For the 3rd year in a row, we've had the honor and privilege of capturing images of The Mercy Charity Ball. This year's entertainment included live music by Easton Corbin and hands down, the best DJ we've EVER heard in our lives - DJ Kirby. But most importantly, the evening served as way to celebrate the philanthropy work that, through the combined efforts of so many, Mercy Health is able to accomplish. Here's a few images from the evening. Enjoy. 

For us, weddings are personal. By the time a wedding day rolls around, it's our good friends that are marrying each other...not just our clients. Last November, our good friends Andrew and Lindsay got married and they celebrated with lots of family, friends, live music and of course, photos. Here's a few from their celebration. Enjoy.

Today, we're posting a few images from a recent photography job at Eastside Elementary. The goal was to create some images of the students interacting and engaging in the school environment. Shortly after creating these images, a fatal incident in Connecticut left a tragic mark on an elementary school, the local community and ultimately, our nation as a whole. We decided to let some time pass before posting these images and we hope that by posting them, they remind you that life is indeed precious and in the midst of tragedy, hope springs up. Happy Friday everyone. 

After an incredibly busy Fall and Holiday season, I decided to unplug for a few days. By "unplug", I mean literally unplug. No phone, no internet, no television (although I broke that one) and no work. When you run a business on technology, it's hard to unplug. You're always worried that you're missing something. But for a creative, this is a necessary balancing act - working hard and resting well. Because how well you rest depends on how hard you work. So for a few days this past week, I focused on resting well. And in the process of resting well, I took some time to create some images. Here's a few of them. Enjoy :)

Adam & Amanda were married on a beautiful Wednesday (yes Wednesday) night back in the Fall of 2012. Their family and friends came all the way from Oklahoma City to celebrate with them at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs. Second to their wedding ceremony, the highlight of the evening was a magic show put on by their nephews in which they demonstrated feats of illusion. They then proceeded to tell their audience how all of their tricks worked. Bingo :)  Here's a few images from the evening. Enjoy. 

Now and then, I have to take a break. I'll admit, it's hard. I always end up feeling guilty. But in truth, I'm more productive when I'm inspired. And for me, inspiration comes when I walk away for awhile and recharge. For years, my escape has been photography. I love to hit the road with a car full of cameras and no map (not a good idea, by the way) or plan. Sometimes, I intentionally seek out areas or places to explore. Sometimes, I go with friends and sometimes, I go alone. As I'm typing this blog post, I'm realizing that the images posted here are at least 3 months old if not older. It's probably about time for another break :)

Michael and Stephanie (or Mike and Steph as we like to call them) were married in October of 2012. Their wedding and reception took place in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Mike happens to be my brother-in-law and I'm honored that he entrusted me with photographing his wedding day. It was a lot of fun shooting in South Carolina. The weather was beautiful and the scenery, gorgeous. Here's a few images from their special day. Enjoy. 

3rd & Union are one of the most talented duos we've ever heard, let alone had the opportunity to work with. The duo is made up of Palmer Lee & Chase Coy, who met at Belmont University in Nashville. Writing a song together for a wedding led them to embark on a musical journey of writing consistently, performing and most recently, recording and releasing an album. The album made the iTunes "new and noteworthy" page on the day of its release and has received lots of excellent reviews. Over the holidays, they came to Rogers to play show and while they were here, we had the  privilege of hanging out with them for an evening, cameras in tow. Our first stop was a bright yellow building that looked as though it was about to be demolished. (it was gone the day after) From there, we headed out to Monte Ne, an area of Beaver Lake that used to be a town. It's a fascinating place with a lot of history and some great places to shoot. Here's a few of our favorite images. Enjoy. 

Right before Christmas, 3rd & Union decided to put on a little "hometown" show at the Rogers Little Theater. Just two days prior, we had spent some time creating some promotional images for them and the live show was a great excuse to keep the camera's rolling. It also helps that they're super talented and their music is awesome. Enjoy. 

It is quite possible that you knew exactly which library we were referring to in the title of this post. The Fayetteville Public Library is one of our favorite places on earth. Not only is it a great environment to create images but it's an amazing place to gather resources, to learn, to explore and to just sit and work. The fact that they have an amazing coffee shop inside only adds to this appeal. We've been photographing the library for years now and each time we go back, we're reminded of the impact it has had on the area. Here's a few images from this year's visit. Enjoy. 

Nick & Nicky - They're quite the pair. She's a school teacher and he's a reporter for a newspaper. They met while attending a movie with a larger group of mutual friends. Nicky wasn't sitting close to Nick during the movie. But she noticed him. And he noticed her too. The rest is history. Our engagement session gave us plenty of time to get to know each other. We hit the road in the Novomobile and spent an afternoon driving, exploring, laughing, talking and creating images to celebrate their love and their upcoming wedding. And after that, we ate dinner together at a mexican restaurant...the kind where you walk out afterwards smelling of sizzling fajita meat. We can't wait to hang out with them again :)

If you've ever come into our studio and seen a gigantic print of a young family holding their children upside down, you may recognize these images. This is the Hobbs Family. They've grown by one since last we photographed them, so it was about time for another visit. Here's a few of our favorites. Enjoy!

Here's a few images from another recent senior session with Evan Tillman. Although these are just senior photos, we've given him our permission to use these to jumpstart his modeling career if he decides to go that route :) 

A few weeks back, we hung out with this super cool girl. She was a lot of fun to photograph and she couldn't have picked a better time to have her senior pictures made. Thanks Alyssa! Best wishes!

As a creative, it's imperative that you breathe deep and often. And instead of posting photos of recent weddings and portraits and plugs to go see our fine art installation, I decided to spill a few of my guts. 

We've got quite a collection of old cameras. If you've ever looked in the windows of our studio, you know this to be true. And inevitably, we get asked the question, "Do any of these cameras actually work?" The answer is yes. And from here on out, we'll be randomly highlighting some of the cameras in our collection here on the blog. For the first post, we'll be talking about the Voigtlander Superb. 
Voigtlander was an optical company founded in 1756 and it is therefore, the oldest name in cameras. Manufactured from 1933-1937, the Voigtlander Superb was a failed attempt at competing with the Rolleiflex and Rolleicord TLR cameras. The Superb is a very rare camera to find, especially in working condition. We had no idea if ours worked or not. But after downloading a manual from the internet (and laughing hysterically at some of the illustrations), we put a roll of 120 film through it and hoped for the best. And the results were awesome. The film counter was off so we took 5 or 6 pictures before frame #1 ever showed up in the little window. Ooops. After awhile (and some double exposures), we seemed to finally get the hang of it. Some of the images were surprisingly normal save the pinkish hue in the top right corner resulting from leaking light. Others were gritty and artsy, just the way we like 'em. All in all, the Superb is a great camera. The design is unique (mostly to avoid infringing on patents by Rollei), it's definitely got lots and lots of personality and of course, it actually works! For more info on the Voigtlander Superb, here's a good read. And if you want to see it in person, stop on by the studio!