This summer's trip to Venezuela.

This summer has been extremely busy with weddings, magazine deadlines, visiting family, and graduate school. But one of my most memorable moments of the summer was traveling to Venezuela to shoot photos for a documentary my husband was in charge of. It was through traveling to Latin America where the love for photography really developed into a passion when I was younger...so, I felt as if I was going back to the root of my passion this summer. It was AWESOME!!!! The documentary was about Hepatitis B in Venezuela and I got to tag along and shoot photos for their promotion pieces. It was awesome! We traveled to a small villages and filmed people and their stories about the battle of their illness. it was a whirlwind summer trying to meet deadline after deadline but so well worth all the experiences I had. I thought I would post a few of my most memorable moments So, here they are:

Something about these big brown eyes.

Doesn't she look like she has so much history and wisdom in her face?

Loved this expression.

This is the car we traveled back and forth from town to town.

I thought it was interesting to see so many young pregnant women sitting on a bench.

simplicity.

Another really memorable time was visiting the families who lived in grass huts and lived a very simple but happy life. I have traveled the world to various indigenous places but have never seen houses made with this kind of material and I loved capturing the different traditions of their village.



A little girl was eating what at first I thought was worms, but then I found out it was pasta and beans.


This man put on his hat and rounded up the children and we watched as they danced and sang.



Something that left an impression to me was watching this mom feed her child. She just had a sweetness to her and it was clear that motherhood has presence all over the world. It was sweet.

Tukuko flower girls.

While Brooks was filming, I was walking around snapping photos and came upon to these cute girls. They were shy and serious ...



...but they faces lit up when I showed them their image on the screen of my camera.

I love that they picked flowers and placed them in their hair and started to model for me as if they were on America's Top Model. It was awesome. I will be sending them these photos so they can have and keep forever!

Thank you.

This has been an amazing experience. I have a love for the people of Tukuko and am honored they gave me the privilege to enter their village and capture moments of their lives. Thank you.

What would Cristi Dame hang on her wall?

Well, people often wonder what photographs a photographer has hanging on her wall. In their minds they envision breathtaking landscapes, exotic travels across the globe, or even a fabulous airbrushed family portrait hanging over the mantle. So, not exactly what I have in my house. The latest artwork that ordains my living room wall (I like to change it up often) are three large square photos of my boys wearing white shirts and red ties: Bentley, Brooks, and El Guapo that is. My husband and I like to come up with fun things to photograph and got carried away one Saturday while I wasn't shooting a wedding! Yup we are dorks! Just thought I'd share!

Meet Denise and Travis.

Meet Denise and Travis. They were married in the Rose room back in June! Denise had the brilliant idea to take "couple shots" after the ceremony and since we were downtown already- what better place to shoot?

Of course, I had to take photos with them in front of my favorite wall in boise!


They are a very cute easygoing couple and I enjoyed getting the opportunity to capture their love for one another!

ceremony begins

The big moment arrives. Denise is escorted by her dad as they walk slowly to the beautiful sound of a ukulele.


Some pictures shot through a different perspective... Cristi Dame perspective.

kids and details

Two things I love to shoot during weddings...kiddos and details. Kids always make me laugh and are so genuine. Their bright eyes always portray their innocent humor!






And how could I forget the beautiful details that each wedding brings. I loved the pink and brown theme throughout this particular wedding!