Laura & Jeremy | Rainier Chapter House, Seattle

It’s funny how certain things stick out in my mind when I think back about a wedding.

For Jeremy & Laura’s day…there were a few things that will forever been engrained my mind. Seeing a little lady bug land on Laura’s robe while she got ready, galavanting around in the rain just trying to park close enough to our locations so Laura wouldn’t have to trek in her killer shoes in the wet muck, looking at Jeremy a few times to catch him just staring with a huge grin at his bride, watching Laura get escorted down the aisle by both her dads, the look of pure shock/joy on their faces when they got to see their reception space all set-up for the first time, sneaking seconds of mac’n’cheese (I completely ignore my no-dairy at weddings, so sue me), Laura sneaking away in the back room for a “cool down” time during dancing, the list goes on and on… it was one for the books. I loved this day…and I loved these two.

Shout out to Laura’s insane design talents and orchestrating this wedding from scratch. ALL of the decor/art direction is hers. A girl after my own heart.

A thanks to Amber Zbitnoff for shooting alongside me on this day…a few of these images are hers. (more…)

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Minnie & Marshall | Orcas Island

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“Like, forest-y hobbit vibes”.

Pretty much what sold me on Minnie’s wedding when I asked her to describe what she was envisioning. And so, a hobbit-like, free-range, barefoot, oyster-shooting, whiskey-sipping summer solstice celebration began. I’ve been sitting on this guy for a while and I’m so excited to finally share Minnie & Marshall’s wedding from this past June. The two met at a mutual friends potluck birthday celebration and instantly connected over their love of running — it’s not surprise they’ve logged hundreds of miles running trails, mountains and the like.

The wedding took place at her childhood home on Orcas island, high up on a hill with a gorgeous view of the San Juans. Dogs, horses, and deer roamed the property, you woke up to grasshoppers buzzing and her family & friends busily working away to craft every inch of this wedding. It was a “it-takes-a-village” affair through and through, and not only that, the personal touches were my favorite. From the writing of their own vows, her mother sewing her wedding dress, her father planting hundreds of poppies for them to galavant through, all the way to the family singing a song during cocktail hour, her brother’s band performed a version of Taylor Swifts “Wildest Dreams” for their first dance….it goes on and on.

Minnie & Marshall (and your amazing families) thank you for having me. Cheers to you a lifetime filled with family, friends, music, dogs, traveling, and running — lots of running. And a shout out to Seattle Met Bride & Groom for featuring this wedding in their latest issue. (more…)

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2016 Curated

Self-reflection is a funny thing. Something that is meant to create a positive awareness in people can also be the culprit of some pretty scary inner-dialogue. But hell, why even put it under one umbrella? I think at any given time self-reflection can be scary, humbling, helpful, assertive, motivating and reassuring all at once.

I think part of running your own business requires a bit of self-reflection daily — am I being a responsible, reliable, and trusting business owner? am I performing my best at all times? am I staying true to my core values? am I finding the work-life balance that I need without letting anyone suffer because of it? However, self-reflection as an artist is even more important  — and it’s also where the scary stuff comes in. In hopes of not sounding “woe is me”, it’s one of the things I’ve struggled with the most this year. It was an amazing year filled with so many lovely clients, but I feel like I’ve been spinning around in an anti-gravity chamber not really knowing which way is up….or if there even IS an up. Not that I’m thinking of deviating from photography by any means, but rather defining WHO I am as an artist…. And this goes far beyond what my style is, but rather what do I evoke out of people when they see my images? how do I become a better storyteller? am I putting the talents I’ve been given to use, and fully? do I create impactful, meaningful images? will my clients look at these in 40 years and remember how they FELT? how can I be more objective with my own work? does anyone even care? am I overthinking this again? <— this was a typical Tuesday night after slipping into bed. So yea…this seemingly constructive exercise all of the sudden becomes super overwhelming (you can thank my anxiety-prone brain for that one) and it’s where a lot of my sleepless nights have come from.

Either way, one of my goals for next year is to take a much, much active role in defining this “who”. Why am I drawn to certain styles, aesthetics, etc.? Why do I choose the frames that I do, what makes them work, what doesn’t? Could I have shot this differently to make it even more impactful? I want to push past creating a sustainable business and begin to define what I do and why I do it. Maybe it sounds like added pressure or too analytical, but it’s also the result of wanting to do better, be better, and create better work for those who choose to hire me. I see these things as goals, not pressures.

So, that’s where this little exercise came in. A few weeks ago I blindly asked on Facebook for people to give me words (anything — nouns, adjectives, verbs) and I would pick a few at random and do my best to cater this “Best of 2016” blog post around those words. Holy hell was this hard….so hard, but so good for me. I knew it would be since it was so open-ended, but if anything, it gave me a REAL solid look into the narrative behind my images. This is exactly what I wanted…a little push out of the ‘ol comfort zone.

I learned a few things doing this. I learned pretty quickly that some of the combinations may seem disconnected for “outsiders” (i.e. backstories were crucial when you’re separating a single image from it’s set) but I decided to not care about that. I also decided not to care if some of these were super literal (maybe even silly)….I just tried to instinctively put images and words together — no second guessing them.  I also decided the word didnt need to necessarily describe the content — but the feeling, maybe a camera technique, or even how I felt shooting it. Lastly, there were some images I felt could fall into a few different categories, but again, went with instinctual choices over making this post mind-blowinging amazing. Overall, this was a really interesting and fun challenge for me. Also, as much as I would have loved to do all 72 words, this post would have been ginormous, so I threw them into a randomizer app and out popped these. Thanks to those of you who contributed and I hope you guys enjoy it.

2016 curated by a bunch of random words:

___
SPARK

carinaskrobeckiphotography_bestof2016_spark02 (more…)

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Zoe & Cory

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A sunny Friday evening spent with great company in one of the most gorgeous spots — Camano Island. Catching that last light, enjoying some wine, beach strolls with your person…no better way to kick off a weekend. Zoe & Cory: thanks for inviting me up to your happy place. (more…)

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Nevin & Serina | The Ace Hotel, Palm Springs

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What a weekend. Back in May I was invited to come join Nevin & Serina and their closest family and friends in Palm Springs for an epic wedding weekend. It would be 3 days, combining both Hindu & Christian traditions, a Sangeet night, a full wedding day, and multiple other festivities to keep their guests entertained. How could I pass that up? I’ve also gotten to know Nevin quite well over the last few years as both he and my good friend Lizzy are the masterminds behind the infamous Blueprint Registry, so being able to shoot for people I know personally was a treat.

I knew I could expect a both a well-executed (Nevin is the king of organization), no detail left unturned (hello multiple outfit changes), but also a not too fussy (she wanted simplicity in the world of traditional Indian wedding ensembles) & laid-back (they threw in some really awesome moments – like a totally choreographed upbeat Indian dance as their first dance) wedding weekend with these two. And it did not disappoint. One of my all-time favorite moments of the entire weekend was watching the two of help one another get dressed the morning of the wedding. I rarely see brides & grooms get to spend the ENTIRE day together, and I love that these two opted for that. This weekend also marked shooting my first Hindu ceremony — it was both spiritual and fun, dotted with tradition and family-centered rituals. Laughter, tears, the whole gamut. I loved every second of it.

Congrats to Nevin & Serina and thank you Brides.com to featuring this wedding today! (more…)

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