It's been a pretty wild winter for us. Our dreams came true by having very little snow and very warm temperatures. We've gotten some down time and gotten to go to some great places. But is was this wedding that we looked to as our one true 'winter' wedding... in the middle of February. It didn't disappoint.

Abby and Tom are ice people anyway. You may remember us shooting with them in the ice rink during the summer. So we were all glad to see some snow and get to experience the real look of winter while we had the chance. Of course, these guys are lucky and flew south to thaw out afterwards, but it was worth getting cold for a day I think...

I have to imagine that sometime about 10 days ago, Bill went through a mini life crisis. His beloved Broncos (he lives in Delaware and still has season tickets) had just won one of the most remarkable football games in recent memory. Super happy times. He was about to marry the woman of his dreams. Super happy times. They were scheduled to happy at the exact same time.... record scratch.

I still don't know how he did it, but Bill let go of something he cared about for a few hours (football, not Joanna) so that Joanna could have the wedding she always wanted. After I wrote that, I realized how cheesy it sounds. Oh well, it's totally true. Joanna and Bill are awesome. We loved spending time with them and seeing the many instances of Tebowing throughout the day. Here's a few of our favorites...

Rounding out our absolutely gorgeous weekend last week were Laura and Steve. It's great just being around them because it's really obvious that they adore each other... and that they're really a lot of fun. We spent most the day close to home (which was awesome) and then went up to Bear Creek Resort for the reception. We hadn't been there in a while and we had forgotten just how gorgeous that place is. For a winter wedding, it was really cool to see people hanging out outside, watching the skiers, and shacked up for the weekend. All of it made for a great vibe and a really fun night. Thanks Laura and Steve for having us! We were honored to shoot for you guys!

Somewhere in Italy, there a couple of Americans running around happy as can be with basically no idea what they have planned next. If it sounds awesome to you, it's cause it is. And it's basically what you would expect from people like Toni and Andy. Their wedding was awesome in a "these are two incredible people to spend a day with" type of way. It was one of the beautiful days we've ever seen in January and there was a lot to love, including a surprise flamenco dance all the way from Spain. Enjoy a few of our favorite photos from the day...

It's hard to believe 2011 is over. As I was writing the title of this blog, I had to double-check to make sure it was actually 2011 that we were commemorating. It's been an absolute whirlwind of a year. We did some things we had never imagined, met some people we wish we had met years ago, and ate much more food than any human actually should. But now with all of our shoots wrapped up, it's officially time to share our annual slideshow of our favorite photos from 2011. But before we do...

Amy and I owe you guys a huge debt of gratitude and thanks. This year, we hit the 5-year mark with our business. Back when I started the business, my father-in-law shared a book with me that had two stats I've always remembered since: 80% of businesses fail within the first year. 80% of those that survive fail before the 5th year. For those scoring at home, that means that we're officially part of the other 4% now... and it feels great. But it really has very little to do with us.

From the beginning of the business until now, there are a few things that have stayed the same. While we've grown, expanded and improved, we still have never had to pay a dime to advertise anywhere. And we owe all of that to YOU. If we're being honest, we owe this whole business to YOU. From the get go, we learned just how amazing our clients are. The fact that you guys take your time to look at our work, share it with other people and recommend us to friends still blows our minds. We have some people (other than our parents) who have been looking at our blog for almost 5 years now... and that was an UGLY iWeb site back then. We honestly cannot thank you enough times for what you mean to our lives. YOU have given us a career that we love, and made us so happy to do it for you. From the bottom of our hearts, we say thank you.

2011 really was a remarkable year for us. We had 148 shoots (that's one more than last year if you're scoring at home), delivered around 50,000 finished images and met hundreds (maybe thousands?) of new people. We shot everywhere from our own living room to Munich, Germany, for newborns and in hospice facilities. made our way across the country a few times and even out of it... and next year promises to take us even further away!

So without further ado, here's some of our favorite shots from the year. We're sorry in advance if we didn't include some people/favorites. We had to at least attempt to keep this to a reasonable length... I recommend you watch on full screen in HD mode :)

If you're curious, the music was (in order): Mat Kearny, Count on Me • Breanne Duren, Gold Mine • Brooke Fraser, Something in the Water • Josh Garrels, A Far-Off Hope

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank each one of you for the very important role you play in our lives. God has blessed us tremendously by having you support our work and we can't thank you enough for that. We hope everyone had a great 2011, and we can't wait to see you all in 2012!

For the past few years, we've been running a contest called Shoot Me for FREE!. Although the results have changed over the years, the concept has remained the same: to allow people to enter to win a free shoot, no strings attached. In year 1 we gave away 2 free photo shoots based on stories that people sent us. In year 2 we changed it up and awarded winners based on who had an idea for the most creative shoot. Last year we changed it again and we had the wonderful privilege of having 35 winners for The Portrait Project.

Well, I'm happy to announce that this year will raise the stakes in a HUGE way. If you've been following this blog, you know that this spring we're holding The Genesis Workshop (our annual photography workshop) in Las Vegas. That's where YOU and the Shoot Me for FREE contest come into play...

The winner of this year's Shoot Me for FREE contest will win an absolutely free trip to Las Vegas. That's right. We will be choosing one couple to come to Vegas during our workshop, all expenses paid! This includes flights for 2 to Las Vegas, 5 night's stay in one of the workshop mansions, food with the workshop crew from our own private chef and a whole bunch of amenities (pool, pool tables, ect..).

Here's your part: We need a couple that will model for us during some of our workshop sessions on March 20-22. We will fly you out at least a day early to do whatever you'd like with your spouse/significant other. Then you can model for us for certain sessions throughout the week. The rest of the time is yours! And of course you'll be able to keep digital versions of any photos we take while we're there. So in exchange for us using your pretty faces you get a 5-night all-expense paid trip to Vegas with someone you love as well as all the photos we shoot of you throughout the week... all for FREE!!!

To recap, here's what you get:
2 round trip tickets to Vegas
5 nights stay in one of the workshop mansions
All meals
Photos from the shoots during the whole week

Here's what we get:
2ish hours of your modeling talents for shooting in the morning and 2ish hours in the afternoon on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The rest of the time is yours!

Here's the Rules:
- Contest entries start today (12/27) and end on Friday (12/30).
- You must be a couple to enter.
- You need to be available to travel 3/18-3/23
- You should be outgoing and very much in love.
- We'd love to choose a couple we've already shot for, but are absolutely open to anyone!
- No purchase necessary... duh.
- Bribes accepted

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED! THE WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

We are officially on the home stretch for 2011. This is our last wedding post of the year and the next two days will bring blogs of our last two shoots of the year. But fear not blog-stalkers. We have a lot of fun stuff coming up starting next week. Our annual Best Of 2011 post, the start of the annual Shoot Me for FREE contest, and maybe a few other goodies as well.

BUT before we go there, we have an amazing wedding to share. Saturday we shot our final wedding of the year. And if there's one thing that I kept thinking, it's how wonderfully Emma and Frank summed up our year. Beautiful people, a fantastic wedding and lots of great emotions. Emma and Frank got their portraits before the wedding and we've been seeing so many people really enjoy spending that time together before the wedding. It's really cool to see. Make sure to check out Frank's face (below) when they first saw each other.

Emma and Frank, thanks for being so great to shoot! We had a blast with you guys!