the Utah Museum of Fine Art at the University of Utah to see the Monet to Picasso exhibit. It is so inspirational to stand before an original work of art; the colors, textures and subtleties of the paintings are so rich and wonderful!

During the exhibit, we went around with a sweet docent, Cherry, who has a passion for art. Unfortunately, cameras are not allowed inside the exhibit, or I would show you some of my favorites (Besnard, Breitner, Van Gogh, Rodin, Dali, Cezanne, Ernst...).

At the entrance to the exhibit, the museum posted quotes from the artists:

"The way to know life is to love many things." -Vincent Van Gogh

"Creativity takes courage." -Henri Matisse

"Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely." -Auguste Rodin

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once one grows up." -Pablo Picasso

I love the last quote. It brings back memories of coloring on the coffee table as a young girl. Art has always been a part of me; photography is now the medium I use to explore life.

dublin, ireland

I will finish blogging about the remainder of the Zero-60 Workshop as part of my trip through Europe.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Europe. Wow, what a dream! My sister Kari and I arrived in Shannon, Ireland after a marathon of travel. I LOVE listening to the locals' accents. On the plane flight to Shannon, Kari and I had seats next to friendly, talkative, Irish people. It was great chatting with them and feeling the sense of pride they had about their beautiful country.

A flight to Dublin finished our air travels for today. Prior to our flight to Dublin, we met up with Melissa Jill, a super-talented and amazingly sweet photographer from Arizona, USA.

For lodging, we stayed at Roganstown Golf & Country Club.

The interior. . .

I love shooting up. . .

After a long day of travel, the most welcoming part - good food and soft beds! Lunch was a cream or carrot and coriander soup with crusty bread. Yum. After lunch, a long nap; we were all exhausted from the traveling.

Later in the evening, we took a taxi to Swords Town Centre and enjoyed some time taking pictures.

The flower boxes made me think of my dad.

I love this little alley way.

On the dinner menu - Chinese food (note: if you ever travel to Swords Town, Ireland, all the Irish pubs finish serving food at 9 PM).

Tomorrow, off to Paris!

me

It's been a long time coming, but I am excited to have this blog up and running!

A little about me...

I love photography.

Photography has been a passion of mine since I was a child and this passion continues to grow. You will see plenty about photography on my blog, so on with a couple other "me" related things :).

I love to learn.

Photography, business, science, art, cooking, baking, health, fitness...the list goes on and on. I have two bachelors degrees (medical illustration and nursing). In addition to my photography business, I am currently working at Huntsman Cancer Hospital.

Done (with nursing school :))

I love to experience other cultures.

This year I was fortunate enough to travel to Peru, France, Italy, and Ireland.

Peru

France

Italy

Ireland

I love my family.

I especially appreciate my honey, Clark, for his unwavering love and support. He works so hard to make life beautiful and keep me sane when I am busy. Through Clark, I am blessed to be a part of two loving, supportive families.

There are many other things I love and am grateful for, but I will visit them on another post.

zero-60 photography workshop

I recently traveled to a few countries in Europe. While the other countries were filled with great memories, the purpose of this trip was to attend the Zero-60 Workshop with two fabulous wedding photographers, Melissa Jill (Arizona, USA) and Arden Ward (Alabama, USA).

The workshop did not disappoint. Not only were Melissa and Arden fabulous instructors, who shared volumes of information, but the workshop was also a great opportunity to network with other photographers. Content of the workshop focused on both the artistic and business aspects of wedding photography. It was great to have combined instruction from Melissa and Arden because their business set-up and shooting styles were very different. Their differences allowed me to see that a business model can be successful as long as it is designed for your market.

The networking portion was so much fun! The participants of the workshop are now very dear to my heart.

Brandi Schneider (Arizona, USA)
Brandi is a sweetheart. She is very new in her pursuit of professional photography and is an amazingly fast learner. If she keeps up the pace of learning that she did at the workshop, she will be there in no time :).

Doesn't she have the most amazing eyes!

and cute hair :). BTW - the wind LOVED Brandi's hair; the day we shot these photos, Brandi's hair spent most of the time on her face. Here she is gently brushing aside those wind-swept locks...

Cristi Owens (Arizona, USA)
Cristi is such a cutie (and, might I add, a hot bridal model...). Cristi was so full of positive energy and laughter that it was a pleasure to get to know her.

Amelia Strauss (Alabama, USA)
Amelia is one of those people who could put an ear-to-ear smile on your face when you are having an awful day. She is tons of fun!

I love the shape of Amelia's lips.

...and look at that million dollar smile! If you check out her blog, you will see other images with "the hat."

Mark Capilitan (Sligo, Ireland)
Mark was the sole male participant. He quietly went about his work and produced some incredible images during the workshop. It was fun to hear about his wedding market and to see his beautiful country.

Mark is really laid back, but still has a quiet, focused intensity about him. He takes pride in producing his best work.

Esther Cossio (Spain)

Esther is darling! This woman has an incredible eye for beautiful images. I am sad that she lives so far away, but I guess it gives me a good excuse to go back to visit another country in Europe :).

I know Esther doesn't like pictures of herself, but I think she is beautiful.

These images were taken during the 4th day of the workshop, when we took head shots for one another. The head shot on my blog was taken by Cristi; then I took it for a spin through Photoshop to make it a black and white. Thanks so much Cristi, I love it!