Kourtney + Eric {Wedding}

It was such an honor and a privilege to photograph Kourtney and Eric's wedding, and I couldn't be more thrilled to share some of their special moments with you. But before we get started, I really need to take a minute and send out a huge thank you to this special couple for allowing me to be a part of their wedding day.   It takes a lot of faith to turn over the responsibility of preserving the memories of one of the most important days of your life to someone you barely know, and Kourtney and Eric trusted me to capture theirs knowing that it would be the first "official" wedding that I'd ever photographed. I can only hope that they love their photos as much as I do.

Speaking of loving their photos, I had such a hard time narrowing down photos for this post.  I really wanted to include so many more, but I know Kourtney and Eric, and their families, are anxious to see these.  So I had to rein myself in in order to get a peek of their images up ASAP.

So, without further ado, I give you Kourtney and Eric's AMAZING wedding:

Kourtney and Eric had their wedding at the sweetest little wedding venue in Gilbert.  It was the perfect setting for a cozy, intimate wedding and the owner was just as nice as could be!

Kourtney's dress was so beautiful...

Their gorgeous rings.  Eric's ring is one of the most awesome groom's rings I've ever seen.  I instantly fell in love with the design of it...

Kourtney's step-father, Mike, walked her down the aisle...

Simply stunning...

Mike gave an amazing reading during the ceremony that probably would have reduced me to tears if I hadn't been so focused on my camera...

In place of exchanging vows, the couple decided to wash each other's feet as a sign of their love and respect for one another.  It truly was one of the most amazing and touching things I have ever witnessed during a wedding ceremony...

This just made my heart melt the way Eric helped his bride rise afterward...

You may now kiss the bride!...

The new Mr. & Mrs...

Making it official...

Eric and Kourtney are huge Doctor Who fans, so they decided to make it the theme of their wedding cake...

First dance...

A little sparkler fun to end the night....

Kourtney + Eric,  Thank you again for allowing me to a part of your day and for trusting me to capture your memories for you.  It was amazing getting to know you both while working with you.  I wish you nothing but the best for your future, may your life be filled with love, laughter, and happily ever after.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area.
Visit Michele's Website | Like Michele on Facebook | Follow Michele on Instagram | Follow Michele on Twitter

© 2014 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

BBL 2013-2014 | Have New Professional Photos Taken With the Hubby

#30 HAVE NEW PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS TAKEN WITH THE HUBBY

Why did I include this on my Bucket List?

Kevin and I started dating on August 17th, and got married on August 17th two years later.  When we celebrate our anniversary we celebrate the length of time we have been together not how long we've specifically been married.  So, this year marked our 5th anniversary as a couple and we wanted to honor the milestone with new photos since the last ones we had taken were at our wedding.

Was the experience what I had hoped it would be?

Our photos were taken by Trevor Dayley, who I've mentioned a time or two on my blog before.  While I would have preferred to be the one behind the camera instead of in front of it, Trevor is a really laid back, easy going guy and he made the process a breeze.

The details...

August in Phoenix is pretty toasty, so we decided to wait until things cooled off a bit to have our photos taken. We were originally planning on doing them back in November, but then things got really crazy with purchasing our house and Kevin wrapping up law school so we bumped them to earlier this month.  We had our photos taken at one of my favorite downtown locations to shoot, and it was really awesome getting to see Trevor's vision of this area come through in the photos he took of us.

Here is a collage of just a few of my favorites...

Do you want to see my entire 2013-2014 Birthday Bucket List?  You can find it here. Did you miss my 2012-2013 List? You can find it here.  Or my 2011-2012 List? You can find it here.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area.
Visit Michele's Website | Like Michele on Facebook | Follow Michele on Instagram | Follow Michele on Twitter

© 2014 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

Self-Portrait | January 2014

I swear I just sat down and wrote my December self-portrait post like 3 days ago! Seriously, WHERE HAS JANUARY GONE?

It's been an interesting month, to say the least.  The first part of January was filled with a ton of frustrations while attempting to settle into our new house.  It kind of felt like something was going wrong at every turn, and there was a point where I was ready to run screaming down the street and never look back.

Let's just say that I'm trying to find the good in the fact that 90% of our faucets are leaking by focusing on the fact that we've decided to fix the problem by remodeling two of our bathrooms, and I'm looking on the positive side of a dying dishwater motor by focusing on the fact that I will very soon have one that I got to pick out.  And as an added bonus, I am seeing the huge blessing in the fact that my over the top OCD required me to clean every inch of our house, and then some, upon moving in, meaning that the mold growing in our heating/cooling duct system was detected in the early stages instead of years from now after it had invaded the entire house and affect our health.

But I bet you're wondering what any of that could possible have to do with the photo you see below.  So, let's move on to the second half of my month.  A few days ago, I photographed my very. first. wedding.  Eeeek!  I swore I would never photograph weddings because I didn't want the pressure of capturing someone's big day on my shoulders, yet I some how found myself agreeing to photograph a few special ones this year.  So, I spent the past few weeks feverishly reading and watching everything I could possibly get my hands on to help me prepare for the big day.

One of the things that the bride and groom requested was photographs using sparklers.  I did learn how to do sparkler photos during a workshop I attend last spring, but practicing them wasn't a priority and they were relegated to the bottom of my list of things to experiment with someday.  You can bet they got bumped up to the number one spot as soon as the couple asked for them!

So, I rounded up some sparklers and literally made myself dizzy practicing these photo a few nights ago.  (And I do mean literally dizzy.  After spinning in circles for one of the longer shots, I tried to walk toward my camera to set it up for the next shot and I couldn't walk in a straight line.  I had to sit down for a minute and recover.)

So, for January's photo I decided to share one of the photos I captured of myself while running in circles with sparklers.  (If you want to see the resulting photo from the wedding, you can head on over and see it on my Facebook page.)

And I'm just now realizing that I have on the exact. same. thing. as I had on in last month's portrait.  I swear I do own more clothes than this outfit.  Apparently this is my go to comfy outfit lately.  So much so that I didn't even realize I had it on in both photos until just this very second.  Too funny!

Did you miss some of my past self-portraits?  Clicking here will take you to all of my self-portrait blog posts. Clicking here will take you to my self-portrait Facebook album.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area.
Visit Michele's Website | Like Michele on Facebook | Follow Michele on Instagram | Follow Michele on Twitter

© 2014 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

BBL 2013-2014 | Purchase a Macro Lens

#37 PURCHASE A MACRO LENS

Why did I include this on my Bucket List?

I rented a macro lens a few years ago and had fun playing around with it, but didn't see the need to own one at the time.  Since then, I've considered doing a little wedding photography and a macro lens is a must to take ring shots.

Was the experience what I had hoped it would be?

I didn't love parting with the money, but so far the lens has been great!

The details...

Every wedding photographer I know uses the same lens to take their ring shots, and I figured that many photogs couldn't be wrong, so I opted to join the masses and purchase the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM.  I did do some test shots with it using our rings and loved the results!

Do you want to see my entire 2013-2014 Birthday Bucket List?  You can find it here. Did you miss my 2012-2013 List? You can find it here.  Or my 2011-2012 List? You can find it here.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area.
Visit Michele's Website | Like Michele on Facebook | Follow Michele on Instagram | Follow Michele on Twitter

© 2014 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

Life Happens

After spending three years swearing that I would never shoot a wedding, I somehow agreed to photograph three of them this spring.  Problem being, I didn't own a lens to take ring shots with, so I bit the bullet and added the 100mm f/2.8 L Macro to my collection.

I took it out for a little spin this morning to try it out on our rings.  I had no plans to do anything with the photos, so I just took the rings and headed out with them as is. As I was going through the images, I was looking at them to get a feel for the depth of field at different apertures, along with analyzing the angles I was using, composition, etc.  I wasn't paying any attention to the rings themselves, because, well, I'm kind of used to seeing them after us wearing them all this time.

But then I came upon the image below, and it just sort of stopped me in my tracks, and got me thinking (and crying if I'm being honest about it).

After four years, our rings are no longer perfect and pristine like the way they were the day we purchased them.  They are covered in nicks and scratches (and even a few decent sized dents in the case of Kevin's).  They haven't been professionally cleaned in a few years, and they are dirty as can be.  They aren't full of sparkle and shine, like when they were new.

But here's the thing:  Neither are we.

Anyone who's ever been in a relationship lasting several years knows that life happens.  The pretty, perfect, and pristine relationship that you started out with ends up covered with nicks, scratches, and an occasional dent here and there. And maybe things don't feel as full of sparkle and shine as they once did.

But maybe.  Just maybe.  It's the nicks and the scratches and the dents that add the real beauty.  For it is in them that your life happens.  You laugh. You sing. You dance. You scream. You curse. You cry.

You Live.  You Feel.  You Grow.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area.
Visit Michele's Website | Like Michele on Facebook | Follow Michele on Instagram | Follow Michele on Twitter

© 2014 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC