Grand Rapids Bride

A new adventure!

I've made the final decision to place an ad for Jenna Rose Photography in the 2011 issue of Grand Rapids Bride, one of GR's premeir bridal magazines. I chose a smaller ad (they are pricey!) but I am hoping it will still give me some good exposure and bring in the brides (and grooms!) for this year and next. Oh man, I am just getting SO EXCITED for wedding season to get started!!! May 14 still seems so far away!

Because we want the ad to be perfect, I've chosen some of my favorite images to decide which one to put in the magazine. With each of them, I created a small design, which includes my new logo and the photo. It's a very simple design, which I think goes fairly well with the way I design albums and the various other items that come with all of my packages. Simple says a lot, and I would rather have the focus be on the image. Below are the three options, and I am VERY interested in what my fans think!

Take a look at the three choices, and comment what you think of them. If you have another photo suggestion, I'd love to hear those as well!

Option One, Jilleen and Daniel. I really love this image, the composition, the smiles, and the black and white. It was a bit of a sleeper as I didn't realize how MUCH I loved it until I worked on their album at the start of this year, six months after the wedding.
Pros: Beautifully focused image. Logo stands out bright.
Cons: Black and white doesn't reflect my usual style.

Option Two, one of the favorite images I have EVER taken. The girls did this perfect pose with barely any prompting, and the style Shannon employed for her wedding was GREAT. The old Hollywood them was perfectly executed and I just adore this "girlfriends" shot.
Pros: Great use of color. The logo works with the color scheme. Everyone looks fab!
Cons: The logo gets a little hidden on either side. There's no groom!!!

Option Three, another great one of Lance and Michelle. What was with their wedding? I love so many of their images! This one works great in so many ways, and they just look so adorable sitting on their little bench for two. The twilight was perfect...
Pros: Bride and groom interacting. Focus on Michelle and the logo, they play off each other. Colorful.
Con: Can't see their faces too well. I used them on my business card!

All right, fans, tell me what YOU think!!!

Kylie's Sweet Sixteen

March 26, 2011

I've known Kylie for almost three years now. Her mom is Erika, one of my earliest wedding clients. In fact, she was my very first bride from the Grand Rapids area. She married my boyfriend's best friend, Jason, back in 2008, and of course I was in attendance to capture the big day. It was a great wedding and I was glad to be a part of it. Kylie, thirteen at the time, was the maid-of-honor. In these past years, she has grown up a lot (as teenagers tend to do), and on March 16, she turned "Sweet 16."

Kylie brought along Alahn, her boyfriend, so he could sneak into a couple of shots, but mostly we focused on Kylie. She's such a pretty girl, and she absolutely rocked the more serious looks without even trying, so she made the photo taking easy on me. Don't you love it when that happens? We started off in the studio and went outside for a few sunny day shots. It was too cold to stay out for long, but we made use of the bright afternoon before calling it a day.

Congrats on the milestone, Kylie! Call me when it's time for those senior portraits :-)

^Of course, the outfit is perfect. Good choice, Miss Kylie!

^Look at those eyes!

^Fashion shot! ;-)

^We took a different way out of the building and found this stairwell. Perfect!

^We headed to Kylie's hometown of Rockford next for a few outdoor shots.

^A well-timed breeze blows up...

^Throwing a couple of Alahn in at the back. Thanks for coming along!

Pat & Kelli: A Wedding

March 19, 2011

It's so hard to wait for wedding season. When it ends, I most certainly am in need of a break, but winter is long and it's just so hard to wait for people to start getting married again! This year, the drought ended on March 19, when Kelli, who works wth me at my "regular" job, tied the knot in Grand Rapids.

My regular job also has me doing photography among other things. Instead of photographing people, as I do with my business ventures, I photograph veneer. For those of you who know about as much as me about veneer (at least when I started), it is a thin sheet of wood that can be mounted on another surface, used for furniture, architectural paneling, and the like. Even though it's not the most interesting subject in the world, I do love my job, and I also love the people I work with. I've done family photos for more than five of my coworkers. I think they like having a photographer on the payroll!

Kelli is one of my previous clients. Her family, who are scattered around the US, came up a few summers back and I did some portraits for them on our lunch break. I was of course thrilled to get to do her wedding this spring. Everyone looked great, especially Pat's sons, Isaac and Cade, and Kelly's, Justin, in their suits. It was a beautiful day, especially for March, and although we had what I would consider a very shortened day compared to my other weddings, we got some good shots... and had fun doing it.

Congrats to Pat and Kelli! I hope you and the boys love your photos!

^Pat's son, Cade.

^Kelli's son, Justin.

^Pat's son, Isaac.

^The boys lookin' good in their suits!

^Kelli looked just beautiful.

^I loved her shoes, but I bet they hurt to walk in ;-)

^Her Grandma's handkerchief.

^What a kiss that one was! I guess they are happy to be married!

^The groom and his mom, who prepared some amazing food for dinner!

^Her ring is so pretty. I need to get me one of those. Haha.

^Dancing with Dad.

^All right, it's time to have some fun!

^Someone (who? we still aren't sure) suggested some of the guests climb the billboard and get a photo up there. "All right..." I said. Disclaimer, the frame JUST cuts off the ground so they were NOT high up... although I was worried we were actually going to have to "CALL SAM" for a minute there!