Chances are, if you found this blog, you already know Cozz and/or Ashley, so I don’t need to spend much time introducing them. It’s more likely that you were unable to attend the wedding here in Malawi, so let me give you my perspective on the day.

In short, it was wonderful! We all expected it to rain a little during the day, but were surprised to get rain from early morning to early afternoon. But the weather did not seem to dampen people’s spirits much. Here’s what it looked like…

In short, it was a fantastic wedding!

More Dodge City.  Boot Hill is a reminder of the most lawless town in the West.

Another HDR, but I tried hard to make it look realistic.  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

COLORADO – The Garden of the Gods

This was my first go at HDR… I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Eagle Mountain

Somewhere along the road, probably in New Mexico.

ARIZONA again – the Desert Museum

The raptors were amazing…

I wouldn’t want to be a rodent of any kind around this guy.

Wile E. Coyote

Stars

This river otter was sucking on his tail while he was sleeping…

By the way, the Desert Museum features all plants and animals that live in the American deserts… it’s amazing how full of life the desert is!

The Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson

My grandfather used to call the saguaro cacti “the old generals.”  They stand on guard all around Tucson.

For another way of looking at my favorite travel photos, check out the Places Gallery on my site.  (When you get there, hit F to go fullscreen!)

Want more Southwest by Midwest?  View the whole gallery.

In January and February, Rachel and I traveled across a good portion of the USA, sharing about our ministry in Malawi and saying goodbye to friends.  While the goal of the trip wasn’t photography, we couldn’t pass up some of the most beautiful parts of America without making a few quick stops!

It may still be a little while until I have time to take some Malawi photos and put them online.  In the meantime, enjoy a glimpse of wintertime in the heart of America!

ARIZONA – the Grand Canyon…

This size doesn’t do the wonder of this place justice.  Check out a bigger version here.

I had John Piper’s quote in my head: “Why do you go to the Grand Canyon?  Why do you go to the Alps?  Do you really go to the glories of creation to see how great you are?  …You go there to see, behold, and enjoy greatness; and the Grand Canyon is nothing compared to God.”

I played with exposure blending on this one to capture the detail in the shadows.  What do you think?  Does it look unnatural?  Sound off in the comments.

ARIZONA – The Petrified Forest

Brr…

Petrified pebbles?

The Flattops.  To me, they looked like elephants marching under a giant bedsheet.

TEXAS

Route 66 fans will recognize Cadillac Ranch.

A fitting tribute to GM’s recent bankruptcy…

Everything’s flatter in Texas.

KANSAS - Just in time for a Midwest sunset.

Rachel’s hometown library.

Gettin’ outta Dodge.

Wyatt Earp’s statue.  “You skin that smoke wagon and we’ll just see what happens.”

To be continued in part two…

It is with mixed emotions that I officially announce that I’m not booking any new work.  I’ve loved these last few years as a photographer, for all that I’ve learned, and most of all, the people that I’ve met along the way.  I think I will always smile when I look back on this stage of my life.

(My photo radar going off at Inna and Jared’s wedding… photo by Josh Premako)

However, the day has come to move on to bigger and better things.  If you haven’t heard, Rachel and I are moving to Malawi, Southern Africa in about 19 days.  Yes, moving.  Yes, to Africa.  We’re going to be serving at a church in that very needy country.  You can read more about it here.

(That’s NOT me and Rachel… it’s the chief and his wife in Gulule, a village in Malawi I visited in 2007)

(Lake Malawi)

(It’s always a race to see if I can take the picture before there are too many kids to fit in my frame.  The kids won on this one…)

(Fishermen’s children jumping off the boats.  That’s a fishing rod in the background, not a spear… though they have those too.)

The only difficult part is saying goodbye to all the friends I’ve made along the way.  I recognize that my business has grown because my past clients have trusted me and referred me to someone else.  Thank you, each of you, for your support of me and my photography.

But I know I’m leaving you in good hands.  If you need photos in the LA/OC area, I’ve updated my site with a list of photographers I recommend.

What direction will my photography take once I’m in Malawi?  I’m as curious as you are.  The best way to find out is to watch this blog.  You can subscribe to the RSS feed, or sign up to get my latest posts by email.  It might be a while before I figure out how to post photos via the African internet, but when I do, I’ll put them here.

Until then, as they say in Malawi:

Zikomo kwambiri!

(Photo by Josh Cook)

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As I mentioned in my last post, because Rachel and I are moving to Malawi next month, I wasn’t planning on photographing any weddings in 2009.  I ended up doing two, and the second one would be the last wedding I would shoot (at least in California!)

I couldn’t have asked for a better couple to end my career as a wedding photographer with.  Chris and Allie have such a cool story about completely re-starting their relationship in a way that honors the Lord.  Their wedding was simple and honest, with nothing to distract their guests from the important things.  Not only that, but they’re both extremely kind people, and were a delight to work with.

Enjoy my last wedding post…

They were such fun!

I love this one…

The fluorescent lights weren’t working in the chapel, which was a photographer’s dream come true!

Chris & Allie, I loved getting to know both of you.  Your relationship is such a great testimony of who God is, and I am so thankful for getting to be a part of your wedding.  Blessings!

Laney and Sarah were quick to change my mind.

Not that they were pushy – in fact, that’s probably the last word that would come to mind when I think of them. In reality, they were such a gracious, unassuming, and fascinating couple, I couldn’t say no. And I didn’t regret it for a second. It was so much fun to watch them enjoy their wedding. They even took challenges like bitter cold wind and a broken bouquet with a smile.

Check it out.

Sarah.

Laney.

This photo is technically imperfect in so many ways… but I still love it!

Laney and Sarah are considering moving to Japan, so their reception had a cool Japanese flair!

Apparently, Laney and Sarah throw food into each other’s mouths all the time.  So they did it with their wedding cake too.  (And yes, he caught it!)

College friends…

Laney and Sarah decide to do folk dancing, which meant everyone got to be involved!

…and it was a ton of fun.

Laney & Sarah, thanks so much for asking me to shoot your wedding in spite of my protests.    I loved watching your very obvious love for one another!  You’re both so talented, and I can’t wait to see how the Lord uses you in the future.

Incidentally, I made a few changes to the travel section on my site, too.  Check it out to see some of my latest travel photos, and let me know what you think.  Enjoy!

Ice…

See the moon?

A special shout out to all the people we got to see along the West Coast.  Thanks to all of you for your hospitality and friendship.

And tomorrow we leave for the midwest…

Jenn.

Jeff.

I love this shot.  Plus, you can show all your friends in Kentucky that they really have trees in Southern California…

Possible favorite.

What a fun group of guys!

FYI, he didn’t shoot the deputy.

Love those Christmas lights…

I’m not sure who invited these guys.

And they’re off!

Jeff and Jenn, I’m so excited that God has brought you two together.  I know you’ll be able to do and be far more together than you ever could have apart.  I’m so encouraged by your unabashed passion for the gospel and I can’t wait to see where you go next.  Much love to you both!

But the weekend before Christmas was promised to see nights well below freezing just about everywhere within 300 miles, which didn’t fare well for our plans to tent camp. So we followed the weather maps, and found the warmest places we could find.  We ended up at the Salton Sea and Anza Borrego State Park: a fascinating part of the desert we never would have found otherwise.

Nothing beats the desert sunrise.

Snow!

Straight out of the camera…

More snow…

We watched a strong breeze blow the haze and dust out of the valley below…

To brother Ben: thanks for carving out the time to go on a roadtrip.  It was an epic adventure bringing back the memories of the old days.  I can’t wait to see where our next expedition takes us!

The Gundersens adopted Judah from Uganda about a year and a half ago, and he’s grown so much since then.  I’m convinced that he’s going to grow up to be an entertainer of some sort.  He’s very perceptive of what makes people laugh, and knows just how to act to get everyone to smile.  Which made this shoot a lot of fun.

Judah wanted to drive the train… to Oklahoma.

King of the rock!

I love this one.

Every hole we passed was just screaming for Judah to throw rocks into it.

Judah was singing “King of New York” from Newsies.  I couldn’t believe he knew all the words…

Gunner, Cindi, and Judah, thanks for being involved in our wedding and our lives!  We’ve loved going through life together with you, and look forward to seeing where God uses you in the future!