Jaime and Ryan are Married!

GO West young Man and that’s exactly what I did to shoot my second Destination Wedding and fourth and last wedding of 2009. I had the opportunity to meet Jaime (the bride) a couple of years prior when we worked on a project together as part of a virtual team. I was very new to Photography and Jaime was looking to upgrade her photography gear and we just went from there. The project we worked on together spanned about 12 months and Jaime and I started a friendship. One day out of the blue she said to me, which I will never forget “ When I get married I want you to shoot my wedding”. I thought how cool is that!?! She must see something in my work that I didn’t so I would have to go with her judgment on this one.

Well a couple of years passed, we stayed in touch through email and my Blog and then to my surprise an email from Jaime entitled “I got a ring” to myself and several members of our old team. Well I got my congratulations email out to her and before she could email her request to me I asked “Do you still want me to shoot your wedding?”. She didn’t hesitate with her response of “Yes”! and the rest is pretty much history. I went into 2009 pretty excited about her wedding being towards the end of the year which would give me a chance to try out some things before the wedding, since this would be my very first. The story didn’t end that way as I was blessed with this being #4 for me to wrap up 2009.

From the moment I landed in Spokane after a side trip to Seattle, I felt like part of the Weston/Yob family. Both Ryan (hubby) and Jaime (Mrs. Hubby; I mean Yob) are blessed not just with each other but also with very cool families who made me feel very welcomed throughout. As I was looking through their pictures a few days ago to start my editing, it was hard not to get emotional remembering the time I spent with these wonderful people and all the memories from the rehearsal, dinner, wedding ceremony and reception. I couldn’t have had a better experience to end the 2009 wedding season. More pics to come soon...

Beas

P.S. There is a picture on my website (second one) where their wedding party jumps in the air and somehow Jaime made her legs disappear; that was NOT a Photoshop trick. LOL!

Andy and Beth are Married

I had a lot of fun with this couple before the wedding and after the ceremony was over. It's a joy to watch people just having fun being themselves which makes my job as a photographer very easy. I knew the groom about a year prior and had the pleasure of meeting the bride a couple months before the ceremony. As soon as I met her, I knew they were a perfect match for each other and saw the kids as the cherry on top.

I joked around with Beth and started referring to her as "The Blinking Bride" as she blinked on almost every other shot in anticipation of the picture or my flash. Once I saw what she was doing, I just worked around it while making her and the rest of the wedding party laugh about the situation. When I did my editing I wondered why I had so many of the same shot and noticed that only 1 of 3 had her eyes wide open which was followed by a shot of her smirking as she blinked and laughed. There was no blinking however as she looked into Andy's eyes and said "I do". How cool and special a day this was for the couple who I wish all the best for them and their lovely children.

David

Pike's Place Fish and Noelani - Miss Island Mokihana 2010

I seem to have a knack lately for being in the right place at the right time. While in Seattle I took at trip down to the Public Market Center and Pike's Place Fish. I was hoping to famous market to get a glimpse of what I had only heard about and seen on TV AND maybe see a fish or two flying through the air.

So I got there and saw some of the most amazing seafood ever but the only thing that was flying through the air was crab and I wasn't too impressed; I could have done that myself. So I turned my head for just a MOMENT and there they went, two BIG fish flying through the air. Well I had only myself to blame and figured it would be a while before any other activity so I walked away and visited other parts of the market. Well when I got back I noticed a crowd and thought, you missed it again man. I did notice that there was a new person behind the counter who had dawned the apron and I just figured it was just a new or late arriving employee.

As I listed and watched, I noticed that the crowd was a bit too interested in this woman (who I affectionately referred to as the "fish lady") and they weren't budging. One of the guys at the market stood about 5 feet from her and through a fish to her, she threw it back, her threw it back to her and the cycle repeated itself. At this point I figured out what was happening or what was about to happen so I strategically inserted myself in the crowd, put my camera into high speed mode. The guy now moved out in the crowd with us and the lady he was playing catch with earlier was all the way behind the succession of counters and now he's about to hurl this fish to her in hopes that she's gonna catch it.

Up in the air the fish went, flexed a bit at the apex of the throw and down right into the "fish lady's" awaiting arms. There was a woman who was taking pictures and I could tell by the way the guys at the market were positioning and talking with her that she traveled to the market with the "fish lady". I talked with her and showed her the pictures I took and promised to share them once I got back home. She tried to tell me who the fish lady was but I wasn't paying attention for checking the quality of the shots I took. Well the "fish lady" got cleaned up and joined us in front of the market. I introduced myself and she again told me who she was and it was then that I realized why there was a crowd. The "fish lady" real name was actually Noelani Kauai - Miss Island Mokihana 2010, Miss Garden Isle 2009 and Miss Hawaiiʻi USA (top 10).

Please Don't Stop The Music

Got an introduction into some very cool music when I did this shoot with Ms. Sandra. I'll admit I wasn't actually paying attention in middle school Spanish class so I have no idea where the vocals were going but the music definitely put us in a salsa Cuban mood and off we went.

Sometimes music help relax some of my clients and when the music started with Sandra, I couldn't keep her still as she was dancing to the beats.

One Fall Day

One day this Fall I had the opportunity to meet Jessica. It's not too often that you find someone who's outside spirit matches their inside spirit but now I can check that box. We didn't have much time as Jess was headed back to Chicago and was on a mission to find her cellphone so off we went with a quickness to capture some cool shots while experiencing some of these fall colors.

We started downtown and after the first click of the camera, I knew this was going to be fun as she was lighting up my camera display with that smile. This was one of the quickest photo shoots I've had but the results were very nice. Jess' Mom had been trying to hook us up for quite some time and the persistence was there on both ends and it was well worth the wait. Jess was a pleasure to meet and I hope we get a chance to hook up again.

Just Sports

Greatness is born not made. We must guide, nurture and lift up the future. This young man could very well be the next Tiger Woods or Barack Obama in the making. Get ready, get ready, get ready!!!

Just tweaking out some new templates here.

There're Going Places

This year has been a year of growth for me as a photographer which culminated in the shooting of four weddings. I have had the opportunity to travel to as far east as Jamaica and west as Washington State. Four beautiful brides each with their own stories and "shades of beauty". From friends to family, fiancee of mentees to first time acquaintances. Each wedding, setting and couples story was different and I truly appreciated the opportunity to be part of the "record of their special day".

I have already posted shots from my first wedding and I plan on posting photo's from the others In the meantime here are several of my "favs" from the young people who added to their special day. More to come....

UPDATED: Site is NOW UP!!!Fruits of my Labor

I am not nor do I plan on getting pregnant in the near future; it would really mess up my figure. LOL. Ok, so I got that joke out of the way. I am excited an announce the launch of my new website at www.davidnbeasleyjr.com.

It’s been about 9+ months in the making in terms of trying new things out, learning about the art of photography, practice, practice and more practice and learning to get to the next level of maturity in this business. I have been blessed through the support of my family, mentors and other photographers who have been there to answer questions, critique my work and provide me with the support needed to take this to the next level.

Old site; had to start somewhere. Navigation was kind of clunky, pictures didn’t necessarily display all that well in the small box but it was exactly what I needed based on where I was. Here are a few shots from the old site.

I blogged about my new site a few weeks ago where I discussed the new features and functionality and feel now is the time to “Go Live” with it. I will be adding to the new site as I shoot more of the weddings and other work planned for the rest of 2009 and beyond. Here are a few screen captures from my new site which should be active in the next day or two.





I will update this Blog entry once the new site is live. Stay tuned...

David