The newlywed nine

So, I guess I'm dorkier than I thought. I was out for a jog a few days ago, and I started off with a brisk walk to the end of the street. As I was walking, several cars passed me on the road. Not uncommon. I live on a moderately busy little street. I saw a guy in a Lexus pull into the pre-school, drop off his kid, and pull out. When he had driven just past me, he rolled down the window and asked in a very concerned voice if I needed a ride. Nothing creepy at all about. His concern was very real. I kept walking and told him thank you but no, because I was out for a run. He looked at me as if to say, "you? out for a run? sure" and drove away. Real nice.

Getting married has definitely been one of best decisions I've ever made, but it's amazing how much freakin weight it's put on us. We always find ourselves saying "the diet starts Monday," but the call of Coldstone is always so much louder than the salad bar. Boo.

Well, our friends Bryce and Carrie have done a really great job at sticking to a diet and now they've been recognized nationally. The Today Show did a feature on them recently. Click here to see the spot.

Oh, and be sure to check back tomorrow for the report on my visit to Cupcake Bar ;).

Bobby '08

My trusty assistant and I had such a great time when we took Bobby downtown for his senior photo session. We walked all over the place, exploring new urban spots, and Bobby even taught us some new words that all the kids are using these days. "Duece," he says, is THE word to use, and it can apparently mean anything you want. For instance, we saw a cat running across a downtown street with a bird trying to escape its jaws and yeah, it was so duece. And when I climbed atop a gravel mountain to get a shot from above, Bobby was looking pretty duece. I love hanging out with seniors, especially when they're cool like Bobby and so willing to help me keep my lingo current.

Here are some of my favs:




I just love this shot of Bobby. So warm. So Duece.




No shoot would be complete with a sunflare ;)


My favorite shot. Bobby found this great location and I absolutely loved the huge graffiti wall.

Amanda - Class of 2008!

Amanda has such personality! We all had a blast on the day of her shoot, even though is was a SCORCHER outside :). Amanda's mom and friend, along with my trusty assistant , were such good sports as we braved the August sun to get some really fun shots. We started out the day in the studio, which was, thankfully, air conditioned :). Here are some of my favs from the shoot:

something a little different..

I am used to shooting pretty things. You know, brides, happy couples, smiling families, babies.... but this week, i got a chance to shoot something totally different. As many of you know, my husband is the director of resident life at a university in St. Louis and this week began the resident assistant training week (rat week, as it's lovingly been called). In light of the VA Tech shooting last year, police departments all over the county have been training to repsond to similar events on college campuses. Our local police department had their training right in our dorms! It was a great time because it provided some great training experience for our police dept and it also provided us a way to proactively train the resident life staff. Our staff got to be actors in several scenarios and it was great fun! Of course, I tagged along with my camera :). It was intense! The simulation seemed so real that I was shaking the first time they ran the drill! Here are some shots from the training session:

My Jon (orange) practiced his role with John (white). My Jon played th role of the shooter and John played the role of the hostage.


Rod, the trainer in green, demonstrated the "Televangelist Take-down" on John. Yeah, that's right. Two pics, three Jo(h)n's. Confusing? You bet :).


The police dept used airsoft guns to make the simulation as real as possible, so all the resdient life staff wore protective masks. No RAT's were harmed in the training drill.


Rod showed Jon how to act in his role as the shooter. John2 doesn't look too threatened.


Bryce will stop at nothing, even looking like a dweeb in his protective eyewear.


The training begins!


Yeah, my Jon pretty much was stinkin excited to be a part of the drill! His pic, with John2 and Rod was on the front page of the Post the next day.

I Love the Degnans!

Ok, so how cute is this family! I just love the Degnans! I've been friends with Kristen for a few years and she's one of my best friends. We were both in each other's weddings and I've had the opportunity to photograph some pretty special moments in her life. I was there with my camera when Tony proposed and I even got to be in the room photographing the birth of their sweet daughter. My trusty assistant and I had a great time shooting the whole Degnan clan one Sunday before church. Here are some of my favs:

The Degnan kids and my trusty assistant





Grandpa loves Jaydyn




Here's my fav shot of Kristen... she's really interested in photography, so I had her come along with me on my last shoot, and she did a stinking amazing job! Pics to come soon!

Jessica's Bridals

I met Jessica for some bridal shots the other day at a park near where she grew up. We had such a fun time! Jessica was so willing to try just about anything and was one of the most relaxed brides I've ever photographed.

I love it when brides decide to schedule a bridal session with me. It gives me the opportunity to spend a few hours with her before the wedding doing some casual shots and experimenting, which alleviates so much stress on the big day. With all of her bridal shots out of the way, I was really able to focus on getting some candid, more photojournalistic shots of Jessica on her wedding (which was yesterday, by the way :). wedding pics coming soon!). In Jessica's case, it was extremely fortuntate that we did a bridal shoot because her wedding day was the hottest day of the year! She also got a chance to try out her hair and makeup before the wedding. So if you're planning on getting married, I would highly recommend a bridal session.

I never post any bridal shots on my blog until after the wedding. You know... that whole thing of the groom not seeing the bride in her dress until her wedding... yeah, I try not to ruin the surprise:). Since I finished editing these pics, I've been dying to post them! So without further ado, here are a few of my favs from Jessica's bridal session:



Gotta get me some sun flares






Jessica is so adventurous! I have at least 40 shots of her twirling or jumping through the air!

Scott and Amanda

I met Amanda about 4 years ago when I was working in the college admissions office. She was waiting in the lobby to get registered for classes and Scott, her then-boyfriend, pointed her out to me. "That's my girlfriend." Yeah, it was pretty obvious that they were meant for each other. I didn't have to talk to them long to realize it :). After having worked with Amanda and getting the opportuntiy to get to know her better, it was such an honor to be able to shoot her wedding! I knew from shooting her bridals that the camera just loves that girl:). It was a great day with beautiful weather. And what a wedding party! There were quite a few characters in that group!



All the girls prayed for Amanda before the ceremony.


Spirit fingers! These girls cheered together during college. Jessica (far left) is getting married this weekend and I am so stoked about her wedding! I shot her bridals last week and I can't wait to show them to you all :)


Carrie was my second shooter on this wedding and did a freakin amazing job of catching tons of emotion. Check out these next 3 pics that she shot.


Family was a big part of the ceremony. My rockstar second shooter captured this moment that the groom's family shared at the beginning of the ceremony.




I love the colors in this photo :).





I've been to quite a few weddings in my line of work and I don't think I've ever tasted cake like this. I dream about it from time to time...


the boys sure were proud of their work.