Hello and welcome to the last blog post of 2021. Traditionally, we have shared our favorite images from the past year. Of course, we have a lot of favorites and so our posts have pretty much been a photodump smorgasbord from the past year. This year, challenged ourselves to find and share 21 photos from the past year, along with a short blurb or story behind each one. So without further adieu, here they are. Enjoy.

Philip & Jared / Novo Studio

Here’s a quick behind the scenes photo from a recent photoshoot at Tusk and Trotter, for Visit Bentonville and The Local Palate, a culinary publication out of Charleston, South Carolina. I am confined to only behind the scenes photos until the publication releases in March. But after that, I’ll be sharing some tasty cocktail photos on here on the blog. In the meantime, enjoy!

Say hello to Stephen and Tristen. To celebrate their engagement, we traveled to one of their (and my) favorite places on earth, The Buffalo River Valley. There, we explored a less-than-stable house, hiked the Lost Valley hiking trail and took a dip in the Buffalo River. (they did, I watched from the shore). Enjoy the photos. 

For years, I've had the idea in my head to make a video for Novo Studio. The idea for the video was inspired by a voicemail message I created years ago that, in my mind, accurately describes why I would not be answering my phone. And to have a video that started from the voicemail message and then, journeyed into my life as a photographer and as a person seemed to make sense. Plus, I could put some music to it and avoid the awkward challenge of talking about myself and my business. 

But of course, life happened and with an incredibly busy season and twins, my idea remained an idea until I decided to take a creative sabbatical. When writing out my sabbatical bucket list, the creation of this video went right to the top and with the help of my dear friends and creative colleagues and my wife, I am happy to (FINALLY) share this video with you. Many thanks to Bryan Fittin, Jason Miller, Murray Williams and Kristen Thomas for making this whole thing possible. Enjoy. 

Congratulations to TJ & Angela on their beautiful Eureka Springs Wedding this past weekend. Here are a few images from their celebration. Enjoy!

Venue: Crescent Hotel, Eureka Springs
Wedding Planner: Sweet Tea Designs

Our collaborations with Red Barn Studio, Murdog Creative and 6th & Burnside continue. This week, we had the privilege of hanging out with local indy band, Brother Moses. This was our first full band live session so all had to wear earplugs. Here's some behind-the-scenes images as well as the final video. As always, thanks to Jason Miller for hosting and to Murray Williams for coordinating, directing and producing. Enjoy!

Last week, we traveled to Memphis for what turned out to be one of our favorite photography assignments ever. Saddle Creek Orthodontics hired us to create some images of their space and also, for their space. The first part of our job was a typical commercial shoot for us; documenting the details of a space and the routines of the people who use it. The second part of the shoot however, was definitely something out of the ordinary.

A few years ago on April Fools Day, I went to our local camera store and had someone snap a photo of me holding a new Canon 5DMII. As an avid Nikon shooter, this little shenanigan got me some attention (and some offers to buy my Nikon gear). The joke lasted approximately 6 hours and at the end of it, I had to tell people that I was kidding. Now, I really am switching to Canon and here's why.