Anne + Zach

This wedding had a twist that I never would have thought of but that I really enjoyed. Only immediate family, about 25 folks total, attended the ceremony. It gave the ceremony an intimate and relaxed feel even though it took place in the typical church setting. The reception featured the usual cast of hundreds. The contrast of intimacy and revelry was nice.

May I present evidence in the case against strapless dresses (or, is it evidence for? Hmmm):









This is Marcy (Gitch) Klipfel, bride from one of my all-time great weddings that figures heavily in my portfolio. I'm considering making all former brides do this dance when I see them. That's her strapping husband, Brian, at left. 

Catherine + Ryan, Philadelphia

I don't care what Miss Manners says, it's never too late, even in our instant-gratification world, to say thank you. So, it's on bended, arthritic knee that I offer my humble gratitude to a great friend and wonderful photographer, Ryan Donnell, and his wife, Catherine, for asking me to photograph their wedding in Philadelphia.
As if that weren't enough, I managed to trick best friend and former protégé, Chip Somodevilla, a talented photographer for Getty Images, to leave D.C. to join me and triple the talent level. I must tell you, Chip, the padawan is now the master.
The icing on the cake (or the frothy head on the pint of Guiness, as it were), was the abundance of dear, old friends galore and whole lot of genuine Irish folk whose endearing talent for a good time was on full display.



The Brothers Donnell (some fine genes there)


Chip. If news, or love, breaks out, he's armed and creatively dangerous.




Ryan was the greatest groom ever, loving and attentive to his bride and, best for me, laidback. The entire ceremony, whether he was looking out at friends and family or gazing at Catherine, his Cheshire Cat grin never diminished. It's the sign of a man who knows he hit the jackpot of love.




Mild-mannered Matt Rourke, a photographer for the Associated Press, doing what he should have done when he was recently treated to a night in jail while covering the Republican convention in St. Paul.




BFF and lovely photographer Allison V. Smith with artist and major player Guillermo Munro (he's twice as dangerous as he looks).




Dear Lord, how did this get here? That's me actually dancing with my beautiful wife, Kelly. I only do this when clients cramp my style with too many formal group pictures or, in this case, allow me to drink on the job. God bless the Irish!

The new look

Hey, look. It's the living blog-dead. Where does the time go? Well, part of the time went to working with the Jed and Chad at 42Fish to develop a logo and other branding. While I get a lot of mileage out of a modest supply, I can't rely on my charm and the gullibility of those unlucky enough to cross my path. Therefore, my first real logo:



Don't worry, it will never actually appear this large again unless I rent a blimp. I call it the highly-caffienated logo. Love it? Hate it? Wish all the letters lined up? Too bad, this is how life looks to me. Thank Gawd for autofocus.

Three amigos

I'm on spring break visiting family and friends in the motherland, Texas. While Iowa is where I live, I can't help it, the Lone Star State will always be home. I'm actually wearing shorts today because it's blessedly warm and I don't care how much the natives wince at my fishbelly-white but still shapely legs.

On my first night, I was a special guest last night at a hastily-called meeting of a group I don't want to be in because they're perfect just as they are. It's like Woody Allen said, "I'd never join a club that would allow me as a member." And, judging by the exclusivity of this group, I'm not going to be invited and neither are you. 

Brian Harkin, Allison V. Smith and Brandon Thibodeaux are the wonderfully exclusive trio of visual kindreds who have dubbed themselves the Dalphos (shorthand for Dallas photographers, not Greek for anything). They commiserate regularly over beers at the Libertine to discuss, strategize and celebrate the photo life. (If you're lucky enough to get to the Libertine, I recommend the fantastic grilled cheese sandwich to soak up the beer).

Brandon regaled with his recent adventures from his Mexico trip. It seems the journey was ostensibly for photography but, thru the magic of a 1972 VW bus, turned into what should be the next Wes Anderson movie, "The Tequila Limited", perhaps. 

For tax purposes, we discussed the stock photo biz and the power of positive thinking. My longtime friend Allison and I gave a short history of our time working together at the little paper that couldn't, the Denton Record-Chronicle. In retrospect, the blissful analog innocence of our lives in Denton - shooting on bulk-loaded film, making prints - looks downright antique. Brian and Brandon, young bucks, listened respectfully.

Rock on, Dalphos.  

Amanda + Michael

These two endeared themselves to me right away. Amanda encouraged my ninja silliness from her 1st email. She also threw tradition to the wind and wore a green dress while simultaneously tossing caution into that same gust and went sans straps (Don't try that at home!). Michael, besides being funny and laid back, shares my follicular shortcomings, without being nearly as bitter about it as me.

Michael's father, Daniel, performed the ceremony. It's always touching to see a relative officiate a ceremony. Personally, if I had to do it, I'd be weeping like a baby. The Deacon held it together nicely while I only got a little misty.

The reception, atop the Holiday Inn downtown, featured a first. While it's not uncommon for a child or 2 or 3 to try to take part in the ceremonial 1st dance, it is unusual to see a father swoop in like a hawk and pluck the offending child off the floor (see below). Well played.

Lawyers in Love: The Wedding

I know that most of you along with Shakespeare have it in for the legal types. I, however, consider them bellwether clients. If I can have attorneys as clients and not get sued for malpractice (as of 3.4.2008), that has to be a good sign.
Besides, look at these two, in love and as handsome as the fall day they were married on.

A blue leather suit? I'm there.

During this interminable winter, it sometimes takes a little something extra to get me motivated enough to leave the relative comfort of my office. The best lure would be cold hard cash. However, in the case of the The New York Times, which, somewhere along the line, say 1970, decided that its dayrate was just dandy, has to rely on charm. This time, it was "well, there's this guy who has a blue leather suit." Good enough.
Dolph Pulliam is the voice of the Drake University men's basketball team who, out of nowhere, find themselves in the top 25 and bound for the NCAA tournament for the first time since Mr. Pulliam and the Bulldogs competed and actually went to the Final Four, barely losing to UCLA, in 1969.
As nice as he is tall, Mr. Pulliam did actually show up in his vaunted suit, which is seen as a good luck charm for the team. Now, do I wish it could have been bluer, perhaps even battery-powered? Just like my visions of spring, a boy has to dream.

Heather + Kurt: Viva Love!

It's fairly obvious from just this small collection of images that Heather spent most of her wedding day in happily aghast at her and Kurt's good fortune to be surrounded by friends and family. Little did they know that the icing on the wedding cake would be an appearance from someone that looked somewhat but almost totally unlike Elvis. There was a whole lot of smiling going on.