Thanks for having me out there! Great wedding!

Probably about 6 or 7 years ago I photographed a wedding and I remember thinking “Wow this bride has a LOT of sisters!”. So now, shooting the third of the four Walsh girls weddings was a total honor!

Let’s get right down to business with this here weddin’.

So my stupid blog is still broken and I can’t write in between images. Wierd. So I will finish off my saying thanks again to all the Walsh’s who have hired me to photograph their weddings! (and Mr. Walsh’s 60′s birthday party!)

Something weird is going on with my blog, and I can’t type in between photos for some reason so I can’t leave my usual funny little comments! Probably a good thing. So anyway, here are the photos!

They are a great couple, very easy to work with and I look forward to their Fresno wedding in just a few months!!

Gary had a couple lumps removed.  After testing, we are glad to know that they were nothing to be concerned about!  BUT….

Gare’s incision on his arm got infected.  He had to go into a second operation.  I felt so bad for him.  When you pick up your dog from surgery, they are usually still half asleep from the anesthesia.  In my case, both times, a half-asleep Gary knew which direction the door was and was dragging along a vet tech who probably weighed about the same, behind him.  In fact the first time, he didn’t even see me – he went straight past me into the lobby, where he stood, looking around.  I called his name and you could tell it took a second to register, then he turned around and dashed over to me, just about knocking me down.  He just leaned real hard against me until we left.  The second time, he leaped into the air and right into my lap where I was sitting.

Short story long, after the 2nd operation, things STILL were not healing.  So we went to a surgical specialist who is currently trying to get G to heal and avoid a 3rd operation.  So he stitched this bandage to his arm!  I think it’s a relief for Gary.  He hates going to the vet, but I think he gets that we are helping him!  He seems happy as a clam at the check out (taken with my camera phone)

So Gary can’t run for a while.  He can’t even go for a walk around the block.  So now our routine, 2-3 times a day, we will walk a half-block, and then chill out on a stranger’s lawn in the shade.

Get well soon, G!  We’ll be running trails again before you know it!

Meet Tony and Andrea:

Now let’s start from the beginning!
I have always been a little bit jealous of Tony Shortino for having a slightly more Italian sounding name than me.

I like Andrea because she’s an entrepreneur, a finance grad with her own business.

This flower girl was loving it all day long

Time for a wedding.  Shorty waits patiently for his soon to be WIFE!

The flower girl ran out of flower petals, but she signals to the crowd that she’s all right with a “thumbs up”.  Nice!

One of my usual shots of the guests!

You know I’m pretty stealthy at weddings, I never get too close to the action.  I want the attention to be on the bride and groom only.  But I couldn’t shake granny, here.  I got a bogey on my tail!  She’s got a missle lock on me!  But she seems to be a very sweet bogey!

The happy new couple!

You twalkin’ to me, wise guy?

Even the M.O.B. joined in on the fun!

This is a true Colorado Wedding!

F.O.B. helping out while we are shooting!

Let the party begin!

Hopefully dad is going to make the catch, here!  Unlike this clip (CLICK HERE, but COME BACK)

I had a total of three past Cafiero Photo clients at this wedding!  Craig and Michelle, who are also friends and dog-sitters!

Beautiful Colorado Evening!

These two were no strangers to the dance floor!

Future clients!  Shooting their wedding next summer!

The guys serenaded the bride with a rendition of “Sweetheart of Sigma Chi”

Another former bride and groom of mine, Karl and Jackie!

Anyway, that’s all for now.  I have a wedding to shoot in the AM, so I am off to beddie bye!

Ciao!

To date, I have photographed some very cool celebrities:  The weddings of PGA Tour Golfer and winner of the Canadian Open, Chez Reavie; FOX news anchorwoman, Libby Weaver; and even Dinger the Dinosaur’s wedding!

Of them all, there has only been one who required that I don’t publish their image:  Dinger the Dinosaur.

Today I got to photograph someone who will go down in UFC history, a legend in the sport, as he was the first ever UFC Lightweight World Champion.  To take family photos of a professional fighter, Jens Pulver sounded like an awesome opportunity.  And it was!

Meet Jens:

There’s currently a documentary film being produced about jens.  Here’s the first 3 minutes of it.  I’m loving it already.  I think this video is going to make people appreciate MMA fighting a little more.  It’s not the barbaric mindless fighting that people assume it to be.  The fighters are real athletes.  they train hard and dedicated their lives to the sport.  Jens is obviously no exception, he has an incredible story and I’m looking forward to seeing the completed film:

Jens has a wife, Nikka and son, Karson (I hope I spelled that right). I met them at Jens’ gym in Idaho and then we went out to a local greenbelt and did some outside shots, too.

He is a great guy, and has an equally great family too. And I’m not just saying that because he can beat me up!

I sort of wanted this shoot to be less of a “family portrait session” (even though we did do a few…), but more of a photo documentary / lifestyle shoot.  I am happy with how it came out.

OK how about some photos…

Here we are at his gym, Driven, just outside of Boise:

I’m not sure why I get this feeling that his son is going to follow his footsteps.

I like this one – mom in the background, cheering on her two boys.  I think she’s got her money on Karson.

Karson, finishing off his dad with a free lesson.

We pulled out a sled and had a little fun with that.  Nikka and Karson:

Jens is currently training for his next fight, which will air on Pay Per View, August 14.  He’s got his family behind him!

Karson gives us a very subtle hint that he is over this photo soot.

Next we ran off to a nearby creek to do some “nicer” photos…  Yes, Jens has one blue eye and one brown eye.  So if you ever see that in a dark alley, know that you can run, but you can’t hide!  Jens’ wife looks exotic and that’s because she is!  From Laos, just a skip from Vietnam.  I hear she can make an amazing pho!  Which I am addicted to!

…and this is where I am officially too tired to blog any more.  Gotta get up early for the Boise Urban Challenge!  More photos to come.  Thanks Jens, for having me shoot your family photos!  Awesome family!  And good luck in August – train hard!  Or like Matt Carpenter (another amazing athlete, Leadville 100 record holder) says, “go out hard, when it hurts – go harder” (actually I think it’s “speed up”, but I think “go harder” works better in this instance!  Regardless, I like that way of thinking!

**UPDATE**
Now that I have gotten some rest, did the Boise Urban Challenge thing (we got 3rd place overall, that’s right) and spent a day boating, I am back at editing and have 44 more shots to add to the collection here.

This is Karson’s trademark wink.  Love it.

Priceless…

The sign on Jens’ office door  Believe it.

Karson in clean clothes…. didn’t last long!

…and that’s all she wrote.  Until next time!

The house is amazing and I would love to post more photos, but that’s sort of a fine line of etiquette I think. I don’t know if I want someone posting photos of MY amazing estate ;p all over the Internet. But here’s a cool photo, I really thought the old-school las vegas sign in the living room was super cool

Jennifer was an AWESOME bride.  ALWAYS smiling, very expressive.  Look below to see for yourself.  What I love about Jennifer is that she is so expressive with her eyes, which as a photographer is something I really love.   She was also very cool and easy to work with.  Another HUGE plus!

This is an old family loop horn that Jennifer’s grandmother used on her wedding dress.

I love photographing friends and family too!

The Father of the bride get’s ready for the big walk with his daughter

I love details!

Lots of great stuff to look at!

The grooms suit was awesome.  I want one!

The Kids were in effect.

Kind of like some of the Persian weddings I have photographed!  They bride and groom tasted honey off each others’ fingers.  Very cool!

SMACK!

Overcome with emotion by the beautiful wedding, I caught the ring bearer wiping a tear. 

…meanwhile, the flower girl was loving the attention.

I love photographing other people taking photos.  Photography is so fun!

Perhaps my favorite series of the day. Mom and daughter right after the wedding…

The light was amazing in this back yard!

I’m never really the type to play with lens flare, but thought this would be a fun opportunity!

Shots at the receiving line…

My signature bride and groom series. 

The bride gets fresh with the Porsche getaway car! 

At the Boulderado!  That classic stained glass ceiling and the cake!

There were lots of cats featured on the tables.  Cats and toothbrushes!  (the groom is a dentist)

The father of the bride was giving his speech and not really using the mic… so the bride’s brother decided to help. 

First Dance

I’d describe the brides sister’s dancing as “very robotic”.  And I mean that in such a great way! 

And she wears the right shoes for the job.

Y…

…M C A!!! (the father of the bride’s FAVORITE song)  Hilarious!

I love this shot!  I told you like like photographing people taking photos!

The brides brother also had a unique dancing style, which I describe as….  Nevermind.  I can’t really describe this.

Father-daughter

Jennifer was really getting into the AC/DC song towards the end of the ceremony.

Overall, this was an awesome day and one heck of a party!!!!  Thanks so much for having me, Jennifer and Peter!!!

I just gave a tribute to my mom, and a Father’s Day tribute to my dad is just as important. All my life, my dad is the guy that I have wanted to be like. As a little shaver I loved every second that I had with my dad. He was a navigator in the Air Force and as millions of AF brats know, a lot of your time with military dads are spent on vacations, as he was always bouncing around the globe. So whenever I was able to hang out with my dad, it was truly special!

Here we are at Keystone, hitting up the slopes.

This is kind of funny… Yesterday, on Father’s Day, I went out with MY son, too and by pure coincidence, my photo at the summit of Green Mountain in Boulder is strangely reminiscent of the above shot of my dad and I. Sorry dad, someday you just might get a “real” grandson out of me. For now you will have to settle with Gary. But I love Gary just like a son. I know. Sad. haha!

Sorry about the armpit in that photo. But Gary, my doberman is indeed like my son. He is my best friend and my faithful trail running partner. A very unique and special dog. We seem to have our own language.  Excuse my hair in both photos!

All my life I have loved hanging out with my dad.  Especially when it’s one-on-one.   As a kid, I loved cruising around in his red Fiat Convertible.  It looked just like this, and I remember clearly the night that he drove it off the lot:

Whether we were on a road trip to AZ or just cruising around the Air Force Academy, I loved listening to Steve Martin on the 8-Track with the top down.

I am going to load this post with a ton of visuals.  These are all icons that will forever make me think of my awesome childhood memories with my dad!

My dad would cry every time, from laughing soooo hard to Steve Martin.

As mentioned, I have a lot of fond memories of the US Air Force Academy, as my dad was stationed there and when we was somewhere else, we’d always stay at the VOQ (visiting officers quarters), and I still remember exactly how it smells, which I can only describe as “very sanitary”.

USAFA:

And the KC-135, the refueling tanker that my dad logged hundreds of hours inside…

Some of my greatest memories were at the park.  The one thing I love about my dad is that he appreciates the simple things in life:

BBQs: he had this old smokey joe and to this day, my favorite kind of grillin’ is from my very own smokey joe and I don’t think that will ever change.  The smell of it and even just the act of stacking charcoals and spraying them with lighter fluid and fanning the coals with a frisbee to keep them glowing… those are all things that make me feel good inside:

Kites:  My dad loves kites.  Just a long length of string attached to a plastic wing = hours of easy entertainment and lots of great memories.  This kite is like the one I am getting (I told LK about how my dad loves kites and I think she could tell that they represent special times with my dad and so she got me one for my birthday!)

Budweiser: When I was a kid, my dad and I would be working in the garage on either the car, or building a coffee table, or SOMETHING… and all I remember is that it was super hot outside and my dad would grab an ice cold budweiser and crack it open and down about 3 big gulps in a row and exclaim: “ahhhhhhh”.  He would let me have a sip under one condition: that I also follow up my sip with an “ahhhhhh”.  Now, as an adult I am an alcoholic!  (JUST KIDDING!!!! haha!)

Coca Cola:  I loved grilling with my dad.  It seemed we had steak like, every night of the week.  And he’d make home made fries that were so amazing and so our dinner would ultimately end up as a steak, salad (with olive oil and vinegar ONLY), fresh home cut fries… and coca cola.  My dad preferred to have Budweiser while working on projects or while out in the hot sun.  But for dinner it was always Coca-Cola!

And as mentioned in an earlier post, his old Olympus:

My dad used to drive me around as a kid and pretend that the car was driving itself.  He’d strain as he struggled to overpower the car’s steering wheel, only to lose the battle as the fiat would pull into a parking spot, right in front of a Dukin Donuts.  “Oh man, I guess the car wants us to have a donut”.  :

My dad and his buddy, Tom used to go sailing out on this sail boat in Virginia.  I always got to come and eventually he got a sailboat while stationed in Hawaii.

One day on a jog, my dad ran into some people who were following a hot air balloon called Quo Vadis.  He was instantly a part of their crew and for a while, hot air ballooning was a part of our weekend agenda

Another weekend tradition:

I could keep going, but I still have a few images to post from yesterday!

City Park on Sunday is always packed with people who come to listen to live Jazz music

And of course I am now an owner of a smokey joe grill. My dad brought the chicken and it sparked some serious nostalgia from our time, growing up. Some things never change!

For Father’s Day, LK, who works for a uniform company (in sales) was able to hook up a chef’s coat for my dad. And I also got him a plank cook book with some hickory planks so that he can start cooking some really healthy salmon and chicken on it!

So there you have it. Happy Father’s Day Mario. And Joseph, too who was also with us in spirit!