A + G get married in Colorado

i'm going to keep it short and sweet tonight, because this post is heavy on the pictures. i have never laughed so much shooting any other couple. these two are made for eachother. special thanks to my second shooter James Anderson, and assistant for the day Cassidy Brooke. they made me feel like part of a dream team. p.s. this bride is a rad colorado photog, and seeing as how i just moved from the joint, well, you should maybe check her out http://www.apriloharephotography.com

p.p.s. A + G have the best engagement story ever. hint, it involves roller derby, a championship, and someone named winona fighter. yeah, check it out.

heather and casey's utah engagement session

heather and casey's engagement session was a dream realized for me. let's take a minute to study the components of this dream: a. THE LIGHT. the heavenly angels singing. the hazy softness making, glorious glorious light.

b. THE extreme good looks of the couple (like you triple check them out to make sure people that good looking exist)

c. way more important than the extreme good looks --- the extremely amazing and kind hearts of the couple. the only other person i've met as nice as heather--is casey. and vice-verse. when i see a perfect match up of kindred spirits such as theirs, i'm not just happy, i'm inspired. p.s. casey owns a toy store. he's like a young, thin, good looking, tattooed santa clause.

d. the willingness of heather and casey to hike 15 minutes up so that we could traipse down into the perfect location. a little, secluded valley we had more or less to ourselves minus a few deer.

all this adds up to me jabbering like an idiot the entire session about how excited i was, how i couldn't believe how everything was perfect, how it all felt like the dream that it was....

france family sesh plus a video!

so you maybe remember me chatting it on up with the lovely kelli france of the pretty fancy chic critique forum  back in this post:  (click here, but ignore the freeze frame capture, there was nothing that could be done) during the interview she mentioned she had hired me to do her family photos and how she was so excited, and i responded a smiley, "yeaaaaahhhhhh.....awesome." usually i do okay with articulating, and you know, forming thoughts and words, but in that moment all i could think of was queen/ david bowie's under pressure song. the nerves started then.

fast forward a week or two, and there i found myself in colorado springs, in perfect golden light--doing my best to ignore the crying of my own kids because yes, they came along with marty to hang out in the park where we shot. i closed my eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, went over to hold wren who was sobbing, walked back to the france's ready to go.to.work.

and we did. and the super talented jessica detiege, came along for the crazy ride and made this amazing video that will just put a tear in your eye. i think a video combined with a tooon of photos will kind of get the point of the beautiful france's across, which means i should probably stop talking

right

about

now

gahhh, but i can't! i just have to say that this family? they have a lot on their plate. they are busy. they work hard. they feel that constant tug and pull of being a young family, with busy schedules, and a task list longer than the hours in the day. but they prioritize their love first. and i think it shines through. thanks so much for giving me this opportunity kelli. xoxo

YAN TRAVEL DATES THROUGH SPRING 2013

“I'm not talking about dance lessons. I'm talking

 about putting a brick through the other guy's

windshield. I'm talking about taking it out and 

chopping it up." 

-Royal Tennenbaum

do you guys know that planning so far ahead makes me nervous? i think its simply a product of my history---- i've always been such a free spirited little bird who goes wherever the wind takes her that anything happening 3 months in the future might as well be an eternity away...

however, over the course of my adulthood, it has been brought to my attention many many many many times--that free spirited little birds, don't always do a good job of getting things done. and while i want to maintain my wandering soul, i'm also trying to grow up just a smidge, and give this planning thing i keep hearing so many people rave about, a real go of it.

bearing all that in mind, are you ready to be hit with some more travel dates? because here we go....

....in a minute, there's just one more thing.

i have to say first a word or two about what a travel session is-

its beyond the obvious of me simply coming to your city and  giving you a super personalized (whether it be for your family or the love of your life and your pets) photography session that i pour my heart and soul into.

i mean, if i'm going to summon up all my willpower to leave my babies and my love, then spend at least 24 hours in a plane or car in order to come make some amazing photographs of your family

well,

you better believe i'm going to make it GOSH. DARN. COUNT.

how could i not, when you're forking over a big wad of cash, and have believed in me enough to summon me to your general region of inhabitation ( <----this isn't even a real word, i looked up. but who cares?)?

how do we take it out and chop it up?

for starters, i'm not cramming in back to back sessions all in one location where you have to come to me. no, a session should be personal--however your family defines personal. we pull out all the stops. we hit up multiple locations if you want. i come to your home, spend an hour and a half, then we walk or drive or dance on over to another dream location you've always thought about trying, but have never had the guts to ask someone to hop that fance, or climb on that trolley, or wade through that ditch.... i'm the girl who will happily do that with you. i'll even wait half an hour in between locations so your kid can have a snack and a break.

please note, vandalism and tresspassing of any sort is NOT requisite, simply encouraged! ha. not even that, all i'm saying is these sessions are hard core, they're about giving it your all. even if your all is simply your family hanging out around your home on a lazy saturday morning.

-how much does it cost and how do you book? the flat rate for all travel sessions is $950 and includes a full res disk of your edited images with a print relase to go hog wild. Fee is due upon booking, just send me an email to photography.yan@gmail.com and i will send you  time slot choices and an invoice.

without further ado, locations and dates through spring 2013 are:

 Oklahoma City: November 1st (only 2 spots!)

Dallas,  Texas:  November 2-3

Houston, Texas: November 5

Austin, Texas: November 6-7

Phoenix, Arizona: Dec 7th 

Las Vegas, NV: Dec 9th-10th

Tampa , or Orlando depending on where y'all are at Florida: Jan 31-Feb 2

Kansas City, Missouri: May 3-4

Cleveland, Ohio: May 6-7

Laie, Hawaii: Feb 22-24th (this location is dependent on bookings to make it fly)

LA area: March 1-2

San Francisco (area): March 4-5

San Diego: March 6-7

and lastly,

somewhere in canada sometime in june.... suggestions?

didn't see your city? be sure to check here and make sure i didn't already announce it (wink wink)

bright bright bryton

if you live in utah, you might know that alpine, the home town of this adorable family--has been up in flames the last few days. when i sent the lovely bryton her images of her family in their perfect little cottage home, she said she was so greatful to have their cheery little space documented, in case anything happened.... luckily we were blessed with some rain for most of today, and bryton's home is safe--but it kind of makes you think--

don't you want your home, however lovely, or however not so lovely--whether its a tiny cramped space, or a huge expansive loft--don't you want your home -- with all its little stories, the place where your heart goes to relax, documented so that you never forget?

i grew up in the same home from birth until college. it was unfashionable, and smelled like my brother brett's too many pets--the downstairs bathroom didn't even have a proper cieling and at one point there was an iquana living in the bathtub (brett again). there were ten of us total (not really under the same roof at the same time) -- but still -- 10 of us who tore through that place and left our mark--and the mark wasn't pretty. it looked like awhole lot of carpet stains, and a number of punched holes in the walls. but i loved it. it was my home. my favorite place to be.

sometime after i got married my parents moved out of that house. and now, whenever i'm back in boise and have the time, i drive by our old place, and i cry. which if you know me, you know i don't cry a whole lot. but i do when i see the shell of all those memories. i cry and i ache, and i wish i could go inside just one more time even though i know that with a new owner, probably nothing is quite the same.

the images i have to remember that home are mostly in my head. and though they look quite lovely there, what i wouldn't give to to see my memory in print--the way my mom handled all of us crazies from the day to day without losing her mind--the playhouse my dad built us in the backyard-----and yes

this is obviously leading up to a sales pitch, you caught me. but if you want someone to capture you in your home (and i'm telling you your house doesn't have to be stylish or fancy), by golly, i'm your girl. personal spaces inspire me more than endless fields of wildflowers, i kid you not. because the stories are so rich--the meaning and soul of a family bouncing off of every surface--

okay okay okay. i'm talking too much now, but here are the morse's -- in their home. thanks so much for looking.