Traveled back to Phoenix to take some corporate headshots today. Pavement must feel like shag pile carpeting to these tires.
After a couple days off, I'm back to culling engagement sessions before diving into our Sedona wedding. Watch Erin's photography blog for updates!
Please send correspondence to:
Erin, Phil, & Scout
Head Northwest Out of the Wilderness
Look for Traffic Lights, Mowed Lawns, & Fast Food
The Airstream Smack In the Middle of That
Phoenix, AZ
Another Classic Western Movie Sunset
Spent another day writing, but skipped a hike at high noon. March, and it's already getting hot out here.
Scout and I went out at dusk after an afternoon in the cool, breezy shade of the Airstream. (All that work insulating it has paid off in spades.) We chased jackrabbits, got tracked by some beagles-in-training, and Scout charged a pack of howling coyotes--don't worry, he had fifty pounds on any of them. Scout heard their Call of the Wild and answered, "Hell, no!" and they were a mile away before they stopped running.
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Erin & Phil
The Airstream on the Horizon
(Watch for the Lights to Turn on Soon)
Ironwood Forest National Monument
Between Tucson & the Sunset, AZ
Or,
Scout
Sound Asleep in Front of His Water Bowl
(Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, Except to Scratch Their Belly)
The Airstream
Ironwood Forest National Monument
Tucson, AZ
A Culling Lull
Finally gained some ground on Erin's voracious photo editing pace. I finished culling our Phoenix wedding a few days ago, and she's wrapping up the final touches before delivering them to Jess & Andrew, our wonderful bride and groom. On top of which, I'm a couple engagement sessions ahead of her, so I've got the day to write, work on my own projects, and explore this beautiful wilderness with Scout.
Please send correspondence to:
Erin, Phil, & Scout
The Coolest Spot in the Desert (Literally & Figuratively)
Ironwood Forest National Monument
Way Outside Tucson, AZ
If No Response from Phil & Scout, Try:
Phil & Scout
Headed Toward That Hill in the Distance
Ironwood Forest National Monument
Way, Way Outside Tucson, AZ
Scouting Locations Minus Scout (Hey, NPS, Dogs are People, too!)
Our first visit to Saguaro National Park, and Erin is stamping our National Parks Passport. Gotta love a job whose official job description includes, "Occasional Hikes in National Parks to Scout Locations for Engagement Sessions".
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Erin & Phil
Right at the 3-Armed Saguaro
Left at the One with 7 arms
Straight Ahead Past Thousands More Saguaros
(Seriously, I've Never Seen so Many Saguaros)
Saguaro National Park
Tucson, AZ
Or,
Scout
The Couch
The Airstream
West of Erin & Phil, AZ
Arrival Outside Tucson for a National Park Engagement Session
Worked late in Phoenix, culling and editing wedding photos and running a few last minute errands before journeying out into this little piece of wilderness outside Tucson. Got here just in time for this gorgeous sunset, dinner, some relaxation, and then a busy day tomorrow of scouting locations for our engagement session at Saguaro National Park on Saturday.
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Erin, Phil, & Scout
Arva Valley
Last Light on the Right Before the Sunset
West of Tucson, AZ
Back in Phoenix for Newborn and Engagement Sessions
Back in civilization but still culling wedding photos while Erin is headed out for a newborn session. A little bit of the wild wandered into the Airstream to keep me company.
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Erin, Phil, & Scout
The Airstream Accustomed to Fiercer Wildlife
Phoenix, AZ
Wedding Photographers Wilderness Working
Lake Mead, NV, earns another distinction: our windiest stop yet. Luckily, Scout's ears are attached to a 110 lb body, but I suspect at one point his ancestors could fly.
Taking the day to enjoy the sunshine and endless wind and get some wedding photos culled for Erin before I get get hit with our Sedona wedding and all our recent engagement sessions and newborn shoots.
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Erin, Phil, & Scout
The Airstream Standing Up to its Reputation as Aerodynamic
Lake Mead, NV
(If delivering after dark, Due East from the MGM Spotlight)
Traveling Wedding Photographers Reach Mars...or Lake Mead...Possibly Mars, It's Hard to Tell...
Lake Mead, NV. The most desolate stop yet on our travels.
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Erin, Phil, & Scout
Command Module
The Airstream Rover
Mars
(Please allow up to eight lightminutes for message transmission)
Traveling Wedding Photographers at WPPI
Headed up to Las Vegas for the Wedding & Portrait Photographer International convention on the spur of the moment. It was an easy decision because we happened to have our entire house with us.
Found this great spot near Lake Mead and ended up staying an extra day just because it was so nice.
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Erin, Phil, & Scout
The Bluff Overlooking Las Vegas Creek
Las Vegas Bay, Lake Mead
Sedona Wedding Success
After a great day shooting our Sedona wedding, nothing is better than coming home to this.
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Erin, Phil, & Scout
The Only Airstream on the Forest Road with a Chimney
Sedona, AZ
Sedona Engagement Session Today
Icy morning here in Sedona! Dropped into the teens last night! Our coldest night yet in the Airstream--colder here at 4500 ft than when we were in New Mexico at 8000 ft. Had to stoke the fire a couple times last night, but we stayed nice and warm for it!
Looking forward to beautiful sunshine and a dusting of snow on the red rocks for our engagement session today! Stay tuned for the pictures on Erin's blog in about a week!
Please send correspondence to:
Erin, Phil, & Scout
The Airstream Thawing Out in the Red Rocks
Coconino National Forest
Near Sedona, AZ
Snowy Journey Before Our Sedona Wedding and Engagement Sessions
Drove into a little snowstorm on our way up to Sedona. Never seen snow in Sedona until now, and it's every bit as beautiful as I thought it would be. The forecast says this is the only day we're going to get snow while we're here, so I'm savoring it while I can. Looking forward to a long, snowy walk through the red rocks with this mutt tonight, then a cozy night in front of the fire, culling a few wedding photos and relaxing.
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Erin
Inches From the Woodstove
The Airstream Among the Red Rocks (Wait for the Snow to Break)
Near Sedona, AZ
Or,
Phil & Scout
Tramping Through the Wilderness
Snow on our Shoulders
Near the Airstream
Near Sedona, AZ
Culling Wedding Photos, Shooting Engagement Portraits
Erin just finished three days of Phoenix engagement sessions, with another engagement in coming up next weekend the day before our Sedona wedding, and I'm still culling. I'm clearly not going to run out of work any time soon.
An important note for our wedding couples:
We've had brides and grooms ask us why they can't have ALL the photographs from their weddings, bad pictures along with the good. It's the same reason I cull the photographs before Erin ever gets to take a close look at them. When you're emotionally invested in the photographs (as brides, grooms, and photographers tend to be) and you only find one gem of a photograph among a string of lousy ones, you tend to get overwhelmed by the bad and start to ask, "Do I really make that face when I kiss?" or "Was that in my teeth the whole reception?!" or "Why did I ever became a wedding photographer in the first place? I am a terrible person unworthy of love!"
Of course, the answers to these questions are:
"That wasn't a kiss, you were stifling a sneeze."
"You only had that in your teeth for a moment because the Maid of Honor made you laugh mid-bite. Try this other photo of her making you laugh WITHOUT food in your mouth."
And,
"There are literally hundreds of beautiful photographs here--portraits, candids, indoor, outdoor, flash, daylight, getting-ready, ceremony, reception, action, dancing--in all different conditions, lighting, speeds, and subjects that PROVE this is what you were meant to be. Also, I love you."
So don't worry. You're going to end up with hundreds upon hundreds of gorgeous, funny, touching, one-of-a-kind photographs to remember your wedding day by, and you don't need to worry about those lousy ones. I'll take care of them for you. It is my burden to bear.
Please send correspondence to:
Erin, Phil, & Scout
The Airstream with the Wheels Itching to be Turning Again
Phoenix, AZ
And the Culling Continues...
As tedious as culling wedding photographs can be, there are certainly worse jobs (I know, I've done them) than spending all day looking at pictures of people on the happiest day of their lives.
Between that, our (usual) scenery, and my iPod to keep me company (yes, I still have an iPod, he's going to be a freshman in high school next year) it makes for a pretty good workday.
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Erin, Phil, & Scout
The Airstream Humming with Activity
Phoenix, AZ
Culling Wedding Photos All-Star
Culling wedding photos (my job) is a necessary first step in the editing process. It consists mostly of looking closely (VERY CLOSELY) at each of the thousands of photographs Erin and I take at a wedding and chucking out all the photos where the bride is picking at a clump of mascara or a palm tree is seemingly sprouting from the groom's head or the father of the bride is smiling brilliantly but blinking his heart out. I also have to narrow down any photos (especially wedding portraits) that are redundant. (Seriously, sometimes we take so many photographs we could make a flipbook.) And there's always the photographs that are just plain blurry or where the focus isn't quite tack-sharp.
But of course, we always set aside our test-shots, like the one above, for posterity. I keep trying to tell Erin that at least some of our wedding couples might want them, but she says no.
Please send correspondence to:
Erin, Phil, & Scout
The Airstream Post-Production Lab
At the corner of Civilization & Crowded
Phoenix, AZ
Prepping for Phoenix Engagement Session
Erin's cleaning lenses and checking batteries before her engagement session today at Wrigley Mansion! I'm staying at home with Scout to cull our Phoenix wedding from The Paseo a few weeks ago.
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Phil
On the Sofa, Behind the Laptop
The Airstream Returned to Civilization
Phoenix, AZ
Or,
Scout
The Rug in Front of the Sofa
The Airstream with the Much Smaller Backyard than He's Gotten Used to
Phoenix, AZ
Or,
Erin
Wrigley Mansion
(Don't Bother Her While She's Working)
Phoenix, AZ
Traveling Photographers Phoenix-Bound
Bound for Phoenix and our last day of driving for a week. We'll spend a week there in the Valley of the Sun (the longest we've stayed anywhere for the last month) and get some work done culling, editing, and photographing. We've got a number of Phoenix engagement sessions, followed next week by a Sedona engagement as well as a wedding at Agave of Sedona, and I'm really looking forward to our National Park engagement session coming up at Saguaro National Park near Tucson.
Please send correspondence to:
Erin & Phil
Front Seats Listening Along to 'A Wrinkle in Time'
2000 Ford Excursion
Eastbound Interstate 8, CA/AZ
Or,
Scout
Back Seat (Dead to the World)
2000 Ford Excursion
Eastbound Interstate 8, CA/AZ
Only Light on the Border
While traveling back to Phoenix from San Diego, we stopped over for the night just east of the the Imperial Sand Dunes at the Arizona-California border. The lights on the horizon are in Mexico.
As soon as we're back in Phoenix, Erin dives right in with back-to-back-to-back engagement sessions. I'm racing to keep ahead of her with culling our Phoenix wedding from a couple weeks ago at The Paseo. Then next week, our Sedona wedding puts us on the road again!
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Erin, Phil, & Scout
1 Mile South of I-8
1 Mile North of Mexico
(If someone asks for your passport, you've gone too far)
Middle of Nowhere, CA
Happy Valentine's Day from Your Friendly Neighborhood Traveling Wedding Photographers
Working hard to wrap up early today! I ran out this morning to pick up some fresh Alaskan snow crab legs for dinner tonight. (God bless San Diego, and it's access to great seafood!) Crab legs are our Valentine's Day tradition, but this is the first time we're cooking them up in the Airstream! Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
Please send correspondence to:
Erin, Phil, & Scout
The Airstream with the DO NOT DISTURB Sign
Sweetwater Summit
San Diego, CA
Planning for Our National Park Photography Sessions
A rainy Valentine's Day here in San Diego, but work goes on, editing and culling our previous two weddings. Working today to balance our schedule and make travel plans. We've got a Sedona wedding coming up soon, quickly followed by a National Park engagement session at Saguaro National Park near Tucson. Erin's also getting ready to announce a free Grand Canyon engagement session giveaway, so keep an eye on her Instagram feed for the details!
Please send correspondence to:
Erin, Phil, & Scout
The Coziest Airstream in San Diego
(Listen for the Mutt Snoring on the Rug)
Sweetwater Summit
San Diego, CA