Through My Lens

Photo Contest

2011-03-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

Every year the BYU Bean Museum has a nature photography competition. This year because of renovations Allen's Camera is hosting the contest. So, what I need is for people to pick their favorite 3 photos and let me know, so I won't lose to Nick Torres again like I have every other year.

Babies

2011-02-02T10:30:00.001-08:00

I'm not one of those photographers whose main passion is taking pictures of little kids or babies. Not that I don't like it, I'd just rather shoot other things. However, when presented with super cute babies such as this little one, how could anyone turn it down. So here they are; fun, cute baby pictures.

Utah Lake and Timpanogos

2011-01-10T12:06:00.000-08:00

I like this one

Fall

2010-10-08T10:32:00.001-07:00

Fall is such an amazing time for photography. In literally weeks the entire landscape changes from lush green to dramatic shades of red, orange, and yellow, only to have them fade away right after. It gives photographers a small window to take advantage of the new colors, showing a whole new scene. While I love all the new scenery I would have to say that aspens are by far my favorite. The new yellow leaves present such an amazing contrast to the already beautiful white and black of the tree itself, and when backlit with the sun they light up with such amazing vibrance that it makes one just stop and stare in wonder.

Chloe and Caite

2010-07-21T08:33:00.000-07:00

Here are 2 of the cutest little girls in the world. The plan was to take some newborn pictures of Caite but Chloe decided that my flash was too much fun to resist, so we worked her in as well. Plus, as an added bonus, Chloe no longer thinks I'm the scariest person in the world(which she totally thought prior to this shoot).

Uintas

2010-07-09T08:52:00.000-07:00

Every year my wife's family has a big family reunion in the Uinta Mountains. This year we were up camping for 5 days with them and with all the beautiful scenery how could I not take some photos. I think I got a couple pretty good ones too...

Sydney

2010-06-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

A little while ago we got these really cool backdrops at Allen's Camera where I manage one of their stores. These Drop it Modern backdrops have sweet designs and we decided that we are going to start renting them out. But I needed some pictures to make a page on my website, so my sister let me borrow her baby Sydney for a little photoshoot. She and her brother Cameron have kind of become the poster children for my store since I always get to take their pics. Here they are...

oh, and I snuck one of my dog Gus in there as well.

Snake River Overlook

2010-06-23T09:13:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I got to go up to Jackson with my family. My wonderful wife is in Washington DC for her brother's graduation for a couple of weeks and I was unable to go because my assistant manager at my store just quit and I didn't have anyone to leave in charge. So I decided to take advantage of the time and go up for the weekend.

There were 2 main objectives of this trip: Go kayaking with Devon, and get a good Snake River Overlook shot.

Ansel Adams, when commissioned by the government to get National Parks pictures took perhaps his most famous picture at this location. And lets be honest, tons of my photos are inspired by Ansel. I've shot there numerous times before and I have a couple good ones(this one is an oldie),

however, I don't feel like I've ever gotten a great image. So I got up at 4 every morning and went back in the evenings to hopefully get a good one. Here's what I came up with as well as some others along the way.

2010-05-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to Costa Rica with my family. It was a great vacation with lots of warm weather, great beaches and of course, tons of great photo opportunities. We stayed a few hours away from the capital of San Jose in the Puntarenas area, which was great because it wasn't too crowded and we could have a whole beach to ourselves. So yeah, it was a rad place to go.

Derek and Bre wedding

2010-05-10T14:19:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I got the chance to shoot this wedding for Derek and Bre. It was so much fun! The wedding was so beautiful and they were great to work with. Plus the reception was an all out party! What a great wedding!

Christian

2010-04-28T10:58:00.001-07:00

This last weekend we went to Antelope Island to take Christian's senior pictures. It was an awesome and fun time but there were TONS of bugs. So little hint, if you're going out there take a bath in insect repellant.

Outdoor Photographer's Great Outdoors Photo Contest

2010-04-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

Here’s the deal, Outdoor Photographer, the nation’s premier landscape and nature photography magazine does a couple of contests every year. Not only do they offer great prizes but it is also a fantastic way for photographers to get their name out there. So for this year’s “Great Outdoors Photo Contest” I submitted 5 photos, in total Outdoor Photographer said there were over 12,000 photo submissions. For the contest Outdoor Photographer then narrowed the pool down to 100 finalists, 3 of my 5 photos are in the finals, more than any other photographer in the finals. This is a HUGE deal.

So here’s the part where I need your help. I need you and all your friends to go to vote for my photos. It will only take a few minutes and would be a great help to me. To do this you have to go to http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/ and make an account. Don’t worry, they don’t sell your email or send you tons of junk email, it’s really just to control votes. After you have the account set up click on the following links to get to my photos and rate my photos (preferably with 5 stars) and that’s it.

http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/photo-contests/the-great-outdoors/finalists/114951-shine-through.html

http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/photo-contests/the-great-outdoors/finalists/115061-persistence.html

http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/photo-contests/the-great-outdoors/finalists/121841-libre.html

Also, I will be posting this on Facebook. So leave me a comment on Facebook or my blog and after it is over, in June, I will be choosing at random 25 people to give free 8x10 metallic prints to. So please help me out!

Thanks so much!

Tony Murray

Zion National Park in March

2010-03-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went to Zion National Park with my friend Wray. We went down there Friday night and camped, which was WAY colder than we expected. Even with a 10 degree sleeping bag I was cold, but it was fun. On Saturday we did a couple hikes, searching for slot canyons and things, and then later hiked the Narrows, which were also pretty cold and much deeper than during the Summer months. We got about a half mile up before our feet and legs almost froze off, seriously, it was freezing but a lot of fun and in addition to that we looked really hard core which is always a plus.

On Sunday we planned to hike the Subway, but after hiking the mile down to the start of the actual trail we saw that the river was really high and there was a lot of snow so in an attempt to not die we opted out of the hike. I guess we'll just have to go down again this summer when there is less water and warmer temperatures. So we just hung out the rest of the day in search of a cool shot.

But overall it was a great trip, now I'm wasted.

Lens Comparison

2010-03-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

While traveling in Hawaii we went on a hike in the rain. Apparently hiking in mud can be slippery and as a result I slipped and broke one of my lenses. Luckily, my wife is a saint and let me get the Nikkor 24-70 as a replacement. I love the lens, it is SO crazy sharp, but it is just not at all wide enough for me to get the landscape shots I want. So I'm debating between 2 lenses, the Nikkor 14-24 F/2.8 and the new Nikkor 16-35 F/4. If this was a perfect world I would just get the 14-24, however, it is WAY more expensive and I can only tell a difference when the 16-35 is zoomed all the way out to 16mm, and then it has some serious distortion (however that can easily be corrected in Photoshop). So assuming Jenna wouldn't care which one I got(which she probably does), do I save $800 and get the 16-35 or just splurge and get the 14-24? Please help me decide...

Brea's Bridals

2010-03-20T20:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went up to Salt Aire to take Brea's bridals. It is a really cool place with an old building with a lot of graffiti, an old train car, and great scenery by the lake. Unfortunately for her it was freezing, but she was a great sport. She and her fiance are getting married in just a few weeks and it's going to be a great wedding, I'm stoked.

Chase and Morgan

2010-03-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

Chase and Morgan are great! This week we went up Little Cottonwood Canyon and then later to downtown Salt Lake to take some great pics. They were so much fun to work with and they will make a great married couple. Here are a few of my favorites!

More early mornings

2010-03-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

Timpanogos Sunrise

2010-03-12T11:14:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I went up snowshoeing with my brother Devon and friend Wray. We got up there about an hour before sunrise, hiked up a ways, and set up for some sunrise shots. Here they are, not my best work but it was fun to be up there. We then just spent the rest of the day hanging out and driving around in the West Desert, looking for wild horses, but didn't find them.

Engagements at the sand dunes

2010-02-09T08:20:00.000-08:00

I realize that I am a huge slacker when it comes to updating my blog. I've had lots of shoots since the last post but I just shot these pictures at the Little Sahara sand dunes. Chase and Morgan were great and they even agreed to take a living room set down there to shoot. Here are some of my favorites.

Hawaii

2009-10-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

Jenna and I went to Hawaii with my parents last week. We spent 5 days on Oahu and it was great! Unfortunately my main lens did not survive the trip, but it was great anyways

Cory and Debi

2009-10-10T11:38:00.001-07:00

I grew up in the same small town as Cory so I was stoked when he asked me to shoot his wedding to Debi. It was a great day and the pics turned out great! The coolest part of the wedding was the pinata at the reception, genius.

Jared and Emily

2009-10-10T11:30:00.001-07:00

A couple of months ago Jared and Emily got married at the Draper temple on one of the worst weather days I've ever seen. When they came out it was raining so hard that we could only take pictures for about 20 minutes before it was just too miserable to continue. So we decided to go back on a happier day, here's some of those ones.

Sydney Skye Averett

2009-10-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

The little cutie was born on September 18, and she has the best uncle of all time. She didn't really like getting her picture taken but she'll get used to it. Luckily my parents have this really awesome chair at their house to use for all these cool shots. My favorites are the ones with her and her older brother together...what great kids!

Cameron

2009-10-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

My little brother David is going on a mission to Equador next week so we are in Colorado for the weekend. Since I am the token family photographer I spent the day taking pictures of everyone. My nephew Cameron is the coolest kid, here are some of my faves from our day with him

ok Jess, I get it...I suck at updating my blog

2009-07-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

So it's been a really long time since I've updated my blog. I've been spending all my time with work and Jenna. A few months ago we bought a place in Eagle Mountain, UT. It's really nice, especially because I also started running the Allen's Camera store in American Fork. In addition to that I've been shooting a lot of weddings, which always help with those pesky mortgages. Jenna is done with school for summer term so to help her with the tons of extra time we bought ourselves a new puppy. His name is Gus and he is a Yorkshire Terrier. He's a really great dog and loves to play with us, also, he doesn't pee in the house which is my favorite thing about him. One good thing about weddings and allens is that for the most part I get to set my own schedule so on weeks when I don't have a wedding Jenna and I usually take off to somewhere fun. This summer we've already been to Moab, Jackson, Colorado, Mesa Verde, California, and the Uintas, in addition to all the cool places around here that we like to visit. Life is great and we love it.

JD and Natasha

2009-03-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

Last week I had a great shoot with my cousin JD and his fiance Natasha. It was awesome!!!! We went to the SLC Library and played around all morning. She is a great girl and I couldn't be happier for them. Congrats guys!

Lots of shoots!

2009-03-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

So latley I have TONS of shoots! Way more than average in March. Plus the cool thing is they have all been with awesome people and in cool places. I'm still a slacker and need to put some up from the actual weddings but this is a good start. And yes, that first picture is real, she is standing on a cliff, it was rad...

Mexico and Vegas

2009-03-17T16:42:00.000-07:00

We went to Cancun for our honeymoon about a month ago. It was great! Warm water, great weather and an awesome wife. This last weekend we went to Vegas for a wedding. It was a lot of fun and my first time. Here are some of our favorite pics

Getting Married!

2009-03-04T15:19:00.001-08:00

So I am pretty much a huge slacker! More than a month ago Jenna and I got married. It was amazing, we were married on Jan. 16th in the Bountiful Temple. It was awesome, all our family was there and it was the best thing ever. After we went to The Point Reception Center for the reception. It was awesome and everyone did a great job setting it up. Here are some on my favorite photos from the day

Jenna's Bridals

2008-10-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

So the other day we went to the SLC library to do some bridals for my lovely fiance Jenna. I think they turned out great, a little more edgy than normal, but anything with her would have been amazing. She is so beautiful.

How did I not post this earlier?

2008-09-08T22:01:00.001-07:00

So for those who know me know that I got engaged to the most wonderful girl in the world! Jenna and I are getting married on January 16th 2009 in the Bountiful Utah LDS Temple. We are so excited and being the photographer that I am we went and took some random self engagements, they won't be the real ones but we like them anyways. I love her so much!

Recent Stuff

2008-08-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

Hey, so here are a couple of new shots that I like, they are divided up between some shots in Rocky Mountain National Park, a hike where some guy broke into my car after and stole some stuff, and Little Sahara in central Utah. So some are good, some aren't so good but I don't really care that much cause I just love to shoot!

Cam

2008-07-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend Jenna and I went to Colorado to see my family. While we were there it was raining and Cam loves the rain so he went outside and played in it and here are the pics!

Light

2008-07-07T09:08:00.001-07:00

We're having a light contest, so take a look and let me know which ones you like best. Thanks

Alaska!!!!!

2008-06-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

So the last few weeks I spent in Alaska, it was the prettiest and coolest place in the world. I don't really know what to say so I'll let my pics speak for themselves.

Utah Lake Funnesicity

2008-05-26T13:38:00.001-07:00

So we found a sweet place out by Utah Lake, nothing really new. Going to AK in 3 days!

Salt Flats

2008-04-30T00:14:00.000-07:00

So this week I've had a bunch of shoots, one of my favorites was out at the salt flats. It's a 2 hour drive out there but it works great. I was doing some bridals of Annie, a good friend photographer. Then after Nick, T, and I just hung out and got some more fun pics. Yahoo for a fun filled shooting week! Only one more bridal and 2 more weddings in the next 4 days...

REEDS

2008-04-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

So the other day Nick, Tiera and I decided to go shooting in Saratoga Springs on the other side of Utah Lake. Lighting was good, it was a great day and it was in a wildlife preserve thing. So Nick and T dive right into these 10 ft tall reeds while I'm just hanging out on a hill above looking to see if there was a better shot up there. Defeated I went down into the reeds and I saw a place where they were all lying flat, and thinking I could just walk across them I went for it. About half way in I completely sank up to my chest in the reeds and waist deep in nasty water, it was actually really funny and I had to have Nick come help me out. But a bunch of scratches, a ruined pair of shoes and a little tenacity later I got some ok shots...

Fun time in Seattle with the fam!

2008-04-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

So last week I was able to go to Seattle with the family. It was so much fun! We went to this market place with tons of great photo opportunities and since we were there I decided to break out of my little landscape shell and do some more human interest stuff. I really like what came out of it. We also went to the beach, which wasn't as cool as I thought it would be but then we also went to Mt. Rainier which was totally awesome. This one is my favorite from the trip, old habits are hard to kill. But overall just a pretty awesome time with the fam.

Seattle

2008-04-19T16:17:00.001-07:00

these are my faves

2008-03-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

More Emotions

2008-03-29T19:21:00.001-07:00

Emotions

2008-03-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

Today Jarad and I went to a lighting seminar hosted by Bogen and Allen's Camera. It was a fairly descent seminar, basically go out and everyone can become millionaire photographers because the guy giving it was. But afterwards, feeling mildly inspired we decided to go and try some really dramatic shots. So we went and got a yard of velvet fabric and cut a hole in it to poke our heads through and just went to town on lighting techniques. Acting as our own models, and with the help of Josh Leighton our goal was to show emotions only by using facial expressions and when we weren't laughing too hard the pics really worked. The results are really cool, hope you all enjoy!

Rockin It

2008-03-23T14:10:00.000-07:00

So I don't know if this happens to other people but sometimes things are just freaking awesome, ya know. I started dating an amazing girl a while ago, her name is Jenna and it's great. Plus school is pretty much straight A's with the exception of one 8am class(which is probably why I suck at it, I'm not much of a morning person) so I'm also super stoked about that. Then to top off this greatnesscicity today is Easter and what could help you appreciate life more than the Savior. Today sacrament meeting was amazing, not that it isn't every week but today was more. It was just a bunch of musical numbers and for anyone who knows me really well knows I'm kinda obsessed with piano music and that's what it all was and it was so spiritual. Not bad enough to make me pull a Dad but had it been a bit longer it would have. So yeah, when all things suck just stick it out and God decides to pour on the blessings!(and i mean that in the least blasphemis way ever)

Unsure

2008-03-14T17:26:00.000-07:00

I'm a little unsure how I feel about this pic so give me some feedback

A Weekend With David

2008-03-10T19:35:00.001-07:00

So this past weekend David came out to check out BYU but I mostly think it was just to kick it with me. It was a lot of fun and he's such a pimp kid. Friday we just kinda hung out, went to eat at Tucanos with Emily and then took a nap and went to a hockey game. Then at 2:00 am we started driving down to Moab to chill down there and get some sunrise shots, which ended up sucking anyways. But then we just went all over Arches, Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point parks. It was such a great weekend, even though by the end of the day I was completely wasted. But yeah, he's a great kid and I can't wait for him to come out here.
Here's some pics that I liked from our little journey.

Friends

2008-03-02T22:53:00.000-08:00

Hey, so lately I've been doing a lot of thinking and pondering about life, school, church, photog, and pretty much the whole shibang. It's been a pretty rough little while, just a lot of crap kinda came together that I wasn't really prepared for and it took me offguard, as it always does. And to be honest I don't think I would have been able to get through it if I didn't have great friends to help me. Most of the time they don't even know what's going on but just the fact that they are there and they are patient with me and I can talk to them if I need is probably one of the most comforting things to me. So yeah, here's a big thanks to all you, you know who you are, and I don't want to make a list because then I'm sure I would leave someone out and they would get all offended and then not want to be my friend because I left them off of my little wall post(just kidding, none of my friends are that stupid). But yeah, thanks you guys!

Getting Older...Growing Up

2008-02-26T22:36:00.000-08:00

Lately things around here have just kind of been bland. I've realized that everyone I know is really taking steps to do bigger and better things with their lives while it seems that I have been just kind of stagnant. This last Saturday I took my friend Brett's engagement pics, he's marrying a great girl named Nikki from CO! They seemed so happy, not that Brett isn't just a really happy guy all the time anyway, but I realized that I don't know anymore what makes me happy. I have my photography, but I have been lazy in that lately, I need to get out and shoot something amazing, but even with that I feel that there is something great waiting for me that I need to take advantage of that I'm not. I feel that I need to be doing something more and the sooner I figure it out the better, so anyone reading this if you have any suggestions that don't deal with me getting married(I'm done with that whole thing) that would be awesome.

Here's Brett and Nikki's pic that I like the best!

New Shoots

2008-02-20T19:30:00.001-08:00

So not a whole lot has been happening around here. I have had several new shoots, 2 great weddings of good friends and one of my best friends Nate is getting married in May and I will be doing that but we did his engagements this weekend and they turned out great. I've been so lucky to be able to shoot such chill people, and yes it is snowing in the one with Mike and Sadee, in fact it was a blizzard and she was a champ for even going out in the snow. We had to use one of my studio umbrellas for this shot but I think it turned out great! Here are some of my favorites from the new stuff. Unfortunately not a whole lot of new nature stuff but hopefully I'll stop being lazy and get my bum on out and shoot!

Cousins

2008-02-10T17:40:00.001-08:00

So Spence got mad at me for not having a pic of them on my site, but it's kinda messed up right now so I figured my blog was the next best thing. So you you go cuz

Lots-O-Snow

2008-02-07T10:58:00.000-08:00

So I feel like total failure, this year has been an awesome snow year for Utah, snowing pretty much everyday. Regrettably I have not been skiing out here yet. This upcoming Sat Jess and Andrew will be here so I will be going up with them and Emily and Lauren. It should be a pretty rad day, we are going to the Bird so hopefully I'll be able to huck some cliffs with Andrew. Other than that not a lot has been going on, just working and going to school. I really need to work on getting some more weddings, but I'm not exactly sure what the best approach is. But yeah, things are just going well

Life Goes On

2008-01-28T22:05:00.000-08:00

So a lot of things have happened in the last few weeks. Probably the biggest news is that yesterday President Hinckley passed away. It was really crazy, I got one text and then within a few minutes I got tons more. While I have been alive for several presidents of the Church, he is really the only one I can remember. He was such an amazing man(one would have to be to be a prophet of the Lord) and I'm sure he's having quite the reunion with his wife up top and chillaxing with Heavenly Father and Jesus(in the most reverent way possible of course). I went up to Temple Square that night and saw a bunch of people. It wasn't really a sad event, more of one of those where life goes on.

A few other things have happened that have kind of shaken me a bit. For as long as I can remember things will be really good for a while and then just kind of suck all at once. But it was only until recently that I have realized that these experiences can no longer determine who I am as a person, that I just have to roll with it and things will be better. Like in this case, things aren't exactly how I would like them in a perfect world, but non-the-less, things are good; I've got a great family, amazing friends, a good job and I'm in school-so I can't complain too much. No matter what happens, life goes on.

Sweet Trip to Oregon and Cali.

2008-01-23T17:17:00.000-08:00

So last week I took a trip up to Oregon with Nick to take some pics and just get away for a while. It was so great, Oregon is so beautiful and there were so many opportunities to get great shots. We went around the area of Klamath Falls, to a wildlife refuge, the coast of CA, a redwood forest, and even a plane ride around Crater Lake. It was so much fun to be with Nick and his family, they are all crazy funny. Plus I got to be out shooting which is pretty much my favorite thing in the world. And while it was great to be doing that it was also good to get back and be with the people that I care about back in Provo.

It's so crazy, this was the first trip longer than 3 days that I have taken in about 6 months and it was just a solid reminder that this is what I really do want to do with my life. I know it will be hard being done a lot but it is something that I think is worth it and nothing is better to me than documenting the beauty of this great Earth.

While we were at the coast we had a few hours before the light was good to just hang out, so I went out on some rocks and just sat and meditated for a while. It was a good time to reflect and just be reminded of all the things that I have been blessed with, and while I am constantly screwing up I know that no matter what I have to do to return to my Father in Heaven is worth it. I often find myself looking for the answers and expecting some great miracle to come and rescue me but I am recently finding myself needing to be even more patient. Life is full of mysteries, that's the point(well one of the many), we'll never find the answers if we don't have the patience for them to come. So yeah, it was a good think.

Pics in the Snow

2007-12-10T21:45:00.000-08:00

So yesterday Emily and I went hiking to take pics. It was crazy fun and the snow was so deep. Here's some of my faves, enjoy

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-12-08T15:20:00.001-08:00

So it's snowing like crazy!!!! That means ski season is almost here. It's a little late in the season but no worries. I went to Salt Lake this morning to take some pics of Jarad and Ashley. It was so much fun and tons of coldness. It took me 2 hours to get back to Provo because of the crazy snow. Plus tonight I went to see Mae, Anberlin and Motion City Soundtrack which was totally awesome, probably one of the best nights I've had in a really long time. Then went around attacking snowmen.

Craziness

2007-11-29T22:25:00.000-08:00

So a lot has happened since I've last posted a blog, I'm not sure how this whole thing works yet, how I can see other people's blogs and shiz but whatev. Things have been really crazy, about 2 weeks left in the semester so everything is due. I went to AZ a few weeks ago with Nate and C for Brad's wedding which was a total blast. We went to the Grand Canyon and got searched for drugs on the way back. Liz and I ended things completely, I threw up. I'm sad but I hope I can someday love someone as much as I loved her, you know? Well it's crazy late and I have to work on some pics before tomorrow. Peace

Midterms and Wedding Albums

2007-11-07T22:06:00.000-08:00

So this week has been full of tons of work! Mostly because it is time for all my second midterms and it's pretty much killing me. In addition to that I have like 4 wedding albums that I have to get out and I haven't gone out to take normal pics in forever! I'm planning on going out on Sat to the west desert and take some pics of some wild horses but I have to finish all my work. But yeah, that's what's crackin lately.

My Life

2007-11-03T20:55:00.001-07:00

So I've come to the realization that fall just is a sucky time for me. For the last 4 years something terrible has happened in the months of Sep or Oct. 4 years ago it was the killer Masons on the mission trying to cap me, and for the last 3 years I've broken up with great girls, girls that I probably could have married had I tried harder and been more patient. These experiences have totally shaped who I became that year and how I acted and reacted in certain situations. But you know what, that is a bunch of shiz, I can't let how others treat me effect how and who I am. It's time to start living for me, not for the person that I'm dating at the time. Christian told me last night at the Cary Judd concert(which was awesome by the way!) that before I can be happy with someone else I have to be happy with me. It's totally true, and I am happy with me, and all the crappy drama that happens is totally avoidable and that's what I'm going to do.
I just got a gym membership to 24 hour fitness with Nick and let me tell you it has been the first time in a long time that I've worked out and I am SOOOOOO freaking sore. But yeah, I just want to be happy with me, help make my friends happy, serve the Lord and take awesome pics.

GREAT SABBATH

2007-10-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

So today church was great, everything was awesome. I passed the sacrament for the first time in like a year. I just hung out and did homework after church, good day.

Temples and Saturdays

2007-10-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

So I was able to go the temple this morning to try and figure some things out. Holy crap is the temple busy on a Sat morning, but it was good. I got to wait a long time and think about how I can be happier, not a whole lot came to me. I finally got to go to the session and it was great, I guess they are always great though...
But yeah when I went to the Celestial Room I was praying and I wouldn't say that I got a sure answer about the course that I should take my life but just that I needed to have patience. It's something that I've been hearing a lot about lately. There is a line about it in my patraircle blessing about how when tough times happen I just need to pray and be patient that things will work out and trust in the Lord, but it's kind of hard to be patient when it's killing you not to know what you should do. Well I guess that's life.

I'm not really conseded

2007-10-24T22:35:00.001-07:00

I don't really think I'm all that, I just like these pics and Jarad told me to do it. CRAP!!!!

Me and My Sexy Camera

2007-10-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

So I decided that I really like this blog thing and while having dinner with Jarad today I decided that I am a really, really rediculously good looking guy and that my camera is also really, really rediculously good looking and after the hot waitress said my pic was by far the best one she had ever seen I decided that the world needed to see me and my sexy camera in action, so here it goes.

School Blows

2007-10-24T13:44:00.001-07:00

So I took the last of my firts midterms today and totally bombed it. I think I've gotten 2 F's 2 C's and a B on midterms so far. Yep, I'm awesome.

Antelope Canyon

2007-10-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

So we hit up Antelope Canyon this past weekend. It was probably the coolest place I've ever been. You drive a little outside Page, AZ and there is just this small crack in the ground and you go into it with ladders and this amazing canyon opens up before you. It was so beautiful, and from a quick look on top you would never think that anything so amazing could be found underneath. Through years of water and wind this once barren place has been transformed. It totally made me compare it to the Gospel, on the outside we are nothing, but it is what lays underneath that matters and where the most amazing beauty can be found. For that beauty to be there be must let God transform us, just as the wind and water transformed Antelope Canyon.

Antelope Canyon

2007-10-22T10:06:00.001-07:00

Ghetto Trip

2007-10-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

So Jarad Reddekopp and I came down to Page AZ with the intention of photographing the famous Antelope Canyon tomorrow. We stopped at Bryce Canyon National Park and we both agreed that it was totally overrated so we continued on stopping along the way to photograph what we thought was rad enough for two awesome photographers. When we got to Page we ate and then found a street with seriously like 10 churches right in a row(the LDS church being one of them) and we decided to take pics of them all. We then found out that we didn't bring a camera charger so we looked for one and then wanted to find a hotel so we didn't get a ticket for sleeping in my car. People in Page suck but we finally got a nice lady to let us stay in her ghetto motel, the Page Boy Motel, which I am seriously scared that I might die but whatever. Tomorrow is a new day and we'll get some dope A shots at the canyon!

My Blog

2007-10-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

I hope you're happy Jess!!!!