I gotta say, wedding days don’t get much better than this. Nicole and Ross were married on a beautiful fall day in Madison. The rich fall colors and nice warm temperatures made the day nice, but what really made the day great for me was the wonderful people I was around all day. Everyone from the wedding party to Nicole and Ross’ family and friends was welcoming and helpful and a joy to be with. Nicole said something just before the ceremony that stuck with me throughout the day. She said something like, “I can’t believe all the love we’re going to be surrounded by today.” So true!

Everybody had a great time that day – the photos speak for themselves I think. Enjoy this little preview!

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Nikole and Pete were married in Madison Saturday at the Concourse Hotel. All I can say is, what a great bunch of people and what a fun day! It was just a joy to be there – enjoy this little preview! Thanks Nikole and Pete!

Sheila and Karri had a beautiful day for their wedding at Holy Wisdom Monastery yesterday. It was wonderful to see such a loving and gracious group of people gather for their celebration and I was honored to be a part of it. This is one of my favorite shots of the day. I love this photo because, for me, it just captures so much of what the day was about. Happy Sunday!

Nicole and Adam were married last Saturday in a beautiful outdoor ceremony at a park in Monticello, WI. I had never been there before that day, and I had a great time hunting around the small town for places to photograph the wedding party. Turns out there is a fantastic old building near the Sugar River bike trail that was a perfect fit for their day.  Thanks for the great day Adam and Nicole!

As the photographer on a wedding day one of my main goals, of course, is to create amazing posed portraits of the bride and groom. I enjoy doing that and the bride and groom have fun too. But my favorite portraits of the couple usually are created when they don’t even realize it. I call them caught portraits, or found portraits. When I’m shooting the photo, the moment is usually quite mundane, but it’s the mini-visual story or metaphor that’s created by the image that makes it transcendent. It’s better than it looks.

I’ve only had a chance to skim through the shots from Nicole and Adam’s beautiful wedding yesterday, but the image below immediately stood out. The moment isn’t anything monumental – they were just walking from the park where there ceremony was held to their waiting limo. The exposure and lighting probably leaves much to be desired for some purists – I’m shooting directly into the sun for God’s sake!

I think what really does it for me is though is the metaphor of them walking over a bridge, the sun is setting (to take the metaphor deeper, the sun could just as easily be rising), and they’re walking hand-in-hand together into the rest of their day. Yes, I realize how cheesy that all is, but hey, it’s a wedding and it’s nonetheless deeply meaningful for Nicole and Adam and their guests.

Now I could have staged this scene, lit it perfectly, and had them repeat the walk several times until I perfected the shot, but to me it matters that it’s a real moment and not contrived. It matters to Adam and Nicole too, even if they don’t realize it, because if I had staged it, every time they look at the photo they would remember it that way. To me, it’s better than it looks because it’s real.

I think they’re the kind of moments that we should all celebrate on days like today, and everyday.

Cheers!

I was editing through Brianna and Nicks wedding today and couldn’t help but share this one. Most of the day I spend capturing moments as they happen and with no intervention by me. When it comes to the portraits of wedding party and bride and groom through, I’m in complete control.

That’s good and bad. It’s good because I can put everyone in ideal light with great backgrounds. It’s bad because I still want that natural, unposed look. In order to achieve that, often times the moment I want is the moment after the moment … if you follow.

It’s the moment when they think I’m done shooting, when they relax and give up on posing, or like with Brianna and Nick, when they can’t hold it in anymore and just start laughing. That moment is gold. That’s when they’re truly themselves.

Fifty years from now when perhaps their grandkids look at that photo they won’t think, “Wow, look at the great light.” or “What a great pose.” They’ll think, “Wow, they look so happy!”

That’s why I love what I do.

You wouldn’t believe all the DIY effort that Laura put into this wedding. All the little touches and her vision for the whole day were just spot on, and then we had near perfect weather and a splendid setting at Century Barn in Mt. Horeb along with it. Just awesome!

I’ll have more to blog about this wedding later, but for now enjoy this little preview!

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Special thanks to Andrea and Sarah at Cherry Blossom Events. Great to work with as always!

Emily and Matt are enjoying their honeymoon in the Bahamas right now. Judging by their photos on Facebook it’s spectacular! I’m hoping that a little preview of their wedding photos might make it just a little nicer! Enjoy!

When I first met with Jessica and Jason, it was clear to me that they weren’t your typical bride and groom. They weren’t into the “usual cheesy” wedding stuff. Definitely my kind of couple.

Their wedding at Badger Farms was beautiful and picturesque. Such a beautiful day. I was happy that the rain held off that evening so we could sneak out to the field to shoot some sunset portraits. Jessica and Jason were fantastic in front of the camera. Thanks so much guys for the amazing images!

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Fantastic Event Coordination by Sarah Sarbacker

Stunning Picturesque Venue: Badger Farms
 

Last Saturday was my first time at Badger Farms, an I must say that I was very impressed. What a beautiful place! I was also impressed with the thoughtful and professional staff there that helped the day go so smoothly.

Rachel and Josh couldn’t have been a sweeter couple. Rachel was very emotional while she was getting ready for the ceremony and I commented to her that I thought it was great. I could see how much marrying Josh meant to her and I wanted to do my best to capture that.

Enjoy this little preview! Cheers!

Check out all of Rachel and Josh’s photos!

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