I was so excited to spend the afternoon with these 2 because, well, they are quite possibly some of the nicest people I know. No joke, they are the kind of people that make you ask, “Is it possible to really be that nice?” Well, it is and they are. Their ceremony was absolutely lovely and they were both so happy all day.  Thank you Cory and Ashley for asking me to be your photographer and for being so laid back in spite of the terrible weather!

I always say that every wedding is so unique and takes on a life of it’s own photographically. I definitely think that these photos are good examples of that fact. I can honestly say that lighting and weather wise, the day was pretty challenging. I love dramatic indoor lighting and am pretty good at it, but the outdoor portraits are what gave us some trouble. It was storming all morning, but cleared up and gave us beautiful blue skies for most of the day. Unfortunately, the one hour that we needed it be clear, it poured again!!!! Not only did it pour, but it was like taking photos in a steam room. My lenses were fogging up and I had to keep wiping them down every few shots. Technically, shooting through rain and steam was a first for me. Not to mention it was extremely gloomy and dark. All that said however, Cory and Ashley were amazing troopers and I don’t think I could ruin one of their photos if I tried. Because, they are just that beautiful!

I’ve always thought that Cory looks like George Clooney’s much younger brother.

I loved this flower print hanging in the bridal room at the church. Isn’t she just stunning?

Going over her vows. I love when couples write their own.

Here are some lovely details. These were the flower girl’s flowers. When I first got there, the florist had already hung them on this coat rack. I loved the way they looked hanging there and thought, “Why mess with a good thing.”

These flowers were so fragrant that you could smell them from 20 feet away.

The ceremony was held at  Heartland Community Church in Rockford, IL. I loved the graphic look of the inside of the chapel there. Since her dress was sweet and simple, I thought it would be a cool contrast for the dress photos.

We did manage to get some more photos at the reception site which was at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Country Club in Rockford. I’ll end with this shot because it shows just how cute they are.

After my session with this little cutie pie, I’ve decided that I am in love with photographing 6 month olds. This little guy was full of wonderfully adorable faces.  He also wasn’t crawling yet, which means I didn’t have to chase him and my knees thanked me for that. I cannot say enough about how fun it was to work with this little guy and his mama. Thank you Nicole for choosing me to document this wonderful time in his life! I enjoyed catching up and swapping “Old House” stories. Enjoy your Sneak Peek.

Seriously. Look at those blue eyes!

Oh, and the faces he gave me had me smiling the whole time.

I love that Nicole brought some of his favorite toys and coordinated outfits that fit well with them.

Interestingly enough, dad sent some toys for the shoot as well. These are special because they were his daddy’s tractor toys growing up. And, I found out that it is important that they are International Tractors, as opposed to John Deere. Being a city girl, I never knew there was a difference.

After some shots in the studio, we headed over to Beckman Mill and did some outdoorsy stuff. It was such a beautiful day and the weather was perfect. We all enjoyed just being outside.

Nicole had asked if she should bring this old wagon she found. My response was, “Definitely!” You can never go wrong with a baby in a red wagon!

I’ll end with this favorite cause it just makes me smile.

Congratulations Kris and Ashley!!! We thought the day would never come!

I love these two dearly and it’s been an honor photographing them over the past year. Here is their engagement session from the fall that you may remember. I also got to do a personal session with Ashley that was a gift to Kris, and she was a knock-out!!! There are so many images and highlights from their day that I want to share here, but I managed to narrow it down to a mere 20 something, so bear with me.

All of their portraits were taken in Beloit along Riverside Dr. at the Angel Museum, the Hydro Plant, and the Old Water Tower. There are a lot of little hidden treasures around here if you just look for them.

Ashley lookin’ gorgeous as always!

I love when people pray for the bride and groom before the ceremony. It’s always such an emotional time and I get a little glimpse into how very loved they are by those around them.

Love this shot of Ashley being prayed for. That is Ashley’s mom right behind her, and she was surrounded by people who love her dearly. It is hard to explain the role that Ashley plays in her large family (6 children all together) and how much they love her.  The only word I can find to describe it is ROCK.

Ash has a special relationship with her little flower girl London and London’s family.

Our friend John (London’s daddy) walked her down the isle. I love the look he is giving her. “You ready?”

*Note: Thank you to John and Monarch Media for letting me use their 50 mm 1.2 L lens to shoot the isle shots. It’s pretty much a miracle lens.

There were 2 sets of ring bearers (2 of Ashley’s nephews and 2 of Kris’s nephews.) I just loved this image because this shy little guy hid his face the whole way down.

Mmmm…I love dramatic lighting.

The ceremony was full of their personality. This was part of their personal vows where Ashley thanked Kris for being willing to let her watch TLC shows  like “The Woman With The 300 lb Leg” and “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant.” Kris was quick to grab the mic and remind her that she left out the show “Women Who Killed Their Husbands.” She was quick to grab it back and tell him to quit stealing the show. It was so them and of course we were all in stitches.

Of course, there were many emotional moments. Love this shot of her 3 Maids of Honor which were her sisters Niki and Meredith and our friend Risha (London’s mama, John’s wife.)

This is one of Kris’ nephews. The kiddos couldn’t wait till the exit to start playing with the bubbles.

This was the first time I’ve photographed a “Bubble Exit.” I have to say that the back of my neck got very clean by the time they made it through the crowd. Either some kids had some very bad aim, or that it just the nature of standing in the middle of a crowd of people blowing bubbles. Kris enjoyed them though. Can you see that he caught a bubble on his tongue?

Just some details…

Kris and Ashley Love scrabble. We had creatively included some scrabble words in their engagement photos, so I thought it would be fun to do this for their ring shot.

Gettin’ down.

I adore this shot of London watching her mom dance.

I’ll end with this one cause it just shows how so darn cute they are together!

What a hot and muggy, yet incredibly fun evening I had with the Pethtel family. Tabatha contacted me months ago saying that they were going to be in Wisconsin for a week or two and that they would like to do a photo shoot with me. Her request was that I get ONE good family shot with everyone smiling and then plenty of the kids. She said that her husband John does not smile, but that she had confidence that I could get him to. I was a little worried about that because I am not that funny, and usually am better at coaxing smiles out of children. Well, I didn’t have any trouble getting the adults to smile, but man this little cutie gave me a run for my money!

She wanted nothing to do with me at all. Did not think I was interesting or fun in the least. Hahaha.  She was just too privy to my desire for her to smile, or even look at me for that matter, and therefore was determined to do neither. Little did she know, however, that I’m a pro. If you smile for even just a second, I’ll catch it.

Also, I don’t always need or want smiles, or for  my subject to look at me.

Isn’t she a beauty? I wanted to steal all of her curls.

Now this little guy was all about having a good time and hangin’ out. He was ready to tell me his life story 2 seconds after we met! He had a lot of fascinating things to talk about and I was happy to listen. He was also happy to show me what a great reader he was.

Yes, you saw that correctly. Yes, he is reading a book called Modern Military Aircraft Anatomy. Yes, he is only six. Yes, he could actually read every word.

He was also up for exploring in the little creek.

And he was definitely up for showing me some of his hip hop moves, which I LOVED (I especially loved listening to mom and dad giggling in the distance.)

Both of the kids liked picking flowers to throw at me. I thought this shot was particularly cute.

Count them, 1, 2, 3, 4 smiles!

And Here’s the proof…

You may remember this couple from their engagement session a while back. Well, their day finally arrived and I was delighted to finally get to photograph it at Badger farms. Besides being super organized, Katy has a smart style about her that I really appreciate. She infused so much of that style into every detail.  She even picked some of my favorite songs for her ceremony, and had my favorite person perform them (my hubby.) She and Mike are just so nice and it was evident that they are truly loved by all who were their to share in their day.  Here is more from their day.

Here they are waiting for their “First Look.” I know it breaks tradition, but I highly recommend it. It truly gives the couple some time to just be together and to let it all “soak in” before the rush of photos, ceremony, and party begins.

Mike’s reaction was priceless.

More Bever/Frey Lovin’.

I do love me some back lighting. I can never resist it.

Katy was simply gorgeous. I could have done a whole post full of just photos of her.

Her dress and bouquet were amazing.

Her girls were all gorgeous and as sweet as could be. Their love for Katy was so evident all day.

The boys were looking sharp themselves.

Someone here did not follow my instructions. Can you find the peeker?

I have to say, there were a lot of tears flowing from everyone throughout the day.

Here are some lovely details. Everything was just so beautiful. I cannot say enough about how much I loved the color scheme, the location, the flowers and all the little details that made the day so beautiful.

A closer view of the Giant Paper Flowers.

I’m not quite ready to commit yet, but I think that this next photo may be my favorite wedding image  to date.

Even though the party was in full force by evening, they let me drag them out for some lovely evening light.

I was literally at my car door, ready to leave, and NEEDED to get this shot to wrap it all up.

Wedding Details:

Graphic Design: Kristen Fergus Van Stee

Flowers by Gretchen Harwood

Catering by Burbach’s Catering

Location at Badger Farm’s LLC, Deerfield WI

Hair by Hair Force

On Memorial Day weekend I had the pleasure of assisting Carrie Casey Bower of  Casey Bower Photography on not one, but two fabulous Milwaukee weddings.  I wasn’t sure what to expect because I had never been an assistant shooter before, only the Primary Photographer. My main goal was to be a help to Carrie, get plenty of those extra little “moments” shots that would compliment hers, and not get in her way while she was trying to get those ultra important shots. I met Carrie on a wedding photographer’s forum a while ago and discovered that she went to High School with my husband and also went to college in Beloit where I live. She has a classically beautiful style of photography that I really love and she is so easy and fun to work with. I felt at ease the entire weekend. We kinda bonded, as shooting 2 weddings in one weekend is quite the  experience! Thanks Carrie for sharing your weekend with me and allowing me to shoot  images of your beautiful clients.

The first couple of the weekend was Alyssa and Mike. They were a very sweet couple and Mike never stopped smiling.

One of my jobs was to get shots of the boys before the ceremony.  I love documenting all aspects of weddings, but especially the interactions between loved ones.

As a main shooter, you usually have to be at the front of the church waiting for the bride to enter, so I was excited to be able to hang out and get this emotional shot of dad fighting back some tears before giving his daughter away.

One of the benefits of  having a second photographer on your wedding day is that you get different angels. While I was getting Alyssa’s reactions, Carrie was getting Mikes.

Of course, I got to shoot extra little moments, expressions, and looks after Carrie did all the hard work of picking the locations, light and setting up the shots.

The flower girl was such a cutie and I couldn’t help but follow her and catch some candids while she was playing.

Again, Carrie picked some beautiful locations.

The details of the day were just gorgeous.

I’ll end with this shot of their first dance.

Check out Carrie’s beautiful shots of Mike and Alyssa here.

Ceremony location: Our Lady of Lourdes, Milwaukee

Reception location: War Memorial, Milwaukee

Cake: Extra Special Touch Bakery

Flowers: Petals by Carrie

If you wanna have a successful photo shoot with a 4 yr old you HAVE to go on an adventure. That’s just the way it is. You have to pick flowers, climb mountains (or mounds of dirt,) pretend to be mermaids, climb ladders, blow bubbles and play with balloons. And to get some smiles while doing all of that, you have to let them scare you, making them giggle with delight when they do. Miss Carter Lily is all about adventure, so she was pretty cool with letting me take photos of her while we went on ours.  Here are some highlights from our adventure.

We picked flowers…

…and put them in this really cool basket.

This ladder was just her size. She didn’t stay on it too long, but long enough for me to get this.

Later she showed me her beautiful new dress that she was going to wear for her Birthday Party. And then her mama let her PLAY in it!!!

So we got some shots like these.

Of course, she got to keep her balloon that she affectionately named “Ballooney.”

Thought this one needed to be B&W as well.

Thank you miss Carter Lily for letting me explore with you. I had the best time!

Meet the Murrays. They happen to be one of my favorite families. When we first moved to Beloit, Janet befriended us and made an effort to introduce us to the town. One of our first attended events here was with her and Doug at Beloit College. Over the years, I have sung on stage many times with Janet (she has a beautiful voice) and I have grown to love her dearly. I had the best time hanging out with all of them in their neck of the woods (literally, they live near the woods right next to turtle creek.) As a family they love to spend time walking and exploring near the the creek, so that was what we decided to do for the shoot. It is so beautiful there right now.

The fields were just so gorgeous with wild wild flowers and phlox.

There is a stretch of pine trees that have grown into a canopy,  it made for a great spot for these next photos.

I made them explore…I love this photo because while they were walking I asked them to stop and turn and smile at me. The first time, Janet just got what I wanted and did it in this perfectly fun and spontaneous way (she’s such a good actress So then I made them all do it like her.

This one just screams “Golden Child” doesn’t it. lol.

Some photos just need to be turned to black and white.

Thank you Murrays for a fun afternoon and for trying silly things with me.

I’m not gonna lie, these 2 cuties gave me a run for my money! They never stopped moving and my knees are bruised from crawling very fast all over the floor while trying to keep up with them (I think it’s time to invest in some knee pads.)  Their mamas were probably pretty tired too as they also worked hard.  I got to photograph both kids when they were in, and fresh out of, the oven. They happen to be cousins who absolutely adore each other and it is really sweet to watch them together. It’s been so much fun watching them grow over the past year and a half, and I am giddy over the photos that we ALL (kiddos included) worked so hard to get.  The bruises were totally worth it!  Here is a preview of the little cuties (I’m sure their grandma’s have been anxious to see.) You might wanna grab a cup of coffee or a soda because it’s a long one.

First, here they are in, and fresh out of, the oven.

Addisyn is the oldest.

Teagan came next.

Teagan went first and made sure that my floors were nice and polished (using his little knees.) He loves Curious George. I mean he really, really  loves him.

“T” is for Teagan, and Tractors, and Telephones, and Trucks.

You may remember his Daddy’s favorite tin tub from his first shoot. Well, it made an appearance again.

Good thing I have a nice big window up there. His mama says that he likes to look out the window ant home and watch all the cars.

Addisyn was next and all ready to go in her pink cowgirl gear. Her and her mama own some horses, so she is sure to be a cowgirl someday. I love these next photos because they look a little retro to me.

“A” is for Addisyn, and Aprons, and Apples.

I made these giant paper flowers for Addisyn’s shoot. I just knew she would look so pretty surrounded by them.

They also made great accessories.

Just a simple sweet smile.

2 Cuties in a tub is a good way to end don’t you think?

On Friday my baby got a mouth full (and I do mean FULL) of metal. Full set of braces on top, full set on bottom, and a big hunk of metal glued to the roof of her mouth that will expand the width of her mouth. Poor thing could barely talk, eat, or swallow. I think she was excited about getting braces initially (because you know kids kind a like that stuff sometimes) but once it was all in she was bummed about how it felt in her mouth. To make her feel better, we got her all prettied up and did a photo shoot of her with her new BLING. She loved it and totally worked the camera for me. As you will see, she is quite the little model. I loved it because it gave me a chance to play more with the AMAZING light that I get in my Attic Studio during the day.

I swear,  she’s never seen an episode of Next Top Model. It must just be from having her mommy take her photo all her life.

Braces have never looked so cute!

Last one, I was experimenting with different light techniques. Used my reflector on her in this one to get the background a bit darker. I think she was ready to be done.