Miria & Toni: A Bright, Colorful Lakeside Wedding (West Michigan Wedding Photographer)

June 7, 2019

There was so much about this wedding that made it EVERYTHING I love. The venue (as always) was great. The colors and flowers were bright and every detail was pretty much perfect! Toni and Miria's big blended family was a joy to work with. The kids were adorable and sometimes a little feisty, so never a dull moment. What else can I say? It was a beautiful day and we have beautiful photos to show from it!

After the first look, Toni, Miria, Sam (my second) and I went around taking portraits and then we did tons of fun family photos for the couple. They both have adult children, many of whom have already families of their own, and we luckily were able to get everyone involved. I loved seeing these two surrounded by so many loved ones. Once the reception got started, we ended up doing a ton of extra group photos to celebrate their relationships with all the guests. It certainly was a love-filled day.

These two spent the day exactly as newlyweds should; enjoying themselves and each other and making the most of a gorgeous day at a gorgeous place. And dancing. That's important too! Congrats Toni and Miria. It was a pleasure to meet the two of you and work with you. Thank you for getting that particular busy wedding weekend off to a beautiful start!

Venue: The Boathouse at Bay Pointe Inn, Shelbyville
Bridal shop: A'doraBelle Bridal, Waterford
Bridesmaids dresses: Azazie
Florals: Eastern Floral, Grand Rapids
DJ: Yon, Party in a Box DJ, Grand Rapids
Cake: DreamScape Desserts, Comstock Park
Cookies: Just a Bite, Owosso

^Fabulously colorful flowers by Eastern Floral

^Aren't they an adorable couple?

^Tons of beautiful shots care of my second shooter, Sam. It was great to get to work with you for the first time!

^This little sweetie many have showed up in quite a few shots...

^The grandkids!

^THIS is a guestbook :D

^Well done, as usual :)

^Time to dance!

^Thankful for another beautiful wedding at the Boathouse!

A Sweet Treat for Emery (Grand Rapids Children's Photographer)

July 12, 2019

Every so often, I just feel like doing something a little different. When this happens, I usually ask Facebook and see who might be able to help me. Last week, I wanted to do an ice cream shoot with a baby in a bucket. A former client of mine only liked the page but then I remembered she's got three adorable little girls who might just be perfect! Plus, they could play with my kids in the process!

Enter Emery and her big sisters, Layla and Sadie. Emery is 7 months old and LOVES giving you the stink eye! She's super cute and was fine with the idea to eat some ice cream, even if she did have to sit in a bucket. Her big sisters and my girls got a cone as well and we took photos because, yeah, why not?

Check out the cuteness ;)

Interlude: Fine Art Photography

June 28, 2019

One of my favorite places in the world is where we go on vacation just about every year in the summer, the Hiawatha Sportsman's Club in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. While we were UP North this past week, we went up to the Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point in Paradise. We took an alternate route back home and we went by this old wrecked house. From the second I saw it, it spoke to me. And it took a little pleading, but we were able to take a quick minute to stop there last Friday evening just before sunset. Though it was brief, it couldn't have been much more perfect.

My girls had just had ice cream, and my oldest was perfectly contented to don her overall dress and pose a bit for me. My youngest, on the other hand, was super angry about the whole situation. And while of course I feel bad about having made my 2-year-old cry (it certainly wasn't the plan), I feel like, as a series, these images work so much better with that emotion she has in the images she appears in. Especially in contrast with the calm and content look on her older sister's face.

These aren't my usual bold and colorful style of images, but I've been experimenting with more moody images lately and this is a reflection of that. I also have a few thoughts on what these images "mean" (my college photography major self is just loving this set of images!), but I'll let you look at them yourself and come up with your own story, at least for now.

P.S. This really feels like a throwback to my senior thesis project from 13 years ago, of which many images were taken just miles from this spot. I may have to share some of those again soon.