Monica and Todd come walking up a few moments after my revelation and began to tell me that it was under this cool new arbor, I thought only I knew about, they got engaged.  So begins the perfect place to start an engagement shoot on a wild and windy day in Bend, Oregon.  As some of you know, when two people are in love, their eyes are a complete give away.  Wendy calls it the, “look” and as a photographer, a persons eyes are EVERYTHING to an image.  Looking at how Monica and Todd gazed at each other was more than enough to convince me that they not only have a deep caring for each other but a mutual respect that will bond them forever.

So, here’s to  Monica and Todd, may your eye’s always reflect the love in your hearts!

It’s hard not to want to express yourself listening to the band I went over to Portland to see and photoshoot last weekend.  I first caught wind of this 9 piece funk/rap band named Dr Theopolis back in 04 and have yet to find a band that always seems to be having more fun than the crowds they pack in.  What would you expect from a band that’s named after a computer that sat around a robot’s neck in Buck Rodgers?  Is there really a better way to shake your booty dancing while a group of extremely talented musician friends who’s catchy lyrics, as I’ve said before, are like Weird Al Yankovic’s on crack?  Nope.  Wrap this all up with a guy named, “Mr Fabulous” who’s job is to essentially dance with all the ladies in the crowd and you have the making of one solid night of entertainment!  If you ever hear word of them coming to town, you’d be a fool to miss a show and if your willing to, “let your hair down” for a night, this might just be the therapy you need…..bring on the doctor!  Please check out their website Dr. Theopolis to find out about shows and listen/purchase the music.

Mr Fabulous doing what he does.

How do they fit everyone in such a tight space?  6 of the 9 getting their groove on!

Frontman Ezra Holbrook

Till next time…the antics of Dr. T

It was great to be part of something like this.  The event was basically on the site where the facility will be built, with the tents set up at the end of a road and security super tight.  Most of the people attending, (including myself) didn’t know what business was coming until today.  I’m really amazed this secret was able to last this long…especially with how powerful Facebook is!  Excavation only began on the 130+ acre site about two weeks ago but when the GM overseeing construction drove me around to get some images, it was evident that by the beginning of 2011 they would be up and running-think, TIGHT schedule.

At around noon, Prineville Mayor Mike Wendel announced to everyone the big news and after several speeches, the official ground breaking ceremony occurred, lunch was served and within 1.5 hours everyone had moved on to their next appointment.  I love challenges, and today I got to hammer out one of my quickest photo edits to date, since one of the stipulations for my shooting the event was that the PR firm in charge of the events media distribution needed the images literally after I was done shooting.  Pressures a good thing….especially when things go right!  So here’s to Facebook for putting Central Oregon in front of the world’s eyes.  Oh, did I say again how much I love my job?!!

Big shout out to all my friends who did an outstanding day today.  This includes Heidi Berkman with H. Berkman & Associates Inc., the Marketing & Special Events Consultant-541.480.8700 who made everything go silky smooth, Pinnacle Media’s Matt and JoAnn Hand for handling the video content, and Joolz Restaurant from downtown Bend for providing the amazing food.

Cheers-

Getting ready for the fun…

Mayor of Prineville, Mike Wendel showing some of the excitement we all are feeling!

Facebook’s Director of Site Operations, Tom Furlong (brown jacket) celebrating with others that got the job done!

Three of the finance wizards from Facebook–you can thank them for making it happen.

We’ve had our two dogs Miles and Dizzy for 12 of their 13 years now and XC skied, mtn biked, ran and played literally 7 days a week with them.  So yea, I was stressed I’d loose my terror of a lab that has done everything from destroy a new 4 month old couch, to eating 2 full boxes of chocolate fudge Cliff Bars (remember Ben?), to endless counter robberies of steaks, Costco apple pies and anything else that resembled food.

Between dropping Miles off and picking him up, the one redeeming event that allowed me to have a semi-productive day and not let worrying about my dog fill all thoughts was volunteering to shoot some images for the Volunteer Connect projects happening around Bend, Oregon during Martin Luther King Day.  Helping out the community, seeing old friends and laughing with others took my mind off my furry friend. Cheers to all those hard working volunteers!

In the end, both my dogs lay next to me while I write this and I can’t help but wonder when they’ll be ready for the next adventure….Miles, get your head out of the trash dude…..yea, things really never change.

This is our Miles. He definitely has attitude and this shows it!

Paw’s R US

Not trying to play favorites, I needed to include Dizzy as well.

Friends With Flowers volunteers creating love for terminally ill patients in Central Oregon

Over at the Bethlehem Inn, volunteers fixing bikes for a good cause!

At the Bend Community Center volunteers work to create blankets for the homeless.

This young dude was a rock star, putting air into all the bike tires and doing bike maintenance!

Since everyone else is doing their “best of….” for 09, I thought we needed the best bride & groom images of 2009 as well!  So here are the coolest images, (in our opinion) from the weddings we shot though out the year.  I did the preliminary choosing without Wendy but I knew that it would be better to have lots of choices to pick from since they were destined to be debated once she looked at them!  One of the great things, (among many others) about wedding photography is that they’re always unique and never dull.  So sit back, relax and enjoy these images that were so inspiring for us to create.

I’ve always had an interest in fashion/interior design/architecture, (maybe it’s my Italian roots showing through) and even though I never went to school for it or worked in the industry, I’m seeing that looking at all those GQ, Elle Decor, etc. magazines when I was younger wasn’t a waste of time as it really helps me to envision lots of options during a photoshoot and in this case allowed me to manipulate his wardrobe choices to get the results you see below.   Please take a look at their website for more information:  StreamiT Media

My cousin Maureen from Boston tearing it up in the elite race.  Congratulations are in order as she was recently chosen to be part of the US team that will go over and race the World Championships in Tabor, Czech Republic!  Ok, it turns out that we’re something to the effect of 3rd cousins and if it wasn’t for the trip my family took to the East Coast to visit her family, we probably would have never met each other.  Her family came over to Wisconsin to visit my family as well and I still remember running around with a WW2 gas mask on trying to scare Mo and her sister-(I was maybe 10 and they were around 4 years old).  Isn’t that the fun of families?  Please take a look at Maureen and her husband Matt’s team website to learn more about the two of them and what’s next – mmracing

There was a nice long “run-up” stairs to climb on the course and here’s a view of the women’s elite race.  It WAS this tight!

This is another typical scene from cross racing…..and either a science fiction movie or a bad dream.

Katie Compton takes a glance at how close her competition is behind her.  Turns out she rightfully wears the correct numbers as she went on to win her 6th national title.

The entire city of Bend seemed to be out cheering on the racers, including….

This dude was in a full on sniper camo outfit handing out bills to those who wanted to spend a 2nd and grab one.  Another taker!

Home town favorite Ryan Trebon.  The Bend community came out in full force to cheer this guy on and each time he came around for another lap the roar was deafening.

Taking a corner at speed and yes, the grass looks that way because it’s winter, cold and for the racers…super slippery to ride.

My friend Wade who builds bike frames and owns Vulture Cycles built this bike for parades and general hooliganism.  Yes, he’s sitting over head height-in fact you sit sooo high that I declined to try it out myself and that doesn’t happen very often.  If your looking for a custom frame for cross, mtn, etc. please check him out:  vulturecycles

Pushin’ the pace, suffering and getting dirty…what cross is all about.

So at 9:00am in the morning it’s not super warm out and I’m having Mac sit on a blisteringly cold metal bench while I shoot photos of him for the inside shot.  Mac’s not too into the whole thing and can only think about his freezing bottom so the brick wall ends up being a better choice as he gave more than a painful expression!  The cover shot was just as fun and after experimenting with having the “bigs” do rabbit ears to Mac with the lollipops I wanted to create this look where the two adults were the ones with the candy (looking more like kids) than Mac.  I’m happy with the results as it creates a fun subtle air for an important cause.

In addition, I donated a really cool framed print of the Painted Hills to be auctioned off.  So come on and put your money to a good cause!  You can access it online at www.tsweekly.com/

Jamie wanted to have a surprise meeting where Brendan could see her for the first time so there I was in a very small bathroom at the Mcmenamins St. Francis School where they were staying, helping Jamie with her dress.  Being a guy you’d think I’d be more interested in waiting outside rather than get all mushy with details but I have to admit I’m always filled with pride to be part of such an important event and hey, its a good chance for me to tell the bride to, “keep breathing and enjoy the day!”

What a fun day it was as we took a limo over to Pioneer Park where they had the intimate ceremony (just the three of us plus officiant!) and all I can say is wow, Brendan, that was one of the most passionate kisses I’ve ever seen at a wedding!  Afterward, I directed Mr. Limo driver up to a secret spot overlooking part of the city and the clouds and light turned out to be amazing.  Finishing up the day we went back to Mcmenamins to shoot some images in the bathhouse.  This bathhouse is so cool-it’s wall to wall mosaics, open ceiling, and big fountain in the middle make you think you’ve been transported to some exotic European haunt.  I’ve been wanting to do this for a while and what a way to end the time with Jamie and Brendan.  Cheers to you both and I look forward to hanging with you guys in the future!

- Byron