What I did in Vegas...

I am finally home and getting settled after a long week in Vegas. I had an incredible week getting to meet new people and reaquaint with some friends I don't get to see often. There are too many people to name them all but some of the highlights were getting to network with all the people I met in Texas at the Foundation Workshop and being invited back to participate next year, which was very exciting, as well as meeting the rest of the LaCour photo team. I was fortunate enough to spend some one-on-one time with them and discuss my business and it was definitly one of the biggest highlights of the trip for me and I am looking forward to learning more from them in July. I also got to see many of the people that I met at the Anti-workshop in Texas on the last night of the conference and that was a really fun way to end a long week. I was equally thrilled to see my friend Paul Gero who was one of the first people to help me through this wedding photography journey. Last but not least, I met Jay Premack who was truly a blessing to meet and get to know and I look forward to our continued friendship. I purposely left my camera in the room for this part of the trip so I could really learn and particpate in converstations instead of trying to document them so unfortuantley I have no pictures of this part of the trip BUT I do have pictures of the next part...

On thursday evening, several of the best friends a person could ask for flew from Chicago to Las Vegas to climb with me on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We have a little group we affectionatly refer to as LCO+1 which stands for Lead Climb Only +1 and it helps us to push ourselves and each other to conquer our fears and challenge ourselves by climbing on lead instead of top rope. We had an amazing time pushing the limits of our fears climbing the cliffs of the Red Rocks Recreation Area. I realized how truly addicted to climbing I am, I just can't get enough of the rush that you get from pushing yourself in this way...but I am always safe, can't miss a wedding! :)

I ran ahead to take this picture thinking really it is pretty safe sport but ironically enough while we were there, there was a climbing accident, one of the climbers fell from 50 ft and had to by airlifted out of the canyon...

The approach to the cliffs was almost as fun because there was a lot of scrambling over boulders to try and get where you needed to be for the real climbing. I had to put my camera away for most of it but this was in the beginning where it wasn't as intense and I was able to get around with two limbs instead of four :)

This is Bonnie (the +1 of our group) and she was definitly the strongest climber in the bunch. Here she is onsighting (which means she got to the top on her first try on lead) a 5.10a as her warm-up at the Magic Bus.

This is one time I could keep up with Bonnie and sent this on my first try right after Bonnie, it was a fun climb and a great warm-up for the rest of the day. Also, the picture on the left is me proving I wasn't afraid of heights after discovering that several of the people in my group were afraid of heights and were a little uncomfortable hanging out on the edge of boulders that were a couple hundred feet off the ground. I was shocked by this, after all we are climbers so I was having fun testing them and jumping around within a foot of the edge, it was making them crazy, and it was tons of fun ;)

This next set of pictures are of the whole group all climbing the same route at the Panty Wall (I have no idea why this cliff is named that). I climbed up the route next to it with a backpack with all my gear and anchored myself to the wall so I could get this perspective on the climbs and the climbers.









This is the veiw from the gallery where we climbed on the last day. It was an amazing place!

This is Bonnie rappelling down from a 5.11a she tried as the last climb of the trip. We were beat!

I was excited to eat at the famous In-and-Out burger after climbing, eating greasy food after climbing is so satisfying and this place did not disappoint! :)

Then on the last night, we decided to hit the strip. We had to leave our hotel room at 3:45 am so Mike and I decided it would just be easier to stay up then try and sleep so hung out at the Paris casino and watched the live bands and walked around.


Finally it is off to the airport and good-bye to Vegas, apparently though, Mike didn't get enough of the poker because he spent his last minutes up until we boarded on the video poker, it was a fun trip and I will never forget it!



Thank you guys for coming out to Vegas and climbing with me! Until next time...

LCO+1 for life ;)

Peter David Ashline has arrived!

Some of you may remember the pictures I posted of my sister's maternity session and as a surprise to everyone, the little guy came 2 weeks early yesterday afternoon (only 24 hrs after I returned from Las Vegas, that was close!). The labor was very easy and so fast that I didn't get there until just after he was born. He was 6 lbs and 11 oz, 20 in long. At least I was there to capture some of their first moments as a family.

Congratulations Kelly and Chris!

The first time my sister touched Pete's tiny foot!

And finally me with Pete, my first nephew on my side of the family :)

Best,
Kristina

Vegas baby!!

I am off to Vegas today to spend some quality time networking with some of the best wedding and portrait photographers in the world at the Digitial Wedding Forum Conference and to check out the WPPI trade show to find new and fun products to offer you guys!

And since I am already out there, I am fortunate enough to have wonderful friends who are going to fly out there and meet me for some rock climbing in the Red Rocks just outside of Vegas. So I will definitely be posting lots of pictures when I get back next week.

I will be back in the office on Tuesday, April 3rd but I will have limited access to email and phone so please leave a message if you call and I will do my best to get back to you promptly!

Best,
Kristina

Rachel and David

Rachel and David had a fairytale wedding, literally! Rachel always wanted to get married in Cinderella's castle in Disney World, but they decided to stay closer to home to be with their family and friends. However, they did an excellent job bringing that fairytale to Chicago :) It was a beautiful wedding at the Intercontinental Hotel on Michigan Ave with every detail planned to perfection! Here are some of the fun moments of the day!

One of Rachel's favorite characters is Eeyore and he was well represented, even a little Eeyore on the garter which the girls got a good laugh from...




The first time David saw his bride, I think that face says it all!



There was a lot of attention on Rachel and David as we stepped out on to Michigan Ave...


Rachel said no kissing before their official first kiss as man and wife during the ceremony but that didn't stop David from trying!


Rachel's first time entering the Grand Ballroom...

This is the way to serve a drink, chilled through an ice castle!

Congratulations David and Rachel!!

Personal projects...a different way to see.

I recently bought a holga camera, which is a very cheap film camera that has a different kind of look and has a square negative. I decided I will start a new personal project to document the places I have been and the things I see on the road. I admit it has been years since I shot film so I was excited to see what came out when I only had 24 exposures and no chance to redo what I didn't like. With this camera there is an additional challenge in that the viewfinder only shows approximately what the picture will look like because it doesn't match up perfectly to the film plane. So here are a few that I liked and now that I know how to use this little camera, I will be having fun with it in Vegas during my climbing trip...stay tuned for more :)








Best,
Kristina