RACHAEL EARL » PHOTOGRAPHY: Lifestyle Portraiture and Wedding Photography

My favorite holiday is here! I love the idea of pretending to be whatever my heart desires…in this case, a repeat year of Ursula. I usually like to figure out something new for our family each year, but I couldn’t resist the little Sebastian costume I found on sale last year for $5, knowing that we were going to have a new edition to our family for Halloween! Dan=King Triton, Rachael=Ursula, Abbie=Ariel, Brooklyn=Sebastian, Abbie’s Trick-or-Treat bag=Flounder. I’m looking forward to carving pumpkins today and eating lots of candy (although, my dentist probably is not…) HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

This is the last image I shot of Baby Dax last week. He is such a cute little boy, full of personality, and always on the go. I had a ton of favorites, but this might be my top choice! More to come in a later post!

I had such a fun time last night with Amy + Tanner at the Arizona State Fair! They came out from Safford for the shoot, and are engaged to be married in December at the Mesa, Arizona Temple. They were troopers because although fall weather has been tempting us for a couple of weeks, it was INCREDIBLY hot yesterday (and of COURSE we all dressed for fall!).
We <3 Ferris Wheels…except apparently this one rocked quite a bit! They have like a bazillion of them at the fair.

I love all the bright colors at the fair. I won’t even tell you where that awesome green wall was…let’s just say people gave us some weird looks.

Amy rocked at the dart game, winning a…lion…ummm…cat…uhhh…horse? We really couldn’t tell what it was.

My two years of high school German came in handy…”Dankeschöen” means “Thank you very much.” I wasn’t trying to get a butt shot, but I loved how they held hands when they walked. What are the odds that they would find a bumper car with their wedding date on it? Ummm…ask them. These photo booths were so fun!


Thank you guys for the fun! I’m excited for your wedding, and it will definitely be cooler in December (errr…at least I HOPE! We are in Arizona, so I guess anything is possible!)

For those of you who don’t know, I also do some website design! I have been designing like a mad woman for a few companies, including Hansen, Dalton & Associates Insurance Brokers. This also happens to be one of the companies my handsome husband, Dan Earl, works for. They don’t just sell one company’s insurance, they sell from tons of companies, which makes it like a one-stop shop. We cut our insurance in HALF (yeah, SERIOUSLY) by switching from American Family to Allied (which is like the wholesale version of Nationwide), and also have better coverage now. We didn’t even get any special deals…that’s just the normal rate! Check them out if you’re in the market to lower your bills…with this economy, I don’t know who wouldn’t be in that market!

I had the pleasure of spending Saturday at a wedding with Kelvin Leung at the Embassy Suites in Phoenix. We couldn’t have asked for a better day, or a nicer couple! Here are a few from their day, and a few of Kelvin. Thanks for letting me come along!

We started the day at Metro Center Mall with the girls

We then headed to the hotel so the girls could get ready:

Amanda looked stunning!

The bridal party looked pretty good, too!

The ceremony was just after sunset-I love the outpouring of emotion from the bridesmaids.

A few from the first dance. I got to be buddies with the little flower girl-she’s a budding photographer! Check out her shot (she was showing her grandma). Not half bad!!!

And here’s Kelvin-he is so personable and easygoing-I admire that very much!

Thanks again, guys!!!

Today, my wonderful friend Summer had the grand opening of her yoga studio, Lotus Tree! I took my very first yoga class and realized that I truly am not very flexible (something I’ve been in denial about). However, going to yoga with Summer was not intimidating at all-it was relaxing, and I actually feel really sore! (Plus, it was #32 on my list) I think I have the potential to improve, so I’m going to stick it out. Check out her blog for class information and schedules, and I challenge you to try it if you’re on this side of town!

I also put Abbie in her kids’ class-she had SO much fun and Summer did lots of storytelling and singing while they were stretching, which made it entertaining for the kids.

I had the opportunity to photograph little Lilyana the other day, and boy, what a sweetie! I hardly think she stopped smiling the entire time, and with good reason! Little Lily was born on the same day as Bela, who you might remember from a previous post of mine. Both little girls were born with very special hearts, and both have been through several surgeries to try and correct the problems. I can’t imagine the stress and worry that the parents of these babies go through while they are in surgery, and every day for that matter. You can tell from being around this family that they have so much love for their sweet little Lily. She’s a fighter, and I pray for strength for this loving family through the tough times she has to endure ahead. Thank you guys, and thank you, Lucas and Austin for being such good big brothers to your sweet sister!