HANA AND MIKE – WHISPERING TREE RANCH

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Tim Poole

I was blessed to have a 31 year career in teaching, where it was my hope to have a bit of positive influence in the lives of my students. Now these students are fine young adults, many college graduates and pursuing life, love and ambition as we all do. Such as it is with Hana, a four year student athlete of mine who was now embarking on the biggest adventure of her life so far. I have to admit that there was a touch of sweet emotion in me, and even the Pooleman got a bit misty eyed during the proceedings.

The afternoon got started in the Bridal Preparation Room in the ranch house.

Technology is wonderful…when it works. In addition to putting on the boutonniere and getting the rings together, Mike had to write out his vows as laptop printer wasn’t working. He did this task with grace and good humor, showing a couple of the traits that endeared him to Hana.

The ranch provides a nice outdoor waiting area for the bride and her party.

All brides are beautiful. All grooms are extremely lucky. The expression on Mike’s face as Hana comes down the aisle says it all.

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A ceremony under the trees.

The Newly Pronounced Mr. and Mrs.

And Known Associates

The kids and the sign say “It’s now official!”

And what’s a wedding without a little “public display of affection”?

A trip outside the Ranch for some more photographs of the Newlyweds.

The Whispering Tree Ranch decor is a throwback to old country style and old fashion charm.

The sun goes down, the chandeliers light up and the evening’s fun begins.

Thank you Hana and Mike. It was an honor and a privilege to photograph all the laughter, love, tears of joy and fun of your wedding day. God bless you and watch over you in your long journey through life

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The venue, decorations and catering were expertly provided by The Whispering Tree Ranch. The DJ and Master of Ceremonies who kept the evening rocking was Ramzy Saba. Photographs provided by Poole Photography, LLC. Lead Shooter: Tim Poole – Assistant: Brianna Yahraus

“THAT’S SO HANA!”

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Tim Poole

I shared Hana and Mike’s engagement photographs a few months ago in my blog “The Lumberjack and the Princess“. Well, the big day finally arrived last Sunday. Hana and Mike got married. I was privileged enough to photograph their wedding. … Continue reading →

THE DOCTOR IS IN

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Tim Poole

Andrea was one of the bridesmaids for the lovely wedding of Hana and Mike, posted in my blog here. When in high school, Andrea was our baton twirler. One of the best around. I remember being in the weight room … Continue reading →

HAPPY NEW YEAR – BELATED…

Posted on January 12, 2014 by Tim Poole

January 6 was my birthday. I got a few belated birthday wishes and cards, which is cool with me. I sort of set aside January as a birthday month. I enjoy the greetings and wishes whenever I get them. So this is my belated New Year’s blog.

STRESSED I celebrated my uniform number on January 6. Being a man of a certain age with a few health risk factors, I found myself scheduled for a stress echocardiogram test on the 8th. I will tell you that I wasn’t looking forward to this test. With my brand new endocrinologist reminding me a few times on my first visit that “I am no spring chicken”, and the fact that I am, and I quote Jack Reacher “slower than the U.S. Mail”, I was not looking forward to running on a treadmill. This is all added to my biggest fear of doctors, the fact that one day they WILL find something wrong with you.

So the test day comes. I do a little stretching for the first time in 7 years, and I am ready to go. This test is a little more advanced than just a regular stress test. The assistants do an ultrasound of the heart while you are resting. Then it is up on the treadmill to get the old heart rate up to some insane level for 6 minutes, then on the table for another ultrasound. Easy Peasy.

I get done with the first ultra sound and then hop up on the treadmill. About every 3 minutes the tech elevates and speeds up the treadmill. I am pretty sure by the time I reached the last speed, Usain Bolt could not have caught me.

Back on the table for the ultrasound. Having just won the Olympics, I am breathing quite hard to say the least. I really enjoyed the part where the tech said “breath in a little and hold your breath.” If I had any breath I would have said “you got to be kidding me.!”

The best news was that I am not on my way to a quadruple bypass, but that my heart is healthy and everything is normal. Pretty good way to start of my uniform year.

MY 2013 FAVORITES The are arranged in the order they were taken. Just a few of my favorites from the year.

Shontionn and Maria’s Engagement Session: They are now expecting their first child. Congratulations kids.

Matsuri Festival: I met this remarkable young woman and photographer at the Matsuri Festival. She and her sister Riho are now on a 31/2 month Peace Boat Cruise. Last photo she posted to Facebook was of her planting a tree in Madagascar.

Sergio Portrait Session: A head shot I did of former student and aspiring comedian Sergio. I think he regrets having me do this. Every time I see him I demand “make me laugh, funny man!”

Nilza’s Senior Portrait Session: She is currently rocking the college life at NAU.

Down Syndrome Day Picnic: My first DSNetwork event. A few of my photos even made some of their literature, which is kind of cool. I have been one of several photogs at two more DSNetwork events.

Jason and Katie Engagement Session: Now enjoying a wonderful married life. I love their posts and updates on Facebook.

Hazel Maternity Session: Hazel, my favorite banker. Now enjoying time with her new son.

Customer Appreciation Session: Vonn and Jana at Vonn’s Customer Appreciation Day session. They did all the hard work, I just got to have fun taking pictures. My kind of day!

Jason and Katie Wedding: Jason and Katie on their wedding day. One of their favorites, which makes it one of my favorites.

Blanton Family Session: I like this one because the light hit the waterfall just right to turn the background golden. I wonder if the architect knew this would happen.

Aaron and Sarah Maternity Session: They went from being told they could never have children to this blessed turn around in their lives.

Hana and Michael Engagement Session: I am looking forward to shooting their wedding in March.

Barsness Family Session: This is the cutest picture of Avery.

Wojahn Family Session: The two boys were just the best kids to photograph all day.

Aaron and Sarah’s Sam: Had to pick this as a favorite since I did the maternity session. What a cutie.

MY FAVORITE CANDID I freely admit that my favorite type of photography to capture are the candid photographs. They capture, I believe, the true essence and spirit of the moment. In this candid, bride Katie insists on giving groom Jason a piggy back ride. I captured this picture just at the moment that Katie realized they were about to do a face plant into the dusty surface of Sahuaro Ranch Park. Classic.

FINAL THOUGHTS 2013 was a good year for me. I took photographs of some marvelous people. Poole Photography continues to grow. I am looking forward to great 2014.

I would also like to thank the staff of John C Lincoln Heart Institute. They were the ultimate professionals and were a calming influlence for a patient who definitely made it clear that he wanted to be anywhere else but at the testing site that morning. Fine people.

I hope everyone who reads this has a great year and God’s blessings. And for those who don’t read this post, I wish all these good things for you too. You just don’t know that I did.

Tim Poole is a retired high school teacher who has started Poole Photography LLC as his second career. He enjoys doing wedding photography, especially small, DIY weddings. Tim also is a monthly blogger for the Photographer’s Adventure Club website.

THE PRINCESS AND THE LUMBERJACK

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Tim Poole

ONE OF MY FAVORITE things is getting hired to be the wedding photographer of one of my former students. As teachers, we want the best for our students. We enjoy watching them grow out of those high school drama years into fine young adults. We want to see them grow up to be happy. The bonus for me is that I get to capture and share with friends and family those images of loveliness and happiness that occur at the wedding.

HANA AND MIKE

In addition to taking my photography class, Hana ran 4 years of track for me at Apollo High School. Her ability as a distance runner grew year after year. Her running abilities were crucial in helping Apollo win our region and earn a 2nd place finish at State her junior year.

Out of my many memories of Hana’s career, the one that I remember the most is her competition with a runner from Prescott. This girl consistently had better times than Hana all year. Except when she raced against Hana. Every time Hana and this young lady ran head to head, Hana won convincingly. Those races were truly remarkable to watch. Lots of high fives all around.

I also fondly, I think, remember how many times in those 4 years Hana came up to me and said “Coach, you spelled my name wrong…again!”

Hana completed a successful 4 year career at Apollo and went on to attend NAU, where she eventually met her future intended, Mike. They both graduated from NAU. She now works as a K-8 art teacher and he works for the State of Arizona in the area of environmental quality.

Hana and Mike were freshmen at NAU when they were introduced to each other by mutual friends. They became close friends before they finally decided they were the right person for each other.

Hana describes Mike as a chef, a true gentleman, and tells me that Mike is “all things outdoors, like a lumberjack.”

Mike says that Hana always has an elegant look to her. He loves to listen to her play the guitar, and describes Hana as “a tomboy and a pretty princess all at the same time.”

Together they enjoy cooking, “artsy stuff” outdoor activities, and of course their two dogs.

On Sunday the 20th, the three of us got together to shoot their engagement session. I first met Mike at Katie and Jason’s wedding . Hana was one of the bridesmaids. Since I was a bit busy that evening, I didn’t get a chance to do much conversing with the two of them. I found it nice to finally sit down, talk with them, and get to know more about Hana and Mike as a couple. It was even better to go out and shoot the session and watch Hana and Mike interact with each other as they express their affection for one another in front of my lens.

You now know a bit about the princess and the lumberjack. Here are a few of the wonderful, lovely moments from Hana and Mike’s engagement session.

FREE DAY – 1 DAY LATE

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Tim Poole

I have posted something like this before, but I thought it would be nice to through out this little disclaimer again. I am writing this blog as an aspiring wedding photographer. I have no doubt that the word “aspiring” will be dropped as an adjective some day, when I get clients and actually have brides and grooms and pretty pictures to write about. Until that time it is pretty much random free thoughts about those subjects that interest me.

I decided to continue with my break from the History of the Olympics as seen by Tim and just free write in my usual thoughtful,humorous and light-hearted manner about a couple of subjects that were on my mind. But with the shootings in Wisconsin, I decided to postpone my blog for a day. Basically, this post is all the subjects I was going to write about yesterday, with a bit of a mention about the Wisconsin tragedy.

NBC’s coverage of the Olympics is horrible. No Broadcasting Clue. NBC chose not to show the United States’ own Georganne Moline’s heat in the 400 meter hurdles. Georganne won her heat, and had a better time than the other two Americans, whose heats NBC did decide to televise. NBC did choose to rerun a segment of an interview with “Blade Runner”, that had aired the night before, and they also showed a segment on James Bond and Ian Fleming. Could they not have cut back on the special segments and found the extra time to show the other two heats of the 400 hurdles? Besides that, NBC shows three or four different replays of each race. One and done, please. Absolutely no reason to show a race from straight above. Georganne apparently doesn’t fit into whatever template NBC has for who and what that they choose to cover. Much like NBC not televising the opening ceremonies tribute to the UK subway terror attack in 2005.

Like Olga, Nadia, Mary Lou, and Keri before her, Gabby Douglass has become the sweetheart of the 2012 Olympics. I am happy for her. It is well deserved. And from listening to her interviews, she is very well grounded for a 16-year-old, and remember, I dealt with 16 year olds for 31 years. Gabby now has a $90 million dollar endorsement deal and is on the cover of Kellogg’s Cornflakes. I may even start eating Cornflakes again. But as is human nature, Gabby is getting her share of criticism about the stupidest things to be critical about. Some are criticizing Gabby for her profession of faith when interviewed. Others are criticizing her hair. Soon, I predict that when it is figured out that 10% of her income will be donated to her church, that will be criticized too. Go get ‘um, Gabby.

Yesterday, August 5th, is truly a “free day’ for American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee. Three years ago on that date, Laura and Euna were released after almost 5 months of captivity in North Korea. Their team was doing a documentary for Current TV on North Korean defectors in China. On March 17th, 2009, they followed their Korean guide across the Tumin River and were briefly on North Korean soil. The team was chased by two North Korean soldiers who caught up the two women on the Chinese side of the river and violently dragged them back into North Korea. The women were put on trial in June and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in one of North Korea’s notorious prison camps. Only after former President Bill Clinton met with dictator Kim Jong-Il were the girls pardoned and sent back home. Laura Ling’s sister is journalist Lisa Ling. Lisa used all her press and political contacts to eventually get the story out to the public and keep the pressure up to get the ladies released. One thing she did was to post a tweet about how much she missed and worried about her sister. That tweet went viral and spread via the social media like wildfire. From the networking on social media people began attending vigils, writing letters, signing petitions and communicating with each other via Twitter and Facebook. A young writer named Lillian Wu wrote a letter on her blog in the voice of Hana, Euna’s 4-year-old daughter, from the perspective of 12 years later. This letter on the blogosphere reached a lot of people and stirred them to get involved. That moving post is here. http://teenwritershaven.blogspot.com/2009/06/my-mother-is-hero.html

I remember in March hearing about North Korea arresting two U.S. reporters but I just figured they would be released in a couple of days. I did not hear about them again until the verdict of the trial was handed down. At that point I researched what I could on the story. The primary reason I joined Facebook was to get connected and to keep up with the news. I wrote some letters and sign some petitions. When they came home, I remember watching their arrival live on tv at Bally’s Gym. Laura and Lisa Ling wrote the book “Somewhere Inside” and Euna Lee wrote “The World is Bigger Now.” I found Laura and Lisa’s book interesting because not only because Laura details her months in captivity but Lisa also gives us the behind the scene look at the negotiations and the struggles of the families at home with not knowing what was happening to their loved ones. Euna’s book details her version of the story, but what makes it unique is how much her faith in God and her Christianity helped her through those dark days And both books give the readers a glimpse into mind-set and the workings and beliefs of North Korea. I would highly recommend reading their books. They will touch your heart.

Finally, let me express my sympathies for the victims and families of the Sikh Temple shootings yesterday.

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