Bekah + Matt

I'd been dying to visit my good friend, Bekah, in Atlanta ever since she moved there for PA school three years ago. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it work and then... BAM! It happened! The stars aligned and Jordan and I spent an awesome few days hanging out with Bekah and her fiance, Matt, exploring Atlanta, eating great food, and doing their engagement photos all over the city!

Bekah and I have been through life together... literally. We went to pre-school through college together, always playing on the same volleyball team and even living together for two years in college. This girl is my sister and I truly cannot imagine my life without her in it! She also happens to be crazy smart (she is officially a doctor now... a DOCTOR, people!), an amazing volleyball player, the funniest person you will ever meet, she is a beautiful singer... I could go on and on. Truly, Bekah is the full package deal and one of those girls who everyone just loves. And then she met Matt who is SO perfect for her in every way and just an all-around solid guy.

I was a little unsure of what their engagement photos would turn out like because these two are always laughing and being silly together, so I figured we would have some crazy, off-the-wall photos... I WAS WRONG. Don't get me wrong, we laughed and had fun with the pictures, but the second my camera came out Bekah and Matt both turned into foxy, smokin' hot models. Seriously. And the funky backgrounds in Atlanta only enhanced the sexiness. :)

Check out some Flat 4 favorites of Bekah and Matt in Atlanta! Click on any of the photos to make them bigger.

Third Time's A Charm

The older (and supposedly wiser) I get, the more I realize how many times in life things come full circle. It's a strange but comforting phenomenon.

I have decided to go back to school to get my Masters in Teaching.

You are probably thinking to yourself, "Wait, haven't I read this post before?" To answer your question, yes, you have. Maybe twice. Like I said, life has come full circle.

There's the short version. If you want the long version, keep reading.

I was originally going to start the Masters in Teaching program at Whitworth in June 2008. Yes, I realize that is a whopping three years ago. Full circle, I tell you! I deferred my acceptance when we decided to live in London because I obviously couldn't do both... and who chooses school over living in London for five months? Maybe some scholarly, responsible, goal-oriented person. In other words, not me. :) The plan was to begin when we got back just in time for June 2009. I actually applied to Gonzaga's MIT program that spring because I found out it was a part-time program, allowing me to still work full-time. At that point my income was our only income with Jordan still in law school. It was the perfect plan until Gonzaga decided to completely change the schedule, making it impossible to work while doing the program. I just didn't feel comfortable having both of us in school without any income (responsible, right?!); so alas, I deferred my acceptance to BOTH Whitworth and Gonzaga that year... again.

At that point, my confidence in my plan to get my Masters in Teaching was completely shaken. Was this really what I was supposed to do? Too many things just weren't falling into place. About a month or two later, I had the epiphany of starting our photography business and I ran with it while the school idea fell by the wayside. Little did I know it would actually be pretty successful... and then came the Photo Booth... and, well, let's just say we haven't really come up for air until now.

It was at some point late this last summer when I realized that I just could not make wedding photography my full-time career. And let's be honest, besides the Photo Booth, that's the only thing around this area you can make money doing in the photography world. Logistically I could do it, but emotionally and physically I was hanging on by a thread. It got easier and I began to really enjoy it, but the thought of doing it FOREVER as my career was daunting. And not to mention my summers and weekends would be gone and I would be on a completely opposite schedule than Jordan.

That's when it all came full circle...

The Masters in Teaching programs that had fallen through twice led us to start Flat 4 Photography, which has opened up so many doors for us and really been a huge blessing in so many ways. At the same time, the stress of photographing ten weddings this year while working full-time and running the Photo Booth too... well, it brought me right back to square one.

I will be starting Whitworth's Masters in Teaching program in June. I am so confident God has led me back to this starting block for a reason and this is where I'm supposed to be. Third time's a charm, right?! :)

Does this mean I'm done with photography? Absolutely NOT. But I will be limiting myself quite a bit. I am only allowing myself to shoot one wedding per month this summer and fall, and I will be outsourcing most of my editing (which is the most time-consuming part of photography anyway.) We are still rocking the Photo Booth and will continue to do so as long as we possibly can! I will definitely have to be more selective with photography sessions due to my schedule, at least until I'm done with school. And that's the beauty of being a teacher -- I will be free every summer and weekends to pick and choose what I want to do with photography. :)

Oh yeah, the details of the MIT program. In case you're interested...

The program is a 14-month, full-time, intensive program that starts this June. I have kicked around the idea of continuing to work at Home Environments (my dad's business, where I work now) on Sundays only, but other than that possibility, I will not be working at all. My goal is to ultimately teach high school English and possibly coach volleyball if it works out that way. I have one class I still have to take to complete my English endorsement before school starts and I have to retake the West-E endorsement test I already took (and already passed) since the state requirements have all changed since 2008. Annoying, but to be expected. After all, Murphy's Law still knows my maiden name. ;)

As much as I'm not looking forward to the "school" part of going back to school, I think it will be worth it in the end and I am finally starting to get excited about it. If you have any advice for me (or tips on how to land a teaching job in Spokane...), please let me know!

Joe + Megan 10.8-9.10

I always get asked if I like photographing weddings. To be honest, there are goods and bads to the job, just like anything else. It wasn't until Joe and Megan's wedding, my last scheduled wedding for 2010, that I realized just how cool it really is...

Not only are you a large part of the biggest day of two peoples' lives, you get to witness so many profoundly emotional moments -- laughter, tears, joy, and above all else, love at its finest. Joe and Megan's wedding captured all of these emotions and was just so intimate, personal, and real. Their two-day wedding celebration began at Beacon Hill and consisted of only their closest friends and family (probably no more than 50 people.) The day was so relaxed and the evening ended with a gourmet, plated dinner for all the guests around one big table with wine pairings for each course. How often can all the guests at a wedding sit around one big table? See, I told you, intimate and beautiful. Besides being two of the kindest people on the planet, Megan and Joe's wedding had so many stand-out features in my mind -- Megan's lovely vintage wedding dress (with pockets!) and her awesome fish net veil, how every detail of this wedding lived and breathed "vintage fall", the perfect Beacon Hill sunset during their ceremony... I could go on and on.

I photographed the entire wedding day and a short part of the reception dinner and then headed out to Lake Coeur d'Alene the next day for the big reception on the Mish-an-Nock boat cruise with all of Megan and Joe's friends and family! It was such a fun celebration with food, drinks, and even some trivia about Megan and Joe. :) Without further ado, check out the slideshow below of Megan and Joe's gorgeous fall wedding and reception...

Ryan + Alli 9.18.10

Planning a wedding can be hard, especially when you're trying to decide on an overall theme for the big event. Classic Bavarian? Rustic farm? In rare cases, a bride can have both...

I think Alli and Ryan chose me as their photographer partly because I'm willing to do just about anything but also because we have a similar love for a certain photo location: Knapps Farm up at Green Bluff. Of course there were other details involved, but from the minute Alli told me she wanted to have her wedding photos taken up at Knapps Farm after seeing some of my previous photo shoots at that location, it was all downhill from there. ;)

Ryan and Alli had their ceremony and reception at the beautiful Bozarth Mansion in north Spokane. We started their "getting ready" pictures at the mansion, then headed up to Green Bluff for Alli and Ryan's first look, their bride & groom pictures, and their wedding party photos. It was a gorgeous fall day and, as always, the owners of Knapps Farm were so gracious and friendly. As a side note, if you haven't been to Knapps Farm, you should take your family and friends and go up there in the summer to pick your own berries -- it's so much fun! From there, we headed back to Bozarth just in time for Alli and Ryan to get hitched! These two were so laid back and down-to-earth and it was such a fun day to be a part of! And I have to give props to my fabulous second shooter, the one and only Jordan Tampien... believe it or not, a lot of these featured shots are his. He's so great! :)

Without further ado, check out the slideshow below of some Flat 4 favorites from Alli and Ryan's beautiful wedding! If you can't tell, we had a hard time narrowing it down...