Here’s my favorite image from the collection – it reminds me of something fluffy, like bread, but in reality, they’re pecans straight out of the freezer. (I love frozen pecans, too!)

Click for a bigger version…

And, of course, if you’d like to take a look at the keepers from tonight, take a gander at these!

http://photos.codyjbennett.com/Fine-Art/2012/

Meet the happy couple: Ann & Andrew Klausner, they’re a an amazing duo and know how to throw a party! I was especially impressed at the little details that were thought of in advance… For instance, at the full Catholic Mass, one of the wedding favors were mini LED flashlights, as the ceremony started before dark, and the sun had set by the time it ended.

Their reception was perfect. A packed room of excited folks with great food and good music (complete with dance-floor lights!)

Anyhow, for prints/downloads of these images, check with Penny, but for a quick preview, check below!

I tend to enjoy the macro option because I love to notice the details that constantly surround us. It’s amazing how you can go for a walk and miss all of the infinitesimal miracles all around.

Anyhow, here are my 3 keepers of the day that I recall taking. (We had swapped camera bodies several times, so I couldn’t tell you who took many of the other images).

I don’t consider these fine-art, and subsequently they’re just for show and tell, but I hope you’re taking the time to notice your world around you.

Before you read further… Here’s my disclaimer: I am completely ignorant!

I think I’ve been resistant because I don’t expect to be branching out into studio-based work anytime soon, and, my own experiences lead me to feel like studio work is generally fairly static and uninspiring for the client as well as the photographer. Every time I’ve been in a studio, it was effective to get a good picture, but mostly ‘blah’. It seems that it might be a great business model to bring a client in for a shorter time with lighting already dialed in… But, before I feel comfortable getting clients in the limelight, I thought I should get a bit of practice in…

Thanks to Alex (and Cory, and Stacy), we spent a few hours crash-coursing me through a new PocketWizard setup, three off-camera flashes, and a variety of props & backgrounds. I’m not yet a seasoned pro, but I can see where the studio would help me accomplish certain kinds of looks. We’ll see where it grows. Maybe I’ll aim for more practice tomorrow. Anyhow, I thought I’d post a couple of images that we developed yesterday.

A few thoughts I’d tack on:

• I’d like to light the background of the white backdrop so that I don’t have to do any post-production to make it a cleanly white backdrop. It’d take some dialing in, but I’m sure I could accomplish what I’m looking for, if only I had a bit more space.
• The images below are basically out-of-camera so they’d be considered “proofs” rather than a final product.
• I think I need another week of practice before I feel completely confident in working through the various iterations I might use in that space. So much learning to do!

Thanks for looking!
-cb

In reflection of my 2011 images, I didn’t think I had a strong enough collection in one particular vein to have strictly a Macro, Wildlife, Scenic, or other theme. But with Heather’s help, we were able to get it done. You can call this particular grouping, “photos that made the cut”! Ha!

For printing this year, I decided to go with one of our partners, Kodak Gallery. In the past I had used iPhoto, chosen for their fairly simple process to get a large, quality calendar. So many places offer calendars but at some minuscule size (like 8.5×11) which, to me, communicates mass-market cheapness. I’m a big fan of quality over price.

After receiving the calendars last week, I can say that I like the product. The size is more than adequate –14.25″x10.9″– (larger than the iPhoto calendar –13″x10.4″– that I’ve had previously), and the print quality gets a 7/10 ranking because while the quality of the print & paper was mostly amazing (9-10/10), the downside was that their printer obviously had some issues as there were color bands across many of the images (5/10). I haven’t decided if I’m going to chase down their quality control offices and demand a refund (reprinting is too late in the game for Christmas Gifting.) They may be expensive to make, but it’s fun to share, and most people can actually use it throughout the year!

If you don’t get one from me by new years and you REALLY, REALLY have to have one, let me know. I’m happy to order more, but you’ll cover the costs.

Here are the images (in order of how they appear in the calendar). Click for a larger view.

Click for the calendar'ized view of our travels...

Two weeks, 6 states:

• Juneau, AK
• fly to… Portland, OR (2 nights)
• fly to… Seattle, WA (1 night)
• fly to… Reno, NV
• drive to… Carson City, NV (3 nights)
• drive to… Tahoe, NV and back
• fly to… Denver, CO (3 nights)
• drive to… Bridgeport, NE (1 night)
• drive to… Denver, CO
• fly to… Seattle, WA
• drive to… Port Townsend, WA (3 nights)
• drive to… Leavenworth, WA and back
• drive to… Seattle, WA (1 night)
• drive to… Leavenworth, WA (2 nights)
• drive to… Seattle, WA (1 night)
• fly to… Juneau, AK for a vacation from the vacation!

And, while we’re here, I thought I’d use the photo blog to offer up a couple of photo highlights… take a look at some photos after the jump… 

In Portland, we were at the Free Enterprise Days event in the Portland Coliseum. The conference is to celebrate the Free Enterprise system in North America. We attend annually, but this time around, it was particularly special as we were able to nominate Heather’s grandpa to be one of the WWII Veterans recognized on stage. It started with a hugely emotional experience, and continued from there. A truly amazing event.

Here he is on stage:

And, to give a sense of scale of the event…

We were in Nevada and Colorado to help some business partners, and then were able to stop in Nebraska to see my family. My Grandpa Darrell & Uncle Oscar live in Bridgeport and my Aunt Beverley and her husband John were able to come down to visit during our stay. It was great to introduce Heather to some of my family (she had yet to meet my grandpa and uncle), and of course, I like to drive, so it was a nice (long and flat) spin from CO to NE!

And lastly, Eli & Ariel are married! See more about the photo shenanigans at this earlier blog post. Here’s a portrait in downtown Leavenworth, WA. It was COLD, and of course, lots of fun to travel and see the holiday lights as when we had left Juneau, we only had seen 1/2 inch of snow that dusted the morning we left.

Now, an interesting wrinkle would present itself… I consider myself a bit of a photographer, too.

As details were flying about, it was determined that I would be the guy to coordinate wedding photos for the big day too.  Hmm.

Fortunately, as time drew closer, we devised a master plan. I would be the “consultant” and I would have my equipment in the hands of my lovely wife who has helped me in numbers of other weddings. And, to increase the number of images to have for the Bride & Groom afterwards, I asked another close friend who is similarly passionate about photography: Pat Grieser. Originally, I had expected to be the brains while Heather & Pat fulfilled the brawn… It didn’t quite work out that way.

As the Wedding Eve arrived, I realized that in order to be the best Best Man I could be, I couldn’t pay any mind to the cameras in the room – I just needed to serve and be the friend. Fortunately, Pat & Heather came through incredibly well for the pressures of a wedding. We were all excellent about playing our roles and the resulting images are awesome.  I’m not sure if I’ve broken Pat of the interest in ever going into wedding photography, but the wedding itself was a blast.

It was a simple and fairly small endeavor at the Beaver Creek Lodge, just a few miles down the road from Leavenworth, WA.

I did get to put on my photographer hat on Sunday afternoon when Ariel, Eli, Heather & myself went out for some beautiful portraiture with rustic backdrops and even throughout downtown Leavenworth.

And, without further adieu, I should show you a few more pictures…

http://photos.codyjbennett.com/event/Ariel-and-Eli-Wedding

And, I should leave you with a bigger version of a few favorites… Enjoy!

I _might_ be biased, but I’m pretty sure I have the best Brides and Grooms. Tara and Andrew are an awesome couple. We had a blast hanging out with them for the wedding, and of course for the “Trash the Dress” Session, but mostly I just enjoy their joy of life. Tara is constantly in full cheek-to-cheek smile, and Andrew is the same. Every time I look through their photos I grin from ear to ear too. Their energy is contagious!

Anyhow, here are a few of the highlights, but click on the link to visit their event gallery with all of their images!

http://photos.codyjbennett.com/event/Tara-and-Andrew-Wedding

A month ago (or more?) Heather and I had the chance to share a rainy afternoon with Ashley, Evan, Melanie & Robert and their three dogs Bossy, Barbosa and Bently. They’re a fantastic bunch. Genuine, full of energy & loving – my favorite kind of people!

You can take a look at a few of the images here:

Anyhow, I decided to head out to the UAS Halloween Dance in order to practice my off-camera lighting on a dance floor. And, as another photographer pointed out, this lighting is nothing like a wedding reception dance, but even still it’s nice to practice the trade when there are no pressures of “getting the shot”.

Enjoy!

First up, Trevor & Bob. These two are a blast in their own rights. I’m looking forward to getting to know both of them better in time.

Mostly, I avoid posed shots, but every now and again, folks prompt me with a “take my picture!” and a pose. It’s hard not to turn those down (unless my settings are destined for something entirely different.)

 
And finally, some actual photos of dancing. No lights is still a learning curve for me. You try taking pictures of moving people in a dark room! Anyhow, I think they made the cut.