I spent a day shooting classroom environments recently in the Lincoln School District for a national non-profit group. This was a really fun and simple assignment that gave me the freedom to shoot education-related features throughout the schools elementary, middle and high schools. The client had a handful of shots they wanted, the rest was up to me – music to a photojournalist’s ears. Here are a few of my favorite from the day.

Keeping with the theme from my previous post, here is another homage to warmer weather and my favorites from Jamie and Jeff’s fall engagement session in Bella Vista. Jamie and Jeff drove up from Fort Smith for their afternoon shoot and we hit a couple of locations in Bella Vista, including an old barn I drive by every day whenever I leave my house. Jamie had mentioned that she wanted to work a country session into the engagement session. I think the barn was a great fit. The second half of the shoot was spent at Tanyard Creek. I really enjoyed my afternoon with Jamie and Jeff, they’re both very easy going and very much in love. I can’t wait til their wedding in April and, of course, Jamie’s bridal session in a couple of months.

In lieu of the frosty weather, here is a look back to October and Kaci and Evan’s fall engagement session at the Crystal Bridges Trail and Orchards Park in Bentonville. What a beautiful day that was, a warm, 70-degree beautiful day. Kaci and Evan will marry on June 9 in Fayetteville.

I spent the afternoon the day before Thanksgiving with the Mootz family shooting family portraits in Bentonville. The long holiday weekend was one of the rare occasions Jim Mootz had all of his children together at one time. We made the best of the opportunity and shot several different group sets at different locations in town. Of course I had a blast working with the Mootz’s. Here are some of my favorites from the shoot.

Samantha and Alvin Go were married on Oct. 28 at St. Catherine’s at Bell Gable in Fayetteville. A reception followed at The North Forty. This was a really fun wedding to shoot. First, I’d met Samantha a few years back through a mutual friend and we’ve been Facebook friends ever since, so I was already acquainted with the bride. She contacted me out of the blue in September to inquire about my services for her wedding that she and her mother were planning. And that leads to the second reason, it was much smaller than the average wedding I’ve shot in the past, so less pressure. And lastly, Filipino weddings are always fun, big or small. Here are some of my favorites from Sam and Alvin’s big day. Cheers.

Arkansas’ basketball season kicks off tonight at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. Here are a few portraits of players and coaches I shot for Hawgs Illustrated’s annual basketball preview. Included are the Hogs’ freshmen class (Hunter Mickelson, Devonta Abron, B.J. Young and Rashad Madden), senior Marshawn Powell and assistants Scotty Thurman and T.J. Cleveland. There are a few more not included here that haven’t been published yet. I might drop them into the post later on, so be sure to check back.

This is my fifth or sixth season (I’ve lost count) to shoot portraits for HI’s hoops preview. This time around I was really at a loss for backgrounds. I took a chance with the rows of courtside seats folded up around the court. After a couple of test shots I realized I was on to something. The background really popped and many of my co-workers approved of the look.

The portrait of Scotty Thurman juxtaposed with the iconic photo of his game-winning shot against Duke in the 1994 National Championship is one of my favorites from our preview. It’s not perfect, there is a bit of a flaw to the shot, but I love it nonetheless. And so does Thurman. He approached me at Tuesday’s exhibition game and told me how much he liked the photo. That really made my day.

For more of my sports portraits go here.

All photos © 2011 Hawgs Illustrated

Here is sneak preview of a few of my favorites from Samantha and Alvin’s wedding on Oct. 28 in Fayetteville at St. Catherine’s at Bell Gable and reception at The North 40. Again, congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Go. Stay tuned for more…

Jen and Ty Denny were married on Oct. 18 at Natural Falls State Park in Oklahoma. Ty had contacted me about shooting the wedding, but it fell on a Tuesday and conflicted with my work schedule. Since I couldn’t make it we arranged to meet up at the park the following Monday afternoon to shoot a post-wedding portrait session. I had never been to the park before, but have driven by the sign on U.S. 412 dozens of times. It’s a very unique place and worth a visit if you live in NWA. The portrait session with Jen and Ty was a lot of fun, plus the weather cooperated and the fall foliage was nearing its peak. I took a more traditional approach to the portraits since they didn’t have any professional photos from their wedding day. Here are some of my favorites from the shoot.

I spent a picture-perfect fall afternoon last weekend with Jamie and Jeff shooting engagement photos at locations in Bella Vista. The autumn colors weren’t quite at their peak, but still provided a beautiful backdrop for the shoot along with an old weathered barn I’ve been itching to work into an engagement session. More to come….

I spent the afternoon yesterday with my new clients Kaci and Evan shooting their engagement photos at the Crystal Bridges Trail and Orchards Park in Bentonville. I had a great time working with them and am really looking forward to their wedding in June. Enjoy this sneak preview, more to come later this week.