We are pretty swamped right now, but we wanted to share a few more pictures from Dan and Miranda's wedding. All of the images will be available for viewing and ordering on June 10th--just Click Here and follow the directions to pre-register to see them...
We had an absolute blast at Miranda & Dan's wedding this weekend! We've know them for several years, so it was truly a priviledge to shoot their wedding.
We strive to get to know all of our couples before their weddings because it makes them more comfortable and relaxed on their wedding day. And when a couple is relaxed, like Miranda & Dan, they are a pleasure to work with and are freed up to simply enjoy each other and look radiant! :)
They had a beautiful location at Beaver Lake in Sammamish, and even though the sun didn't come out, the fresh rain on the ground made the park feel new and alive...
Congratulations Dan and Miranda!
~Gerald & Airika
I just loaded up the new Photoshop CS3 last week, and it is pretty incredible! So far my favorite new feature is the updated photo merging tool. Hands down this is the best photo merging software I have ever seen, and I have tried my fair share. Every other photo merging software (that I am familiar with)gives poorly aligned results with blatant discrepancies in brightness between the images that have been stitched together.
Because of this, if you wanted to have a presentable result, you had to spend hours in Photoshop cloning out areas that didn't line up correctly, and doing your best to blend together the lines caused by the differences in brightness. The whole processes is extremely tedious and time consuming.
Those days are gone. Here are the results from a recent engagement session Airika and I shot in Discovery Park in Seattle.
Click on the image to get a larger view...
This particular image was put together from about 10 images, creating a 360 degree view of this tree canapy. Once Photoshop did the hard part, all I had to was crop it and turn it into sepia. 60 seconds of work and I am done!
GP
I went to my first horse race ever this past weekend at Emerald Downs in Auburn, WA just south of Seattle. It was actually quite fun, and the whole event was very educational for me. The only racing I ever watched growing up in NC was Nascar, which was a slightly different atmosphere. I did not participate in gambling myself (I was too busy running around taking pictures), although I did allow my wife to spend some money on the horses since it was her birthday. That is exactly what she did too. Thankfully, she only ended up donating about $2 to the cause by the time it was over.
Here are a few of the pictures I got...
They really do play that call to the races song before each race!
This was one of the more exciting finishes of the day. #6 made up three lengths in the final stretch to win by a nose.
This is probably my favorite racing shot of the day... What really makes it interesting is that there are five horses running neck and neck in this shot at the finish line, and there's only ONE hoof touching the ground!
Gerald
Here is another recent "What the Duck" cartoon from Aaron Johnson...
It was my birthday (Airika's, that is) on Sunday and on Friday I was actually preparing myself for a pretty normal birthday...going to lunch with my coworkers, my family going out to eat, and Gerald forgettting to get me a present in time. :) On top of that, I was preparing to share "my" special day with my mother, since it was also Mother's Day (I was born on Mom's Day too!). It's a good thing that my mom and I shared our special day though, because my younger sister Hannah decided to surprise both of us by flying in from Philadelphia to visit us for the weekend! I was completely shocked and very happy. It was an awesome present not only because I got to see her, but also because she actually managed to surprise me, which very few people have ever been successful at!
The other cool "surprise" (although I already knew what it was)of the day was that Gerald had remembered to buy me a birthday present! ;) He and my parents bought me a beautiful amber necklace that I tried on in a unique African boutique shop in La Jolla last month! Here's a picture of my new necklace! (I still need to take one of me wearing it!
I'll post another pic when I wear it for the first time! Thanks everybody for all your facebook birthday messages and emails. All in all, I had a great 28th birthday!
~Airika
At long last, the wakeboarding pictures are here...
My little brother Dale is insane. Airika and I had a hard time getting him and the water surface in the same picture when he jumped!
A little compilation... be sure to click on the pictures to enlarge them!
Like I said, insane.
I'm not quite sure what this was, but it looked really cool.
Here's a few of Dean, who drove 1.5 hours to give us a ride on his boat and we had never even met him!
sweet...
...and Kenny
Last and Least, it was my turn. If there's one thing I learned about wakeboarding from this trip, it's that I really shouldn't be wakeboarding! This next picture is a shot of my signature move, and as you can see, I nailed it. I was thinking of naming this one, so let me know if you have suggestions...
We hope you enjoy these!
Gerald & Airika
