Belinda Olsen Photography » Utah Wedding & Portrait Photographer | Logan, Utah | 435-881-2184

I love these girls and their families!  I have known the Hicken girls since they moved to Utah nearly fifteen years ago.  I have loved spending so much time with them as I am also photographing their brother’s wedding next month.  I have never felt so close to a family that wasn’t my own.  Growing up I considered the Hicken parents my own.  I spent many nights chatting with Nicole and her mom. I think the best late night chats happened while we were in Shirlene’s craft room listening to the hum of her sewing machine.  I always loved being at the Hicken home because I always felt welcome there!  Mama Shirlene has always given the best hugs and great advice!

This is my beautiful friend Nicole and her daughter Adalyn.  Adayln is seriously a miracle baby as she had a pretty traumatic entrance into this world.  A lot of prayers, faith and fasting were offered in the behalf of the Anderson family.  Nicole has one of the most positive attitudes about her daughters health and really trusts in her faith.  I really admire her attitude of gratitude and optimism. I am really sad that she moved to Missouri.  I really hope that these years go by very, very fast.  In the meantime I am grateful for Skype.  Nicole, watch out it is time to set up a skype date soon!
PINIMAGEThis is Nicole’s little sister Chelsea.  Chelsea has always had an extremely compassionate heart. (as do I think all of the Hickens) I love her little boy Andy.  He has amazing blue eyes and  adorable facial expressions.  Chelsea and Brigham live in Alaska and it was great to see them in Utah!   Chelsea started this adorable blog, A Chick With Sticks, to benefit one of the hospital guest houses.  The guest house was a tender mercy for Nicole and her husband Talon, after little Addie was born.  It allowed them to stay literally as close as possible to their daughter during her time in the NICU. Chelsea is nine tenths of the way to her goal of  a $1000 donation.  Please help her out and visit her blog and see her beautiful work and make a donation to such a great cause. 100% of profit goes to benefit various charitable causes.  Definitely compassionate!  
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I love that I have crafty clients!  First Carrie and now Chelsea.  You ladies are amazing!

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I’m not saying I’m not grateful for my pioneer heritage, I just think it’s an odd holiday. I tried to explain to several vendors at work that Utah has a special holiday and they thought that was definitely odd.  I however, am very grateful for  a day off and a chance to hang out with my neighbors.  We live in this great little fourplex in Logan.  We have the best neighbors.  Really.  We always talk about how we’ll get together and we finally did! (Thank you Siddoways for actually attending this time! )  We decided that we would have a BBQ, play games and reminiscing of the movie Hook.  We started out playing bocci ball, which I loved!  The light was also beautiful! I loved this random wind catcher and the way the light reflected of it.

enjoying the little thingsPINIMAGEHello Myrups!  They live across ‘the hall’ from us and we love to play together all the time.  It was a great thing that we convinced them to move by us.

backlit woman with brown hair and sunglassesPINIMAGEAloha Siddoway family who were so kind to grace us with their presence.  I almost always laugh so hard when I’m with them that my stomach hurts.  It’s great to have times like that!
Bocci ball games in Logan UtahPINIMAGEKonnichiwa Bartholomews.  I love that they both speak Spanish. All the time.  Craig and I should hang out with them more often so we can brush up on our Spanish.  I absolutely love Lindsey’s sunglasses and wish I could pull them off.
girl posing with cute sunglasses photograph made in Logan UtahPINIMAGEHere we are!  I had to hand my camera to someone else and try to teach them how to use it 😀  I consider this soft focus an ‘art’.   I love that Craig measured which ball was closest using a scientific approach of using the croquet stick.craig measuring the winner of bocci ball with croquet stickPINIMAGE

Meet my friend the brown chicken.  He played an instrumental part in the extreme laughter of the weekend.   As we were playing bocci ball in this abandoned field we saw this chicken running around.  It had escaped from the pen.  The boys tried to catch the chicken and see if they could get it to go back into the pen.  A few of us thought that we would try to see if the owners were home in hopes that they would be able to catch the chicken.  No such luck.   The boys would have to try harder to catch the chicken and get it over the fence.   The guys were modern day MacGyver’s using a random box, bag and fence to catch the chicken.    Finally it went over the fence and all was well.  We even stayed to make sure the chicken was okay.
brown chicken by fence in northern utahPINIMAGEPhotograph made in Northern Utah while trying to catch chickenPINIMAGEI love our neighbors.  Great times and I hope many more awesome stories like this to come!

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  • Tara Siddoway - I will always remember that chicken. And I feel honored to have made it onto your blog. ReplyCancel

  • Belinda Fanjul Olsen - Suzanne Myrup Brett Myrup Tara Siddoway Paul Siddoway Lindsay Jones Bartholomew Craig Olsen You won’t believe what I saw Friday on my run. Another chicken on the other side of the fence. I died laughing!ReplyCancel

without the rain there would be no rainbowPINIMAGEI found this free printable on pinterest quite some time ago.  Life has been a little bit crazy lately and I have been thinking about this quote. A lot.  I love this quote so much that I have sent for a 16×24 canvas of it to put in my home 😀  I figure it never hurts to be reminded to look for the positive in every situation.

In the meantime, I have been thinking that I have so many things to be grateful for!  I am first and foremost grateful for my cute husband.  He’s been really supportive while things have been crazy.  It makes me sad to see him worry and be stressed out.  He tells me that it’s just another way he lets me know he love me <3  I am incredibly grateful that he makes me laugh every single day.  He knows how to have fun and make me smile when I get too stressed or focused on trivial things.  It’s a priceless talent.


I am really grateful for my religion and faith.  We have an amazing Bishop who is so full of love.  I appreciate that each time he sees me he stops what he’s doing and asks me how I’m doing. I have devoted a little bit more time to my religious studies which has been wonderful!  I have especially loved one specific passage that talks about comfort in difficult times.  

Book of Mormon Mosiah 24:13-15PINIMAGE

To learn more about what Mormon’s believe you can find an excellent resource HERE.


I’m really grateful for my friends!  I had one friend who just called out of the blue to see how I was doing and it was wonderful to chat with her.  I love that my closest friends do the most simple things that really carry a lot of weight and meaning.

This may sound crazy, but I’m especially grateful for strangers that smile on the street!  Oh the power in a simple smile.  It means more than I think anyone knows!

If you too would like this print.  Visit Rebecca Cooper’s Blog where this was a free printable from St. Patrick’s Day earlier this year that you can find HERE.

 

 

 

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  • Christy - Needed these thoughts this week. =)  Thanks!ReplyCancel

  • Tara Siddoway - If you ever need a time out from life, come knock on my door and vent to me. What else are neighbors for? Oh yeah, planning on going to a bbq and then ending up being too “busy”. Ha! ReplyCancel

Despite the fact that I specialize in children, newborn and family photography I will occasionally photograph a wedding when it is referred directly from a client.   (Or  if I’m second shooting with my friend, Kristin)  I was really excited to photograph this wedding because I know both the bride and groom really well!  When I was in high school I would  go in and help run sectionals with the cellists from the younger orchestras and Yeon Mi was one of my ‘little sister’ cellists.    Chase’s  older sister has been one of my closest friends since they moved to Utah nearly fifteen years ago!

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I really want a pair of shoes like the ones that Yeon Mi wore!  Their style is very classic and timeless.  Everything about this session is absolutely beautiful.
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When we finished our session Chase said that had never heard Yeon Mi laugh so hard!  She has this beautiful laugh and giggle that is extremely contagious to anyone around her.   I love the way she crinkles her nose when she laughs really, really, really hard. We definitely had a fun time at our session!


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Chase & Yeon Mi, I’m really excited to photograph your August wedding at the Salt Lake Temple and formals this week!  Congratulations on your engagement!



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  • Suz - Belinda, I love reading your blog. Thank you for including us, it always makes me feel loved. ReplyCancel

  • Pre-Wedding Formals » Belinda Olsen Photography - […] I loved the opportunity to visit the Salt Lake Temple and photograph this beautiful couple.  Chase & Yeon Mi definitely know how to have fun!  We played games and laughed throughout our session together.   Yeon Mi’s wedding dress is gorgeous.  I think that it is perfect for her personality and I’ve never seen a dress like it.   To see their engagements click here. […]ReplyCancel

  • Cousins » Belinda Olsen Photography - […] the opportunity to take a few more pictures of the cousins together, since everyone was in town for Chase & Yeon Mi’s wedding. I loved when we put the little ones side by side and they instantly held hands and then […]ReplyCancel

  • Chase & Yeon Mi. Married. » Belinda Olsen Photography - […] level of Sherwood Hills and Yeon Mi’s family took great care to decorate and place their engagement and formal pictures throughout the entire room.  This cake cutting was one of the most memorable […]ReplyCancel


Yesterday I mentioned how I have a pre-session consultation with all of my clients.  I love to have a consultation whether this is your first of fifth session with Belinda Olsen Photography.  Today I want to go into a little bit more detail about what a session consultation is and why you’ll love it (and why I love it too!). Our consultation is usually 20-30 minutes and can occur over the phone, Skype or in person at your home or while I take you out for ice cream, smoothies or a pastry.  This is a great opportunity for us to meet before our session and allows me to prepare for your custom session.  I want to ensure that your session is stress free of you.  This is a time that you can relax, have fun and be yourself.


We’ll chat about your hobbies, interests and what the special occasion is for having pictures taken.    Together we’ll choose a location that is unique and fits your style: an urban location with fun brick, walls and buildings or  natural area with trees, fields and beautiful landscapes or a location that is sentimental to you.  I love the creative challenge of photographing in a new location and prefer to make each session custom to my clients.


If you’d like I’ll help you determine clothing choices that will fit your style and location.   One important thing I want to know is how you are planning on displaying your images from our session.    We’ll chat about any activities you’d like to do during our session and any props to bring.  Our consultation is a great time for you to ask  any questions you may have.  During this time we’ll also schedule your session usually 2-3 weeks after our consultation.


My favorite question to ask is, “What is your dream session?”  Through our pre-session consultation we’ll work together to make this a reality.  So start dreaming about what your dream session is and let’s make it happen!


Here’s a glimpse of my experimenting with film.  Hopefully I’ll share more of that later!


film photography of poppy flowersPINIMAGE



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  • Tara Siddoway - You mentioned skype. I’m thinking about starting that. Would you be my skype friend/mentor if I started it? Even though you live directly above me?

    P.S. Now you can’t complain that I never comment on your blog. Because I just did.ReplyCancel

    • Anonymous - Tara, Oh how I love to tease you! I will definitely teach you about Skype. If you think that’s funny. Kristin and I (from our own houses) Skype with a group of photographers each week even though we live a few blocks away.ReplyCancel