Sara's Senior Portraits

Sara is one of the funnest models I've ever photographed!! (Although, if you were to ask Sara, she might argue with the label of "model".) When she originally contacted me, she said something like, "You're the only one I want to take my senior pictures. If you don't take them, I'm not getting them done." Talk about pressure!!! But it was also really cool that she valued my vision and trusted me to capture her spirit. She had so many ideas and so much inspiration to draw from!! She wanted her senior pictures to be totally original, unique, and creative. I don't think I took a single "traditional" photo the entire time... and it's nice to know that she's totally cool with that!



When I asked Sara what some of her favorite places were, she mentioned that her room was her favorite place to hang out, so it was fun to get a chance to see her personal space and be inspired by the things that she surrounds herself with. ;-)



Sara loves to read... and I love that it looks like her teddy bear is peeking out at me from behind the book...


This is an elephant. Sewn by one of her best friends. Made from old t-shirts. Love it.


She had an entire wall that was painted with chalkboard paint and when I came in the wall was covered with music! I was a little sad when she started erasing it all, but then we came up with this idea together... (if you don't get it, ask a musician ;-)


The day was very cold, very windy, and since we could only get together in the middle of the day, it was also full midday sun. Not my favorite conditions for shooting outdoor portraits, but Sara was incredibly brave and wanted to make this work no matter what- so I made the most of the conditions we had to work in! It really gave me a chance to use light in a different way, and I think the results are pretty damn cool if I say so myself!







Why do we love railroad tracks, as cliché as they are? Because they have cool lines and interesting backgrounds. ;-)


She loves these rainboots, and I love her bumper stickers. ;-)


I liked these boots the most... and they were vegan friendly. Sara - what was the name of the company?? By the way, this is a totally random porch in downtown Royal Oak, MI... which is also where we created the very first image at the top of this post. It's amazing what little things can look really cool. ;-)


Sara, is also an aspiring photographer- and this picture reminds me so much of Amelie.. and Sara reminds me so much of Amelie... with a beautiful and vibrant imagination. I was so lucky to spend a few hours of my life with her. ;-) Thank you so much Sara- you're an inspiration!! Don't ever stop following your dreams- they can take you anywhere you want to go!

Lake Bluff Inn Wedding - Dena & Jeff

I had a reeeeally hard time limiting the number of pictures I wanted to put on the blog for Dena & Jeff! They are all so fun!! Dena & Jeff remind me so much of my husband and I - only they're hotter. ;-) They're so laid back, love to make sure everyone is having a good time, and they love to show their love for each other. It made them so easy to photograph!

The day started off with Dena getting her hair & makeup done at the Kerry Mark Salon. Afterward, as she was walking through town to go to the bank, she kept getting stopped by her family and friends who were in town for the wedding. Apparently a lot of guests were in town from Chicago, which is what made me stop and think to take a picture of the Chicago headlines that day.


The wedding and reception were held at the Lake Bluff Inn & Suites in South Haven, MI; which is like a little domestic destination for a wedding. As you approach the hotel, you see this dinosaur sign that really doesn't have anything to do with the inn's name or brand, it just cracked me up!


Dena and Cisco are the best of pals. He goes with her pretty much wherever she goes and he's so well behaved! He did such a great job walking up and down the aisle during the wedding - I could almost feel how proud he was that his mommy was getting married.



I got in the day before the wedding to attend the rehearsal, meet Dena & Jeff, and just to get a feel for the location and the people that I'd be photographing on the wedding day. So, Dena & Jeff had planned this great bonfire with smores and all sorts of drinks for the guests who were already at the Inn and about 30 minutes into the bonfire it started pouring... and I mean HARD! We took shelter in the recreation room for a while but it never really seemed to let up. Quite a few people were worried about the rain pouring on the wedding the next day, and about the tent getting set up over wet grass. Well, it did rain a bit on the morning of the wedding, but once again, the skies cleared just before Dena wanted to head to the beach for some portraits of her and her girls! She was so happy to see the sun come out, but even more excited to be getting married that day! I couldn't have asked for a happier bride!


After spending time with the girls, it was time to hang out with the guys for some pre-ceremony portraits. I'm always on the look-out for unexpected moments when I'm doing portraits, and I think that groomsmen often underestimate how quick I am when they pull their stunts!!




Dena & Jeff chose to have live musicians for their ceremony and reception and I have to say that their banjo/fiddle player was awesome... and fun to photograph! Check out what's written on his banjo...



One of the things I love about outdoor ceremonies is that I can get angles and moments that I normally can't get under church restrictions. Dena's dad cried pretty much all the way down the aisle with her, which of course made me start crying along with a bunch of other people (thank goodness for auto-focus!) In this moment you can see the dichotomy of happiness and sadness in his face as he gives his youngest daughter away to the man of her dreams. (Darnit.. he's making me cry again!!)


They had this neat idea of using sand from the beach near the Inn, but due to the rain, the sand was all wet, which made the whole pouring sand from two vases into one a bit of challenge! There's actually a pretty funny sequence of pictures that goes along with this of Dena pounding the sand out of her vase and then helping Jeff with his, but I think this one sums it up...



I love it when adults aren't afraid to be kids again!!


It was a pretty windy day along the lake, but all of that wind helped to move the storm out of the way for the wedding, so I wasn't complaining!



How incredibly cute is their cake?!? They even included Cisco!!

There were so many wonderful personal details in their wedding that I could take up a ton of pages just posting details, so rather than doing that, I'll just send you to the image gallery on flickr where you can see all of the fun details!

Prankster & Photographer... a kid after my own heart. ;)


I just love cake cuttings!! I never know what's going to happen, but I'm always ready!! This was the first time I had ever seen two people eat off of the same serving knife! Thumbs up to Dena & Jeff for trying something different!


These two could really dance!!! They could also really fall gracefully....



There are sooo many more pictures that I didn't post here but are in the slideshow. Dena & Jeff - I'm so grateful that you allowed me to share a little slice of your life with you!! You have no idea how much your energy and enthusiasm are infectious!! I can only hope that I was able to capture some fraction of that energy in the images of your wedding day!! Congratulations!!!!!!!!

Kim & Rene's Wedding

Could this couple be any hotter?! You may remember Kim & Rene from their engagement pictures in the portrait section of my website. They are yummy in so many ways!! Their ceremony was held at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington Hills, MI.


I love Kim's makeup!! Heather did an amazing job, but then she went and messed up her own makeup by crying in happiness...




You may remember cute little Natalie who has now been a flower girl in three weddings I've photographed!! Well, she's always had an amusement with veils and whenever she has been close to one, she pretends to wear it like it's her own. So this time, Natalie got her own veil to wear and play with...


I love this picture of the brothers...


and dad giving his little girl away...


What a happy family!



What famous movie character would this be?


After the formal portraits at the church, we had a ton of time to kill, so the wedding party went to Cowley's for a few appetizers and drinks. I just love the bar here - it's so decorative! If you happen to see someone who looks kinda like Kim the next time you're at Cowley's... make sure you leave her a big tip!


When friends and family give me a hard time during portraits or tell me not to take pictures of them, I make it my secret mission to look for the most opportune moment when I can grab an embarassing shot for my blog (all in good fun, of course!) The first shot is what photographers would call "chimping"..

In this next shot, Kim's sister demolished her bouquet and tried to deny it, but the evidence was clear..


Go, boy, GO!


Since we already had a nice bed of roses from the earlier bouquet demolishing, I thought I could make use of it as a nice background...


When I peeked into this forest trail, I saw a small spot of beautiful light and just had to take advantage...


Their reception was held at Burton Manor in Livonia, and was decorated with plenty of lavender roses!


Can you tell what they're thinking in this picture??


... I'm guessing it had something to do with this...


I love how classic this image is...


Girls just wanna have fuh-un!!


Kim looks like she has a surprise for Rene, but click on an image to view the slideshow and see why the joke is really on her!!


This is how I feel at the end of a wedding day!!