Daily photo Challenge, day 5

Portrait time. My brother let me watch his baby, so of course, I photographed him! So cute! And also, I photographed Kristi a few months ago when she was still pregnant, so I threw my favorites of those up too.

Daily photo challenge, day 4

Deck the halls! I fell in love with these Boughs of Holly! Fa la la la la la la la la! 'Tis the season to be jolly!

Day three of the Photo Challenge

So, I haven't been posting everyday, and you probably thought I had already given up on my daily photo challenge. But you're wrong! I have to do some catch up though...

This little series was taken last week when Tal and I took a drive through provo Canyon. All the photos were taken from the car (a specialty of mine). :) Utah is looking beautiful. Check it out!

Which one of these is not like the others?

Day two of the daily photo challenge. Talmage joked it would only last one day. This, of course, solidified my resolve.

Provo recently got an IN-N-OUT. It's been busy 'round the clock. I haven't been yet, but the mere fact that it's there comforts me. It's a little piece of my homeland, Southern California. I think of it sort of like an embassy. Usually, just passing the new IN-N-OUT warms my heart a bit. However, today when I drove by, I felt a kind of uneasy anxiety somewhere near my sternum. Coughing, I pulled the car over, to access my feelings. After a quick moment of introspection, I emerged with the realization that it was the snow (yet again) that gave me such unease. It just wasn't right to see an IN-N-OUT covered in snow. It went so against the grain, that I had to photograph it, so you all could share in my horror. (Don't let the sunshine fool you, it's only 11 degrees outside today.) Shocked, dismayed, but resolute I continue along my photo journey.

Daily Challenge for Myself

(Deep Breath) I am making a committment to myself to go shooting everyday. I hope that the practice will sharpen my skills in Photography, and deepen my enjoyment in the occourances around me. I've decided to post the "mini shoots" on this blog in hopes that it'll keep me honest. It's been snowing like crazy in Provo this week. Take a look at the orchard on Center Street. There's a herd of deer that live in the orchard. Tal and I have counted at least 30 mothers and yearlings but we suspect there are 50 in all. I didn't catch the deer today, but hopefully in future shoots I will. The snow's beautiful, and there's plenty to be had of it!

Freemont Lake

In August we went to Freemont Lake in Pinedale WY with Tal's family. We loved it and had to go back again to try out the rustic lakeside cabins. It was calm. We loved it.

Snowbirds

Around our neck of the woods it's fall on one side of the mountain and winter on the other! Tal and I had a fun getaway this week to Snowbird Resort in SLC. It's not quite ski season so they have great off-peak bed and breakfast package. Our favorite part was the wood-burning fireplace! What an amazing sunset and a perfect mini-vacation to kick off the cold weather!

Sundance Hike

We're just trying to enjoy the beautiful spring weather in Utah!

Bachelors in Civil Engineering

Tal graduated from BYU with a Bachelors in Civil Engineering a few weeks ago.  I think the engineering program must be one of the most difficult undergrad programs at the Y.  Way to go, Talmage!  Graduation was fun, thanks to all those that came to support us!  Happily, we get to do it all again next year when Tal graduates with a Master's in Engineering, if everything goes to plan.  After that, we will be leaving Provo, finally.  Until then, we will be enjoying BYU and trying not to go crazy in our little apartment.

I Ski, I am a Skiier

Tal bribed me into going skiing with him in March.  He took me to a really cool B&B in SLC called the Armstrong Mansion and in return, I went skiing at Alta.  It was cold.  Sadly, I find that I am not a natural skiier (despite Tal's attempts to convince me that skiing is in my blood due to my ancestry from the Netherlands).  However, Tal had a smart idea with the whole bribing concept.  We'll definitely be going again next year.  Here are some photos of the interesting old mansion and us as ski bums.    

Work, Work, Work

Here we are being Entrepreneurs!  I quit my graphic design job for BYU Athletics in February and I've been a full-time photographer ever since!  Here are photos of our booths at two genealogy conferences recently.  For one conference we traveled down to St. George. It was a pretty long ordeal.  We left later than we'd planned and ended up getting in at 2 in the morning.  There was still lots to do to prepare so we stayed up all night finishing the details.  At 6 am when we left for the convention center, Tal asked me to grab a pillow and blanket.  Why?  So that he could sleep under the table when the booth wasn't busy!  Genius!  I think I slept more than he did.  It was tricky though.  You had to be careful not to come out from under the table when there was someone looking at the booth, lest you frighten them with your mysterious and groggy appearance.  It was hard work but we had a blast!

SAN FRANCISCO

As summer approaches again I am thinking back to our internship last summer in San Francisco.  We had such a blast!  Here are some photos of our favrite places we visited.

MEMORABLE MEALS

I love documenting meals.  As I clicked through my photo archive I found a little collection of food photos to share.  In the mix are (in order from top to dottom)  Halloween cupcakes we made at the Ranch, "Vegan Still Life" from San Francisco, Christmas dinner for the Johanna and Talmage Wagstaff Family, Grandpa Lou's Birthday Cake, Thanksgiving Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Taylor's, and the photos from the Seder feast Aunt Jana and Uncle Andy put on last Passover .

BACHELORS IN FINE ARTS

I Graduated in Augst 2008 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Photography from BYU.  I also minored in Business Management (Which ended up being a really good idea).  I almost misssed the ceremony altogether.  I woke up about 10 minutes before the program started, rushed there without doing my hair and slipped into the back just before the curtain opened.  I thought it was a fitting end to my hectic college career.  On top of it all, I didn't know I was graduating Magna Cum Laude and when my professor congratulated me I was severely confused.  I think at that point he considered petitioning the honor.  At any rate, here I am celebrating with the Wags and the Lees.  It meant a lot to have everyone come.

WE'VE BEEN INTO COSTUMES LATELY

COSTUMES #3 & 4

Pictured to the left are the costumes we put together for a vintage Christmas party with my work friends.  You may recognize them from our Christmas card this December.  Tal and I have a goal to produce a themed christmas card every year.  Thus far we've done "Have a rad Christmas" (2007) and "Merry Christmas from the 50's" (2008).  As you can see the cards also serve as shameless self promotion for my business.  I love being an entrepreneur!

MORE COSTUMES

COSTUME #2

Here we are this past Halloween.  Tal is a snorkeler, I am a fairy princess.  We went to Thanksgiving Point to a corn maze.

AND MORE COSTUMES

MR. and MRS. MONTGOMERY MONEY
We've been dressing up a lot recently.  Here are our costumes for a Murder Mystery with some friends in Provo.  I had tons of fun putting together our costumes.  Tal was not involved.  Despite the fact that I duct-taped my hat together in the car on the way there, we were voted best dressed! However, Talmage ended up being the killer, quite a scandal.  I know you're all wondering where I got that awesome pipe for Tal, or should I say, Mr. Money.  Mostly everything I scrounged up between my house and Tal's parents, but the pipe and top hat were new recruits.

INTRODUCTIONS

OUR HABITAT
I'm so excited to finally be starting our blog.  I've wanted to do this for a long time and kept photographing things with the intent of posting them on my nonexistent blog, so now I have a lot of back tracking to do.  Let's start with introductions, this is our apartment.  It's one of five apartments in a house built in or before the 1920's.  During the Great Depression it was split up into apartments and since college students love to live in ridiculous conditions, to this day they've never needed to convert it back.  My opinion of the house teeters constanty between scary/mangy  and cool.  A few things I do like are pictured.  We have two very awesome pedestal sinks, the one pictured is in the kitchen.  Also, please take a moment to admire the linoleum.  Nice huh?  Orange would've been my pick too.  Who doesn't love an orange floor?  Always a good choice.  I do really love all the glass panneled cabinetry built into the kitchen though.  Pictured is my favorite cubbord, with my wedding china and pewter.  Also pictured is the window seat in our front room.  This room is my favorite in the apartment (mind you, there aren't many choices).  Between the hardwood flooring and Ikea flower decals on the walls, I think this space most closely resembles the apartment I wish I had.  :)   I also really love the glass door handles throughout the house.