I am heading to Phoenix, Arizona this January for a double-header in terms of spreading the photography education love :) First off, I'll be co-presenting a (late decided-upon, very late announced!!!) pre-con class at Imaging USA on Friday, January 9th, along with my exceptionally multi-talented teacher/photographer/product creator friend Jesh de Rox.

We will presenting a class entitled, "The Client Experience Workflow: Connection, Capture & Post-Processing". We are developing new instructional materials for this seminar, so it will be a bit different from what either of us have taught before. You can see more details here. Thank you to Buckeye Color Lab and Simply Canvas for sponsoring this course - (and me), again!!

* * * In addition, while I am in Phoenix, I will also be a mentor at the DWF Convention, where I mentored last year and met some wonderful people. And I'm not even talking about Jeff Caplan (Founder) and Tim Uhl (Marketing Director) !! The coolest part of it is that each photographer who pays to meet and chat is actually happily contributing directly to charitable causes. So a total win-win-win: I get to meet some fabulous photographers, they get to ask whatever questions that may have - whether they are technical, business, or long-term strategic - and cancer research gets one more needed major contribution, once all the mentor fees are collected. My schedule for mentoring is already booked out for this year, but I do believe there are some pretty amazing photographers still available to meet - so if you will be down in Phoenix for that time period, check out the DWF for more details!!

This was a beautiful, beautiful, elegant, sweet wedding between two beautiful, elegant, sweet people. Ann and Gabe, I was so thrilled to be part of your day. I'm just going to jump right on in with the photos...

These two trees behind the church caught my attention and immediately reminded me of Khalil Gibran's lovely poem On Marriage. I loved the sight of the two together--each of them strong and beautiful individual trees, but growing together in the same direction, Ann and Gabe are such incredible people, each driven and successful in their own right, and I have to think that the mutual respect they have for each other is a great part of what makes their relationship so strong. So, a little poetry for your Wednesday afternoon... Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

A happy moment

I want to live in this little house, though I would most certainly have to duck every time I went inside.

I love this image of Ann and her good friend, shot by my fabulous assistant, Meredith.

A hearty thank you to Nirit and Thiemo, who met up with me on the beaches of the Outer Banks for a rather serene and lovely shoot, bringing along their sweet treasure, little Lia. And another itty bitty one, still in process :) Nirit was referred to me by her close friend Brandy Cardarelli, a fellow photographer and mom to two little peanuts now, only one of whom I have photographed ... so far! And, even cuter, sweet Lorenzo and little Lia are best buddies. The timing of turning around prints and canvas pieces has been tricky, though, as they are returning back to Europe, I am currently in South America, and Lisa - our heroic studio director - is in North America, trying to do her best to manage the timeline. We soooo appreciate your gorgeous patience with all of this, Nirit, those pieces will be arriving directly to your home in Germany very shortly! We have loved working with you in North Carolina and look forward to doing so again when I am in Europe next. Maybe we can coordinate it with Brandy & Fabio's next trip to Italy ... just do the whole shoot on the Spanish Steps?

I had posted this image, months before, a sneak preview, now hanging as a beautiful canvas in our studio:

I love, love this one!

more wall portrait canvas goodness...

And, if you couldn't tell, I'm now at the bottom of this post ;)

We arrived in Ecuador about a month ago. So much has happened in that time, it is simply not possible to summarize. The best part of everything, of course, is this beautiful child, the reason we are here. And it won't be that long before I can show what I mean by beautiful :) But ... a few more legal hurdles first before I can offer that post. (And that one big, final, prayed-for confirmation). I would like to share a bit about Cuenca, though. This stunning city. Beautiful, with such a rich history and such friendly people. And when I say rich with history, I mean that people speak of the earliest inhabitants hanging out in the 8000 B.C. range. So, you know, rich with history. Cuenca was technically founded in the 1500's as a Spanish settlement, which is why walking around this city feels so familiar to me. I grew up in Europe. I was born there and lived there until I was 11 years old - and went back to live there again while in college. And have since visited again and again and again. So this old Spanish town just feels a lot like home. Nestled in the Andes Mountains, Cuenca is about 8500 feet above sea level. We really noticed that when we first got here, trying to fit in 5K runs that felt like 25K runs. It definitely took a couple weeks to get used to the altitude from a fitness perspective. And the climate here is gorgeous - think year-round spring. Two seasons, rainy season and dry season. We are technically here in the dry season, although it rained nearly every day for the first couple weeks after our arrival. But not those all-day rains - more like the kind of rains that break through in later afternoon and feel like a gorgeous cleansing. Warm, glittering rain, when the sun often doesn't bother to stop shining. The original colonial feel of Cuenca is still very much the current feel of Cuenca. It is downright difficult to turn a corner and not see some beautiful view of the mountains or another glimpse of incredible architecture. Each building is different and colorful and detailed. And the doors! The doors are little works of art. And these visual treasures are, like, everywhere. I have never been a big collection photographer, but I am collecting photographs of doors here. Some of the images below and many of the ones I am still collecting are meant as gifts for Ana Elisa. When she moves to the newborn country of America, I want her to know, vividly, that she was born into beauty and culture and ancient roots. That she lived the first part of her life in a city in the clouds with skies that change from gold to blue to purple to navy every single day. That she comes from a people who smile patiently at you while you fumble with their language, from families who spend whole days in the park, and from a land of children who are so loved and so cherished that their government asks you, repeatedly and earnestly: will you love this child, the way Ecuador loves this child?

That river image above is right outside of the apartment we are currently living in - here's an image of the building from the opposite side of the river bank. It reminds me a lot of a couple of the apartments we lived in when we were in San Francisco - but a bit more basic. No heat, no dishwasher, no other appliances like that - a stove that must be lit with each use, running water but temperatures that change shockingly from hot to cold way too frequently. And 1100 square feet of usable space for a very active family of five. But doesn't it look pretty??

We also live right across from one of the many parks here and spend a great deal of time there with the kids...that teeter totter image in the middle? It is the highest teeter totter I have ever seen. The kids just love it. I only ask them to please not fall off and descend what must be, like, 3 high-rise stories down to the ground.

Halloween was also a trip here. Sophie and Caleb so wanted to celebrate, but Ana Elisa wasn't familiar with trick or treating, and she was not very interested either. So we let the two dress up (Superman/Good Witch) and we went from street vendor to street vendor until their bags were full. I can honestly say that I did not see one other person in costume throughout the city. It's as if we somehow thought that we weren't gaining enough attention with our particular family unit. We had to go ahead and add pointy hats and capes. Ana Elisa just looked on, a bit perplexed and - let's be frank - slightly embarrassed for us. But she happily accepted the candy offered, and Sophie and Caleb were thrilled with their score by the end of the evening.

Those rains I mentioned? Some beautiful after-rain phenomenons, too.

And a view of Cuenca from above the entire city....

Actually a bit of a hilarious experience getting up there. We took this double decker tour bus, which I would normally be very loathe to board. But the kids were excited, so we decided to try it out. Crazy. Trying to shoot from the top while extremely low-hanging electrical wires whipped past (had to duck down while you were sitting, that low!!). The best part? I got the one shot of one of the tour operators giving me a "heads up" - one warning after three had almost taken off our heads and another 30 more or so to go. While I was getting that shot of her, Steve was getting a shot of me, barely getting out of the way but - that's right - getting the shot :)

Those Andes Mountains :)

The steps just outside of our apartment. Late evening and more of that familiar purple. Up is to old downtown. Down is to the river.

And, lastly, just one of those many unbelievable doors. I don't know exactly why these doors are so stunning to me. But maybe a part of it is this: Is there not something so telling about a culture that offers great beauty to one seeking a way to openness?