Last night Ashley and I photographed Shea and Denny's wedding.  As a photographer when someone approaches you with a creative and open view on wedding photos, you get really excited.  These two wanted a small private ceremony followed by some creative photography.  Ashley and I have been really anxious for this wedding.  We wanted to find some unique and interesting places to take wedding photos for Shea and Denny.  We searched around and found some spots we wanted to go and we made the most of them.  We started at a property owned by the City of Des Moines near MLK and Fleur.  The location is an abandoned group of buildings.  They have been barb wired in and for the most part in accessible.  We did however find some spots there to take shots.  We then headed under the 9th street bridge for a few more shots before finishing up on Walnut Ave. near Fitch Studios.  These two were awesome to work with and their laid back attitude made taking pictures really fun.  Ashley and I got to express a lot of our creativity and it shows in the results and Denny and Shea were excellent models.  They were incredibly fun and up for anything.  Below are a few of our favorites.  Congratulations Shea and Denny!

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Last night I got the opportunity to photography 5 year old Gabby and her little sister Shae.  They were wonderful to work with.  Gabby was very educational, informing me that Ariel, her favorite princess, has red hair, not blue, and she was also a big help changing backdrops.  Shae is just a little charmer.  Her face is always changing, you can't help but smile when photographing her.  Here are a few sneak peeks from the shoot.  Enjoy!

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From time to time Ashley and I find ourselves left to our own devices.  Sometimes we arrive early for a photo shoot or things are just running behind.  Either way we find ways to entertain ourselves.  Mainly taking photos of anything and everything around.  I thought we'd share a few from recent photo shoots that may help give a little insight to our thought process and just who we are.  Hope you enjoy!

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This weekend Ashley photographed three month photos for fast growing Caleb.  Ashley has done two photo shoots with Caleb already, newborn and six-week.  The little guy is not so little anymore.  He is growing faster than...well no cliche needed, he is growing FAST.  Just ask Mom and Dad and they will tell you how fast the clothes are coming out and being put away just as fast.  Below are just a few of our favorites.  What a handsome little guy!

 

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On Thursday Ashley and I photographed senior photos for Sara.  Sara is a senior at Urbandale High School.  Sara was a ton of fun.  She wore bright colors and was interactive throughout the shoot.  We started in studio for just a few pictures then headed outside to get some awesome shots.  We took several shots at Greenwood Park and the Art Center before heading to Gray's Lake.  All are great locations and make for fantastic backdrops.  Below are just a few of our favorites shots.  Congratulations Sara.

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This past Saturday Ashley and I photographed Laura and Ben's wedding at Summerset Winery near Indianola, IA.  The weather was unbelievable.  July and only 70 degrees.  The sun was out and shining, but also hid behind the clouds just enough to allow us time for outdoor photos.  We had a great time scouting the property for photo opportunities and there were plenty around.  Laura and Ben were great about getting the photos we had in mind.  In the end the photos turned out awesome.  One of the groomsmen recently broke his leg and even he was up for moving around to get the shots in!  Ashley and I had a great time and couldn't be happier with the results.  Below are just a few of our favorites.  Congratulations Laura and Ben!

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On Tuesday Ashley and I photographed senior photos for Rachel.  Rachel is a senior at Johnston High School.  We took just a few studio shoots and got outside quickly.  Outside photos are sooo much better than studio stuff.  We headed downtown and took some shots in the court avenue area.  We then headed out to Saylorville and made sure to get some shots at the lake.  Rachel was awesome to work with and the photos certainly reflect her fun attitude!  Mom and Sister even jumped in for a few shots.  We had a great time...below are just a few of our favorites.  Congratulations Rachel!

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This past Monday I took photos of newborn Aaron for Mom and Dad, Lindsey and Jeff.   They are very excited to have him home from his stay in the NICU.  He started off the photo shoot right, sleeping like an angel, but once he was naked there was no getting him back to sleep.  After some gentle persuasion, a bottle, and a couple of diaper changes we eventually got him to settle down for a couple of photos.  Below are a few of our favorites. Congratulations to the new parents!

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On Friday Ashley and I photographed Kelly and Josh's wedding in Ames, IA.  The ceremony was held across the street from the Memorial Union on the Iowa State Campus.  Kelly and Josh were up for all the picture opps that we had spotted and even ventured out onto busy Lincoln Way so I could experiment with some shots.  The best part, and the story to be told, was that during our little photo shoot we were trying to get some cars in motion behind the couple.  However, Ames Police had something else in mind.  It was also opening weekend for the Iowa Games in Ames.  As we were standing on the island in the middle of the road, Ames Police stopped traffic to allow the Iowa Games torch to pass down the street.  The Ames Police actually apologized for interrupting our little photo shoot, but Kelly and Josh now have a story to tell.  After everyone, including police, onlookers, and torch carriers, wished the two congratulations and the best of luck...we were able to get a few shots.  Great story for them from their wedding day, great photo shoot moment story for us!  Below are just a few of our favorites shots from the day.  Congratulations Kelly and Josh!

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Last night Ashley and I photographed Henry's one year photos.  We went downtown near the old train depot and also ventured near the capital building.  Henry might very well be the most mobile one year old we've encountered.  We had to chase him up and down the dock, alley, and sidewalk just to catch some photos.  Henry was awesome and the only time he got upset was when we stopped moving to take a few family pictures.  Henry will have one story to tell some day, as we ventured to the capital building, i had forgotten that they were filming the new movie The Experiment.  We crashed the set, but stayed out of the way.  Below are a few of our favorites shots.

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With it being the busy wedding time of year, Ashley and I thought we'd share some photos from the celebration of our 5th wedding anniversary.  We are pretty reserved and not too adventurous for the most part, so we decided to do something a little more exciting.  After some Googling, we scheduled our hot air balloon ride with John Jensen from Hot Air Addiction.  John was awesome.  We've been rescheduling our ride over the last month to fit into to both of our busy schedules.  Finally we caught a good night with good weather.  Ashley and I both had a great time.  John was a great pilot and willing to answer all the questions I had about ballooning.  Below are a few shots we took...

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This weekend Ashley and I photographed Kim and Don's wedding.  The ceremony and reception were both held at The Meadows in Altoona, iA.  Having both at the same location was great, eliminating travel time and freeing us up for some extra photo time.  During a quick break from picture taking I skated off to speak with security.  Luckily we were allowed to go out on to the casino floor and take some pictures....with only 2 rules....1. I couldn't take any pictures of any other casino patrons....and 2. I couldn't take any pictures of the insides of the machines.  Since I left my telescoping crow bar at home, we easily kept from breaking the rules.  Kim and Don were great to work with and had an incredibly fun wedding party and guests.  All of the hard work planning really paid off and the wedding was beautiful!  Kim's hard work and attention to detail really helped things flow smoothly.  Below are just a few of our favorites.  Congratulations Kim and Don!

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Ashley and I gave away three free engagement sessions this year.  We picked winners randomly and based on engagement story. We had a lot of entries and 3 were selected.  By chance, we were already invited to photograph Melissa and Andre's wedding and they won one of the three shoots. 

July in Iowa can be hot, humid, and stormy at times.  On Friday it was a little of all three.  We headed to downtown Des Moines with Melissa and Andre.  The area around the river and the area near the old train depot are always hot spots for Des Moines photographers.  The alleys, buildings, and general backdrop give many picture opportunities.  We sometimes do similar photos at each shoot, but at the same time ALWAYS have something new come from each shoot.  This one was no different.  We started out on the pedestrian bridge near Principal Park.  It was a little rainy, more misty than anything, but quickly stopped and allowed us to get the shoot in.  We ventured down some new alley ways and around some new spots.  Melissa and Andre were great to work with.  I don't think that Andre liked that I brought a camera along, but he was more than a good sport about getting all the photos we wanted.  They were great about going down alley's and the other spots that we choose for the shoot even though they had to put up with me saying we were done and then running off another 100 photos at various locations from various angles.  Either way, these guys were awesome and we are really looking forward to the October wedding!  Below are a few of our favorites...

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Last Monday I had the opportunity to photograph engagement photos for Jill and Travis.  Ashley and I will be shooting their wedding this upcoming September.  This shoot was actually a reschedule.  We previously had a date set but were forced to cancel due to sporadic weather.  At 3pm when we canceled the shoot it was so dark in West Des Moines that the light sensors had tripped and the evening lights had come on around the area.  At 6pm, the scheduled time, it was blue skies and sunny...that's Iowa weather.  We headed out to Gray's Lake and found some great backdrops.  As a lot of you probably know, Gray's Lake is a hot spot on warm summer days.  Monday was no different.  It was a little warm and the place was packed.  We moved around the lake and got some great shots.  Young Braden even took some pictures.  I handed him one of my cameras and let him snap away, while I got shots of him (see below).  Jill, Travis, and Braden were great to work with and we are looking forward to the big day!  Below are a few of our favorite shots!

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This is one blog post that I have been really anxious to make.  Last year Kate and Bubba won one of our free engagement sessions and they ending up having us shoot their wedding as well.  We have had a great time working with them over the last year leading up to the wedding.  These two are so comfortable with each other and there is a great sense of connection when you see them interact.  Family would agree, and the best man's speech did, that these two are different as individuals, but as a couple they are clearly one and the same.  The share a great connection.  The wedding day was quite warm and held at Smith Chapel in Indianola, IA.  Unfortunately Smith Chapel lacks air conditioning so it was a bit of a scorcher in the church before, during, and after the ceremony.  In fact, during the recessional Bubba had enough and while in the middle of greeting guests, moved the event outdoors...much to the delight of the guests still in the building.  We got outside for some shots right after the wedding with just the two of them and luckily the rain held off.  We had an amazing time with these two.  Below are just a few of our favorites.  Congratulations Kate and Bubba!

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Ashley and I have been away for a while getting some much needed relaxation...kind of...but we are back and have some blog posts to catch up on.  On Friday, June 26, Ashley and I photographed Amber and Kyle's wedding.  The wedding day featured a little of everything...some rain, some panic, some traffic, the Des Moines Art Festival, a solo guitar performance, and everything else in between.  The wedding was held outdoors at the Rose Garden in Des Moines.  We had a few sprinkles and a few panicked moments where it looked like it might open up and rain...but it held off.  Some how it always does.  Mother nature clearly loves weddings that we photograph.  Through out the entire day these two and their wedding party were great to work with.  This wedding featured one of the coolest moments we've ever seen.  The best man gave a classic performance during the reception.  He rewrote the lyrics to Breakfast at Tiffany's ala Jimmy Fallon style and performed in front of the entire reception with guitar in hand.  I had trouble keeping my composure to take photos during it...it was classically funny and the standing ovation he received was proof....see photo below.  All in all, it was a great wedding and great newlyweds!  Congratulations Amber and Kyle!

Posted by Steve Nuzum at 9:21 AM | Permalink