Light and Bright Wedding

This past weekend, I assisted my photographer friend Nathan from Nathan's Photography at a wedding and reception. We had a great time, as usual, and I'm so happy with the images we captured! He posted the sneak peek on his website early this morning, so I decided to go ahead and share some of our work on my blog, as well. The wedding was very springy, with the bridesmaids in black dresses with bright and colorful bouquets. The centerpieces at the reception featured handmade pinwheels made from brightly colored card stock, and the wedding cake was a huge cupcake tree with different bright colors of icing and adorable handmade paper cups! My favorite part of the reception, though, was the dessert table, that featured mini cheesecakes and the bride's grandma's homemade cherry pies!
These are 4 of my favorite images from the sneak peek, and they all feature my shooting and/or editing work.

Ballroom Wedding

This beautiful couple has been on the schedule for quite a while! I photographed a wedding a couple of years ago for an extended family member, and, little did we know, a bridesmaid and groomsman that met for the first time at the rehearsal dinner for that event would be walking down the aisle themselves just 2 years later! It was so fun to spend this special day with them! The ceremony and reception were both located at the Crystal Ballroom of the Renaissance Grand Hotel in Downtown St. Louis, which was a simply stunning location. Beautiful fresh cut peonies, a gorgeous bridal gown, a fun wedding party, a surprise carriage ride, and loving family and friends all combined to make this a truly amazing day. I assisted and shot "second camera" for my friend Nathan Payne again, and we are SO HAPPY with the images we captured! There's lots more in the sneak peek album on his Facebook page, but I wanted to share a sampling of my work on my blog, so I picked out a handful of my favorites :-)

Tutus and Tea Parties

These little girls had some stunning golden hour sunlight for their session! I've been to this property several times to photograph this family, but this session was special, as their cousins from out of state had come to visit! The little girls had several matching and coordinating outfits to wear, I think this was the most wardrobe changes I've seen squeezed into a session yet! We started with the girls in their matching tutus, and ended with the two of them in coordinating party dresses with a little tea set out in the grass - so stinkin' cute!

Beautiful Baby Girl

This little sweetie has frequent play-dates with the sweet little boy I photographed this summer on his porch on the white swing in his Cardinal's attire. I was so worried about the weather for the day of our shoot, since the heat had been fierce and there were storms that morning. We had to bump back our session from morning to mid -afternoon, which isn't usually the best time for photos... but the rain stopped just in time, and we were blessed with some pretty phenomenal lighting. Isn't she beautiful?

High School Sweethearts - Wedding Sneak Peek

Once again, I was worried about the weather for this wedding, but aside from being a bit humid, we had a great day! I just loved the combination of the bridesmaids' aqua dresses with the mix of white and soft pink roses, it was so springy and refreshing! The bride and groom have been together for 6 years, and are high school sweethearts, too! Their day was filled with joy right down to the details... the bride cut a piece of tulle from her mom's wedding veil from 30 years ago and hand beaded the trim to make her own veil, the ring bearer carried in the bride's grandmother's Bible with the rings tied on in coordinating aqua ribbon, and she also added the coordinating ribbon to her adorable shoes. The couple chose to see each other before the ceremony, so my co-photographer, Nathan Payne, and I set up the couple for an intimate meeting... the groom stood outside the church and the bride approached him from behind and placed her hand on his shoulder to cue him to turn around - it was the sweetest moment! After the ceremony, the couple exited the church to a crowd of guests blowing bubbles, and the cloud of bubbles was HUGE! The reception was great... an awesome best man's speech, a tender father-daughter dance, and lots of laughter. Thanks for asking us to capture the memories of your special day!

Wildflowers

I took this one a few weeks ago and finally edited it while taking a break from some portraits... I love wildflowers! I also tried a watermark I made, any thoughts? I'm really thinking about a logo for my photography but my ideas for font and color scheme and style are all over the place!

Goldenrod

The fields around here are FULL of goldenrod right now... my uncle pointed out that usually they are green with soybeans and corn at this time, but the weather just hasn't been conducive to planting. With all the storms, high winds, and flooding, it's going to be a late season. In the meantime, the goldenrod is just thriving, and I don't think I ever remember seeing it this lush and thick before. I've been dying to get out and get a photo of it, and finally took a moment on Saturday morning after I finished a lovely newborn session to snap a few frames. This one was my favorite:

After The Rain

I snapped these on Easter Sunday in the afternoon, in between rainstorms. I have several more to go thru, but these two images were the first to really jump out at me for editing. Landscape and nature shots have never been my best images, but I'm learning!

I would love to see this one printed on a canvas...

My recent obsession has been dandelions for some reason, and I was finally able to get a couple of good shots this afternoon. I edited this particular image four different ways, but I can't decide which one is my favorite... I love each one for different reasons, it will probably depend on my mood.

I wonder what these would look like on canvas or textured paper of some kind...

... and maybe a true black and white print on these.

Love That Shot Link-Up "Spring Fever"

In an earlier post, I shared several of the shots I took of the blooming tulips in my neighbor's yard last weekend, as well as some shots of the tiny white flowers on a bush in the front of my house. Today I found out that this month's Love That Shot link-up theme is "spring fever", so I went back through the images and chose my favorite one to enter into the contest. I think I will actually get this one printed (how ironic is it that I have bare walls in almost my entire house!) and hang it somewhere in my home... in the kitchen, maybe... It's bright and cheerful, and makes me smile when I look at it :-)

Springtime!

I'm so happy that we've had a few days of sunshine and warmer temperatures! As I was doing some housework yesterday, I happened to glance out the window and noticed the lovely lighting that everything was bathed in from the sun setting - the treasured "golden hour". I couldn't help myself, so I stopped the sweeping to run outside with my camera for a few minutes and captured these images. The beautiful red tulips are all over my neighbor's yard, and the white flowers are on a bush that was here when we bought the house. It's quite a shift from the ice glazing photos I took in February! I haven't tried for nature/landscape shots in a very long time, but I was pretty happy with these, and had fun shooting them!

Spring Fever

We had a little taste of spring in Southern Illinois this week, and now I definitely have Spring Fever! Yes, snow is beautiful, but we've had enough of it this winter. I'm over it. So, here's an image I shot in 2010 at the Missouri Botanical Gardens that I keep looking at to help me get in the springtime mood. I heard it is going to be cold again by Monday, though, so I hope you all enjoyed it while we had it!