Hillebrand Photography Blog

Shea and Elisha

jhillebrand — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:13:51 +0000

Shea and Elisha are a fun, beautiful and sweet couple who live in San Antonio, Texas. Cat lovers and fans of cooking, they’re getting married next year at the Inn at St. John’s. We are so excited to photograph their big day! First things first though: their awesome engagement session! We had an amazing time hanging out with them at some of our favorite spots in Detroit. Our fair city is like a giant playground for photographers, there are so many cool streets, corners, allies… Plus, it was a warm, breezy day, just perfect for photos! Shea and Elisha: you guys are a riot!! We loved working with you and can’t wait for your awesome wedding next year! Your engagement photos turned out beautifully and we can’t wait for you to see them! Enjoy!!

To see a slide show with music and to link to their full gallery, click here!! The gallery is password protected, so please contact Shea or us if you’re interested in viewing.

Reagan’s 1 Year Portraits

jhillebrand — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:42:14 +0000

We love this baby. She is contagiously happy, smiley and giggly, not to mention completely adorable! Her big blue eyes and happy-go-lucky personality will melt even the hardest of hearts. She must get her good looks and charming personality from her parents, Robyn and Mike. They are such kind, loving, and easy-going people who we just love working with! You might remember them from Reagan’s 3 month session last fall. (Click here for a flashback!) We’ve said it before but seriously, one of our favorite parts about what we do is getting to be a part of someone’s family. It’s so awesome to be able to watch our little babies grow up, to see their personalities evolve and to capture it with our cameras. Speaking of which, one of Reagan’s favorite pastimes is bath time, pictured below! And that awesome, fluffy blue pettiskirt? Compliments of Pigtails and Pearls. Robyn and Mike: You guys are amazing. Thanks so much for allowing us to be a part of your lives and to photograph your incredibly adorable baby girl. We adore you all and hope to photograph many more moments in your lives in the years to come! We love these images and are so excited to present them to you. So…without further ado, here are some of our favorites from little miss Reagan’s 1 year portraits!

To see more images, click here for a slide show and to link to the full gallery! The gallery is password protected, so please contact us or Robyn if you’re interested in viewing.

Amanda & Chris

jhillebrand — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:37:07 +0000

Elegant. Classy. Fun. These are the words that come to mind when we think back to Chris and Amanda’s wedding. They are a gorgeous couple, both in character and in looks. Amanda looked like a model in a vintage-inspired gown, and carried on her face the perfect blushing-bride glow. The buzz throughout the crowd all night was just how unbelievably stunning she was. Chris looked the part of the dapper gentleman in his tux, and survived the brutal heat and humidity with the rest of the groomsmen during the outdoor ceremony. Our favorite part during the ceremony was when several of their relatives SANG a blessing in perfect, a cappella harmony to them. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house! Just thinking of it now still gives us goosebumps. Following the ceremony was the reception, which probably had the most engaging, hilarious, and all together entertaining dance party we’ve ever seen at a wedding! We found out quickly that most of the guests were fraternity and sorority friends, which makes perfect sense. We had an absolute riot photographing the crowd as they literally danced like no one was watching, no one but us…and our cameras.

Here are the amazing vendors who contributed to this beautiful event:

Ceremony & Reception Site: Addison Oaks
Flowers: Viviano
Cake: Nina Kelly Cakes
Linens: The Linen Closet
DJ: Pro DJ Services
Make-up: Todd’s room

Amanda and Chris: Thank you so much for allowing us to take part in your special day. You are kind, gracious, and all together wonderful! We wish you nothing but peace, happiness, and blessings throughout your marriage. We are so excited to present these images to you and hope that they bring you a lifetime of happy memories of your incredible day.

There are many more images to view in the slide show and full gallery if you click here!! After you view the slide show, feel free to visit the full gallery by clicking the “Order Pictures” icon. The gallery is password protected, so please contact us or Amanda if you’re interested in seeing more!

Canvas Prints

jhillebrand — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:22:16 +0000

Now would be a good time to tell everyone how AWESOME canvas prints are. Every time a client orders them, we get sooooo excited because we know that they are going to freak out and love it. The sky is the limit with canvas prints: you can do one big one, or a series with several, as pictured below. You can also order virtually any size…whatever is going to work best for your home and display space! They are 1.5 inches thick (no framing needed), wrapped around a custom-built frame, sprayed with a fade-resistant sealant and guaranteed to last 100 years. Below is a sample from our awesome clients, the Wind family, that we photographed last fall. They ordered a 20×20 of the family, with two 10×10s of the baby to display along side the big print. They. Look. Amazing. Give us a call or send us an email if you’re interested in ordering any of your Hillebrand Photography images as a canvas print or series!!

Addyson’s 1 Year Portraits

jhillebrand — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:20:49 +0000

One of our favorite parts about what we do is building relationships with our clients. We met the beautiful, kind-hearted Russo family last fall when we photographed little Addyson’s 3 month portraits. (For a flashback to that session, click here!) Recently, we had the pleasure to work with them again for Addyson’s 1 year portraits. It’s so awesome to be able to watch our babies (yes, they do start to feel like family) grow and mature over time. We’re almost as excited as the parents are when we hear that they’ve learned to walk and talk, and all the fun stuff that comes along with raising children. John and Tanya: thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your lives and to photograph your beautiful daughter. It’s truly a joy to have you as our clients and we hope to photograph many more moments in Addyson’s life throughout the years! She’s a gorgeous little girl and we love watching her grow. There were so many amazing shots from this session, it was difficult to narrow it down for the blog so be sure to link to the slide show at the end to see even more!! Now…without further ado…enjoy Addyson’s 1 Year Portraits!

To see a slide show with more images, click here!! Then click the “Order Pictures” icon to be directed to the full gallery. The gallery is password protected so please contact us or Tanya if you’re interested in viewing.

Liz & Josh

jhillebrand — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:09:14 +0000

Liz and Josh are a hilarious, sarcastic and adorable couple who are getting married this October at Castle Farms in Charlevoix. Driven and hardworking, they have their hands full with a new house, a new baby (a sweet little girl named Bella), and planning a destination wedding. On top of all of that, Josh owns and operates an insurance business AND is a full-time law student. Good thing they’re young and full of energy! Some of Liz and Josh’s favorite things to do are eat out and travel (hence the compass pic featured below). We had an amazing time hanging out with them on a warm, Sunday night on the Detroit riverfront where we discovered all sorts of random fun…we even got a free ride on a merry-go-round! Liz and Josh: We had so much fun in the D with you! Your love for each other is inspiring and your sense of humor rocks. We’re so looking forward to the big celebration in Charlevoix this fall!! Enjoy a few of our favorite images from your engagement session and don’t forget to click on the link at the end to see the slide show!

To see a slide show with more images and to link to their full gallery, click here!! To be directed to the gallery, just click the “Order Pictures” icon. The gallery is password protected, so please contact us or Liz if you’re interested in viewing.

Christa & Sam

jhillebrand — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:22:34 +0000

Meet Christa and Sam. They are a fun and quirky couple who are getting married this September. Christa works at a Nike store and Sam works for tool company. We had an absolute riot hanging out with them on a sunny, Saturday morning in north Oakland Township. They even brought a sassy, yellow Camaro for us to play with! Some of their favorite things to do include sittin’ on the porch and singin’ songs in the summer (hence, Sam and his guitar pictured below), cooking together, and having junk-food movie nights. Christa and Sam: you guys rock (literally and figuratively). Your photos make us smile because you are both such fun and unique people and we so enjoyed our time with you! We can’t wait to meet your family and friends when we photograph your wedding. Enjoy a few of our favorites from your engagement session below and don’t forget to link to the slide show at the end!

To see more a slide show and to link to their online gallery, click here!! Then just click on the “Order Pictures” icon in order to be directed to the gallery. The viewing gallery is password protected, so please contact us or Christa if you’re interested.

Elizabeth & Bill

jhillebrand — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 22:41:14 +0000

It was a relaxed and rainy Saturday morning that we met Elizabeth and Bill downtown Birmingham for their engagement session. Not only are they a beautiful couple inside and out, but they are also both razor sharp, Washington DC attorneys. Born and raised in Grosse Pointe, Elizabeth met Bill in law school and now the two reside on the east coast, just outside of DC. We love how fun and laid back they are, not to mention that they were cool with doing their session in the rain. And, apparently, rain is a theme in their relationship, so it worked out perfectly! Many thanks to Lindsey Nartker Designs for loaning us one of their cute umbrellas, which added so much style and character to the photos! We loved having the opportunity to do something new and different and are so pleased with the final images. Elizabeth and Bill: we are so looking forward to your wedding this September! You guys are awesome and we can’t wait to see you again soon! Enjoy a few of our favorite images below and don’t forget to link to the slide show at the end!

To see more images and to link to their full gallery, click here!! Just click the “Order Pictures” icon in the slide show. The gallery is password protected, so please contact us or Elizabeth if you’re interested in viewing.

Luca: 3 Month Portraits

jhillebrand — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:31:00 +0000

Meet baby Luca. He’s the adorable, bright eyed, newly adopted baby boy to parents Rose and Drew. Together, the three of them make an awesome and fun-loving family. On a dewy, spring evening, we had a riot hanging out with them in the backyard of their gorgeous Bloomfield Hills home. Rose is second generation Italian American, so it was really cool to have her mother on the shoot, singing Italian baby songs to Luca. They also have an adorable dog who is so sweet and playful! It’s our guess that she thinks Luca is her pup because she kept licking him at any chance she could get…hilarious!! Rose and Drew: It was such a pleasure to meet you and to photograph your beautiful son! We hope to have many more opportunities to photograph him throughout the years! Enjoy the photos and don’t forget to link to the slide show at the end!

To see a slide show with more images and to link to their full gallery, click here!! (Click on the “Order Pictures” icon to link to the gallery.) The gallery is password protected, so please contact us or Rose if you would like to view it.

Rene’ & Sherif

jhillebrand — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:29:49 +0000

It was a warm, breezy Saturday in May when gorgeous couple, Rene’ and Sherif exchanged vows in quiet, elegant Muslim ceremony. Sherif is an anesthesiologist from New Jersey and Rene’, a registered nurse, is currently attending grad school for her Masters in Health Administration. They are the perfect match as Sherif is the easy-going, gentle-spirited counterpart to the shy and quiet beauty that is Rene’. A lover of classic films, Rene’ possess a Grace Kelly-like elegance and poise. Our cameras loved her and it was fun to get some images that are reminiscent of classic film stills. In addition to practicing medicine, Sherif is the proud father of an adorable set of twin boys…whom you will see many photos of below! All together, their event was exquisite and timeless. Every detail was perfection. It even included a cultural “Zeffa” performance which is an Egyptian wedding ritual that many couples of other Middle Eastern nationalities adopt as part of their wedding celebration. Rene’ and Sherif: it was such a pleasure to be a part of your amazing day and we thank you form the bottom of our hearts for choosing us! We so enjoyed our time with you both as well as your lovely friends and family. May you enjoy a lifetime of blessings, peace, and happiness!!

We’d also like to give credit to the many wonderful vendors who were involved in the making of this beautiful event:

Wedding Consultant: The China Closet
Ceremony, Reception & Cakes: The Reserve
Florist: New Creations by Kate
Linens: Chair Covers and Linens
Ceremony Draping: Special Events Rental
Invitations & Print Work: Cartoleria in Birmingham
Photo Booth: Shutterbooth
DJ: Mike Staff Productions
Entertainment: Arabian Knights Folkdance Troupe
Baked Goods: Pinwheel Bakery and Le Petite Prince Bakery
Ceremony Musicians: La Corda
Limo: Aristocat Transportation
Hair Stylists: Bianchi’s Salon
Make-up: Todd’s Room
Dress: Gina’s Bridal Boutique

Now, without further ado…we present to you Mr. and Mrs. Sonbol! To see more images, don’t forget to click on the link at the end to see a slide show set to music!

To see a slide show of their day, click here!! From there you can click the “Order Pictures” icon to be directed to their full gallery. The gallery is password protected, so please email the bride or us if you’re interested in viewing. Enjoy!!