Jordan & Taylor // Point Defiance Engagements

WSU Cougars. Jordan, the volleyball player. Taylor, the baseball player. Ace and a home run...they're getting married! I have been dreaming of and waiting patiently for January 17th since we shot Jordan and Taylor's engagement photos this summer. When we were planning this engagement shoot, Jordan admitted, "We are tee shirt and converse people." Um, Guess Jeans called, they want their models back! Brace yourselves people. While it's a blast to get buttoned up and dressed to the nines for engagements, there is something so authentic and refreshing about kickin' back in your converse sneaks. I adore this couple and our cozy engagement session. The countdown to the big day is just days away now!

A Beard for all Seasons

Movember & Decembeard have come and gone. We're already half way through MANUARY! I recently published a 2015 calendar called A Beard for all Seasons. Each month is represented by a different holiday in a beard. You can order yours HERE

The idea was a seed planted in my mind as I waited in line at Starbucks in Seattle and glanced over at a guy in front of me with a healthy looking beard. Starbucks and beards. It doesn't get much more stereotypical of Seattle than that. I was probably wearing flannel too. I thought to myself, "Self...It'd be fun to do some kind of photo project for Movember to support men's health." Upon traveling to Utah to shoot a wedding, I put out a casting call on facebook and instagram for bearded men in Utah. Still ironing out what I was going to shoot, I knew I wanted to do something quirky and fun. Flower beards were already trending, so I thought I'd branch out and decorate beards with seasonal themes. It became an exciting personal challenge to come up with creative ideas for the less obvious months. Oh, and what on earth would be small enough to fit in someone's beard?! 

Never having met ANY of the models, when they arrived at the studio it went something like this...."Hey! I'm Stephanie. [small talk] Is it cool if I decorate your beard now?" We got real close, real fast. It was HILARIOUS and a barrel of laughs, as you can imagine. I was shocked by how willing everyone was to support my wild ideas. Although every man with a beard of this caliber is very familiar with food getting stuck in their beard, it's asking A LOT to string TV dinner peas and smudge jello through it! 

A side project of this calendar was The Twelve Beards of Christmas, I created to spread a little hairy, merry Christmas cheer. Christmas decor just hit all the craft stores while I was deciding on how to style Decembeard, so instead of limiting myself to one theme, I picked 12. I was shocked by the media response as it was published on 8 ABC News Stations including NYC, LA, San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, Weather Network in Canada, Komo 4 Seattle and more. It received vast international credits as well, featured in News articles and online magazines in India, Turkey, Greece, Russia, England, Italy, Germany, France, Austria, New Zealand, Japan and others. 

Special thanks to my fearless models who are probably still finding bobby pins and sparkles in their beards: Nathan Sauter (Cover), Michael Pett (January), Jess Anderson (February), Clark Cannon (March), Nic Mahoskey (April, December), Joel Mitchell (May), Stuart Landerman (June) , Christopher Hyde (July), Willy Ludlow (August), Jay Simpson (September), Wesley Ballard (October), Stelios Xanthos (November). Krisitin Gulledge for being my trusty side kick! Emily Sutton for dreaming and scheming with me. Everyone for your bearded referrals!

 

Calendar Cover: Birthday Beard

Calendar Cover: Birthday Beard

MANUARY: New Years Eve Beard

MANUARY: New Years Eve Beard

FEBEARDARY: Valentine's Day Beard

FEBEARDARY: Valentine's Day Beard

MARCH: St. Patrick's Day Beard

MARCH: St. Patrick's Day Beard

APRIL: Easter Bunny Beard

APRIL: Easter Bunny Beard

MAY: April Showers brings May Flowers 

MAY: April Showers brings May Flowers 

JUNE: Gone Fishin' Beard

JUNE: Gone Fishin' Beard

JULY: 'Muuuribeard

JULY: 'Muuuribeard

AUGUST: Beach Party Beard

AUGUST: Beach Party Beard

SEPTEMBEARD: Autumn Beard

SEPTEMBEARD: Autumn Beard

OCTOBEARD: Halloween Beard

OCTOBEARD: Halloween Beard

NOVEMBEARD: Thanksgiving Dinner Beard

NOVEMBEARD: Thanksgiving Dinner Beard

DECEMBEARD: Christmas Beard

DECEMBEARD: Christmas Beard