Haiti - $10 Can Make a Difference

The people of Haiti need help and I feel powerless.

I am at home, sitting in complete comfort. There are very few real worries. My wife is here with me and my bills are paid. There is food on our table and will be for as long as we need. Our roof is solid and our bed comfortable and warm.

More importantly - all of those things are present in our lives. We have beds. We have food. We have water. Our lives are blessed more than we deserve. We have more than we need.

Those in Haiti have fear. Some know they have lost family members while others are still searching for theirs. They have little to eat. They have no homes to go to. They have very little, if anything at all.

I feel powerless because I can't be there to help. There's nothing I can do sitting on my couch...or that's how many of us feel.

But the fact is, I'm not powerless. I can donate $10. So can you. And when we all give, it gives us immense power. It gives us power to help many, many people.

And that gives the people of Haiti the chance for hope. And so now they have something. They have hope. And hope can overcome anything.

Text "Haiti" to 90999 and a $10 donation will be made to the American Red Cross.

Engagement - Amanda & Blake

Amanda radiates amazing vibes. It's one of those unexplainable qualities. I know her so very little that I can't really tell you much about her except that she and her dude are in love! But in the short time I got to photograph her and her fiance, Blake, I felt like she was a person that others gravitate to. Sorry to leave you out Blake...you were awesome too! I like nice people. They are more fun to photograph!

Great light. Great kiss. Great photo!

I asked Blake to use his amazing muscular ability to fling her around, which he did quite well. But my camera didn't focus in time on the PERFECT moment and we never got it back. No worries. I like it fuzzy as well!

This was my favorite image from the shoot. There's something very perfect about it, something that says she feels safe where she is. And that to me is amazing.

The Fabulous and Beautiful Brittany

This is Brittany.
She's ALWAYS up for a fun, unscripted photo shoot. There wasn't much direction here except that she had to wear her wedding gown.


This is my favorite photo (below). There's a bit of attitude (come on ladies, we know you all have a LITTLE) and a hint of sexy as well. She's going to be a beautiful bride come May 8. She's marrying her long-time beau, Steven, near Lawrence, KS. Cant' wait!!!

Out for Delivery

Something new I'm going to be trying is to photograph myself signing large pieces before they go out the door. It's fun (for me) to see the larger prints in person...it's so hard to see something on the computer and realize how it would look in a big print but hopefully this shows the true size of it!

I'll be delivering this to a client in Kansas City early next week...I think they will be pleased!

Gary and Ky - Engagement

I've been working a lot in the cold thanks to several engagement sessions. I can't complain. The light has been phenomenal, especially for the session of Gary and Ky.

Engagement - Mike and Jai

What a shoot! 4 hours of photography wears a guy out! Mike and Jaime spent the weekend in Fort Scott for their photo shoot. We knew it was going to be a big shoot and it turned out to be an amazing time - except for the weather didn't cooperate like we had hoped. It would have been nice to have 80 degree temps but instead we got 30s!!!

They were troopers and hung with it and I'm glad they did because some of my favorite shots were taken outdoors.



I stole the above pose from Vanity Fair and loved the way it turned out. Mike's the perfect match for Jaime and she is the perfect match for him. I'm glad we know them so well and got the opportunity to photograph them before their big day - May 15, 2010!

Engagement - CK & Sydney - Blue Springs, Missouri

I used to catch frogs and build the most amazing hay forts with CK when we were just tiny little farts running around grandpa's farm. There were near-death experiences - including but not limited to: fingers hanging by threads after playing with knives, rolled ATVs, making too much noise late at night and countless others.

My life has been blessed - I can call my cousins my best friends. It's great to know that you can count on them when needed. CK was my best man when I married Megan. He was the first person I wanted to call when I proposed. Even though we live a few hours apart and don't see each other often, I know that if needed he would be there.


So I really didn't give he and his fiance much of a choice when they began planning their wedding - I was going to be their photographer, regardless of how they felt.

On Saturday I met them at their home in Blue Springs, Mo., for an engagement shoot. We did most of the images in Lees Summit but my favorite photo was taken in their home. I used paint to write words on their arms as they embraced...and well...here is the result and the cleanup afterwards.