Remember fall? Yeah, it's over now but a few weeks ago when we did this session it was amazing! You may remember the Tishhouse family from their wedding many years ago or their family session last year. We were in Ann Arbor for an awesome wedding you'll see soon so it was the perfect time to get together again! They have a whole new human this year too!
In my opening descriptions for these blogs, I always start with some sort of description of the couple or something notable about the wedding day. I've been sitting here for quite some time struggling to produce quality sentences that describe these two incredible people. I can only think of individual words so let's start there...
Joyful. Kind. Beautiful. Adoration.
Every now and then small weddings come my way and it's always fun to do something so simple and different. Brian and Shauna got married at the Kentwood Community Church in Grand Rapids and it just so happened to be super beautifully landscaped. Seriously, this awesome tree looks like it's from some crazy whimsical forest, not a church parking lot.
Sometimes, when I'm stuck in the house at my desk on very beautiful days, I post random mini session deals on Facebook for that evening in the Muskegon area just so I have a reason to get outside. It was just perfect out and Brennigan and Adam came up from Holland to a session at my favorite place, Hoffmaster! The hoffmaster sessions have been really fun and I hope to do about a million more in my life. It's just the best!
It's always really fun when things come full circle. We shot Ashley and John Paul's engagement session at this house many years ago and now they are back with their little girl, Kate. To say she is adorable is the understatement of my life. I'm fairly certain she knows how cute she is... she must! She's such a little lady and has the best giggle. It's easy to tell this little girl is so loved and I just really enjoy seeing how much happiness kids bring to people.
What a year it has been for little Cecilia! I started photographing the Bell family when she was 3 months old and it's been great getting to know them and watching her grow. They came out to Muskegon for this one and we shot at Hoffmaster, my favorite place ever. She has sorta been a fairly serious baby but this session she was such a happy little goof. Her personality has shaped into such a little lady and it is always a lot of fun to experience all the things Bethany and Kurtis will do to make her smile and giggle.
Laid back is definitely how I would describe Will & Sara's wedding day. Everything just sorta flowed really well and we love working with people who just let the day happen organically. They are both Reverends and Sara's dad is one as well. During his speech at night, he told a story about how she would come along with him when he officiated weddings at Stetson Chapel when she was just a little girl and when she played "wedding" she was almost always the officiant rather than the bride. haha! I guess things have come full circle and she can be both :)
The way a groom looks at his bride is one of the biggest indicators of how the day is going to go as far as photos are concerned. That look is everything. It makes brides less nervous and less concerned with the details of the day, it sorta just takes them out of the stress and into the moment. We always focus so much on brides but I just love a super supportive, laid back groom who visibly adores and well, is smitten by his bride and can't hide it. Lynn was pretty laid back anyways so his adoration of her just made things even better. You could tell they have a great friendship which I think is sometimes lost in the mix of what we consider love. Great love is built on a great friendship. I enjoyed working with them so much and I'd really love to do this again when there are babies involved....just tossing that out into the universe!
If you've ever been photographed by us, you would know how I lose my mind during golden light. I get overly excited and just can't contain my joy for how magical if makes everything look for a short period of time. We had the best time with Zach and DeAnna and the magical end of the session was just...well...magical I suppose.
Well well, wedding season is FINALLY here! We kicked off our season with Kristen and Brandon at Yarrow in Augusta Michigan. In typical Michigan fashion, the weather changes constantly and we were racing against rain. It almost never rains all day so we sorta have to pick and choose the perfect moments to get outside. However, we got lucky and it only rained in the morning and a little in the afternoon. I swear it could snow the morning of a wedding and then be 70 degrees and sunny a few hours later.
It blows my mind that this kid is turning 3 years in a week. It just seems so recent that he was a baby and now he is a real kid and it just weirds me out and makes me feel super old. I'm sure that feeling will only grow with time since I'll be photographing him for many years to come. It's also crazy that when he was born I was always like "giant baby!!" (even though he was smaller than me when I was born hahaha) and now I look back at his newborn photos in awe of how tiny he seems since he is so grown up now.
Shooting young families has become one of my favorite things to photograph lately. Weddings will always be a big part of my life, but as a secondary area of photography to get into, this just fits perfectly for me. Shockingly, I'm turning 30 this year. I spent my 20's shooting weddings and moving all over the country which sorta made time fly. Now, as we have settled down and are older, I've just got babies on my mind constantly and hopefully that will be part of our future. Until then, I'm vicariously living through my clients and I love watching their babies grow.
When Ryan and I shoot weddings together, we always decide on who will be the lead shooter based on the personalities of the clients. Ryan is more laid back and professional and I'm more high energy and humorous. After our first meeting with Brooke and Dave, I remember walking out to the car and Ryan said to me "If they book, they are your clients". From our first conversation, I just knew brooke would be a blast to work with since she has the best laugh and that is my kind of person! I love happy, giggly brides who have men who love that about them.
Let me tell you a tale of how being up at 2am scrolling around Facebook can get you work and a new friend! haha
So I couldn't sleep and saw Stephanie update her status saying she still needed a photographer for her Florida wedding in December and since we were still open on her date, I saw an opportunity to see the sun again before April so I was ALL over it. Ryan and I pretty much only go on vacation when we can book a job in that location so this worked out really well.
MORE kalamazoo mini sessions! Since they are all shot in the same area, it's interesting to me to see how everyone fits into the area and how they make it their own with their personalities. Speaking about personalities. Meet Dave Bunt. I quite enjoy people who are a bit nuts and totally confident in that fact. His very pregnant wife, Rachel must spend most of her life laughing because he is hilarious. The following image illustrates a pose where he probably felt the most comfortable during the session.
I want to blog parts of every mini session but man it's tough to keep these posts from being too big. The weather this past Saturday was amazing, it felt like spring! Since it was so nice out, I was able to move a couple of people from next weekend up to make the most of the beautiful day. These are some of my favorites from everyone that came out.
I am absolutely LOVING getting to shoot our past clients lately. Shaun and Kameya postponed their trip back home to come meet us in Grand Rapids for a family session. It's been about 6 years since we last saw them and they have since made this adorable human, Nathan. Their wedding was many years ago but we shall always fondly remember the highlight of randomly running into MC Hammer. We didn't run into any celebrities this time, but it was still a great time! :)
