Jennifer & Zach's Wedding

When I first met Jennifer at her apartment, I could instantly see her sources of inspiration. Not only had she already shown me a huge collection of black & white old hollywood inspired images online, but she also had a large collage of George Hurrell style photographs on her dining room wall. The shadows and lighting were so dramatic.. I loved it and decided we HAD to try some for her wedding so that she could replace these old hollywood dames with pictures of her and her new hubby! I just love getting inspiration from my clients because it pushes me to try new and different things every time!



Jennifer & Zach had their wedding ceremony & reception at the lovely Oak Arbor Church in Rochester Hills, MI. The large windows that spill natural light into the sacturary are just beautiful and with an aisle pre-decorated with rose petals and swags of tulle, it was ultra romantic...



As many photographers know, the best lighting happens the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset. If there's an opportunity to take the couple outside during this time, the results can be stunning.




Zach did one of the most romantic things I've seen a groom do on the wedding day. He gathered up both of the families (and pretty much every guest there) and had them get in a circle around the dance floor while he sang to Jennifer in the middle of the circle. Consequently, everyone else was singing along too and it was just so powerful that I was crying the entire time.... even thinking about it now makes me teary... man, I love weddings. ;-) There are so many more fantastic images I wish I could share here, but it's just easier if you click on any image to view a slideshow set to their first dance song, "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts.

Chantel & Paul Engagement

Chantel & Paul were a lot of fun! They chose the Ella Sharp Park in Jackson, MI for their engagement session and I had never been there before, so I had a bit of fun exploring the things that were readily available in the park. I really liked the huge porch on the old farmhouse, and a small patch of dafodils on a hill.


Oh yeah, and what do you think of my new label? I needed to copyright my blog images and there are a bunch of ways I can go about doing it, but I think I've decided on this one. Leave a comment and tell me what you think! As always, click on any image to view a slideshow preview of their engagement session.

Andrea & Nathan's Wedding

Andrea & Nathan are just perfect for each other. They both have a quirky sense of humor, love things of days gone past, and have a large circle of friends and family who care for them deeply. Their ceremony was held at St. John Lutheran Church in Fraser with a dinner reception at St. Josaphat in Warren, MI.



When Andrea was describing her wedding style to me, she said it would be "whimsical and fun". I definitely think she accomplished that with her large ballroom style dress with fun pink accents. The cows on her cake just made me giggle and you should have seen this girl tear up the dance floor in those pink heels! Her dancing partner in the picture below looked so familiar to me and I had such a hard time placing his face until he came up to me and asked if I had done his friend Jenny & Alan's wedding a year ago! Yes! He was a groomsman, and a complete ham, which is why he looked so familiar!



I love seeing familiar faces at weddings, and this one had many more than a few familiar faces as a whole table of friends were sitting right next to me the whole night causing trouble at the "back of the bus." It was a wonderful wedding and reception and I'm so happy that Andrea & Nathan have found each other!! Congratulations! Click on any image to view a sample slideshow of their wedding day. If you'd like to be notified when the proofs are available, click on the shopping cart at the bottom of the slideshow and enter your email address.

Makiko & Steve's Reception

Makiko and Steve were married in Japan and celebrated a small home reception here at the 227 Bistro in Downtown Rochester. They are two amazing people and my husband and I feel so lucky to have them in our lives. Congratulations Steve & Makiko, may you have many years of happiness together! Click on any image to view a short slideshow of their intimate reception.

Admired by Beckstead

I didn't want to post until the entire collection was available, but now that it is.. I'm incredibly flattered to announce that David Beckstead has chosen one of my images for his exclusive collection of inspirational wedding images featured on www.admiredbybeckstead.com. David has a great eye for composition, emotion, and lighting, and I feel honored to be part of such an elite collection of images. Special thanks to Katie & Rick for allowing me to be a part of their wedding day where I was able to capture the image featured. CLICK HERE to see my image in the collection and David's comment about my image. Also, feel free to explore the other amazing images on the website - they are very inspirational!

Never a Dull Moment

Things have been pretty busy around here lately! Our graduation weekend brought in out-of-town family for 4 days straight, which we had a wonderful time entertaining and exploring downtown Detroit with. I started a very intense Spanish class which will only last 8 weeks, with long classes, tons of homework, and tests every class, but is the last requirement for my teaching certification (woo hoo!) This weekend I took Alex to the airport so he could attend a surprise birthday party in St. Louis, meanwhile I had a 13 hour wedding on Friday and another 13 hour wedding on Saturday and spent Sunday morning picking Alex back up from the airport, and the rest of the day with my mom for mother's day. We attended the opera and had dinner at the Whitney, all of which reminded me of how much I'm going to miss all of the cool things about Detroit! *sigh*



When we move to Terre Haute, IN in August, I look forward to exploring a lot of the historic buildings there and possibly starting a postcard and fine art series. The layouts you see here are just experimenting with the idea. I also can't wait to make some of my fine art which has been "laying around" my hard drive available for purchase! Many new and exciting things are in the works and I can't wait to share them with everyone!

We're Graduating!

(Photo credit: Mary Azzoo)

Today my husband and I will be celebrating our commencement from Oakland University. I will be receiving my Bachelor of Music Education and Alex will be receiving his Doctorate in Music Education (hence, his funny looking hat and tassle!) Oakland University has played such a huge part in both of our lives, which makes it so bittersweet to finally leave.

It was in the OU MTD Tech Lab that I first met Alex, a Meadow Brook Hall dinner where we shared our first Valentine's Day together, the Meadow Brook Music Festival where we enjoyed Wine & Food festivals along with many outdoor music concerts, the Observatory where we shared our first picnic together and laid out under the stars, and even the OU Subdivision which allowed us to purchase our first home together. It was even a friend I met at OU who encouraged me to share my passion for photography on a much more serious and public level!

It's been an amazing journey and has taken my life in directions that I never could have imagined. Looking back, there was one quote which turned my life around, making me leave a successful career in Marketing to pursue what I felt I was missing in my life at that time (which was music) and has continued to push me to pursue my dreams. I share this quote with you in the hopes that it encourages you to push past your own fears and pursue what it is that fills your soul, so...

"What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?"

It is truly amazing what we can accomplish when we eliminate the fear of failure.

Tanya & Matt's Wedding

Congratulations to Tanya and Matt who were married at Bethel Baptist Church in Kalamazoo, MI. One of the cool things about this church was how it embraced the Spanish-speaking community, which is immediately evident on the sign in front of the church. In keeping with the culture of the church and Tanya's family's culture, part of the ceremony was spoken in Spanish and included traditional Mexican rituals such as the lazo pictured above.



Keeping with the cultural traditions, Tanya also wore a beautiful Spanish mantilla veil, served homecooked Mexican food, and made cloth tortilla warmers, and bi-lingual banners as favors for guests. Tanya also chose the music for her wedding preview slideshow, titled "You Are" by one of her favorite Latin artists, Laura Pausini. Click on any image to begin a preview of Tanya & Matt's wedding day.

May Desktop Image

Every month or so I change my desktop image to a recent photograph I've taken and I thought it would be fun to share these images in my blog so that you can download them for your desktop as well! Every month I'll try to post a new image that is suitable for displaying at desktop size and resolution. Click on an image to download a copy for your desktop.



This is truly, one of my all-time favorite images. I wasn't going to offer this one as a free download, but I decided it would be a nice thank you gift to all of the people who visit my blog in support of my photography. ;-) The image was taken in Tenerife, Canary Islands where my husband and I were on our honeymoon. We were making our way up the mountain (once volcano) and found this abandon building on an overlook. I love how the cement window makes a natural frame for this beautiful view and how the perspective draws you to look further along the coastline.