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Here is a slideshow of weddings from the last couple of years. Watching this video really reminds me of why Ashley and I do what we do. It stirs emotions inside me. Each wedding is an incredible series of memories that I have. When I watch this I start to relive each wedding we've done. It is an amazing ride to watch this video...enjoy.
Sometimes its fun to see what kinds of things are happening behind the scenes. Ashley and I tend to snap a lot of photos of each other as we work...it's digital right...not wasteful. So we just wanted to share some of those various photos from weddings and other misc. photo shoots this year. We have many more posted on our Facebook page. View them here. Read on for some quick stories behind these photos.
This first one is from Heather and Dan's wedding. At times we are not only photographers but also conductors, maestros of the glass, and in need of a blow horn. This was a group we were shooting in the warehouse area south of MLK in downtown Des Moines. Check out all the guys doing what they do up against the wall. Now....everyone else please....
This photo was taken by Ashley as our son Cole and I discussed using my cell phone to take pictures. This was Cole's first time on a photo shoot...hey, someone has to keep this going when we are done. He actually hung out through two shoots and this was in between them. He took some great shots with cell phone. And some that had half a head in them.
Little ones are always interested in the big cameras and seeing themselves after we have taken a picture. Here you see Ashley having a mini-session with a young girl at a recent wedding. Kids make for the best photos. They are cheesy and posey and always willing to be in front of the camera.
This shot is from Melissa's Trash the Dress session this year. TTD sessions are fun, unique, and creative. We get the opportunity to put a bride in all those locations we wouldn't dare put them on their wedding day, but know that they will turn out great photos. Here Ashley is shooting photos of Melissa in an alley in downtown Ames.
This photo was taken at a local hot spot for photographers. Whenever we shoot there it is typically a line waiting to get some space to shoot. It's a secret location (north of the Science Center and south of the Hessen Haus.) We were hanging out waiting for a shoot to start and just having fun.
These last two photos come from Maddie and Kyle's wedding. After a long day of standing and shooting and squatting and shooting and laying on a gravel driveway and shooting and ..... you get the point. It is nice to take a minute and relax. So I sat for a while. Nothing to uncommon. Sometimes it may be the best angle for lighting anyway. Double win. But as you can see, back up and at it right away.
This final set of Behind the Photos 2009 come from 3 weddings. Some of these are more telling of what we do as photographers than what was actually happening in the photo. These are a great set...read on.
Photo 1 comes from Toni and Shaun's April wedding. The wedding was at Capital Lutheran church near the state capital in downtown Des Moines. This is a quite moment where Shaun was relaxing and grabbing something to eat before the ceremony. In this case I am trying to capture this quick moment that was taking place right before the ceremony. But as a photographer and an intruder to the natural flow of events, I have remain hidden and quite. I shot this down a hallway and away from what was happening in that room. Shaun may have known I was there...I'm the one with all the big cameras...but it was a great capture.
This 2nd photo also comes with Toni and Shaun's wedding. This composite photo includes a photo that I took and one that Ashley took. The great thing about this photo is it captures Toni and Shaun when they don't necessarily know what Ashley and I are up to. The photo on the left is the photo I was taking with Toni and Shaun's rings in Shaun's hand. While I was shooting that photo, Ashley was taking the other photo. Which they didn't know Ashley was up to until Toni looked up at Ashley. This was a great moment where these two were just enjoying their big day and showing the connection that they have for each other. One of those things we do when no one else is looking...and I would say it says a lot about their relationship with one another.
Our third photo comes from Mirsada and Aldin's late April wedding. As they say April showers bring May flowers. April showers also test sensitive camera equipment. Mirsada and Aldin's big day started with a traditional Svatove. The groom's family meets at one location while the bride's family meets in another. The woman wait inside and the men wait outside at the bride's location. Ashley was inside with the ladies while I was outside with the men. It was a wet day. Not a downpour but a good steady rain. So I spent a couple hours outside with the guys as they waited for Aldin's family to bring him to the Bride's location. This photo is of a young man holding an umbrella over the accordion player. As Mirsada is about to come outside. It was a new and unique wedding for Ashley and I. We are glad that we were able to be a part of their big day.
Our final two photos come from the same wedding. Brandy and Teague were married June of 2009. This first photo is one of my favorites of someone expressing their joy in the union of the newly married couple. This is Brandy's brother as he claps following the presenting of Brandy and Teague as man and wife. The cool part about this photo is that the wedding was in the backyard of the family's house. With a hand built chapel and seating platform to boot. Awesome.
The final photo was shot inside the house at the location of Brandy and Teague's wedding from an upstairs balcony. What made this shot work so well is the rounded balcony actually controlled the direction of the flash so that it almost spotlighted them right where they were. What you can't see in this photo is that the house was under heavy remodeling. This spot turned out great and was one of our favorites from 2009.
Below are the first of 11 photos selected for a 2009 Behind the Photos story. These are the first 5. Next 6 to follow soon...
This first photo comes from Sara and Mark's wedding in October. As you will see there are two photos in this one. The first on the left is a photo of their cake topper...the second on the right is from their engagement session.....see anything. Sara and Mark's cake topper was custom made and matched this engagement photo that we took. The engagement photo has it's own great story. We asked Mark to give Sara a piggy back ride and they asked why not Sara give Mark a ride. And she did. Definitely one of my favorites from 2009.
This next image comes from Maddie and Kyle's wedding in September. What made this wedding so great was the location. It took place at Maddie's parent's farm near Deep River, IA. The wedding was held on top a wide open area over looking some of Iowa's famous rolling plains. With light clouds dotting the sky it made for a picture perfect wedding. This particular shot was taking with all natural light inside of a barn on the property. We shot an entire series inside of this barn, but the flood lights are what made this such a cool shot.
Our next images is one of the more fun images of the year and one that Ashley and I had no prior knowledge of before we started shooting. This one comes from Jetta and Joseph's wedding in September. During the reception and shortly before Ashley and I headed out, Joseph grabbed a bag from under the DJ's table that he'd been carry with him for most of the day. I assumed he was just carrying it around with his stuff in it. Wrong. Joseph proceeded to bust out his best Michael Jackson moves in front of all the guests at the reception. We would later find out that Joseph had always done this when he was younger. This was to be his final performance on his biggest stage. It was an awesome moment.
Our next photo is from Robin and Cale's wedding in August. This one was chosen simply because it was easily my favorite cake of the year. The colors were so vibrant and the design was so much fun. Robin and Cale were a truly incredible couple and without confirmation I think their goal was to make sure their guests had as much fun as possible at their wedding. Complete with guests tables dressed with Monkey's in a Barrel, Hungry Hippos, and various other games and toys. I know that we had a great time and even found a few moments to play with the Monkeys in a Barrel ourselves.
This fifth and final photo of part 2 comes from Laura and Steve's August wedding. This shot was taken downtown after the group had spent some time at Mickey's in Clive and on the party bus. Ashley rode along as they relaxed and enjoyed the day. Ashley caught this quite moment of the two of them together. Small moments like this are usually tough to capture and shows the two of them together and away from all the busy things that happen through out a wedding day.
Part 3 to follow....
So here they are...starting with the engagement photos. These are 5 photos that I selected to tell the stories behind. It was not easy to pick just five, but these are the ones for 2009 in no particular order...
This first photo is of Stephanie and Scott. We shot some photos downtown at the new sculpture garden. This photo only happened because I vandalized some stuff....on accident. The giant Nomade sculpture to be exact. This "Please Do Not Touch" sign was affixed to the concrete directly in front of the statue. I accidentally kicked it and it flew across the ground. We decided to have some fun with it and this photo is one that we took. Technically the sign did say "please".....
This next one comes from Micci and Devon's engagement shoot. This is one of my favorites because it shows something that you wouldn't have seen normally from the shoot. We shot most of their engagement photos in Downtown Ames on rather warm September 13. The sun was shining and although we were hiding in the shadows and the alleys it was tough not to sweat a little. So, kinda gross, but this is the sweat towel. Something that tends to appear at a lot of engagement sessions and other photo shoots shot in the summer. We do not have one that we carry around for everyone....uh, gross....but everyone tends to bring one when it's that hot. It's a good idea. With real close ups you would definitely see all the sweaty detail. Not with these two.
This photo was NOT taken by Nuzum Photo. It deserves it's correct photo credits. This photo is copyright Nikki. Nikki was the self-proclaimed best self shooter. Everyone these days is holding their camera out away from their face and snapping away. A tripod isn't always available but you have to snap that shot with you and your friends. In this case we put Nikki to the test. Using our 15mm fisheye lens she snapped this shot....perfect....the 2010 Self Shooter Championships have a favorite.
A photographer loves a new playground. An Iowa farm is an excellent playground. This photo comes from Kellie and Brian's engagement photos shot on Brian's family farm. We wondered around across years of history and every location we could think of. This one came late in the shoot as we were just about to wrap up. They thought it would be pretty cool to get a shot with one of the old pick-up trucks on the property. I thought it would be cool to take this one. We took both.
The final photo that I chose comes from Nicole and Josh's second engagement shoot. We split their shoot into two so they could do some inside in the winter and then some outside once it got nicer out. As you can tell it was a pretty nice day...they did end up in the water. We shot this photo at Saylorville Lake. We headed down to the Cherry Glen area and started shooting. These two were up for pretty much anything. Josh was really adventurous and suggest jumping in the water. I won't force anyone to do anything on a shot, but this was awesome for me. They had a great time and were having a ton of fun...as you can see.
After scouring over contact sheets from 36 weddings and over 20 engagement shoots, I have compiled a list of photos that have some awesome stories behind them. I wanted to pick so many photos, but narrowed it down to 10 wedding photos and 5 engagement photos. I will be writing up a blog post with each of the photos and their stories soon...for now take a look at the sheets that are marked up, scratched on, and crossed over.
On January 2nd, Ashley and I photographed our first wedding of the year. Andrea and Aaron were married at a church in Bondurant, IA. The weather outside was...cold...very cold. But the good news was that there wasn't any snow falling. The sun was shining and created a rather beautiful day even though the high temp was 1. With temperatures 28 degrees below normal it didn't seem like we would have much of an opportunity to take photos outside. However, Andrea and Aaron really wanted to get some outside shots. Following the ceremony we headed outside and captured some shots at Heritage Park in Ankeny before heading to the warm climate of the botanical center downtown. We finished up with a few shots in an elevator and at the top of the tower at the Mercy Holiday Inn. Andrea, Aaron, families and friends were all great to work with and the photos turned out perfect. We all made the best of a really cold day...Congratulations Andrea and Aaron!
