I head home on Saturday, but I wanted to show everyone some of the faces and places I've seen during my time here in Mexico. See you all soon.

I'm having an amazing time here in Mexico. My Spanish teachers are wonderful, my new friends couldn't be nicer and I've learned so much about the history of Mexico by visiting the museums and nearby cities. I've climbed pyramids, walked around Mexico City, eaten plenty of street tacos after several nights of tequila and somehow managed to memorize a few verbs. I was even lucky enough to photograph a wedding during a weekend trip to Tasco, Mexico.

My friends Mike (from Germany) and Rachel (from Hawaii) and I were walking around the center of town when we saw the bride and groom drive up. They didn't have an official photographer, so I just worked like I usually do. No one seemed to mind, and the bride seemed to like that I was there, although she had no idea who I was.


After the wedding, I gave her my card before she drove off with her new husband. I hope she finds me so I can give her some prints. It was an amazing experience for me to photograph an authentic Mexican wedding in the heart of the country. I would love to work here more.

I've got to study some past-tense verbs right now, but I'll try to post again before I return home next week.

Buenos noches.

Viva Mexico!

I flew into Mexico City today where a taxi driver was waiting for me outside of Customs with a big sign with my name on it. We took off through the megalopolis (that's a real word I found in Wikipedia) down to Cuernavaca, which is an hour and a half south. Starting Monday I'll be hitting the Spanish books for six hours a day. But tonight was just about getting settled in, and I absolutely have the best Senora in Mexico for a host. As soon as I got here I was eating enchiladas, having complete conversations in Spanish (with the help of three different dictionaries) and smoking Marlboros (although I don't smoke, I don't generally turn cigarettes down either).

My room here is actually a completely separate apartment overlooking a pool and the jungle. And I have a very fast Internet connection here as well, which completely made my day. My phone isn't quite working yet, but feel free to send anything my way through email. Off to bed now. Up at 7 am for the school's orientation. Buenos noches.

September has been a wild month. With six weddings, two engagement sessions, three advertising shoots, and one portrait session behind me, I'm now getting ready to take a few days off to go to Mexico to improve my Spanish. But I won't be gone long, and if you are trying to get in touch with me I'll be on the phone and email as usual.

So here's a little photo recap of the last couple weeks:

Greer and Scott got married last weekend at the Casa Rondena Winery in Albuquerque. Greer is one of the wittiest brides I've ever met. I think I laughed for eight straight hours. Here she is with Scott right after the ceremony looking for some "alone time." I guess they didn't notice that it was a glass door they tried to hide behind. You can see their slideshow here: www.benchrisman.com/GreerScott


My photography professor from college, Sterling Trantham, visited Laura and I for a couple days last week. Sterling was hitting the gallery scene to promote his photographs from Guatemala, which are turning into an amazing body of work shot over the last few years. I'm really lucky I had him as a professor, because he taught me the fundamentals of documentary photography. And he never made us use a flash.


For those of you who know Laura, there's no need to worry about her while I take my little adventure south of the border. She's going be flanked 24 hours a day by her two bodyguards, Emily and JB. These two just got back from a summer in the wilderness, and I bet Emily is going to be looking for a good martini and plenty of girl talk. In fact, I'm sure Laura won't miss me for a second with Emily at the house, because ...


... this is what usually happens when I leave town. Have fun ladies.


I wasn't the only busy wedding photographer this weekend. My friend Brett had two weddings in Santa Fe, and before heading home to Durango, Colo., he took this shot of me. Laura says this is how I look all the time.


Last January, Laura and I had a booth in a bridal show in Albuquerque. It was a good excuse to meet all the local wedding vendors, and for Laura to wear her new black GoGo boots. I probably won't do another bridal show again, but I'm glad we did that one because I found Jena and Eddie that day. Their wedding isn't until next Fall, but we got started early with their engagement session in Old Town Albuquerque. My friend Vlad thought this photograph was two pictures combined into one. Although it looks like a puzzle piece, it's simply the side of a museum with a tree in the middle. The wall Eddie is standing against was about twenty feet behind Jena's wall.


For my parting shot, here is Tara and Bill following their ceremony in Santa Fe. Tara and Bill had one amazing wedding. It had everything: a beautiful bride, an incredible band (Vanilla Pop), drunk laughter and tears. It was all a wedding should be, and I'm sure their honeymoon right now in Africa is going pretty well too. Here is their slideshow: http://benchrisman.com/TaraBill/


Adios for a couple days. Next stop: international blogging. And lots of street tacos.