Shane and Patty :: Married in Kansas City

I love getting the opportunity to go back to my hometown of Kansas City to shoot a wedding. It's great to photograph a couple there because, even though I grew up there, I hardly explored the city at all. Every turn and corner and alley and eclectic neighborhood... they're all fresh to me. And I love that.

So when I found out I'd be shooting Shane and Patty's wedding at Club 1000 in Kansas City, I was elated.




Shane and several of his groomsman are serving our country in the Marines.






Because the sun sets so early in the winter, Shane and Patty decided to see each other before the wedding so we could enjoy the sunlight in their photos.




Jon and I drove around the day before the wedding scouting out locations for the wedding day and I came across this parking garage that I though would work rather well. Jon looked me like I was crazy... a parking garage?? But I think it was a pretty fantastic setting, don't you agree?














Cute kids make me smile :)








These next two are my favorite favorite favorite.






Beautiful candlelit ceremony in Kansas City's Club 1000














When the evening is over and I see something like this, parked outside, I get excited

Happy Valentines Day to lovers old and young

WARNING: If you are my personal trainer or know my personal, please do not continue reading. Seriously, stop it. You will not like what you will find.

------

It's kind of wonderful being a wedding photographer for a lot of reasons, but one thing I really adore is being able to witness the inevitable excited that beams from two people as they become husband and wife. It's the beginning of an adventure; the start of something new. Nearly every time I photograph a happy couple recessing back down the aisle, I can totally remember what that felt like when Jon and I strode hand in hand out of the church and into the rest of our lives.



The first few weeks as a married couple are wonderful... the gifts, the honeymoon, the continual congratulations... it's all such a rush and I so wish I could go back and relive June 2004 all over again. It was really a great month.

But time moves on and things change. When Jon and I first got married, we used to eat like crazy together. And I do mean crazy. Our two staples from the grocery store were nacho cheese filled soft pretzels and bakery-fresh miniature chocolate chip cookie and icing sandwiches. Now, our metabolisms have more than caught up with us and our 14 month-old keeps us from getting to the gym as much as we used to, so gone are the days of fattening indulgences and in their place we instead purchase non-fat greet yogart and spinach. I'm still trying to convince myself that "it doesn't taste as good as thin looks" every time I see a cookie, but my hearts breaks every time I pass by my favorite delectable treats.

Last night, Jon and I had the rare chance to escape our hectic lives and steal away to dinner and movie together. We chose wisely at the restaurant (we were both quite surprised at our healthy selections), and then headed to our favorite AMC to see "Valentine's Day." As the movie began, scenes featuring young couples in love at the beginning of their relationship filled the screen, and it made me remember how exciting and responsibility-free our relationship was in the beginning. And I kinda missed that. Don't get me wrong, I love Jon and he continually gives me more reason to love him, but that beginning phase.... you just can't get that back. There's only one beginning of a story...

After the film ended, I couldn't stop thinking about cookies, so we headed off to the nearest cookie kiosk, even though I had sworn off cookies just earlier this month. Much to my dismay, they were closed. "I guess it wasn't meant to be," I said a little too dramatically as we walked away from the barren cookie oasis. We got in the car and headed home, but for some reason, Jon took a wrong turn. Before I could ask what was going on, I had it figured out. He was going to get me cookies :).

We pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store that was located just a block away from our first apartment, and we headed inside, both of us salivating at the thought of our treasured chocolate chip cookie and icing sandwiches. When we got back to the bakery, we scoured the shelves like ravenous scavengers looking for our prize. But alas, we couldn't find them. It didn't even look like they were out... it was more like the bakery didn't even make them anymore.

Sadness seemed to drop into the grocery store, almost like a dark cloud had settled into every aisle. Ok, well, maybe I'm being a smidge dramatic again... no one else in the store seemed to share my feelings of torment, but I was certainly disappointed to say the least. Jon grabbed a container of miniature cookies, though, and didn't seem sad at all. Then he grabbed my hand and we walked quickly to the icing aisle. We were going to make our own.

So when we got home, we put on the Opening Ceremonies that we had recorded on the dvr, and opened this


And these


And what ensued was a heavenly creation that can only be described as a siren to the taste buds.


And as Jon and I sat there together, making more delicious cookie sandwiches than I can count, I realized that these tasted better -nay, MUCH better- than the cookie sandwiches we used to buy when we were first married. We'll probably never be able to find those cookies again anyway, but it's ok because what we made was a whole lot better anyway.

And you know, while I can never go back to the very beginning of our relationship, that's really ok with me, because what we have now is a whole lot better anyway, too. And I'd never trade our healthy shopping trips and distracted workouts for all the cheese pretzels in the world. Really, every day gets better and the ability to soak it in and see the beauty in the now... that's where the excitement really lies.

Happy Valentines Day, to lovers old and young.

Engagement shoots are my some of my very favorite sessions to photograph. EVER. It's such a great opportunity for me to get to know my clients a little bit better and to see how they interact together in front of the camera. I always try to encourage my clients to pick a location that's meaningful to them because I think that makes the resulting photos just that much more meaningful. Kate and Ben picked a perfect spot for their engagement photos... City Garden. It's not only a great urban landscape, but it's also the location that Ben proposed :).







Love laughter :).

And this is where their story began... right in the middle of the triangle. I've been to the City Garden a dozen times, and I've never even really noticed the triangle, but I LOVE it!

Love these next two bw's.



What is that golden orb I see? I used to know what it was called, but I haven't seen it in so very long...

Thanks for braving the cold with me, Kate and Ben! Can't wait for your wedding in March!

Faux Hawk

In case you've wondered what my favorite little guy has been up to, here he is in all his cuteness:


Yeah, I know, he's pretty cute in that hat. What you don't know, though, is that he HAD to wear that hat... not because it was too cold outside, but because THIS was underneath:


He wasn't just having a bad hair day... this is his every-hair-day. It was getting long and out of control and kind of old man-ish, so we had to do something about it. We took him to this super-cute place called Snip-Its and it was on.




They even put on a cute movie to distract him while he was getting his trim




I think he kinda liked the trimmers




And a style I just adore


Pretty sure he digs it too

Clayton and Kinsey :: Finally

I don't even know how I can possibly sum up the story of the people in this shoot. It feels like I've been waiting 5 years to take these photos... well, because I have. Let me explain...

Clayton and Kinsey both attended the University where my husband and I worked (Jon still works there, but not me). We knew Clayton and Kinsey in so many capacities... they both were undergrad students, then student workers, then part-time employees, then graduates, then full-time employees. In the middle of all that, though, they were Resident Assistants and worked really closely with my Jon. From the start, Clayton and Kinsey were really good friends and their banter was so familiar and easy and just so.... right.

Clayton would make a silly joke... Kinsey would call him Clay David... we would all watch, wondering when one of them would make the first move. "We're just friends," would be the response when they were asked about each other. I hated hearing that because it was so painfully obvious to me that were, without a doubt, made for each other. I wanted to hold a pillow over my face and scream into it every time I saw them. Ah, the suspense.

I think I was especially annoying to Clayton ... I was always trying to get information out of him and telling him to just ask her out, dang it. He was taking it slow, though... much to my watchful chagrin.

During the course of their time at the University, Clayton and Kinsey started dating. "Finally!" I thought to myself. But it was weird. Not to me, of course... I could see that they were destined to be together forever. What can I say, I have a gift. But it was weird, because it wasn't the right time. So their short stint as a couple ended. I was super bummed. My pillow screaming resumed.

In typical annoying fashion, though, I kept my finger on the pulse of their friendship (through my bff facebook, of course), and wondered if anything would happen between the two of them. And then, a few years after they graduate and when Clayton was on the brink of moving across the country, Clayton called and asked if he could stop by our place to talk.

I waited on pins and needles.

After what seemed like an eternity of small talk, he said it:
"I like Kinsey. I'm gonna talk to her."

Clayton seemed so mature in that moment... a far cry from the 17-year-old we had first met so many years ago... and I knew that he knew she was the one. It had always been her, and now the time was right.

And now they're getting married! It's been such a huge honor for me to witness their story unfold through the course of time. And now, I'll have the distinct privilege of documenting the culmination of something I've been looking forward to for years.

Just a few photos we took on a frigid winter's day. Actually, I think frigid may be putting it a bit lightly... I've NEVER been that cold before on a shoot. But it was worth it :). As always, more on facebook.









something about this photo looks kinda out of place....




Love this one of them. They're gonna be together forever.




I just can't believe they're getting married!!! So excited beyond belief!


Clayton is pretty excited too

Can't wait till July!

I'm terrible at waiting

Ugh. I hate waiting.

I'm terrible at it.

I remember one time when we were in Chicago with some friends, we were looking for a good restaurant for dinner on a Saturday night and had just a terrible time finding something. The first place we stopped was way over-priced for our walking attire, so we left just after looking over the menu posted outside the entrance. The second place we stopped featured all outdoor seating by the river... and a big fat rat who liked to dine on the leftovers. We were out of there before we could say "Ratatouille." Knowing that the Grande Luxe on Michigan Ave would for sure be delicious, we decided to head there. A friend had told us they had amazing beignets and dang it, I was going to have one and it was going to be delightful. Well actually... I didn't really know what a beignet was at that point, but I WAS going to find out. I heard it was like a donut but more fattening and better tasting and more expensive. That's my kind of food right there.

The wait at the Grande Luxe was about an hour. Did I mention I hate waiting?

We decided to just stick it out so we could finally get some food (two of us were pregnant at the time and waiting for food was like torture), but after an hour passed... and then an hour and a half... and then almost two hours... my patience had run very thin. Ok, who am I kidding... I didn't have any patience to begin with. I was so hungry that I started eating them lemon in my water. It was gross. I didn't care.

When we finally got a table, I immediately turned to the dessert section of the mene. And then I found the beignets. Score. Then I noticed they took 45 minutes to cook. Boo.

By the time we FINALLY got our food after waiting for honestly an unreasonable amount of time, it was well after 10pm. I didn't care about waiting for those beignets anymore. I just wanted to go back to our hotel and prop my swollen feet up and sleep. So I asked for them to be boxed up so I could take them with me.

We walked across the street to our hotel and I think I still had a scowl on my face. I told you I was terrible at waiting.

After we switched on the television, I settled into bed and started to drift off to sleep. And then I thought about the beignets. "I wonder if they're still warm," I pondered as I sat up and made my way toward the sweet smelling box of delights. "It's late, but maybe I'll just eat one right now. I did wait all that time. I think I deserve a reward."

A few moments passed and then I gave in. Just one beignet. And then one beignet turned into two. And then three. And then almost the whole order (and not surprisingly, I gained double the amount of pounds I should have during the course of the pregnancy.). Jon looked at me disapprovingly as I devoured the tasty french treats. I wouldn't look him straight in the eye because I just couldn't. I didn't want to take my gaze off my prize. Those beignets were incredible!! Everything about them delighted my palette and warmed my soul. If I had had a guitar with me that night, I would have written a sonnet about them at set it to music... and I don't even play the guitar. My scowl melted into a smile almost immediately and the world seemed like it suddenly became a better place. Every hurried bite was more delicious than the next.

Even though my cheeks were puffy because I was eating so fast, I found the strength to look over at Jon and say, "This was SO worth it."


And on a related note, I wanted to let you in on a little behind the scenes info... I've been working on designing a new blog this winter with bigger images, easier navigation, and a couple of cool features that I really just adore. I told quite a few people about this, and I had planned to launch the blog on January 1, but, as you can clearly see, that didn't happen.

The design work for the blog is pretty much complete -and has been since December- but as I was evaluating my business goals for 2010, I kept circling back to the idea of developing better branding, and creating a clearer image of who I am and what I love.

So that's what I'm doing right now. I'm overhauling everything with the help of a fantastic creative team, and to encourage a cohesive design, I'm going to wait to launch my new blog until the creative process is complete. I haven't been super consistent about blogging new images from wedding and portrait sessions because I wanted to fill my new blog with content from my amazing 2009 clients. But I hate waiting :). I'm going to start posting like a fiend now. Just watch out... I have a lot to say :).

Until then, my nearly-finished, shiny new blog with giant images will sit hidden in the land of internet code. But someday in the future -hopefully sooner than later- I'll be able to share it with you.

I'm terrible at waiting, but I know when my creative team has put the finishing touches in place, I'll let me eyes peruse my blog and then I'll look over at my husband and say "This was SO worth it."

And as if I weren't already salivating at the thought my precious beignet's, here's a peek of a bridal luncheon I shot in 2009. Watch for the entire wedding soon!



Take a look at those eggs. I must have some now!




have you ever seen French Toast that looked like this? I'm much too hungry to be looking at this right now...




All yummity goodness served up by Companion in the CWE.