I’ve been up to a lot lately and wish I had a clone to handle my blogging for me. It takes a lot to blog a full wedding and I’m going to have a few up soon. September was officially insane and October is promising to rival September. I photographed some beautiful weddings in Grass Valley, Modesto (at Galletto Ristorante), Saratoga (at Hakone Gardens), some awesome engagement sessions in Stockton and one recently in Lake Tahoe (at Heavenly and Edgewood), some family portrait sessions and recently a high school senior session in Lodi. This weekend I’ll be photographing in downtown Sacramento and at a friends’ wedding at Clos LaChance Winery in San Martin.
In the midst of all of that, I’ve been booking some awesome clients for 2010 weddings and I’m moving into a new studio in Linden. It is going to be a sweet space for meeting clients, working, making photographs, teaching and being creative. I’m super stoked and can’t wait to show everyone the progress. Stay tuned for some big announcements from Scott Andrew Weddings and Scott Andrew Studio. So here are a few frames to tide everyone over until the next epic blog post. Enjoy.

From todays’ high school senior portrait session.

Grass Valley Persian/American Wedding

An engagement session at Edgewood Country Club in Lake Tahoe, CA

I had the day off from my new job and I got up early to go fishing. I’ll never forget the call I got from my wife and immediately going into my truck and turning the radio on. The tone of voice in the radio announcer was different than anything I’ve ever heard. The silence that pervaded the background was stifling. I remember the bitter feeling in my mouth that this terrible thing could actually happen in our country. It was so real that day.
Several weeks ago strolling with my wife in the financial district of New York City, it became real again. We were still several blocks away but the huge gap in the buildings represented a gap of great loss in our country. Not just in concrete, steel and glass but in human life and substance. We walked around the outer perimeter and watched as the building of the new structures took place.
I hope that I never forget. I hope that I can instill something in my kids and help them to learn from 9/11. The fact that an evil, spiteful enemy hated us enough to do this thing is very evident. The fact that they’ll try and try to do it again is apparent. But the fact that America is the most exceptional nation ever born in this world is being tested. We will never forget.

From time to time I try to share some photographs and stories from my personal life in my blog. I may shed a few tears over this one, but it is worth it. Eden Autry is my pride and joy. I could go on and on about how she can read at 4 years old, play the piano, quote whole chapters of Scripture and is almost as smart as your’s truly…but most of you who follow this blog know that already.
Eden has been stoked for weeks about starting Kindergarten (she’s super social and loves to learn) and the day finally came that we walked away from Stockton Christian School and left our daughter in the care of others. I got pretty choked up driving home to think about how fast she has grown up and how proud I am of her. She absolutely had a blast and as soon as she hopped in mommy’s car she was asking how many hours it was until she could go back. Awesome.
I’m glad I’ve taken time to make photographs of my children and family. I was looking through a few of them the other day and got kind of bummed out that I’m not in many of the photos. Duh. But then I started thinking about how I actually was “in” the photos. There is a piece of me in every click I make of the shutter and who knows where these photos will end up. I hope that some great great great grandkids one day will look back with appreciation at the family art that we created and smile. So here are some photos to document Eden’s first day of school.

not too stoked about getting her hair done.

I’m going to be in New York City tomorrow (8.20) until next Tuesday (8.25) and will be limited in email/phone responses. If you have an inquiry or question please go ahead and email/call as usual, but if it is urgent please note “911″ in the subject header.
I’ll be photographing an awesome engagement session while I’m in New York and I can’t wait! I’ll definitely try to keep things updated on the blog and if you don’t follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you should go check it out and stay in the loop. Cheryl is coming with me this time so we’re going to make a little mini vacation out of it. Is there anything that we shouldn’t miss? We’ll be doing some shopping, some eating and seeing some sites, so if you have any ideas let me know in the comment section below. Thanks and check back soon.

Have you ever thought of having a friend shoot your wedding? Don’t worry, I’m not going to beat you over the head (like some) for saying yes. I totally understand if you might do such a thing do to budget or you just don’t care (well, i don’t really understand people that don’t care about photography). But here is an interesting take and side-by-side looks as to what you might get from an amateur/hobbyist wedding photographer and a professional wedding photographer who shoots for a living. Interesting read and photos to boot. Enjoy.