Brian & Malia:::MARRIED!!!

"Ah, San Diego. Scholars maintain that the translation was lost hundreds of years ago." But today, it meant that Brian and Malia were getting married. Brian and I met a couple of years ago thru our mutual friend Mr. Chad Lewis and became better acquainted for Chad's Bachelor Beer Run Party. Seeing that all of us were triathletes and marathoners, someone thought that the idea of bar hopping and drinking beer was a good idea. So clearly, if we ran between every bar ( and I mean "run" not "jogging") that would make this good idea even better. When we arrived back at Chad's for more drinking and a BBQ, we were in rare form. Our next encounter came up in Massachusetts at the Bucksteep Manor last May when I was shooting Chad & Kirsten's Wedding. Apparently, Brian was so enamored with the photography that he just had to hire me. (That's not exactly true, but that's what I'm telling myself) However it happened, I'm grateful Brian gave me a call.

Brian & Malia. One went to school in San Diego, the other at the school I despise the most...the University of Michigan, and despite that gigantic shortcoming, Malia looked stunning yesterday. Armed with the trimmed version of the original veil her Mother wore on her wedding night and even her original garder belt (she didn't not wear that one...from what I understand, she forgot to wear it) Malia was glowing. It's not hard when your wedding is on the beach!!! Yey!!! Sand, sun, wedding, cake and booze. What more could you ask for? NO RAIN??? You've got it. Throw in an acapella song sung by the groom's old singing group and a couple of the most energetic kids I've ever seen, and you have an remarkable and unforgettable event...Brian and Malia's wedding.

Congratulations you two. Enjoy your honeymoon in Australia and enjoy your new life together. I'm very happy to have been a part. Cheers.

They attempted to hang the sign by taping it up, but it didn't work. I think it has more charm this way.

This was a great idea. No bridesmaid dresses, no tuxedos. Just a swatch for a paint store and instructions: "But a shirt of dress in this color scheme." Practical. And if there's one thing about Brian and Malia, Brian will tell you, it's that they are both pratical.

Beach, beach, beach. I love the beach.

The girls.

Not my favorite shot, but a very close 2nd.

This would be my favorite shot. In order to make sure the ring bearers didn't lose the rings, they were safety pinned to the turtles. Cute.

Here's a tip for all you soon to be newlyweds. Allow time for photos before the wedding. It will allow you to get to the reception much sooner to be with your friends who have traveled such a long way to be with you and it also provides photography insurance. Insurance from the unrelenting weather. At 3 o'clock we had unbelievable blue skies and great light. At 5 o'clock that light and sky were gone. The clouds rolled in and poof! Nothing. Had we not shot these pictures before the wedding, the outcome would have been much different. It's a safety net and a good one.

Ah, the In-Laws.


The more you shoot weddings, the more you yourself begin to create your own perfect wedding. And if you could only steal only thing from each wedding the one thing I would steal from Malia and Brian's wedding would be the sand. Not the beach sand, but the sand of unity. If you look carefully, each glass already holds two different colored sands---one for the Mom and one for the Dad. They then went up and poured each of them into the glass you see to represent their union together. Now, Malia and Brian get to take their parents sand and join them together in the jar that you now see before you.
Simple and sweet.

Tada! We're married!

Hmm.......cake.

I love the fact that these two were open and willing to try anything. Clown noses, that's just funny.

It is illegal to be on the lifeguard tower? YES. Did we get caught? YES. But did we still get the shot? You betcha.

And as our heroes travel off into the sunset...



For more photos, check out:

KIP PIERSON PHOTOGRAPHY
www.kippierson.com

Become a FAN of Kip Pierson Photography on Facebook:

CLICK TO BE A FAN!

Ye Olde Wine

What happens when you have all of this wine that needs to be distributed and no pictures of the wine bottles for your website? You have your Sales guy (Steuart Martens) call Kip Pierson Photography. Stu and I have known each other a little over a year now through the DC Triathlon Club and though he'll never boast about it Steuart is one of if not the fastest swimmer I know. "Sure" you say, we all know some "fast" swimmers. No...this guy is fast...really. A former University of Purdue swimmer, this past summer Stu set a world record for the fastest swim across the San Francisco Bay. A world record! Now that's fast!

Well, needless to say, Stu is faster than me in the pool and for that he probably took pity on me and called me up to see if I could help. And though I've done ZERO product photography I was willing to explore to realm of possibilities.

Formed in summer of 2008, Tradewinds Specialty Imports, LLC (“Tradewinds”) came to life based on their founders’ passion for Spanish wine and food, and the burning desire to share such rich and rare specialty items with US restaurant goers and wine enthusiasts.

Through a partnership with their Spanish exporter, they provide a portfolio of Spanish products with an optimal blend of quality and value. This is achieved by visiting many vineyards and manufacturing facilities across Spain to develop an intimate knowledge of the owners, workers and production process. And now they have a website!!! So go check it out. They've got some great products. Also, look to see when there next wine tasting is...knowing Stu, it should be fun.

For more photos, check out:

KIP PIERSON PHOTOGRAPHY
www.kippierson.com

Become a FAN of Kip Pierson Photography on Facebook:

CLICK TO BE A FAN!

Richard "Guess how old I am" Yingling

21? 30? 18? 25? 40? If you guessed any of these, you would be wrong. Though his surname is Yingling and though he tells me he is related to the "Yuengling" lager that we all no from Pennslyvania, Richard is not old enough to drink. NO. In fact, Richard is not even old enough to drive. Yet he is old enough to graduate from high school on be on his way to Howard University to pursue acting...at the age of 15. Yes, 15 ladies and gentleman. Needless to say, I was stunned. In fact, Richard is the youngest of 3 and all of them graduated high school early and began their college career long before most even thought of going to college. How is this possible? What type of genes our his parents producing? What's their background? What kind of jobs do they have? Are his parents the best parents ever? Well, luckily for me Richard's Mom came along for the photo shoot. (After all, how was Richard going to get there? DRIVE? I don't think so.) And the answer? Home School. TADA!!! That's right, 3 kids, all home schooled, all graduating early, and all smart as a whip. Now you may say home schooled children lack the social skills necessary for everyday life...I disagree. If you were to ever meet Richard you'd agree. He's a smart, young, polite and articulate individual and with all the freedom that comes with being home schooled, Richard gets hones his "social skills" in the theatre acting with adults and other kids his own age. In fact, it was Lexi Haddad who recommended him to me--the girl who was 14 going on 30. These kids are amazing. What's not to like about being homeschooled? Best of luck to you Richard!

For more photos, check out:

KIP PIERSON PHOTOGRAPHY
www.kippierson.com

Become a FAN of Kip Pierson Photography on Facebook:

CLICK TO BE A FAN!

THE FAITHKILLER Production Photos

Who will stand up for justice?
Who will defend us from ourselves?
Who will you trust with the power of the Brain Drain Gun?

When an ambitious young network television producer resurrects a 1940s-era radio program and recasts its central character as an atheist superhero, conflicts over the nature of faith and the power of belief erupt across lines of family, politics, and culture.

"The Faithkiller" is a parable for an age in which old-time religion collides head-on with the New Atheism… and neither side comes away unscathed.

Taffety Punk Theatre, winner of the 1st ever John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company @ the 2008 Helen Hayes Awards, embarks on a new endeavor from playwright Gwydion Suilebhan. Directed by Artistic Director Marcus Kyd and featuring Company Member Kimberly Gilbert (both fellow Academy for Classical Acting grads like myself) , Suilebhan says that The Faithkiller is an investigation of sorts into “the difference between faith and belief.” The play’s inquiry spans history, denomination, and race, as characters grapple with thorny questions raised by the strictures and demands imposed upon them not only by Christianity, Islam, Judaism, but also by the militant, fundamentalist atheism that has appeared in recent years, most prominently in best-selling books by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens.

So if you'd like to come all the info is below. And if you know MJ and Kimberly at all, you'll know you can always count on great performances from these two. Best of luck folks and BREAK A LEG!!!

WHAT: The Faithkiller

WHEN: March 30, 2009 (Opening Night) 7:30 p.m.
April 1-3, 8-10 and 15-17 (Wednesday-Friday) 7:30 p.m.
April 4, 11 and 18 (Saturday) 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
(Pay-What-You-Can Previews March 27 and 28 at 7: 30 p.m.)

WHERE: Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
545 7th Street SE
Washington DC 20003

TICKETS: All tickets $10
www.taffetypunk.com
Or call: 1-800-838-3006

Gwydion Suilebhan is the author of Abstract Nude, The Great Dismal, and The Butcher. His previous work with Taffety Punk includes the world premiere of his play Let X (2006) and contribution of a prologue to the company’s production of Cardenio Found (2007). His plays have been produced, workshopped, read, and commissioned by the Kennedy Center, National Theater, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Mead Theatre Lab, Theater of the First Amendment, Rorschach Theatre, Intentional Theatre Group, Source Theatre Festival, and the Capitol Fringe Festival. He has received two Individual Artist Fellowships and a Larry Neal Award from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and has twice been accepted into the Cultural Development Corporation’s Mead Theatre Lab program. He was recently named a finalist for the Washington D.C. Mayor’s Arts Award in the category of Outstanding Emerging Artist.

For more photos, check out:

KIP PIERSON PHOTOGRAPHY
www.kippierson.com

Become a FAN of Kip Pierson Photography on Facebook:

CLICK TO BE A FAN!