However… just days before we left I discovered that Horseshoe Bend was in this same town and from everything I saw it looked amazing. So after the slot canyon tour and getting cleaned up, (We were covered in red sand and it was in every nook and cranny of all our belongings… including my camera.) we took the short drive to Horseshoe Bend. There were wind advisories out that day and it was windy. The 3/4 mile hike to the canyon was like walking through a sandstorm. It was actually painful as the sand was quite course here. We made it to the canyon and it was magnificent. But the wind gusts coming out of the canyon were quite honestly, life threatening. I got on all fours and crawled to the edge and took some shots. Backed away and stood with Deb for awhile. At times we held on to each other as the wind gusts came. Yes, they were that strong. At one point, prior to leaving, we were separated and a wind gust came and pushed Deb away from me. She ran to keep up with it and I ran after her. I could only watch in fear as she was carried and eventually fell to the ground. I could not stop due to the force of the wind and went right by her until I myself fell about 20 feet beyond. I went back to Deb and she looked at me with a face covered in blood. I helped her up and we made the journey back to the car and to the hotel where she got cleaned up. It was apparent she needed medical attention. She ended up getting one stitch in her nose and bruising far beyond anything I have ever seen. Most of her face was black and blue 48 hours after the accident. She did not sustain any major injuries but enough minor ones to prevent her from doing any hiking while we were in Sedona.

All in all we were so grateful we both walked away with our lives. Would I do it again? Yes, but alone next time if the weather was like that. If you head to this site heed any warnings of wind. Be careful and enjoy the view.

Here is one of the images I shot of Horsehoe Bend. Copies of the image are available here (click link).

Horseshoe Bend by Bill Raab

It was great to hear from them again in March as they put together plans for their engagement session which they wanted to do in April. They had some great ideas. One of the spots they wanted to shoot in was Inver Wood Golf Course in Inver Grove Heights. Brent had proposed to Jillian on a golf course (and it sounds like it was an amazing time… wished I had been there) so a golf course definitely seemed to be spot on. The people at Inver Wood were so accommodating. We had to work with them to find a time conducive to good lighting and also would not interrupt or disrupt the golfers out on the course. Thank you so much Inver Wood for all your help. They even provided us the kindest gentleman (Elmer) to cart us around the course.

We first started out at Lake Harriet… after the rain stopped. It was one of those days I thought would require a postponement of the shoot as the day had been so dismal up until about an 90 minutes before the shoot. The sun came out and while it was a bit windy and chilly Jillian and Brent pulled off the e-session in championship form.

Thanks Jillian and Brent for persevering through the chill and wind and thank you Inver Wood Golf Course for being so generous and kind.

Lisa and Dan were wonderful to shoot with that morning in St. Paul. I truly enjoyed my time. They were both relaxed and just wanted to have fun with it. It’s easy to see the love and joy they share and the fun they have together. I was delighted they brought along Mazey (who you see in some of the shots). She was also wonderful to work with and totally at ease with the camera.

Lisa and Dan chose to shoot in St. Paul as that is their home. As they put it… “we love our city”. They chose Mears Park and Harriet Island as two places they wanted to head to. Their choices worked out great and the weather was nice for a mid-March day in Minnesota.

I am so looking forward to their wedding in May. I love what I have heard about the day. So, here are some shots from our Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago.

The obligatory "in the clam shell" photo. Yes, we had some fun.

This head shot was very simple as far as composition. It lent itself very well to black and white processing. But I love the warm skin tones and the color of Abby’s hair was so complementary, that I had to provide the color image too. Truth be told that is where I start anyways… If an image just jumps out at me as black and white I will process it as such and be done with it. On the other hand, many times I process the image first in color and then do a black and white conversion. So, quite often with my black and whites I will provide a color image. Frankly I love both forms of processing and many times notice the same picture takes on a different feel when compared black and white to color.

It is an interesting little game that plays out.

So, in as far as these two versions of the same image… what do I see? The color image is warm and inviting. The tones of her skin and hair are complementary as I previously mentioned. It’s friendly and bubbly. The black and white version, to me appears happy and bright.

So what do you see and how do you feel about Black and White compared with color images?

and with that… what color do you think this young man’s hair is… and this better make you smile!

I am happy to say that the space, time and family all worked together wonderfully. We got all the shots requested done with some time to squeeze in some others. Thank you Alicia for contacting me. I had a wonderful time with you all and your family was very nice and spot on when it came to getting this all done in an hour.

Here is a good look at the Maarts.

The fact that my site was chosen to display their work is a testimony to the quality of work I do. I am honored that they feel my photography shows off their web theme development. I appreciate the kind comments they made about my photography. Thank you GraphPaper Press, you rock!

See the article here.

Paul and I had been in contact for a couple of weeks and he let me know he was headed to the Twin Cities and wanted to connect and get some shots. I was grateful to have the opportunity to work with him. I had a great time getting to know him and look forward to connecting again soon.

Here are some shots from our time together that afternoon.

From their site:
“Our Mission:
With a spirit of dignity and grace, we provide life-affirming support to women and children in crisis in three areas: unplanned pregnancy, personal empowerment and humanitarian outreach.

Our Vision
To transform lives.
To make what seems impossible, possible.
To remove barriers and reveal options.
To equip, empower and educate.
To live and serve in truth.

Our Values
We are Christian.
We value all life.
We are good stewards.
We respond.

We are Christian. We are a community of people who have come together to serve because we feel called by God to weave His grace into the lives of those we serve.
We value all life. We are deeply committed to providing an environment that fosters life-affirming values for the unborn, as well as the mother and father. Everything we do either directly protects the sanctity of life or directly focuses on improving the quality of life.
We are good stewards. We are dedicated to the highest level of excellence in both service and stewardship. We strive to identify the most critical needs of our clients and devote our resources to meeting those needs. In addition, we offer complete financial transparency so that our financial partners can feel confident that their investment in our ministry completely aligns with their values and goals.
We respond. To the fullest extent of our resources and abilities, we will serve all of our clients needs regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or gender.”

It turned out to be sold out which was an awesome thing to have happen. I believe there were about 300 people there. Here are some shots from the event. I also encourage you to check out their website.

Lastly… thank you to Kimberly and all involved at Tapestry and to all the beautiful people who pour into this ministry.