My latest work with Whitefish Theatre Company was photographing their production of "Silent Sky" by Laura Gunderson. The play depicts the true story of the women at Harvard's Observatory who quite literally mapped the stars in the early 1900's. It was at times funny, poignant, and infuriating how dismissively women were treated in academia in the last century. "Silent Sky" opens Friday, April 12, 2024.
This has been the winter and spring of engagement portrait sessions for several lucky couples. Or should I say I've been the one lucky to be working with them?
Spence reached out to me weeks ago as he and his now-fiancé Kristen would be in the area and he was planning on proposing. While he wasn't trying to capture the actual proposal itself as part of a portrait session, he wanted to commemorate the occasion with a portrait session the following day.
We spoke on the phone a couple of times, he asked dozens of really great questions, and we settled on a time and place for the session. All we needed was confirmation of Kristen's "Yes!" and we were off and running.
We experienced a perfectly magical evening with clear skies and warm sun in West Glacier and Glacier National Park resulting in some epically beautiful photos.
Joni contacted me all the way from Texas because she, her husband, and their three children would be visiting the Flathead Valley and wanted to have a simple vow renewal somewhere picturesque, ideally with snow and mountains. Thankfully, Mother Nature cooperated, and we coordinated with Jason of Big Day Officiants for the ceremony exchange itself and had the most lovely evening together.
I told Brian—after he'd successfully asked for Melanie's hand in marriage on the shore of Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park—that I think my heart was probably pounding as quickly as his heart was. Surprise proposals are such an honor to be a part of but man can they be stressful. What if I'm in the wrong spot? What if I'm focussing on the wrong couple? What if I have a camera failure at the key moment?
Thankfully, choosing a winter proposal here in Glacier means it won't be super busy, and with the proper preparation—something Brian and I began discussing three months prior—a lot of the risks can be minimized. Photographing a proposal is also an adrenaline rush for me not unlike the start of a race, where I quite literally have one opportunity to get it right, and there are no true do overs.
The latest production I've had the pleasure of photographing for Whitefish Theatre Company is William Goldman's "Misery" based on Stephen King's novel of the same name. It features one of the most elaborate sets I've seen the crew at WTC put together with a super tight cast of three. Get your tickets!
Gabrielle and Christian had two prerequisites for their engagement session. They wanted to include their dogs, and as winter sports enthusiasts they wanted it to be snowy.
Including the dogs was the easy part, but the snow was not so much. This winter has been so strange—and more like spring than winter for most of it if we're being honest—so we kept pushing the session date. Thankfully, Mother Nature finally delivered with almost a week straight of snow, and temperatures low enough to where it stayed pretty and didn't turn to slush. We also lucked out by avoiding the weekend when it was -28 degrees. However, we still dealt with single-digit temps as it was.
I cannot wait for these to get married next fall at Star Meadows Ranch!
The real impetus for the Sarailles family reaching out to me was senior portraits for their son because the due date for the yearbook was coming up. Hey, it happens to the best of us. So that was the main goal, and Mother Nature blessed Whitefish with a fresh layer of fluffy snow the day before so pushing the session to the last minute was ultimately the right call.
After wrapping up those we went ahead and knocked out some quick, updated family photos and called it a day!
It was a pleasure working with one of my favorite young Alpine Theatre Project actors. Tanner has moved on to college studies, but over several years I was able to witness his outstanding comedic acting chops and what I can only describe as 110% effort in all of his performances. Any time he popped up in a cast you could know you were going to be treated to effortless comedic timing and a very physical performance. Can't wait to see what's next for this young man.
All photographers who photograph weddings and family portraits cherish their repeat customers. There is truly no greater compliment than to be invited back into your family to mark a family milestone. And there are few bigger milestones than adding a new family member to the mix!
If you've followed my social media or browsed my blog and website before you've very likely come across the smiling faces of Chris and Paige before. Both for their wedding and an adventure portrait session in Glacier National Park. Needless to say, I was ecstatic to get the call they were expecting a baby this holiday season and would be needing some new portraits. I swore I would do whatever I could to get there as soon as they were ready for said portraits and I'm so thankful we were able to make it happen. The little one arrived a little earlier than originally planned, but we ended up able to do the portraits just one day away from his original due date. I just couldn't be happier for these two.
Each season one of Alpine Theatre Project's mainstay productions is that of "Yuletide Affair." A production I describe as a Christmas/Holiday-themed variety show. Though I suppose it doesn't have a lot of 'skits' and is mainly music performances by insanely talented musicians and Broadway actors. There's lots of humor and pointed references to our local zeitgeist, and it's just a great time I look forward to each holiday season. 2023 marked the 20th such year ATP has put this on, and I hope it continues for another 20 years.
