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Make sure your itunes are amped up (especially for Day 5’s water show) – we decided not to put music with our images. At the bottom of each post about Vegas, we put up additional images of our trip on an external link. Enjoy!

Vegas Day 1 – Welcome RAD Studio

Vegas picked up where Tampa left off – me throwing my hands up. I hate over packing, but here I was having a suitcase that was solely devoted to our shoes. Ya, just our shoes! I never thought I would see that day. But man, do we look good in them

Ral and Danelle’s week O’ fun started off with a 3 hour flight delay. But the fun part was we had to stay in the plane 99% of the time (did you sense the sarcasm?). They didn’t know what was going on except with updates that came in every 30 minutes – which in turn flight control said – we’ll know more in 30 minutes. So, we all thought we were always ready to leave in 30 minutes. 3 hours and 6 updates later – they were right

When we got to Vegas, it was pretty late, and we couldn’t get a hold of the Finao crew. We checked in to the Paris Las Vegas and was absolutely starving.

We put on our comfy shoes and headed down the strip. Las Vegas is absolutely GORGEOUS. aside from the guys on the street giving us tickets for free shows. The architecture, hotels, themes, and energy was simply out of this world!

We walked through New York, New York, Luxor, MGM, and Excalibur. When we were inside MGM we got to see the Lions come out and play. These pictures do not do justice to how Beautiful these creatures are. I mean really, WOW. They were also, literally inches away from us. The glass roof, also allowed us to see them right up close. It was amazing. Danelle and I were simply in awe watching them for over an hour. It was like Chronicles of Narnia when Aslan entered. It was so Cool.

 

 

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Vegas Day 2 – Calm Before the Storm

Here we are getting the booth ready for the onslaught of people coming through in the next few days. We absolutely knew that we would get crushed with photographers coming in to see the product. The crappy thing was that our booth was a fraction of the size of what we had in Tampa – and WPPI was a much larger tradeshow – yikes.

The new product line is Hot Hot Hot.

 

 

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Vegas Day 3

Did I have any time to take pictures? Ya right. Our booth was so unbelievably packed, that we had to host over flow parties, every single night after the tradeshow.

Vegas Day 4 – Happy Anniversary!!!

Well you pretty much know what happened at the tradeshow and overflow parties – more people wanting to get to know Finao, so, I’ll bypass that and go straight to the evening. Danelle and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary at Alize in the Palms hotel. It was highly recommended to us by John and Dalisa Cooper of AltF. They are Nevada natives – and let us know, that despite all the glitz and glamor of the strip in Las Vegas, Las Vegas is an ordinary city and not everyone’s a dancer

Right from entering the Palms, the experience was exquisite. The Valet parkway was lined up with a Lamborghini, Ferraris, Porsches, Bentleys etc. It was as if the minimum purchase of a car had to be in 6 figures to be in that lane. Wow.

When we got to Alize, the service was just impeccable and the view was simply breath taking. We saw the entire strip of Las Vegas. Also, the very cool thing was for a brief moment when we were there, there was a power outage at the Mandalay Bay, Luxor, New York New York, and Excalibur. There was a big vacant area of lights. I didn’t have time to take a picture unfortunately.

The food was out of this world. Nuff said.

 

 

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Vegas Day 5 – Happy Pre-Birthday

After another long day that went by in like 10 minutes, we had the sad task of dismantling the booth. It was like packing up your stuff at summer camp getting ready to go home. It really sucked because this time around, we never got to hang out with the Finao team as much as we did in Tampa. We truly missed that.

At least we got to go out for a last dinner before the entire Finao team hit up the red-eye to go back to Michigan (with the exception of Keith who left for New York).

We’ll admit it, we didn’t want to say bye to our Finao family. When they left we were instantly depressed. We didn’t want to go back to our room because we would literally mope around. So we tried to stay out as long as we could to take our mind off of things.

After they left we headed across the street to the Belagio. We literally just stayed there for over 2 hours and watched the water show every 15 minutes – It seriously never got old.

Just when we were feeling down and out – who taps us on the shoulder and gives a big hug? Mark Adams from LaCour – the epitome of good times. Mark is seriously the nicest dude on the face of planet earth.

He gave us a little show when the music played, and gave Danelle a dance for her birthday. Now if you have seen this man dance and have not laughed your butt off, then there is something seriously wrong with you. This Cat’s got moves! He even wished Danelle a happy birthday at the stroke of Midnight before I did – What’s this guy trying to do?

It was a great way to end the night. We ended up staying out until 3 am and when we got back in to the room we spend about an hour packing our things. We tried to stay up all night, but was just too exhausted to stay awake.

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Vegas Day 6 – Happy Birthday Danelle

Although we weren’t able to pull the all nighter, we knew that we didn’t want to waste the day. Our flight was at 4, so we literally had the whole day to soak in, what we dub ‘clean’ Vegas.

We woke up really early, to the best show in the world, Saved by the Bell. Good times! For all you fans, did you know that during the intro, where they all give each other a high five – watch Kelly, as she totally misses it – it’s comedy.

We were able to walk around and take in some of the sights with no time constraints whatsoever. And of course, with whatever city we happen to be in, we ALWAYS hit up the Tiffany & Co. So we stopped by and got Danelle an archival book for her birthday. Its called “Tiffany In Fashion” showcasing the different Tiffany ad champagnes over the past century. We were very much in that photography mind set so I believe her gift was perfect. Photography + Tiffany… can’t lose with that!

The cool things was on our way back we ran into no other than the dynamic duo of Jen and Steve Bebb. We got to talk for a while, and I think with all the busyness of WPPI, there are no two people in the entire world that we would have wanted to speak to more on Danelle’s birthday. That’s really brightened up our already sunny disposition. We actually talked to them for so long that we almost missed our flight and didn’t even know it It was totally worth it.

We realized at the airport that we weren’t able to take a picture with our Finao family. That made us sad – sad face emoticon.

Well back to reality. Although Vegas was fun, it’s great to be back. Even though we both got sick from the change in weather.

We’re back baby!

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Vegas Coming Your Way

I know that some of you have emailed us to update and put up our Vegas experience – but in all honesty we’re still recouping from the trip. I actually got pretty sick after coming back. I think it’s the weather change.

Anyways – we’ll put up just a little bit of what we did in Vegas on Monday. There was literally so much, that I couldn’t possibly blog it all.

’till then, have a great weekend (did I just see snow outside?)!

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Happy Two Year Anniversary!!!!!!

We wanted to share a piece of time with you. Since we’re celebrating 2 years of blissful marriage, we wanted to post some images from our wedding shot by the Bebbs. They still are our photographers and we are continually blessed by them.

We’ve learned a lot about each other and about life… its good even when it looks bad. Our one year mark was all about adjustments and this year has definitely been about building life. I feel extremely fortunate and humbled that I would be responsible to partner with Ral in life. I am constantly amazed and fascinated that he balances me out and is so driven to make life exceptional for me. I am greatly loved, and I believe that no one else can pierce the exceedingly abundant affections that reside very privately in me than Ral.

Here’s a video we did for our wedding about how we met… its pure jokes so about 15% is actually real fact… oh… fun times! It actually took us a day and a half from shooting to final product but it was sooo fun to do and it really exemplifies how we really are. =D Enjoy!

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Here are some of our favorite shots from the Bebb’s coverage of our wedding. We still get teary looking back… it really was the best day in the world.

xo|danelle

house cleaning

Hey all we are in Las Vegas right now, trying to rest up for another barrage of future Finaians. We’ve been running on about 2 hours of sleep a night, but oh man is the product just spanking amazing!!  We can’t wait to show these new options off (drooly emoticon).

Just some house keeping issues.

1. The studio will still be closed until March 24th

2. Thank you to all those who have taken advantage of the pre-order discounts, you will be notified shortly.

3. All outstanding contracts that have been sent out thus far must be completed by March 26th.

4. Stay tuned for our Anniversary reflections

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studio closed

Hey all, we are going to be away for the next couple weeks. We’re going to be representing THE BEST album company in the world – Finao - in Las Vegas, in the biggest trade-show of the year – WPPI. While we’re there we’re going to be meeting some of the best wedding and portrait photographers on planet Earth. I’m probably going to look like a deer in the headlights like the last time I met with the industry’s finest.

Our studio will re-open on Monday, March 24. If we’re not back by then, we’re probably still recovering from Vegas’ aesthetic stimulation overload. You know… VASO =)

ALSO – Just a reminder to our lovely couples, our Album PRE-ORDER SALE ends on March 18th. So if you want to take advantage of it, you have to contact us by then

peace.

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P.S. We’re updating our site! Stay tuned for some very RAD updates. And, Danelle is still accepting emails, so keep them coming. She’ll be in touch with you when we get back! Can’t wait to celebrate our anniversary and her birthday!!

Me At 25 & 25 of You.

My Birthday Wish For This Year: TO LISTEN & LEARN.

I wanted to remember my 25th year knowing that I learned a lot and was able to apply it into my life to become a better wife, sister, daughter, friend, future mother and photographer. So I’m inviting 25 of you to indulge me in a conversation about life. What have you learned? Who are you today because of it?

Tea and/or coffee are on me as I know I will enjoy your company.

My Gift To You For Your Generosity and Time:

1. A mini session personally shot by me

2. An 8×10 of whatever image you like from our session

3. A feature on our blog (if you are comfortable)

4. A very happy birthday gal – and a much wiser one because of your time.

Please do not be shy. I really am putting myself out there because there are roles in life we all must play and I want to do them well. One of the things I really struggle with is being stubborn and I know this will be a humbling experience for me (and a beneficial one for Ral). =) Everyone is welcome. Thank you in advance. Please contact me by email and let me know a bit about yourself and end with a statement on life. The 25 who are chosen will be contacted by me and we’ll have a go!

Wow, I can already feel myself changing! Hahaha!

xo|danelle

**UPDATE: Thank you to all of you who have emailed me thus far! Wow… really, thank you. You people are making me cry. I can barely even write this. I feel really honored to be introduced to new people – going past the surface and being spoken to instead of being spoken at. WOW… To my industry peers who have emailed, I am honored. Truly. To those I do know already – you are welcome as well so no more ‘Is it okay if I…’ or ‘Do I apply?’ Also, for those who are from out of town… we’ll work something out. =) Keep them coming everyone! I would love this to be my experience for this year (I’d like it to be a year long process) so I’m excited to meet you.

And I forgot to add that my birthday is actually on the 20th.

Thanks so much everyone, seriously. This is running deeper than I had anticipated.

Happy Engagement Day

3 Years ago today, I – with the help of Reggie and Hannah – whisked Danelle away on an amazing race-esk engagement. It was a long day but ended off great – she said yes. After scouring the entire mass of the lower mainland to uncover clues, she ended off at Bear Creek Park at the same bench I asked Danelle to start dating. That’s where I proposed. Bear Creek was the first place we had our first ‘official’ date (way back in ‘99 ).

Three years ago seems like it was forever now. Back then I was teaching a 5th grade class in Langley, had more hair, and wore glasses. Almost everything is different now – I don’t live in the same place, let alone the same city, I am now a full time photographer, have no cable TV, and actually enjoy vegetables. But the only thing that has remained constant is that I am still so much in love with my wife, more so than ever before. I love you Danelle.

This is a clip from the video I made for our engagement day
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Julie & Juan

There’s so much to say about these two that I feel like I have to make a separate pdf for you all to read. I don’t think we’ve ever enjoyed The Office with anyone as much as these two. OH MY! As you can see, these two are hot. HOT, I say. We know Julie and Juan from our church, Victory Christian Centre. I interned for a year with Julie in the music department… I do miss my Thursday tasks. =)

These two are ______ (Awesome – is there a better word?). The shoot was a complete breeze. Even though the weather was a bit on the wet side, they were such good sports and let Ral and I try out all the new things we’ve been dying to do and we are so thankful for that considering the fact that there was a possibility of our shoot being canceled. The weather wasn’t at all comparable to them, we couldn’t take a bad shot, they were too easy to shoot. But more than that, they have that admirable and coveted solid persona to boot. They are great together and I couldn’t imaging Julie with anyone else – I’m soooo happy for them. If you all see these two in your life time say ‘hello’ and ask them for 5 minutes – you’ll definitely learn a lot and have a good laugh.

 

 

 

Thank you for the man meat. hahaha! We must hang out again, we had a blast! I must have been on the verge of spitting on Julie’s plate about a dozen times. You guys are rockstars.

xo|danelle

Heather & Murl’s Impromtu Shoot

Scott and Ral just started shooting so, I decided to snap a few as well. These two are getting married next January… oh love, they are very, very, very much in love.

 

 

 

this is how it all went down.

 

You guys are sweethearts. Congratulations!

xo|danelle