Leah and Brian’s wedding is scheduled for July 4th of this year.  I’ve never shot a wedding on July 4th, but I am sure it will be a blast!  When I photograph engagement sessions I love getting to know the couple a little more.  I usually ask a lot of questions about the wedding day, but I also like to get the low down of how they met and fell in love.  Leah and Brian have a great story.  If I would have done this post directly after the shoot a few weeks back I may have more details to share, but as I grow older my brain is feeling more like a colander than a steel trap!

They met on the internet of all places!  I am a skeptic of this (my sisters even signed me up on one of those dating sites without my permission once…I was not so happy about this) internet dating phenomenon, but Leah and Brian are a true testiment.  The first time they met Leah said she had 911 dialed on her phone just in case he turned out to be a wacko, but thankfully she didn’t have to use it!

Leah and Brian, you two were so much fun to work with and I am looking forward to July 4th.  And Brian, thanks for the laughs…I’ll never forget your squinty eyes!  Hopefully we don’t get too bright of a day for your wedding.  Maybe you should get rid of the sunglasses for the next few weeks and get your eyes used to the brightness!  See you guys soon!

A few weeks back I photographed this cute little family.  The kids cracked me up.  They had so much fun running around and playing in the park.  There was a small creek running to the pond and they found that to be the most entertaining.  The youngest just turned one and her big brother and sister were so good with her.

I set the kids down by the water and they put their hands this way.  Adorable!

Love the piggy tails!

Elizabeth and Jeremy were married in a civil ceremony a few months back.  Elizabeth’s mom wanted to have a reception for the two of them and hired me to photograph it along with some “formal” photos.  They were a hoot!  I should be including more of the goofy shots, but I really like a lot of the photos of the two of them so this post would be forever long if I included all my favorites.  Maybe some day I’ll do a post about goofy reception photos and Jeremy’s garter retreival and toss will definitely be part of it.  I have done a lot of weddings and I’ve never quite seen anything like his performance!  Cheers to you Elizabeth and Jeremy.  I wish you all the best in your marriage!

Elizabeth and her mom.  Thanks Kim for asking me to do this!  Maybe grandkids will be on the way soon and we can work together again!?

This is my favorite! The way he is looking at her makes my heart go pitter-patter.

Here is another shoot for Mother’s Day.  We went out to my parents home and my uncle’s farm outside of Princeton.  Everyone loves the wagon, barns and lake so I use it quite a bit for photo shoots.  We got rained out so we had work around that and found a new spot inside the barn by the wood pile that I just loved!  Thanks Amy for your keen eye!

I got a few last minute calls for Mother’s Day pictures this year.  I never thought about running a special for Mother’s Day, but next year I will be!  Nathan is a friend of mine and works with my Dad at Indian Valley Timber and Stone.  He asked me if I would be interested in photographing him and his siblings for his mom’s present.  I was thrilled!  We got to shoot at a family friend’s log cabin (I would buy this place if I had enough money…maybe someday!) that is absolutely beautiful.   I was told that mom loved the photos and that is what makes this job meaningful.  Here are a few of my favorites.

I usually ask my clients before I begin shooting if they have anything in mind.  More often than not people come in with a few ideas and they usually turn out great.  This shot was Nathan’s idea and I just loved it.  It took a bit of work to get Tyson, the dog, to cooperate, but we got one!

On May 15, 2009 Brian and Mandy were married on Fort Myers Beach.  This was my first “beach wedding” and I couldn’t have been more excited that they hired me as their photographer.  They booked me for their reception in August that is here in Illinois and when I found out their wedding was going to be on a beach I was chomping at the bit!  I dream of being a destination wedding photographer.  In my mind not many cooler jobs exist (besides of course the people on the travel channel who get paid to travel the world, experience new cultures and cuisine, all while going on amazing adventures).  They decided to have me travel to Florida and photograph their wedding as well!  I was stoked.  For weeks leading up to the wedding day I had dreams about what the wedding would be like…some good, some bad. Well, not really bad, but just a little weird I guess.  The worst one was that I forgot to pack my suitcases because I concentrated so hard on packing my gear.  I had to shoot the wedding in old grubby jeans and T-shirt that I had on for three days!!  (For the record I didn’t forget to pack.)  I think I could shoot weddings on the beach everyday.  I hate wearing shoes and dress clothes (unless a romantic date or a night on the town with my girlfriends is on the agenda) and for this wedding I got to shoot in bare feet while wearing shorts!  WOOOHOO!

My sister, Mindy, flew down with me and was my assistant.  She has helped with several weddings before, but she rocked it at this one.  Several of the shots I will post are from her.  She was very creative and got her exposures spot on.  If she didn’t have a business of her own I may be worried she would be competition!  I’ve tried to hire her with no luck.  I am hoping when her kids get in school I may be able to convince her!  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I will be posting photos within the next few days from the ceremony and dinner as well as a bit more details about the actual wedding.  For now here are some of my favorite “formal” shots.

I can’t take credit for this shot…I saw it in the Pink Shell Resort’s wedding brochure and it made me smile so I tried to re-create it.

Still makes me smile!

Mindy got quite a few adorable shots of the Ring Bearer and Flower Girl.

This one was a ton of fun.  Cracks me up every time I look at it.  I am sure the beach goers were laughing too!

Here is an example of how creative Mindy was.  I saw her in the roped off vegitation and looked at her like she was crazy.  I was pretty sure the wedding planner was going to come bust us.  Classic case of shoot first and ask permission later!

Maybe my favorite one of the whole day.  Thanks Mandy & Brian for fabulous time and for allowing me to be part of your wedding day!

A few weeks ago I photographed Mazie on her first birthday.  She is the daughter of one of my dearest friends, Kelly, so it was an extra special photo shoot for me.  Kelly called me up that morning telling me she was tempted to take Mazie to Wal-Mart to get her picture taken because she looked so cute.  Well, I would never let that happen (no offense to those of you who take your children there…I think it’s great for “in-between” photos, but not for landmarks such as a first birthday!) so I told her come right over and we would do a quick shoot.  I was even still in my jammies!  That was a first for me…most days you can find me working at the computer in my jammies ’til the last possible moment, but I have never photographed in them.  Mazie holds a pretty special spot in my heart as I have gotten to grow close to her over the first year of her life.  She always greats me (and everyone else!) with a HUGE smile.  That smile is getting cuter by the day with all the front teeth that are slowly appearing.  One of these days real soon she will be walking and leaving us all in her dust as she goes to break hearts!  I love you Mazie Grace!

By the end of the session she had the flower destroyed and she obviously thought it was pretty tasty in the process!

Don’t let that look fool you!

My sister, Mindy, has a small business on Etsy making childrens clothes called Frog Legs and Ponytails.   I envy my sister and the amounts of creativity that she has.  She is constantly coming up with great new ideas.  Sometimes she has too many going at once, but she definitely has a creative streak in her that I often wish I had one tenth of.  For this new project she asked me to take some photos of a few of her designs.  What better models than my nieces!  It’s been awhile since I have photographed these two.  You would think that being nieces of a photographer that they would be better at getting their photo taken, but it requires quite a bit of work on my part and whoever is helping me!  We managed to get some beautiful shots of the girls and even a few of them with their momma.  Some of these take my breath away when I see how beautiful these little girls have become.

The second half of this post will come within the next few days or weeks.  I don’t want to reveal her project until she does!  Until then I hope you all enjoy these portraits.

We call this “stink eye”.  Not sure how it got started, but I will look at this when I am having a bad day and need to laugh!

Dear Kyla,

I can’t hardly believe that today is your 5th birthday!  It sure doesn’t seem like that long ago that I got a call from your Grandma and Grandpa telling me you were born.  I was away at college working on a crummy digital photography project and the news sure brightened my day.  You were the first of the four rugrats in our family to be born and you had so many people excited to finally meet you.  I remember the first night I rocked you to sleep when I came to visit you.  I stood in the play room rocking you back and forth in my arms,  I sang you songs (sorry if that has scarred you for life) and you were so precious that I couldn’t stop crying.  People say that you cannot prepare for what your heart feels when you have your own kids, but I am pretty sure I have a good idea.  You, your brother and cousins have filled my heart with so much joy.  You never cease to crack me up with your silly ways, sweet spirit and matter of fact maturity…you are difinately five going on seventeen!  I love you so much Kyla Peak and I miss you every day!  I’m sorry that I can’t be there this year to celebrate with you.  I hope you like your new princess bike.  Take lots of pictures for me and save me a piece of cake!

Much Love,

Aunt Nikki

Since I didn’t have this blog until recently, I decided to dig up a bunch of old photos of Kyla to show how she has grown.  I got a little weepy today when I realized how big she has gotten.  Like many photographers I am really bad at printing out my own personal photos, so a lot of these I haven’t looked at for years.  I must get better at this!  I hope you all enjoy these as much as I do.

As you can tell this was her first birthday party.  The first shot cracks me up…”cake, give me my caaaaake!”.

This is my favorite photo I have ever taken.  It captures such an innocence.  One look at this photo and her eyes melt my heart.

She’s so beautiful (and such a little poser).

I have SO many pictures of Kyla and I.  I tried to pick a few of my favorites.  Love you girl!

Hannah was my first senior shoot this Spring.  Princeton High School requires that you have your pictures in by Thanksgiving, so it’s a rare treat for me when I get the opportunity to shoot a senior session in the Winter or Spring.  Since Hannah is home schooled there were no deadlines!  We started with a few indoor shots and then headed to the train station for a few more.  We lucked out and got a beautiful, sunny day.   Actually, Hannah’s sister, Sarah, is in the engagement post below and we shot on the same day.  We battled with the same winds as Sarah and Joshua’s shoot, but it worked out just fine.  Hannah you are beautiful!  I wish you all the best in your future.

I think Hannah’s soft smile is so beautiful.

Hannah plays volleyball in a church league.  She’s tall…I wouldn’t want to face her at the net!

Something about the muted tones here I just adore.

Sometimes the bright sun works on my side!  This is one of my favorites.