Kai: Six Months (Grand Rapids Children Photographer)

February 14, 2014

Little Kai is a happy little baby. He's adorable too, and we bonded a little during his shoot. However, ever time me and his mom got him in front of the camera, all his cute little smiles went bye-bye. Silly Kai, you're supposed to SMILE for the camera! All our smiles and shaking of toys and such didn't do us much good. Luckily, babies like Kai are still cute no matter what they do, and we did manage to extract a few little smiles from him after awhile.

My favorite shots are him looking cute in his sharky outfit. He was a champ and only got sick of us a few different times. I had lots of fun with him and his mom, Janell. Check out my new friend below.

^So stinking cute!

^Mom caught a sharky baby.

^Working on his standing skills already.

^I don't know where this face came from, but I love it!

^Mom has a lot of cute hats for this little man!

^Getting a few more smiles, finally!

^Awww Kai, you were such a cute little guy!

Tony & Emily's Wedding (Detroit Metro Wedding Photographer)

June 1, 2013

Not very often do I edit a wedding more than 6 months after I took it. Although technically I didn't second shoot Tony and Emily's wedding, it's a similar situation, which is how I can explain the late post. My good friend and fellow photographer, Misty of Misty Minna Photography, asked me if I would help with her brother's wedding. She wanted to photograph but she was in the wedding, and that's a tricky task! That's where I came in. While I was primary photographer for some situations (specifically the ones Misty needed to be in, like the ceremony and group portraits), I took a backseat to help out where she was able to shoot as well. I still came up with lots of great images and I'm super excited to share a wedding since I haven't done one in months!

When second shooting, more often than not, you get a lot of photos from the groom's perspective. That was the case with Tony and Emily's wedding as well. While Misty and the bride were off getting fancied up, I met Tony and a few of his groomsmen at his house for a few getting ready shots and then moved on to portraits. I also got to photograph the ceremony, where there was so much gorgeous natural light. Even though the skies were threatening rain during portraits, we got it done and headed off to the reception.

The Minna's are Italian, and I've never EVER been to a wedding with a more amazing spread of food. The buffet wasn't just a bunch of tables laid out in a straight line, but arranged to be curvy so as to fit every amazing dish. And there were a LOT of dishes! I don't know how I finished photographing the wedding with all I ate. And there was a chocolate fondue bar too... wow! Absolutely wonderful.

Anyway, it was a pleasure being a part of this wedding and being able to help out a fellow photographer. And I had lots of fun! Not to mention, here are some images that might warm you up on another chilly Michigan winter day ;)

(If you just can't get enough of these too, check out Misty's blog post. She got a few different shots from me as well!)

^Surprise for Tony... a classic car to drive for the day!

^The one on the right is one of my favorite shots!

^Emily is more of a sport type, but she still made a beautiful bride!

^Misty and Tony's mom is one of my favorite ladies!

^Oh, I really like this one too ;)

^Just a few quick couple shots, then on to the reception!

 

^Great wedding. Misty and I got our photos taken in the photo booth too... but that's a story for another day ;)

C (Grand Rapids Boudoir Photographer)

January 11, 2014

I've got one more session from our boudoir marathon ready to share. It's short and sweet, but beautiful never the less. C is a gorgeous girl and really made this session her own. Great work, girl, and thank you for sharing!!!

^Beautiful!

^Reppin' her school :)

^Favorite! Thanks, C!

Winter Wedding Styled Shoot (Grand Rapids Wedding Photographer)

February 2, 2014

Although the winter is so long, and all Michigan weddings are SO much more pleasant in the warmer weather, there is something just a little bit magical about a winter wedding. I never have too many of them around this time of year (and in a year like this, I can't say I'm too sorry!), so when Carrie and Wes won my 2013 contest series, I had the perfect idea to make up for that.

We created a mini winter wedding, just for them. Though they were married on a bright, sunny, and warm day in August, we headed back to the place they did their engagement photos to recapture a little winter warmth. I got to work with two favorite Grand Rapids area vendors of mine in addition to this great couple, so that made the session all that much better.

 

First of all, I want to give a shout out to Allison and Events by Ludemas. They created another gorgeous bouquet for us and it was just the right amount of color and beauty to liven up our winter neutrals. Events also helped us with our November styled session, Glitz & Glamour, that I posted just last month. They are some talented designers! Allison included in this beauty white anemones (by request :), blush pink and white ranuculus, white roses, peach English garden roses, pink peonies, and dusty miller foliage. We were a little worried the flowers would wilt in the freezing cold, but theybeauties held up wonderfully for the shoot and a few extra detail shots afterwards.

 

As you will see with most styled sessions, I wanted to create a little table to show off a few more of the details. In addition to the flowers, I contacted Barb of It's Personal by Sweet Cakes, who created the absolute PERFECT little cupcakes for our session. She used pearly white and pink fondant and personally designed each cake to look unique and pretty. And even better, they tasted amazing when all the photos were finished!

And last but not least, the beautiful Carrie and her handsome husband, Wes. I've been working with them in some way or another since August 2011, when I photographed Carrie's sister's wedding. We did both a summer and winter engagement session, and now we've kind of done both a summer and winter wedding! Haha, we just can't get enough! Anyway, Carrie's dress was perfect for this session, and we just added a few details, jewelry and the fur shrug her sister, Emily, kindly let us borrow. Carrie even made her perfect gloves herself. Love a little personal touches.

 

Despite the cold, the session went well and the images are beautiful! I had so much fun both taking and editing these. Special thanks to my vendors, who do an amazing job every time, to the models, since I obviously love them so much, and my husband, Mike, who carried everything for us during the shoot. So without further ado, enjoy our awesome styled session!

 

Flowers: Events by Ludemas

Cupcakes: It's Personal by Sweet Cakes
Dress: Maggie Sottero
Jewelry: Premier Designs
Parasol and fan: The 1 For U
Glassware: Home Goods



^I just love it!!!

^The flowers add just the right little splash of color.

^Carrie's details.

^A few details from Wes as well.

^The parasol idea came up during a little brainstorming Carrie and I did. Just perfect!

^These two are perfect!

^Last few shots, after we let Carrie warm up again. Such a fun time!