Wedding Photographers in Arizona – Ryan & Denise Photography Blog (formerly Simply Knot Photography) bio picture
  • Welcome! Come hang out with us.

    We're Ryan & Denise - a happy couple that likes to shoot other happy couples :-) Feel free to take a look around and get to know us a little. We chronicle our photography work as well as keep a journal of our personal lives here on our blog. We'd love to get to know you too so feel free to leave us a comment, vote on some images or send us an email to say hello! Thanks for stopping by!

  • Our Reader’s Top 10

    42
    Our Readers Recent Favorites
    32
    Our Readers Recent Favorites
    30
    Our Readers Recent Favorites
    29
    Our Readers Recent Favorites
    26
    Our Readers Recent Favorites
    25
    Our Readers Recent Favorites
    25
    Our Readers Recent Favorites
    24
    Our Readers Recent Favorites
    23
    Our Readers Recent Favorites
    23
    Our Readers Recent Favorites

Nikki & Antti’s Wedding: The Raven Golf Club at Verrado

Vote For Image
(5 people love this)

Nikki & Antti tied the knot on a beautiful day at the gorgeous Raven Golf Club at Verrado.  Their day was pretty much perfect, relaxed, fun and full of love!  Exactly the kind of wedding we love to capture!

(Please click here if you’d like to be notified when the rest of their photos are online.)
AND don’t forget to click “love” under your favorite images along the way!

There’s nothing better than a wedding dress with a dash of bold color!  And of course, shoes that matched perfectly.

Vote For Image
(7 people love this)

Vote For Image
(6 people love this)

Nikki was an absolutely adorable bride! Her birdcage veil was a lovely compliment to her lace gown.

Vote For Image
(3 people love this)

Too cute!

Vote For Image
(5 people love this)

Antti put it perfectly, “The guys are always pretty easy to find – the bathroom or the bar.” LOL!

Vote For Image
(1 person loves this)

It’s gettin’ pretty GQ up in here ;-)

Vote For Image
(10 people love this)

Absolutely loved the color scheme.  And the fact the the guys were rockin’ purple shoe laces!

Vote For Image
(15 people love this)

The lovely ladies :-)

Vote For Image
(8 people love this)

Gorgeous!

Vote For Image
(4 people love this)

Vote For Image
(9 people love this)

Here comes the bride!

Vote For Image
(2 people love this)

This one makes my heart melt.

Vote For Image
(10 people love this)

Vote For Image
(4 people love this)

During the ceremony, Antti’s sister gave a very emotional reading that had the whole group tearing up.

Vote For Image
(4 people love this)

Vote For Image
(6 people love this)

While they exchanged rings, their little girl Leila was looking on from the front row.

Vote For Image
(7 people love this)

Vote For Image
(3 people love this)

Mr & Mrs!

Vote For Image
(6 people love this)

The light after the ceremony was beautiful.

Vote For Image
(10 people love this)

Silliness :-)

Vote For Image
(10 people love this)

Vote For Image
(7 people love this)

Verrado is truly a beautiful place and these two made it look even better!

Vote For Image
(5 people love this)

Vote For Image
(7 people love this)

One of my favs :-) I love the way it shows of the back of Nikki’s dress.

Vote For Image
(7 people love this)

Vote For Image
(6 people love this)

Vote For Image
(5 people love this)

Too cute!

Vote For Image
(7 people love this)

Vote For Image
(7 people love this)

A few gorgeous reception details.  Their cake with the blue bows made me totally think of Tiffany’s!

Vote For Image
(6 people love this)

Vote For Image
(3 people love this)

Party time! Love the newlywed’s reaction to the toasts.

Vote For Image
(3 people love this)

Vote For Image
(4 people love this)

Nikki’s dad Jay is not a fan of country music, but he donned a cowboy hat to show his support for the beginning of the father-daughter dance. LOL!

Vote For Image
(3 people love this)

Vote For Image
(3 people love this)

The “single guys” were pretty stoked to catch that garter.  Well, most of them :-)

Vote For Image
(5 people love this)

The dance floor was rockin’ all night!

Vote For Image
(6 people love this)

Vote For Image
(2 people love this)

Lovebirds :-)

Vote For Image
(3 people love this)

Vote For Image
(6 people love this)

Check out their slideshow for a lot more images from their day!
(For the highest quality viewing, click on HD in the lower right corner of the player.)



A big thanks to the awesome team of vendors that helped make their day so wondeful:

View Our Portfolio | Become a Fan | Contact Us: studio@ryananddenise.com

 


Kristin & Rob’s Engagement Session: Tempe, AZ

Vote For Image
(5 people love this)

Remember that Sunday a couple weeks back that it was freezing cold, raining and hailing in Phoenix?  We’ll always remember it as the day we were running around Tempe shooting Kristin & Rob’s engagement session!  Honestly, it was probably the craziest weather we’ve shot in since our rainy day bridal session in Seattle a few years ago.  But I think you’ll quickly see that no amount of crazy weather could put a damper on this sweet pair :-) Looking at these shots makes my insides all warm and fuzzy (in spite of the fact that I’m pretty sure all four of us were shivering while taking them. LOL!)  These two have so many fun ideas of ways to incorporate their personalities into their session! And as you know, we LOVE that!

(Please click here if you’d like to be notified when the rest of their photos are online.)
AND don’t forget to click “love” under your favorite images along the way!

There are TWO significant vehicles in this awesome couple’s story.  The first is Rob’s red racing truck, which Kristin lovingly refers to as his “red headed girl friend.” LOL!  When they said they wanted to do some photos with it, we thought, “Oh awesome! E-session at the race track!”  However, we soon discovered that the truck actually doesn’t run at the moment. It’s undergoing one of it’s many major overhauls. So we just settled for pushing it into the street in front of Rob’s house, which proved to be just as awesome :-)

Vote For Image
(3 people love this)

How adorable are these two? Love this little sequence!

Vote For Image
(3 people love this)

Vote For Image
(5 people love this)

Vote For Image
(4 people love this)

Vote For Image
(0 people love this)

Our second stop was Kristin’s house for some shots with vehicle #2 – Kristin’s 1951 Hudson :-)  It also didn’t run (LOL), but made a fabulous prop nonetheless.

Vote For Image
(2 people love this)

Vote For Image
(5 people love this)

Vote For Image
(3 people love this)

Kristin’s dog Gibbs made an appearance too as the lovebirds cuddled in the front yard :-)

Vote For Image
(6 people love this)

Vote For Image
(4 people love this)

Vote For Image
(2 people love this)

Next we headed to the ASU campus where Rob went to school. Kristin is an architect, so they had picked out some fun buildings to use as a backdrop for their session.  Pretty much as soon as we arrived on campus though, we stumbled upon the most perfect vintage-style orange bike! Kind of perfect.

Vote For Image
(5 people love this)

Vote For Image
(2 people love this)

LOVE!

Vote For Image
(4 people love this)

Kristin – you’re just too cute! LOVE this face!

Vote For Image
(4 people love this)

Vote For Image
(4 people love this)

Vote For Image
(2 people love this)

Vote For Image
(1 person loves this)

A-DOR-A-BLE! You can’t help but want to hang out with these two, right?

Vote For Image
(3 people love this)

Vote For Image
(3 people love this)

Oh and by the way, they can work it too ;-)

Vote For Image
(4 people love this)

Vote For Image
(5 people love this)

Vote For Image
(3 people love this)

Vote For Image
(2 people love this)

Who wouldn’t want rainy day engagement photos with a bright orange umbrella?

Vote For Image
(4 people love this)

Vote For Image
(7 people love this)

 

Can you tell I LOVED her orange suede shoes? 

Vote For Image
(2 people love this)

Wrapping things up with a little silliness :-)

Vote For Image
(2 people love this)

Kristin & Rob: We had SO much fun hanging out with you guys in spite of the craziness! You guys ROCKED it and we’re so glad you decided to brave the elements and allow us to capture some wonderful memories! Can’t wait to be a part of your big day!

View Our Portfolio | Become a Fan | Contact Us: studio@ryananddenise.com

 


Say Hello to Ryan & Denise Photography!

No one will mourn the loss of Simply Knot Photography (and our cute little dots logo) more than I will, but as they say, all good things must come to an end.  Truth be told, changing our business name has been a discussion on the table for a really long time.  We’ve almost made the leap several times, but there was always some reason not to.  I’m sure the burning question in all of your minds is “why?”

Let’s put it this way, our reasons were 3 fold . . .

ONE:

Simply Knot Photography is kinda hard to communicate. We learned a few months into our biz that the name was one of those “good on paper” kinda ideas.  Since day one, we’ve struggled with having to literally spell it out for people. Sample dialog:

Person on Phone: What’s your company name?

Us:  Simply Knot Photography

Person on the Phone: Not Photography? So … do you guys take photos?

Us: Yes.  We take photos. Its knot like “tie the knot.” K-N-O-T

Person on the phone: Oh! I get it. Like weddings? That’s kind of clever.

Us: (sigh)

We can tell you from experience, if your idea for a company name is clever, but you have to explain it save yourself the time and run the other way as fast as you can. This dialog is much less delightful after the hundredth time. LOL!

TWO:

We ARE our business. When our couples and favorite vendors talk about us, they say, “You have to check out Ryan & Denise! Oh yeah, and their website is Simply Knot Photography.”  (Enter sample dialog from reason one.)  LOL!  When we launched our ShowIt website back in April 2011, one of our main goals was to make our branding more about US.  When we started out, we kinda thought that people were booking us because we were good photographers.  What we didn’t see at the time was that when you’re a bride looking for a photographer, everybody’s website starts to look the same to you, even if some photos are better than others. What stands out about us is who WE are. When people connect with us as people and as a couple, they are much more likely to remember us and think about what it would be like to have US as a part of their wedding day.  Over the last year, we’ve accomplished what we set out to do with our brand.  Making the leap to Ryan & Denise Photography brings this transition full circle.

THREE:

Last month, we went to an awesome photography conference in Vegas and had the opportunity to hear an AMAZING business coach named Jeff Jochum talk about the state of the photography industry.  Jeff said that putting your own name on your business instills confidence in potential clients.  If you’re willing to put your name on it, you’re saying to the world that you’re all in.  If you don’t deliver on what your brand is all about, you’re not only sacrificing your business, your literally giving yourself a bad name.  That statement rang really true to both of us and helped solidify the idea that was already in our minds.

So there you have it. We’re biding a fond farewell to Simply Knot Photography and welcoming in the new era of Ryan & Denise Photography with open arms!  That of course means that there will be a lot of changes going on around here for a while . . . new logo, new website url (ryananddenise.com), new emails and all kinds of fun things.  The next couple months will be a time of transition for us, but we’re so excited to finally just do it!

View Our Portfolio | Become a Fan | Contact Us: studio@ryananddenise.com

 


  1. Michelle Sears Feene

    Congrats! :)

  2. Carlos Estrada via F

    I’m sad to hear the clever name go, but all for positive change. Best of luck with all the work involved in changing the name. :)

  3. Carlos Estrada via F

    Oh, and the little dots are leaving too? What will replace them, if anything?

  4. Ryan & Denise Ph

    Thanks Carlos Estrada! I think for now, the dots will be replaced by the full logo, but we may come up with some kind of R&D image using the new “&” sign. We’re not a hundred percent sure just yet.

F a c e b o o k
T w i t t e r
A s k * U s