Website Contact Down & Back Up

Over the past 48 hours my website contact form was not receiving any inquires, so I apologize to anyone who was trying to contact me via my website, and ask that you resubmit your request. Any emails sent directly to my account have been received and responded too.

Everything is back up and operational, but I may need some ice cream after dealing with IT problems today. But to console me a little bit more, some more sneak peaks from KC and Zach's rockin' Irish wedding should be up soon! And just wait until you see the details they put together with the help of her fabuloso sister :-D

Sneak Peak :: The most lovely Ball & Chain

This ball and chain does not carry a heavy burden for the fabulous K.C. & Zach. Instead, it represents the beginning of a relationship filled with laugher and and surrounded by dear friends and family. I have started editing their fantastic Irish wedding right here in the heart of Wisconsin, stay tuned for more later this week!

In with the new... Business Cards!

Along with my mantra of the little things in life being the best things in life, I did a little happy dance when my new business cards showed up in the mail yesterday. Particularly happy that they look just like I envisioned them, which is good, because I was the designer :-) The only thing is this picture does not do the fantastic metallic sheen justice.

The fun part is that after each session, I will add another picture to the back and a bright new color to the front, so soon enough I will have a fantastic assortment of beautiful people with amazing pictures gracing every one. How divine is that!

Thanks for letting me share a little of the little things that makes my day. Have a fantastic weekend, I know I will because I am running the Fox Cities Half Marathon. I am sure I will have a little something to share on that next week. Wish me well!

Love in Black & White

I have a fascination with black and white photography, so as I was editing Anne and Tim's wedding, I noticed that quite a few of their portraits tended to lend themselves to a B&W treatment. Some trends come and go. There is a portrait of me from when I was little and there is a little vignette in the corner with my brother's head superimposed in looking down at me. Even better, he had a mullet. If you look back at portrait studio photos of yourself from the 80's you know what I am talking about. But B&W photos are just simply timeless and classic. Here are some of my favorite B&W's:

And just because I do not want you to think I only photograph in black and white, a photo from the family around the alter:

An Intimate Wedding

What I absolutely love about intimate weddings with small guest lists, is that you literally feel in the midst of the day. The group is chatty, everyone is close to each other, and there is so much love and affection between every person in attendance. I think there is nothing sweeter then when the pastor asks all the guests to gather around the alter and celebrate such a beautiful occasion by literally wrapping themselves around the bride and groom. My favorite part is that I can leave my telephoto lens behind and just get up close and really capture the beauty of the day and still not feel intrusive. So when folks say, it is just going to be a small wedding, "nothing special", my immediate response is that it is always special to have those with the greatest love drenching you with joy on your wedding day.

And so it was with Anne and Tim. Both of them were excited and a little giddy as the day started. Anne looked stunning in her golden dress, Tim had that quirky smile and a sparkle in his eye. Their families gathered in Madison to celebrate this day with them, and everyone there knew they were witnessing something special.

A few more to come from this celebration, but a couple to leave you with.

Of course the older cousins had to grab their uncle's golf clubs and mentor their younger cousins swing.

Minnehaha

A couple of my friends packed up the car with me and headed over to the Twin Cities to surprise our good friend for her birthday. We had the perfect plan: your roommate was going to distract her to make sure she did not plan anything for the weekend, one of her college buddies was also going to drive over from Chicago, and we were going to bring the birthday cake. Trick candles included, of course. Unfortunately, our masterfully laid plan was broken up a couple of hours before we arrived. Our fantastic birthday friend was booking some other plans and our accomplice in St. Paul had to let her know we were coming so that she would not go wondering off before we arrived. So although we did not get to run up to her door, she was still pretty excited, and she even had a little time to start throwing ideas out for our weekend adventures.

The weekend began at a place I had never heard of before, Minnehaha Falls. Apart from the awesome name, Minnehaha is just a fantastic place to visit if you are ever in Minneapolis. In the middle of a large city you find this beautiful waterfall and trails that lead you out to the Mississippi River. The park around it is just fantastic -- with lots of wedding party photo opportunities might I add -- and it does not hurt when you have a gorgeous day to go exploring. It should be noted after our own experience that there are two paths at the fork in the path to the Mississippi, one is a little more rustic feel, not difficult to navigate, but when we were there it was slightly flooded. The other path is actually built to have utility vehicles go through, so it is a little easer on the feet. It should not surprise anyone that we picked the flooded route and it was not until the journey back that we realized the other side was a little nicer --lesson learned.

Along the way we found some interesting things, including this cliff that had carvings from visitors that found their way down to see the mighty Mississippi. In my head I was imagining a fantastic photo shoot in front of this wall with some off camera lighting.

We tried to pack in our adventure as much as possible, so we ate a quick lunch and headed over to the fabulous Minnesota Zoo. I have to say, I was really impressed with how the curators put the exhibits together. Everything flowed wonderfully and really felt like it was meant for folks of all ages. Again, it looked like another prime wedding photography spot, the tipoff was that they were setting up for a wedding reception when we left. Hopefully all the animals will jam to the dance music just fine.

Of course, it would not be a fun trip unless I acted like my normal self.

And there is no going to a zoo without some wildlife photos. One of my favorites of the day, this amazing looking shark. I love the light coming in on this little fella.

Then we discovered something amazing about the tiger exhibit, they had a display tracking camera that snapped a photo when you walked though the gate, just like how they track the animals in the wild. Of course, when we discovered this phenomenal little gadget, we put it to good use.

I have no idea why some of our friends walked up ahead pretending they did not know us ;-)

Hi there handsome!

The next day we headed out bright and early to the Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis. Now all the natives of the area are probably thinking, you guys are such tourists. You are right, but we did go with some locals who had not been there before, so I am thinking we are a little more legit. Not to mention, we wanted to see that famous cherry on top of the spoon.

And now it is time to embarrass my buddy. Just kidding. I will leave you with this shot of us discovering the awesome powers of reflection. We were working on our synchronized photography skills, I think we look like a perfect 10.

Blu Website Winner!!!

More Minnesota fun tomorrow, but I have to interrupt my regularly scheduled blogging to make an announcement. See that #1 up there, that is me! I was one of the lucky winners of the Blu Domain website contest! My prize is the fantastic Lucille Ann website template. As soon as it goes live, I will be sure to let everyone know, but you better believe that I am doing a little happy dance this morning.

So without further ado, you get to see my zany facial expression entry that brought me this honor:

Yes, I am a dork. But that is why you guys love me :-)

Minne-So-Ta here we come!

I love to travel, even if it is just a weekend across the state to visit Minnesota. But even better is surprising a good friend for her birthday. Not everything was fun and games though. You bet that my camera was attached to the hip. And for once, I was not the only one behind the lens.

I have a couple fun things to post this week, but first, here is a sneak peak from our mini-adventure (Note: no one can escape our watchful lens):

Quoted in Good Housekeeping

There is nothing better then waking up in the morning to find that you have a blurp in Good Housekeeping. Especially from a gal like me who was coined the, "Martha Stewart" of my residence hall in college. My fifteen seconds in the spotlight is through an article entitled, "Voluntyranny". The ironic part is that I am an avid volunteer. Let me change that up a bit, not just an avid volunteer, I am the volunteer that the church will usually call first because they know I cannot say "no". In all honesty, how would you reply to a youth minister who asks you to help out and says they understand if you are busy, but, "why don't you just pray on it." Yes, I have a problem with declining these calls for help, but on the other hand part of me feels a bit of self-fulfillment every time I say "yes".

When I was first called up, I really had no idea what the article would focus on other then the topic of "volunteering". The article talks about folks who are ultra volunteers and are also the ones most likely to overextend themselves. Hold your hats, are they talking about folks like me? It makes sense though, most organizations find a good and reliable volunteer and they grasp onto them continually asking for their help because they are dependable. But the quote they used from me is more along the lines of: volunteer using what you love. In my case that is photography. I never feel overextended when I am behind a lens. For me, volunteering is a time to step back and be thankful for your blessings, and share them with others. To read the full text, follow this link.

Now is the perfect time to add in my usual plug. I often volunteer my photography services to local non-profits, and a couple to national photography volunteer programs. One being Think Pink, an organization that focuses on the story of women and their families as they battle and overcome breast cancer. The other organization is Operation Love, an organization that gives a little back to our service men and women that protect our country everyday. If anyone you know in the area could benefit from these services, please feel free to forward these links. Images are powerful and significant, and that is why I love to share them.