boekell photography LLC

Ecuador Day One (and happy thanksgiving)

2009-11-26T09:13:00.001-05:00

back in August we had the fantastic opportunity to travel to Ecuador, South America to shoot a wedding for some very dear friends. We were there for a week and we took nearly 5,000 photos of things other than the wedding. The country is absolutely gorgeous. We have been so busy since we got back that we haven't had a chance to touch any of the photos... until today. Thanksgiving has allowed me to work on my own project for once =) And so i sorted through the photos from day one, which we spent in Quito, Ecuador. Enjoy the photos (lots more to come... who knows when) and enjoy Thanksgiving:

Oh yeah... and the things i am thankful for today:

-Jesus, Lover of my soul

-Sarah Beth, my soul mate

-family

-friends

-Crew Community Church

-new studio space

-photography

-dogs

-turkey

-mashed potatoes

and

-pumpkin pie!

and YOU.

Jacob and Andrea (engagements)

2009-11-04T18:02:00.000-05:00

This couple is going to be one beautiful married couple and we cannot wait to shoot their wedding in December. Two amazing people:

Rusty and Juliana (engagements)

2009-10-23T13:04:00.001-04:00

We shot these photos at Twin Falls State Park down in southern West Virginia. Rusty and Juliana even put us up for the night in a little cabin at the park... which was a very welcome reprieve. We had such a wonderful evening with these two and cannot wait for the wedding next June.

happy ANN-I-VER-SARY_YYYYYYY... to me (and my wife...)

2009-10-18T08:56:00.000-04:00

One year ago today i married the woman of my dreams.

i wrote her these words:

With words I sell you short of all the honor you deserve

For I would praise you for eternity and still not find the verse I wish to say

Everything I ever dreamed of. More than dreams could make me see

So far past my imagination’s furthest reaches could extend

Beside you I find reality is sweeter, than my mind could comprehend

To see the world through your eyes is to see it as it truly is

Awe inspired by your beauty deeper still within my soul

While you send my heart beat racing past the corners of the open sky

Your touch: I’m filled by the truest peace, engulfed with sheer excitement

And your lips send weakness coursing through my knees

You have outshined every woman in this world around this globe

Filled my heart to overflowing with your presence in my life

In you I find more wonder than all the galaxies combined

A million lifetimes worth of sunsets could never match your beauty still

Your soul is filled with goodness pure

Your mind filled with extraordinary art

Your belly with intoxicating laughter

And your backbone with a quiet solid strength

Your eyes are filled with gentle peace

Your mouth with truth that deeply cares

Your ears filled with real compassion

And your heart with faith unswerving to the core

Your legs are filled with urges of excitement

Your feet filled with adventures far and near

Your arms are filled with streams of revolution

And you hands with ceaseless tenderness and love

The rest of who you are completes the full seduction of me

Your lips, your breast, your cheeks, your every curving inch cries out to me

I must taste your every part and become one with you for all of time

But to drink in all of you alone will satisfy my longing heart

Only in forever do I find the time for my souls yearning plead

To know you in the deepest parts, this is my only wish

And you and you alone are worth an infinite forevers

More precious than air to my lungs and blood to my heart which now you own

You are my everything… your beauty eons far beyond realms of my belief

And your soul is far more valuable than any earthly wealth that can be found

And you are mine

and two became one.

Wedding Day Slideshow @ Yahoo! Video

and you think you know what love is, but time is teaching it to you still.

There is no end to its growth.
And every day has not been easy... but they have each been more satisfying than the next.
And to know that a woman can lay grasp to all of your affections in such a short time.
and become, save Christ alone, the highest aim of all your love.

i love you,
wife
daughter of God
squid
bebe
geologist

artist

lover

friend

Sarah Beth...

i will love you until death and then forever

i could eat you up... i love you so

2009-10-17T23:39:00.000-04:00

one year ago, right now, i was bowling with my best friends... with thoughts of my wife-to-be dancing through my head...

tonight, i spent the evening with this woman that filled my head and realized, yet again, how deeply she fills my soul.

i could eat you up... i love you so! =)

08.08.09 - David and Beth - wedding

2009-10-10T14:17:00.001-04:00

At the beginning of August, God blessed us with an amazing opportunity to travel to Ecuador, South America (photos of the trip coming soon). We traveled with our best of friends to spend a week in Quito and Shell and shoot a wedding the following weekend. This was such an extraordinary adventure for Sarah Beth and i. The beauty was out of this world and God's face was everywhere as always.

Oh... and the wedding... David and Beth are two fabulous, God loving folks, who are giving their lives for His glory in Ecuador. This wedding was beautiful from start to finish.

The official marriage happened, legally, friday night, after the rehearsal. And they were married before God and their family and friends the following day on the edge of the Amazon Jungle, in a little town called Shell. Photographs:

July - Lake Murray, SC - Vacation (with friends)

2009-09-30T22:00:00.003-04:00

Two of our newest and best friends got married in July.

Meet J.D. and Kristin:

God has blessed us with some of the most wonderful people in the world as friends. These are two of those people. These are two of the most genuinely wonderful people you will ever meet. We go to church with them and they are a part of our small group bible study. They are the definition of the word awesome.

Anyway, in July, after their wedding... they invited us to share a week with them in South Carolina at Lake Murray.

a small house, 30 feet from the water.

speed boats and party floats.

swimming and tubing.

berkley hats and diapers.

mouth watering food.

bob marley and grape "kool-aid".

sun drenched conversation.

two tons of smiles.

and enough relaxation to renew any soul.

oh... and ducks.

unforgettable.

l'chaim (to life).

Sunday Sneak Peek (Zachary and Ashley)

2009-09-27T22:08:00.000-04:00

07.03.09 - Sam and Mindy - wedding

2009-09-22T18:13:00.000-04:00

Sam and Mindy are awesome... and so was their wedding. We had a blast at this one... lots of love and some fantastic live music.

Bria (senior)

2009-09-16T18:56:00.000-04:00

06.27.09 - Joel and Megan - wedding

2009-09-15T23:14:00.000-04:00

This was the last wedding of June and it was another one of those weddings where God was made so much of... which we love. And i guess that isn't everyones thing, but it is something that really rocks our world and gets us so excited. Our personal opinion is that the fame of Christ is what this life is all about and this wedding was all about it and we had such a wonderful time shooting it. Enough with the spiritual propaganda... enjoy the photos. =)

[early] Sunday Sneak Peek (Salah and Heather)

2009-09-11T23:43:00.002-04:00

The Sunday Sneak Peek is early this week because Sarah Beth and i are going to be doing some camping this weekend with two of our good friends from church , Natalie and Alex.

We're headed to Cranberry Glades, WV

Well, enough of that... here is the sneak peek... enjoy.

Daniel and Katie (engagements)

2009-09-09T18:03:00.000-04:00

Daniel and Katie are flying us out to California in December to shoot their wedding! We can't wait... we had such a great time on this shoot!

Samantha (first Senior of the season)

2009-09-08T22:15:00.001-04:00

Samantha is awesome! We had such a great shoot and it was awesome meeting her. Let the senior portraits begin!

Sunday Sneak Peek (David and Beth)

2009-09-06T14:42:00.000-04:00

We shot this wedding for some great friends down in Shell, Ecuador in South America. The whole experience was so amazing and we will tell you all about it in some blogs yet to come... we also have thousands of beautiful photos from our week in Ecuador that we will eventually be posting as well. But for now we are concentrating on getting work done for our clients. Until then, enjoy this Sunday Sneak Peek.

Seeking Senior Representatives!

2009-09-01T14:30:00.004-04:00

Maybe we included you in a recent mailing seeking Senior Representatives... maybe we didn't.

If we didn't but you're interested or know someone who might be interested in being a Sr. Rep, shoot us an e-mail at photography@boekell.com

Put "senior rep" in the subject line and we'll shoot the info right back to you.

THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO GET A FREE SENIOR PHOTO SHOOT and EARN A BUNCH OF FREE STUFF!

Here is a sample of a few of the seniors we shot last season:

Durb and Brittany (engagements)

2009-09-01T13:00:00.000-04:00

Cannot wait to shoot this wedding! Sarah Beth has known Brittany for quite a while, but i just met both Durb and Brittany not to long ago. i'm already pumped to know them both. Here are the engagement photos.

06.13.09 - Andrew and Rachael - wedding

2009-08-31T14:07:00.001-04:00

We did it all for Andrew and Rachael... Engagements, Bridals, Rehearsal, and Wedding Day. We loved every part of it. Two wonderful people and what a wonderful day! Here are a few of our favorite photos.

Sunday Sneak Peek (Sam and Mindy)

2009-08-31T09:56:00.001-04:00

this summer was been absolutely crazy.

a computer crash in June left us without a computer for 3 weeks. If you add to that a week in South Carolina and a week in Ecuador (photos from trip and on-location events... coming soon) and you have us standing 5 weeks behind and scrambling like mad to get things done!

things that normally would have been done 5 weeks ago are getting done today. And well... things that should have been done 2 or 3 weeks ago are the Sunday Sneak Peek (on monday morning) and are still a couple of weeks away from being done. =)

A time machine would be really nice right now... anyone have one sitting around out there?

Sunday Sneak Peek (Andrew and Rachael)

2009-08-24T00:58:00.005-04:00

i know it is technically not Sunday anymore (1am Monday morning). But before i go to bed at the end of this "sunday" i want to start a new tradition. Sunday Sneak Peaks! i just started editing this batch of wedding photos from June and i thought i would post a sneak peak of some of the images that have already caught my eye.

05.30.09 - Cody and Ginger - wedding

2009-08-20T20:21:00.004-04:00

if the Love of God is completely relevant to every aspect of life (which i personally believe it is)... well lets just say that this marriage celebration was centered around a belief that it is completely relevant and that is the main reason why i found it to be so beautiful. These photographs show some of the other reasons. And be sure to check out the slideshow at the end of this post for even more images.

05.09.09 - Daniel and Emilee - wedding

2009-07-08T16:10:00.002-04:00

We had such a wonderful time hanging out with all of these great folks at this wedding. i think the photographs speak very well to just how beautiful the whole day really was.

two years ago today... (07.07.07)

2009-07-07T21:04:00.007-04:00

(two years ago today... she said she'd be my girl)

(four months later... she said she'd be my wife)

(and 11 months later still... she walked through the back doors of that church...)

(and stole my breath and my heart away from me for good)

my soul melts all the more

with every passing day

for in her i find all my soul

and with her i find all my peace

to grow with her is wonder

to touch her is divine

and to know her love is yet returned

defies my awe struck mind

i love her

Family Vacation June 2009

2009-06-24T13:50:00.003-04:00

My view changed about something on our last family vacation:

All good things do NOT come to an end. They continue on all around us and sometimes they force themselves upon us with more weight than normal to remind us of their bountiful existence.

And my world view contributes this solely to a Sovereign God who allows both evil and good to tear through our lives so often… and usually without explanation. Sometimes good hurts and sometimes good tingles. It stings, satisfies, bludgeons, empties, grows, weakens, and makes us strong, and it fills us while it creates a thirst that only it can quench… this is good… no this is God.

Yes vacation reminded me of how good life is and how ceaselessly good God is and maybe you’ll see Him in these photos or maybe you won’t… but there is one sure thing: I should shut up now and let you examine them.

05.02.09 - Jeremy and Mary Ellen - wedding

2009-06-09T10:02:00.002-04:00

we cannot say enough about how wonderful Jeremy and Mary Ellen were to work with and how beautiful they were to photograph. We had a a truly fabulous time working with these two extraordinary people!