What fun!   I met with Andrew, Jessica, and Cindy (Jessica’s mom) last night to firm up plans for their wedding day coverage.  First we stopped by Vander Veer for a few quick captures to round out their coverage.  Their engagement session was outside when it was fairly cool.  Spring!  Yesterday was cloudy and gray, but with Spring colors exploding everywhere it was so good to be outside again.

They are so great together!  Mom shared they had been together since Jessica was 16.  Jessica said nothing, but there was a big smile on her face as her mom talked about them.

We will be at Trinity Lutheran in Moline, and will wind up at The Raddison in Davenport.  In between we get to have some fun with a 1931 Ford.  After that Luxury Limousine will wisk them away. A stop for some extra bridal party shots, and then on to the Raddison.  Ruby Media, Heller Cakes, and SAS Entertainment will all be part of the day.  Gonna be great.  I totally forgot to find out who the florist is.

They have great mentors in their lives. Jessica’s parents have been together almost 35 years, Andrew’s parents around 40, and Jessica’s grandparents past the 50 year mark….if all our math was correct.

Jessica’s sister is her maid of honor.  It was really a lot of fun to sit and listen to plans, and stories about people, and their excitement for the day.

The surprise of the day is my assistant Jordan works under Andrew.  You just know I had to ask him to make sure Jordan was off that day.

We are going to have a great day!  We have an old car <swoon>!  I keep reminding myself I have to put the bride and groom in and with the car …. just kidding!  But no joke…..a 1931 Ford!!!  I am not excited…no not me!!

The tree is so beautiful, but I used this shot because she was telling me her colors are peridot and shades of pale pink. Spring colors! Then she sprang on me she was coming down the aisle under the blusher!  So few brides today use the blusher!  It is so romantic!

Two exciting things one wedding?  Awesome!

David is like many of us. “Please don’t make me stand in front of the camera”!    He endured for Kristen.  Little bit of laughter, some teasing, and promises it would all be over soon!  He did great!   They were totally lost in each other’s eyes.   It was an easy job for me!   See you guys in October!

Saturday’s Couple

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Smartphone Version for Windows Media 10

The assignment was to get a head shot suitable for a newsletter for Dawn.  That part we did!  She is really a wonderful person to be around.  In just a matter of minutes you feel like suddenly it is a sunshine day full of happiness when you spend time with her.

The truth of the day is that it is cloudy, blustry, chilly, and not at all an ideal Spring day.  Here I was in the greenhouse surrounded by beautiful jewells of Spring.  I just could not resist bringing some Spring home with me.   Since I would have been yelled at for picking the flowers, I decided to photograph them.

Enjoy a little Spring if you are in a place where it hasn’t arrived yet.

Handmade for the party

a bridal fashion show

a sink full of Bud Light

The Home Kid’s

What do all these images have in common.  See below!

Heather, of course!  Saturday she had a double header…….. a shower at noon……. and a batchlorette  party in the evening!   She’s on the downhill side of counting days now!  Their wedding is just around the corner.

Our service had 6 dancers comprise our dance team in performance.  There were hours of rehearsal, and costuming, and lots of extra planning and work.   I brought my cameras for another purpose, but who could pass up an opportunity like this?  Yes, I got good images of the dancers, but the four shown here are what I had a melt down to capture.

I was not motivated to shoot these for approval by others.  The driving passion was I had to shoot them, and then develop them in Photoshop until I could see with my eyes what my heart was seeing.  Risky?  Yeah!  Sometimes projects that start like this end up in a not so appealing outcome.  It wasn’t something to be thought through. It presented itself before me and the camera.

Why is sort of thing even important?  For you, maybe it isn’t important to you.  To me, it releases something in me that keeps creativity alive.  Creativity can grow first stale then die if not fed.

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a little cabbage patch lookalike at last Saturday’s wedding. She was a burst of energy equal to the sun and gave new meaning to roller skating on the ceiling. She had one purpose as far as she was concerned for the entire event…. enjoy every single second!

Anytime family said “smile” to her…… you got this absolutely adorable flash of personality.

Grandma’s instructions for getting to the altar without mishap.

Ooops! No one told her what to do if she dropped all her petals.   She had a plan all of her own. She stopped the procession until all her petals were back in her basket.  Her brother tried to help, and then he tried to get her to just leave them.  Nothing doing!  Finally an adult had to come and get her.

One of her many dances with one of her favorite fellas

The bride and the groom?  Oh! Yes we shot images of them!

What?  You thought we were just going to show you the bride and the groom?  No way!   Our princess of the day had to be in the shot along with her brother!

Both the ceremony and reception were at Tanglewood.  Floral arrangements were by Clazzy Designs.

Blue Delphenium, White roses, and White Calla……….

One of my favorite DJ’s was on hand…..

A grab shot of BEN, and with his back to us Randy, the owner of SAS Entertainment.

And our final web image from Shannon and Regina’s Wedding Day………

Our little star hamming it up while giving Grandma a kiss!