Around our house, we love Mindy Gledhill’s CD’s, but there’s something that’s even better, and that’s hearing her performing live. Last week she played at Velour, and so, goosebumps.

Her new Christmas album is available here as well as her other music. Mindy is the real deal.

Fun fact – One of Mindy’s songs on YouTube recently reached over 1 million views. You can see it here. 1 million. Wowza.

Mindy Gledhill, pregnant, and radiant as ever, outside my office. (And outside her office. She’s got a cute little place downtown Provo, too.)

Mindy Gledhill

We had a meeting last night for the Rooftop Concert series. After making plans for the next show we walked out on the sidewalk and it was that perfect time of night. That time of night when the air is cooler and the west side of town is lit up, all gold. It smells different, too, and when you were a kid, this is the time of night you’d go door to door and gather your friends to play kick the can.

And if you’re a photographer, this is the time of night when you thank your lucky stars Mindy Gledhill will stand on the sidewalk for a minute or two and let you take her picture. Mindy is so jubilant and fun, and hardly stood still. I’ve got those pictures, too. But it turns out, for me, this is the keeper.

My friend, Ariel. Photographed at my studio in Provo on the occasion of her birthday.

We love Molly and Vic.

Molly and Vic, photographed at their home in Park City

Lee Benson wrote an article in the Deseret News about Molly and Vic’s story and titled it “Out of Tragedy arises a will to live and to pass that hope on to others”.

Here’s the story. Molly and Vic had a beautiful daughter. A real looker. A shining star. Lucy was two years old when she choked on an apple and passed away in the hospital three days later.

So Molly and Vic turned their grief toward helping others and started a blog called A Good Grief. It’s a place where others who have lost children can be supported. And now, A Good Grief Foundation is hosting its first annual benefit concert. All proceeds go directly to headstones for children who have passed on. Join them for an evening of incredible entertainment with some of Utah’s top performers, featuring singer/songwriter Cherie Call. Tickets are selling fast.

Concert: Days of Plenty Benefit Concert
When: March 17, 2011
Time: 7:30PM
Where: Historic Murray Theatre (4969 S. State Salt Lake City)
Admission: $10

Get tickets here.

Here’s the premise. You are beautiful because you are different. And Karen Walrond wants to show that to the world. So she made a book called The Beauty of Different: Observations of a Confident Misfit.

From the book:
The Beauty of Different provides a chronicle of beautiful imagery and portraiture combined with observations and essays on the ways in which we find people who display individuality and uniqueness intriguing. As its stories unfold, it provokes new points of view. It will leave you wondering how we could have fallen prey to believing in homogenized pop standards of beauty. Divided into chapters that reveal the many ways individuality manifest itself, the book showcases ordinary people, each deeply extraordinary–and therefore immensely beautiful.

In the beginning of the book, Karen tells the story of moving from Trinidad to Kingwood,Texas. “The Kingwood Girls were one of my first exposures to Different”. So there you go. You move from home, you leave your country, you land in Texas and see what all the other girls look like, and who can blame you for wanting tight jeans and lip gloss. She also told her mom she wanted to straighten her hair.

Well, that was a while ago. Some time has passed. Karen’s learned a few things and she keeps her hair curly now and is happy with the idea of being unique. “Because after all those years of trying to be the same, I had finally discovered that Different is very, very beautiful”.

It’s also helpful to know that Karen is magnetic. Her blog is very popular (for good reason) and at conferences (she’s a regular speaker at many) she’s always surrounded by people that see that glow in her and want a bit to rub off on them. And that’s just the way I feel about her, too.

If you want to buy her book (I recommend it), you can do so here.

Karen Walrond

P.S. Here’s a portrait I made of Karen in January, 2010.

Travis is one of the partners for the design and marketing firm, StudioCase, in New York City. He is a minimalist.

She goes by Cat. Her name is Catalina Ayubi and she’s a wedding and portrait photographer in Miami. She’s a friend of mine that I met at WPPI last year. It was great to see her again this year and she was good enough to give me some of her time so I could photograph her. Look how adorable she is. And, unlike an actual cat, she never scratched or licked me.

Willie lives in Grand Junction, Colorado. Attorney by day, blue-grass musician by night. Now, I’ve never seen him do any lawyer things. I’m just assuming he’s as good as they get.

But I have heard him sing and play his guitar and when that happens, you get a permanent smile that won’t fade for three days. More sensatives types, you just might cry. The girls swoon. The boys want to go buy their own guitar.

It’s good to know Willie DeFord.

Here’s a sample:

	Willie Deford – What You Want Me To Be
	Found at What You Want Me To Be on KOhit.net

I’ve know Brett since we were in Mrs McCullochs class, way back in the third grade. He’s one of the funniest people I know and I steal his jokes on a regular basis, then pass them off as my own. For example, once he sent me a slogan for the city of Orem that went like this: We’re just like Provo, only Norther!

I tell that to people but never let on that Brett said it first.

Brett is a talented actor but has for some time let that talent lie dormant. It’s been hidden under a bushel. That is, until recently. Now, he’s acting again. And for his most recent audition, he needed a headshot. That’s where I come in.

Here you go, Brett. Break a freak’n leg.

Ashley arrived in the middle of April to do an internship at Justin Hackworth Photography. When she showed up, the 30 Strangers project was well under way, and I just can’t imagine how I would have been able to keep up without her help. She came at the right time and from the first day she was here, she made a huge impact. And I’m not talking about her singing and dancing around the office, although that really helped light the place up, too.

But all good things must end, as they say. And Ashley’s time at our office is now finished. Thanks, Ashley, for all the great things you did around here. And good luck in your next big thing, whatever the next big thing turns out to be.

The finest place in Utah for weddings gowns is Alta Moda. There’s no secret there. And every so often they have a party for wedding vendors. You know, photographers, florists, DJ’s, divorce lawyers. (Just kidding about the lawyers). So a few days ago I went to their party with my girlfriend who also happens to be my wife. Here’s a picture of us being cute together.

Alta Moda just re-designed their website so you want to check it out here and they even have a few pictures I took of beautiful Lindsay. Their party was great fun and it was good to see all the people I dig, like Melissa, Tim, Jon, Leo, Carol and Cynthia, and I was able to meet three photographers who I’ve been dying to meet–Kate, Rebekah, and Stacy. Good times and fancy cheese. And Micah from the Gatsbys was there handing out his demo CD which Amy and I listened to on the way home and danced a funky dance in the car. Want your next function to be awesome? Hire the Gatsbys. If you came to our Christmas party you might recall that’s who we were lucky enough to have play for us.

Thanks, Hilary for the good times. You are a dream.

…..

Hi. My name is Justin. I am a wedding photographer. I love love and I want to photograph your wedding, especially if you are getting married in Hawaii or Greece.

I love it when people stop by to say hello, just like Sammy did earlier today. And I just happened to have my camera with me and couldn’t pass up the chance to make some picutres of her. Sammy is a great painter and it was good to hear what she’s up to.

I just spent some time trying to think of anyone I know that is as pleasant and cheerful as Melissa and I could only think of 14 people. Just kidding. I couldn’t think of anyone. That’s how cheerful she is. And she’s a fine photographer, too.

If you know Melissa, you’ll consider yourself lucky any time she’s around.

As always, great to see you today Melissa. Come back soon.

When Stephanie came to our party in December she said I couldn’t take any pictures of her. Well, now, that’s hardly a reasonable thing for a pretty girl to tell a photographer. But I respected her ridiculous request. So I was really glad she stopped by today so I could photograph her with a brand new hair cut from Patrick at Shep Salon. (And I’m really looking forward to spring so we can do another round of family pictures for her like we did last year).

Stephanie is the mind & spirit behind the enormously popular & style-tastic blog, stephmodo. Check it out.

Turns out, one of my favorite people is also one of my favorite photographers. I’ve known Trent Nelson for at least 20 years. But it’s not that often that I get a chance to see him. So I was pleased as punch when he came by my office today to say hello.

Trent is the Chief Photographer at the Salt Lake Tribune and has been the Utah News Photographer of the Year three times. His assignments have taken him all over the world, like Africa, Honduras, and Ogden. (I’m just guessing he’s been to Ogden. He didn’t tell me anything about going there. Imagine bragging about going to Ogden. And by the way, he didn’t brag about anything).

From the bio on his website: His 2003 composite photograph of Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton was published over six pages in Sports Illustrated, the largest photograph in the history of the magazine.

Above photo by Trent Nelson — below photo of Trent Nelson

Our friends at Enizio Salon (they did the hair and makeup for Lindsay here and here) are putting together a dress drive as a fund raiser. It works like this. You donate your formal gown that’s in great condition (but let’s face it, you’ll never wear it again) and they’ll sell it and give all the money to the Panzi Hospital in the District of Congo.

Read all about it here. This is a great idea.

What luck. Justin Lyon is in town to for the Sundance Film Festilval and had a couple photo shoots just down the block from my office. So he stopped by to say hello. Justin seems like the happiest person I know. I can’t imagine that he’s ever frowned or been sad.

Justin and his lovely wife Amelia are wedding photographers in Southern California and making a big splash in their neck of the woods. Everyone loves Amelia and Justin. Cheers, Justin. Thanks for coming by. You’re welcome here any time.

Justin Lyon photographed in Provo Utah by Justin Hackworth

Sarah already told Michael what she wants for Christmas. She said she wants some portraits of the two of them from Justin Hackworth Photography. I always knew Sarah was smart.

Here’s a short slideshow with a few more of their portraits.