University of Utah Quilt

This is my sister, Mychel

From our wildlife cruise in Alaska last year

These are her kids (minus the girl that is sitting like a boy. that one is mine), and here, and here

Eli and Hudson on the right

And this is her blog
The New Mexican Hulets

Mychel is a domestic goddess:
She is a great cook (she used to pretend to be Julia Child while she cooked)
She knits
She sews
She quilts like it's her job
She is a really good mom. she is loving, and playful with her kids and she is a great teacher to them.
She can clean like mad. (I've never been good at that)
Growing up, for some reason, her room always seemed so much cooler than mine. I could hang out on her bed forever (maybe it was the big fluffy bed with tons of pillows). That is how she keeps her house now. Welcoming and comfortable.
Also, she is a really awesome wife.

She's a natural. I've always admired that about her always find myself trying to emulate her domesticity. But I'm just a poser. :(

Oh back to my point, did I mention she quilts like it's her job? Well she does. She has more quilts than anyone I know.
Anyways, I've started a few quilts in my lifetime but my mom has always finished them because I either run out of steam or she gets sick of them laying around.
I am proud to say I have finally made a quilt and finished it!
IN YOUR FACE MYCHEL! Haha!
No. But really,  although she is in New Mexico right now, she has held my hand through it all. I would call her and my mom, who is visiting Mychel right now, with a million questions everyday. I pretty much learned how to sew a quilt over the phone. So I'm pretty proud of it. In fact, I am so in love with this quilt that I thought about keeping it for myself. (It was a birthday gift)

Thanks Mychel and Mom!

University of Utah blanket

fat boys, summer, and catchlights

I will miss:
eating fat boys on the front porch
walking around in bare feet
driving with the window down
wearing flip flops and shorts
sleeping with the window open
bike rides
late night walks
laying by the pool
fresh berries on my cereal
garden grown tomatoes

Confession: I don't always look for the light to create catch lights in my subjects eyes.  It just so happens that I unknowingly placed these kids in just the right place. The edge of the shadow, where it meets the light, is just outside of the frame, so I was able to catch the light from the sidewalk reflected in their eyes. Definitely worth taking the time to find the perfect light from now on.

Utah newborn photography: Lenna

These photos are long overdue. I've been holding onto them forever and a handful of other shoots.
How precious is this little doll? There are moments where I look at her and she looks just like her dad, but a girl version of course....

I loved taking pictures with Jared and  Aarika.  They are so laid back and easy to photograph. And we had a ball playing dress ups with Lenna. And you can just tell they adore this little girl. Jared and I go way back (like I'm so old) to high school days. He was good friends with my little sister and I've always considered him one of my friends too. It's so fun to see his little family growing. I love these guys!

I heart cemeteries: Mount Olivet Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Utah

Not in a morbid kind of way... I especially love old cemeteries and particularly old, beautiful headstones and monuments. When I was studying photography at the University of Utah I spent a lot of time at this cemetery. It is directly across the street from the school and I chose to do a project photographing there with my home made pinhole camera. I fell in love with this place and the peace and serenity that I feel when I am there. The key is to walk through very slowly and making sure to return to spots you've already visited.  Not only are there some amazing treasures to be found but often you can see deer grazing or laying in the shade.

Kristina and Scott

So I don't really "love" taking family photos nor would I say I'm good at it. But I took some family photos for my dear friend Kristina. Kristina and I go way back to Jr High days. Yeah she's that special to me. She and I have been best friends since Jr High and even though we've gone our separate ways at times and she's moved all over the country, we always seem to come back together just like we saw each other yesterday. She is the one I go to with relationship and parenting advice. She knows way more about parenting than a lot parents out there (namely me). Not only is she super nutty and sassy like me but she is also willing to be completely honest with me and tell me what she really thinks and I love that about her.
Anyways, I just want to say how especially nice it was to take pictures of her and her hubby, Scott. They made it so easy and dare I say Fun! I loved photographing them! It's fun taking pictures of two people who really love each other and still play together. Who knew?

Food Photography Workshop

I have so much to blog about, which also means I have so much going on right now that I don't even have time to blog about all of it. But for today I am so excited to share some photos from a food photography workshop that I attended last Saturday, taught by Quinn Curtis, owner of Limelight Food Photography.

To see other attendee's work click on this link.

When I first started getting interested in food photography, naturally I sought out other food photographers, and especially any that lived in and were successful in Utah. I found Quinn online and started reading her blog. I heart her style and fresh approach. I started harassing her, via email, a few months ago about assisting her. I'm sure she gets that a lot and just hoped she would put me on her "to call for an assistant" list. When she posted that she would be teaching a series of food photography workshops I signed up for every single one that I could.

Last week she taught an awesome workshop, Natural Lighting Food Photography. I loved this workshop! It was such a nice and intimate setting at her house and the class size was perfect for us all to get some good shooting time and discussion. She had 5 breakfast/brunch items set up in different parts of her house, which allowed us to try different lighting situations. Breakfast just so happens to be my favorite meal and I didn't have to prepare any of the food. What more could I ask for? I learned so much at this workshop and am so excited for next week's Food Photography Color Theory and Food Styling Workshop.

Right after I left the workshop, I headed over to photograph my dear friend, Jared's baby, Lenna. She is so stinkin cute! I'll try to post pictures after I get back from Girl's Camp.

White Sands National Monument - New Mexico

 

We went to visit Mychel and the rest of the Hulet family, where she has made her new and temporary home in New Mexico.

There really isn't a lot to do there, besides swimming. But we did go sledding at White Sands National Monument. We were sure it would be rocking good time considering all the people who told us about it and the fact that it was so hard to find a place that had sleds in stock. (They carry them year round specifically for sledding at White Sands) Let's just say that sledding on sand is not nearly as exciting as sledding on snow.

But we were surprised to see that the sand was actually that white. I loved the stark difference between the white sand and the blue sky.

St George trip - Memorial Day weekend

I'm finally getting to my trip to St George over Memorial Day weekend. Here are some random photos from the trip. The reason it's taken me so long is that it's so hard for me to choose my favorite photos.

 This is Jake and I at a restaurant we went to for dinner. Why do I love awkward pictures so much? I don't even remember what was going on here, but I think it's funny.

Pancho and Lefty's

Taking the shuttle through Zions National Park
Becca, Brandon and Jake

At the bottom of Angel's Landing
I love this photo because Jake took it in an attempt to get the peak in the background, which he totally did! It's just behind my cut-off head.

Yeah we just hiked that, 'cause we're hardcore like that.

My zen moment and I don't even know what Jake is doing..... hahaha! Working on his falling pose....

Blueberries

This is what makes me so excited for summer!  Sadly I used to think I hated blueberries, that was when I had only had them in blueberry muffins and before I had ever eaten fresh blueberries. Now I eat them like candy.
My heart sang when I saw these fresh blueberries on the counter the other day. I had a list of things to do when I got home from work but I could not resist the urge to take pictures of these. I didn't manage to get anything on my list finished but I felt complete having spent my afternoon taking pictures of blueberries and of course eating them.

Utah newborn hotography: Elijah

Here are some recent photos of my nephew, Elijah. I absolutely love that every inch of his body is covered in hair. Honestly, he is the hairiest baby I've ever seen. It's debatable where he actually got all that hair from. The men in my family are hairy beasts and you would think that he got it from his dad, my brother. However, apparently his mom was pretty furry as a baby too. So this poor kid was doomed from the start. But I definitely think it's a feature. How can you resist rubbing your cheek on his furry head. (which I  do every time I hold him, and the clean baby smell helps too)