Photography Hobby to Wedding Photography

I have always considered photography a hobby of mine. When I was in college I took a semester photography class and learned a lot of basics and even how to develop pictures the old school way. Now I know how it feels to reminisce about things that are now obsolete, I guess Alli is right, I am old. 

A couple of years ago Alli and I decided that it would be a good idea to invest in a nice camera so that we could take better pictures of our kids and that renewed my hobby. My niece had seen a few pictures that I had taken and said she liked them (oops) and when she got engaged she talked about how much a photographer costs so I offered to do it for her. I understand what it means to be on a budget :) 

Well she took me up on the offer and I didn't want to mess it up so I offered to do portraits for anyone that wanted them for free! Well with not a lot of time I only got the chance to go out a couple of times. Once with London and then with the Christensen Family and then for some Pre-Mission pictures with Malisa Farnes (A Former Student). Here are some of the pics for their wedding. I will do another post from the other shoots so that it is not a huge post.

Princess Macy and Ballerina London

You really never know what you're going to get yourself into with a husband like Kyle. BYU has tons for performing groups that go all over the world and perform and Kyle and the Holbrook Arts Alliance decided to bring one of them to Holbrook. The only group going through Northern Arizona this year was the BYU Ballet and we got to host them. Along with the actual Ballerina show you also have a "Meet the Princesses" party beforehand that you are supposed to decorate for and all that jazz. Well, Kyle's not much of a princess party type of Kyle so I took that one by the horns. I teamed up with a good friend Lynda Fraley and we got the whole thing planned in a breakfast date at the Donut Shop. We had a big castle built out of cardboard, lights, tissue fluff ball things hanging from the ceiling, and even a couch that we turned into a dragon. It really was quite the party. We had little brownie bites and punch for our princesses and they could each make themselves a crown out of foam. We had Cinderella playing on the smart board and there were princesses and ballerinas everywhere. All the little girls were dressed up and it was so adorable. I really need to make taking pictures of the things we do a priority, but I always forget :/

After the Princess Party we went and watched the actual Ballet. I'm not gonna lie, ballet isn't my favorite- but I did appreciate all the hard work they do. During intermission they invite the little girls in the audience to go and dance with the ballerinas. It really is the sweetest thing you'll ever see. This momma definitely had tears. The girls were nervous at first but warmed up right away when a ballerina came to help them.

They really started getting into the dancing and I think the ballerina was afraid they were going to fall.

The girls had such a good time, it was any little girls dream!