Utah Wedding Photographer | Maddie E. Photography

Utah Wedding Photographer | Malori and Brad Engaged

2010-07-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

Ah, Malori and Brad. What can I say? They are obviously adorable.
Lee styled this whole amazing shoot based around wind. We had paper airplanes, kites, pinwheels . . . it was so cute! Not to mention it fit perfectly with the weather, which was on the border of crazy rainstorm the entire evening! Much like the day of Malori's bridal session (except the crazy rainstorm actually DID hit) . . . but that's a story for a different day :)

Enjoy!

Oh that was fun :)

So, lovely friends, what fun things do you have planned for this evening?
Oh, me? Tonight my co-ed softball team is playing for the championship title!
Wish us luck!!

Utah Wedding Photographer | Ian and Megan married

2010-07-13T15:58:00.000-07:00

These two were married in Moab back in May. I can't describe how touching this day was. From the bride's dress that was handmade by her mother, to the whole family pulling together to prepare all of the food . . . the involvement of friends and family seemed to make this day extra special for Ian and Megan . . .

i loved how their sweet puppy joined in on the dancing :)

well, we're off to shoot a bridal session with a gorgeous bride at the beautiful lavender fields in mona! hope you all have a wonderful evening :)

XOXO
-Maddie

Some truths.

2010-07-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

I'm a busy girl. I work 40 hours a week at a mortgage company, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., then I come home from work and put in another 4-5, sometimes 5-7 hours more on editing, business planning, shooting, etc. I know everyone is busy. I have no room to think I'm the only one, and I truly know I'm not. I'm starting to feel like I'm doing a mediocre job both at work and in photography because I'm constantly stressed about them both. I often wonder how many summers I will have to sacrifice for this hobby-turned-business. I passed on a family trip last weekend. Just couldn't handle a vacation. Weird right? That vacations are stressing me out?! What IS that?!
Truth of the matter is, I stayed home to get work done, answer emails, and I even read some of a book I bought called The Legal Handbook for Portrait and Wedding Photographers (or something like that). Photography has become all I think about, all I talk about . . . I'm pretty sure all of my friends and family are sick me thinking and talking only about that.

To be quite honest, I miss blogging. Pre-photography (about 1.5 years ago), I was posting about trips, exciting events, my interests, my hobbies . . . this place was basically an online journal. This is not the case anymore. I miss that. I want to be better. I've LOVED making friends through my blog! I've loved reading other's blogs. And I miss commenting on other's blogs. I've come to the point where I now just scroll through Google Reader, quickly, when I have just a few moments, and many times I am Google-Reading from my phone while I'm in line at Starbucks (my saint and savior). I miss connecting with people. I want to say I'm making a goal to be better at this. I would LOVE to say that and have it be true. But for now, I will tell you I'm going to try my darndest.

This week, right in the middle of one of the busiest summers of my life, I caught a terrible cold. With so much editing to do that it makes me want to cry, I've told myself "You will not do a good job on editing if you're feeling this terrible. Just take a break". So, I've done just that. I've still made it into work at the mortgage company (maybe I was late a few mornings, but I still made it in), but in the evenings, I've tried really hard to stay away from editing. Although, from my bed, I've managed to take care of quite a few business related tasks (I now officially own a business! Woot!), and did some location scouting last night . . . okay, so I'm terrible at taking it easy (you know what really sucks about colds?! Right now, I'm drinking a triple venti latte from Starbucks (that's like a $4.50 drink!) and I can't even taste it. It tastes like hot water. My tastebuds are useless right now. Boo :( At least that doesn't affect the fact that I'm getting caffeine out of it, right?).

As far as shoots go, I've got quite a few photo shoots just waiting to be posted. But when I'm thinking about all that I have to edit, I think "Should I do a blog post? Or edit?", and then editing wins. Almost always. I know that posting shoots is the only way to drum up business, SO, I'm going to try and make blog posts just as important of a priority.

Anyway, I've got some fun, exciting, new things coming up in the next little bit, so stay tuned!

And one final "THANK YOU" to all those who still read my blog even though the occurence of posting has gone dramatically downhill! I love you guys. I will make it up to you.

utah wedding photographer | beth and devin engaged

2010-07-02T23:29:00.000-07:00

beth and devin are one of the most stylish couples i have ever met in my life. lee and beth together came up with some amazing ideas for this engagement session and i was SO excited when i heard what was involved. these two lovebirds are getting married at the end of this month and i cannot tell you how excited i am for their bridal session and their wedding. can you just imagine???

utah wedding photographer | sam and sarah {formal} engagements

2010-07-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

i sure do love these two.
since sarah was a bit ambushed into an engagement shoot (just kidding, it was magical), she wanted to do a few more pictures her way, where she could actually, ya know, be prepared? hehe :)
isn't sam a trooper? TWO photo shoots in just a couple of weeks?! such a good brother.
we were only outside for about 40 minutes, but we did snag quite a few beautiful images (all thanks to these two).
here are my faves:

i can't believe how fast time goes by these days . . . i will hopefully have much more to share with you this week! some darn cute shoots if i do say so myself :) you'll see.

utah wedding photographer | sam and sarah {stylized couple's shoot}

2010-06-17T19:10:00.000-07:00

what had started out as a normal stylized couple's shoot lee and i had planned-- and that my little brother and his girlfriend so graciously agreed to model in-- became a gorgeous and heart-felt event. my little brother proposed. right in the middle of the darn thing. which most of you know already, i blogged it here.

well, i just recently finished editing all of the pictures and i am SO pleased with how everything turned out. lee did an amazzzing job of stylizing the event, and sam and sarah.. i mean, come on.. could they be any more GORGEOUS?? america's next-top model material, i'm tellin ya!

aaaannnddd . . . here comes the proposal . . . (see more of the proposal shots here)

well, i FINALLY feel like i'm starting to catch up on life :) i have got quite a bit of shoots i'll be posting soon (i promise this time), and i'm really excited about them all. like.. REALLY excited.

well, i'm off to go see The A-Team and stuff my face with delicious popcorn. and i'm basically grounding myself from the computer for the rest of the night. i hope you all have a lovely evening!

ciao!

xoxo

-maddie

sigh . . .

2010-06-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

we had an engagement shoot tonight that went swimmingly well! the couple was so sweet and cute, and i just looooved taking their pictures! there's just something about being around couples during their engagement stage . . . their love for each other rubs off on me and can just put me in a wonderful mood . . .

on the way home, we pulled over to snap some shots of this awesome storm forming just over the lake.

.. i love stormy sundays :)
but i especially love them when they wait just long enough for my photo shoots to end :)

well, after a looong weekend of working on getting caught up, i'm excited to reunite with my pillows and blankets. i think i'm going to put on some True Blood, relax, and go to sleep.

xoxo
maddie

utah wedding photographer | sean and chloe {vintage couple's shoot}

2010-06-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

i consider myself a very lucky girl. i have so much support from friends, family, even strangers . . . and i thank you all for it!

sean and chloe let me take pictures of them about two months back. for a while, my friend lee and i had wanted to try out something a little bit stylized, vintage . . . something different than we'd been doing.

so we asked sean and chloe (my twin sister) if they would let us take their pictures once again. sean i'm sure was not too thrilled, but he was such a trooper and i love him for it! and chloe, you are too gorgeous for words.. thanks for being such a great sister to me :)

there was a point towards the end of the shoot where this dog came from out of nowhere, just begggging for attention. personally, i think this is what caused them to get little moses :)

and i can't thank lee enough! she's the brilliant stylist behind all of the shoots i will be posting over the next few weeks! stay tuned :)

sundays are for . . .

2010-06-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

family.
iced lattes.
planning this week's photo shoots.
a little editing.
business planning.
catching up on blogs.
catching up on cleaning.
pondering life.
movies.
meditating.
relaxing.

how was your weekend?

this song just warms my heart :)

2010-06-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

this song is just so darn happy, and for some reason it gets me super excited about summer adventures!
i thought it would be a great kick-off for the month of june, which is incidentally also my birthday month!

hope you're all having a fantastic tuesday!

sneak peek of the gorgeous sam and handsome hal!

2010-05-21T22:06:00.000-07:00

oh these two. they are just adorable. there's not much more to say right now, but LOOK AT THEM!

once again, the wonderful lee stylized this shoot! we wanted a sweet little french-inspired shoot (you will get a much better taste of that when i finish editing them!), and lee really rose to the occasion. lee, you are amazing!

i know it seems like all i've had to post lately are "sneak peeks", but i've just been running around like a mad woman! we've picked up many new shoots for the coming weeks, as well as a few weddings, so i'm trying to stay on top of it all! i'm doing some new product testing, which is one reason i've been slow to get the last few shoots fully posted, but i expect within the next week or two, we'll have plenty to show you :)

well, we've got a wedding in moab, utah tomorrow, then a busy busy week next week. wish us luck!

we <3 you all :)

life happens!

2010-05-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

first of all, a huge 'thanks!' for all of the blog love the past few days :) you are all so wonderful and your comments mean so much to me. i'm going to try to read all of your blogs soon, i want to get to know you better!
i don't know how many of you follow me on twitter, but i updated on tuesday proclaiming that i would have the pictures from sean and chloe's vintage shoot up by... well.. yesterday. i'm sorry! life gets in the way, am i right? someone very special to me is moving out of town on monday, and i'm trying to spend as much time with them as possible before that day. i will do my best to post the pictures soon :) i'm very excited about it.

i hope you are all having a wonderful evening, and i will post soon!

xoxo

-maddie

sam and sarah | sneak peek!

2010-05-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

this shoot was very special to me.

for a while, i've been begging my baby brother (sam) and his girlfriend (sarah) to be in a photoshoot for me and i wanted lee to stylize a little somethin special for them, and boy, did she go above and beyond!

she had it just perfect: some records and record player on the adorable blanket in the middle of an orchard, followed by a little bistro-style dessert table.

well, the shoot was going just swimmingly, when lee asks sam "are there any shot ideas either of you have?", and sam says "yeah, actually . . ." and i was like "wha? my little brother has an idea for a picture? weird.." then out of nowhere, he gets on one knee and freakin proposes!!? well, i'm a little slow and it honestly took me 30 seconds before i realized it was for real, so here i am just snapping pictures. when i finally realized it WAS in fact real, i felt SO happy to be a part of it :) he did such a good job, and of course she said 'yes'!
it was pretty fun to say i got to take part in an actual engagement shoot hehe.

after we got over all the excitement, the shoot continued with just a little bit more emotion than the beginning :) it was wonderful.

see? see what i'm talkin' about? lee is incredible.

i can't wait to post the rest! BUT i promised myself i would finish the pictures from sean and chloe's shoot and post those first (in the next few days!! woot!).

lee and i are really excited about doing these stylized couple shoots, so if anyone is interested in shoots like these, please email me ASAP! (madelynethomas@gmail.com).

a few pictures from my weekend.

2010-05-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

this weekend, we went to visit my lovely grandparents in Torrey, UT. it was such a relaxing time, and they were so hospitable.
my grandpa showed me and taught me about everything in his greenhouse and garden. i loved every second of it, he's so interesting and passionate about gardening, and i felt like it was a really great bonding experience!
my grandma made the most delicious food, and instigated some very enlightening conversation on politics, religion, the usual. we also chatted a little about life and love.
going to Torrey is very therapeutic. i hope to go back again soon!

and while it wasn't windy and freezing (for only about 10 minutes), i stepped out to play with moses and take some pictures of the scenery. it's gorgeous there.

sweet moses!

2010-04-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

so, there's no good excuse for the lack of activity on my blog lately. it's not that i don't have stuff i need to post, i have just been avoiding my computer. i promise i will be better!
i apologize!
to make amends... i present to you.. the cutest puppy ever :)
i'm an aunt now! chloe and sean got this sweet little guy over the weekend. he woke me up on saturday, and gave me little puppy kisses.

this is moses.

moses decided attacking my camera sounded like a good idea. normally, i would have screamed, but he's so damn cute, i just had to laugh.

all of these pictures were taken in a span of, like, 5 minutes. this little guy just gets all riled up and just tuckers himself out. i love him.

i'm a happy aunt :)

vintage couples shoot | utah wedding photographer

2010-04-11T01:52:00.000-07:00

all i can say is i have the best sister, brother-in-law, and friend. chloe, sean, and lee, thank you for helping me with this wonderful shoot today!

more to come . . .

hey hey!

2010-04-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

wow, long time, no post! last week was pretty nuts.. end of the month (craziest time of the month at work), my cousin's wedding (events took place thursday and friday), lots of family stuff, my dad had back surgery, had a meeting with a friend to go over her wedding details (sounds like it will be amazing! can't wait to photograph it!), two movies, and lots of other things . . .

phew. well, i did manage to get a little work done on something i've been meaning to post for almost a year now. if you'll notice the new category on my menu bar called "WHAT TO WEAR", you'll see a bit of my little project :) so far i only have a section done for the ladies, BUT i'm going to post a section for men and children once i get that all figured out. it's just a friendly little idea board for those of you who may be stuck on ideas for outfits to totally rock your photo session!

enjoy :)

my st. george trip | in pictures

2010-03-26T23:50:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago, we took a girls' trip to st. george, utah.
there was eating, coffee, laughing, , driving, art-browsing, eating, coffee, girl talk, grandma, aunts, cousins, friends, walking, shopping, eating . . .

all in all, it was a fantastic weekend.

ian and megan sneak peek | utah county engagement photographer

2010-03-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

just a little taste of what i'm workin on tonight :)

elise and scott's bride and groom session-utah county wedding photographer

2010-03-21T23:07:00.000-07:00

sigh. i loved shooting this couple's bride and groom session :) they've been married for a couple of years, but you can't even tell, they are still SO sweet together, you'd think it was all still brand new. elise looked absolutely gorgeous . . . her dress, fresh, beautiful make-up, and i just LOVE her hair. also, she is a total sweetheart. she and scott have a wonderful blog where they share stories of their spontaneous vacations! i just love that. i hope i'm that spontaneous and adventurous when i'm married :)

thanks scott and elise! i had so much fun with you two during our session!

p.s. elise's beautiful hair-piece was made by my very talented twin sister chloe. and a HUGE thanks to my fabulous partner in crime, lee, for her assistance in this session!

much love!

utah county wedding photographer-tara and brett's bride and groom session.

2010-03-11T20:43:00.000-08:00

wow, this week has been busy! i've been scrambling to get so many things done before i go out of town tomorrow night (soo excited to get away btw)!

i've posted quite a few sessions of my cousin tara and her fiance brett, and why not? they're just too cute for words. this bridal shoot was definitely more on the romantic side. considering the race against daylight, the freezing cold temperatures, and the last minute location, i really did love the way some of these pictures turned out and i'm so excited to share them with you :)

well, gotta go get some more last-minute things wrapped up!

xoxo-

maddie.

from my phone.

2010-03-10T19:51:00.000-08:00

today, i was going through my phone, noticing my pictures were taking up a LOT of space! so, tonight i'm clearing them off.

i decided to keep a few of my favorites though, and share a couple with you :)

i was talking to jeremy on google talk, asking him what food i should bring over to his house. his order was, like, a billion items long, and i knew i wouldn't remember it, so i took a snapshot of our conversation hehe. worked like a charm ;)

well, i'm going to get back to editing! have a fantastic evening!

xoxo,

beep. boop. bop.

2010-03-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

hi dear friends. as you may have noticed, the blog makeover is still not finished. i've been soo busy the past few nights and have hardly had a moment to even think about the other adjustments i have in store!

p.s. don't you just love that the warm weather is coming? ahh!
yesterday, i almost thought about taking my laptop to a park or something and sitting outside while i edited pictures. but of course, it wasn't THAT warm, and i get cold even when it's hot out, so i knew that was not gonna happen.
instead, i bundled up all warm in sweats and knee socks, and got my hot water bottle for my feet, and i edited allll night. sadly, i didn't even get as much done as i'd expected. but, that's what this week is for. i'll be editing every night this week until i leave for St. George on friday! so excited to get away for the weekend and see my grandma and aunt :)

well, i think after work, i'm going to go rent some movies. the past few days, i've had the urge to watch Whip It! if you haven't seen it, you should. it's really sweet and funny. gotta love those little indie flicks.

xoxo,

me.

hi friends!

2010-03-04T19:01:00.000-08:00

tonight i'll be doin a little makeover work on the ol' blog. so please bear with me while i (possibly) make sudden changes every few minutes! :)

p.s. i love your faces. yes. all of you.

mm mmmmm :)

2010-03-02T17:25:00.000-08:00

this sweet boy helped me try out some night shooting techniques the other night. i was feeling a bit down, and he thought doing something artistic might cheer me up, so i told him i had been wanting to try out the lighting equipment i bought a few months ago in some night shots. he helped me figure out all of the equipment, read the manuals, put together the light stands, and then he stood in the freezing cold for almost an hour and just let me take practice shot after practice shot until i felt like we had gotten an idea of how to make it all work. even when i was freezing cold, he kept encouraging me not to give in until i felt good about the set-up.

he looks cute, eh? :) tonight he's feeling under the weather. i think he has the flu or something :(

so, i'll probably make him some soup and bring a few movies over to his house and just have a fun, relaxing night.

hope you all are doing well!

love,

m.e.