leaving today

for the FREE TO SUCCEED tour in DALLAS!!!!!!!!!

YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have been waiting and waiting and waiting for this date to get here! To go and hang out with some of our awesome photo friends, and of course to learn and hear from two of the best in the business!!- My personal favorite Jasmine Star!!! and the famous David Jay!! We could not be more excited!! We will definately come back with a few pictures and TONS of knowledge to help better our business!! :)

danielle & andrew | wedding

Danielle and Andrew hold a special place in our hearts. I'll start out by saying I've been writing this post for the past week, and nothing has seemed quite right...I've meant to talk about this couple and their day and all the special things we noticed about their love, their story--but selfishly I've felt I haven't been able to do it justice without adding a bit of mine & Aric's story as well.

These two are the first couple who were not already our friends before they so willingly entrusted their special day to us, as their wedding photographers. Nevertheless, walking away from their wedding Aric & I felt like we came away with much more than thousands of pictures of their wedding day-we came away with new friends.

Danielle was such a special bride since day one; we always felt like she really cared...not just about our work, but about us as people.  The way she talked with us as we spent time with her and her groom at meetings, shoots, etc. made us feel like she really believed in our work, in us.  Being young photographers, this amazing feeling drives us to chase the passion that we both love.  When you know that a bride really entrusts you with the most important pictures of her life, the pictures that will be passed on from generation to generation, the pictures that remind a thirty year marriage the joys that first built it...that's when you feel special; that's when it becomes our special day too.  

I (Aric) remember when we met at Starbucks, I could see the shimmer in her eyes as she imagined the way the most intimate moments and unique details of her special day would be captured in our pictures.  And in those moments...she showed a different smile...a smile that I recognized again, only when I saw her staring into Andrew's eyes when he read his vows or when they danced their first dance.  Those are the moments we live for; those are the moments when looking through a lens is better then just looking through these eyes...because it's then, that we can make those special moments last forever.

enjoy the pictures!!

:)

aric + casey

(P.S.-The pictures are best when viewed in Safari on a Mac--something about PC's and Internet Explorer that keeps dulling out our colors-- :( that's not our happy face!)  so if you can't get your hands on a mac--imagine the pictures with an extra pop of light & color!!) (And if there are any photographers or computer genius's out there reading this and you have any suggestions we'd LOVE to hear them!!)

my favorite | little boy

this is Caleb. if you are new to aric alan photography-get ready to be seeing this handsome little face a LOT-and if you're already a part of the aric alan photography family, then this face is a familiar one. Caleb is my little cousin. The most handsome, smart...(no GENIUS!), funny, energetic, talented, loving, little 5 year old you'll ever meet. My trips home to Dallas to hang out with the family are majorly centered around hanging out with this guy and his precious little sisters. They are truly a beautiful blessing to our family, and a highlight of many of my days. I was just running through some of the pictures from the last visit and came across a set of what I like to call- "The many-fabulous- faces of Caleb" :)
Hopefully they make you smile as much as they made me smile!!

P.S. Aric and I just finished up our favorite picks from Danielle & Andrew's wedding tonight!!! It was a little too late to go through the hassel of getting them uploaded to the blog-but I promise you will be seeing them SOON!!! :)--and be sure to get those eyes rested-because these pictures are gonna blow 'em away!! (plus there are TONS!!)
YAY!!

aric + casey

just for | fun

Despite the fact that I lead a very blessed and joyful life, I've been a little bummed lately. Just bored-with having to go to work, and to school...(throwing myself my own little pity party of sorts) and overwhelmed by our hopes and dreams that seem so close I could reach out and touch them--yet just seem that little tiny bit too far away to start reaching out just yet... So I took some time this weekend to edit a few pictures just for me, and today I'm posting them to add a little fun to my day! Amidst the study guides, homework assignments, and the piles upon piles of paperwork waiting for me at work- photography-and the idea of chasing this dream is always a very bright point in my sometimes boring days...
So here's a few FUN pictures...hopefully they can brighten your day a little too...
:)

aric + casey

Undeserving...

Well, if reading that previous blog post isn't enough to make me blush, then coming home to a boquet of the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen definately sent me over the top. It's almost funny that Aric would take the time to write the most poetic and seemingly tangible words about our life, and the passion we share for photography. He talks like I'm the one with a writing ability--pff! Nothing I have ever written has made the same impact (for myself) than what he just wrote--but he insists on having me write anyway. I decided on the title for this blog post for several reasons. Over the past few months, and more recently, the past couple of weeks- I've been faced with an overwhelming reality that I am most undeserving of all the good things in my life. I've mentioned it several times before and I'll mention it a million times over again that I'm blessed with so so many wonderful people, things, opportunities, etc. that just saturate every part of my life. (and it just seems that those things keep getting better and better...) But the one thing I consider myself most undeserving of-is Aric. Now I'm gonna try to not get all mushy gushy on you guys, but give me a break! He's the most incredible man I've ever known!! He never ceases to amaze me-with his kindness, his sincerity, his passion. He treats me with the most respect, carefulness, gentleness, patience--(ok I could go on & on...) But the most amazing thing about Aric-would have to be his heart. His love. It's the kind of love that comes(quite literally) from out of this world. With every word, every thought, every action he makes I am reminded daily of just how undeserving I am-not just of his love, but of the love of our Heavenly Father. He leads me to be a better person, challenges me to work harder, and inspires me to chase and fulfill every dream I've ever had.
-Aric, I love you. And I am truly most undeserving of the way you love and treat me in return. I can only hope to reciprocate half as much of the love, patience, kindness, sillyness, and passion towards you that I recieve every single day from you. Thank you for being my best friend. My mentor and teacher. My romancer/prince-charming/knight in shining armor. And so much more...

(ok now seriously, it wasn't that bad, was it?!)--and be on the look out for some wedding pictures plus a few other random shots we've taken over the past few weeks!! :)
as for now--here are my beautiful flowers...

the stuff dreams are made of...

Ok so I have to admit that it's been quite a while since I (aric) have posted on our blog. That's because the woman that stole my heart, love, and attention, also stole my breath with her writing during the first days that we met. Casey has a unique gift to transform people's dreams, joys, and emotions into beautiful and amazing literary masterpieces. The first time I read the things she wrote, I fell in love with the way that she could capture the special sparkles in the most routine of events. This is why I devised a plan into tricking her into taking over the once "my" blog and turning it into ours. We already shot every session together and shared just about everything, but I secretly dreamed of showing her work next to mine. Casey is the most amazing woman I've ever met and her grace, love, acceptance, and patience teaches me of a greater Love daily, and for that I'm thankful. :) Anyway, it's been a fun road that we've walked recently...we've had the opportunity to be a part of some amazing peoples' special wedding days, we've had the opportunity to make friends with some amazing photographers in our region (whom we are still learning to keep up with), and we've had the ridiculously overjoyed experience to have some amazing photograhers visit our blog and comment on our work. But we are still ironing out the kinks of quality changes in our posted images, trying to curb blog posting droughts, and workflow questions and confusions...but I just wanted to use this post to thank some people out there who we consider friends in high places!! :)

-To brittany strebeck for arranging the most special day of our lives, the day she introduced casey and i, and also for all her love, support, and help in figuring out how to start a photo biz from scratch
-To jason from table4photography for his amazing friendship and help since the first day we met and willingness to help and encourage constantly and consistently
-To cristy cross for all her tips and teaching since, and more importantly for the inspiration to begin this journey
-To marco and joe from jcogliandro photography who befriended us at WPPI and encouraged us to chase our dreams and generously offered their help, support, and wisdom that week and for many to come, they were our first big-time photographer friends
-To bobby earle & his precious linds for the blog love and amazing encouragement
-To mike colon for his unabounding wisdom that he shared most likely unknowingly at a workshop in Dallas, and for his kindness, care, and passion to share his gift and journey with others
-To jasmine star for encouraging casey to use her gift, for us to never be afraid of following our passion, and for her kindness and amazing spirit which encouraged us immensely when we met at WPPI
-To jessica claire and lauren clark who's images' amazingly vibrant color once shed a specially beautiful light on the dream shooting wedding photography that got lost in the shadows
-To shannon sewell who inspires like no other...her images show life, laughter, and love like we on day wish to, she also generously complemented our work!
-To all the photographers across the nation and globe that are so amazingly willing to share heir knowledge, tips, stories, work, and stories about how they braved the journey to chase their dreams...we feel so blessed that they would do so much for someone whom they've never met...it is because of them and their generosity that we are able to push through the hard times and chase our dreams...the photo community has created a uniquely special industry

Well...on to the images!! These are some pictures I shot at a few of the weddings that I attended and decided to play the ghost wedding photgrapher. Although another photographer actually shot the wedding, I couldn't help but grab a few shots of the gorgeous weddings of some of my best high school friends...plus my better half couldn't make it for these weddings so I had to distract myself. :( Thanks again for all the love and support...please comment!!!! It makes our day and thanks again for stopping! Hope you love them!