Cousin/Friend/Brother

So many memories.

So many laughs.

When words fail, Jesus’ love lifts us up.

When grief envelops, our Savior’s joy shines through.

When sorrow overcomes, our awesome God holds us.

When the pain overwhelms, there is a peace and hope that passes human understanding.

For we weep, but we do not weep like those who have no hope, for we have put our trust in Christ alone.

Sunset Tracks

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Nappanee, IN and saw a really cool old train station. This is the place that inspired the photo shoot below. I take annual photos for this little guy, Evan, and he’s already 2!!! Anyways, we were hanging out with my cousin Alyssa and her fiancé that evening also, so we got a few shots of them to. I am super excited to be shooting their wedding in December!

A Hartville Happening - Eric | Brianna

It was about four years ago, that’s when I met Eric and Briana for the first time. I was in Hartville, Ohio, (which is between Akron and Canton) on fall break with one of my college friends. He was nice enough to take a fairly large group to his home for the weekend. Little did I know what would blossom out of that one friendship and that first trip to the sleepy, beautiful town of Hartville, Ohio.

Looking back now it has been several years, That friend, Jared, is now my best friend and our wives are best friends. We have visited Hartville regularly ever since and have come to call their family, our family. All six of Jared’s aunts and Uncle’s share their homes and resources freely with everyone and it is truly a centered and special family to be considered a part of. They truly have and share the love of God freely with all they encounter and it shows in every aspect of theirs and their children’s, and their grandchildren’s, and even in their great-grandchildren’s lives.

Wow, I could probably keep talking about them, but the purpose of this post is to share the pictures of the wedding of Eric and Briana, the last of the Coblentz boys, to finally get hitched. He married his high school sweetheart, Briana after dating for several years! I was not the photographer, but had my fun nonetheless. Tom of Livigni Photography was very gracious and is an exceptional photographer! Check him out here: http://www.livigniphotography.com

So on to some pics!!

If you knew this family of boys, you would know that the wedding day had to start with some Basketball!

“Campy” – One of the 12 Crazy Groomsmen!

Here is Tom Livigni, working his assets…Nikon D700, beautiful piece of machinery!

Nancy, the beautiful mother of the groom, almost in tears watching her husband and four sons walking up the drive-way.

The Coblentz Family (Without Wives and Grandchildren)

The Groom did not have an ounce of stress the entire day, totally care-free and having a great time!

Probably on of my favorites of the entire day...

Brianna, the stunning bride.

The Guys

Adella with Grandpa

Micah!

Adella and Makana, the flower girls...

The Cake

This is such a great shot of Brianna kissing her husband during the first dance…

The Zappasodi's

So Matt and Emily finally got hitched today! It seemed like the day would never come, but the Texan city boy and the Hoosier farm girl tied the knot under a beautiful blue sky at Winona Lake Indiana today. It was a lot of fun and the newlyweds were glowing. Here is just a couple of quick shots straight from the camera so they can get a taste before they get on their plane for their tropical honeymoon tomorrow! Love you guys and all the best!

Brown County, IN

So we spent the weekend at a great cabin in southern Indiana with the family. We got to take my wife’s new Land Rover out for it’s first real offroad adventure and we had a great time celebrating Easter and my Dad’s 50th Birthday!

Here are a couple of shots from the weekend…

Some Mexican Scenery

I finally finished up some editing from back in December. Some of my non-portrait work. More landscapes.

Enjoy!

Here is a shot I took of some random couple with their kid, but it turned out so great, I just wish I knew who they were so I could give it to them!

Flashback to the Good 'Ol Days

So here it is January and ever since January of 2004 this month has always brought about a pang of sadness to my heart. The reason being that the first four months of 2004 were quite possibly some of the best of my life. It was then that I was able to pioneer my college’s brand new study abroad program, the Pacific Rim Study Abroad.

Man was I hyped and excited for a four month journey across three continents, five countries and more cultural boundaries than I ever could have imagined. Not to mention the lifelong friendships that I would forge and the “Sweet As” adventures we would partake in! (Sweet As is a common Kiwi saying for something that is really cool) (Kiwi is another word for a New Zealander).

We started our trip with a couple days in Beijing China, then spent four weeks on the north island of New Zealand, then two weeks in Sydney Australia, and the outback at a hostel that has no roads to it (gotta go by boat) then back the China for six weeks, studying and traveling all around including Xi’An to see the Terra Cotta Army, and then to Japan for a day, and to top it all off we had a two week stopover on the island of Oahu on the way home.

Now you are starting to grasp the reasons why I say they could be the best four months of my life.

Anyways, a new group is partaking of this adventure right now, and when the photos pop up of their musings and journeys, it always brings me back to the same sullen path of wonderful memories.

So I decided to post a few photos of some of those great memories. If you don’t like them, sorry, this post is more for the writer than the reader… 

Here is a shot of me on the Great Wall

This was taken on Piha Beach (a black sand beach) about 45 minutes outside of Auckland, New Zealand.

A couple of cool Beijing Street Cops…

The infamous live scorpion that I ate…video below the picture…

For the video click HERE

The Opera House…

And finally, some of the crew that went surfing with Uncle Robbie at Barber Point on Oahu…

And last but not least, this time of year it is nice to look at a picture that warms you up, so here is a shot of Josh Boyer and I watching a sunset in Nanakuli on the West shore of Oahu.

Well memories fade, but photos always help…I’m ready to go again…

The 85L Magnificorificness

I will let these pictures tell the story behind the word that I had to make up to describe this lens.

One of my favorites from the whole trip!

Also, here is a great one with a wide angle shot at 2.8 aperture. I love the blur with a wide angle it is just cool!

This weekend I hope to post some stuff from my camping at 13,000 ft adventure, maybe even a HD movie Bear Grylls style!!!