RACHAEL EARL » PHOTOGRAPHY: Lifestyle Portraiture and Wedding Photography

Just a quick one as I am editing through these photos! Sorry for the lag in blogging, but this will whet your appetite for things to come, I hope!

Why the fair? Because it is FUN, it is COLORFUL, and those two things make for GREAT photos!

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“Mommy, can you put a picture of me and Tay on your computer?” How can I say “no” to this face?

After such a horrific day on 9/11/2001, where did I find myself on 9/12? Contrary to what those who initiated the attacks wanted, I found myself a little prouder of my country, a little more willing to fight for my beliefs, a little stronger, and of course, a little more reflective of the previous day’s events.

I am a proud supporter of the 9/12 Project. Whatever your political views, Republican, Democrat, Independent, for one day, we were united. It didn’t matter what side of the fence you were on. That was the intention of our nation in the first place, from the very day it was created. Stand together, and never forget.

I’ll never forget where I was on 9/11/2001. I woke up to get ready for my classes at ASU. I had a project looming for my Advanced Photography class, and had no idea how to go about it, or what the subject matter would be. While I was in the shower, I heard Dan come in (he left really early that morning to work). I popped my head out to say “hi” to him, and I saw a look on his face that I can’t even describe. Maybe a mix of horror, sadness, and shock…he said, “We were attacked.” He went right in and turned on the TV in our bedroom. I came in and watched in horror at what was on the TV, just in time to see the live footage of the second plane crash into the World Trade Center. I knew we would never be the same.

Back to my project. I don’t know if most people would have grabbed a camera at that moment, but I wanted my project to reflect us right then. To me, it was the most important thing happening at that time. The artwork still hangs above our couch.

Here is a close-up of the artwork:

Sometimes I like moody, cloudy days, but more often than not, I would prefer a bright sun with all of its sun-flarey goodness.

Here is a sneak peek from today, which was a session I rescheduled twice in order to get a non-monsoony day. (for those of you who are from out of town, we get crazy storms that rush in within just a few minutes wreaking havoc on photo sessions-aka: monsoons!)

Soooo…this family is awesome.

Yum yum sun flare-it was a hot one today, but at least it wasn’t raining, right?

The Gilbert silos are one of Gilbert’s wonders. Possibly the only wonder. Well, maybe the water tower could be considered a wonder. Hey-we think they’re cool.

You know what they say about a family that jumps together…yeeaaahhh…I got nothin’.

Oh, and I normally don’t go super vintage, but this image called for it:

Well, the rain foiled me again. If you’ve read my blog, you know that my greatest wish is that I could control the weather! Maybe I could be like Storm from the X-Men…

Jennifer and Ryan originally wanted to go out of town for their engagement session to escape this miserable valley heat (113˚? Uhhh…no thanks!) But courtesy of the hurricane weather in California, the cooler areas of Arizona are getting hammered by rain right now! Bummer!

Being the troopers they are, Jen and Ryan decided to try shooting in the heat (with plenty of water and “blotting” breaks). These guys are two of the kindest people I’ve had the pleasure to work with, and I love the results. I hope braving the heat was worth it, guys!

Here are a few that caught my eye:

I LOVE their eyes in this one!

I also love the stories of how these two met. Gilbert is actually integral in their getting together (since they’re both from here, but met in Utah-coincidence? I think not)

This is their romance novel cover Ryan felt like Fabio, although he would have probably had to unbutton a button or 4 on his shirt.

AND…this is one of my FAVORITES. Totally changing my opinion of cactus (cacti?).

Thank you guys, and I can’t wait for your wedding in October!

I am officially the mother of a 5 year old. Crazy! I can’t believe how beautiful my little girl is growing up to be!!!

Abbie with her presents. The cute sign was made by daddy at like 1:00 am. He wanted to make a special painting for Abbie on her b-day. He also has spelling issues at 1:00 in the morning-LOL!

We got Abbie a 3/4 size acoustic guitar (Hannah Montana, of course) for her birthday-the ONLY thing she really asked for (with the exception of a book for her little sister-so sweet-we obliged on that one and got Brookie a book).

She also asked for Daddy’s delicious pizza for her birthday. (Made totally from scratch with freshly ground wheat-I know, I’m a lucky girl!)

I love Brookie’s face in this one! I ended up ordering this cake, but I plan to make one for her party next week-wish me luck!!!

And for nostalgic purposes, a few oldies but goodies of my sweet little girl who is growing up too quickly!



And perhaps one of my favorite images EVER (with our cat, Shaggy):

Happy birthday my sweet sweet sweet sweet little Abigail!
Oh, and on a side note, today Brookie decided to do some art of her own…on her arms and face. Thank goodness for WASHABLE markers!