Nothing beats an awesome crowd, great food and close friends and family! and nothing makes these better than having them all for your wedding day! For Nick and Jessica they truly had it all, with amazing homemade food and a close friend to spin the tracks, It made there wedding undoubtedly their own! and it made me feel more like a guest and close friend! Here are a few images from their custom day!
Nate Ethington “Let me be your guest” and wedding photographer
For some people, it seems there’s a certain level of discomfort when the ‘cameras and lights’ first come on. I think it’s understandable. Most people are just not used to being followed around by guys and gear 24×7 filming them, hanging on their every moment. That might have been a little how Kelly and Mark were first feeling when I started shooting video on their wedding day.
What’s amazing to me is as I’m filming, invariably after awhile, they mostly forget I’m there and I get to capture those sweet moments unfettered by nerves or the bright lights – this happened fast with Kelly and Mark. I loved getting to capture how special they treated each other throughout the day. With their movie star looks, I think the cameras loved them too. And there were some hilarious surprise moments, like the best man’s pass interception on the bouquet toss, and the surprise grannie panties reveal at the garter toss…priceless.
Richard Talbot – Still Life Studios – Wedding Videographer
The lovely Jennifer Starr (my sales and marketing guru!) and I were reflecting over the past year and we decided that Team Still Life really went through a lot in our personal lives that profoundly changed just about all of us. We also were reflecting on Still Life Studios LLC, an entity in itself, that went through some pretty cool experiences that has caused many changes. Still Life found a new home at 138 W. Main St. in Mesa Arizona. We have started some new partnerships with some great new venues (i.e. Anthem Golf and Country Club) as well as continued to strengthen them with our tried and true classic venues (i.e. Regency Garden and Seville Golf and Country Club). Hopefully we will have a new one or two to announce soon too! It was fun to reflect on some of these experiences.
We also talked about the past year and our clientele. We seriously love the people we photograph. Our goal is to have our clients come as guests and leave as family. We have had many brides and grooms leave reviews on wedding wire saying that when everything was over they felt like family, which lets us know that what we are striving for is happening. Recently at the Grand Opening I had one little girl we photograph regularly hanging on my leg and asking to take photos with me in the photo booth and what not. It was awesome! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t love it because it generally creates a huge client loyalty and people come back to us year after year (yeah that certainly is a good thing), but I actually love it because we really enjoy feeling like a part of all of our clients families. It’s a great thing to love, and be loved. Yes, this sounds cheesy but it’s true. 
SO, that leads me to my last point and the whole reason for this post. Thank YOU! We ask our brides and grooms to review us on Wedding Wire. Of course we want 5 stars in all categories and hope all our clients feel comfortable enough to let us know first if they feel we aren’t deserving, but we asked for the reviews putting ourselves out their to the judged! Keep in mind this is our livelihood at stake. We aren’t like some who do this for side cash, this is how we eat! We see a review come in and we hold our breathe hoping that our “family feel” that we were after, was actually felt. Over the last year we received a HUGE jump in the number of our reviews and well … we have been pretty grateful for the kind words. So again thank YOU for the love! We really appreciate it! Because of YOU for the 2nd year in a row, Wedding Wire has given us the Brides Choice Award!
If you haven’t yet reviewed us, please do so at www.WeddingWire.com. Of course we would love 5 stars in every category. If you don’t feel we deserve it, please call us before the review and help us know how we can be better. Remember, we love happy clients!
Thank You Fans!
Matt Wheeler – Still Life Studios – El Presidente
I am now at an age where the average bride and groom are younger then I am. Lately I have been able to talk to and work with quite a few couples who are either just getting married later or have other circumstances. Part of why I love what I do so much is getting to know people and their stories. I find it fascinating to see where life has taken them.
I am not going to lie, I can’t even say I know much of Randy and Marvels story but I did feel a very fun dynamic on the wedding day. The blending of not only Marvels and Randy’s family meaning their kids blending together with the marriage but also of other family getting to know each other. It was really fun to in a way be a part of that. I heard people talking who hadn’t met and were laughing and joking together. I left the wedding thinking, “What a fun group and how exciting for them to get together!”. It really may sound funny but we have small moments to see our lives change. I could tell the dynamic of this group that everyone seemed really excited for the change!
Here are a few images of the day …
Matt and Nate – Still Life Studios – Studly Wedding Photographers
All of our clients are different … duh I know. But we often hear many reasons why our clients book us or choose a venue that partners with us. We hear things like … I love the natural look of your images, or I saw how you photographed the venue and it was different then others, or you guys are all such sexy people we wanted you around us at the wedding, or I felt comfortable with Still Life and knew everything would come out awesome. Whatever the reason we are happy to have wonderful clients. With that being said I am going to try and explain something that I want to come out right but may not … . Often at photo shoots our wonderful clients infer they want their personalities to show. We think that is pretty much a given, if not part of our job as photographers. However some clients look at us like … “Hey it’s weird to have that big black camera pointing at me … now make me look comfortable, natural, and bring out our personalities.” Usually our couples, families etc are in the middle, take a little loosening up but handle it well. A few clients are the opposite direction. I seriously wonder if by pointing a camera at them brings out even more personality. Some clients come at us and with a little guidance but do their own thing. One of the things I enjoy about photographing people is even if you know them, you never know what you are going to get when the camera comes up.
David and Mandy were one of those … the camera comes up and they were going! My ideas were used sometimes and other times it was me trying to work with their ideas. This is always fun and challenging for me. As an artist I always want to get my vision captured. I am fond of it and think it is best. 
But I also want to please my subjects and give them what they are after. I really think we did that here on this shoot. Both of us should be happy very happy.
Thanks David and Mandy for a fun shoot!
Matt Wheeler – Still Life Studios – Engagement Photographer
