I just love this family!! I can’t wait for them to make more babies so I can keep photographing them

Where are you going, Payton??

Oh, silly me….the mirror was available to be looked at

Victory!!

I can’t believe I get to do what I do.  And my couples just confirm for me that I’m definitely living in a dream.  Megan & James’ wedding will be one I definitely never forget! There wasn’t any one big thing that stood out to me, just a lot of little things.  Like how giddy she was all day getting ready and how excited all her girls were; how nervous he looked when waiting for her down the aisle, but instantly eased the moment she saw her; megan’s dad writing a song for their dance together, to be performed by a friend; seeing how proud James’ mom was during their dance together; listening to God-glorifying toasts that honored the heritage of both sets of parents.  I mean, a lot of this is seen at other weddings, but something about this wedding just stood out in my mind.  Maybe it was because I cried during some of these things, I don’t know.  

I knew I was going to have a great shooting day with Megan and James when their 10-minute engagement session was a huge success.  Yes, 10 minutes.  It was probably 100 degrees outside and I was 9 months preggers.  None of us wanted to be outside for more than 10 min, so we shot a few and called it a day.  When I ended up with more than enough photos from that session, I knew their wedding day (when I would have more than 10 minutes with them) would be a success.  Yeah, I couldn’t stop taking pictures of them.  Seriously.  And you’re going to feel the brunt of that as you look through the photos in this post. I am just so thankful I got to be a part of this glorious day and feel truly honored that I was a witness in their union.  Congrats, Megan & James!!

Big thanks to my dear friend, Kristen Ebsen, for helping me for the day.  Love you, sweet friend!!

Check out their slideshow HERE.

The waist band on Megan’s dress was taken from her mom’s wedding dress. Precious.

Sometimes the dad’s first look is almost as sweet as the groom’s….

Normally, as a photographer, you avoid the kind of direct sunlight in the photos below.  But for this setting, I found it absolutely perfect.  I actually love the shadows on the faces!

I could not get enough of this flower girl!!

Making the girls off-road it to the back of this industrial building had me saying a few times, “Trust me on this one!  It’ll be worth it!” I love finding crappy walls to photograph.

Seriously…Can’t. Stop. Shooting. Her.

James’ dad performed the ceremony.  I look forward to the day when (hopefully) Matthew will be performing our kids’ ceremony!

Probably one of the prettiest wedding cakes I have ever seen!! Well done, Sugar Realm!

M&J hired a calligrapher to copy down notes written by guests onto a canvas.  It’s reasons like this I wish I could plan my wedding all over again and steal amazing ideas like this!

Ceremony: Montgomery Community Church

Reception: Music Hall

Videographer: Studio Z Films

Flowers: Robin Wood

Cake: Sugar Realm

Calligraphy: Marlene Steele

Wedding Coordinator: iDo Weddings & Events

Last week, I had the amazing opportunity to photograph Keir & Scott’s engagement session.  Keir was the winner of my free engagement session from the bridal show, and based on meeting them, it was totally meant to be.  I just loved her style and her flair, and I loved their chemistry.  We had so much fun that I ended up shooting almost twice what I normally do for an engagement shoot! The lighting and locations were superb (I found some new favorite spots!), and Scott & Keir were so expressive, I barely had to give any direction! I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Check out their slideshow HERE.

I am so thankful I was able to be a part of Ben & Rachel’s beautiful day.  Not only was the location and the couple gorgeous, but she picked yellow and gray as her colors (familiar??).  I just love yellow and gray weddings!!  Ben & Rachel were married at Pinnacle Golf Club in Columbus, OH and we could not have asked for more gorgeous weather.  I was hoping the sun would stay out after the ceremony for the portraits of the two of them, but alas, it hit behind some ugly clouds (which thankfully did NOT bring rain!!).  I’ve know Ben’s family for a loooong time (his older sister Maggie was one of my bridesmaids!), so it’s always an honor to photograph a family I have such a connection with (and his side of the guest list, for that matter).  The day ran so perfectly and I could not have asked for a more picturesque couple

Congrats, Mr. & Mrs. Geddes on your marriage and thank you for allowing me to be a part of your gorgeous day!! And big thanks to Emily Price for her wonderful help and wonderful eye throughout the day

Check out more favorites in their slideshow HERE. 

We all have bad days. Some so bad, that we really just don’t want to do what we have to do, and frankly, there are just some days you want to cry!  As adults, we typically have to hold those tears in and pretend everything is ok, but kids have the ability to express their emotions, and it’s totally normal, socially acceptable for them to do it.  I envy kids sometimes, that they can throw tantrums while we have to hold it in.  Poor little Wyatt was just having one of those days.  Although it was a gorgeous looking day, it was still really cold and windy out (where’s spring??), which didn’t help matters.  I met up with Nolan & Diana at Keeneland in Lexington, KY, one of my new favorite places to shoot!  That place is gorgeous!  Anywho, our intention was to get some great family shots and individual shots of Wyatt, who is now a year (remember their super cute gender reveal party??).  All is good with intentions, but poor Wyatt just wasn’t feeling the greatest that day.  Combined with cold wind, you basically set yourself up for a tough shoot.  I felt so bad for Diana & Nolan who were trying everything to get him to smile. The little Jockey statues didn’t cheer him up like we thought, nor did his little stuffed penguin that he absolutely loves.  You know kids aren’t feeling well when they don’t even want their favorite toy.  We were successful at getting some smiles out of him – mostly when his feet were on the ground and he could run as far from me as he could!  But even without the smiles, he is one of the most handsome little boys I have ever seen!  And when kids are in this kind of mood, getting a smile is like hitting the jackpot – it just lights up your world.  I know this boy is so full of life and joy – you could see it when he hit the ground running – but today just wasn’t his day.  And that’s ok.  We ALL have days like that.  I’m thankful I got to photograph him along with his beautiful parents!

Do you see the wings on his shoes? A-mazing.

Little Jockey statues don’t cheer you up??

I wish we had video of what we had to do to get him to smile here…. hahaha!!

I hope you don’t mind I still included this photo in the blog post.  He’s so stinkin’ cute, even with the tantrum!

I love seeing families grow.  I first met Chrissy & Mike back when we did a post-wedding engagement shoot, then came baby, so maternity and newborn photos were in order.  Now, this “baby” is 18 months old!!  Little Everett is all boy – curious, rambunctious, lively…. It’s a really good thing my camera is fast! It had to keep up with him!  And there was just so much fun and new stuff to explore, who really has time for pictures?  I will say that many fake planes kept him still.  “Look, Everett, a plane!!” Yeah, no plane.  We’re such liars.  But it worked!!

So much new and fun stuff to explore!

We tried the bubble thing – great idea, but the wind was just a little too much for the bubbles to handle.  Everett was more interested in chewing on his wand anyways.

So of course just as the weather finally turned to spring and the warm temperatures show up, the day I schedule two back-to-back family sessions would be the day the temperatures would drop into the low-50s and the sun would disappear.  The Bakers and I have had to reschedule so many times because of weather, and of course, the commute from Louisville makes my availability much more limited, so we were desperate to get this session in.  Jorie turned one a month ago, so we didn’t want to wait any longer.  But with the cold temperatures, we knew the girls wouldn’t be happy outside doing a full session.  So we changed our session to a mini-session at their home, just to capture sweet Jorie at this age.  Unfortunately, she wasn’t into me (or really my camera I guess), so her smiles were few and far between, but oh how sweet they were when they showed up!! But even her “I’m not so sure about you” face was sweet as can be with those big hazel eyes.  I’m very much looking forward to photographing the Bakers again in the warm summer sun!!

Dr. Joselyn….

I love baby eyelashes!!

There’s a smile!!

She’s still not sure why I’m here…

I love this face!!

Yesterday, I participated in my first ever bridal show! Whitehall, a historic home in Louisville that does weddings and events, hosted this event and featured many talented wedding vendors!  I specifically chose this bridal show over other ones because of its smaller scale and boutique-like setting.  I felt I would get more opportunities to talk with brides and show my work since it was much less overwhelming than the big convention center shows.  I felt it was a great start to my bridal show career (if I choose to do more! Not sure on that yet though…).  With the way my business has been running, I haven’t paid for any advertising (like a bridal show, among many other options).  I have been blessed to operate solely on the referrals of amazing clients and friends!  But, with a move to Louisville, I have no one around here to refer me! So while I’m here in town, I thought I’d make the best of my business and do this show.

I am extremely happy that my vision for the space came to be.  I even had other things (another little table, some more photos, etc) that I had to use, but just didn’t have the space for it.  I guess I overestimated how much room I was going to have

The show was a great success – I met many eager brides, excited to plan their weddings (as well as a few grooms unsure of what their role was at the show

I was one of the first vendors to set up in the house, so that’s why you can’t see anyone else around – I was anxious to get my stuff up early so that a.) I could be done and make sure I had everything I needed and b.) I wanted to make it to church that morning

Yet another late-to-the-party post.  This past fall, I took some impromptu photos for my sister of her beautiful four babies.  I seriously don’t photograph family enough, and to my family – sorry about that!  The weather was a little iffy that day, but I was in town with a camera in hand – what better time to snatch a few shots?  And now, one of these lovely pictures is hanging as a big canvas on her wall at home – I seriously can’t wait to see it!!  Cole, the almost 4-year old, is Seth’s best buddy and is only 6 months younger than Seth.  It’s handy that they are cousins, since now we know for sure Seth’s best friend will be at all family functions.  Seth was slightly confused as to why he wasn’t getting his picture taken at our little shoot, so of course, you’ll see him in a couple of these shots as a way to prevent a complete meltdown.  He had to be included with Cole! I just love these kids and cannot believe how old they are getting!!

Dude, what are you doing here?

Spring is finally here! And that means warmer weather, more sunshine, longer days, and more photo shoots!  I had the honor of photographing the Peek family with their A-DORABLE  two kiddos.  We met this beautiful family at our church soon after we moved to Louisville, and I’m happy to say this is my first official Louisville shoot!  All my clients are up in Cincinnati, so I’ve been doing a lot of traveling on I71 for the last 8 months, and for once, I got to leave my home, take some pics, and be back home without a 4 hr road trip on top of it – what joy!!  Unfortunately for the Peeks, this evening was deceptively chilly.  It looked gorgeous out, with the sun and all, but the wind gusts were a bit much, definitely keeping us on our toes and the family huddled together.  But we still had a lot of fun and I consider it a great joy and blessing to know (and ultimately photograph) this family!!

Honestly, I didn’t notice they were doing a family fist-bump when I was taking the picture.  I just love how Nora is doing it as well!

Oh, how I love big brown eyes…

Nora always wanted Sarah to hold her….at any cost…

Seriously, I just want to take her home…

Oh Jonathan….ha!