I've been so behind on catching up with our life that I forgot to post the most amazing news we've had this year.  Last summer my wife gave birth to our third and beautiful child, Shane.  Shane came into this world with absolutely no complications... on that Monday morning, Annie and I headed to the hospital to get ready to meet Shane.  The delivery room was filled with tons of laughter, jokes, smiles, and hugs!  My wife is a champ... truly there is no vocation like motherhood and all mothers should be celebrated if not for the mere fact of child birth.   Enough words... I'll let the pictures tell the story now:

Fall is here!  We're a bit behind on blogging, but we have some great photos to share with you all!  This past weekend, we got to shoot with Viviana and her daughter Rebecca.  We have had the most wonderful honor to be a part of this family's life, capturing their family time together for the past 3 years!  And that's really what we're all about - making moments and connections that transcend your normal photographer-client relationship.  Here are some of our pictures from past shoot as well as our most current shoot this past weekend!

Let's make more memories together friends!  Tell others about portrait and wedding photography at JasonRic Photography and email me personally at [email protected]


- "jasonric"

Anytime I shoot a wedding, while watching the bride and groom make their wedding vows to one another, I can't help but re-live how utterly scary that moment was for me.  Over 5 years ago I made a promise to a woman who, at the time I didn't realize that there was so much more to know about.  The crazy thing was that I was saying "I do" to a person I had so much more to learn about and I was resolving to commit myself to her for the rest of my life!  With that I echo wise words passed down to me from someone very long ago... 

I think I would be doing a major disservice to my generation and those that would come after me if I didn't stress the importance of the decision you make when you marry someone... this will be the person who will see you at your greatest AND your weakest.  This person you marry will be the one that you may raise children with.  This partner in life will be the one to brace you, embrace you, encourage you, love you, and whilst at the same time unintentionally (or not) hurt you.  He or she will be the one to both wipe your tears and at times... cause them.  And yet... she (or he) will be the one that you commit to with joy every single day of your life.  That's why it's of the utmost importance to not rush into a decision like marriage.  

Here are a few things I have found in my short 5 years that I believe continues to fire me up in marriage:

One, faith is huge.  My wife and I believe that because we know of the great love of Jesus Christ (and uncanny love for us), it just makes it so much easier to love and forgive one another even when we make mistakes.  We believe that a historical Jesus laid his life on the line to pay for the penalty of our mistakes and our weaknesses... this is the bedrock of where we learn how to sacrificially love one another (Romans 5:8).

Two, one day at a time.  Another wise owl told me it best to take things one day at a time.  Our first year of marriage was absolutely difficult.  From getting to know someone and their weaknesses in life to allowing them to see me at my worst was very difficult to swallow ~ one day at a time means to discipline myself to not be hasty and jump the gun.  To look at this moment as a moment that will soon pass, but more importantly - be in the moment.  

Three, love with action... love with sacrifice.  I must have said "I love you" to my sweet Annie hundreds of times by now, but none ever so strongly or passionately than with my actions.  And the kicker is that it's usually shown in the relatively mundane things in life like washing dishes, doing the laundry, cleaning the toilets (all non-glamourous or romantic things I tell you!).  I can say this... that in doing these things when not asked... I can't help but feel like I'm honoring this woman and treating her the best way i've found so far... and that's through sacrifice.  I can only pray that my son will reciprocate this same love whether he gets married someday or not.

Hey, thanks for stopping by and reading this rant!  A bit of a break from the pictorial blogs, but I hope this helps you as you also accumulate thoughts on marriage and life!

Cheers,

Jason

It was a beautiful afternoon when Corin (who I know as Cj), his sister and I put together a shoot for his graduation portraits.  We decided to shoot at a local park that had a horse ring.  I absolutely loved the ranch-like quality of this shoot.  Besides that, Cj was an excellent model... I mean "student" to shoot with!  As the shoot began to unfold, we were unable to shoot in the middle of the ring because there were a couple of horses running around... luckily for us, with a little bit of charm, we were able to get some stellar horse portraits!

Libby found us on YELP and was gracious enough to give us a try and let our work show for itself!  We're so thankful she did... I've never been on campus and UCLA before, and I was completely blown away by the architecture.  The school alone is SOOOOO big that although they had several graduation ceremonies going on at the same time, you wouldn't notice it due to the fact that the campus was so incredibly large and separated well.  Being able to find spots of solitude to shoot Miss Libby was not a difficult challenge in the least.  Check out our work with her below!

I have to take a minute to give my awesome wife Annie and the start of her company... Jane Hudson Designs.  I took some time to shoot her doing work.  Jane Hudson Designs specializes in wedding invitations and cake toppers... Hope you enjoy... but first, check out her website:

A month ago, I got a chance to go to a leadership conference.  Phil Wickham, one of my favorite Christian artists was there and unfortunately had an "irregularity" in his vocal chords which left his doctor with the recommendation to avoid use of his voice and waiting for recovery.  

All of this got me to thinking...what if our identity was limited only to our talents?  Though our talents may draw popularity in the tens, hundreds, or even thousands - I was reminded that we as human beings are more than our talents, skills, and abilities.  

Phil Wickham is a music artist who is more than his voice.
I am photographer whose identity is not formed by my ability to take pictures.
Your identity is more than "what you're good at"!

Hope your Tuesday goes well and hope that this post encourages you that your worth is far more valuable than the volatility of your job effectiveness!

Cheers!

- Jasonric

P.S. Here's a link to Phil Wickham's Blog highlighting his vocal chord challenge

This past weekend I photographed a couple who are entering into 25 years of marital bliss.  This was a unique opportunity for me seeing as how I spend a majority of my photographing with newlywed couples.  As I shot Erwin and Jeanette's pre-wedding renewal portraits, there was a moment after looking at all the images where I thought to myself, "I hope and I pray that I will be as in love if not MORE in love when I hit 25 years with my beautiful Annie".   Although this is 25 years in the making, you can tell that this couple is still very much in love with each other... lots of giggles turned to laughing, smiles, and firm embraces.  Cheers to this week's beautiful couple!

Toook my family out south a week ago for a fun filled day in San Diego which included going to the zoo, sightseeing, and sunset chasing.  I can't say that California is the most beautiful place to live because I haven't even come close to visiting half of our states, but I can say that the sunsets and the coast are absolutely breathtaking.

Coffee.  Lots of it.

Every once and a while I'll be asked by a friend or relative to do a photo shoot with them. I thoroughly enjoy shooting with friends, it makes for a very non formal, less pressured, and intimate shoot.  This past week I got to shoot with my sister.  This was pretty unique for me for several reasons: 1) I haven't really hung out 1-on-1 with my sister in a LONG time; and now 2) not only am I doing a photo shoot with her, it's her graduation shoot.  I felt like I time traveled, but get this... into the future!  I couldn't believe that my little sister was actually graduating out of college.  All of that meant that, if she chose, she could choose to move on to bigger things!  Where'd all the time go?  Like I shared on our facebook page, it was an honor to shoot with her and capture this epic milestone in her life.