Christopher claimed he would be happy if we got one single good image from our shoot today - hopefully he'll agree we managed more than one :)  We wandered around the Grand Basin in Forest Park, getting a little hot and sweaty in the process, for some fairly last-minute engagement portraits (no worries Jenn, there are worse offenders yet to come!)  Towards the end they agreed to make some weird faces to make a kind of series.  I'm not showing most of them in case Christopher wants to hide the evidence...The wedding is in November, so I'll be seeing these guys again soon - looking forward to it!

Allison and Scott's wedding last Sunday was one of the best parties I've been to this year.  The reception was at 9th Street Abbey in Soulard, and all the guests were having an awesome time.  They were all on the dance floor almost immediately (I've never seen a group of people so excited to hear Journey!) and they never left.  Because everyone was having such a great time, my second shooter Chris and I took a TON of photos.  You can see their epic SLIDESHOW HERE (it's huge!)  We also did a Day After shoot in their hotel downtown, which was fun.  These two were a lot of fun - congrats to them both!

The rain around here is getting a bit nuts!  We rescheduled Sarah and Kevin's photos twice already, so when the weather looked threatening again this week, we just decided to chance it.  The rain stayed away, but it was a bit muddy in the park.  Fortunately these two didn't seem to mind - they still sat in the grass when I asked them to and didn't complain. They were too busy smooching the whole time to worry about things like mud :)  Thanks to Kevin and Sarah for being such good sports - I look forward to shooting their wedding this August!

The longest day of the year brought plenty of sunshine for Jessica and David's wedding last Saturday.  They were married at the Jewel Box in Forest Park, with a reception at Windows off Washington.  When the sun finally set, we got some great shots off the balcony overlooking the city (Jessica gets credit for that idea!)  Check out their SLIDESHOW HERE to see some of the highlights from the day.  The newlyweds are enjoying some rest and relaxation in Michigan this week - best wishes to them both upon their return to real life!

These two met while running in Forest Park, so for on their wedding day we had to return to the trail where they met for a photo or two.  I couldn't resist making them run in their wedding clothes, and I think it looks adorable.  They were married at St. Roch in the Central West End, and had the reception at Randall Gallery downtown.  The wedding party was enormous (10 on each side, plus some kiddos), but we managed to get them all in line for photos.  The groomsmen gave me a little trouble for picking such an odd location downtown (I guess not everyone sees the beauty in a totally rundown building), but we were going for an urban look.  Hopefully the couple loves it.  See their SLIDESHOW HERE.  Congrats to them!

As a side note, I'm starting to understand why people say St. Louis feels like such a small town.  At the wedding last weekend I ran into one of my yoga students and a friend from college I hadn't seen in years.  At Rebecca and Ryan's wedding I ran into a couple whose wedding I shot last year, the parents of a couple whose wedding I'm shooting later this year, and another one of my yoga students (and my second shooter, Chris, ran into her old hair stylist.)  Such a small world!

It's definitely fall around here.  Poor Laura had a dress on at first, and with that wicked wind that was blowing through Forest Park, I think she was completely freezing.  Thankfully they had a second outfit with sweaters and jeans so we could keep going.  All of you who still have portrait sessions to come this fall, keep that in mind!  We found a few more trees with color than there were last week, so you can actually tell it is October in their photos.  Laura and Bryan are both really nice, and so easy to work with.  I'm sure their wedding next year will be just as great!

Lindsay and Dan are hilarious.  They were dancing, jumping, throwing each other around, playing in the fountain, and making the best expressions.  The shot of Dan cheering on the bridge happened after he beat Lindsay at that hand slapping game....what is that called, anyway?  It was so fun playing around with them in the park.  But before we headed to Forest Park we took a few shots at Dan's firehouse - he's a fire fighter in Granite City.  They had a bit of an audience, which means Dan will probably never live this down with the guys he works with.  I know the over-the-shoulder shot is a little bit of a repeat from the other day, but I could not resist it when Dan was in his work garb.  A family friend already snagged the job of shooting their wedding next September - I'm a bit bummed I don't get to work with these guys again.  Oh well, it was a fun afternoon!

Like most people this time of year, Tracy and Jason were desperate to get some fall color in their portraits.  Unfortunately, we only found two trees turning color in the area of Forest Park where we went today.  We made the most of those two trees, though!  At least we had sunshine and warm weather - that fall chill is coming quickly!

Anne and Adam were married at Eliot Chapel in Kirkwood this past Saturday.  While this chapel is very nice, and well lit, it posed quite a challenge to photograph.  The giant windows at the front of the church provided some significant backlighting for the 3pm ceremony, and just outside the window was a bright red mini van parked in a neighbors' driveway.  It was a challenge to shoot (no one wants a minivan in their ceremony photos!), but I think I pulled it off in the end.  The ceremony went very smoothly, and the reception at the St. Louis Zoo went according to plan as well.  In fact, everything went so smoothly all day long that when we couldn't take photos with the polar bears at the zoo (they were hiding in there somewhere) Anne commented "Well, something had to go wrong!"  It was a good day for these guys - which is good because they waited 11 years for it!  You can see the SLIDESHOW HERE.  Thanks for being so relaxed and fun Anne and Adam - congratulations!

I had never met either Mindy or Matt on their wedding day - that was a first for me!  I worked with Mindy's Mom before the wedding because the couple lives in New York, so the day of I had to introduce myself (after I sorted out who they were!)  They were married at the Graham Chapel on Washington University's campus with a reception at Windows on Washington.  At the reception they gave everyone an Absinthe shot instead of champagne for the toasts (they met in Prague, so it seemed fitting.)  I think maybe they should have warned everyone what they were drinking before they took the shot, though.  There were a lot of audible groans in response to the flavor :)  They also seemed to dislike slow dancing.  After about 10 seconds of their first dance, Matt busted out a matador outfit and Mindy ran at him like a bull as the song "Matador" played.  And for the father-daughter dance they spent about 10 seconds slow dancing before they broke into "Footloose."  It was all pretty entertaining - you can view their SLIDESHOW HERE.  It was nice meeting you guys finally - best wishes!

I don't think I've ever worked with a more laid-back couple than Cindi and Jim.  We met before the wedding to take photos in Bee Tree Park, and Cindi was wandering around through grass and leaves with no care about her dress getting dirty.  The weather was quite cold, too, and they never complained.  The whole time they were just laughing with one another, having a great time.  And the ceremony and reception at Windows on Washington were the same - all smiles, no stress.  It was a very calm and beautiful party.  You can view their SLIDESHOW HERE.  Thanks to Michelle Williams for second shooting for me at the last minute, she did a great job.  And thanks Cindi and Jim for being so easy to work with!

All three of these little cousins have sweet faces - they are so cute!  We made a quick trip to Forest Park for some portraits of the three girls and their families, and the weather was perfect.  The girls were playing in the leaves a bit when Carter found a giant stick bug - you can see it on her hand in one of the photos.  They were having a great time with that bug while all of us adults made faces about not wanting to touch it!  I'm so glad that these families came out for their first family portraits.  Hopefully they'll make it a yearly tradition!

Hot pink was the color of the day for Sarah and Dan's wedding on March 14th.  Bridesmaids dresses, flowers, reception lighting - they even both had hot pink shoes to wear at the reception!  What a fantastic color for photos.  The pink light at the reception at Mad Art posed a bit of a challenge for me at first, but in the end I think it made some really cool ambient lighting for their dancing photos.  The ceremony was at First United Methodist in St. Charles, which had some pretty great light of its own with all those big windows.  Add in the sunshine and warm weather (slightly unexpected in March), and let's just say it was a good day for shooting!

I stayed until the end of the reception to catch the couple's exit, which was pretty entertaining.  As a surprise, Sarah's mom rented a vintage police car to escort the couple from the reception to their hotel.  They even had a police officer handcuff Sarah and lead her and Dan out to the car - they were both a little shocked, but I'm pretty sure they enjoyed it! 

Thanks to Kelly Park for doing a fantastic job second shooting with me for the day.  You can view more photos in Sarah and Dan's SLIDESHOW HERE.  Congrats to the new Alvarezes!

Noelle is super high energy - which is perfect for a personal trainer.  She hired me to take some photos for her new website promoting her personal training services and Zumba classes.  Zumba is a Latin-inspired dance class, and it looked like a serious workout.  Just watching the class made me a bit tired - and glad I teach yoga instead :)  We took some photos in Forest Park and Noelle brought her adorable Italian greyhounds.  I had to take a couple shots of them because they're just so cute.  I'm guessing that last one won't be going on the website!  If you're looking for a trainer in the area (getting in shape for a wedding maybe?) you can contact me for Noelle's info!

We all know the economy is a little....wonky....right now (I’m an optimist, that’s as negative as I’ll get.)  As a result, some of my clients have started wondering if they should be saving their money rather than spending it on “luxury” items such as portraits. 

But photography isn’t about vanity and luxury - it’s about celebration.  Even in tough times it’s still important to celebrate your life by documenting your family, photographing kids before they grow up, and capturing those newborn moments you can never get back.  It makes me sad to see people struggling between saving money and having good photos.  So in the interest of spreading some love around (and slightly increasing my own good karma) I’m holding a special one day marathon of mini-sessions at a special price.

Here’s the deal.  On Sunday May 3rd I’ll be dedicating my day to doing mini-sessions for family/kid/baby portraits.  Each session will be 45 minutes long, and everyone will get a DVD of all their high resolution files from the session (with copyright consent to make prints.)  Morning sessions will be held at Forest Park for the nature lovers, and afternoon sessions will be in the Lafayette Square neighborhood and park for the urban dwellers.  The fee for the session and the DVD is only $100 - less than half of the normal full session price.

This is a one time thing, so if you’re interested, call or email me ASAP to get the time you want.  I’m looking forward to it!

Forest Park was a disaster on Saturday.  Apparently there were graduations and events going on all morning, and hundreds of people trying to go to the zoo.  That meant insane traffic moving through the park - it took us easily 35 minutes to get to the Jewel Box from the park entrance.  Poor Angela must have been biting her nails in her brother's car as they sat in traffic (and sped ahead of traffic, waiving her veil out the window as proof that she was important!)  Fortunately most of the guests made it in time for the ceremony, which was beautiful set against the lush trees.  We had to be a bit creative on where to shoot portraits after that, having to avoid areas like the World's Fair Pavilion and being scared off by 5 other wedding parties at the Muny.  Good thing Angela and Tyler are very flexible and relaxed!

After a few photo stops, we were off to the reception at Hendri's, where the kids ruled the dance floor.  You can view the SLIDESHOW HERE.  Thanks to Katy for second shooting with me.  I hope Angela and Tyler honor their promise not to check email or cell phones while they are honeymooning in the Dominican Republic!

This was my first shoot with just a mother and daughter (technically daughter-in-law to-be!)  The session was a surprise gift to Kathy for Mother's Day - although she wasn't too keen on having her photo taken.  Hopefully once she views the result she'll think differently!

I think this was Brody's first official photo shoot.  It was a bit bright for him outside - he was squinting a bit and hiding his pretty blue eyes!  He's still adorable, especially in overalls playing with his favorite tractor toys.  And he got to go to the zoo as a reward for his efforts - that's 30 min well spent!

I've known the Stufflebeams for a while - but I didn't know that Bear was their newest addition.  Apparently he cannot be left alone without Thatcher's supervision (even if Thatcher only wants to throw him around!)  I think he makes an excellent fourth member in the family photos :)

I can't show you anything from Laura's bridal session yesterday (can't trust that Brian won't take a peek!)  Let's just say Laura was very brave for going out during the threat of thunderstorms, and also very smart for bringing a bright white sheet perfectly sized to fit under her dress without showing - great protection for the bottom of her dress!

I'm leaving for Chicago shortly - I'll be back next Wednesday, just in time for my three wedding weekend in June.  More on that later...Have a great weekend!

It's amazing how many excellent baby photos you can get in just 30 minutes!  8-week-old Hannah was very well behaved (no crying or anything!) for the first 30 minutes of portraits this morning, and then she started getting just a tad fussy.  To spare Molly and Scott from any upset that may have ensued from pushing her any further, we ended the session there - and I am surprised at how many good images we were able to get!  It was fun to see Molly and Scott again - I photographed their wedding in 2007 - and see the newest addition to their family.  She's a sweetie :)

Sheena participated in my Good Karma Project last month - she had photos taken with her future mother-in-law.  That session was actually intended to be Sheena with her Mom and her future-mom, but Barb fell ill the morning of the session.  So we separated it into two sessions, finally getting Barb's done on Father's Day (even though it was a Mother's Day present!!)  You can tell Sheena and her Mom are very close, and they both love having their photos taken.  See you ladies in September for Sheena and Tim's wedding!

Last time I photographed Taylor she was far less mobile.  At just over a year old, she has discovered her freedom, and she was definitely on the run during our photo shoot yesterday in Forest Park.  But how can you be mad at someone with such adorable blond curls and big blue eyes?  You can't - you just follow her down the path and get whatever you can!

Stefanie convinced Mike to get their portraits taken last Sunday.  I'm not sure how she did it, but I was told it was a "Once in a lifetime opportunity."  Talk about pressure!  It turns out the key is to make them laugh.  I think it worked - I just hope these portraits will tide Stefanie over for a while :)