Pocatello Bridals in an abandoned gas station

Recently I was in Pocatello Idaho and had the opportunity to do a great shoot while there with Melissa Frederickson. We located an abandoned gas station, brought out the video lights and started shooting. It was a very fun and interesting shoot because it was raining and for some reason cop cars kept passing like we were some place in Los Angeles. I hope yo enjoy the shots!

Danny and Christine

I am so happy to release the wedding slideshow for Danny and Christine married recently in San Diego, California. It was such a beautiful wedding and a wonderful couple. I can't thank Don Atherton enough for coming and helping on such a scorching hot day. We drank enough water to last a week it was so HOT! The wedding was wonderful and the Father of the Bride said something so nice to me after the wedding was over. He walked over to me and said, "You are the first person I've ever known that can bear his soul through a piece of mechanical equipment (meaning my camera)." I really appreciated his comments and the relationship I have made with the entire family. Congratulations Danny and Christine!!!!

CLICK TO VIEW

Questions from a new photographer

I get a lot of new photographers who ask me questions when they're starting their business. Recently I received some questions from a photography student in South Africa named Shelley and I thought I'd share the questions and my responses in the hopes they might help someone else....

1. What type of camera will you be using while you are taking the photos? Nikon D3

2. Where do you prefer to take photos, outdoors or indoors? Both, preferably outdoors.

3. Do you have an assistant that works with you while you are taking the photos? Yes

4. Is there and extra charge for the assistant, if so how much? No, it's included in my price.

5. Is there a back up plan if the weather turns out to be misserable and unpleasent? Yes, I will shoot anywhere. Being a great photographer means being creative and creating something out of nothing sometimes.

6. What would happen if you fall ill, and you can not take photos on the wedding day? Send a replacement photographer.

7. Can other people take photos while you'r taking photos? Not if they're not one of my team members...if they are using pro-type equipment. Others using smaller cameras can use them as long as they don't use their flash during certain moments where they could ruin our lighting.

8. What if we decide to change the date of the wedding is there a cancellation cost, if so how much? As long as I have your new date available I will transfer your retainer towards the new date...if you choose a date that I can't do I keep the retainer which is usually 25%-50% of the wedding cost.

9. Should the event last longer than scheduled what would happen, would there be an extra cost, and if so how much? I don't usually worry about staying longer unless it's significantly longer....like 2 hours or more. The extra charge would be pro-rated at the package price amount for my time.

10. How long after the event will the proofs be ready? 3 weeks....we do quality. Anyone doing them super fast isn't providing quality.

11. What reccomentdations do you have for the the bride and groom to wear during the *photo shoot* other than there wedding outfits? Usually tell the bride to not wear a bra if she has a strapless dress as long as the dress will cover her appropriately...the reason is because the extra padding in there can make her skin bunch up. Other than that it's their wedding and they should wear what they want. I try and give them direction to make sure their wardrobes don't clash.

I hope it helps. If you have any questions don't hesitate to reach me at jason@jlpros.com.

Thanks!

Spain day 2- Segovia part 2

We left the Monastery and and drove to the hills above the castle and the whole city and stopped to take some shots. By this point Ryan started taking shots of me taking pictures and I didn't mind because my wife Kara wants more shots of me anyways....usually I don't have many because I'm always behind the camera. It is amazing sometimes to be a photographer when you get to see the things I get to see...like the shot of the castle, cathedral and city below that looks straight out of a fairy tale novel.

We headed down the hill, went down some one-way roads the wrong way (not on purpose) and found our way to the castle and went inside. I was unbelievably thirsty and there was nowhere or no one selling drinks. Outside the castle there were gypsys selling cloths they had sewn together. I asked them in Spanish if they would give me a drink of water if I bought a cloth. They laughed and asked who the cloth was for and I pointed to Ryan. Ryan called me an idiot and walked away which made all of us laugh even more. Ryan truly is the funnest guy in the world to travel with....

Well, they wouldn't give me the water with the deal so I bought nothing. We went inside the castle and asked the security guard where we could buy water or if they had a drinking fountain. He told me to use the bathroom. I was soooooo thirsty that I did. I went inside and using my hands to scoop the water from the sink I began to drink from the sink. This was done out of desperation...but it was very hot and I was literally needing water bad. Ryan rolled his eyes when I asked him if the water was going to make me sick. Ryan and I were born only 18 months apart and we have always been close....so if you watched us it would be like watching the "odd couple."

We toured the castle which was beautiful. I don't really know the history of the castle in Segovia but Ryan said that Walt Disney modeled the castle at Disney World after it...I thought that was cool. I imagined all the cool stuff that had happened here and wondered what scandalous things had happened...because we all know castles and royalty are synonymous with scandals. We went out to the front of the castle and looked down at the massive drop from the castle wall. Ryan mused as to how many people they had dropped off the sides of the castle when they found traitors or people they didn't like....who knows?

My leg was hurting pretty bad but we had paid for the privilege of climbing 200 steps to the top of the tower of the castle. Ryan was very kind and offered to carry something for me so I could make the climb. He was surprised when I said I would do it with him....but who knows when I'll be back at the castle....so I decided to do it.

The stairwell is a continual winding staircase that seems to go up forever and and is literally only 3 feet wide. So all people going up and going down are using the same staircase...needless to say it is a circus act to try and pass each other. The funny thing is that everyone is struggling to make it up the stairs...sometimes you pass people and sometimes they pass you, and everyone is sweating buckets. A few ladies coming down the stairs looked at Ryan and I and told us in Spanish, "There is lemonade and water up at the top...very refreshing." This livened my spirits and as soon as I reached the top I realized how stupid I was for believing it. Ryan just laughed at me.

As horrible as it was the climb was worth it. The view from the top was phenomenal. We took some shots and regained our consciousness and then headed down the stairs. I couldn't help but perpetuate the lie I was told by telling those coming up the stairs that there was refreshing lemonade and water awaiting them at the top. Ryan who was much more honest than I was during the time down the stairs and would quickly tell everyone I told this to that I was lying. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of it. I managed to grab a quick 10 second video clip to show what it was like.

Well, this post has been long enough so I'll have to continue the rest another day....I hope you enjoy!

Spain day 2- Segovia part 1

So we woke up late, Ryan found these chocolate donuts and bought and ate a ton. We left the hotel and Ryan was still hungry so he grabbed some sandwich baguette thing while I really went out on a limb and stopped off at Burger King. We went to the parking structure where I paid $45 for overnight parking (car was only there 12 hours)....you have to love the value of the dollar compared to the Euro!

We started off on the hour long drive from Madrid to Segovia. While driving on their highways I noticed two things...(1) they have those stupid automatic traffic ticket things like Australia. So if you speed you automatically get nailed for a ticket. I have a fond recollection of this because when I returned form Australia I found three tickets mailed to me. One cool thing is the Tom Tom GPS actually alerted me of some of the speed traps by blinking and beeping anytime I went into one of these speed traps....I'm kind of scared to see how many tickets I ended up getting.

The second thing I noticed is that road rage knows no borders. Ryan and I witnessed one of the most violent and aggressive road rage incidents I've ever seen. These two cars were purposely swerving and trying to hit each other and eventually pulled off the road to fight. We were just glad they got off the road because they were risking the lives of others to fuel their rage.

We got off the road after paying the appropriate tolls and drove into the beautiful city of Segovia. This is exactly what you think of when you imagine old world Europe. Small, narrow streets, medieval architecture, and a beautiful cathedral and castle. We drove around the city wall (yes, it has a very old city wall just like you'd imagine) to survey all of the town. We turned around and I found myself on the wrong side of a one-way road. I honestly have no idea how we made it...but through very creative driving, pulling off onto the sides of the road, getting the funniest looks I've ever seen from Spaniards we made it through it. Ryan was so embarrassed he turned and said, "These people are going to kill us." I replied, "That's why I keep looking straight ahead, if you don't make eye contact with them you don't feel any guilt."

We worked our way around and found this old Monastery that Ryan said was straight out of an Indiana Jones movie...and I agreed. Ryan caught this shot of me just taking in the moment and enjoying the view of this beautiful historic place.

The coolest thing about doing what I do is the opportunity to sometimes just sit down and talk about what you're seeing...not to do the tourist thing to come and see, snap a few shots and get back on the tour bus. Ryan and I just sat there and spoke about the place and took 30 minutes to enjoy the surroundings...it was awesome.

We left the Monastery and headed to the hills to shoot the castle from high atop the city....but this post is long enough and that story will be saved for part 2....

Spain Day 1- Part 2

So we left the hotel, passed the hookers, paid $10 for parking the car for 30 minutes and took off to Retiro Park which was the former hunting grounds for the Royalty in Spain. I had a bridal shoot set up there at the Palacio Cristal. We tried to find a parking spot which is very difficult to do. While trying to make a U-turn and finding no legal way to do it Ryan asks me, "What are you going to do, there's no place to turn around?" I turned to him and said, "I believe life to too special to obey traffic laws." At this point I made sure it was safe and made a quick U-turn in the middle of the road and quickly found a parking space.

We went inside the gates to the park and it is beautiful. The park is huge and we spent the next 45 minutes trying to find the Palacio Cristal. I quickly learned to love the Spanish but if there's one thing I learned it's that they give horrible directions. I literally asked 5 different people how to get to the Palacio Cristal and I received 5 completely different answers.....I became tired due to the time changes (at this point I'd been up for almost 30 hours), and Ryan had already been in Europe for a week so he was much more energetic. He offered to go and try and find the place. I sat down at a little cafe and ordered a Coca Cola Light (no diet drinks over there) and waited for Ryan.

Well, he never came back. After waiting 30 minutes I decided to go and find him. I walked around and stopped at this beautiful fountain. I started taking some quick shots and was only 5 feet from my case when a man on a bike rode up to me and said in broken English, "Do you own that case? You should watch it better before it flies away....this is Spain, if you're not holding it, it goes bye bye." I thanked him for his help, grabbed my case and went to find Ryan.

After walking around for another 30 minutes out of sheer luck I run into Ryan. He had found the bride (Panambria) and was trying to find me. I went over and met the bride and started the shoot. Ryan left to go have fun with his friends from Spain while I started an unforgettable shoot. The thing you have to love about Europe and Spain is no exception is the liberal manner in which they express themselves. There was a small neighborhood band playing in the park and when they saw Panambria they started playing, "Here comes the Bride."

We had planned on having the sunset for our shoot but because of the delay in getting started we had to improvise with a night shoot. Out came the video lights and we got going. We started shooting in the park and moved over to a beautiful Roman/Greek looking structure. There's no way I can post all the shots now but I have completed one so you can see what it looked like. The greatest thing was all the guys whistling, cat calling, and screaming for Panambria. There were about 40 of them playing soccer inside the structure and they couldn't get enough of her. Please see below....

We finished up there, did some shots down by the water which were great and ended in the royal gardens which were stunning. The shot below is the last ones we were taking when I heard the gates being locked.....I couldn't believe it....it was midnight already! I became so consumed in the shoot that I had shaken off my exhaustion and completed a 4-hour shoot that was amazing. I raced down and asked officer to wait which he did. While I was down there Panambria changed into her clothes and came down. When the officer asked me in Spanish, "Que estan haciendo aqui?" (What are you doing here?) I replied, "Sorry, no speak Spanish," which wasn't entirely true but it did get me out of any possible permit issue.

We hopped in the car, I dropped her off and then I went to park. I passed the hookers, went into a Burger King (it was now 1am). I can't believe how late Spaniards stay up. There were so many people on the street and in the stores you would have thought it was 1pm, not 1am. I went back to the room and fell asleep next to my brother in our cozy adjacent twin beds. The day started off horribly, but ended wonderfully....that night I truly fell in love with Spain...more to come later....

Spain- Day 1...Part 1

I left for Spain on a typical day in Southern California....way too much traffic on the freeways and having to take 3 times the normal amount of time to get to the airport. I finally got there and made my way to the American Airlines counter to find out they cancelled my flight. One question...why do they take my email when I buy my flight if they can't show the courtesy to email all passengers on a cancelled flight letting them know it's cancelled?

Well, it took awhile but at long last they found another flight and I took off first flying to Miami and then to Madrid. I landed in Miami rushed to the next plane only to have it sit on the tarmac for 1 hour. Second question...why board the plane when you know it's not going to take off???? We took off for Madrid and had a pretty seamless flight. Spain is 9 hours ahead of California so by the time we got there it was 9am in Spain (midnight in California). My brother was supposed to meet me in Madrid but he was having his own troubles. By the time I cleared customs it was about 10:30am and I was exhausted.

I went to pull money out of the ATM which is what I always do when I travel and nothing. Stupid Bank of America froze my account. These knuckleheads did the same thing to me when I was in Australia. I didn't anticipate this happening because I hadn't even had any transactions yet in Spain....so why freeze it? The only phone I had was a Global phone I rented from Sprint that charges $2/minute for talk and the data package on it wasn't working....so no emails. I have a blackberry that is only 6 months old but Sprint explained my network isn't global.....very frustrating....so I had to rent this phone.

So I have to wait 2 hours for Bank of America to open their customer service lines and I'm very hungry. I piece together my loose change and a $10 bill from the US and exchange it for about $7 Euros. The only place in the airport that was cheap enough for me to eat was a McDonald's. I was so tired and hungry that I can tell you a Big Mac never tasted better. After I ate I used my "platinum gold rental phone" and called my bank and let them know that I had already informed them I'd be in Spain before I left and if I had my card shut off again I would terminate my account when I returned. They released the hold and life was getting better. I went to the Avis Rental Car kiosk and rented a car. It was now around 1pm and I couldn't wait to get out of there.

I get to my mid-size car which in American standards is a moped....but I didn't care...I had wheels. Even more important the car had a mp3 input for my Ipod which I have to have for any car I rent. I hadn't driven a stick shift for about 1 year and it felt good. I plugged in the Ipod, cranked some Michael Jackson and sped down the highway to get into Madrid. It was hilarious to see the Spaniards watching me rock out in the car to MJ...I was just having a brief moment of adrenaline so happy to be out of the airport. Well...that was short lived. I couldn't get in touch with my brother because of my rental phone not working so after driving around for 45 minutes I needed to sleep.

If you have never driven in Europe....let me tell you...it's like driving with 1 million 16-year olds. Lot's of honking, yelling, cutting off, driving on sidewalks, driving down the wrong way of the road, etc. After 5 minutes I fit right in....I had to find a place to park and the only place I could find was in front of a University...I didn't care, I had to sleep. I tried to lay back my seat in my moped car and it wouldn't go back. I finally found the lever which was one of those manual wheel things that you have to turn to get the seat to go back....all I could do was laugh because I was paying $95/day for this car....I got the seat down and slept. I woke up and called Sprint on my "PGR" phone and they tried to fix the problem but they couldn't..only the phone would work. About 30 minutes later I get a call from my brother Ryan that he had arrived at the train station. He was surprised to find out I had rented a car because that wasn't the plan...but it was the best decision I have ever made.

I go to pick him up and we go to our hotel. We get to this place which is in the middle of downtown and as we walk to the hotel after having to park in a parking garage (no parking offered at the hotel) we pass a row of hookers (prostitutes) and I ask Ryan if he specifically chose this hotel because of it being on hooker row. Ryan was very offended by this question and regretted the choice of hotel...I just found it funny. It's hard to describe but Madrid is truly a beautiful city and our hotel was in a very nice area....prostitutes are just much more allowed in Europe...in America we usually banish them to the nasty parts of the city. The hotel room that was supposed to be spacious with two beds had two twin beds smashed together. Ryan asks me, "Can you sleep next to me like that?" I replied, "Sure I can....just gives me a chance to get to know you better." Ryan gave me a look like, "Don't even think about it," and I just winked at him. That's when he said, "We need to get out of here."

Spain-Day 1....Part 2 will be continued tomorrow...trust me, it was just as fun....

Taking time to cool off-using a fast shutter camera

I figured since the last post was about the California wildfires...I might as well show some shots that can cool us all off a little. The shots below can only be captured with a fast shutter camera like the D3. Canon has a very fast 10mp camera as well that could do this. The D3 and comparable cameras that should around 10fps (frames per second) are instrumental in capturing the vivid details you see in the shots below. Many times I feel the speed of the camera is overlooked when photographers choose their camera...and so many focus on the mp only.

I believe of course the best cameras have both high quality and fast speed. There are Nikon's and Canon's that have cameras that shoot at 20mp or higher but you lose the speed. The fast cameras are mostly used by sports photographers but I couldn't do without the speed for my wedding business. I utilize the speed for bracketing, HDR, and for capturing the fast never to repeat moments like a crazy bouquet toss. Brides always get a kick out of seeing the trajectory of their bouquet in flight when they see their wedding images. I love high resolution...my only recommendation is to also place a lot of emphasis on speed...it does matter and makes a huge difference.

California on Fire- life changes quickly

It's amazing how fast things can change in life. This shoot that I did two weeks ago in the Angeles Crest forest is now engulfed in flames in the annual wildfire disasters we have here in California. As I drove yesterday on the 10 freeway through downtown LA I looked over to the mountains and couldn't help but wonder how much of this will be left after the fires have had their way.

It's surreal to work on these pictures while I'm doing the editing and to imagine this whole place of peace and water filled with flames and fire. Thanks to California's conservation efforts we are pretty much a sitting tinder box...so much forestation that hasn't burned for 30-50 years so when it does get lit it burns and creates the disasters we have today. Being a nature lover I can't help but think that anyone who commits arson should have some serious consequences....say like...dangling them over the fire with a helicopter to teach them a lesson? I hope you enjoy the shots and that I'll have the chance to shoot here again if it isn't all gone...

Bathing Bride-Part 2

So we continued our shoot in the water and Jamie did a fantastic job. The key I've found to getting great shots is having brides or models that can go with your imagination. If they can follow your train of thought and imagine with you...you just need to be ready to snap the picture when the magic happens. As I mentioned in an earlier post if I had tried to pose these with Jamie and just told her to stop and stand still...the pictures wouldn't have turned out. I gave her direction and then waited to take the shots. I hope you enjoy!

The Bathing Bride

One of my favorite things to do is make brides do things that make no sense. Why would a bride be bathing in a wedding gown and veil in a creek? Truth is she wouldn't. Any person wouldn't bathe with clothes on...but where's the fun in shooting that?

I find things are much more seductive and beautiful when there is a lot left to the imagination. I asked Jamie to get into the water and pretend to bathe. Again, while it makes no sense that a bride would be doing that....I thought it made for some pretty cool shots. I'm still editing some more shots of this shoot that I really love but that's for sharing tomorrow!

Los Angeles Wilderness Bridal Shoot- shooting tutorials

I already shared the first picture from our shoot in an earlier blog post but these shots below are some more from our shoot on the couch. From a photographic standpoint I love putting a rectangular couch that has straight lines in it in front of a huge wilderness backdrop that has everything but straight lines. Then when you throw a bride on top of the couch and completely change the lines by the positioning her in all different ways it can complete the shot to give you something you'll love.

We actually shot video of this session and I've had a lot of people asking me to start putting out tutorials in the hopes it could help them. I've been shooting video on all of my shoots recently to start developing a library that we can turn into shooting tutorials and guides in the hope they can help others. I'll be shooting video while doing the shoots I have in Spain for this same reason. I hope you enjoy!

Gotta Be Somebody- Justin and Aliya's Wedding Testimonial

We had the great opportunity to do an interview with Justin and Aliya Rinaldi earlier this year in their home in Washington DC. We love doing interviews because it allows our future clients to see what our former clients thought of their experience with us. It's always fun for me to hear what my clients perspective was on all of our adventures together.

I loved the experience with Justin and Aliya so much because even though they were in Washington DC we still did an engagement session together and spent two full days together for the wedding. It's also fun for me because I always leave the area where the interview takes place and I have one of my team members ask the questions...so it's really fun to see what they said after the video is completed by my team. I hope you enjoy!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO!!

Christine's Big Day

It's been a long time since we booked the wedding but Christine and Danny's big day is this Saturday! This is one of the rare occasions when a bride is coming to me! Christine and Danny are from North Carolina where the picture below was taken, but they are coming to San Diego for their wedding.

I was also so glad to see the response at the Bridal Fair to this shot below that I took of Christine during her Bridal shoot. This was by far one of the favorites from the brides there and I was so pleased with the response to this shot. Thanks again to Christine for this amazing session we did together and I can't wait to shoot their wedding!

Transvestite Bride

So I'm traveling through the conservative state of Idaho and I have a shoot set up with one of my brides. Sometimes we will buy a wedding dress if the bridal shoot is before the wedding so we don't get the real wedding gown dirty or destroyed. We called around to some local bridal shops and found one in Nampa, Idaho named Jeannie's Bridal Lace. I spoke to Jeannie and told her we needed a dress in size 4-6 and that if she had one I would come over quickly to purchase it before she closed. She said she had one and even though she was getting ready to close she would wait for me.

Well, I plugged her address into the GPS and took off to go get it. I pulled into this little shop that was connected to her home and walked in the door. The conversation went like this.....

"Hi, I'm the individual who called on the phone looking for the dress." Jeannie looked me up and down and said, "You're the one who called asking for the size 4-6 dress?" I was in good spirits because it was a minor miracle I found a dress shop in Idaho past 5pm that had a dress that would work for us...so my demeanor was very pleasant...."Yep, I sure am!" I responded.

Jeannie took another look at me and said, "Oh honey, you aint no size 4-6.....you're a plus size for a wedding dress..." I immediately realized Jeannie thought I was buying the dress for myself...I started laughing so hard that I doubled over in the store. It was one of those laughs that could fill a movie theater. I found it so funny and I couldn't stop laughing for 15 seconds. When I did stop laughing she said, "I hope you're not offended, most men are a plus size when they're trying to put on a wedding dress." I responded still laughing, "You think I'm a transvestite?" She said, "Well, I've seen everything come through that door asking to wear a wedding dress....you mean to tell me you aren't a cross dresser or transvestite?" I said, "Do I look like one?" (now I was really curious!)..."Well, no you don't. But I've seen men in suits come in asking to buy a wedding dress....so you can't be too careful in today's world."

I went on to tell her that I needed a wedding dress for a shoot I was doing and that I was a photographer from Los Angeles. She started apologizing profusely and I told her, "You know the funny thing is that I have been in bridal shops all over the world..literally....and being from LA I would expect a question like that. I never in my life would have expected hearing that in Nampa, Idaho." She started to laugh and really felt bad. I told her it just showed she was very tolerant. It did pay off though, she gave me the dress and veil for $150 which was about $200 off....she really felt bad and I was more than happy for the discount.....a story I will never forget. Jason Lanier- International Wedding Photographer...and Tranvestite Bride.

Bride in waiting-on a couch

I had the great opportunity to do a bridal shoot with Ms. Colorado from the Ms. America Pageant, the beautiful Jamie Dukehart-Conti. I found a location north of Los Angeles and we just shot away. This was literally the 1st image I took through the camera when we started the shoot, but it did require some prep time to make it happen. The thing I like most about this shot are the position of her legs. The positioning in my opinion shows the legs as feminine, modest, and sexy all at the same the time. I love it when shots do that. We did a huge shoot that lasted for hours that included a beautiful stream and pond, the forest, and a 1950's dump truck. I'm headed off to Idaho with the family but I'll be editing and posting more. I hope you enjoy!

"Daddy- I'm Sorry."

Still recuperating from the big Bridal Fair and response afterwards I haven't had the opportunity to take the flat screen we used at the booth back to my studio. It was still sitting on the floor of our family room downstairs. I was upstairs working on some pictures and Kara was getting dinner ready when I heard a huge BANG! I heard two of my boys start crying loudly and I was certain they were seriously hurt. I ran to find out what had happened and before I could see the TV both Kevin and Michael (my sons) came running up the stairs absolutely bawling. In the midst of their crying they muttered the words, "We broke your TV."

They had been running around downstairs on our wood floors and Kara had told them to stop because they could break something. I asked them if they were okay...and once they said they were my first inclination was to be upset over the TV....we're talking thousands of dollars here! I didn't say a word to them as I waited to collect myself. I had them sit on the floor in front of me and I asked them what consequences they thought they should have. They said, "No ice cream today,"..."No fun tonight,"...."Go to bed early," (they really liked that one because they thought that would get them out of any punishment I might give). As mad as I was I almost laughed a few times when they would think for a minute and give me their version of what a punishment should be. When I asked them for more ideas after they gave me a suggestion they would say, "Not big enough, huh?" While we were doing this I was immediately reminded of a story of me and my Dad years ago...and I thought the best way to handle it was to share that story with them.

I wiped away their tears and told them to sit on my lap. I told them that when I was a young boy I had a paper route. My Dad would take me as I sat in the back of his truck that had a camper shell. The back window over the tailgate would open up and I could throw the papers to the customers driveways in the neighborhood. I always had to remember to close the window before my Dad pulled the truck into the garage once we were done. Well, one day I forgot and the window to the truck got ripped off the camper as we drove into the garage. I felt horrible and didn't know what to say. My Dad gave me a good talk about remembering my responsibilities and that I couldn't forget to close the window. I used all my remaining paper route money for the month to chip in to buy a new window.

For the next three weeks every time we came into the driveway he would stop and remind me to close the window and we were in a groove. Well, we started doing it again without me needing to be reminded and a couple weeks later while doing the paper route again we pulled into the garage and just like the slow motion on the Matrix movies I watched in horror as the new window started to get yanked off the camper because I had again forgotten to close it. As the crashing and ripping noises commenced I was planning my escape route to get out of there. He stopped when he heard the noises and I jumped out of the truck and ran into my room. I was mortified and certain serious consequences were coming. I could hear the echoes of my Mom and Dad talking in the garage and about five minutes later I heard my Dad's footsteps coming up the stairs to my room.

My Dad opened my door and came into my room. He stood there for a moment and looked down on my face red from crying and he started to get teary eyed himself. He came over to me and sat down on my bed and told me about the concept of repenting and forgiving and that God looks for our level of remorse, not for a specific consequence when we are forgiven by Him for something we do wrong. My Dad told me that I already felt worse than anything any consequence or lecture he could give me could make me feel. He proceeded to tell me that I was forgiven and ended the conversation with a hug and said, "I love you son."

As I shared this story with my boys they understood why I was telling them the story. I ended the conversation by telling them that I forgive and very much love both of them and that I will always love them so much more than I could ever love a TV...I was so grateful that I had a Father and Mother that understood the power of forgiveness and taught it to me at such a young age. I hope my boys will some day be able to share this story with their children when they will undoubtedly do something that will require them to forgive and love as well.

Bridal Fair Madness- Special Offer Extended

Being that I shoot so many weddings either as a destination wedding within the US or internationally I haven't attended a Bridal Fair in over three years. I was contacted by an organizer who asked us to come and show off some of our recent work....and the response was overwhelming. At one time we had 200 people waiting at our booth...These pictures can't even come close to describing the response we had and I can't thank all the beautiful brides and my team of Chris Cahoon and Kara Laier who came to make it such a HUGE success!!!!!

As a result of the huge success we are extending our Bridal Fair offers until the end of August. If you book your wedding by the end of August you will receive a 15% discount off of our published prices. We have also introduced a new 4-step payment plan that allows our clients to book their wedding for only 15% down! Fore more details click on the links below:

Jason Lanier 2009-2010 Pricing Program

Jason Lanier 4-step Payment Program

Bridal Fair 15% off Special!

Banyan Trees- ending the shoot with a bang

We ended this shoot in the middle of the Banyan trees that are all over Hawaii. This trees are so massive and the roots so tall that can make for some very dynamic shots. Our shoot was ended abruptly by a police officer which didn't make me very happy because when he pulled up in his car I looked up and was startled which made me drop my video light and it broke on the bottom. That's $800 that Hawaii should owe me...but I'll never see it.

Even though I had a permit allowing me to shoot in all open and accessible places, I guess he deemed the tree as not being open and accessible. We left and I missed out on a shot against an old fence overlooking the ocean that I wanted to get but I'll leave that for the next time I go back to Hawaii....Thanks Christine for an amazing shoot!!!

Broken down- using natural props in a bridal shoot

I just love abandoned buildings because they give you so much to work with....you never need to bring props...all you need is a bride, a dress, and your camera. This building was adjacent to the building where we shot the smoking break and it ended up giving us some great shots. I love the lines in this building, and with the roof being worn out the sunlight was coming through the top which gave us some great light. I also love how the left side and top of the building was circular and the right side was straight...

We found this chair just laying on the ground and thought that the broken chair with a bride in the middle mixed with all the lines of the structure would make for some dynamic shots. Being in Hawaii I was amazed there weren't more bugs...although we did encounter a wasp nest in the other building that we had to run away from...I think the smoke made them angry! I hope you enjoy the shots!