My First Wedding

I've gotten some sad news this week. My friend's husband Mike passed away. It was completely unexpected. Theirs was the first wedding I've ever photographed. I've known Kim since we were 16 years old and she gave me the opportunity to be a part of one of the most important day of their lives. I was blessed. They were both wonderful and gave me the confidence I needed. Even though these film scans aren't the best, I have to share a few images with you.

This is one of my favorite moments- everyone was teary eyed when they gave their daughter, Jordan a ring too.




I will never forget taking this photograph below. Mike was starting to get a little stressed and so I suggested doing some fun shots of the boys. Afterwards he walked up to me, gave me a hug, shook my hand and simply said "Thanks." I could see the tension literally melt away. It's still on my website today partly because of the way it makes me feel when I see it. I always smile.


Kim and Jordan, my thoughts and prayers go out to you. You will be missed, Mike.

Pinetop with the Fam!

So nice to get away once in a while, so we went up north to Pinetop! The weather is so great up there. We spent a lot of out time just playing around in a field.

The kids were gathering flowers...


And playing mini-golf!!!


My son took this one and I helped him post process it. He even told her how to stand and where to put the flowers- it was too cute!


I am such a lucky mom! :0)

Blessing of the Animals

Update!! :0)
If anyone would like to download or print the images you can check them via this link:
http://laurasiivolaphotographer.smugmug.com/gallery/3695495

I'll be updating the gallery with more Ascension images throughout the year!

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What a fun time all the kids had at the blessing of the animals! I love Ascension Lutheran- such a wonderful community. I am so lucky to have found this preschool for my children. The teachers are so supportive and loving! And of course I brought my camera to photograph all the happenings! Unfortunately our dog Paige got most of my attention, so here are a few that I did manage to snap (mostly one handed!)


Some of the kids looking at a turtle- yep we had all sorts of animals! A few years ago someone brought a horse! :0)

And if you couldn't bring your pet- no worries, your stuffed animal was blessed!



Another cool thing is how the kids stay a part of the school. This is Mrs. Barks' son who went there when he was little! Brad is holding his puppy, Fate who was chosen as the school mascot, voted in by the children :0) How could they not pick such a cutie!! (and the obligatory awww....!)


And here Is Mrs. Colwell, one of the teachers & Annie- not just a student but her granddaughter as well!

The animals might have been blessed but I am everyday for finding such wonderful people!!!

Lucky Moi...

Why am I so lucky? Because the fabulous Becky Waurio of Toute Ma Vie Photography flew me in to Virginia to shoot with her!!! How cool is that? I had such a fun time- she is awesome to shoot with. The bride, Anne was gorgeous- just look at her!



One of the great things about second shooting is that I really have time to spend on the images. Photographers (depending on their style of course...) usually pick 20 or 30 images they love and turn them into pieces of art. Well, second shooters are able to pick the best and forget about the others!!! Which leaves me more time to work on awesome images like this below- a bridesmaid was in the bottom right corner of the frame and the stained glass window was illuminated with much more color than the original. :0)



Another cool thing about second shooting is the way it makes me think about images in a different perspective. Becky totally set up this image and was shooting straight on. I had to come up with a different angle. Now their album will have different views of the same moment!


And this was my first experience with sparklers at a reception! (As Becky can surely attest to... When are we doing the sparklers Becky? What time is it Becky?...) hehe :0)


And I couldn't resist this image of their dog, the cutest ever- Serendipity!

Thanks again Becky- I had so much fun!!!

Lunch with Rachel!

I love meeting up with other photographers! Last week I got to hang out with Rachel Priddy. I love her work and she is so awesome too! We knew each other a bit from a wedding photographers forum we're both on and we keep seeing each other at our photography meetings but I have such a crazy schedule it's taken us nearly two months to finally sit down with each other!!



Now we're going to make it a habit! We had such a great time talking with each other, having a wine flight and cheese fondue (yum!) Kazimierez is such a laid back place- I love it!! Can't wait to hook up again with you Rachel! :0)

Birthday Bash!

But not mine!!! :0)

My best friend Carol just turned a year older than me!! (ok, ok seven months!) Believe it or not I've known her since the first grade!!! She still remembers the elephant shirt I wore the day we met... I do miss that shirt! :0P
The funny thing is that my last post was saying how I needed to check out Trader Vics and that's where she chose to start out!

The bartender was giving me some strange looks when I started photographing the drinks! But yuuummmm... :0)



So we decided to stay around Old Town Scottsdale and walked over-


to the Blue Moose!!


where I ummm... photographed some more drinks!


Then we headed to Patty's for some tunes and pool! When I go out with my friends I never want to bring to much camera stuff, it gets pretty cumbersome. So I'm always experimenting with my equipment. All of these were taken without flash and my 5D did awesome.

I really like this one how Gip is practically faceless in it. It wouldn't be the same if I used flash



Happy Birthday Carol!!! :0)

Michele and Sergio's wedding at the Hotel Valley Ho!

Here I go again posting far too many images!!! Michele & Sergio's wedding was awesome and I'm going to let the images do the talking! (mostly!) :0)

The girls got ready at the Hotel Valley Ho. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out! Stop in for lunch or a drink after work at Trader Vic's- so fun!







Then we hopped on a Scottsdale Trolley for a ride in style to the ceremony at the Desert Botanical Garden.

Here's a quick shot of Michele just before her walk down the isle!


Isn't this flower girl simply adorable!!!


The girl on the end hamming it up is the best man!



I think I'm just beginning to realize it that I'm a sucker for these beautifully personal toasts. I just love the emotion!




And a few of the newlyweds at their reception



Sergio even got up with the band and sung a song he wrote for Michele. It was so cool!


And this image- pure joy!

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Swing your Laura Siivola!

Just a little fun- you have to check out sloganizer.net and see what comes up!

«Swing your Laura Siivola.»
«Laura Siivola - The Revolution.»
«Ooh la la, Laura Siivola.»

ahhhh... good times! :o)

Bye...

My grandmother passed away yesterday morning. What an amazing woman- very strong willed. Even though at 97 years of age it's been expected it is still very hard when it comes down to it. I sat with my grandfather yesterday afternoon who still isn't quite sure what to do with himself yet. About a month ago when I visited them, he said to me "those were the good days, when we ordered Chinese takeout." It makes me remember to always be thankful for the simple pleasures I enjoy with my family.

Here's how I will always remember her; in the garden.

Published!

Hope you don't mind if I blow my own horn, but it's always fun to see your name in print! So lookey here :0)


Last month I took some photos of the band The Breadwinners and here they are in the Arizona Republic's Get Out section. Very cool! Here's a link to the online article if you're so inclined (and the full image which in my opinion is waaayy cooler!)

Rock on!!! Or wait- should I be saying hoe-down on??? Ahhh... nevermind! :0P

Superhero Fun!

I've been working so hard on getting my taxes done and the end is finally in sight, so I thought I'd have a little fun and post this Superhero Quiz! I did it about a year ago and it's interesting because my answers must have changed since then- I used to be Green Lantern but now I'm Robin! I do love quizzes- you should try it!!!


Your results:
You are Robin

Robin 79% Superman 70% The Flash 70% Hulk 65% Spider-Man 60% Green Lantern 60% Supergirl 59% Iron Man 55% Wonder Woman 54% Catwoman 50% Batman 40%

Young and acrobatic. You don't mind stepping aside to give someone else glory.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test



so fun! :0)

Down Time

Summertime and the livin's easy... gotta love that tune. :0)

Well, it's not so easy here in hot Phoenix so we had to get away!!! Andy and I packed up the kids and went camping up on the Mogollon Rim here in Northern Arizona. It was so nice, it even rained a bit on our way up so I had to stop and snap this shot. I really love it here sometimes- that is, when it's not 112 F out!



My brother asked me to take a few pictures of all the kiddos and I wasn't going to post them just because this type of set up shot really isn't what I normally do but I just couldn't resist posting this one!


And here's one of my daughter and our little dog, Paige. I just love this image. Paige is the best dog ever, she loves the kids so much and lets them do just about anything to her. We couldn't have asked for a more gentle pet from this little pound pup!


So that's what I've been up to- summer can be good! :0)