Josh McCullock

AHH HA!

2009-05-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

I caught you creeping on this old blog! Take a minute to update your bookmarks and RSS reader so you can creep in the new blog silly!

It's only a click away!

www.joshmccullockphotography.com/blog

this blog is so last week...

2009-05-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

So, in honor of the new studio opening up this week, I thought I'd go ahead and drop the new blog and website! I'm really happy with the way it all turned out! This blog will stay online but there won't be much action goin on. So, make sure you update your bookmarks and RSS feeds and enjoy the goods!

to life!

SHOW ME SOME FRESH BLOG GOODNESS!

1708 studio launch party!

2009-05-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

I'm finally gonna break the blog silence! I feel like I should have the voice from LOST that says... "previously on Josh's blog" since you've probably all forgotten about me. Just to catch you up on why I've been so busy lately...

After a bunch of meetings and waiting on permits and other annoying things, the new studio is finally up and running. I've been working from there for a week or so now and it's a blast! For those of you just tuning in, I'm sharing a studio space called 1708 with a couple good friends of mine, Cafe Evoke and Gibson Events. We all use 1708 as a place to work and meet clients. It's also functioning as an art gallery and sweet spot for private parties and live music! It's located (believe it or not) at 1708 NW 16th in the Plaza District of OKC. Aaaannd, if you're not doing anything this weekend, on Friday night, you should come by! We are having a huge launch party with all kinds of good stuff. It'll be a fun time!

FYI, the second Friday of every month the Plaza Ditrict hosts LIVE on the Plaza. All the shops, galleries and restaurants have their doors open with live music, art showings and other awesome stuff. So, if you come by to help us open 1708 you can also take in LIVE on the Plaza, doubly whammy!

If you live in the 405, come by Friday the 8th from 6-10pm. If you have time, please RSVP to comingto1708@gmail.com Hope to see ya there!

coming soon....

2009-04-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a big month! We are in the final steps of opening the new studio. In the spirit of newness I decided it was time to give the old blog and website a facelift. I'm getting close to having it finished up and boy is it sweet! There will be all kinds of new technology worked in here, bigger images and much more! I've been working with an amazing web design company call INTO THE DARKROOM. It's the same company that built our slideshow site ,they are quite awesome and I can't wait to debut much more of thier handiwork throughout the year!

My studio mates, Cafe Evoke and Gibson Events, and I are throwing a studio launch party at 1708 on May 8th during the art walk in the Plaza District. It's shaping up to be a pretty sweet night, you're all invited by the way!
I'm hoping to reveal all this newness the same day as the studio launch!
Here's a peek...

the iPhone post (long and personal)

2009-04-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

One of my heroes is a commercial photographer from Seattle named Chase Jarvis. He is an absolute genius and on the forefront of every type of media and trend in the photography industry yet still manages to be distinctly individual. If you are a nerd, photographer, business owner, artist or avid reader you should RSS his blog! Awhile back he wrote that the camera he uses most, out of all the state of the art equipment he has, is the 2 megapixel iPhone camera. Why? Because it's the only camera that is always around. He is pretty good with it too!
Becoming a full time photographer changed the way I look at my cameras profoundly. It's the weirdest thing. There was a time when I was never without a camera. I'd take one everywhere. Now that I lug equipment everywhere and shoot for a living 3 or 4 times a week, my cameras sit on the shelf during my free time. I feel bad but they're heavy, expensive, and I just don't want to lug em around all the time. Not to mention, I had carpal tunnel at the end of last year after shooting the D3 all summer with no strap. (I hate camera straps!)
With that said, Chase re-inspired me! You don't need a D3 and a bag of lenses to document the little moment of life that you want to remember. All you need is to see life as if you always have a camera in your hands, and you do! Since then I've been reading up on how to be creative with the iPhone camera, tricking it to a manual exposure and such. There are even some amazing apps that allow you to edit your photos right on the phone! No wonder they call it the Jesus Phone!

Anyway, this post has been brewing for quite awhile and since I'm releasing a new blog and website the day we open the studio I thought this would be a good post for the meantime. So, enjoy a few glimpses of my life over the past couple years as seen through my iPhone and don't think you have to have expensive stuff to photograph life as it happens!

updates...

2009-03-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
I just wanted to catch you up on whats happening around here with the McCullocks. Gavin is growing like crazy, I think he adds a chin or two each week. From certain angles he can manage to produce up to 4 consecutive chins, pretty impressive. He's started smiling and reaching for toys from time to time. I almost got him to laugh at me this morning, that will be a happy day! Katie is going back to her teaching job in a couple weeks and then I'll be flying solo with Gavin, you can call me Mr. Mom.

On the business front, we are making some big changes in the next few weeks. The studio should be finished this week and we hope to throw a grand opening party in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for details about that!

I'll be releasing a new blog and website really soon as well. The new sites will be filled with all types of nerd wonder. Video, social network integration, awesome animation and of course some sweet new images. You may notice a slow down in my blogging until the new blog drops, I can't wait!

Yesterday we got the chance to have coffee with some of our favorite clients from last season. Gene and Katie were passing though town on spring break and had a sweet gift for Gavin. I promised to not be the parent that gets all fanatical about kid stuff and talks in silly voices all the time. With that said, I can't help but think these shoe/socks are awesome. They're like shoes, but they're socks! Thanks so much to Gene and Katie, we're so lucky to have our lives filled with awesome people like you guys!

Amy's bridal session...

2009-03-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can tell it's officially wedding season. My iCal is full of shoots, meetings, weddings and design consultations. But I wouldn't have it any other way. On Saturday I was having coffee with Josie and Kevin, some of our clients for this season and we got on the subject of efficiency. I was happy to report to them that this season is already shaping up to be more efficient for us. We've added some really cool technology to our workflow to make better use of time and creativity. Last year our average turn around time for wedding proofs was 5 weeks. This year, we are 4 weddings in and we've turned them all around in under 2 weeks! I can't tell you how happy I am about that. Case in point, Chris and Amy got married 2 weeks ago and I'm putting the final touches on their wedding this week. In the meantime I thought I'd share a couple shots from her bridal fashion session. Here's to efficiency!

1708 in progress...

2009-03-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

From what we can tell the new studio will be completed in a couple weeks! The contractors are putting on the final touches before we get to go in and deck the place out. I'm really looking forward to this step for our business as well as Cafe Evoke and Gibson Events. Here's a couple snaps from tonight at LIVE on the Plaza. It was really cool. There was a indie film screening, live music and an art opening at DNA Galleries. Our neighbors to the East were serving green beer and corn beef in honor of St. Pattys, that was pretty cool. I also got a sweet, handmade Obama onesie for Gavin at Collected Thread. Hopefully by the next Plaza LIVE we'll have our doors open to contribute to the awesomeness!

forgive the unflattering angle here, I stuck my camera in a potted plant for this shot.

Kyle & Nikki | updated

2009-03-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I've mentioned I have the best job in the world. Here's proof, I got the chance to hang out with these cool cats for a couple hours and have some fun with their engagement session. Kyle and Nikki are some of our wedding couples for this upcoming season and I can't wait to document their big day! Make sure you check out the slideshow at the end, some good tunes by Matt Nathanson, Ray Lamontagne and the Weepies!
to life!

Laura's bridal session...

2009-02-26T10:23:00.000-08:00

There is a problem with bridal sessions, I love shooting them but most of the shots never see the light of day. We normally do the whole shoot just for one print or canvas at the wedding. I never have the time to go back and give some photoshop love to the rest of the shoot, until today! I've had the urge to blog something, but haven't shot in the past month so what better time to dust off some old bridals and shine em up! Laura & Kyle's wedding was amazing, one of our favorite from last year without a doubt!

working it!

that's alot of dress!

Before I forget, I thought I'd mention a cool new feature of the Brides of Oklahoma Magazine website. Exclusive vendors can now have a cool little profile so brides can get to know us a little better. My friends Kami & Ashley, the editors, are so talented and sharp. They've put together such an amazing, quality resource for Oklahoma brides, I'm continually impressed!
Check out my profile they made for me!

time flies when you're having fun...

2009-02-25T10:03:00.001-08:00

It's almost impossible to believe Gavin has been here for a month! It's been an awesome experience getting to know him and we learn more about him every day. Life is slowly moving back towards our normal routine, we even had a night out last night for the first time. We got to catch Thunder-Laker game with Jason & Jenni Duncan, the masterminds behind Cafe Evoke, we had a great time! It was really nice to be out of the house and not change a diaper for a few hours but we missed him like crazy!
Here's a glimple of what we've been doin for the past month, and a couple shots of Gavin's room.

Untitled from joshmccullock on Vimeo.

goals...

2009-02-18T16:09:00.000-08:00

I'm a goal-setter, a list-maker, the king of checklists. Infact, I feel best about myself when I can look at a checklist at the end of the day and draw a big nasty line through all the things I had written down. Little secret...sometimes I even write down things I've already done just so I can cross them out. It feels so good!

I started 2009 with only 2 big goals for my business...
1- I want to shoot my first international destination wedding.
Check! Thanks Scott & Jessica, you're the best!

2- I want to have some type of studio or office for my business. A storefront, an office, a hub for meetings, shoots and the day to day business.
Check!

This week, after months consideration and talking, we signed a lease on what will be the perfect home for Josh McCullock Photography! What makes it even better is that I'll be sharing building with two friends and their businesses. I'll be joining forces with two great companies; Cafe Evoke and Gibson Events. We hope to not only enrich each-other's businesses but to use our space as a hub for local art, music and creativity. We've decided to use the address of our space, 1708, as the name in hopes that we'll be able to host gallery openings and other creative ventures.
I don't think I could have picked to other people more compatible than these folks . I've got the privelege of working with two of Oklahoma's coolest business owners! Here's a little about us...

Jason Duncan, the owner of Cafe Evoke, is an Oklahoma native who's had many travels learning the art of coffee. Now he's back in the 405 to share his gift with us. Cafe Evoke is known as Oklahoma's premier specialty coffee catering company and for good reason. They're passionate about amazing service and amazing coffee. Cafe Evoke serves world class specialty coffee at any event and does it with a smile! Make sure you check out their website.

Lindsay Gibson of Gibson Events is the other integral part of 1708. Lindsay is an event designer with a great sense of simplicity and elegance. She's also very successful in the wedding industry! You may have seen her feature in the new Brides of Oklahoma Magazine. Once you meet her you'll know why she's so great at what she does, she's very relaxed and intuitive. If you're planning a wedding or an event that needs some style, do yourself a favor and let her help you! You can learn more about Lindsay and her work at her websiteor keep up with her on her blog.

Last but not least, I'll be there doing my thing. I think this new venture will not only allow me to expand some opportunities our business, but more importantly it will help us better serve the clients who've already invested in us. We like to keep things small and personal. I don't really have any interest in using this studio to shoot a crazy number of weddings. I'd much rather find about 30 awesome couples per year who value photography and cherish memories like me. That allows me to invest time and creativity into each couple we work with, which I think is good!

Well we are excited beyond belief about what the future holds! We look forward to working with the other businesses in the Plaza District and adding to the growth and vitality of that area. There's more to come about our neighbors and all that the Plaza District has to offer. In the meantime I'll leave you with some shots of 1708. These were taken about a week ago. Much has changed since then, we're almost ready for paint now!

Happy Valentine's Day...

2009-02-14T09:15:00.000-08:00

No big Valentine's Day plans for us this year. Although, hopefully next weekend we'll be able to have some Grandma baby sitting and get a table a Cheevers for a couple hours. At any rate, the love of my life deserves at least a honorary blogpost on Valentines Day. I thought I'd share a poem I wrote for Katie, it communicates my love for her in a very real way...

Dearest Katie...
I love you like the wind loves the plains,
like the desert loves the rains,
like construction workers loves cranes,
like Brittany Spears loves fame,
like Jonah love trains,
like a heart loves veins,
like a vulture loves remains,
like a farmer loves grains,
like a presidential candidate loves campaigns,
like Viktor YUSHCHENKO loves Ukraine,
like clorox bleach loves stains,
like constipation loves strains,
like "world" loves "wayne's" "
Thats all I can think of, I love you Katie!

Here she is in all her beauty...

Photos coutresy of Caramel Zoch,

kindness...

2009-02-12T11:45:00.001-08:00

It's been an amazing couple of weeks! As we draw closer to wedding season, Katie and I are trying frantically to get into a routine with this little guy around. Once wedding season hits, we'll be on the move quite a bit so we are enjoying every moment of down time we have now.
I wanted to take the chance to thank a few people for their love, friendship and amazing kindness. Since we've been home we have had so many emails, facebook messages, gifts, well wishes and meals thats it's almost hard to keep track of. I know that sounds crazy but we are so blessed to have so many amazing people around us that want to celebrate this time with us!
I can't even begin to tell you how lucky we are to have both of our families close. Both our Moms have given us the opportunity to catch a few hours of sleep on more than one occasion. Thanks Moms, you're the best grandmas Gavin could wish for!
And don't get me started on our friends the Zochs, who are most definitely family to us. They've fed us so many times in the last couple weeks that we've lost count. Thanks Zochs, we love sharing life with you guys!
I thought I'd blog just a couple more instances of kindness that we've enjoyed in the past couple weeks....
If you follow the OKC photography world, then it's no surprise to you that we have an an amazing lifestyle portrait photographer right in our own backyard. Beth Jansen and I first met when she sent Jami Smith-King my way for wedding photography. We've chatted it up over the past few months and she's an amazing gal! I love her style, her colors and her eye and I'm sure you will too, make sure you check out her blog!
She had the three of us over to her house to shoot some uber-cute portraits of Gavin. I love these!

I'm sure you've seen me blog about my wingman Aaron Snow. Aaron is a incredible wedding photographer here in OKC and a pretty decent guy ; ) . We love Aaron, Jenn and their little guys Sam. They're a very cool family and we're lucky to have them as friends. You can get to know them at Aaron's blog.
I was amazed when Aaron and Jenn dropped off a very sweet hand made gift for Gavin. Jenn made us these awesome cupcakes from her custom bakery business. They were beyond delicious and lasted about 3 minutes!

She also hand made some sweet baby gear for Gavin, check this out! Pretty amazing huh? Thanks so much you guys, we LOVE the cupcakes and use the baby gear every day! You guys are the cat's pajamas!

Last but not least is my great friend Todd of Beautiful Day Images. Todd has been such a good friend over the past couple years as I've experienced the growing pains of the photography business. I always respect his opinion and his imagery. Todd and his family, Anna and Elaina, stopped by and brought us a hand crafted Chicago Style Deep Dish pizza. It was legit! I'd never had a true deep dish before, epecially one that was handmade by a real nothererner! It was crazy good! Get to know the Balljes at Todds blog, they're awesome peeps! Unfortunately, we devoured our custom pie so hastily that I didn't even get to photograph it. But I couldn't let Todd's kindness go without a photo thanking him.
Thanks Bajjles, your friendship is so meaningful to us!

Thats all for now, I'm back to editing with one hand and changing diapers with the other! Thanks again to everyone for your well wishes and prayers, we are blessed to count you as friends!

to life!

the things I've learned in a week...

2009-02-03T18:00:00.000-08:00

Well here it is, exactly one week since our son Gavin was born. It's been a crazy week full of hugs, tears, prayers, laughs and memories I'll carry with me forever. My friend Jason sent me an email the day we went into the hopsital, just to give me some advice from his experience as a new dad. He told me that the first thing he did after his daughter was born was to journal about his thoughts and feelings to his daughter. He said he wanted his daughter to someday know a little about the person he was on her birthday. I thought that was a great idea, so I decided to journal all the things that I've learned throughout the first week of fatherhood. I hope someday Gavin will be able read this and know how much we love him. So here's what I've learned so far...

Family matters most, always.

Cherish your friends.

Doctors know what they are doing.

During labor I discovered a whole new level of nervousness and stress that I'd never experienced before, and never wish to again. (see previous lesson)

Life should be celebrated.

I've discovered a completely different side of myself, one that cares nothing about my own needs. Who knew!

No matter how many times I fail, I still try to assemble baby products without reading the instructions.

The human body is truly amazing.

I have an uncanny talent for making up rhyming baby nicknames.

Sleep isn't that important.

Love is bigger than I thought it was.

if I learned all that in one week I can't imagine what life as a father has in store for me.

Our cherished friends Carl and Cara were at the hospital to document everything and they arrived just in time to capture the family excitement outside our hospital room. All the while I was inside documenting Gavin's birth. I think he already qualifies as the world's most photographed baby. Here are just a few moments from the past week of our lives.
Thanks to Carl for capturing life in such a real way, you have to check out the slideshow at the end, it's amazing!

passing the time...

the uber smart Doctor Katie!

Katie's Mom & Dad

Me and Pop

Nannie, Pops and Uncle Leb...

some quick portraits in our hospital room...

just a few of his biggest fans...

a few from his first day at home...

Carl caught the instant he did his first #2 at home, as you can tell by his face!

Gavin's lovely great grandmas...

just a few more from our first week at home...

twins?

Grab a kleenex and watch the slideshow!

By the way, I know you are all wondering who won the contest!
The lucky winner was Gene Harlin, one of our most awesome clients ever. We shot Gene and Katie's wedding last summer and have been fans of them ever since. So, it looks like they have some sweet photo schwag coming their way! Thanks to everyone for chiming in on the contest, I always knew you were out there!

James & Jennifer...

2009-01-21T22:59:00.000-08:00

We started off 2009 with a great wedding at the downtown Sheraton! Meet James & Jennifer Thorton, they're quite awesome.
I was really worried Gavin was going to decide to be born last Saturday while I was shooting this, so I had some awesome backup come with me.
I brought along our super-intern and second shooter Jon Ervin and the amazing Todd Scott Ballje from Beautiful Day Images to back me up incase I had to rush to the hospital to meet my son. Turns out that Saturday was one of the only days Katie didn't have contractions! Oh well, better safe than sorry...
Thanks to Todd and Jon for the amazing images it's going to make this album hard to beat. I'm still sorting though about 4500 images between all 3 of us!

There are so many great moments from this wedding, make sure you check out the slideshow at the end. It's about 70 degrees out so I'll be out on the deck for the next few hours if anyone needs me. I suggest you go outside and enjoy this weather!!!

to life!

I borrowed Todd's 105 macro for this shot, now I have some major glass envy. That one is on the wish list!

We like to bring my 23" Apply display to run a slideshow of the shots we've done earlier in the day, it's always a hit.

photo of the day...

2009-01-15T09:31:00.000-08:00

I know I don't post a photo every day, or will I ever. But the title is an excuse to post a single photo just for the fun of it. Here's a shot of Kevin and Morgan, some of my favorite clients from last year. We shot their portraits in some lady's yard that lived across the street from the church. What she doesn't know won't hurt her.

to life!

the calm before the storm...

2009-01-13T20:16:00.000-08:00

Thats what I call this part of the year. Life is quite a bit slower for me during the months of November through February. Sometimes I try to remember what I did in my spare time before I was self-employed. One of my favorite things was to take Ringo running at Bluff Creek and see how far I could make it through my Counting Crows playlist. It's a nice little place just north of Lake Hefner, lots of trees and some great mountain bike trails. It's actually those trails that spurred a ferocious and expensive mountain bike racing phase in college. A couple weeks ago we had some beautiful fog that beckoned Adam Duritz and I to go for a relaxing stroll in the woods.

my brother the roadie...

2009-01-12T15:28:00.000-08:00

Incase you didn't know, I'm the oldest of 4 kids in our family. I'm 26, Zack is 21, Kaleb is 18 and Hope is almost 8. I absolutely love my family. Since I was about 13 our family has been involved in some type of church life, we love our church and the community we've found there. Last summer my parents and brothers spent some time in Africa helping people and they all came back changed. We've all been on a handful of mission trips to places like Mexico, Guatamala, Peru but for some reason Africa was different. They came back with amazing stories and a different type of motivation to do what they can to make life better for the people there. Zack's taking the next 5 months to try and change life for the children in Uganda. If you've ever heard of Invisible Children you know the situation that been going on in Uganda for years. Rebel leaders abduct and brainwash children from the villages and force them to fight in a rebel army. They are called the "invisible children" because each night all the children have to hide in the bigger cities to avoid the rebel army. It's still shocking to me that in 2009, there are places in the world where such horrible and rudimentary things can go on. My brother Zack is going to intern with IC for a few months to spread the story of these kids and raise money and awareness in the hopes of changing the situation in Uganda. Some of you may know that I have a degree in theology and I worked as a youth pastor for 3 years before starting by business. I normally don't advertise that or get too religious on the blog here. But I'm so proud of Zack for choosing to spend his time and the resources he has to seek peace and justice for the helpless. I'm challenged by the fact that he's concentrating every day and every dollar he has to make life better for someone else. I think that's awesome.

Here's a video about what Zack is doing, I'm a little jealous!

Some links where you can learn more about Invisible Children and the situation in Uganda.

Invisible Children.com

the latest news about Uganda

zackmccullock.com

Tommy & Lindsey...

2009-01-10T08:24:00.000-08:00

Well I've gotta hand it to you all for chiming in on the contest to guess baby Gavin's birthday! You've commented like nobody's biz. (pat on the back) If you haven't ventured a guess, make your way over there and put in your two cents! We had an appointment with the doc yesterday and things are holdin steady. Katie is at 36 1/2 weeks now so it's getting down to the wire, it's anybody's game now!

I also forgot to announce who we selected for the "Giving is Awesome" giveaway that we did for Christmas. We chose a family from OKC who has a young daughter who underwent a heart transplant when she was only 3 months old. She is 3 years old now and has good health. But, because of her heart transplant and other complications, she has to have at least one major surgery a year. As you can imagine, they have a pretty substantial burden with all of the medical bills and wouldn't likely ever invest in family portraits. After talking to the family on the phone I get the sense that she is a very special little gal and I'm looking forward to photographing their family. As part of the giveaway they'll receive a coffee table book and a huge stretched canvas of their favorite shot to hang in their home. I'm pretty excited to give them that!

So, on to the photos! Meet Tommy and Lindsey, they are such a fun couple. We did a half and half session with them to make sure we got in all the spots that are important to their relationship. They're OSU people so we did part of their session on campus in Stillwater and the other half in downtown OKC. I'm all for giving people a wide variety of looks. Thanks to Tommy and Lindsey for being such great clients, I'm looking forward to the wedding!

some business inspiration...

2009-01-10T08:11:00.000-08:00

For those of you who own your own business you know the constant pressures and uncertainty that it brings to life. It's so easy to second guess every move you make. There have been some really big.... I mean HUGE, changes going on within our business in the past few weeks. We've got some really exciting, outside the box, plans to implement in the next few months. But big decisions don't come without stress. When I came across this post from Seth Godin it made me realize we're on the right track. I thought it might help you freelancers and business owners out there stay confident about thinking outside the box!

Seth Godin writes...
"What to do when the new thing doesn't work

Every once in a while I hear from frustrated bloggers and other new media denizens. They're frustrated that their work isn't spreading fast enough, that the new tools aren't working the way they want them to.

The kneejerk rejection is always the same: Spam! Promote! Advertise! Enough with this zen nonsense, I want to be in charge. Who can I hire? How can I spend? Who do you know? The new tools didn't work, I need the old tools.

Winning an online popularity contest, being mentioned on boingboing, doing a direct mail campaign... these things are tempting, but they are the panicked half-measures of someone who is going to lose.

From the start, you have to choose a path and stick with it. Either you are on the path of the TV Industrial complex, and you're prepared to promote and spam and spend and make average stuff for average people... or you are busy embracing the new media for everything it can offer.

Don't get stuck in the middle. It's painful.

When the new stuff doesn't work, do the new stuff more and better."

come on down!!!

2009-01-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

Ok all you blog stalkers, it's time to come out from your hiding and let us hear you! I'm starting a contest to see who can guess the day and time closest to baby Gavin's birthday! All you have to do is leave a comment with your guess (ex, Jan 10th at 3pm) and if you're the closest to when Gavin makes his debut you win a $300 gift certificate good towards any of our products or services! If you're a current or future client you can even add it to your account!!!

Here is the info on Katie's pregnancy so far, just so you can make an educated guess.
She is due on Feb 4th, which is coming up soon. However, we've already been to the hospital once with early labor. They stopped the contractions with medication but said since she's so far along, if the labor starts again then they will just let him have his way and come on out. So, it really is up in the air. We've got the bags packed and the car seat installed.

I just want to add one more word of thanks to all our awesome clients who have shown concern for Katie, sent gifts and cards! We are so lucky to be able work with such great folks! Thanks for being so excited with us, and good luck!!

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And remember, "Help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered!."

Jeremy & Rachel...

2008-12-21T18:45:00.000-08:00

Here's another awesome couple I get to shoot this year! They are planning an really cool wedding at the Oklahoma City Farmers Market, I'm totally looking forward to their big day. Here's a few of my favorites from their session, enjoy!
Merry Christmas to all!

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what is awesome?

2008-12-17T06:06:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone,
I hope you are having a great week! I just wanted to let you know I've entered a really cool nation-wide movement for photographers. I'm looking for a family, a couple or a person who is in need.
You know someone who's experienced a tragedy, is struggling to stay afloat, is raising kids while holding down more than one job, or is volunteering selflessly despite extenuating personal circumstances. You know someone who can't afford custom photography, but who would cherish it this holiday season. You know someone who deserves a year-round reminder of their family's spirit, love, and beauty.

You know someone. I'm sure you do!

I want to know who they are, and I want to give them the chance to experience complimentary custom photography -- $1000 worth, to be exact. Whether it's canvas or albums, prints for Grandma, or a slideshow to watch over and over, it's in your power to give them the artwork they deserve this holiday season.

Oh, and the best part? The person who nominates the winner receives a $500 credit towards our services. What better reason to show some love could there possibly be, people?

The rules:

* You cannot nominate yourself, and the person nominated must sincerely be incapable of purchasing my services. (Being unable to make mortgage payments for a two-million-dollar-vacation-home in Paris does not qualify as sincere financial need.)

* The nominee must reside in Oklahoma. Tell me who you know, what they're experiencing, and why they need this experience. Please include a way to contact both your nominee and yourself as well.

* You must e-mail me the full story : joshmccullock@mac.com

The winner will be announced on Christmas Eve -- get nominating! I can't wait to read all of your entries!

Open your heart to someone this holiday season -- and thanks for giving me the opportunity to open mine.

grace and peace,

tomfoolery...

2008-12-15T11:20:00.001-08:00

Last Friday, I headed to the wilderness with my buddies Carl and Aaron to spend the day outside, just to unwind after a long wedding season. We ate our fill of America-sized hamburgers and had an awesome time longboarding and exploring the wildlife refuge. I think the we even found some of the best light I've ever shot in too, it was amazing. The refuge holds a special place in my heart, I spent many weekends there on climbing trips in college. It's great to be able to escape to the great outdoors every now and then, I highly suggest it. Anyway, I threw together a quick video with some of our adventures. Be sure to stay tuned here and Carl & Aaron's blogs to see some shots I'm sure they will post!
to life,

tomfoolery from joshmccullock on Vimeo.

it's monday...

2008-12-08T12:22:00.000-08:00

but not just any monday, it's the first Monday after not shooting a wedding the Saturday before! Now that December is here the weddings are slowing down and I get a little more "me time"! Actually, I get a lot more "mac time"...the next few months will be spent designing albums and books from all our weddings.(sorry for the cheesy jokes, I'm practicing to be a Dad) By the time spring rolls around I'll be ready to throw my computer into a lake and shoot again! If you are a wedding client, make sure you add "talk to Josh about our wedding album" to your to-do list before christmas! The sooner we chat, the higher you will be on the list to get your design concept soon! Click here for some more info on the album process.

I'm also taking a couple days to refresh the photos on the website. It's so hard to narrow down thousands of photos to less than a hundred. Maybe I'll ask Katie to do that part for me : )

Baby update... Gavin will be here is less than 2 months! Katie is 32 weeks and getting bigger by the day. Everything has been great so far, we had two baby showers last week and hauled home an insane amount of baby paraphenalia. Gavin's room is almost done and looking like a sweet, retro lounge for cool artistic babies to hang out. We are so excited for this huge change that is about to happen. It's amazing how when life changes, your hopes and expectations for life tend to change as well. I've never been more excited about change. We feel so fortunate to have such great family and friends around us to share it with!

And, because this is a photo-blog here are a couple moments from Justin & Jami's wedding weeks ago...

Tree and Leaf Clothing

2008-12-01T08:08:00.000-08:00

Here are a handful of the images from our shoot with Tree & Leaf Clothing. As much as I love shooting this commercial stuff, I never anticipated how much work was involved on the back end. The sorting and processing for these images is completely different than my normal natural light photos. I loved the whole process and plan on picking up some more commercial jobs soon, it's way fun!

I also want to take the chance to give a shout out to my intern Jon Ervin, my friends Kaleb, Brian and Macall for helping out on the shoot and our stylist Christina McCullough.
And of course all the models were beyond awesome! It was actually snowing a little bit during our first session in the morning. They were always willing to crawl out of the warm limo to stand in a tshirt while we all had coats on!
Not to mention John, Dusty, Bryson and Caleb from Tree & Leaf...those guys are cool cats. If you wear clothes, you need to go to their store!

These are the masterminds behind Tree & Leaf. Bryson the marketer, John the numbers guy and Dusty the artist.

classic!

2008-11-30T10:22:00.000-08:00

I love animated comedy because it allows writers to make fun of just about everyone in our society...even me.
I'm currently reading a book called "the Second Coming of Steve Jobs" by Alan Deutschman.
No, it's not about how Steve Jobs is Jesus, which could be argued. It's about the years after he was fired from Apple, made Pixar a success and eventually came back to Apple and made it what it is today. If you're an Apple nerd it's a must read!
have a great week!

By the way, you should watch the entire episode!

Tree & Leaf Clothing Shoot - behind the scenes video

2008-11-29T19:32:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago on a coooold Saturday I had the chance to collaborate with a bunch of other creative types from the 405. We pulled out all the stops and spent the entire day shooting in various spots around the city, making images for Tree & Leaf Clothing's new line of shirts. After shooting 40 weddings this year, this was a great change of pace! I hope to have some final images to post soon, but for now here is a little behind the scenes footage that my good buddy Brian Lawes put together! We had almost 20 people collaborating on this project and it all came together awesomely! (is that a word)

Tree & Leaf Clothing Shoot - behind the scene from joshmccullock on Vimeo.

ps. that wicked beat that is now stuck in your head is "Da Funk" by Daft Punk

Justin and Jami are married! | preview

2008-11-24T13:40:00.000-08:00

After weddings like this I drive away knowing 3 things are true...

Love exists.

Life should be celebrated.

I like being a photographer.

Subpoint to point number 1 - These two are amazing people. They are genuinely full of love and friendship. You'd do well to find friends like them : )
congrats guys!

Morgan's bridal session...

2008-11-20T12:53:00.002-08:00

Now is that time of year when I go back through all the weddings I've shot throughout the summer and update the website to make sure I have my most current work out there for people to see. I was in the process of going through old images and realized I haven't blogged any bridal fashion sessions at all, all year! I think it's because I always keep them under wraps until the bride's wedding day, then after that I completely forget all about them. So, here are some from WAAAY back in February!
enjoy!

Who said a photo has to be "in focus" to be beautiful...just ask Canon shooters!

thats my boy!

2008-11-18T22:19:00.000-08:00

We had an awesome experience today! We got to watch Gavin wiggle around for about a half hour at the new 3D ultrasound place called Miracle Within Ultrasound in Edmond.
I was pretty impressed with the technology that allowed us to see images from inside the womb. It's not perfect, but it's far better than the old black and white version.
I guess Gavin was in the middle of a nap because he hardly gave us a clear view of his face. He kept covering his face with his hands and feet. It was pretty funny. But, we did get a couple smiles and got to see him squeezing his cheeks. If you watch till the end you'll see that part.
I edited the 30 minute video down and sped it up so I could have it on my iPhone and couldn't find a good reason to not blog it too!If you're prego, you should most definitely make a trip to the Miracle Within, they're cool!

baby Gavin in 3D! from joshmccullock on Vimeo.

my friend...

2008-11-06T22:01:00.000-08:00

Every man has a special bond with his dog. It's a guy thing.
Ringo has been with me just about every day for the past 3 years, I raised him from 8 weeks old...underneath my desk at my day job.
He has backpacked with me,
mountain biked with me (...except he ran),
napped with me,
ran countless 5ks with me,
sat in silence by me,
camped with me,
road-tripped with me,
most of all, he has always stayed by me. Even when I leave the gate open I come home to him sleeping on the front porch.

I couldn't ask for a better dog.
I've always adored the work of William Wegman. He's a quirky fine art and portrait artist that made the Weimaraner a cult classic through his work with his own Weims. His Weims were also featured on Sesame Street in the late 80s, which was without a doubt very formative for me.

Andrew & Amy are engaged!

2008-11-05T23:12:00.000-08:00

Rewind to the year 2000... I was a freshman in college and helped out at a local church with the youth group.I primarily stuck with the dudes and played alot of dodgeball, but I did meet Amy back then, who was just a middle school gal. I still think fondly on those days. I can't say that I taught the those middle school kids anything useful or worthwhile, other than how to car surf on a church van, but we made some awesome memories! Fast forward 8 years, Amy had found herself a dashing gentleman, the incomparable Andrew Schlecht, and they are betrothed!!!
I'm so happy for these two, they truly are an amazing couple!
ps. I hope you're ready to scroll, I quite possibly over-blogged this session but who's counting!

Congrats Andrew & Amy!

Zack is 21!

2008-11-05T07:26:00.001-08:00

Categorize this post under the "life" label cause it's bit personal.
Incase you didn't know I'm the oldest of 4 kids in our fam. I have two younger brothers and a younger sister. I never knew how much I would appreciate my siblings like I do now. If I had known that, we probably wouldn't have fought so much. But I'm glad to say that I that all my memories of growing up with my brothers are happy ones, even the times we would have knock down, drag out fights! We had a chance to sit around the table on Sunday and tell stories about childhood. Those stories certainly wouldn't be the same if it weren't for my brothers!
This post is dedicated to Zack who just turned 21 last week. He is an incredible guy and I'm glad to have be old enough now to realize he's a great friend!

Happy 21st Zack, we love you and we're so proud of you!

if you know Zack, you know this is his personality! He's very mellow.

Hey ladies, he is available!

Evan & Katie - sneak peek

2008-11-04T08:50:00.000-08:00

Happy election day everyone, I hope you all take time to exercise your freedom and put in your .02 cents!
Here is one of my favorite moments from Evan and Katie's fall wedding last week, I'm working my way through their photos now and it's making me wish fall was the big wedding season. Fall is the new summer, tell your friends!

grace and peace,

Matt and Shylia are engaged...

2008-10-30T12:20:00.001-07:00

I can't help but be super excited about this upcoming wedding season just because of all the great people we've booked so far. Matt & Shylia are awesome, and so easy to talk with! I had a great time with them the other night, we wandered around midtown and enjoyed the changing seasons!
enjoy

mood for fall...

2008-10-30T10:08:00.000-07:00

I'm in the mood for camping and dry leaves.
I'm in the mood for coffee and wool socks.
I'm in the mood for a fireplace and good music.
I'm in the mood for fall.
You're in the mood for fall, your desktop is in the mood too.

Give your desktop what it wants.

you can snag the full size from my Flickr if you want : )

Michael & Renita - sneak peek

2008-10-29T11:02:00.000-07:00

This was a great wedding at the Omni Mandalay in Dallas. I can't wait to share more images!

is this too dumb to blog?...I think not.

2008-10-28T17:42:00.001-07:00

Now that I won't be shoot a wedding or two every weekend for the next couple months. I'll have some extra time on my hands. Here's how I plan to spend that time....
Learning how to be a parent by watching alot of the Cosby show...
designing some sweet albums for our amazing clients we had the opportunity to shoot this season...
refreshing the portfolio section of the website with new work...

On the creative side of things...I'm starting 3 new projects that will make me a better, more well rounded photographer.
More on that to come.

As part of one of these mysterious projects, I've started learning some new lighting techniques. I really needed to test out some ideas with real people... so I convinced Carl and Thomas to help me take over a street downtown and shoot silly pictures of them.
Here's what happened.

my salute to the man the myth the legend, Nate Kaiser...

Don't worry, I wont shoot your wedding like this, unless you want me to : )
cheers,

Brandt & Annie are engaged...

2008-10-23T14:54:00.000-07:00

Let me just tell you the best part about my job. It's not playing with cool cameras or computers, or staying at home in your pajamas all day editing photos. The best part about my job is working with cool people on best day of their life. Thats exactly why clients like Brandt & Annie make me love my job. They're just awesome folks, thats all there is to it. And I'm glad that it's my job to capture their relationship!

Tell Brandt to do "the face" and this is what you get...

annual pumpkin night...

2008-10-23T08:08:00.001-07:00

last night marked the 2nd annual pumpkin night we had with the Zochs. We did this last year, if you are an old school blog reader.
This year, with the election and all, I wanted to show my support for my candidate of choice in a subtle way. So I went to the Google and what I found amazed me. There is a grassroots movement building all across this nation .... to stand up and do something that matters.....to carve pumpkins for Obama. I seriously laughed out loud when I saw this.
We had a great time and love our friends the Zochs! Without further adieu here is our night, in fast forward.

yes we carve from joshmccullock on Vimeo.

side note on elections...
if you're not an Obama fan, be cool. I'm not trying to change your vote (or the world) with my amazing pumpkin.

baby bump...

2008-10-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

I've been berated by facebook friends over the past couple weeks for not having an album of Katie and the baby bump. So here are some shots from our Dallas weekend, I hope the masses are appeased.
We are actually trying to remember to take belly shots every week so we can put together a stop-motion movie of the expanding belly after Gavin pops out.

Btw, he has a Facebook now, so hit him up!
peace n love,

us in dallas...

2008-10-17T16:31:00.000-07:00

We have Michael & Renita's wedding in Dallas this weekend, which promises to be amazing. This wedding required a second shooter of the female persuasion, and since Katie is on Fall break, we came down a couple days early just to mix it up. All of our friends with kiddos keep emphasizing how much we should try to enjoy our time together...and that's exactly what we're doin!
Forgive the crap-ola video skills...

Untitled from joshmccullock on Vimeo.

We got to check out the Hotel Cafe Tour at the House of Blues last night. I love indie/folk and I loved the show! Especially Priscilla Ahn, check her out!

and now for something completely different!

2008-10-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

Wow, this is a big week for me. And there is no better way to start an important week, than with a nice hearty breakfast.
Last night after Kaleo we joined some friends over at the Smith's house for an awesome dose of "breakfast for dinner". It's like a typical group dinner with a splash of excitement....because its breakfast food! Crazy, I know!

We totally got crazy with the Rock Band too, we don't play around!

breakfast for dinner from joshmccullock on Vimeo.

Carl and I recorded this on the new Nikon D90 that takes HD video...nerdtastic!

Justin & Jami are engaged! (and awesome)

2008-10-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

I had a chance to shoot these two monday evening, and let me tell ya, it was sheer joy. Although it was cloudy, rainy and at some points overtly cheesy, we came away with some utterly personal and fun images of Justin & Jami. I'm really excited to shoot their wedding next month, if it's half as fun as this session was I'll be beside myself.

Justin & Jami, thanks for being super clients, I can't wait for your nuptials!

oh yea, incase you didn't know...Jami is a famous musician, doubly awesome.

Leb is 18!

2008-10-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

Kaleb is my youngest brother who becomes an adult today. He's a great friend with an absolutely genuine personality, always willing to have a good time. Thats why we love him!
Happy B-day man, we love you!

Matt & Amanda's sneak peek...

2008-10-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

Normally I only post one image for a sneak peek, but this time, there was so much goodness on the memory cards I couldn't narrow it down. Matt & Amanda had an awesome wedding last weekend in Choctaw. The ceremony was on the dock of the family pond surrounded by lillypads, it was tight! More details to come in the full post! Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Murphy!

the beautiful bride minutes before the ceremony...
she made that veil by the way!

Adam & Kim are engaged!

2008-10-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

These two are good friends of our from church, and the news dropped a couple weeks ago they are gonna tie the knot! I was honored when they asked me to come to Nashville to shoot their wedding. Don't think I won't make a week long trip out of that wedding, expect to see some music club shots from that trip! Here's a few shots from their session we did last week, we had a good ole time. Congrats you two!

Dustin & Jessica's sneak peek...

2008-10-06T12:10:00.000-07:00

Meet Mr. & Mrs. Lopez! They got married on the 27th at the Dominion House in Guthrie. Simply said, it was awesome! These two were great to work with. I'll have to do a blog post just on Jessica's bridal session from a few weeks ago. It was by far my favorite bridal session this year! Of course, that could be due to the fact that Jessica has modeled internationally and is instantly natural in front of a camera!

Normally I'd have their slideshow up to show off, but I've been a little under the weather for the past few days. So I'm trying to take care of myself for the rest of my October weddings. But stay tuned, it will be up soon!

PS. For the camera nerds out there...
These shots were taken directly after the ceremony, when the sun had all but set behind the trees. We literally about a minute and a half to get their portraits before it was totally dark. These shots were at about 2500 ISO with the 35mm f2!

introducing baby Benjamin!

2008-09-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

If you follow my status on Twitter, as you should, you know our great friends Clint & Kat had their boy a week ago. We go waaay back with the Honnolls and they are cherished friends to us! So, I was honored when I got a chance to photograph Benjamin last night. As my first newborn session I didn't know what to expect but he was a trooper and only turned bright red on me once : ) I did these with two fixed lenses, one window and a reflector about the size of Benjamin's room held by his Dad (thanks Clint). I knew he was going to be a cute kid, but I wasn't ready for the cuteness overload! Maybe it's just my baby fever kicking in but I loved these shots!

Congrats Clint & Kat, we love you!

my favorite shot from the evening...

that shape reminds me of Kat's belly about a week ago...

the many faces of Benjamin...

new Photoshop technique I came up with today, I'm calling it "grandma's camera"

Preston & Sheila's sneak peek...

2008-09-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of my favorite shots from Preston & Sheila's wedding on Sunday. They had a simple and elegant wedding at Walnut Creek, which makes for a beautiful weddings during the afternoon!

I saw this butterfly and had to get the little guy in the shot. It's a bit cheese for my style but I couldn't pass it up!

Ryan & Allie's Wedding...

2008-09-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

Well I've had the past two weekends off from shooting weddings and it's been quite a change of pace. We got lots of baby stuff done on my free Saturdays. Although I'm all caught up on delivering our client's wedding images, I'm still a bit behind on bringing all these weddings to the blog. So in hopes to change all that here are a few of my favorite images from Ryan & Allie's wedding. It was a pretty great day! Everyone was so chill and easy goin.

Incase you didn't know Ryan is a writer/director/videographer who wrote and starred in Aspen Roots and also covers weddings with me on occasion. So if you're looking for an awesome videographer for your wedding make sure to hit him up. He does great work and has a very similar approach that I do...so we work together quite well if I may say so myself!
anyway...picture time!

Russ & Katie's sneak peek...

2008-09-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

These two tied the knot in Shawnee on Saturday with lots of family and friends present. It was a GREAT wedding, Katie was a gorgeous bride and Russell is about the nicest guy ever! Congrats you two, enjoy the honeymooning!

btw, I also shot a sweet wedding on Sunday that I'll be posting shots from later today! Don't touch that dial!

Nicchole's session ... part duex

2008-09-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

You may remember this gal from an earlier post. We got to shoot a few weeks ago for about 30 minutes, so we met up again last night at magic hour to finish up the session. I like the fact that the session has two totally different feels, the light was awesome last night. I think I could get used to senior portraits, they're pretty fun! Thanks Nicchole, you're the cat's pajamas!

Derrick & Eryn's sneak peek...

2008-09-16T07:31:00.000-07:00

Here is another one of our awesome wedding couples for this season. We got to meet up for a quick session in Bricktown last week. The cloudiness we've been having has been amazing for session, I love the subdued light! This is another session I shot with only one lens...the oh so simple 50mm 1.8. I love this range on full frame!

More of Eryn & Derrick coming very soon!

a bit on wisdom...

2008-09-15T09:42:00.000-07:00

take a minute and watch this, it's awesome!

I love my brother Leb...

2008-09-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

well...his real name is Kaleb. He got that name from my college roommate Steven. Funny story...we were moving our stuff into the dorm freshman year (2000...geez I'm old) When Leb, a short, squatty 4th grader walked up to Steve and gave him his sunglasses. He said, "Here Steven, you can have these..." Steve simply said, "Well thanks Leb, thats real nice of ya!" It was pretty random, but Leb has always been a sharing person, which is odd growing up with two brothers....
Anyway, Leb is all grown up and ready for Senior Portraits! We had a good time shooting these tonight. Despite the menacing clouds, we came away with some fun shots! I've been on this kick of shooting portrait session with only one lens lately, it make me think a little more. This session was with the 35mm f2. Like butta!

love ya Kaleb!

Aspen Roots debut...

2008-09-11T07:39:00.001-07:00

I just got the chance to take a glance at an awesome short film called "Aspen Roots". It's written, directed and produced by a group of guys I went to school with. If you enjoy short films, or just film work in general you should definitely follow these guys. They're all awesome gents with a brilliant artistic sense! Enjoy this!

Aspen Roots from Ryan Scott on Vimeo.

written by Ryan "Staples" Scott
directed by Josh McKamie

Clayton & Mary's Wedding...

2008-09-09T23:08:00.000-07:00

This was a great wedding! Mary is one of those personalitites where you never really have to wonder what she's thinking. She's short, sweet and to the point...and so was her wedding. It was candid, intimate and genuine. Afterwards they shared a huge dinner with their family and friends at the Jazz Lab. Congrats Clayton & Mary, wish ya the best!

It's a boy!!! (updated)

2008-09-05T15:19:00.001-07:00

Well now our baby finally has a partial identity, and is no longer referred to as "Cleatus the Fetus". Although we haven't made the final decision on a name yet, it's nice to know it's a "he" and not just "baby". We had the Fam over for a celebration dinner, spaghetti and meatballs (get it? ) I love toasting, L'Chaim!

So now we're "those parents" ... Katie and I had a short shopping trip just to get some boy clothes. It was fun seeing all the mini clothes! Here's what we ended up with.

Had to get some kicks to match Dad's!!!

Baby Gap...mini clothes, mini tags, mini bag. Not mini prices : ) We couldn't resist!

Pretty obvious too :)

remember this moment...

2008-09-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

If you have anything to do with weddings, photography, or both you know that when it comes to wedding photography the buzzword is "photojournalism". It's been this way for years, as the industry has changed so have the hot terms and how people describe what they want. I get lots of questions about my approach to weddings and I try not to use the term "photojournalism" because it's not really my approach. If I were a photojournalist, I'd never talk to my clients, give them direction throughout the day or try to influence the shot in any way. My clients can tell you thats not the case at all. I'm always scouring for the best environment for a series or giving subtle direction on a wedding day. When you mix a couple's natural personality with great light; thats a recipe for a killer photo! With that said, I LOVE the moments that naturally happen, and I can capture them just as they are without any direction at all. It's icing on the cake when the light and environment contribute to the photo. Take this moment below for example. We had just finished up with Kyle and Laura's wedding party photos on the lawn of the Oklahoma History Museum and we were all headed in to check out the reception decor. They had a quick conversation as they walked up these huge, dramatic stairs. Just the two of them not long before they became husband and wife... no doubt a moment they'll want to remember.

PS...They got married August 23rd, which means I'm caught up! Whammy!

Dan & Sarah's slideshow...

2008-09-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

Do your eyes and ears a favor and check out this slideshow. I love the song by The Weepies!
I'll have a big ole' blog post on these two coming up soon!
enjoy

Cody & Jenn's awesome concert wedding...

2008-09-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest things about my job is that I get to see how everybody chooses to live life, down to the most personal details. Theres no better indicator of the personality of a couple than their wedding day, it's like a microcosm of their take on life. Some of us enjoy a luxurious, grand wedding with hundreds of guests. Whereas, others of us enjoy a elegantly simple backyard ceremony with close family and friends. And then there are those of us who enjoy getting married in the middle of a rock concert. My friends Jenn & Cody took the idea of letting their personality shape their wedding day to a new level. Cody and Jenn both love art and music, good food and drink and having a great time with their friends and family...and thats exactly what their wedding day was! I remember in our consultation when Jenn tried to explain her vision to me, half way through I said " I'll be there, even if I'm not the photographer!"
It was the most fun I've had in a looong time.So here's how it worked... They invited all their guests to a concert, told them to wear their concert t-shirts and come ready to have a good time. Grandpa Griffith and Lisa Curl brought the thunder with their hilarious musical stylings. They tied the knot right in the middle of the concert. There was even a feature song written just for them performed by Lisa Curl and GG lead singer Aaron Copeland. In the true sense of celebration, the ceremony included a free for all dance time where guests were invited up to the stage to cut loose.

On a serious note, I'm not sure I'll ever be part of a more fun, genuine and personal celebration. It was legendary. I could probably blog three times the photos here, but you probably have a real job and I'd hate to get you in trouble with your boss. Now on to the photos, I'll provide a little commentary along the way...

Jenn crafted her bouquet herself...

Yep, thats purple!

the guys did a mustache theme, how awesome is that.

just your everyday wedding party photo...

some rowdy wedding guests...

Grandpa Griffith's presence makes Chuck Norris pee his pants...

some reception details...

the talented Lisa Curl!

well thats just great!!

2008-09-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

Isn't that just my luck! If I had know this was available when I went into business I would have never gone to all those workshops, read books, scoured the library and forums for random bits of knowledge or invested thousands in equipment!

Who knew!
You've gotta read this, it's hilarious!

Marcus & LeAnn's wedding...

2008-09-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back in the blogging saddle bringing you may favorite shots from LeAnn & Marcus's wedding at Life Church. They had one of the most personal ceremonies I've ever seen, it was an honor to help them remember it! What you may probably notice is that Life Church is quite different from most of the historical churches we normally shoot at. That gave me a special challenge to find the best lighting and backdrops for their portraits. I really liked the challenge and the change of pace, I think we came away with some good images!

Marcus & LeAnn, we wish you the best!

snazzy new slideshows!

2008-08-30T05:49:00.000-07:00

This week I added a sweet new slideshow tool for weddings and portraits. It make the images so much bigger, which is always better! I'm still getting it fine tuned, but click here to check out David & Krista's slideshow from 3 weeks ago at the Dominion House in Guthrie.

be green...ride a 4 stroke!

2008-08-29T23:18:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking of selling "the hog" to buy the vintage motorcycle of my dreams. I won't tempt you with it's seductive features like the spare tire rack, electric start, or the 90 miles per gallon. But if you're interested call me quick cause it's on Craigslist. You'll get the blog reader special!
cheers,

3 prego ladies and their husbands doing crafts...

2008-08-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

Katie and I have two really close couple friends that are prego as well, so tonight we had an impromtu "make your own onesies" night at the house. It was great!

Kam and I lived together during college and we made our share of custom t-shirts. We know what we're doin.

The final products... ( From left to right. McCullocks, Hills, Honnolls)
We actually set up the Scrabble board and photographed it for that onesie. We don't play!

we decided to go unisex so our mystery baby could rock either one of these stylish designs...

I thought I'd include this mysterious portrait of Ringo. He really prefers this Rembrandt sytle portraiture lighting, it suits him.

thats all, have a great holiday weekend!
peace!

incase you were wondering...

2008-08-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

Well I've had a pretty productive week so far, almost finished up sorting and retouching two weddings. As I was sorting through some images, this moment caught my eye. Kai was leading Vanessa from one portrait spot to another on their wedding day. Sometimes it's the unscripted moments that make for the most dramatic photos. Especially when you throw in a pinch of photoshop love!

We are currently caught up and delivering our weddings in about 3 weeks! I can't tell you how great a feeling that is. I've worked really hard to cut that time in half over the past 2 months. But, everything comes with a price. I'm sure you've noticed my dramatically decreased blog updates. That will soon be over and I'll whip up some posts from our last 10 weddings or so. But, in the meantime, if you're wondering what I'm up to you can always follow me on twitter!
cheers!

sneak peek of Kyle & Laura...

2008-08-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

Well last night was awesome as predicted. Kyle and Laura had a beautiful wedding at St. Francis of Assisi with a sweet reception at the Oklahoma Heritage Museum. I'm still downloading all the images we captured and thought I'd share this one from the stairwell at the museum. I've been working like crazy trying to keep all our weddings delivered within 3-4 weeks so I haven't had time to do as many lengthy wedding posts. As soon as things slow down and I'm not shooting every weekend I hope you're ready to see some of the awesome weddings I've gotten to capture, cause the blog post will be rollin out like nobody's business!
Congrats Kyle & Laura, have an awesome honeymoon!

Kyle & Laura's big day...

2008-08-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

We're all geared up for Kyle & Laura's wedding today and I thought I share a couple shots from their engagement session. They're such a sweet couple with great chemistry! This one is gonna be a doozie, I'll probably shoot for about 11 hours by the time it's all over! Bring it on!!!

congrats guys!

Nicchole's Sr. session | Part 1...

2008-08-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

About a week ago I met up Nicchole for her senior portraits. To make a loooong story short the Dave concert downtown spited us from parking and we barely caught the last of the great light we had that evening. But I have to hand it to Nicchole, she and her Mom walked about 10 blocks, shot about 10 different spots and changed clothes all in about 30 minutes. As soon as these rainy days stop we'll meet up again to get a couple more looks and finish up the session. I thought I'd share a couple shots since Nicchole has been so anxious to see what we got. Even though the light was fading, the trusty Nikon D3 at ISO 500 did pretty good. (nerd alert! )

cheers!

sharing some buzz...

2008-08-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

I've always been a huge fan of the interwebs, especially when it allows people to learn and share knowledge. I thought I'd share a few places where I've been lucky enough to have my work featured in the past couple months. These are 3 blogs that any bride, photographer, bridal consultant, or anyone having anything to do with weddings should definitely follow!

Elizabeth Anne Designs is an awesome online resource for anyone working on a wedding. They have a library of awesome vendors, featuring yours truly of course, as well as a great blog that shows off real weddings from around the country. It's a great place to get ideas and inspiration...and see good photography : ) Our work from John & Whitney's wedding was featured just today in the Real Weddings section! Make sure you check it out here

Another must follow blog, the Budget Savvy Bride! Here's how Jessica describes her blog..."I am a 24 year old southern girl, trying to plan a semi-large wedding on a teeny tiny budget. If you have tips for me, please feel free to share!" She talks about about her adventures and struggles that come with wedding planning.
She has so many good ideas, plus a great eye for design and colors. She featured John & Whitney as well back in July. Check out what she has to say here. I'm very flattered to have my work compared to the likes of Jessica Claire and the Boutwells here on her blog!

Last but not least, is J Sandifer. J is what we would call an "industry giant" and a reaaaally nice guy! After consulting for Pictage, he moved to LiveBooks and has been really cool to work with on my new website. He is an amazing photographer and knows the heartbeat of the wedding and photography industries really well. J has a blog at his site jbrides.com where he talk about everything wedding photography. He featured a candid shot from Chris & Holly's wedding earlier in the summer. Needless to say I was honored!

This should keep your browser busy for now, check back soon for more images from the past few weeks!
peace be with you,

sneak peek of Daniel & Sarah...

2008-08-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick portrait from Dan & Sarah's wedding on Saturday. They had a wonderfully personal evening with family and friends. We were happy to be a part of it. More images and updates on life coming soon! Have a great week!!!

to the love of my life...

2008-08-14T09:29:00.000-07:00

Que the trumpets....today marks 4 years since the most awesome day of my life! On August 14th, 2004, Katie and I got married at our church with all our family and friends around and it was absolutely awesome. I busted out our wedding prints the other day and got all excited about how fun our wedding was for us! Which simultaneously made me re-inspired about my job and what we get to provide for our couples.

Here's a shot I got of my amazing wife last fall at our annual bed and breakfast get-away in the mountains.
Isn't she gorgeous! I love you Katie, your're my best friend and I can't wait to see you grow our baby !!! Happy Anniversary!

the new site is live!

2008-08-12T06:25:00.000-07:00

Just when you thought you'd seen everything on the interwebs! Click this!

Special thanks to Dayle at Livebooks, he was my designer for the website and awesome to work with!

a glimpse at the josh mccullock photography world headquarters

2008-08-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the summer Katie and I were talking about how we can make our little home business more personal. The first thing we came up with was to start meeting clients here in our house instead of coffee shops. Since I never plan to do typical studio work and with the baby on the way, I plan to work from home for many years! So we put our heads together and remodeled the upstairs room in our house into a office/client lounge.
You'll notice you don't see wedding pictures everywhere. We spend alot of time up here and, no offense to any of our clients, but I get tired of looking at wedding pictures all the time! : ) I found those old prints I made a year ago rolled up in the closet. It must have been destiny, they work great with the room.
So, if you ever come over for a consultation or to review an album design, this is what to expect!
cheers,

P.S. Stay tuned, the new website should be going live today...mere hours until the interwebs get alot better!

David & Krista's sneak peak...

2008-08-09T19:40:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of shooting David & Krista's wedding at the Dominion House today. If I could order up a day for photos I don't think I could have picked out a better one myself. We had some cloud cover earlier in the morning for the portraits which kept it cool and gave us some nice soft light. Then the sun popped out for the garden ceremony which was amazing. Congrats you two, today was awesome!
cheers,

the new look is here!

2008-08-06T07:11:00.000-07:00

G'mornin everyone! This is just a quick post to introduce phase 1 of what I've been calling the business makeover 08. As you can see there is a new layout here on the blog that features bigger photos and some other cool features that are still forthcoming in the next couple days. I have to give a shout out to Brian Hancock, our blog designer, for the awesome job he's done! There's a new logo too which I have a huge crush on. I actually tried designing my own logo for awhile but it just wasn't happening. There's a joke in the photographer's community about how we think we are graphic designers, it says "just because you can use photoshop, doesn't mean you should". I worked with Ashley Jankowsi from For The Love of Creating on the new logo. It was so refreshing to work with an artist who loves her job. Thanks Ashley! I also want to thank my wingman Caramel Zoch for the silly pictures of me here on the blog.
So I'm enjoying the changes and looking forward to the launch of the new website and our new custom stamped business cards very soon! I've also been getting alot of requests for those coffee mugs and key chains I mentioned : )
With all this work on top of weddings, I've been a little behind on blogging the past couple weeks so if you haven't seen your esession up here and wondering where it is, thats why. Katie and I are working really hard to keep up with the retouching on this seasons weddings.

In other news... we got to hear our baby's heartbeat yesterday at our appointment. It was the most incredible thing ever! The whole experience gets more profound each time we see the baby looking more like a person. This time we actually got to see little arms and legs kicking around. I've still got those images in my mind, I don't know if I want to wait another 4 weeks to see more! Katie has had a fairly easy pregnancy so far. She hasn't been sick much at all, just reeeally tired all the time. She goes back to school to teach 2nd graders in a couple weeks so that will be interesting! We both want to say thank you for all your prayers and sweet thoughts, we feel very loved! I better get back to work, have a great Wednesday!

thanks for reading,

this weekend's sneak peek...

2008-08-03T07:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a loooog week. If you didn't notice we took the website down to get ready for the launch of the new and improved JoshMcCullock.com. We also have a sweet new blog, logo, cards, stationary, t-shirts, coffee mugs and keychains coming soon too! Ok, just kidding about a couple of those. On top of talking with our great web and graphic designers every day I took a trip to Dallas with Carl to get learned by David Jay and Jasmine Star. It was a great trip, very refreshing!

But on to the important stuff! We shot two weddings again this weekend. Both of which were utterly cool!

Here's the new Chad & Nela Stowe!

and the new Brent & Sarah Peck!

congrats you guys, have a great honeymoon!

Gene & Katie's Wedding...

2008-07-30T02:06:00.000-07:00

You may remember Gene & Katie from their esession awhile back. As a photographer, it's really awesome when you're able to get to know your clients like we've clicked with Gene & Katie. They're just awesome! They had a great wedding and awesome party at the Chesepeake Boathouse. We had a blast shooting late too, good times!
PS. They get some mad bonus points for sending us each a pregnancy gift. I got some wicked good coffee and Katie got a brag book for our ultrasound pics! How awesome is that!
grace and peace,

don't miss the slideshow!

Eric & Kristy's wedding...

2008-07-27T19:07:00.002-07:00

I couldn't describe how totally awesome this wedding was even if I sat down with a Thesaurus, a pot of coffee and a writing coach!! It was another backyard affair, my fave. The guests were fun, the music was good, the food was great, and Eric and Kristy were unstoppably relaxed and natural! They just great people, that's all there is to it, no arguments!!!
Eric & Kristy, we had a great time with you and your fam! Hope all is well!!

see more awesomeness here!

last weekend's sneak peek...

2008-07-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick look at the awesomeness we got to shoot last weekend....
more to come!

Ryan & Melissa...

Kai & Vanessa...

sharing some blog love....

2008-07-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

Well I've been working hard on getting another awesome wedding ready and you'll see more of that coming very soon. But in the meantime, I thought I'd share something helpful. I know alot of you are planning your wedding thats no small task. It's easy to get stuck and run out of good ideas, especially when it's your first time at something like planning a wedding. Thats why online resources are so invaluable for ideas and inspiration. A few weeks back I was contacted by the gals that run an awesome wedding blog called Elizabeth Ann Deigns. They talk about everything related to planning a wedding and have a wealth of great advise. Just yesterday they released a new site called the Elizabeth Ann Designs Library. It's a free resource that lists great vendors from all over the country. You can find some of the top photographers, designers, florists. And what's really cool is you can browse through and get inspired from all the real weddings they feature. They post alot, so stay tuned to their blog and check out the new library site as well!

Whaaat!!

2008-07-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

Look what my mom found at the grocery store! Just right for those
moments you're in the mood for a banana but can't take on a whole one.
I think this calls for another caption contest. Funniest comment
concerning these miracle of science mini bananas wins a $20 iTunes
card. Aaannnd go!

Blogged from my iPhone

Kyle & Laura's engagement session...

2008-07-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

I'd like to introduce you to Kyle and Laura, yet another awesome couple we get to work with this season. We had a great time strolling around Norman for their session. They had the perfect approach to an engagement session, they were totally natural and not afraid to laugh really hard! You'll also notice a cameo appearance by Sugar, their dog. I'm a dog guy so I'm always down for bringing the pooch along! Sugar was really chill, she actually followed us around most of the session while we were shooting. Anyway, on to the images!

cheers!

what would a blog post be without a slideshow!?

Justin & Lisa's wedding...

2008-07-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

Here is another one of those couples that makes me love my job! We had the chance to do an engagement and bridal session with Justin and Lisa over the past year. They have such a natural relationship it's not hard to capture. Every time we get together to shoot I came away with some incredible stuff! Their wedding was no different, they had a great ceremony at Quail Springs Baptist Church and an awesome reception at the uber-cool Chesapeake Boathouse. Like always I ended up posting a bunch of their shots because I want all our clients and future clients to get a sense of what our wedding coverage consists of.
Justin & Lisa, you guys are awesome! Thanks for letting us be a part!!!

grace and peace,

if you're up for more, check out the slideshow!

3 more sneak peeks...

2008-07-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody!
Katie and I just wanted to say THANKS for all the congrats and well-wishes you've given us. We've had so many sweet calls and emails from our current clients, and even most of the brides who call to inquire about booking us congratulate us. I never knew getting pregnant would make you such a rockstar! But seriously, thanks for your kindness, you completely rock!
Once again, here's three more awesome couples that we had the chance to photograph over the past couple weeks. We have been so blessed with such fun, flexible people to work with, I can't say enough about how awesome this season has been! Plus we still have 14 more weddings to shoot before the fun stops, whew, talk about livin the dream!
Congrats to these new husband and wife combos! We wish ya the best!!!

here's Clayton and Mary Howell

and Ryan & Allie Scott!

and Jared and Amy Fraizer..

perhaps the coolest thing I've ever blogged....

2008-07-10T09:49:00.001-07:00

First comes love...

then comes marriage...

then comes the baby in the baby carriage!!!

SHYEA! We're having a baby! Its way exciting and scary at the same time. I figured I would try to answer all the questions we've been asked so far, just so you're informed...
Q: boy or girl?
A: we don't know yet, we're only at 9 weeks. I'm have been hoping for a boy until I heard this song. Now I kinda want a girl : )

Q:do you have names yet?
A:Yep, we've had them for awhile actually...
boy - Gavin or Jude
girl - Lilly or Hannah

Q:How's the pregnancy been?
A:Great for me! ; ) Just kidding, Katie hasn't been sick much, just really sleepy and often really hot.
She's been a trooper at weddings too!

Ultrasounds are not exactly high resolution so heres a breakdown of what you're looking at....

Our doc says theres no way those are eyes or a smile but hey, thats just one medical opinion ;)
Those are the hands though!

More pictures to come soon!!!

Michael & Kinzie's Wedding...

2008-07-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

Well much has been going on around our place in the past two weeks. We've remodeled the upstairs (more to come on that), shot a bunch of stuff, had a big party with friends and some other big news that deserves a whole separate post. But for now, here are some pretty pictures to look at.
Michael and Kinzie got married about a month ago at the family home outside Shawnee. It was another really awesome, casual backyard affair! We came away with so many great moments that it was hard to choose the best images to blog. But here are a handful of my favorites.
Michael and Kinzie...we had a blast with you and your family! Everyone was awesome, thanks so much for letting us be a part!!!

cheers,

sometimes you just can't choose one ring shot...

the flower girl forgot her duty so Michael made it just perfect for his Bride, good man!

perhaps one of my all time favorite moments....

Kinzie's Dad built this pond....yea, pretty awesome!

see more, watch the slideshow!!!

John & Whitney's wedding...

2008-07-01T22:45:00.000-07:00

Be warned, this is a long post but it's worth every scroll!
A few weeks ago Katie and I got to cover John & Whitney's awesome vintage backyard wedding. There is not much more I can say about the whole thing other than it was indubitably awesome!
Infact it was so awesome you may just end up seeing John and Whitney in print around OKC! The evening had a very casual feel, lots of great music by Lisa Curl and the Stringents and of course good food, drinks and lots of dancing! You may notice these are a bit different than my normal look and feel. I tried out a few different techniques in Photoshop that give their photos the same vintage feel that their wedding had.

Welp, you better get scrolling! Don't miss the slideshow link at the end!

grace and peace,

peep on the slideshow!

Cody & Jenn's sneak peek...

2008-06-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

Well, to wrap up another two wedding weekend, we have the unforgettable and totally awesome wedding of Jenn & Cody.
Theses two had a concert theme wedding at the City Arts Center featuring Lisa Curl, the Stingents and Grandpa Griffith.
I can't wait to blog about all the cool details, more to come soon!

Congrats Cody & Jenn, have fun in NYC!!!

sneak peek at Marcus & LeAnn...

2008-06-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

Last night Katie and I had the pleasure of shooting Marcus & LeAnn's wedding at Life Church in Edmond. Talk about a cool wedding! More stories and images to come very soon, but for now I have to charge some batteries for Cody & Jenn's wedding tonight. Its a good thing I have 8 battery chargers!

gday,

triple sneak peak ...

2008-06-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

Katie and I are working away on some truly awesome weddings right now! We've shot 3 in the past two weeks and had a great time doing it. Here's a peek at the new husband & wife teams we've been able to work with.

Justin & Lisa Pybas June 14th

Eric & Kristy Morris June 20th

Gene & Katie Harlin June 21st

The images we caught at all three of these weddings are totally rockin my world, I can't wait to share more!
Congrats to the Pybas, Morris and Harlin families!

peace,

Luke & Leah's engagement session....

2008-06-23T08:37:00.000-07:00

And the most awesome engagement session prop award goes to Luke & Leah! When they called me about shooting their wedding in August I was bummed that I was already booked. But we were able to shoot an esession and a bridal session together! Luke is a fireman here in the metro and actually got to borrow one of the fire trucks for their session. Thats right, I got to ride in fire engine, just one of the perks of the job!

Here are some of my faves from their session!

see more of the awesome firetruck here!

this is what we do for fun....

2008-06-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

So I've been staring at Lightroom for about 5 hours and Katie has been workin the Quickbooks all afternoon. We needed a break since I'm about to go do Justin and Amber's portraits and I wanted to get the creative juices flowin....

this is what happened.

have a great day!

Chris & Holly's wedding...

2008-06-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

Meet Chris and Holly, they got married in fantastic ceremony in the park at the Myriad Gardens in Downtown OKC. They've been together for a looong time, I think since like 7th grade! At one point during their portraits, I overheard them talking about how long they had waited for this day. It was really sweet, I thought I had started crying but then I realized it was just alot of sweat! I have had so much fun shooting all these outdoor weddings the past few weeks, besides the fact that I sweat as much as 20 men, its all worth it!

Here are some highlights from their day, enjoy!

see if you can spot the amazing song in the slideshow!

Happy Fathers Day to our Dads!

2008-06-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

To our parents...
We love and cherish you!
Thank you for being so awesome!!!

Dale & Debbi waaaaay back in the day...

who knows what led to this moment : )

last fall...

Dwayne & Sonja last summer at the beach...

Dwayne and his favorite christmas present ever!

the Stowers family...

2008-06-13T19:48:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago I had the chance to take some relaxed family portraits of the Stowers family. We wandered around downtown for an hour or so and ended up with some fun stuff I thought I'd share. Also...Jeff, the gent on the right just graduated with his pharmacy degree and is moving off to be a pharmacist! Congrats Jeff, the best of luck to you!

cheers,