Ashley and Clint tie the knot (part 1)

Hey everybody!
It's another two-day post, with lots of eye candy!
While I was in Eureka Springs photographing Wes and Kelli's wedding, the girls were in Littler Rock photographing Ashley and Clint's. When they called me that night to talk about how the day went, Meredith's first words were, "I love photographing couples that show how much in love they are!" From their images, it's super simple to see. Check out these moments:

A couple from their first meeting:


Then some sweet ceremony images:





Tomorrow, I'll be posting some of their portraits.
Talk to you soon,
Dale

Kelli and Wes tie the knot (part 2)

Hey everybody!

Continuing from yesterday, here are Kelli and Wes' portraits. They rock pretty hard! We had a great time photographing our great looking couple!

Kelli and Wes tie the knot (part 1)

Hey everybody!

Last Saturday, Kelli and Wes had a wonderful Eureka Springs wedding. Their Thorncrown ceremony was gorgeous, as was their Crescent Hotel reception. Because we had so many amazing shots, and because my Denver Wedding Photographer friend Jason accompanied Jessica and me, this post is being split into two days of photos.

Day one (today) is all about the sweet moments of the day. Tomorrow, we're showing off their great portraits (there are LOTS of them!). Enjoy!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

A reception surprise...

Hey everybody!

Over the next couple days, you're going to see a lot of Kelli and Wes, who were married last Saturday in Eureka Springs. To introduce this lovely couple, I have a video of them from their reception.

Wes let me know early in the day that he was going to be singing to his beautiful bride at the reception. When I asked what he was going to sing, I was happy to hear that it was one of my favorite songs, "Hold you in my arms" by Ray Lamontagne!

Check out this sweet video (I love their moment at the end!)...

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Blend-erize! Part Deux

**UPDATE** - check out my buddy Becker's [b]school blog for a couple pictures of my in action for the shot below, as well as our official Team AWEsome group photo :)

Hey everybody!

Today is my travel day. I'll be back in NWA tonight, and I couldn't be more excited for HOME! In the meantime, I thought I'd give you a little insight into my trip to Santa Fe.

Blend was a really great workshop that was led by three of the world's greatest wedding photographers, all who have very unique styles and practices. It was really interesting to see such incredibly different points of view. The Image is Found, Jesh De Rox, and Jose Villa are three of my absolutely favorite photographers, and getting to know them each on such a personal level (I had just briefly met them at random times before this week) was really a rockin' experience! It was also crazy fun to hang out with my buddy, Becker!

Here are my single favorite things about each of these 3 studios:
Jose Villa - he is seriously the nicest, most humble guy I've met.
Image is Found - they crack me up hard core. Their style is just like my old, newspaper style (I included one of Lacie below in that style). They inject fun and personality into shooting which is something Meredith and I love doing.
Jesh - From our 9-5 day, we didn't look at a single image (we did after 5, for about 20 minutes). It was ridiculously out of body! I don't know if you'll understand this, but it was like having your brain tickled with the craziest, but in the end sensible and obvious, thoughts. More than a photography workshop, I felt like it was a therapy session and a psychology class combined.
Okay, so I don't know if that was a single thing, but that's okay.

We also did a fun shoot of Lacie, who is Jose's assistant (and a photographer herself), in a wedding dress.
So, here are a few images from that quick 15 minute shoot (it started snowing 1/2 way through).

Talk to you soon,
Dale

(I love this first shot, even though it's not really my style - it is what I was talking about when I refered to my style when I worked for the newspaper - get close, shoot wide)

Blend-erize!

Hey everybody!
Here's one thing I didn't know about New Mexico: it's cold. Colder than I thought, at least. However, I'm having such a blast with my fellow photographers. I always have such a great time chatting, helping, and learning from other photographers. I've done lots of all three!

During one of the workshops, we had a mini, 5 minute shoot (mine only took 2 minutes) of an adorable couple (of photographers) and we had to turn it. Not for a grade or anything ;)

Here are the two I turned in (with some tilt-shifty goodness):



I'll have more to post later, so stay tuned!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Published! Pick up an Arkansas Bride magazine!

Hey everybody!

I know it's been out for a little while, but we wanna share our excitement with you about being published in the current issue of Arkansas Bride magazine. Brooke and Dave's wedding at the Botanical Gardens has a fatty 3 page spread! I've included the pages below, but pick up a copy for yourself if you wanna see it in all its glory!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Ashley's Bridal Portraits

Hey everybody,

It DRIVES ME NUTS not being able to post crazy fabulous images of sexy brides until AFTER the wedding!!! I've been sitting on these images that Lauren and I took of the wonderful Ashley for about two months! I was pretty sure they images were going to burn right through my computer.

Lauren and Mere were in Little Rock this weekend shooting Ashley's wedding, so I can finally throw up some radical images of our lovely bride. Yessssss!!!!

Here ya go!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Brandy and Eli tie the knot!

Hey everybody!

Last week, wedding season officially started! Yay!!! Meredith and I were super excited for Brandy and Eli's wedding. Also, we couldn't wait to officially photograph at the Pratt Place Barn. The Inn itself was gorgeous (we got the grand tour) and Brandy and Eli made the barn even better than it already was.






Their first meeting...

Their first kiss...

First dance...

First dance with Daddy...



Thanks, Brandy and Eli! This was a great start to the 2009 wedding season!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Vendor Spotlight: Shelby Lynn's Cake Shoppe

Hey everybody!

Our friend Jennifer Matsubara, owner of Shelby Lynn's Cake Shoppe, has some super exciting things coming up and we're so excited to share her great news with all of you!

You may recognize Jennifer from a little TV station called FOOD NETWORK!! She recently arrived home from the taping of her third Food Network Challenge. She's also been featured before in the Food Network's National Wedding Cake Competition!

Here's the super exciting part (warning, spoiler alert): May 17th Food Network will premier their newest cake challenge and Jennifer is chosen as the winner!!! YAY!

We stopped by her downtown Springdale shop last week to get the inside scoop from this adorable Springdale native!

She opened her cake shop in 2001 and named it after her cute daughter Shelby Lynn. Since that time the shop has gained a reputation for being THE place to get your cake in Arkansas and all surrounding areas! Jennifer is known for her unbelievable attention to detail and her ability to create ANYTHING out of sugar! Her creativity is unmatched, she's truly an artist!

Jennifer limits herself to 3 to 4 cakes a Saturday, so unlike other bakeries, your cake is decorated and put together THE DAY OF your wedding! She's also the ONLY one in the area to offer flavored fondant, which REALLY makes a difference!! She is in such high demand that she usually books up about a year in advance!

Here are few of our favorite cakes displayed in the shop:






Jennifer's favorite cake flavor combinations: Devil's food cake with cookies and cream filling, OR coconut milk verbena cake with key lime filling! Her favorites change all the time though!

Finally, we would like to congratulate Jennifer for winning such a prestigious award and wish her luck for her trip next week to NYC for yet another Food Network challenge!

To find out more about Jennifer and Shelby Lynn's Cake Shoppe visit her website: http://www.shelbylynnscakeshoppe.com/

Talk to you soon,
Dale