mandiimae cedar city, utah wedding and portrait photographer

AB & HAM

2011-09-10T17:14:00.000-06:00

What's up? You may remember Abigail and Hannah from our shoot last year around the same time. If not, you can always check it out HERE. :) They're purty rad. We're all seniors now...

Time flies.

JOSIE

2011-07-29T17:53:00.001-06:00

I'm still unsure if little Josie is a baby or a doll. Because she photographed like porcelain perfection. :) After our session, Christina reminded me that the Canyon Park in Cedar City, where I photographed Josie, is also where her and Josh got married. I love to see locations have wrap-around memories like that. :)

FRIENDLY TRAVEL UPDATE

2011-03-17T20:50:00.000-06:00

Hiya! I will be traveling up to Northern Utah over the weekend of March 18-20 without internet access. I will not be responding to emails or comments then so I ask for your patience with inquires and print orders. :)

Happy St. Patty's! :)

JOSH + REBECCA

2011-02-28T06:29:00.001-07:00

My vocabulary feels very limited when I try to adequately describe Josh + Rebecca and their wedding day. I met Becky and the girls, casually getting ready and having mini-dance parties in between make-up applications, at Southland Bible Church after an hour drive to Washington. The first time I met Rebecca was at a summer church camp called Cedar Mountain Retreat in my middle school years. She rocked my world. I have so many memories from camp and am so thankful for that experience. I met Josh on their wedding day but as soon as he smiled I knew working with this couple would be a perfect fit for me. It was said during their ceremony that if they both hadn't accepted Christ as their Savior they would've never met each other, never been married. Oh, but God has His plans. :)

Congrats, you two! :)

Southland Bible Church
Washington, Utah

JOSH + REBECCA

2011-02-21T07:23:00.002-07:00

Rain could never dampen their spirits. :)

Washington, Utah

NATHAN CHARLES

2011-02-11T20:27:00.000-07:00

The coolest computer nerd I know.

BARCELONA, 2009

2011-02-04T17:07:00.001-07:00

What a shame. It's been over a year since I've been in another country and yet I've never shared with you, dear reader, my favorite photographs. I've kept them to myself. I think I posted an album on Facebook. I've haven't made a pretty album like I said I would. I've only made five prints of my favorite photographs. And I tell people how important it is to print/frame/bind photographs? (I'm researching album info. right now...promise! Most likely will make one as soon as I get paid.)

This photograph was taken in 2009, whilst roaming in Barcelona. I was in Park Güell. This is overlooking the city. Though slightly smoggy, quite crowded, and pretty noisy, I actually didn't find the city too...city-like. The big patches of greenery covered sporadic areas of terrain and many buildings were historic and oh-so European. The city people all had places to go but weren't pushy or rude about it. We all just swayed on the Metro with our eyes half shut, having destinations but enjoying exactly where we were...

That's photograph one. Here's to many more.

ON DEDICATION..

2011-01-28T17:17:00.000-07:00

This week I've been thinking about dedication. Ambition. Desire. Perseverance. Why? Several reasons: 1) I've gotten back into a running schedule. After my 5k running high in July, I completely stopped running for the most part. I did aerobics, Tae Bo, or dance-aerobics to this guy. (Boy does he make me laugh. AB WORKOUT BABY.) I've really enjoyed reading about JenLovesKev's weekly marathon training posts. It motivates me, encourages me, and reminds me to continue on...

2) At night they play this show on T.V. my dad + I watch that's basically a recap of the most memorable Olympic moments. The name escapes me. We watch a lot of weird late night T.V. I've noticed: America's Next Top Model, Vampire Diaries, Wrestling TLC (tables, ladders, and chairs, thank you), random Olympic shows, and the Bachelorette. We don't actually follow these shows religiously. Don't ask us why we even watch them in the first place. We just do.

Anyway, it's just got me thinking about dedication and how it's 99% our mind's responsibility to motivate our butts to leap off the couch and prance around on the treadmill. Or maybe it's to motivate us to do our homework, wash the car, or not eat another piece of cake. It's a funny thing, our minds. How do the cross country skiers keep going? How do the speed skaters keep practicing? How do the track and field runners keep racing? It's all up there...in the mind.

Photograph: Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Utah

REBECCA + PHIL: VALLEY BIBLE CHURCH

2011-01-23T09:30:00.002-07:00

I'm so thankful Phil and Becca let me into their lives to photograph them. Their hearts are so full of love and they never stop giving to others. Definitely two of the most benevolent people I know. From the first time I photographed them HERE to their Valley Bible Church reception a few weeks ago, their trust in me was so encouraging. The Lord is going to use them in amazing ways in the future. Becca + Phil got married at Payson Bible Church and their winter-themed, rustic, Valley Bible reception was the next day. I was not able to photograph their wedding but I'm so thankful I could photograph their amazing reception down here in Southern Utah. Becca+Phil made the reception so special by having video of their wedding in the reception. Valley Bible Church was so full of love that night. To complete an amazing night, a light dusting of snow began to fall on us. :) Hope Sedona is awesome you two!

cedar city wedding photography

HOT CHOCOLATE, TEARS, & LANGUAGE.

2011-01-17T10:40:00.001-07:00

we sang the last measures of the song, in remembrance, and the tears wouldn't stop slipping down my cheeks and chin. the words were so powerful, the context chilling, the sound flabbergasting. if we sang from our souls, my soul was ablaze. i didn't know what it was (because i rarely cry) but something powerful set me off and the only way to express it was by leaking fluids from the corners of my eyes. my tears weren't full of salty water. they were full of emotion. a mixture of joy, pain, excitement, yearning, bliss, and longing. according to henry wadsworth longfellow, "music is the universal language of mankind." and we were speaking it.

Drinking hot chocolate late at night, going shopping at the malls, 4+ hour bus rides, meeting new musicians, and being in downtown salt lake city were all fun but my favorite part of the trip was definitely...the singing.

images taken with my point-and-shoot. i didn't bring my dslr. hehehe.

REBECCA+PHIL

2011-01-12T17:50:00.001-07:00

Well hello there, beautiful. Hope you're having a wonderful day. I should probably be packing, like...now. But I wanted to blog first. :) Tomorrow I'm heading up to Salt Lake City, Utah for the UMEA men's and women's honor choir! Ahhhh, I'm beyond excited. SO cannot wait for this party to start. Mmm. I won't be answering emails or blogging during that time so I appreciate your patience! I will get back to working on Tuesday, January 18, 2011.

Been working on this amazing wedding but here's just a preview. Becca + Phil were a dream to work with; you may remember their Historic Downtown Cedar City Engagement HERE. Check back soon for the rest.

BLACK STILETTOS.

2011-01-10T05:58:00.002-07:00

last week i tried on a wedding dress. this week i tried on a gorgeous number that would be perfect for a prom/formal dance. you never know what you're gonna get while thrift shopping. it's something i love doing on a free morning. it's something that's different every time. it's something that is fun to indulge in but not risky in the long run. when i find something whimsical, it feels like i found a secret treasure no one else knows about. actually, it literally felt like that last saturday when i went to a new, extremely unorganized thrift shop i haven't been to in ages. the place was freezing cold but it was stocked full of sweet treasures so we stayed for a while. :)

i have a pair of black heels with dainty little bows on the front but no suede stiletto ones. i saw these and had to try them on. six bucks. their mine. thanks, thrift store.

THANK YOU.

2010-12-31T16:55:00.002-07:00

Ohhhhh this year. So many things have happened this year that have shaped who I am. Who I am as a person, yes, but also as an artist. How I express myself. Through music, dance, photographic imagery, fashion, drawings, writing. If you haven't caught on yet, my work is always autobiographical. If it isn't, I'm not being true to myself. Believing in myself and my work is one of the hardest parts of being an artist. It's so interesting to review my old archives (of old blogs or of photographs) and see the change, the growth. A year ago, 2009, on this exact date I was so different. When I read my old posts it doesn't even sound like me (to me)...It's a strange feeling to know I wrote them but it feels like I'm peeking into someone else's journal. I also love reading my 101 in 1001 list from last year (published on December 31, 2009!). I can't even believe that was one year ago! I feel so accomplished but I'm kind of running out of ideas for more goals. Can you believe it? Maybe you have some good ones.

Here's some things that happened in 2010:
Got a dSLR camera - (technically I bought it in 2009 but it didn't arrive until January 2010)
Ran my first 5k (haha! I just reread that story...I'm glad it didn't rain that day ;)
Got my driver's license
Started praying in the morning
Drove on the freeway for the first time
Got a 50mm f/1.8 II
Received the 35-80mm as a gift
Shot color and b&w film on my film SLR
Photographed my first senior - Emily Robinson!
Second-shot my first wedding
Shot my first engagement session
Shot my first maternity session
Dug into my style, brand, and identity
Learned discovering your style, brand, identity is a life-long process
My Grandpa Harry died
Drove myself to school for the first time
Began taking a hiatus from ballet (...to ensure I can make Madrigal's callbacks)
Began to sponsor my child through Compassion International

Lastly, I want to give a huge thank you to all my clients this year! It's been a good one. I loved meeting every single one of you. Thank you for your trust in letting me capture images of you. I appreciate your support. To my future clients of 2011, I cannot wait to meet and collaborate with you to create visionary imagery of your most honest self. And to my blog readers! I could never forget you! You mean so much to me; you have no idea. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! :) Happy New Year everyone! Here are a few favorites from the year:

SOUP WEATHER & A MERRY CHRISTMASTIDE

2010-12-24T07:50:00.002-07:00

it feels so very freeing to not want loads of stuff for christmas. to enjoy the little things with people we love. to laugh with friends and eat. eat, eat, eat. love that part. ;) which means lots of baking: something i am not very talented at. time to wear ugly sweaters. (the father calls them "stupid sweaters.") i must admit as a young child it was all about the stuff. that want -- nagging desire, desperate need (what i thought was a need) -- was all it was about. it's funny that every year when i got that "thing" the next year i would need something else. that desire was never fulfilled. i still read the nativity story and acted like a good girl at church and made Jesus ornaments but that was all on the outside. and Christ cares more about the inside. by far.

this year i stressed about stuff also. not what i wanted but what i was going to give to the people i love. what do they really want? and how do you get that want off the tip of their tongue? ugh. it's a hard process. gifts just seemed to not express enough love.

so this christmas it's about the inside. the giving of love, the thankfulness, the peace the Holy Spirit brings. it boggles my mind when i read the nativity story in context of biblical prophecy and realize how powerful our God is. it amazes me every time. that He would take the form of a human like us, live among us, and die so that we may live. living for Him makes that nagging desire whole.

& today i live.

MAKING CARDS

2010-12-20T16:20:00.004-07:00

A bitter December storm is brewing outside right now (no snow though!) but I'm cozy inside sipping a hot chocolate with marshmallows from Starbuck's which was actually a Secret Santa gift. I'm getting so pro. at shopping for Secret Santa's this year! I'm participating in...three? Pretty awesome! Today's the first official day of Christmas break. Ooooh. Ahh! Yummm. I'm a happy girl. :) I spent several hours making our Christmas cards for the year in the past weeks and today i finished them! It was so much fun. The watercolor one is for my sponsor child in Thailand and the rest are being sent to our family (shout out to Cali, Texas?, Oregon, and New Hampshire! I think that's it...).

How's your Christmas coming along? I love Christmas, but I'm more of the "simple pleasures Christmas" kinda gal. This was the first year in a long time that my family has gotten a real Christmas tree! I pushed for it hard and it was so fun getting one. His name is Napoleon. (As in, my most favorite name everrr.) He's a noble fir from the Home Depot. Last week was also my high school's combined choir, orchestra, and band concert and then Friday+Saturday was the dance concert. SO completely stressful but worth it in the end. God is good. I also went to the Messiah last week which was incredible. That's always one of my favorite things to do during Christmas. Here are my Christmas cards! Which ones are your favorites?

My top favorite is the two snowmen in love. :) And of course the manger scene one. I gotta go paint my nails or at least take of this horrendous chipping polish! I can't stand it anymore. Ciao!

THANKFUL.

2010-11-27T04:48:00.001-07:00

thanksgiving. such a beautiful time of rest and praise to God. it was also my big fat cat's 10th birthday. tippy got new food dishes my mom made in ceramics and also a thanksgiving feast. :) gotta love tipper girl. i spent most of thanksgiving watching movies, eating duh, playing the piano, and reading. we were snowed in for most of the holiday.

I'M SUCH A GRANDMA

2010-11-11T07:46:00.003-07:00

I threw my most grandma-ish things into the car without even realizing it. We had our directions (thanks to google maps) and made our way to Snow Canyon State Park for my mom's geology assignment. My sweater, book, knitting, and Verona coffee all made me look 70 years older than I really was, a huge contrast to my iPod, cell, and camera nestled in the bottom of my bag. But I do go to bed early. I do knit/crochet. I do enjoy a swarthy cup of coffee. I do eat chocolate covered fruit and die in candy bliss. All I need is a pair of orthopedic shoes and I'm so the female version of Bob Barker.

Oh, but get this: I left my camera bag at home so my shootsac soon because none other than A FANNY PACK. I sooo deserve the senior rate at Denny's.

snow canyon state park

st. george utah

cedar city photographer mandiimae

ZE HABITAT.

2010-10-22T14:06:00.005-06:00

i lurve my photograph rack.

i've basically been pinned down in my golden yellow office chair for the past two days, my blanket fastening me in, only getting up for meals and other pertinent things. you see, i haven't had the time lately to read mockingjay, the third book in the hunger games series because of all the school work i've been tackling. BUT. utah schools have a random school break from october 20-25th. so, yesss i'm taking advantage of this break and reading my eyeballs out. :) and i finished about an hour ago! (AHHHHH!)

for the rest of the break i'll be out of state, quite possibly devouring more books, but also taking a hiatus from ze interwebs. so if you email me or try to make a print order, i will get straight back to you on october 26th, when i'm back! thanks so much for your patience.

JOANIE: CANYON VIEW HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS 2010

2010-10-15T18:35:00.002-06:00

aww, it's finally friday! for some reason whenever i say grace before dinner i've added, "and thank You for the weekend" in there. someone loves their weekends. ;) on wednesday, the stunning joanie + myself took more photographs! :) i love collaborating with seniors like joanie: fun, witty, involved, and drop-dead gorgeous! tennis season is now over for joanie so we wanted some captures of her in her tennis uniform. joining the tennis season in her junior year, joanie picked up tennis fast and now occasionally plays alongside roger federer. say whaaa?! hahaha, okay maybe not, but by what she showed me she's perrrty good! :) enjoy!

canyon view high school
class of 2010-2011

KITCHEN.

2010-09-30T18:21:00.002-06:00

i had a hard week. hard, meaning i had high expectations of how it should go, and when it didn't go my way it was frustrating, disappointing, and devastating. (not to mention all the work i had to get done.) trying to laugh things off or just smile through didn't help. in fact, it probably made it worse. but i'm glad i have friends that slap me into reality and then leave me hunched over...in laughter. i'm also glad i have a car where i can roll down the windows and SING HORRIBLY TO SOME PHEONIX in a screechy, moaning, reminiscent tone. so, thank you pheonix (go listen, go listen now!). i wrote about my week in my journal during creative writing, starting with "i had fun..." but the monologue soon turned into a depressing, bitter rant and ended with "it was stupid, really."

it was stupid. REALLY. it was mostly selfish. and jealous. and bottled up in me. which led me to savoring the simple things. kind of an odd way around things, but God knows how to work on us. so i savored...the ice cream at 8 at night (after art insights), the marshmallow ice cream that made me horribly sick in 4th period, the way the light hit our kitchen at 5:00pm, the cute donut position my kitty curls up in, the tea i drink every morning, the letter i received in the mail from my sponsor child....:)

sigh.

JOANIE JULIE.

2010-09-24T17:01:00.002-06:00

joannie julie. ohhh the name just flows off the tongue. :))) i'm so thankful that i got the opportunity to photograph miss joanie! charming, lovable, & witty. she's so lovely. i adore the way her nose scrunches when she laughs and her perfect dimples. she's a gorgeous little french girl. joanie does drama, tennis, and dance company. we met in dance I when she was a sophomore and now she's going to graduate. crazy!

i thought i took us to the most rural part of town for our session, but there were so many people driving by! one guy even asked us if we needed help. i guess two girls pulled over on the side of the road looks that way. ;) you'll see joanie a few more times on the blog this year as joanie is my senior rep. :) yay! this session we incorporated SUMMER and all its loveliness. :)

cedar city, utah

HANNAH & ABIGAIL

2010-09-17T18:12:00.004-06:00

it was the last period of the day. i had *almost* survived my first high school experience -- first day of freshman year. looking down to see "German I" as my next class, i took the stairs up to the classroom. a foreign new school + a foreign language. i had no idea what to expect. and then all of a sudden i was there. in a classroom with twenty other people (none i knew) and a tall guy rattling off in german (which, to my untrained ear, sounded like he was making up a gibberish language off the top of his head). well that's pleasant.

not eager to make friends, i stayed back. said few german words. let my eyes wander in boredom. it probably wasn't until halfway through first term i had full conversations with another freshman girl, hannah. we talked. talked, as in babbled about anything and everything that would get our minds off of the boredom of german. as we made friends with other people, german started to get tolerable and by the end of the year, while cramming for our final, we had fun. we made a game that's a total hit -- SCHNATZEE! i think i butchered the spelling. sahrrryyyy. ;)

sophomore year i took german II. BEST DECISION. this is where abigail comes into the picture. i knew abby since...psh no idea. we were middle school buds and then didn't reunite till sophomore year:) which is good because without abby my life wouldn't be as marvelous as it is. :) all three of us have so many good memories to take away from german. hahahaha. so, thank you, you two. :)))

P.S. Ich liebe Dich:)
and for hannah -- die brust!
and for my dad -- der ellenbogen. he loves that word.

oh, that's my fat cat, tippy. i found this picture of her on this roll of film and had to include it. AND THAT HORRIBLE SCAN?! not my fault. :) enjoy her anyways.

cedar city, utah
shot on fujifilm superia x-tra iso 400 and ilford professional 100 black&white.

take off.

2010-09-11T16:36:00.000-06:00

we're reading the things they carried in school. after reading the first chapter we were asked what we knew about the vietnam war. we said a few things. others things we kept to ourselves. i thought of my seventh grade teacher whose husband served in vietnam. upon his arrival back in the U.S. he was spit on while in uniform. this was his "welcome back" at the airport. it was there he disposed of his uniform, in the airport bathroom, to never see it again. then the very few of us (as in, two) who'd been to the vietnam memorial were asked what we thought about it (myself being one of them). what we thought about it... okay. let's see. i was in D.C. around memorial day so there were many decorations scattered around the wall. we strolled through and scanned all the names (58,195 to be exact) and left. and that was that. i guess because i was 13 i didn't "get it."

this leads me to today. patriot day. september eleventh. nine eleven. whatever you want to call it. although vietnam wasn't during my generation, september eleventh was and is. it's a lot closer to my heart and it felt that way visitng ground zero. but tim o'brien is really making me feel like i'm living through vietnam.

so today i remember them both.

i've been shot.

2010-08-22T08:05:00.002-06:00

...by my friends, affectionately known as Abs and Hammah.
aaaand THAT would be why my feet are cut off in this photograph. yes. goodbye, dear feet. ;) you'll see abs and ham appear on the blog soon, but alas, i must go find my feet first.

shot on FUJICOLOR SUPERIA X-TRA400

AND SO AUGUST BEGINS...

2010-08-02T09:01:00.002-06:00

yesterday, august 1, began my birthday month. does anyone else believe in birthday months? i love it! haha. although i'm not getting spoiled everyday or (think dudley vernon) recieving 37 presents, i feel like celebrating everyday! :) you see, my family is made of four -- mom, dad, son, daughter. mom+daughter were born in august. father+son born in september. so birthdays come easy to us, right? :)

after church, upon my arrival back to our house, i went straight to my brother's bedroom to his desk. i sat down on his chair and got to business. i love his office chair! i feel so productive for some reason. possibly because my office chair is squishy, part rocking chair, and the kind of chair you just want to snuggle in with a good book, tea, and a blanket. a cat who is obsessed with laying on it is nice too.

i turned on a phil wickham playlist and knew exactly where to go -- compassion.com. browsing through all the children's faces, i couldn't decide on just one. just ONE? BUT moooom (insert your own version of a whiny teenager in here) i want to help them allll! instead of telling my mom about this tiny obstacle, i took a break, to a blog. not any blog (but yes, photography), but the every amazing kristen from washington. there are so many talented people up in the seattle/tacoma area! gahh. her images from when she was in south asia at an orphanage/refuge camp melted me.

after picking myself up from my melt-y, butter-y, heart-in-pieces state, i restarted my searching and refined it to only south asian females. although a month ago, i would've thought i wanted a female around my age, the youngest child's face wouldn't get out of my mind. and so i chose her.

4 years old. female. from Thailand. loves telling stories, art, and playing dolls.

FINDING TREASURES IN BOOKS.

2010-07-08T18:03:00.003-06:00

i think i heard an audible cringe break the silence. we were on our break at school, and my friends and i were talking about how we can't seem to ever pull all-nighters. it's a good thing we all hang out together. and NOT pull all-nighters. the majority of us all agreed 3:00AM was our breaking point. the need-fingers-constantly-keeping-eyelids-open time. and i proceeded to say something about coffee not evening working by that point.

SILENCE.

oh yaaaa. the majority of utahns (mormons) don't drink coffee. or tea. silly me! so here i sit enjoying a nice cup of tea blogging. and it's lovely. :) once finished, i'll probably pick up a good book and snuggle in a fuzzy blanket. i know i've talked about my love of books before (okay, countless times) on my blog, but this summer i've been a readin' machine and i hope i can continue to do so! driver's ed is getting super busy and time-consuming, but i'll try to push through. ;) my latest book finished was northanger abbey by jane austen. oh loveee! i think what made me love it even more was the movie though, which i viewed on da 'tube. you don't hear that everyday do ya? -- liking a book even more after seeing the movie? BUT they did a great version that's current AND amazing. i'm not a huge pride and prejudice fan (a little too mainstream to suite my taste), so i just wanted to see what the rest of austen's work was like and now i want to finish reading her collection of books! very cool.

before that, my last read classic was wuthering heights by emily brontë. i finished it in the best of places, the SUU painting lab. ohhh how i love SUU. the library, the buildings, the campus. meanwhile it was pouring rain outside. the gigantic drops splattered on the huge glass windows looking out to the campus. if you've ever read it before, think heathcliff in his room with the windows open, curtains blowing wildly from the wind, and excessive amounts of rain (THAT part!) pouring into his room. woah. perfect setting i was in, right?

i just love an old book. so classic and enjoyable. :) i love going through my grandparent's old books. i have a few of their 1940's school books. (like the kind with charts to use because they didn't have calculators! tough stuff!) very interesting.

i was stopped in my tracks when i saw this photograph. WOAH. this is my great grandpa's (i have no idea how many "greats" he was) old bible. this print is soooo cool to see in person. it has this interesting metallic print quality to it, but you can't really tell in these images below. the part that stopped me was i have absolutely no idea who these two children are. i don't even know where this is. i think my grandpa grew up in california and always lived there, but i'm not really sure...either way, this print is special to me.

wow, long post with lots of words! you get a gold star and ice cream sundae if you actually read all this! ;) before returning northanger abbey to the library, i wanted to leave a little somethin' inside. :) a blue post-it fell out halfway through this book and i've always wanted to find a book with a note in it! unfortunately, there was nothing on the post-it, but i thought i'd return the book with one. :) enjoy your weekend all!

mandi mae shoots weddings in utah!

RUNNING TOWARDS MY GOALS :)

2010-07-05T18:06:00.002-06:00

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain. Or at least what my brain was telling me was rain. I inwardly thought, "If it downpours maybe I can opt out and I won't have to run this 5k! Then I could grab my t-shirt and number and leaveee!" Haha! I've had allergies recently so I'm a little blocked up and running didn't sound like it would help. I swear my brain has been in a different time zone and it takes forever to realize what's going on. Or what someone says. Or that so-and-so got a haircut. Ya'know. I've been drinking tea like a mad woman lately because of all this. So I can't complain about having to restock my tea supplies. :) Anywho, this morning it wasn't really raining (just sprinklers) and it didn't downpour. And I ran a 5k.

AND I RAN A 5K? Wooh! :) 35:55 baby. My goal was to get under 45:00 (15:00/mi with the last .1mi being a little faster. Alright, alright pro. runners. Cue the scoff. I'm slow & I love it.) and I ran under that time! But I swear the race route wasn't 3.1mi long. That, or my pedometer is messed up. On our treadmill at home, running a mile is about 2,000 steps so I figured 3.1 was a little over 6,000 steps. Um, no. My pedo clocked in 4 thousand-something steps today. Whaaa? And 3.1mi on the treadmill was, in fact, 6,000 steps. Whatev.

That big furry mass of fluff and cellulite is my cat, Tippy. She did not come with the medal and t-shirt. ;)

Hooooly cow. I loved that race though. So fun & I was so PUMPED. :) All those runners together to race for fun and all being active at the same time? Amazing. Amazing, amazing! Makes me want to do more of these thaaangs! I almost always run to music or the radio, but today, spur-of-the-moment, I decided to run to a podcast. Not any podcast, a Judah Smith sermon from the City Church. I read about fellow photographer Jamie Delaine lovin' his podcasts and I can't turn down a good preacher so helloooo, PERFECTION.

After laying down on my living room floor for fifteen minutes to recover (ha ha) I headed out again to go to the parade on main street. I love small towns. Cedar's getting bigger and bigger, but I still see it as the small hometown America it used to be. Nothing beats seeing the veterans float while hearing "And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm freeee!" play and everyone clapping. And even though the rest of the parade feels like advertisements and tons of businesses marching down the road, I'm proud to be an American. Because, truly, I'm free.

cedar city wedding photographer mandi likes running. a lot. believe it. ;)

giving. and giving. oh, and giving.

2010-06-24T15:18:00.002-06:00

i told my mom what i wanted for my birthday.
"ever heard of compassion international?"
"uh-huh..."
"well i want to support a child in a foreign country."
"okay."
...
"how much is this going to cost?"
...
"thirty-eight dollars a month."
...

let's just say my family isn't rich. LIES. BIG. FAT. LIES. at this moment i'm drinking a glass of water. a glass of PURIFIED water. okay, scratch that. i just spilled it everywhere. ughhhh i'm so clumsy! next time i really should watch where i put it! now i'm getting rags to wipe up my floor with. my CARPETED floor in my COOL (thanks to our swamp cooler) house. i have a JOB, even if i'm not bringing in the big bucks; I LOVE IT TO DEATH. i know i want to do it for the rest of my life. i'm also writing this blog post on my LAPTOP. i can READ and WRITE this post too (i swear i read posts at least 33 times before publishing). i'm also listening to coldplay's trouble (acoustic) ONLINE. i am LOVED by an amazing FAMILY and big heap of FRIENDS, and most importantly a Saviour named JESUS. so. who's rich now?

i am SO spoiled with riches. and more riches. and some more. and again, more. everyday i'm not thankful enough for all the amazing things i've been given. i want to give back. so bad. this is going to be an ongoing project. i've been praying about supporting a child and for financial stability to do so. i added it up and supporting a child for one year is $456. although i don't have a large income right now, i'm trying to figure out ways to cut back so i can give back. i came up with two that i think will work: 1) no more take-out on saturday afternoons. my mom and i will pack lunches when we grocery shop. i figure we usually spend an average of $8 on lunch for two. once a week and that's $32 a month. and 2) no more starbucks. yep, i'm taking that away. STARBUCKS. the thing that makes grocery shopping bearable. and worth going. sheesh though, i can stinkin' brew my own coffee at my house if i feel that desperate! i wouldn't doubt that i spend $6 (or more!) on starbucks runs a month. in total that's the $38 i need. i'll definitely keep everyone updated on how this goes though. you guys won't be left out. :)

so my project starts: YOU ARE SINCERELY LOVED.

sincerely, mm
utah fine art photographer, cedar city fine art wedding photographer

KATIE+CHRIS

2010-06-23T07:51:00.027-06:00

remember when you were a kid and thought all the older kids were the most beautiful, cool, funny people you ever met? it may be longer back for some and not long ago for others. i'm trying to remember the first time i met katie and her sister becca (her fun engagement session is HERE). i must have been at least five or six years old. we were new to valley bible church and i went to the AWANA program, but not to church. but i always remember looking up to both of them. in awe. in the i-want-to-be-just-like-them-when-i'm-a-teenager look. katie was also my counselor at my first year of camp at Cedar Mountain Retreat. she stayed with me in the cabin when i was homesick and looked after me like i was her little sister. she answered my questions about salvation and works and God. i'll forever be grateful that she decided to play card games like "war" with me while everyone else played on the volleyball court. :) even if i did make up my own rules.

and then a few summers ago our youth group had a new leader for the summer. his names was chris. he was from north carolina. he was athletic. chris and katie went to college together at Appalachian Bible College. chris was katie's boyfriend. and soon to be fiancé. :) k+c now live in Highland ready to serve the Lord up in Northern Utah! soon they will be a family of three. :)

our first location was this old abandoned house that i'm always eyeing when driving through cedar city. i knew it was perfect for chris and katie because they finally have a place they can call home in Highland. :) i'm so happy for them!

i laughed soooo hard when i was editing through these next two! they are so cute and funny. :) i hope chris doesn't hate me for posting them. hehehe. :)

this photo speaks to me. pregnancy to me is so beautiful. so natural. so human. so powerful. this location was so ethereal. the natural landscape was divine. i drove by it a few hours before and knew we had to shoot there. the next image is one of those you just want to put on a huge canvas and cover your walls completely. a photographer would understand this disorder: wanting to cover your walls completely with photographs. yep, i've been diagnosed.

katie's dress is so cute. especially with her belly bump. ;)

ohhh their smiles are infectious! my cheeks hurt. haha. although that's always a good sign. :)

katie and chris,
thank you so much for your time. i'm so glad we could take these before the little one comes. :) i'm praying for you two and also for little baby Caleb! :) so happy for you two. God bless.

Cedar City, Utah
Enoch, Utah

maternity photography couples photography engagement photography weddings portraits alfalfa fields pink dress

ALY+JONNY: CEDAR CITY, UTAH BACKYARD WEDDING

2010-06-19T08:02:00.001-06:00

The days leading up to Aly+Jonny's wedding were SO windy. That's Southern Utah style. ;) My family quickly learned this when we first moved to Utah. I remember one wind storm where dirt was coming into our house via the gap between our back door and the floor (which was minuscule)! My brother and I were wimps and stayed home from school that day...hehehe. ;) It's wild how our weather here can be wind&60-mile-an-hour gusts and the next day be sunny and high of 75.

And Aly & Jonny's day was just that. Sunshineee! :) SO glorious. After all the wind and storms it was nice to have the clouds back off. BUT silly old me totally didn't wear sunscreen! Haha! First sunburn of the year and I deserved it. ;) A huge thank you to Parker Grimes, who allowed me to assist and second-shoot at this wedding! You can view his post on his blog HERE. Great stuff.

I fell in love with this venue as soon as I saw it. I love the rustic houses in the old parts of Cedar City. I can't wait to "nest" a home when I'm older, and I've always wanted to in this part of Cedar. Jonny's aunt's backyard was incredible.

Everything in bloom! :)

Love the plants growing up her brick house. :) See? Exquisite venue.

Everyone was complimenting Aly on her floral head wreath the whole day. How could you not? Beautiful!

The guys. So chill:

Yes, I was in the line of fire. :) Makes me giggle, but it's totally worth moments like this:

And then the partayyy started! Yeahhhh!

I have to slip in a word about the barbecue dinner from Backyard BBQ based in St. George. SO good. Mmhmm. Great customer service too. Those guys rock.

Toasts are probably my favorite part of receptions. It's great to hear stories from friends and family of the couple. Like a glimpse of the personal relationships the bride and groom have. Ahh, love. :)

:)

Cedar City, Utah

wedding photography utah fine art photography modern weddings, backyard wedding blue

believer's baptism, blessings, & giving back

2010-06-13T16:47:00.002-06:00

God's plans are so perfect. They are so so SO much better than mine. Times that by infinity. I've been thinking about my birthday lately (in August! Hahaha!) and I didn't have any huge plans. Maybe buy a vintage 35mm camera I'd been eyeing at the thrift shop. A trip to New York with my mom and aunt would be pretty amazing (and pretty expensive). Ohhh dear though. I had to stop my day-dreaming. Why? It's totally about ME. MY wants, MY desires, MY selfishness! It's a gift in itself to be celebrating another birthday. A year ago I had a mole on my back that appeared cancerous, and if God wanted to, he could've taken my life. But He didn't and that's truly a gift! I don't appreciate these kinds of things enough.

So I've decided what I want. What I truly, passionately want is to give back. To do something for someone else. Every Monday night in the summer is Ladies' Bible study at my church, Valley Bible. This summer our study is Beth Moore's study in Daniel. Man oh man, last week the Lord was really pounding on my heart that I don't give back enough. I am so absolutely blessed and I do nothing about it.

& then something happened today at church that blew my mind out of the water. I talked with a sweet lady last week about helping her with some photography for a jewelry business she wants to start and we got to talking about cameras, lenses, etc. I told her kind of nonchalantly that I was eyeing a vintage canon 35mm at the thrift shop and I really wanted to explore film. The service started; we parted our ways. Today at church she comes up to be with a green sack and says, "I bought this film camera on craigslist that I thought you'd like!" OH. MY. GOSH. Is that the sweetest thing ever?! The day before, she'd posted on my facebook wall about a film camera on craigslist. By the time I checked it out, it was already unlisted so I politely thanked her for checking it out. I figured another camera would find its way to me. SHE was the one who bought the camera and gave it to me, that's why it was unlisted! My heart melted.

Right after church I went out to our car to fiddle with the camera by myself. I opened the green bag up to find a roll of B&W film and the manual! Gaaaaah, my soul was exploding. I got to my house and got my 10d dSLR to find that the lens on the film camera also fits my 10d (and vice-versa with my 50mm)! I can't wait to start some personal projects with this new camera. Ohhh, God's blessings. :) I can't believe it.

On another note with the giving, I want to give back with my projects in photography also, and the following photos were taken purely to give. Four kids at our church got baptized in May. It was so beautiful. I love how all the kid's parents could be right there helping their child out of the water. Proud parents. :)

A quick note: this is Sarah and on the left is her little brother David. (cuuuuute!) Their parents are Chinese and were baptized in bathtubs when they lived in China. Their stories are SO amazing! It was beautiful to see their daughter get baptized in a country that allows freedom of religion.

Valley Bible Church
Enoch, Utah

to conquer.

2010-06-06T18:40:00.001-06:00

that last post wasn't really like my normal style of blogging. just a quote and a poem. nothing else. i usually write a lot when i blog. i think words have an important place in my heart. i love a book that can pull at your heartstrings because of the talent in the way the author constructs exactly what he/she puts in a sentence. i was going to write a post, with lots of words no doubt, about how much i love the beach. why i love the beach. but it's quite simple: i love the beach because it brings people together. i wrote like four paragraphs about something that simple. pshhh. lame, lame, lame. so i kept it simple. (though i promise i won't stop writing long posts that come from my heart.)

i'm going to keep this post simple too (even though i've already written a paragraph hahahah!): i'm going to run a 5k. no, me AND my mom (in her 40's) are going to run a 5k. that's 3.1 miles. we're going to conquer 3.1 miles on July 5, 2010 and i'm sticking to it! running used to be horribly painful to me. in elementary school i remember hearing the word "running" and "mile" and feeling a little queasy. it could be because it always seemed to be the windiest day of the year every time we ran the mile in physical ed., but nevertheless, i loathed that day. yeah, all you pro. runners can chuckle at me thinking a 5k is something to conquer, but for me that's big. and i'm excited. i love goal setting. reaching goals. empowering others to reach goals. i'd love to hear some of your goals in the comments if you'd be willing to share. :)

this picture is quite dear to my heart. i love it. i think these cute munch-kins were on a field trip. it was taken in barcelona, spain at Parc Güell (or Parque Güell if you will...spanish). another one of my summer goals is to complete a spain album. an album just for me. i'm excited for that too! but that's for another post....;)

thanks for listening. xoxo, m.

fine art photographer

carlsbad, california: FILM

2010-05-31T08:30:00.003-06:00

"At the beach, life is different. Time doesn't move hour to hour but mood to moment. We live by the currents, plan by the tides and follow the sun."

- Unknown

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone

for whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea

- e.e. cummings

frames taken in carlsbad, oceanside, and vista california. last two taken in enoch, utah.

cedar city film photographer

what a mornin'

2010-05-29T10:31:00.000-06:00

I wish I could sing "Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful dayyyy!" loud and clear for all to hear (like the rhyme?) but that wouldn't be the truth. I woke up pumped to run in the fresh morning air. Really love quiet mornings like that, so why not. I did a quick journal/Bible/prayer time before heading out with my new iPod.

Quick story about my iPod: yesterday was techniqually the last day of school, but I didn't go. I stayed home and got to sleep in. ;) Love my parents. It was almost nine o'clock (beautiful) and my dad comes in saying, "There's something shiny for you on the counter so wake uuup!" My first thought was Oh, it must be an iPod, only because a few weeks back my dad was scanning deals online and nonchalantly asked, "IF you got one of these (referring to the iPod on the screen) which color would you want?" Haaa! He's so sneaky. Before I actually hopped out of bed, I talked myself out of the iPod theory, just in case it wasn't an iPod and it was a new pair of scissors or something. That's just how my brain works. Less disappointment that way.

So that's where the new iPod came from. I don't know what I'll do with my old one...any takers? ;) There's some cool features in my upgraded one that my old iPod didn't have: video camera, radio, pedometer, larger screen, & more. So I guess that's cool.

Trying out the pedometer this morning, I took my silly dog Snoopy out for a run. NOT A GOOD PLAN. It appears my crazy beagle has forgotten what the word "heel" means. She peed twice, pooped once (on someone's lawn no doubt! it was interesting to try to drag her off...), and made me unbelievably frustrated. Wow. Okay, now I'm laughing at all this, but 3,357 steps ago? Oh nooooo.

I'm heading out the door soon to hit up a thrift store because it's fifty cent weekend for clothes! Eeek! Then I'll be second-shooting a wedding with Parker Grimes in the afternoon. I assisted him at an e-sesh this past Thursday. Here's a shot of Parker in action:

Here's another stealthy shot of him doing his job & workin' the resources: in this case, a trash can. ;) It was fun to see him in his area. I think we have differing styles of photography, but it was a good experience to play with his reflectors and watch him get creative with flash. Thanks again, Parker!

Have a good weekend, ya'll! :)

cedar city wedding photography photographer

REBECCA+PHIL: HISTORIC DOWNTOWN CEDAR CITY ENGAGEMENT

2010-05-26T17:02:00.006-06:00

They first caught eyes at a Friday night party. Not the kind of college party with blaring music and spin the bottle, imagine in your mind a party in the little, diminutive town of Bradley, West Virginia at the beautiful Appalachian Bible College campus. Becca described her outfit to me as "grungy" -- baggy sweats, hair up, and no makeup (all ladies can attest to this look! ;) -- but Phil still wanted to know this lovely lady's name. So when Becca came around with a cup of water for him, Phil asked. As they were recounting their first meeting to me, Phil chimed in that when Becca said, "Rebecca" he thought of the symbolism of Rebekah giving David water at the well just as she handed him his water.

Thank you so much, you two, for allowing me to capture your fun personalities! I'm glad the four of us could meet up before you guys took off. My cheeks really got a workout from smiling pretty much the whole entire time. ;) I cannot wait for your January 2011 wedding; you two make an adorable couple. I'm so very happy for you both. :) Onto the photos! Enjoy:

Becca and I originally planned to meet at a local coffee shop right on main street called the Grind at 6:00pm. My brother and I (shout out to Nathan Charles, my awesome assistant! Thanks again man!) walked up to the door right as the lady locked it at 5:50-ish! Then we looked at their hours open on the door feeling like idiots. They close at 6pm on weekdays. Haaa! We thought it was ironic that we planned to meet at the coffeeshop at exactly 6:00pm. So we shifted locations and went down the street to Bulloch Drug.

COMPLETELY adorable! Bulloch Drug has awesome 50's decor and even an old-fashioned soda fountain. Loved the jukebox! :)

We thought this tile would look awesome as a kitchen floor, but then again it could be quite headache inducing. ;) And Becca's shoes? Love 'em.

Phil can make Becca laugh so easily. :) Any Cedar City-ites recognize the Old Rock Church in the window's reflection?

I adore their cute outfit choice! Perfect. :)

How cool is that barber shop red, white, and blue wall?

After an outfit change, we made our way to the library in the park where we had some fun. Phil's reading Apocalypse Explained while Becca's musing in Marital Love. Phil's expression in this next frame is priceless! Haha! At one point Becca told him, "Phil you don't actually have to read the book!"

This next location was "so Phil" according to Becca. :)

This moment? Love it. A little overexposed, but put in B&W and walla! ;)

Don't ya just love Becca's necklaces? We both share a love for thrifting. I think it's a very lovely ensemble.

As I was editing these, I flipped through this series of them walking to me at the main street park, and this one stuck out. Sun flair+adorable couple+adorable couple's shadow+a hint of summer warmth = SCORE!

Spontaneous, I tell ya! ;)

Historic Downtown Cedar City, Utah
cedar city wedding photography utah engagement photographer mandii southern utah

THE FINISH LINE.

2010-05-24T16:12:00.003-06:00

Guess what?! I'm still alive! All my finals didn't kill me! You might've seen on my twitter the other day that I tweeted, "1 dance concert down, 1 more to go. & then a german final, chemistry final, english final, precalculus final, & child development final:)" Seriously. It's funny how every year in high school, teachers decide that finals would be fun to cram on us. All. At. The. Same. Time. I wouldn't be surprised if all the teachers in my school had frequent meetings where they ban together and plan all tests to be in the same week. Luckily though, I'm still passing and I've only got one final left to take. :)

Beyond all these finals I'm so very excited for the start of summer and all the sessions I get to photograph! This week I've got four sessions in between all these tests: an e-sesh today, a teen session pending (still deciding on the date hehe!), assisting Parker at another e-session on Thursday, and on Saturday also assisting Parker at a wedding. Wooh! (AND a huge extra "wooh!" because school will be out after this week! Hallelujah, praise the Lauuuuud!)

In other news, here in Cedar it snowed. SNOW. May 24, 2010 and it decides to snow. I got this shot before the snow murdered all the plants in my backyard. ;)

The sun will come out tomorrow, right? :)

wedding photography in cedar city, utah

reflection

2010-05-19T17:31:00.000-06:00

i just poured out my heart on paper & i haven't done that for a while. it felt so good. after escalatelive, i just sat in my office. just sat. i haven't done that for so long. k, that sounds crazy so i'll 'splain. (as ricky ricardo says.)

so many thoughts were rushing through my head during and especially after the ever amazing jeremy cowart platform talk at the escalatelive conference for photographers. his talk was the longest. if you weren't watching, he was almost up on time when dane sanders told him to take his own pace (THANK YOU DANE!). i could've heard Jeremy talk for another week. assuming there were bathroom breaks and a little time for sleep. he was amazing! ohmygosh. my heart was on fire! ON FIRE. (for all you visual learners, please don't take that seriously. bad mental image.) i had to write. i filled up many pages in my notebook of e x a c t l y what my heart felt. i played music and scribbled (yeah, my writing was not good at all!) in my notebook i'd been taking notes in but i loved that i could totally write everything that my mind had going on that instant. i wanted to freeze this strange moment in time. this moment of excitement, passion, inspiration. i've never been this on-fire for art in my whole life. honestly.

this post is coming directly from there too -- directly from my heart. i love the people in this industry. i love the people i get to have the chance to interact with daily, monthly, yearly doing what i do. whether that be in work, school, the supermarket, and every place i go to in my life. i can't get over the willingness to share: share life, love, inspiration, daily tidbits of knowledge. the power of one person that can change everyone else in the world. one person.

i just felt like writing all that. what did you think of escalatelive? if you didn't have the chance to see it LIVE or in person, you can still buy it! (purchase it, purchase it now! ;)

ESCALATE LIVE 2010

2010-05-18T09:05:00.002-06:00

OhmygoshI'msoexcited! Today and Monday I've stayed home from school watching Escalate LIVE. If you've never heard of Escalate before, it's a photography conference in California with presentations from photographers including Dane Sanders, Chris Becker, Jasmine Star, Julieanne Kost. This morning the speakers lined up are Jerry Ghionis, Jessica Claire, David Jay, and Jeremy Cowart. Talk about a ton of information packed into two days! I took so many notes. I can't wait to utilize everything I'm soaking up.

The openness in this industry is amazing. I adore the community of photographers that meet-up in events like EscalateLIVE, or The Joy of Marketing; forums like OpenSourcePhoto -- the abundance of knowledge on there is so superb! There's so much to learn, and there's so many people who are willing to share it. As photographers, we're connected through social networking, and I've "met" a lot of great photographers who are passionate about similar things I'm on fire about. They're willing to talk and share their stories. But what's even more amazing is the opportunities we have to connect with other photographers through face-to-face interaction: meeting up at a coffee shop, chatting over lunch, helping someone out, and so much more.

I've been so inspired through the many notes I've been taking while watching all these platform talks LIVE via Ustream. I love these kinds of seminars because they get me so on fire for my form of work. Sole-proprietor small business owners are amazing heroes because they run a business by themselves. One man. (or woman!) Lately God has been teaching me so much; sometimes my mind has 300+ things going at once. Gahh! He's definitely teaching me that you can't do it all by yourself. Even if you're a sole-proprietor, you cannot survive on your own. Dane Sanders really hit that nail on the head. He's such a great speaker; I really can't wait to purchase his book, Fast Track Photographer. I also LOVED what Becker said about branding. His topic was the ABC's: attitude, branding, & connecting, all very important. And the very famous Jasmine*? NOTHING short of amazing. I was getting a little misty eyed when JD, her husband, got up on stage. Julieanne Kost was hilarious too! I felt like such a nerd laughing by myself in my office. ;)

If you missed Escalate while it was live, you can still purchase it HERE on the Escalate website. It is well worth your money; the speakers were nothing short of amazing! (psst...I know this blog post doesn't have a photo...*cough* BORING! *cough* ;) maybe next time!)

NATHAN CHARLES: ENOCH, UTAH PORTRAITS

2010-05-14T19:29:00.001-06:00

this is Nathan Charles. He's a nerd, cutie, computer geek, and he's also my brother. Almost a month ago, the sun was setting all pretty, like it does in Southern Utah, and I told him ...you, plaid shirt, scarf, outside. now. Since we're related, I can boss him around a bit, right? ;) Being younger than him, I don't really get a lot of chances to be the boss.

What a goof! I love him.

What's been going on with me? This past week I had two finals, a choir concert, and two more finals to prepare for that are due next week. Ohhh boy. Time to tackle some more assignments! It was incredibly nice to go down to Southern California over the weekend though. It was such a blessing to have the opportunity to see my family & specifically my grandma and grandpa. He is definitely doing better but is still really weak.

Here's a little sneak peek of my images from California which will be blogged soon. This is my aunt's dog. I love her puppy eyes! GORG:

Photo captions:
1) happy toes after the beach
2) sand on my skin (pasty WHITE skin! ;)
3) sea weeeeed with some lovely sand
4) moooore sea weeeed. love the little bokeh my macro lens gives. ;)
5) lovely rock + sand
6) sandy toes! mmm, love it. :)

oceanside, california carlsbad, california enoch, southern utah photography blog

LITTLE OLD LADIES.

2010-05-03T19:38:00.003-06:00

ijumped out of bed this morning thinking, ouch! A hang-nail! My first few thoughts when I wake up are usually the craziest things. ;) Like, for instance, hangnails. & how annoying they are. In fact, they are so annoying I think they reduce my productivity. Yep. Right now I'm trying to type with this unbelievable band-aid on my hangnail-imprisoned thumb, which causes me to make tons of typing errors. The other day (morning?) I woke up and thought, my index finger? My index finger?! I'll explain:

Walking down main street in Disneyland, I was really happy. Gotta love dreams like that. But (dun, dun, dunnnn!) this wasn't Disneyland like the one in Anaheim, this was like never-ending-dirt-road-going-toward-nowhere-that-everyone-is-walking-on-including-me.

Then right next to me, a sweet old lady appears. Shorter than me, she has weathered hands and is sweeter (and plumper!) than a strawberry. ;) So she decides to hold my hand. But not really my hand, just my pointer finger.

She lets go and walks off, and another old lady appears. I think to myself, gosh these old ladies are the cutest darn things! She does the same thing the previous woman did -- grab my forefinger for a short time and then walks off (apparently in my dreams I think it's adorable to hold my pointer finger).

The last old lady startlingly reminds me so much of my grandmother that I start crying. No, I start bawling like a baby. So she takes my index finger and leans her head on my shoulder.

You might've seen on my twitter the other day that my grandpa was having heart failure. I was already totally stressed out about a school dance concert, finals, responding to inquiries, etc. and this really got me. I guess I've never really thought of losing any of my grandparents; they are both such amazing Christians and I love them oh-so-much, but I know I'll see them again when the time comes for them to pass away.

Still wondering what the forefinger thing is? Me too.

***Psssst...I'll be in California visiting my family {yay!} from Friday May 7 - Monday May 10 so I'm not sure if I'll be updating at all or if I'll be able to respond to emails. Just so you know why I'll be out of the office. ;)

Tootles!

cedar city, southern utah portrait photographer wedding photojournalist photography

MY LOVE FOR GRAY+WHITE

2010-04-16T18:53:00.003-06:00

ilike my things in order. My binder, folders, room...all clutter-free. Maybe my mom would beg to differ about my room, buuuut when you have an insane week with region choir & papers due (Honors English, German II, Health, and Child Development, anyone?), it's quite difficult to keep a room clean when you don't even go in until 10:30PM for bed. Other than that, life is good. ;)

I'm lovin' this time of year though. The summer sun is starting to set later; did I mention that lovely glow it's making? Golden light heaven. Creamy as butter. Mmm, I need a spoon! All the new growth in nature (boy, the weeds are ah-growing here in Utah!) is inspiring me to renew everything about what I do. It's a great time to reevaluate every little thing in my business plans.

Yesterday I went to art insights with my mom at Southern Utah University where Carol Panaro-Smith & James Hajicek, photogenic artists from Pheonix, were speaking. Even though most of the speakers aren't photographers, I absolutely love hearing other artists talk about art & their medium of specialty.

Thursday was the first day I actually heard about photogenic drawing, invented by William Henry Fox Talbot in 1834. My favorite thing about photogenic drawing is probably that it really is a fine art form. It is SO beautiful; you've got to check out some of Carol Panaro-Smith & James Hajicek's work. It's raw, organic, and real beauty portraying nature. It doesn't try to show nature as glamous and fake, but as exactly how it is.

And this brings me back to these photos I took. Just gray & white. A brick wall with cement. Some harsh light making a shadow from the fence sheeting. Throw in some weeds too.

Last year at this time, I was immersing myself in photography books galore from our public library. There weren't many, but I devoured them all. I took pictures of every little thing. I was reading everything I could about composition, exposure, graphic design...and when I look back at just one year ago I feel like I've come so far. And yet I'm still doing exactly what I was doing one year ago: reading books galore, soaking up information like a sponge, shooting everyday, learning more & more about light, making old things look new.

And that's what got me into photography -- making old things look new. Now the architecture I used to pass everyday looked like a potential shooting location. I began to see the artistic beauty in simple things that people see everyday but don't notice.

And I never want to lose that quality of looking at life -- remembering the little things.

Happy weekend! :)

mandiimae mandii mae cedar city utah portrait photographer photography southern utah senior photography

WHERE'S WALDO?

2010-04-08T15:23:00.003-06:00

let's play where's waldo:

Here kitty, kitty:)

True purpose of this post? This little kitty decided to freak my dog out and flirt around in our backyard. No joke, my dog, Snoopy was yelping like none other. Heartbroken, I tell ya. ;)

{EDITED} to add a crazy picture of my dog! The poor girl has really weepy eyes; I think she might suffer from allergies, like me. This image just sums up her personality:

mandiimae mandi mae mandii mae cedar city utah portrait photographer photography

HELLO YELLOW.

2010-03-29T18:39:00.001-06:00

it all started today when my mom decided to sing, "They call me mellow yellowww!" Ugh. Stop right there mom; don't go on. That's been stuck in my head for two hours straight. On repeat. Two. Hours.

It's been a pretty yellow day. Like the first letter in this post. Pretty yellow like that. I've noticed most of my posts begin with an "i." Way self centered of me, huh? ;) Just to change it up, today it starts with "it..." rather than "i..." :]

Days like this make me happy: hanging out at SUU for the German Fair, eating free apple pie, taking fun pictures with Abby & Hannah, singing the Austrian national anthem, winning gold in our division for choir, watching German skits, studying in my mom's college painting class, & now watching The Office {the one where Jim proposes to Pam! Love.}.

Tomorrow will hopefully be another easy day as far as school goes and then...SPRING BREAK. :] I'm thrilled. Lots more yellow in there.

These are my yellow Easter shoes I recently got. Spring things; yay! I think I need to repaint my toes before I wear them on Easter so I don't scare any small children at church. Because really, toes are ugly.

Charlotte Russe shoes - thrifted ($3-$4?)

What's your favorite spring thing? Tell me below. :]

mandiimae portrait photographer cedar city mandii loves shoes!!!!!!

PRETTY, PRETTY: INSPIRATION

2010-03-18T17:16:00.009-06:00

woah. Seriously, the last time I blogged was February 24, 2010? Not. Right. Not right at all.

Well today I'm changing that. :) God has definitely been pushing what I'm going to accomplish this Spring/Summer2010 season into my heart and mind. In my life, blogging, school, business, everything. I'm such a dreamer. I want to push marketing, increase outreach, and better define who I am. I'm so excited to launch new things and dream bigger than ever before. I'm glad I have a God big enough to help me through everything.

Sometimes it's good to just slow down. Do nothing. Relax. Read a good book. Drink a really good machiato, americano, or green tea. You bet. Slow down & enjoy things. It's not necessarily being lazy, it's just having down time. Here's some things I've been enjoying lately:

P.S.

I've kind of been in love with Paris lately. I miss Europe. And when I saw this save the date from Green Wedding Shoes I almost died. I want these umbrellas to fly me to Paris. ASAP.

images from weheartit. happy weekend!

mandiimae is a portrait photographer in cedar city, utah photography

IT SNOWED & I LOVED IT.

2010-02-24T18:57:00.005-07:00

in second period today, outside of our classroom, snow began drifting down. My immediate though was Ugh. More snow? I want flip flops and sun dresses and vacations and a place where there's NO SNOW {aka california, my home} and warm sun-shiney days. My thoughts obviously don't include commas. ;)

But on the way home my mindset changed. The snow began drifting slowly...I was warm. Wait, I was warm, but it was snowing? Oh yeah...I was in a car. I was listening to Regina Spektor and everything looked pretty. It was almost like God decided Cedar City, Utah would look extra yummy with some powdered sugar on top.

Now I'm warm again...inside...

so sprinkle away, God.

MEET HERBERT.

2010-02-07T13:11:00.005-07:00

this is Herbert:

I love being totally spontaneous & this was one of those times! My mom & I were in Wal-mart grocery shopping on Saturday and we went into the gardening center just meandering. Then I saw him.

I try to like every season. I love all different kinds of weather, but right now I'm really craving some sunshine! I want to go to Cali sooo bad you don't even know. I'm sure I'm annoying my mom outta her mind saying, "I want to go on a roadtrip to California! I want to go to the beach, see Grandma, and see the rest of our fam!" over & over & over. Lather, rinse, repeat!

Once I named him, we were sure we couldn't put him back. Herb now resides in my bedroom. Trying to remind me that summer will come...when the snow melts.

mandiimae is a photographer in cedar city, utah specializing in portraits.

INSPIRATION BOARD

2010-02-01T18:43:00.003-07:00

iwish I had something amazing to blog today. Like the amazing wedding photographers who travel to different countries & have amazing images to share on their blog. But I don't.

On a Monday like today here's some things I love to relish my creative mind in:

mm
:)

mandiimae is a photographer in southern utah.

MONDAY THOUGHTS.

2010-01-25T20:33:00.003-07:00

well, if today was a Tuesday or even a Thursday I could be little miss alliteration today. BUT today is Monday, entailing Monday's thoughts: random thoughts in my itty bitty head. :) I like Mondays. Yup -- I said it! The freshness & start of a new week gets me motivated. But not motivated enough to do my Pre-Calc homework...ha ha.

I'm chicken. Yep, I said it.

Seriously, there are some amazing photographers out there! And I'm nothing close to that. I've got tons of work to do & leaps and bounds to get over. It's probably going to take a while. Okay, muuuuuch longer than a while.

Sometimes in school I just start daydreaming. And dreaming, and dreaming, and dreaming. I start thinking all businessy or all artsy & I just want to scream out, "I've got a great idea!" when really I start be thinking f(x)=blah blah blah or 1 mole is 6.02 times ten to the twenty-third.

I love all aspects of business. Last Thursday night, after having a fun sesh with Michelle, I went to my mom's art insights class at the university. The guest speaker was David Noot, from Noot Group in Boise, Idaho. At the very beginning of his lecture he asked how many students, out of 100+, are marketing majors/minors. Thinking about going into marketing? Marketers in any way. Going once, going twice -- oh! One! :) Well, in a room full of art majors it's hard to find. ;)

Buuuuuut. Maybe it's in my future? We'll see. Anyway. I loooooved what he talked about! It was all about BRANDING. I was thinking right then, LORD I'M SO GLAD YOU BROUGHT ME HERE TONIGHT! ONLY YOU! :) At one point I totally thought David Noot turned into David Jay & I was at a ShowIt seminar. No joke. Even though he wasn't necessarily talking about photography businesses, I ate up every word he said like they were krispy creme donuts. It was just like that, only without all the guilty calories. ;)

At the beginning of this blog there's an image where I'm at a red light. Sometimes I feel like this in my life. God tells me to stop & let others go when really I just want to go, go, go! To infinity and beyond.

And then there's the green light above. God is going to tell me to GO full. speed. ahead. I've got a lot to learn before that though.

But this time of learning is going to teach me so much. God is going to work in my life. This month I've been enjoying Launching a Leadership Revolution by Chris Brady & Orrin Woodward. It's teaching me a lot and I'm starting to fall in love with reading all over again.

In elementary school I was "the bookworm," but from middle school until now I really only read books when I had to. When I'm forced to. When it's for a grade. I recently read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins & it made me remember how much I used to read and how much I love it. How you need to do it. How you can't expect to grow in your knowledge without it.

"Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers."

-- Harry Truman

101 in 1001

2009-12-31T09:48:00.015-07:00

last day of 2009 hmm? Let's get motivated!
I've been setting my life & business goals for 2010 in the past week & sometimes "one year resolutions" feel restricting. So I found something even better -- 101 in 1001. Simply put, complete 101 goals in 1001 days time!
Start date: December 31, 2009
End date: End of 2012 {eek! I'll be graduated by then!}
Italics: working on.
Bold: completed.

Buy a dSLR {Bought Dec.2009} - Make an album just for me
Get my driver's license
Get my business license
Run a 5k {July 5, 2010} - create a fine art site
Read one business book/month
Read entire Bible
Second Shoot a wedding {May2010}
Buy TOMS shoes {Dec2010 Christmas gift}
Get right splits
Read classic books from goodreads
Shoot in RAW {Jan2010} - Customize a client disc {Feb2010} - Make senior "brag books"
Learn to back-button focus - Shoot a rainy day wedding {Feb2011}
Design logo/brand

Design blog/website
Learn to shoot all-manual - take portraits of my family {Feb2011}
Get a 4.0 {March10} - get bio pictures of ME:)
Buy a 50mm 1.8 {surprise from my dad! :)} - Go on a random roadtrip
Shoot portraits with 50mm {Michelle: Jan10} - Photograph a wedding w/ Chuck Taylor's involved
Graduate high school
Finish NY/Philly/DC trip journal

Finish NY/Philly/DC trip scrapbook
Network with a local photographer - Volunteer at a soup kitchen
Network with a local venue
Network with a local florist
Buy a Jessica Claire shootsac
Buy something on etsy
Design custom business cards
Go to Italy {2012 senior vacation}
Go back to New York {again!}
Go to a school dance {Jan2011, March 2011, April 2011}
Buy a Macbook
Cook dinner for my whole family {all.by.myself} July2011
Get/buy my first car (1985 Toyota Camry baby!)
Get a KISS album
Get a canvas from WHCC
Make a Showit slideshow
Get my photography work published
Photograph a wedding out-of-state
Take the ACT {March2011 hahahaha}
Photograph an engagement session in downtown Cedar {May2010} - Shoot with flash at a wedding reception {Jan2011}
Network with my 1st cousin {who's also a photographer}
Have my work in a gallery {sort of accomplished. photo was painted and put in the Braithwaite Gallery}
Get things hung on my bedroom wall {july 2010} - make a "happy" album
Buy something from {re}cycled consign and design
Attend WPPI
Become a wedding chicks vendor
Be an intern
Attend a photography workshop
Get a debit card

Start a business checking account
Buy a nice office chair
Sell my flute

Sell all my flute books
Vote for the first time in my life {November 2012}
Buy a coffee and pay for the person behind me
Photograph a friend's senior portraits {Emily:Feb2010} - Have a Tae Bo party
Buy lightroom - support a child through compassion international {july 2010} - change my favicon (silly blogger "B")
Pull an all nighter
Train my dog, Snoopy
Take pictures of a newborn baby
Buy a Polaroid camera - Make customized thank you notes for clients
Handmake a gift for someone special
Have an ugly sweater party
Visit my family in California {particularly my grandma} - Eat Thai food (Aug2010 Sweet Sixteen!)
Drive on the freeway {july 2010} - change my blog domain! YEEEEES.
Meet one of my photography "heroes"
Go into a sports store and get fitted for running shoes
Organize underneath my bathroom sink
Get a summer job
Organize my email {Jan2010} - Make my own shootsac
Create a business email
Floss my teeth once a day for a whole month
Take a photo walk all around Cedar before leaving town
Participate in the Utah Summer Games June 2011
Take portraits of another photographer
Have a professional take my portraits
Grow an herb garden
Make my own dSLR camera strap/bag
Be a counselor/youth leader
Get baptized July 2011
Learn how to change a car's oil
Sell something on Ebay
Take a business class
Try out for Madrigals {Feb2010} - Buy a wide-angle lens {Feb2011 - 35mm}
Don't go on Facebook for one week
Go to a midnight movie showing {June2010 - Eclipse} - make a facebook fanpage
Shoot a sesh and have images blogged in one day
Keep my naturally-curly hair straightener free for a month {junejulyaugseptoctnov 2010} - shoot a portrait session with the mysterious, beautiful, timeless FILM.
Document my cats before they die
Skype with someone
Set my business rates
Take time off to go to Parowan and take pictures
Shoot a portrait sesh in the snow (: {Jan2010} - Drink enough water for a month
Upgrade to a 50mm 1.4
Start a photoblog before Jan. 31st {Jan2010} - Discover me, MY brand
Subscribe to a wedding magazine
Knit my dog a sweater
Buy fresh flowers for no specific reason
Take a day off to just read a book all day long
Take a ballroom dance class
Second-shoot with a photog "celebrity" I look up to

I tried to keep as many things as possible stuff I can do for free. Really, aren't the free things in life the best? :)
mandiimae is a photographer in southern utah.

let it snow

2009-12-06T15:19:00.003-07:00

Happy Sunday afternoon, blog readers. :) This morning I woke up and peered outside my window to find it snowed last night. After reading and enjoying breakfast while listening to a concert CD we bought in Spain, I put on my boots and journied into the cold with none other than my camera.

mandiimae is a photographer in cedar city, utah specializing in portraits.

LOVE.

2009-11-15T13:35:00.003-07:00

mandiimae is a photographer in southern utah.

as an artist, I LOVE fashion. When browsing Banana Republic today I fell in love with the fall fashion. The peacoats, scarves, cardigans, boots -- you name it. I love their simple pieces you can combine to such stylish outfits. If there was a BR outlet near where I live I'd clear out that store. ;)

unexpected cups of coffee.

2009-11-14T14:50:00.002-07:00

so. Doesn't "pumpkin spice latte" just sound delish? Well I'd say. ;) I realllllly wanted to try one of these magical things from Starbucks while on my trip to Barcelona, Spain because I'd never tried one in the States. While in JFK waiting for the plane, my dad & I made a Starbucks run. I taught him how to order and everything (he was very proud of himself haha). We got up to the counter and he said perfectly & fluently, "Pumpkin spice frappuccino, tall, with whipped cream" like he goes to Starbucks everyday. Score, dad!

Our $4 cup of yummy goodness arrived at the pick-up counter and I let him take the first drink.

His reaction? "BLECH!" He handed it to me. I took a sip. Low and behold, it was NOT pumpkin spice frappuccino. It was just like a normal frappuccino thing with absolutely no flavoring or anything. He's definitely not a "coffee and coffee only" fan, like myself, so I drank the rest even though it wasn't pumpkin spice.

Moving on to the end of our trip. Right when I got off the plane in Vegas I felt SO sick. The whole flight had been extremely turbulent and I had felt fine, but once we were on the ground & in the airport I laid down on the terminal floor because I was so tired I was shaking. My dad kindly thought that maybe I was just hungry so he went to Starbucks and got a pumpkin spice frappuccino & croissant. This time it was really a pumpkin spice frappuccino, but I felt too sick to eat anything.

Once I felt well enough to walk, we found our hotel and I crashed. I never got to try the frappuccino.

Today I actually got to try a pumpkin spice latte. :) It was a cold day & a warm latte was just pure happiness.

And, it was delish.

mandiimae is a photographer in cedar city, utah who loves coffee!