While this was classified as a maternity session, I think it is more aptly named a “before the baby” session. I think I like the sound of that better, and it opens up the doors for the creative freedom that took place. Taking these photos was a great way to document the unique time in Ryan and Christie’s lives as they prepare for their son to join them. Some call it the calm before the storm.

Having photographed Ryan and Christie before(and been friends with them for a while) they trusted me to do something new and different especially for a before the baby session. We set out to capture bright summer images early one morning and end the session in the nearby creek. 

They are going to be great parents… but I can’t help but love the surprise face on Ryan below

Did I mention that the session took place on Ryan and Christie’s 3 year anniversary? It’s hard to believe three years has gone by already but it’s awesome to see what time brings. Oh yeah and the lensbaby shots I talked about yesterday – here’s more of them. I love the bokeh + blurred background!

Part II of the session was planned around a refreshing walk through the creek, which gave Christie the opportunity to show off her belly! Now I know pregnancy and bathing suits aren’t for everyone, but they are for me – and Christie who looks amazing with only a month to go! In fact, the water wasn’t at all deep enough for swimming, but I think it would be awesome to do something even more in the water – any takers? It was refreshing to be at the creek as the sun came out and the day started to heat up.

Christie posed for a few while Ryan caught some crayfish… and makes pregnancy look easy. Didn’t I say the session was the start of her modeling career? I love the drama and range of tones in the black and white images.

to end the day, a kiss. It was a successful before the baby session if you ask me, and a great way to add to the celebration of their anniversary. Now it’s just time to wait for Griffin to arrive!

Before I do a full post on Ryan + Christie’s session I wanted to share this image in particular, taken with my lensbaby. If you’re not familiar with cameras you are probably wondering what in the world a lensbaby is… and to find out more you should follow the link. The basics are that the lens moves and allows you to have one point in focus with everything else being dramatically out of focus (I guess you could say it’s like a trick lens…  like when you listen to the song and start to hear robotic voices… that’s what I’ll compare a lensbaby to). Anyways, when I bought my lensbaby I was excited but it took me a while to use it. Since it can create such dramatic images at first I think I didn’t use it because I wasn’t sure it would meld with my style and the other images I captured. I didn’t want robotic voices in the song for the heck of it (and we’ve all heard those songs + seen those images), but after seeing what I captured (from the ones that are in focus – it’s super tricky manual focus) I love how it looks. Now you can expect a few robotic voices, just enough to keep things interesting.

I’ve been MIA from photography as last week I helped with the cross country and track camp at Houghton College. We had a great time but the days were non stop and included: getting up early (for me, I know- 6:30), morning runs, sessions, more workouts, stretching, meals, lots of games, and more. While following the regular schedule of camp I’m hoping to carry over some of the habits (keep up the morning runs?) and looking forward to getting back into a routine with work. Now that we are approximately 90% moved in to our new place my office is coming together and that will make things even easier. Doesn’t it seem hard to work when things are unsettled or out of place?

At the end of the week, which would only be yesterday, I met up with Alphonse and Samantha for their engagement session at Ontario Beach Park in Rochester, New York. It was fun to hang out and spend time with them and the image above is one that stood out as I browsed through their photos. It was just before sunset so the light was warm and soft and lovely! I’ll be back up in Rochester on Tuesday for several sessions and available for meetings – let me know if you want to get together and talk weddings!

We were determined to make the session happen. After meeting up after the wedding I shot in Rome, NY we drove to our planned location and it immediately started to downpour. We waited it out for around 15 minutes until the rain died down, although it was still a challenge to find the right spot for pictures. After a few tries we found our way to a quite overlook where we could avoid the glances and stares of passerby’s – no one wants a crowd. So finally with no rain, no crowd, and a nice setting this is what I captured, starting with some classic boy + dog images…

this just looks so classic to me! their dog is hilarious and obviously very good with kids.
the Stevensons obviously already have one very cute son, so I can’t wait to see what their daughter looks like!

Diane looks fabulous! Even though it took me a little longer to finish these photos… they weren’t taken that long ago. I want to look this good 4 weeks before having a baby!

I’m glad we were able to meet for this session and I wonder what my chances are at photographing their newborn… too bad I don’t live closer! Either way next time I’ll plan better weather :)

Some weddings are so unique and fun they stand out above the rest. It’s not just the location, the food, the weather that makes the day but it is so often the people. Tommy and Megan are the kind of people that would rather not be in the spotlight, in fact I think I heard Megan mention she would have been fine  with and even smaller affair. Their wedding reflected their personality and instead of asking everyone to focus on them, they invited everyone to celebrate with them. Taking place at the Williamsburg Inn (in colonial Williamsburg, Virginia) the wedding was midday and guested were invited to a high tea reception afterwards. Since Tommy and Megan did a first look and took pictures before the wedding, the day flowed very smoothly.

So, how did these two Wheaton grads meet and get together? It all started back in speech class. Megan signed up with friends but was put in a different section then all of them – a class that had a lot of upperclassmen. Tommy was one of those upperclassmen and they started to get to know each other.

When you like someone and are trying to figure out if they like you, you pick up signs and read into every move… which is why (understandably, I might add) when Megan sent Tommy some cookies in the mail he was sure she was in to him. While that might have been true, Megan is an avid baker and loves to make treats and share them with all her friends. After packaging up enough for everyone, she had some left over so she thought of Tommy from her speech class. Tommy thought he was the only one getting cookies, but it didn’t matter since it was just the move he needed to start pursuing her more, and the rest is history.

This gorgeous vine covered walkway was are of the Williamsburg Inn, and the perfect spot for the first look and some photos afterwards. Don’t they look so classic?

TOM’s are a favorite of Tommy + Megan and they incorporated them into the wedding as the gift to their wedding party. The guys wore the burlap classics for the wedding and the girls were given the yellow linen shoes.

I achieved a rare thing by getting some of these guys to jump – I didn’t know that until afterwards, but I think it was worth it!

The back of the Inn was gorgeous and the perfect spot for some wedding party pictures – both the building and the golf course, where there was also croquet set out!

The ceremony took place over looking the golf course from behind the Inn and it was beautiful.

Megan’s brother was deployed and couldn’t make it for the wedding… he was however in an article in the New York times on the same day! The high tea reception was amazing, and the staff at the Williamsburg Inn not only did an awesome job, but they were so helpful to everyone. Here are a few details from the reception:

Megan’s nephew was adorable! In between the reception we went to the front of the Inn for a few last shots with the bikes…

I’m so happy for you guys, and was thrilled to be a part of the day! I hope you enjoyed all of the images and to see the full set head to their gallery. Leave Tommy + Megan a comment or let me know what you think about the wedding + images and help them earn a free enlargement.

Three years ago on this day Ryan and Christie were married. I was lucky enough to be at the wedding, as a guest and photographer, on a hot New York day much like today. Now three years later, they are weeks away from welcoming a baby boy into their family… and doesn’t Christie look amazing? I heard her secret was swimming throughout the pregnancy, which is why it was appropriate for us to head down to the creek for part of the maternity session. Congratulations you two on three years, and look out for the rest of these soon!

There really wasn’t any other time to do the session. Living in the Chicago area meant that they wouldn’t have much time in Virginia before the wedding, so we decided to do the engagement session the day before. It also meant that I wasn’t able to meet with Tommy + Megan in person prior to the wedding, but I was able to get to know them through our emails and conversations. We settled on heading into colonial Williamsburg for the shoot which was right next to the site of their wedding the next day at the Williamsburg Inn.

I was looking forward to it, and while I had stopped at many historic sites on road trips as a child, I had never made it to Williamsburg. Tommy and Megan didn’t know what to expect, but arrived as any couple would the day before their wedding: completely in love. It had been an understandably busy few days for them so the engagement session gave them some time together and away from the planning, organizing, out of town guests, family, decisions, and everything else that happens the day before a wedding. Despite being self described as camera shy, they were one of the easiest couples to photograph. Most of the photos took place in gorgeous locations right off of the main street in colonial Williamsburg, but I couldn’t help but include pieces of the city like in the photo above!

After the session we walked over to a coffee shop to get some drinks to cool us down, and Tommy said something to the effect of “while that could have been one of the most awkward experiences in my life you made it fun.” Mission accomplished. If you thought their engagement session was great then you have to stay tuned for their wedding since it was even better!

It was gorgeous. There were wide stretches of land and open fields, mountains in the distance and grasses blowing in the wind. I know the country has grown on me, even though I grew up in a close to opposite location. My destination was Culpepper, Virginia and Nikki’s parent’s family farm. It was the location not only for their engagement session but for their October wedding. It was wonderful to get a feel for the area and meet up with Mike, Nikki, and her family and I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to photographing their wedding. I think you’ll be excited to see it as well.

I’m sure the wedding is going to be amazing. The view you see above will be visible for the ceremony and the reception will take place in and around a barn on their property. I know they have work to do to get ready, but I think it’s going to be completely worth it in the end.

Don’t be fooled by the country setting. Mike and Nikki are New Yorkers now – even more so than I – and love living in the city. Not only that, but they’re pretty much what I would classify as world travelers. They like to take a three day weekend and hop on a plane to Amsterdam, Holland, Paris, you name it. This is the beginning of many more adventures for these two.

Mike and Nikki have a great twin lens reflex camera that they’ve used on some of their trips. Since there’s a darkroom in Nikki’s house she prints some of their images and enjoys photography… maybe we’ll see more from her some day. We loaded up some film in the camera for the esession and Mike and Nikki took some pictures of each other. I sent the film off to be developed and I bet it’s done but en route due to our change of address. I hope they turn out and if so I’ll have to do a second post of those.

Nikki you’re gorgeous! I can’t wait to photograph you on your wedding day

I asked them what the plan was for their honeymoon. They’re going big : Africa. Tanzania and Kenya to be exact.

We headed out into a field where some of the cows were grazing to get them in some of the shots. I learned that the cow they’ll be serving at the wedding is already picked out – I know that sounds weird but it doesn’t get more local than that.

I love those b+w’s and you know you can’t wait for their wedding. I certainly can’t.

This wedding shoot was pulled together to combine amazing flowers, creative letterpress, and modern photography. I showcased the flowers before by Sassafras in Rochester, New York, but you’ll see a few of the images again because I love them so much! It was fun to pull this together with Sarah + Margaret (who’s engagement session you just saw below) and they set most everything up and arranged for things to happen. Margaret created all of the signs that you see and we’re excited to give the one you see above away. Just leave a comment and the most convincing person will win! (how does that sound?) Erin + Ben were our lovely models and made looking good look really easy… thanks so much for being a part of the shoot!

Erin is gorgeous, hilarious, and super smart. She was kind enough to squeeze this in her busy doctor schedule.

Ben is a talented musician, soft spoken, and thankfully the kind of guy that agreed to be in photos with his wife! I’m counting it as an anniversary shoot for them.

more fun signs by Margaret – the above reads “til death do us part” and the bride + groom signs below are also up for grabs if you want to leave a comment for them!

oh yes, and there were horses… well we got lucky and their owners lent them to us for a few shots. thanks! I’ll leave you with this last dreamy shot and leave some comments if you want to win a set of signs!

Welcome to the second part of Margaret + Luke’s Rochester engagement session, the night portion. I had been wanting to do this for a while, but it involved a lot of set up and was harder to pull off, which is why you haven’t seen it earlier. On that note, if I have any couples who want to do something similar – I would love to! We’ll just have to figure out the logistics.

For this night engagement session, we kept our picnic set up and strung up some lights for something more romantic. Long exposures and light writing completed the set of photos, and let me tell you it took multiple tries for Margaret to write love backwards for the camera – but it was worth it! I love this romantic set and we created a fun save the date for M+L where they wrote out the numbers for their date.

take 2 of the heart shot… two of many :) Save the date for 10.2.10 and can’t wait to see you then!