Amy and Kraig :: Sunflare in St. Louis

I'm not gonna lie; I pretty much dislike everything about the weather we've been having lately. I hate that the humidity just hangs in the hair. I hate the so-not-pretty effect it has on my hair. I hate that I turn into a complaining idiot every time I talk about it.

So let's travel back in time together, shall we? To a time when it was not crazy-rainy or hot as hades. To that brief week or so when st. Louis was lovely place to live. It was during that time not too long ago that I shot Amy and Kraig's engagement photos. When Amy told me she wanted to hang around the arch grounds for the photos, I was pretty stoked because it had been a while since I was at the arch shooting engagement photos in such beautiful weather.

Amy and Kraig are great together :). There was nothing stiff or unnatural about the way the interacted with each other.


Of course we had to get a fisheye shot with the entire arch.


At the base of the arch... I've been wanting to shoot this photo for oh-so-long.




See? Aren't they great together :).


Yeah, you know it. Amy's going to be one fabulous looking bride.


Well would you look at that... there's some sunflare.


and some more sun and some more arch


definitely my favorite.






Can't wait for your wedding in July, Amy and Kraig!

lunchtime

I've decided that my new favorite meal is lunch. It's really a great meal with so many wonderful attributes. For one, it's at a great time of the day ... just about when I've come out of my morning-funk-Lisa stage and become un-gnarly-Lisa. That's the Lisa you want to meet. Trust me. 

Another great thing about lunch is that it's a splendid time to catch up with people. "Let's do lunch" is one of my very favorite phrases to hear from a friend. 

I also think lunch is the most versatile of meals. I mean, you know, you can eat lunch at your desk while you're working... you can head to a fast food joint on the way to the mall on your lunch hour... you can eat a homemade meal at home... or, of course, you can go out to eat and enjoy the tastiness that is the endless soup and salad from the Olive Garden.

Today, lunch again proved to be the most fantastic meal of the day. Well, if was partly the most fantastic meal of the  day because my breakfast consisted of, well, nothing. And my dinner was a smoothie and bowl full of broccoli. I've said it before and you know it's true, I make bad choices when it comes to food. But today, lunch was a great meal, not necessarily because of the food, but primarily because of the company I shared. My husband and I enjoyed a lunch out today to celebrate what we did five years ago on this date. Yes, today is our anniversary, and let me tell you, it was a good one.

We talked about our jobs, we laughed about our little Kaden, and we definitely got our money's worth out of the endless salad at Olive Garden (I secretly delight in eating my weight in anything endless, just to let the resturant know they messed with the wrong girl when they put the word "endless" in their menu. I'll take a refill, thank you. This chica can eat.). The meal only lasted an hour, but I honestly cherished every minute of it. With our hectic lives, it's not every day we are afforded the luxury of eating a midday meal together. And I love that guy who sat across from me with a bowl of salad between us. It was pretty marvelous.

Jon was long gone to a breakfast meeting when I woke up this morning, so I savored those few moments before Kaden was awake by thinking about how blessed I am to be married to that man. He's someone that I want to follow and someone that lovingly leads me. He never domineers over me or demeans me. Never. I'm not kidding. I don't even think he would know how to belittle me if he wanted to. It's just not in his nature to be ugly.

In many ways, he's quite the antithesis of me. That's pretty much awesome. I like myself a lot better because of him, and he just keeps getting better. I almost can't remember my life without him. Really. We've been on such a great journey together over these past 5 years... moving to a new place, starting and finishing a crazy intense master's degree program, starting a business, living through some personal tragedies, watching the entire first 4 seasons of LOST in 20 days together, and bringing a little guy who has pieces of both of us into the world. And there's no one that I would rather live through the high points -and low points- with.

I'm surrounded by wedding and marriage talk every day because of the nature of my job, and you know, I don't mind it one bit. I actually quite enjoy it. Besides Jesus, Jon is the best thing that ever happened to me and every single time I meet with a bride to talk about her day, I remember how I felt when I was newly engaged and about to embark on the adventure of marriage. It's the best adventure I've ever taken. By far. I always get giddy when talking about weddings because I love the whole day... but even more, I love what marriage does to a couple if you're meant to be together.  

We're planning on doing a bigger celebration in the coming weeks, but for today, that lunch we had together at that chain restaurant was more than enough to remind me why I married such a great guy. I loved talking to him. I loved seeing him excited about what's next. And he's pretty darn good at eating his weight in "endless" soup and salad as well. Yeah, he's the perfect guy for me.

Happy anniversary, babe. Like the salad, my love for you is endless.

Lydia and Michael

If you've known me for any amount of time, you know there are three things about me that will never change:  

1. I am addicted to American Idol and I am dang proud of it.

2. I LOVE LOVE LOVE eating ________.  You can fill in that blank with anything except for a raw tomato or canned green beans and it would be a true statement.    

3. I am not a morning person.  I am not an afternoon person either.  I'm more of a 2pm or 3pm type of girl. And when I say this, I'm not exaggerating.  Just ask my husband.  I used to be on the greeting team at my church, but I regretfully had to resign when I realized that the scowl still present on my face at 9:30am every Sunday morning was less than welcoming.

So, when our hectic schedules necessitated that I shoot Michael and Lydia's engagement session at sunrise, you can imagine my hesitation.  Lydia admitted that she wasn't much of a morning person either, but surprisingly, when the sun came up that morning, we were all wide awake and ready for this shoot. And what a blast we had!  Lydia and Michael have such a great story and were so comfortable with each other in front of the camera.... it made my job of capturing their love pretty easy... even it was early in the morning :).  Now on to the favorites.

I almost can't their cuteness. 

 

Mid-shoot, we stopped by Park Ave Coffee and sipped on some delicious beverages.  

There's that alley again that I love. 

Michael and Lydia, you made getting up early worth it :). Can't wait for you wedding in just a few weeks!

Beth and John

So what's the deal with all this rain?  I"m just about done with all the sogginess.  The thunderstorms that keep my dog awake all night, the big puddles that thoroughly soak the hemline of my pants, the slippery sidewalks that make walking quite the chore... yeah, I'm over that.  Bring on the sun, please. No more monsoons, thank you.  

Luckily, when I met up with John and Beth for their engagement session, we had the perfect spring day for their engagement photos.  Rain-free, blue skies, blossoming cherry trees... it was amazing.  Here's hoping for more days like this one soon!  

Now on to the favorites!

Check out Beth's super-cute anthropologie dress.  Love it. 

gotta get me some flare.

Arthur and Faith

The calendar certainly said that it was spring, but this crazy St. Louis weather seemed to indicate otherwise.  I met Arthur and Faith for an engagement shoot on Market Street on a blustery day in April.  The dark, moody backdrop of downtown St. Louis on a cloudy gray sky set the tone for the shoot.  And what proceeded to come into my camera were deeply romantic images that a sunny day could never produce :).  I kinda like them - nay, I dig them.  

Yeah, I just said "nay."  Now on to the favorites.

The emotion this setting evokes is reminiscent of a Scottish castle, especially on this chilly day.

Wait.  Is that a sunflare I see??  Nope.  Rather, it's a warm can light sitting atop an entrance.  But it sure does look like the sun.  A little.  

See how romantic these two are?  

Love me some leading lines.

Arthur and Faith, you made a cold day beautiful.  I'm so looking forward to your wedding. 

Erin's Bridals

I've been waiting forever to post these photos and I'm so glad I can finally share them with you! Before Erin and Cooper tied the knot, we met up to shoot some bridals to display at their reception. I was super excited because I rarely get a call to shoot bridals, which is a shame because I ABSOLUTELY LOVE shooting them! I also got a sneak peak at Erin's amazing gown, which, as you'll notice is absolutely stunning. Here are some of my favorites from her bridal session:



Erin is such a classic beauty.




Would you check out that dress?! Amazing!


Judging from Erin's dress, I had a feeling her wedding would be a mix of modern vintage and classic elegance...




My fav

Mom and Andrew session

During my family session marathon, I had the pleasure of photographing Katie and her son Andrew on a gorgeous day in Lafayette Square Park. My favorite thing about their session was when I asked Andrew what the best thing about his mom is. without hesitation, he said, " There's just too many good things about my mom to pick just one." What a doll!

Here are some of my favorites from their session: