Carrie Butler Photography » Wedding Photography

February

Carrie — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:35:35 +0000

It’s the beginning of my birthday month readers, and while I am super excited about my upcoming present (I told Mike I wanted to go back in time and visit a real live plantation since I am reading Gone with the Wind, he seems psyched about doing that for me…) I have a birthday related question I would like to pose here on the world wide web for some feedback. When it is your birthday and you are in the (sometimes uncomfortable) position of having a group of people sing Happy Birthday to you, ie: waiters at a restaurant, people in your workplace, your dad and his wife who call you on speaker phone, etc… what is the appropriate facial response? Do I smile and wave? Is it appropriate to jump in and sing along, should I make eye contact? Listen, this dilemma has been plaguing me for quite some time and this year, my~ahem~ 29th year, I am going to find out. So please, any well mannered person who may be reading this post, please feel free to weigh in on the topic.

In other news, I was able to attend a really great By Invitation Only dinner held in at the incredible Adamas showroom. The energy in this beautiful space was so great, the food was beautiful, the hosts were, as always, perfect and the entertainment was Jenny Jordan Frogley with David Halliday on the sax, these two are incredible, amazing, could have listened to them all night. Have you been to a By Invitation Only dinner before? Be sure and check out the Facebook page for more information!

www.facebook.com/ByInvitationOnlySLC

Can’t Take Him Anywhere!

Carrie — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:19:04 +0000

I was snapping a few pictures of my dear friend Tamara and her family that just grew by one, when I saw something dart into my frame that didn’t belong. Well, I will say the same thing we say about our four year old when she exclaims loudly and in public that she needs to poop, “At least he’s pretty..”

Love you Mike!

More Talent in Her Little Pinky…

Carrie — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:22:48 +0000

I have one artistic skill alone, and that is seeing life through a lens. If it already exists, then I can photograph it. That’s all I can do. I have very little expertise in the area of decorating and designing and that is why I hired Kalie Graves. I needed help revamping our living space, which was slowly but surely becoming a source of irritation in my daily life, it was not an area I was proud of, and trying to make it that way only resulted in more frustration. Kalie came in and much to my relief, took over and transformed it into something I feel extremely proud of, a place where I now meet clients, do edits and lay around reading books. I LOVE this new space, I feel comfortable here, confident, and I LOVE Kalie for creating it for us. So I decided to continue the momentum and have her do the girls rooms too. Paige is a funny little lady, very specific in her tastes and ideas. She told Kalie she wanted a room that was red and turquoise. Red and turquoise? I would have quit the job right then and there, how do you make those colors go together? Actually that is the main reason her room has been so plain for so long, I had no idea how to make her room a space that she loved and didn’t leave me with an enormous headache every time i came in. Enter Kalie. I gave her a fairly low budget and wasn’t expecting much, maybe a few wall decorations and some curtains or lamps or something, but last night we came home to an absolutely stunning sight. I was literally speechless and Paige was jumping around shouting! After much digging, I discovered that most of the decor was either created or redone by her, including the artwork on the walls, the curtains, and the repainted chair (yes it is painted, even the fabric, it is awesome..) We love it, so I am going to share some pictures with you readers here today. I will follow up next week with Mia’s gorgeous room. And potentially an announcement about a workshop I am trying to talk her into putting on to teach all of us less visioned folks how to think bigger. Any of you readers interested in that?

First, a preview of what it did look like, please excuse the mess…

If you would like to contact Kalie yourself, here is her number, 1-801-633-2132, and ladies, I think she travels…

January

Carrie — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:47:38 +0000

Happy New Year (three weeks late)!! I realize that it has been quite some time since I posted any pictures of anything on here, and I have to apologize, it has been such a busy time and I kind of inadvertently took a break. But I’m back baby! And I am here to tell you that 2012 is a new year, and is going to be filled with lots of amazing new things, things like going back to St Lucia to photograph an epic wedding celebration, getting back into school to finish the yet unfinished degree, starting into film, and, perhaps the biggest new thing of all, shaving my arms. I am not sure how long this arm shaving trend is going to last but I finally gave in to peer pressure, (y0u know who you are, arm shaving peers that pressured me) and although I went in hesitantly and kind of hated the hairlessness at first, I gotta say that now I am hooked. Like my friend Erica says, it takes almost no time at all so why not just try it out. Smooth arm city is where its at in 2012.

In other new things in January news… have you seen the abc show Once Upon a Time? Its great, reminds me a little of Lost with the flashbacks, and although there is no Sawyer in it to spice it up, it is still kind of watchable even if it is about fairy tales.

Also, my friend Tessa turned me on to The 17 Day Diet which I did for 5 days before we left for vacation last week and I lost a bunch of weight, then promptly ate it all back on during our cruise. Needless to say I will be back on the wagon starting tomorrow. It is easy to follow and very very effective so let me know if you decide to check it out!

Finally, here are a handful of photos I took while on the Disney Cruise this last week. I only brought out my big camera a few times and got far fewer cool scenery pictures then I ordinarily would, but I made a decision to be more present for my kids this trip and it paid off big time in the way of hugs and kisses and “I love you, Mommy” over the course of the week. Not to mention, my little point and shoot camera is really pretty great for being so small and did a great job of capturing our together time to put into our family album. These photos were all taken with my 5d though.

Anyway, welcome, 2012! And best of luck to all of you who are embarking on something new this year!

The Gift

Carrie — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 22:16:22 +0000

One year ago tomorrow. That is when we witnessed Brett marry his sweet Laura on a Coronado Beach as the sun sank down into the ocean, when we raised our glasses to living, cherishing each and every day we have together, when we celebrated their love for each other. One year since she became his wife, our sister. They were married for six beautiful weeks before he passed on, just six, and while there is no way I would ever try to articulate what she meant to Brett, I would like to take a moment to express what she means to me. Because truly, if Brett had to leave us so early, there doesn’t exist a more exquisitely perfect gift he could have given us then Laura.

Laura is a remarkable person. I have observed her putting other peoples feelings far before her own, I have seen her feel deeply, worrying that she may have caused another pain or sadness. I have seen her give up personal comforts to help a friend in need. She is stronger then anyone I have met. She suffers deeply, and despite the suffering, she is still managing to create a life of meaning. She tries hard, she is encouraging, she makes others around her want to try harder. She has a unique ability to make you feel like you are worth something.

Last year was hard, sad, dark. But not as dark as it should have been, we had Laura. On most nights, when we would have been moping, feeling down, Laura smiled, told us we were going to learn all the moves to a Soulja Boy song on dance central, or do a Jillian Michaels workout video, or make raviolis by hand. Despite her pain, she has a twinkle in her eye, she makes things fun. She is loyal, she is confident, she is lovely, she is strong. I am so proud to have her as my sister, as my friend. So happy anniversary, Brett and Laura, we love you, thank you thank you for all that you are to us and to everyone around you!

(sometimes Laura comes with me and drags around my gear for me, and poses when I need to test the light while the family is in wardrobe change!)

shoot, I missed halloween….

Carrie — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 22:51:47 +0000

I was meaning to post this for Halloween but between fall photoshoots, dressing and undressing my kids in their costumes, running drills to make sure they got as many kit kats in their buckets as possible and then sneaking the aforementioned kit kats for myself after they went to bed at night, the holiday completely got away from me! But hey, everyone still loves a good ghost photo, right? I bet most of you readers have even already seen this, but just in case I haven’t totally convinced all of you that I did indeed photograph the memory grove ghost, here it is again… She is there in the window to the right above the dads head. She is looking in the direction of the mom, who was standing to my right, wearing a purple sweater. Rumor at the reception center there is that she usually makes an appearance when the brides color is purple. I guess she has a thing for it.. The second photo is just cropped a little tighter. So spooky, right??? I double dog dare you to google memory grove ghost and read up on some of the creepy things that are floating around the Internet about this!

Karen and Matt

Carrie — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 04:13:59 +0000

Writers block, that is what the call it. That is what I have, every time I try and tell a story about some amazing person that helped in our race to save my brother from that stupid cancer. And I feel like Karen and Matt’s story is such an exquisite testament to the hope we are all clinging to, that we are watched over, and protected. See, I met Karen through a friend of a friend about the time that Brett had exhausted all of his treatment options. She had recently lost her dear husband to testicular cancer. He had seen some of the same doctors, had most of the same treatments… And she was an angel, so forthcoming in the information they had come across, about doctors, and research and clinical trials, I felt like suddenly we had an advocate, someone who had been there, someone that didn’t just scratch her head and say “yes,well, testicular cancer is 99% curable..” Yes, I adore Karen, and her two lovely daughters, and now her soon to be new husband Matt, incidentally, a testicular cancer survivor whom she met being that same angel she was to us. I cried when they told me that during their photos, cried happy tears, because I knew, in that moment, that we are watched over, and loved, by someone, something bigger then ourselves. Karen and Matt, you are both remarkable, inspirational people, and I can’t thank you enough for being who you are. I am so so happy for you.

John and Lisa

Carrie — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 03:59:05 +0000

They opted for a First Look, a big reveal on the day we did their bridal pictures. Lisa got dressed at the capital building with John patiently waiting outside. It took a little longer then expected to get her all laced up, but he never said a word, he just waited. And as I am sure he will tell you, it was well worth the wait. I have done a lot of these first looks this year, and they are all beautiful, and I almost always get choked up, a lucky bystander, witnessing true love, but this was different. It was like time stood still, like the very air stopped moving in that moment that he turned around to see beautiful Lisa standing behind him. And then, just silence, thick with gratitude, with emotion, with love. I feel so lucky to have been a fly on the wall for that.

They wed a week later at the Draper Temple, and I was so impressed with all of their friends and family, I mean these two are surrounded with love, and they gave it freely in return. They had a lunch at Heritage Gardens following the wedding ceremony, and not only did John’s family play some very entertaining music, John himself got up and sang “a whole new world” from aladdin after some encouragement from his siblings, and I can’t lie, myself. (in my defense, his sister had joked that he could sing in perfect pitch both the male and female parts to it and I had to hear it for myself! He was great, there is a photo to prove it in here somewhere.. )

After the lunch, we all went over to their church for a reception, and I was blown away by all the beautiful decorations and the unbelievable food. Everything was lovely, John and Lisa, you are both such beautiful people, thank you so much for allowing me to be with you on your wedding day!

Traffic Tickets.

Carrie — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 19:01:25 +0000

Have you ever been pulled over and NOT gotten a ticket? Back in Vacaville, my friend Jamie and I had mock contests to see how many tickets we could get out of… I finished out our senior year with nine. Nine pull overs, zero tickets. Someday I will tell you all the stories that I came up with to ensure the sympathies of the traffic cops, but for now I will just say that Jamie may not have won by shear numbers, but stories. One time a she got pulled over, the cop walked over to her, asked her if she knew why he pulled her over and she quickly responded, “because you wanted my phone number?”

Well, I am proud to say that after 15 years and an untold number of pull overs AND tickets, I was able to get out of another one on my way to the photo shoot with Emily and Chad at Star Mill. What did I say? A simple “please please please don’t give me a ticket..” and he didn’t. I left with a giant feeling of relief and went on to finish out the evening with a beautiful family. We had a great time and here are some photos to show for it!

Matt and Shanna

Carrie — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:22:24 +0000

What can I say that will do these two justice? I could tell you that Shanna is working on studying tigers, and that she spent time last year in Africa studying cheetahs, which easily makes her incredibly interesting. Or I could tell you that Matt is hilarious, and as someone pointed out on some facebook photos I posted, bears a striking resemblance to Seth Meyers from SNL. Or I can tell you that together, they laugh, they crack each other up and that they are a perfect fit for each other. Most importantly, in the brief time that I was able to spend with them to get their wedding portraits and then to shoot their marriage the next day, I saw two genuinely good hearted people that are meant to be together, were brought together for a reason, and when they met, they both knew it.

Matt and Shanna, it was such a pleasure working with you, I can’t tell you how glad I am that you went against your better judgement and hired a photographer, your love story needed to be captured.

A special thanks to miss Corina, my helper and pack mule for the night, your attention to detail is fantastic and your ability to lug around a light stand, an umbrella, a flash, a tripod, a bag and a bouquet is incredible!

They had a quick lunch at the Olive Garden instead of a reception, they will celebrate with family and friends after school gets out for the winter break in December. Of course I had to head over and take at least a few shots there, since as some of you know, Olive Garden is near and dear to my own personal love story. Ironically, one of my first bosses is the general manager there and he was happy to help getting a ring shot with the OG logo. OG forever!