Two in a Row Baby! :)

Hey everybody!

For the 2nd straight year, we've been selected as a winner in the Wedding Wire Bride's Choice Award. We get this based on reviews over the past twelve months, and probably some other stuff - haha!

I'd like to thank Mere for all her hard work, my parents, the guy behind me in Starbucks who I secretly bought his drink, ... :)

Peace out!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

I'm on CNBC! Photo Ignite Speakers Announced

Hey everybody!

I've got some really great news! I'm one of 17 national photographers selected for Photographers Ignite, a super-unique presentation taking place at WPPI this year. I didn't really want to enter (Becker made me do it), but now that I've been selected, and I see all the great names I get to share the stage with (including Jasmine Star, Becker, and the Boudoir Divas), I'm getting really excited about it.

To add to my excitement, my email has blown up with websites that are doing stories on this, the latest is on the CNBC website. Cah-ray-zee!!!

I can't really share much about my presentation right now, but hopefully after the fact I'll be able to post a video (that is, if I'm not a complete train wreck - haha!)

Yay!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

2011 Benny Awards: The Winners!!

Hey everybody!

With anticipation building and building over the past month, I've been so excited to share the Benny Awards winners with you! Let's not blab, let's show some pictures!

Best Wedding Portrait: Brooke and Patrick

Best Engagement Portrait: Nikki and Garney

Best Bridal Portrait: Ashley

Best Dress: Abby

Best Dramatic Moment: Natalie

Best Wedding Design: Abby

Best Getaway: Casey

Best Dance: Jessica

Best Comedic Moment: John

Best Wedding Cake: Taryn

Best Kiss: Brandi

Best Shoes: Casey

Best Groom's Cake: Seth

2nd Place Engagement: Lauren

3rd Place Engagement: Katy

So there you have it! Fun fun fun!

With all the fabulous 2011 couples we have booked, it's going to be even tougher next year I'm sure!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Benny Awards... and the NOMINEES are... (read all for a surprise!)

Hey everybody!

For the Benny Awards, I have the opportunity to nominate tons of fabulous couples in 13 categories. There are, in my opinion, 3 top categories: Best Wedding Portrait, Best Bridal Portrait, and Best Engagement Portrait. Sure, the others are nice, but these are the bee's knees! I thought I'd post the nominees these three main categories.
Best Bridal Video


Best Wedding Video


Best Engagement Video


Okay, I've got a surprise that has to do not only with the Benny's but with our upcoming weddings! I'll be posting images soon, as tonight this particular thing makes its debut, but I'm pumped about it and think lots of our 2011 and 2012 couples are going to want this! 'Cause we do it right, y'all! :) Is that tease-y enough for you?

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Anthropologie Wedding Dresses!

Say whaaaaat???? Yep you read that right!

Ironically, the day after Meredith received her Badgley Mischka wedding dress, my favorite store in the world, Anthropologie, announced they are gonna start rockin' the wedding dress world.

Can't Mere have two dresses????

Here's how you get more info:
http://www.bhldn.com/

Let's swoon together, shall we???

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Jennifer and Ben's Winter Wedding Story

Hey everybody!

We come to it at last: the finale for Jennifer and Ben's Winter Wedding. I love that they had a morning wedding in the winter because, if you didn't notice, EVERYTHING WAS BRIGHT! So many winter weddings have the dark and drab exterior that we have to work our booties off to minimize. Not so here! There was a yummy brunch with an amazing string quartet and LOTS of happy quests! Great job Jennifer and Ben (and Jonathan too - heehee!).

And now, here we go...
Some fun getting ready shots

And a first meeting. LOVE her cuteness here...

The gorgeous Midred B Cooper Chapel is a great place for your first kiss as husband and wife

And for my favorite shot, maybe of the entire day, is this candid moment after the ceremony. I used my stalker lens. :)

The sweetest moment of the wedding was when the maid of honor sang words she wrote to Jennifer. There were many a tears shed.

After brunch the couple cut the wedding cake - Mere got the cool close up shot here.

So, there we have it! Thanks to Ben and Jennifer for a fabulous kickoff to 2011!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Jennifer and Ben's Winter Wedding Portraits

Hey everybody!

I'd love for you to check out Jennifer and Ben's wedding portraits taken outside Cedaridge in Bentonville. Honestly, we spent most of the shoot laughing, which helped us through the chilly temperatures, and we got some great shots!

Come back tomorrow for some of the story-telling shots from their wedding day!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

I LOOOOOOOVE that you can see their breath. Kinda hot, right?

What I like about this photo is that it's basically the same as the first shot, but exposed for the highlights. Two different looks from one shot = coolness!

Jennifer and Ben's Winter Wedding Details

Hey everybody!

We're definitely back into the swing of things! Meredith and I had our first 2011 wedding recently and it was GREAT one to kick off the year with. Jennifer and Ben thought of every little detail for their wooded winter wedding. The bride's brother, Jonathan, designed the event and thought of every last lovely little detail. If you love what you see, email him and ask him (jonathanedwards.nwa@gmail.com) to help with your wedding! Shannon from A Party to Perfection helped the vision come to life. Have a look at the details...

More from this wedding tomorrow!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Keeping It Fresh...

Hey everybody!

Since Elizabeth's video above has been there for a very long time, we thought we'd update it with a new, fresh video - and one where she's SIX instead of FOUR. :) Same lines, updated.

Talk to you soon,
Dale

(if you get this blog in your email each day, you'll have to click here to see the video)

Shoot Your Kids: Winter Edition!

Hey everybody!

We had a fabulous group today for the Shoot Your Kids workshop at our house. I really like the smaller group setting because I got to spend a little more time with the attendees (and didn't have to bring along the entire staff).

We ordered in Stone Mill and Meredith whipped up some baked brie and other goodies.

Then Ellie, er Elizabeth, busted out her mad modeling skills for the group. Here's one of my favorites.

I'm considering doing another one of these in March if I get enough feedback - if you're interested email me or leave me a comment below and we'll see if I can find the room in the schedule.

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Photographers: I'm Taking Your Questions...

Hey everybody!

Every day, I get a couple emails from photographers asking me about this or that. From time to time a question pops up over and over and I think to myself, "Why don't I answer this on the blog?!"

Today's question if from Christopher Nolan - NOT the director. ;) I met Christopher two Octobers ago in Little Rock when Becker and I had a little photog-gtg. Christopher and Nancy were sweet as could be and we chatted most of the night.

Here's his message:
"Hey Dale hope everything is going well with you. Seem to be quite busy (as usual). I am about to buy another back up drive and wondering what type of external hard drives you use and have had good and bad luck with. I need a 1TB and firewire 800. I really value your opinion and thoughts. Thank you"

Here's my answer!
The LaCie Rugged All-Terrain 1 TB FireWire 800/FireWire 400/USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive
and here's why... if you don't get a hard drive that is rugged, you're gambling with your future! Seriously! Other hard drives can be SO flimsy!! One falls off a table and everything on it can be non-recoverable! The pups are TOUGH!! Sure, they're more money; but then again anything is that is of high quality!

I'm not sponsored by nor do I receive any benefit from referring LaCie (um, I wish I did!!), so there is no bias in my answer.

Peace out!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Snow Day = Better As A Child

Hey everybody!

This morning I woke up to this (iPhone instagram photo):

As a child, I would have immediately been filled with the hope and wonder of day filled with possibility.

As a teacher a few years ago, I would have immediately thrown a party in my head on my way back to bed as my reprieve set in.

As a business owner, I cracked open a redbull, fired up the macbook pro, and edited 7 shoots (which took about 6 hours); furthermore, I did some planning on the Benny Awards and some on my upcoming Africa trip, and spent the rest of the day on email.

If you think I'm complaining, I'm definitely not! I love my job so much that I rarely take a break. I was merely pointing out that snow days have a way different vibe at this stage in my life.

I hope you had some excitement when you looked at the white world this morning!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Garvan Gardens Wedding Story of Marina and Tom

Hey everybody!

Tom and Marina had an intimate wedding at Garvan Gardens in the Anthony Chapel - definitely one of the most beautiful chapels in the country. And they had to fly halfway across the country to get to it; Tom and Marina live in California.

We were honored to photograph their winter wedding, which started off with all their fabulous details. Hello! LOVE THE SHOES!!!

This shot is all Meredith, from top to bottom. LOVE!

Look at the bottom of the stairs. No, the VERY bottom. That's Tom awaiting his bride for their first meeting! How cool!

YES! Love so much about this picture - one of my very favorites!

See what I mean about the chapel????

First kiss! We were shooting the 200mm 1.8L on this shot for some up close yumminess!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Hot Springs Garvan Garden Wedding of Marina and Tom

Hey everybody!

Marina and Tom were married at the gorgeous Anthony Chapel at Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs Arkansas the Monday after Christmas. Yes, a Monday wedding! I think that was our first! Tomorrow I'm going to share the story of the wedding day on the blog, but today I wanted to post a couple of my favorite shots on the gorgeous grounds of Garvan Gardens.

Talk to you soon,
Dale

I like to talk alot. ;)

Hey everybody!

If you've spoken to me in person (and most of you have), you know that I like to talk. A lot. Today was one of those days when I got to talk and talk and talk with LOTS of photogaphers. Because I also like to help. A lot.

Miller's asked me to chat with photographers about running a photography business, so my talk was "Be Unforgettable" which I happen to know quite a bit about since I looooooooove all our wedding couples and become friends with most of them.

Here is a couple fun shots from today...

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Look at the dude on the right - that's quite a camera set up he's got. Is he video'ing? :)

I had to put these in, because I think they're HILARIOUS...

I'm Going To Africa!

Hey friends!
Today's post is just a link. I'm heading to AFRICA soon and since I don't enjoy tooting my own horn, I'd feel much more comfortable sending you to this surprise post about me and my upcoming trip: http://www.artfeeds.org/welcome/follow
Wish me good travels!

Talk to you soon,
Dale


-- Post From My iPad

2011 Wedding Season is Here! Jennifer's Bridal Portraits

Hey everybody!

I'm super fortunate to live in an area where we are able to photograph weddings all year. That's pretty much what we do! We did get a great two weeks off and were able to get fired up and inspired for 2011.

Now that we've photographed our first wedding of 2011, we're able to show off Jennifer's bridal portraits. Later this week I hope to start showing off her lovely winter woods -esque wedding with you all!

These bridal portraits, a gift to the bride from her mother, were photographed at Old Main (and other places) on the University of Arkansas campus.

Talk to you soon,
Dale