Mackenzie’s newborn session

I have been holding on to this one for awhile, but it isn’t because I haven’t wanted to show it to the world. I had done some sneak peaks on my Facebook page, but have never gotten to a full blog post of it. Now’s the time!

Last year I booked a newborn session for a friend of a friend. Sweet Mackenzie was born with a heart problem that was discovered shortly after birth. The typical newborn session never really happened for mom, Holly, and Mackenzie but at five months she called to see if I would do an in-home session. Just after our shoot I realized I knew Mackenzie’s grandmother, and I’ve been happy hearing month to month how she’s growing and getting bigger and healthier! I loved that she gave me so many facial expressions and sweet “faces!” during our shoot!

I’d share myself what it meant to photograph such a little thing with an already incredibly big story, but mom Holly does it best: 

“My entire pregnancy, I’d eagerly anticipated a lot of firsts ... first trip home, feeding, diaper change and of course, her first photography session to capture all of her perfectly tiny features. A few minutes after she arrived, I knew something was wrong. An hour, day, week and eventually a month later—I realized those ever precious first moments most moms get to show off with the standard hospital cap or put on birth announcements, were not going to be put in print. Mackenzie came home with a feeding tube through her nose and I took LOTS of day to day pictures but still longed for the opportunity to pose her and prop her with fun items and toys and outfits. Finally, almost 5 months after being born, we scheduled her first photo shoot! I went through the house picking out items to use and came across one of the decorations from a baby shower—a red foil heart with her name on it. HOW PERFECT! Our little heart patient holding her paper heart! These picture bring as many tears as they do joy—look at how healthy and happy she is! I am so thankful for God, miracles and that Marissa was there to capture this moment.”

Inspired by ...

In an all out attempt to get me to blog more here and showcase the work I create, I'm starting an inspired by feature here on the blog. This week I purchased some farm fresh eggs at a farm near my house, I've been thinking about it for weeks and wondered if they did indeed sell the eggs; and lo and behold there was a sign out and I thought to myself, “I'm stopping!” I came home and yesterday with some beautiful light flowing in my kitchen I was inspired to grab some decorative paper and shoot the beautiful color of these natural eggs.

Inspired by will be a collection of new things I shoot, whether it be with my fancy camera or my phone camera, which is pretty fancy itself for a phone camera. Hopefully by sharing what I'm inspired by, it will inspire my blog readers too.

If you are interested in purchasing your own print of Farm fresh eggs, you can now order them in my online store here! All that's required is an email and it will take you in to the ordering store.

Destination Costa Rica: Lauri + Adrian

Late last summer I was on a plane to Atlanta, then San Jose, Costa Rica; then to drive in a van to the Pacific lower half of Costa Rica to shoot my first destination wedding. This came after a whirlwind of months of is this really possible, is this really going to happen .. after learning from a best friend that she was engaged and that no, my destination wedding possiblity wouldn't be Chicago (where she lives) but rather, Costa Rica. And that she wondered if maybe I'd come to Costa Rica with them. My answer? — but of course.

Many couples make Costa Rica a destination wedding, and as soon as we flew over the lush green landscape into the country and made our way to the ocean I knew why. In the half day ride from the airport in the capital city of San Jose to the beach area where Lauri + Adrian were to be married at, we drove past mountain regions, rainforest areas, and the beautiful Central American terrain. I was captivated with the people (Ticos) and the country and all there was to discover. The Costa Verde hotel was our destination point for 4 days, and the service provided by them from the hotel for their wedding was incredible. A small intimate ceremony for just Lauri, Adrian, and their officiant, Marcelo Galli was what I had to capture for the wedding. I could get very used to shooting a wedding with no shoes, and an island skirt! The ceremony was beautiful, at sunset, with a small rainstorm just beginning to come across the ocean.

I love that a lot of the weddings I get to document have a great personal connection to me in some way. This one was tops in my book, as Lauri and I go back to 1993; we met in Psychology class our very first day of college. Our friendship grew on from that day, and never in my wildest dreams did I think that one day I'd travel with her beyond Chicago and get to photograph such a special day for her in a completely different country (the thought of even being a wedding photographer wasn't even planted in my head at that point! I was a journalism major!)

Below are some of the standout images of our time together than spans 5 days of exploring the great country of Costa Rica, and telling the story of Lauri + Adrian's beginnings of being husband and wife. You can view their entire slideshow here. Pura vida!

Pablo – Katalyst Modeling Talent

Part of my new plan for building business for the year is to blog more often. 2011 was such a gaining force year for me that I found myself editing more, and blogging less. I want this blog and website to become a place that is visited often, and referred to much. Most of my followers come here to look at photography and design ideas, and that is specifically what I hope to deliver on for 2012.

I photographed Pablo for his up and coming modeling career with Katalyst Talent. I loved the fact that Pablo brought his passions into his photos and wardrobe for his modeling shots; he also does deejaying and is an avid soccer player. Pablo is Peruvian, and I think he may just have grown up loving soccer just a little bit. I heart the last capture shown at  the botto mof this post that caught a glimpse of his love for the game in the setting sun. A classic shot.

Here are some of my favorites from our two sessions together in downtown Lebanon, Ohio and downtown Cincinnati, Ohio.

Samantha + Justin — *Wedding

Samantha and Justin was the first wedding of the summer for me this year. (Shhhhh, it’s really not almost winter, right? Say it isn’t so!) It was a great start to an incredible summer with two very awesome weddings and with two brides who meant a lot to me, going back to grade school and college.

The unique factor to this wedding for me was that Samantha and I go way back, like really way back. Like first or second grade—way back. I tried to explain the awesomeness of this to my 3rd grade daughter when I booked this wedding in 2010; I told her “just think about one of your very best friends now ... and think about going to and being a part of their wedding 25 years from now.” What an awesome opportunity I had! Sam and I had touched base/emailed each other during our college years, and then thanks to the marvel that is Facebook we reconnected again. When I heard she was engaged, I knew I wanted to be a part of her day in the way I knew best, taking photos!

Samantha +  Justin’s wedding was at Deer Creek State Park Lodge and Conference Center in Mount Sterling, Ohio. An early summer outdoor wedding that had beautiful coral colors, gerber daisies in mason jars and a picturesque lakeside setting. Because the ceremony was early in the afternoon, I was also thrilled to have incredible natural light still around for the reception/dancing; this wedding photographer's first!

Below are some of my favorites of Sam + Justin’s storybook day; and some more photos can be seen in this online slideshow here.