views from the west - summer vacation

View of Heber Valley from Midway--atop Memorial Hill. A beautiful spot that gave us a 360 degree of this incredible valley. The girls had been talking about horses all week. They were beyond thrilled to watch a real rodeo. They were instantly enamored with the idea of being cowgirls. We might be taking a few lessons when we get back to Texas--or maybe we'll just get them a stuffed animal and put on Spirit. In between the Crofts family reunion and our trip to the Idaho Cabin/Yellowstone, we had a fantantasic Counsin's Camp and Jewkes Family Renuion. Unfortuntately, I didn't take too many pictures with my bigger camera, but I did Instagram quite a bit #jewkesfamily2013. Yellowstone/Idaho: One of only three bison we saw while in Yellowstone and he wouldn't smile. BUST. Back to the cabin. Tessa dominated the tire swing--fighting everyone for it to be her turn again. We had a quiet, relaxing time at the old A-frame cabin Rachel's grandfather built. It was fun for all of us to experience many of her old memories and experiences she had while visiting this place many times over many childhood summers. Rachel explaining to Tessa that she has to take turns. Our last stop before making the 23+ hour drive back to Texas was Teton Lake Lodge. I could not get over the beauty of this place. Here was the view from the lobby:

case beckham

Thank you to the Beckham's, our friends--and examples, for letting me play a small role in your special day. I will never forget it. I hope I was able to document & capture at least a part of the spirit of hope and love that we all felt throughout the service--and days after. Our testimony of Christ and God's Plan is that much stronger and brighter.

You can contribute to the "Case Beckham Donation Fund" and read about Case's story HERE.

learning from the best . workshop by fer juaristi

Fer introduced himself as someone who wants to be known as a good father, a good friend, and a good photographer--in that order. He had my attention the rest of the day.

I have admired Fer's work for a while, I now admire Fer the guy.

Fer has an incredible ability to see light and to love people--it's authentic, and it's represented in all his work; you can see the connection. Very impressive.

I was able to grab a few shots from the workshop--mostly from the side of or hovering over Fer as he set-up the shot. The more important purpose that day was to watch & listen--to learn Fer's approach and to leave inspired. Mission accomplished.

Light, composition, and a moment - even in a parking garage or mud puddle.

jaxon + eden

Congrats to Jaxon and Eden … getting married in Norway next month. We shot entirely indoors given the heat outside. With only a few minutes of light left in the day, we hustled to get a few shots from a single room in my folk’s house. Excited we were able to grab a few good frames …

spain, part 1

I've always loved to travel, but for one reason or another, a trip to Europe has always eluded me. A few months back, Rachel and I went to southern Spain for a week, and it was fantastic. I finally made it to Europe and can't wait to get back. We flew to Madrid directly from Dallas, but spent most of our time in southern Spain, hopping from town to town across Andalucia. Knowing we only had 7-8 days, we pushed pretty hard trying to take in all we could, visiting as many towns and sites as possible ... it was one of those "I need a vacation after my vacation" kind of trips. Towns represented in these pics: Granada, Ronda, and Marbella (where we stayed every night as our "base camp").