Time to get Engaged!

December 12, 2013

Since my blog has been so slow this month (I'm keeping busy but they are mostly non-shareable boudoir sessions!), I thought I would talk about engagement season. With the love in the air around the holidays, lots of people choose to get engaged around this time. My husband and I did last year (Dec 8, a few weeks before Christmas) and I know countless others who have done the same. Why not, right? Though I've already got quite a few weddings booked, I'm hoping to get a few more 2014 weddings in, and in that spirit, I want to show off a few of my great couples who are already getting married this coming year.

And if you or someone you know are getting engaged this holiday season, don't forget to give me a call! I've still got wedding dates available! www.jennarosephotography.com

May 3, 2014 - Will and Michelle
These two are getting married up in Houghton Lake, a place where I've done two other great weddings, and I'm looking forward to it. Michelle told me the color scheme and it's something new for me so I'm super excited. Also, it's my first wedding of the year, so yay!

May 29, 2014 - Nate and Kalynn
This will be my only big travelling wedding of the year (at least so far!)... it's going to be up in the UP! I'm super excited to go to a special place for these two, one that also holds a few great memories for me as well. We're doing double duty this weekend and also doing their reception down in the lower Peninsula, so it should be lots of fun, especially since these two are great fun to work with as well!

June 21, 2014 - Jason and Tori
These two haven't had engagement photos done yet. I'm hoping to sneak a quick session of them in before their wedding in June, just so we can show them off to the world... and so I can meet them! They don't live in Michigan, so it will take some figuring out, but I'm sure we'll manage. We did all our wedding dealing on the phone and online, so we've never met face-to-face. But hey, it works that way too!

July 12, 2014 - Bill and Alicia
I did this engagement session way back at the beginning of 2012 but hey, it's perfect for the weather we're getting this week! They are getting married this summer in Lansing and I'm looking forward to seeing some familiar faces for this one. Plus Alicia is one of my favorite people to photograph. It's been too long, my dear!

July 19, 2014 - Adam and Lauren
Another couple who still need to do their engagement photos... they were thinking something winter so I think we can do them any time now! These two I've run into at two weddings in the past two years... Adam's sister's have both gotten married in 2012 and 2013 and now it's his turn. Lauren was super excited to work with me and I'm pretty darn excited myself too! Can't wait for some winter wonderland engagement session time.

August 15, 2014 - Dan and Ashley
Though we were worried about the weather for their session, it turned out perfectly. These two are very photogenic and I'm really happy to be getting to shoot at their venue, Millcreek Barn, in Watervliet. It's super cute from all the photos I've seen. Anyway, these two are great so I'm sure it'll be a blast when it finally comes around.

August 16, 2014 - John and Megan
These two are adorable, and I'm doubly excited to work with them because John's dad is the president of the company I work for when not doing JRPhoto stuff. He's a great guy, and these two are as well. They were great sports for our session, which was completely and utterly rainy. But we toughed it out somehow! Looking forward to another great August weekend for them... with no rain, please!

August 30, 2014
Last but not least (at least so far!) are Kyle and Lauren. Though they haven't done their engagement session yet, we are hopefully planning one, and it might even be out of town... at least for me. They live in Florida and if I can make it down in the next few months, I would love to meet up with them for a few photos. We'll see how that works out, it would be fabulous! Lauren has always been a great fan of mine, and a good friend from our grade school days, and I'm looking forward to meeting Kyle before their Mt. Pleasant wedding. Yay!

As you can see, my fall is wide open, with quite a few slots still available in the spring as well, and MAYBE even another summer wedding. So make sure you get a hold of me for your wedding photography needs! Can't wait to see all the great new people I meet in 2014!

Winter Weddings

December 10, 2013

Though I've been doing weddings for over 8 years now, it wasn't until last year that I was able to shoot a few winter weddings... and for one, it was raining! Michigan is a tricky state for weather and you never know what to expect. But I love winter weddings, first because it's a slower time and I love to get to sneak one in during winter break, and second, because snow is such a beautiful back drop. Here are a few of my favorite winter wedding photos from 2012 and 2013. And here's hoping I get a few more winter weddings soon!

Nick and Holly - December 29, 2012. My first snowy wedding! I was so excited. It was bitter cold out, but the bridal party were all great sports for quick bouts of outside photos at the church. We made another quick stop in downtown Lowell, but made it quick so as not to freeze anyone. It was a perfect wedding day.

Andy and Kristin: February 23, 2013. I was actually IN this wedding as well as one of the photographers for it. My friend and sometimes assistant (and boss, since I shoot with her as well!), Misty Minna, was our main shooter but I was sure to get my D3 out quite a bit to put my two cents in. The bright pink was perfect against all the white and it was such a great day. Not too much, not too little snow. Way to go, Michigan!

Josh and Samantha - December 15, 2012. Josh and Samantha got married in December, but it RAINED instead of snowed on their wedding day. What a shame! However, we compromised and got together again in February to snap a few snowy shots that they may have missed on their wedding day. We walked around the Aquinas College campus for a bit, and made up for what we missed in December.

Baby Oliver: Newborn (Grand Rapids Newborn Photographer)

November 15, 2013

Can't tell you how excited I was to meet little Oliver. He was my first newborn after the workshop I attended and I was super anxious to put some of the new tricks into practice! Oliver showed up with his mommy and daddy and lots of great ideas. He wasn't sure about it at first, but it didn't take us long to talk him into a little nap. In fact, I wasn't sure I got as much practice as I wanted with the little guy in the patience department because he kept falling asleep like a good little man! We got him into all sorts of scenarios! Lucky us!

Anyway, it was a pleasure photographing this awesome little man. Thanks for a great session, Ollie! You were fabulous. I can't wait to do more newborn sessions!

^You've got to get at least one naked shot!

^Snuggled up real good!

^So cozy! He's probably having a blast!

^One of my favorites.

^ His dad put the headphones so he could rock out. They weren't tight at all, he was quite okay with it!

^His dad designed the screen with a photo of his parents and the time he was born :)

^Love!

^A happy family!

Newborn Photography

November 9, 2013

 

Just a few weeks back, I attended a workshop focused solely on newborn photography. I've done my share of sessions, but I knew I was missing something. What better way to improve your work than to learn from a few pros? The pros in question were Laurie and Krista of Simply Newborn Art, a studio out in Essexville who do an amazing job with little babies. We spent the day with two little ones and their parents, and learned some posing ideas, got some freebies, and generally had a good time. The most important thing I learned? Patience! Newborns cannot be reasoned with (or bribed, like little kids ;) so you have to take your time, and wait for them to sleep. Also, they will likely pee on things! Haha! I put these theories and some posing and lighting ideas I learned into effect for the session I did a week later and sure enough, success! You'll see more of that session on the blog later this week.

 

It was lots of fun learning from Laurie and Krista. I can't wait to work with more little ones and even further my abilities to make them look adorable. If you have a baby on the way, schedule with me now! Five to fifteen days old is the best time to work with babies, and my studio is all set up for them to come and have a great session!

 

Special thanks to Mary from Studio M in Holt for hosting!

Brielle

First, meet little Brielle. She was our first little model at 9 days old, and what a darling one she was. She took a little while to get to sleep but once she FINALLY did, she was a great little lady to work with. Her adorable parents got in on the action too.

^So cozy!

^No wonder Brielle is so pretty!

Owen

Next up was little Owen, 14 days old. He was a little harder to convince about going to sleep. We improvised and did some cute awake shots of him instead. Then he finally decided to sleep and we were able to do the hands-on-face (aka the froggy) pose, even if he is a little crooked! There's another trick to it, but I'm not telling! What a cutie!

 

^Wide awake. Go to sleep, little man!

^I was lucky enough to catch this little smile! Not all of us were!

^Such a cutie!