Stephanie and Chris: Engaged November 2008!
Posted on November 25, 2008
OSHKOSH, Wis: If there’s one word that sums up our session with Stephanie and Chris I’d say it is FREEZING. Because both Chris and Stephanie live out of the area, we were forced to shoot on a VERY cold November morning. The kind of day where the wind is blowing so much your eyes water and random snowflakes are swirling around.
But these guys were troopers! They don’t look cold at all, and I’m pretty sure at this point I could no longer feel my nose.
Casually chatting, or devising a plan to get out of the cold as soon as possible? You be the judge!
This late in the year we didn’t have many leaves to work with, but thankfully this weeping willow was holding out just for us.
I think they’re laughing at me here, after I made some stupid comment like, “Hey can you guys look up at eachother?” I blame the cold. It was messing with my brain.
Unfortunately, this little play hut didn’t do much to cut the cold wind.
Stephanie and Chris, thanks for risking hypothermia to meet up with us! We’ll see you next May when it will hopefully be much MUCH warmer!
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Carlene and Ryan: Engaged October 2008
Posted on November 25, 2008
CEDARBURG, Wis: I have to say Carlene and Ryan’s engagement session was quite an educational experience. Growing up in the suburbs, I don’t know much about farm life or farm animals. For example, I had no idea that cows come when they’re called and like to be around people.
Take this gal for example. When we first walked into the field, I grabbed this shot with my zoom lens.
A few minutes later, I took this shot. No zoom. I was really THAT CLOSE to a cow. And let me tell you, cows are a lot bigger when they’re up close and personal.
I think Carlene and Ryan were quite amused by my reaction to the approaching cow. And speaking of, check out the ladies behind them hamming it up for the camera.
As geeked out as I was over the cows, Karl was equally as excited about the corn fields. He’s been wanting to shoot in a corn field for a year now. Unfortunately, we’re kind of afraid of tresspassing, which eliminates many of our chances.
Another cool part of shooting on a farm: neat old buildings!
And old worn out wood!
This field, surrounded by cows, is where Ryan proposed to Carlene! I’m pretty sure there aren’t many people who can say cows witnessed their proposal!
Carlene and Ryan, thanks so much for having us out to the farm. We had such a great time! Can’t wait for the big party next May!
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Tracy and Joshua: Engaged October 2008!
Posted on November 25, 2008
APPLETON, Wis: Karl and I are always encouraging our couples to be themselves, pretend like the camera isn’t there, just enjoy spending some time with each other. Well I can say from the very beginning of the process, Tracy and Joshua didn’t need any coaching!
See, totally ignoring our presence!
And they smooched without coaching too! 
I just love people in love.
I also love this little corner at Lawrence University. We’ve walked the campus a dozen times, but I never noticed the ivy until this session. So neat!
I very rarely convert images to black and white when we’re dealing with cool fall colors, but this shot felt chilly to me. And again, they’re totally not paying attention to us. It’s a good thing we talked in between locations or I would have developed a complex!
How cool is the sun peeking through the leaves? It makes the trees all glowy! Glowy being a technical term.
Tracy and Joshua, I’m so glad we were able to make our schedules work for this session. It was great to meet you guys and now we’re even more excited for the wedding! Oh, and thanks for the random Washington D.C. trivia.
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Tyler and Amber: Engaged October 2008!
Posted on November 25, 2008
CRIVITZ, Wis: Karl and I encourage couples to pick a location for their engagement session that means something to them. For Amber and Tyler, that place is a family cabin near Crivitz, so Karl and I packed up the car, and our warm clothes for a trip up north.
I took this shot while trying not to notice that my dear husband was climbing down the side of a cliff to get a different angle. I think this is right about the time Amber shouted down, “You know, there aren’t any hospitals near by!” Thankfully no photographers were harmed in the making of these photographs.
Did I mention it was ccccccooooold? It made for a good excuse to cuddle up nice and close!
Another example of Karl sliding..I mean climbing…down a steep hill for a cool angle.
Our walk around the cabin was so pretty. You know, Tyler and I share a last name (my maiden name) so I’m thinking maybe I can claim some long lost relation and somehow score another invite to the cabin? Maybe? No? Well, okay then.
Speaking of beautiful locations, these two are getting married next summer at one of our very favorite spots, Homestead Meadows. We can’t wait to spend some time out there again.
We all know I have a soft spot for the furry friends, so we had to wrap up this session with a “family photo.” Look at how well the dogs were paying attention! It’s probably because I was saying things like “Treat!” while making funny faces.
Tyler and Amber, thanks so much for showing us around! We can’t wait for next summer!
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Jenna and Eric: Engaged!
Posted on October 27, 2008
GREEN BAY, Wis: This time of year is very busy for engagement sessions, as most of the couples getting married in 2009 all have the same request for their engagement images: FALL COLORS. So for Karl and I that means a lot of praying for good weather, and a lot of time spent at parks hunting down the ever changing colors.
We were really excited to meet up with Jenna and Eric at what will be their home when they get married next year. It’s always cool to be able to work personal details into the engagement session.
This house used to belong to Eric’s grandmother and has *the coolest* kitchen floor I’ve ever seen. Well, at least I think so. I think Jenna gave me a strange look that tells me perhaps she doesn’t agree.
This AWESOME barn is right next door to Eric’s place. Thankfully the neighbors were more than happy to let us walk around, although I hear they were a bit confused as to why we’d want to use an old barn for pictures.
Pamperin Park is right around the corner, so we decided to take a ride over there and search for some more color.
The colors were definitely beautiful, but that was the only thing about that day that said fall. It got hot out there!
We took a walk down to the edge of the park in search of some great shade, since we didn’t have any clouds to help us out. I absolutely love the color in this tree!
Jenna and Eric, thanks so much for spending your Sunday morning with us. We can’t wait for your wedding next year!
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Briana and Cody: Engaged!
Posted on October 24, 2008
GREEN BAY, Wis. We were under the gun when Briana and Cody joined us at Pamperin Park. The skies were getting progressively darker and I actually grabbed the umbrella to take with us as we were walking around just in case. But thankfully, we didn’t need the umbrella at all, and the clouds kept us from squinting in the midday sun!
I just love this copper dome! It’s one of my favorite features at the park.
And of course, you can’t visit Pamperin without at least a couple of shots on the bridge.
Cloudy days always seem to bring out the best in the fall colors.
It’s funny that we can go to a park so many times and never notice something cool. It wasn’t until Briana and Cody’s shoot that we noticed a fallen tree dangling over the water. Since we had heard these two were up for anything, we sent them out to test the log’s stability. I’m happy to report nobody fell in
Speaking of being up for anything, Briana and Cody did a little balancing act to get themselves out on this rock. I love the reflection, and you can totally see the dark clouds we were worried about.
Thanks for being so easy to work with guys! We’ll see you in September!
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Michelle and Ryan: Engaged!
Posted on October 24, 2008
GREEN BAY, Wis: Michelle and Ryan are troopers! As a rule, we’ve had pretty good luck weather wise for our sessions this year. But when we met up with these guys it was so cold and windy I could have sworn it was mid November and not the beginning of October!
We learned quickly that it didn’t feel quite so cold if we kept moving. It’s amazing how much ground you can cover when you’re searching for places to get out of the wind!
This was one of those jump out of the wind moments. Looking at this picture it’s hard to believe it was taken just a couple of weeks ago. At that time it was hard to find trees that were changing. Now a few weeks later, it’s hard to find trees that still have any leaves!
For surviving the chilly weather, we were rewarded with some cool clouds and a bright blue sky.
I now know to keep my eye on Ryan at the wedding. One moment they were walking together along the waters edge and the next moment Michelle was inches from being thrown in the water!
The cold weather made cuddling up very necessary. This shot makes me smile because Michelle’s hair is actually blowing in the *right* direction. Bless her heart! Days like this one are the reason brides wind up with an entire can of hairspray in their hair.
Michelle and Ryan, thanks so much for meeting up with us and braving the cold! I’m predicting a warm, sunny, and calm day for your wedding next summer!
You’ll find your gallery here.
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Kristine and Chris: Engaged!
Posted on October 2, 2008
CHICAGO: Karl and I had high hopes for this engagement session. You see, while Kristine and Chris are getting married in Northeast WIsconsin, they are currently living in CHICAGO! I am totally a city girl at heart, so when Kris asked if we would consider meeting them in Chicago for an engagement session I couldn’t contain my excitement. The only weekend we had available happened to be Karl’s 30th birthday! Perfect, right? What’s better than a super fun day shooting in the city followed by an awesome birthday dinner?
One little problem….rain. Lots and lots of rain. I am not joking when I say it started raining the moment we crossed into the state of Illinois Friday and did not stop until we pulled into our driveway on Sunday. We couldn’t exactly reschedule…so we whipped out the umbrella and made the best of it.
We started off inside the Chicago Cultural Center, in the hopes that we would emerge from the building and the rain would be gone. Ha! But at least we had fun exploring the nooks and crannies of this amazing building. We even ran into a bride and groom who were getting married in the building later that afternoon!
Of course we couldn’t stay outside forever, so we grabbed the umbrella and hit the streets. I have to say I was surprised by how many people were still out and about despite the weather. This wasn’t a drizzle! It was pouring!
This amazing elevator is located inside the building where Chris works. I don’t think I’d ever get tired of that. Love!
These two were such troopers. It would have been easy to have a bad attitude about walking around the city in the rain, but they took it all in stride.
We couldn’t NOT stop by The Bean. Unfortunately, the rain kind effects the reflective surface. Bummer.
Look at that skyline mocking us! If only it weren’t raining I could have spent the entire day walking around!
Kris and Chris, thank you so much for spending the day with us. Rain for your engagement session pretty much guarantees perfect wedding day weather, right?
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Brad and Michelle: Engaged!
Posted on October 2, 2008
APPLETON, Wis: I have to start off this post by saying, “Poor Brad and Michelle!” These two have been SO patient waiting for their engagement images. I’ve been working a pretty solid one to two week turnaround on sessions other than weddings this summer. Unfortunately, these two caught us right in the middle of some serious editing mayhem and they wound up stuck in the backlog.
We met up with these two pretty early on a Sunday morning in the hopes of beating the rain that was forecast for later in the day. We were rewarded with a crazy blue sky and some funky white wispy clouds. My weather forecasting friends are cringing right now…I believe white and wispy translates into cirrus clouds in meteorologist speak, right?
These two are just cute, and I’m pretty sure they like each other, which is good since this time next year they’ll be stuck with each other for life!
Brad’s mom requested a shot under the pretty archway. Done!
As for me, I requested a couple of quiet moments. There were plenty of smiles in this session, but my advice to our couples is not to feel like you always have to smile. I love when couples are comfortable enough to relax and just be with each other.
I also love pictures with no heads! Karl captured a lovely shot (faces included) of these two on the bridge, but I was really drawn into the comfortable way they had situated themselves. And this shot just happens to show off Michelle’s bling!
While I’m taking pictures with no heads, Karl is always seeking out crazy light. Fun, right?
Brad and Michelle…thanks so much for getting up early on a Sunday to hang out with us! And thanks for waiting for these images! Can’t wait for next year…
You’ll find your gallery here.
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Monday Moments: Adventures in The Windy (and RAINY) City Edition
Posted on September 16, 2008
Karl and I had big plans for this weekend, our only wedding free weekend in a 13 week stretch. The plan was to pack up the car Friday afternoon and head to Chicago for a weekend of good food, sightseeing, and shooting with one of our 2009 couples.
Well Mother Nature had other plans. Here’s a peek at how our weekend went down.
This is what happens when a camera is dealing with 5 billion percent humidity. But you should be glad the lens is all fogged up at this point…my hair in the rain is NOT a pretty sight. Thankfully by the time we met up with Kris and Chris, our cameras were ready. Unfortunately, the weather went from bad to worse and we spent the next three hours trying to stay dry. We failed.
As you can see, the rainbow umbrella was on display throughout the session. We did find a few places for inside pictures, but you can’t go to Chicago for an engagement session and not capture some of the city’s landmarks. Kris and Chris were great sports about it all.
And speaking of landmarks, Karl and I had to take a self portrait in the bean. As you can see it’s not quite as reflective when it’s pouring!
So, that was our weekend. We spent 36 hours in Chicago and it never stopped raining. I think my sneakers are still drying out.
But we did squeeze in time for some Chicago pizza so all was not lost.
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