aidedi photo

BENTON BIRTH...

2009-11-11T12:49:00.011-06:00

Let me just say that I have been floored for years that I am allowed, even more than that, invited into the intimate moments of a couples wedding day. The exchanges that I witness from behind my camera on those days make me feel like I have the greatest job there is. They are unforgettable...

Now I wasn't sure if there were any other days or moments of our lives that could affect my heart as deeply as a father giving away his only daughter to a man he finds worthy, or a man and women covenanting with God and each other to choose each other in love for all the days of their lives... But I must confess that being let in a delivery room when a family sees their new grandson or nephew for the first time, asked to capture the moment a baby takes his or her first breath... there are not moments like these. I could never explain how honored I am to be the one in the room behind the camera during these moments. And in this particular case it was some of our best friends that invited us in..

Asher Hugh Benton was born at 8:04pm on February 18,2009. He arrived at 7 pounds and 8 ounces, 21 inches long. And I promise from the moment I met the little guy, he has been an obvious picture of all his mom and dad's joy. It was such a gift to wait along with so many friends and tons of Alex and Brooke's family for the arrival of Asher...

Brooke's dad immediately fell to one knee weeping and thanking God for the arrival of healthy little Asher... unforgettable.

so sweet to watch family update the world about their new grand baby...

the friend turn out was unreal... so much love for the Bentons.

beautiful beautiful new momma...

my absolute favorite.

new dad and nurse getting the little guys footprints.

CHANGE...

2009-11-11T11:17:00.004-06:00

So I thought I should probably catch you up on where we have been now for months since we have obviously not been in front of the computer working on our blog :)... Pretty much since Robby and I got married we have both had 3 jobs. 3 different faces that we stick on almost everyday. I think I may have even mentioned this in the beginning of the blog, but basically we both are fitness trainers (which we just moved into a new space, you should check it out at www.gzcrossfit.com) in the morning, we then both went to a steady paycheck job during the day, and by night and weekend we are photographers. Well at the beginning of October we really felt the Lord asking us to trust him as our sole provider instead of our steady paycheck jobs. Specifically felt him pressing on Aidedi and asking me to stop working my day job and start giving more time to photography. Which of course is exactly what we have dreamed about and have wanted for almost a year and half now, and at the same time felt like a huge risk as anyone in this type of industry would know. It is one step close to the dream of Aidedi and Crossfit taking care of us financially without the need of another paycheck. And so... this is where we are. My gracious husband still working three jobs so that I can put a little more time into Aidedi hoping and more than that really believing that this is going to continue to grow... And so here I am, working on catching you up to speed on what we have been doing behind our cameras for months and just not telling you about...

because everything is more fun with a photo... this is a little guy I watched go from a caterpillar to this beautiful flying creation right on my front porch and is always a picture to me of transformation and change. of dreams becoming reality.

BROOKE EXPECTANT...

2009-05-22T09:28:00.014-05:00

The Baby Benton Story...

The first of three posts to come. From a mystery inside one of dearest friend's belly to a beautiful baby boy. The process...

Back in February... some of our dearest friends, Brooke and Alex, were expecting their now beautiful little Asher Hugh and we got the chance to take them out into a field and capture this awesome season of their lives... It was so fun to be with friends and really be taking in all that was happening and about to change in their story. All of us so eager to meet the little man, and yet so content to take in the amazing sunset. I had such a blast with the light that day, and honestly Brooke is an absolutely beautiful person and she was stunning pregnant so everything I saw on the other side of the lens captivated me... Oh and Alex and Jett (their pup) also did pretty well in front of the camera :) ...enjoy!

You'll have to forgive the number of images I had to post... It was just to hard to choose with this one!

DenBleyker Family...

2009-03-25T19:55:00.006-05:00

Back in February we had another sweet reunion with our great friends Shayle and Casey DenBleyker and their darling son Rane. They are off to Portland for culinary school and great adventures in May so they came down for a visit before the big move and we had so much fun together...eating(our favorite) and chatting and i think we might have even squeezed in a walk and a movie... wonderful times with wonderful friends...

beautiful shay...

crazy smiles always...

shay and case constantly prayed joy over this little guy when he was in the womb, and man it shows...

our kitchen sink's first baby bath...

casey always gives rane his baths... daddy, son bonding...

we love you guys...

ILO...

2009-03-22T16:16:00.004-05:00

Ilo Matsevet Bonner... a brand new beautiful baby boy. Born January 29th 2009 at 2:10 pm weighing a wonderful 10 Lbs. 9oz. and 21.5 inches long.

Unfortunately I missed the actual birth, but meeting this guy only hours later was such an honor... and there have been so many delightful days since then...

Bonner's Growing Family...

2009-03-22T15:57:00.009-05:00

so many of our friends have been starting families or adding new little ones recently, and every time we have been in great anticipation to meet our friends new gift.... the Bonner family was no exception.

this shoot was super special because not only is Emily completely stunning in full bloom but she already has three wonderful children who were also apart of our fun...
Emily is an absolute inspiration to me as a mother. Creativity overflows out of every part of her life, and her family and friends benefit extravagantly.

Here are a few of my favorite moments...

Phin absolutely loves being a big brother... such a nurturer...

Asa is crazy about his mom... an answer to emily's prayers for cuddlers...
and Samara is fully alive with a captivating personality...

an honest blurry mistake, that i love...

one of my favorite places Emily rests her arms...

lovely curls...

there is a peace about emily and her home that finds its way into this photo...

i didn't know it at the time but the name of emily and matt's new baby boy means sunshine...so these next few are pretty special.

let kids be kids and the moments are priceless...

Samara couldn't seem to find her baby...

our day ended with a great swing session... so much fun...

CROSSFIT...

2009-03-21T10:17:00.003-05:00

Another big part of Robby and I's world is a fitness philosophy called Crossfit... and in December we were able to make a giant step towards making that dream more of a reality. We flew out to North Carolina and participated in a Level 1 Certification, making us both elidgable to train others in the program. We have be doing Crossfit for over a year, and we have had a big desire to teach and train other people in a program that has proven incredibly beneficial in our lives. Along with taking trips here and there to the park to workout and spending our lunch breaks in a warehouse in the city working out, we are also currently training people in the mornings at a Norman Crossfit facility, Ground Zero Crossfit. We would love for you to come check us out... If you are interested feel free to visit the website or just come by for two free trial weeks.

a move of my love's that I am most impressed with... the flagpole.

TAYLOR...

2009-03-21T09:54:00.009-05:00

now this post will really show how behind we are on our blog, but don't worry once we get passed Christmas catching you up will feel easy :)...

here are a few of our sweet Niece Taylor all dressed up in her little fancy Christmas dress...and i might mention that this was a miracle session, because the moment i pulled out my camera i realized that my battery was completely dead, so i'm not sure how exactly we made it through, but let's just say it was our little Christmas miracle...

now this is a daddy laugh...not many people can make this little girl laugh like her daddy

you know i hate to say it but you just can't get babies to pose... so when you get a shot like this you have really hit the jackpot. not sure what brought it out of her but i think we might have a future caroler...

and I swear she is passing the candy cane off like a little elf in this one...

oh getting close to the end of my patience aunt sarah...

and sometimes taking off the uncomfortable dress that's making them cry is the opportunity for the best photos...

MID-WEDDING SHOOT...

2009-03-21T09:47:00.006-05:00

it's crazy what you can capture with a camera in just 5 minutes...

It just so happens that our niece, Liliwyn, looked adorable at Bernie and Dennis's wedding (next post) and the sunset made the light perfect for us to grab five minutes outside with the fam while everyone else made their way through the buffet line...

she absolutely steals our hearts with this smile...

beautiful family...

DENNIS AND BERNADETTE...

2009-02-27T13:09:00.014-06:00

An amazing November day... and one that Robby and I were especially attached too. We made our way back up to Edgerton, Kansas to not only shoot Bernie's wedding who is a friend of mine from a season of working with her at an adorable little Kansas City Coffee shop, but we also got the chance to revisit the site where we got married. The most magical place Mildale Farms. So all day while we were watching Dennis and Bernie engage each other with such beautiful love, we were also swept up in all the nostalgic memories of our sweet May day... (which i promise one day to share some of those amazing images with you, not only will it give you a peek into one of our forever favorite days, but it will also show off the incredible talent of some of our great friends Jonathan and Melissa Helser with Wide-Eyed Photography out in North Carolina...). It was so fun to run around the farm with them and play in lots of the same places we played on our wedding day, and explore other ones that we just didn't have time for...

Here are a few of our favorites...

Mildale farm is made up of hundreds of acres of land and this barn along with two guest houses also available for rent if you choose to rent out the place for the whole weekend of your wedding... this beautiful barn is where Bernie and Dennis had both their ceremony and their reception....

they chose to see each other beforehand and it is always a weighty honor to be allowed in for the first moment a bride and groom see each other...

we lucked out and got the most amazing November day...

can't get enough of that blue sky and those red flowers...

we even had enough time to steal away and get some of just Bernie in the midst of the crazy landscape... such a beautiful bride...

Robby and I could not stop making eye contact through the entire ceremony because neither of us could believe how amazing the light was... it literally made Bernie glow...

another one of our assistants :)...

in the middle of the ceremony they had their family come to the front and gather around them to pray for them... really sweet moment...

this kiss reminds me of Serendipity for some reason, i love it...

and i always love when a couple has enough time to sneak away for a moment after the ceremony to really soak in what just happened, their moment just happened to be surrounded by a beautiful sunset in the midst of an incredible backdrop.

lots of fun dancing...

CHRIS AND JESS...

2009-02-27T12:44:00.009-06:00

Jessica and I went to art school together and when she asked us to come up to Kansas City to photograph her and Chris's big day I was so honored... there isn't a much bigger compliment then having another artist trust you enough to be in charge of capturing one of the biggest days of their life...

and it was a blast... Chris and Jess decided to see each other before the ceremony (which is always a big treat for the photographer) and so we had hours to hang out with them and their wedding party... They are an absolute precious couple, so in love and it just radiates from them. From one of my favorite parks in the city and then down to the art district... it felt like we had our own personal models to do whatever we wanted with for hours...

it was a perfect day... the only thing I regret is I had to pick only a handful to show you because everything we captured that day was beautiful thanks to an amazing group of people and a lovely city...

it was an astonishing October day in Kansas City, you never know up what you will get up there and honestly no one could have asked for a better day for their wedding...

they first say each other in the rose gardens, and we felt so privileged to be asked into such a sweet first moment...

it is always a real treat to hang out with a groom as he anxiously awaits his bride... Chris was so excited and delightful to be with....

i promise, ask a young man to kiss a girl on the cheek, no matter the relation, and you will get an interesting reaction...

the guys were so much fun to be with, so relaxed and alive...

who says a wedding day isn't a good day for a race?

i think Chris may have been a little jealous of how many more flowers Jess got... so we gave him a chance with the bouquet :)

Kansas City artists are constantly busy changing the backgrounds of the city... we luckily receive the benefit...

there are tons of really amazing little shops all over the city....

they had their ceremony at the Art Incubator downtown, a place for artist to rent out studio space, so the place is just overflowing with creativity and potential...

Jess walked with both her dads down the aisle...it was a really sweet moment...

and after all of it they had a really great party with tons of friends and family.. .and they never stopped dancing...

FAMILY VISIT...

2009-02-27T12:40:00.008-06:00

a perfect Christmas gift...
our family came to visit for a weekend and we had so much fun...

a few moments worthy to be shared... (mostly our Lili meeting our Anna, the closest to cousins we can give the family at this point :) )...
at first im not sure what lili thought of our anna...

i promise that is a laugh not a cry...

an all time favorite of mine... i dont know where she gets these faces, but this little animated wonder sure makes me laugh...

they may get along better than we ever hoped... Lili getting into Anna's world...

Lili's favorite game...

NEW TO THE DENBOW FAMILY...

2009-02-27T12:28:00.005-06:00

a really big change for a newly married couple... our sweet addition Anna! I am pretty sure we have two sets of grandparents that might prefer we added a new grandchild to the mix, but I don't think they can resist our little girl all the same...

Day after elections Robby and I went and picked up our new pup... and it has been a great adventure since (slowly preparing us for that sweet grandchild we will one day give our eager parents :) )...

she is the sweetest cuddler...

she is much bigger these days...and now one ear stands straight up I guess to make sure the world knows she does in fact have some German Shepperd in there somewhere...

and even though she has her adolescent rebel days, she manages to steal our hearts over and over again...

FRESH AIR...

2009-02-27T12:17:00.007-06:00

first let me just say that i promise to get better at this blogging thing... if my friends would just stop popping out babies maybe i could catch you up on what we have been up too :)...

sometime back in October our friends from Kansas City and Robby and I decided we needed a little less of the city life and a little more simplicity... so we met halfway in Kansas and found ourselves the perfect little site for a weekend away... it was wonderful, from the Dunkin Doughnuts coffee in our french press and the fireside meals in our bellys to the hours and hours of great, much needed, conversation and laughter... even the storm that shoved us all back in our cars for a night satisfied a strange need in us for chaos after too many hours at the nine to five's of our lives...

it also just so happens that their son, Rane is brilliantly alive and entertained us all weekend... here are a few of our favorite captures of the weekend...

our meals were amazing, maybe it was just expectation of camping meals, but no matter the reason we left every meal more than content...

this kid i promise wakes up like this, laughing and smiling just to be alive... could probably learn something from him...

the boys and their pipes... some settings just call for it...

alaskan born and raised, soaking up the sunshine they crave so often in the city...

there is a painting of a similar scene that i love... can't beat the mood...

She's growing...

2009-01-27T13:15:00.014-06:00

With our two new beautiful nieces, Liliwyn and Taylor, its hard not to turn every family get together into a photo shoot. Here are a few from back in September of our sweet Taylor, a little over a month old and already she is learning to smile and occasionally laugh. It is amazing how these two little girls already have personalities all of their own with unique little mannerisms. We have definitely jumped way ahead and started dreaming over who each of them will be all grown up... All the while mixing and matching all their miniature features to their mommas and daddies.

This group of photos is super dear to us because we were able to document several family generations... including Taylor's great grandma and great great aunt from Austria who will only be with us a few more months before she heads back home.

enjoy...

don't be totally fooled by this angelic moment... if there is one thing Taylor got from her momma it's a little attitude...

but those baby blue's came straight from her daddy...

love the face's their making at each other...

don't think anyone except mom and dad that love this little girl more than Grammy and Grandpa...

and we might be kind of fond of her...

Our First True Blog...

2009-01-23T14:10:00.004-06:00

Just a little update for anyone who has been wondering why "RECENT WORK" has been blank since we got our website up and running back in September...

Since Robby and I got married in May a lot has been going on... A lot of work towards two dreams becoming one (personal training and photography)... the good news is each of us share a passion for both.

So, we got married and had several weddings following pretty quickly after our own and then it was a big push to get the website up while keeping up with the work that was already on our plate... all the while dreaming over the training and working towards certifications. So december along with a lot of family fun brought to us the gift of two Crossfit certifications (another world dear to our hearts, www.crossfit.com.). This pretty much brings us to where we are now... dipping our feet into the fitness waters here in Norman and continuing to pursue our dreams with our cameras. Photographers by day and trainers by night (not in the literal sense but you get the point :) ).

So basically this is one giant disclaimer to say I'm about to throw a lot of photos your way to give you an idea of what we've been doing the past 8 months or so...

JOHN & ERIN

2008-09-29T10:30:00.005-05:00

we had the privilege of following john and erin up to their grandparents quaint little wisconsin town, sister bay, and spending the weekend with the couple and their friends and family in a sweet little local inn... it was an awesome trip, and their wedding day was simply beautiful.