Jeff & Elizabeth are awesome. I love their quirkiness, fun spirit and undeniable love for one another. We had a blast shooting their wedding and I can't wait to share the photos and a longer write up with you!

Enjoy!

Danielle

Elizabeth & Jeff SDE from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

but im not so good at it. my mommy n daddy bought me a big life jacket so i can go swimming wit em' too. 

 ~Gilbert (the doxie)

gilbert swimming from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

Mondays have always been difficult for me. As a child my mom would joke that she would have to wear football padding to protect herself because waking me up early in the morning was not my thing. I would kick and scream and really make it difficult for her to wake me up (sorry mom!). Today wasn't that much different. With all the traveling and shooting we do its weird suddenly being at home for a change. Its like a rollercoaster - I get so excited and happy when I am shooting + being creative and then monday rolls around and I am sitting at my desk for 8-12 hours without any movement.

From our twitter updates you may have noticed that we are having some changes done around our home. Back in 2008 we had a malfunctioning toilet - which overflowed for 4 days straight when we were out of town (ouch) - and finally, this week we are getting all the drywall put back into the garage - which is both awesome but also going to be hectic. With people coming in and out all week and also Casey will be out of town the following week at WEVA - we have so much to do in so little time. 

This morning I sat down at my computer close to tears. I was opening up a project to edit and saw these lovely photos on my hard drive and it made me all happy inside. I have been waiting to post this part of Elaine & Everett's shoot for a while. A warm feeling of excitement welled up as I look at these photos and think of how much fun we all had at the shoot. It reminds me of the all of the laughter that we shared especially over Everett's unique hula hooping style :) Man it was fun. 

-danielle\\

At lunch today Casey and I were talking about education and success. What Casey and I have found to be one of the most important things in moving our work and business forward is to never be complacent. It is important to always be learning, growing and striving for something better. I never want to just sit where I am today, I am always writing down goals, reading books and researching what else is out there. Casey is the same way, he is always reading, learning and pushing himself to get better at steadicam, perspective, imagery and overall in business. That is where education comes in. I think that it is important no matter what stage you are in in your life or business, to learn from your peers and push yourself further. 

Jonas also shares that same drive for something more. We met Jonas at a coffee shop about a year ago. We had just finished up a client meeting and Jonas came over and introduced himself. He said that he had just stumbled upon our work the day before and from looking at his work he had been inspired to take his photography to the next level. It was sheer coincidence that that next day he ended up seeing us. From there we exchanged info and we kept bumping into each other at the same coffee shop about once a month. Recently Jonas booked a ONE2ONE session with us and we had a ton of fun. We covered everything from how to shoot in harsh lighting conditions, reflections, goal setting, branding, finding your own voice and so much more. Jonas has a really unique perspective and eye for photography and I love that he took what we talked about and made it his own. This is what Jonas had to say as well as a photo of me that he took during the workshop! 

-danielle

Danielle and I just got back last night from our 10 day trip to Virginia. We were there working on a project for Canon, USA. We met so many insanely amazing people and we cant thank them enough for sharing their time and working with us. It was amazing getting to see behind the scenes of the company that makes the cameras and lenses we shoot with. 

I thought I would share Lisa and Brian's SDE... which we shot a couple weeks before we left out of town. Danielle and I were totally pumped to see Lisa and Brian on the wedding day because It had been over a year since we had seen them. Two days after we first met they moved to Italy (lucky dogs!!!!) and they had been there ever since. So it was awesome getting to hang out with them again and be a part of capturing their day. After the ceremony we had a blast with them and they were totally up for doing all of our crazy ideas.... like trekking across a dock that was a couple waves away from sinking into the lake :) 

We had the opportunity to work with Michelle (from Married and More with Michelle) who planned the wedding and we couldnt have pulled off the SDE without her amazing help. 

Danielle and I also had the pleasure of shooting alongside our good friends Sarah and Chris Rhoads who photographed the wedding. It was awesome working together  and make Lisa & Brian look modeliscious throughout the day :) 

Lisa & Brian SDE from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.