Rings!

It was extremely hard to get these two away from the excitement to sneak a few couple shots... I practically had to force them into the woods for this one!  :)  I hope they are glad I did, because this could not be sweeter!  :)

Sneak Peek

I still can't get over the day these two created!  I love every little thing, especially that love tree!

Stay tuned for more...

Smitten!

An old friend of mine (whose photography truly inspires me) calls her business "Smitten Photography" and I could not find a more perfect word to describe the day of this shoot, so I had to borrow hers!  The entire day of this wedding was so incredible that it will be impossible to explain with words - you'll just have to wait for the pictures to unfold.  For those of you reading this who were there, I'm sure you'll agree that it was perhaps the most sincere and heartfelt wedding celebration that ever was.  There was not a detail these two didn't think of.

When I first arrived, the make-up session was already in progress for the bridesmaids and Katherine was practicing her vows out loud and seemed, as every bride does, overwhelmed with excitement and organization!  I am glad she practiced her vows out loud, because if I had heard them for the first time as she was actually reading them to Jeremy, I may not have been able to focus the camera through the tears that would have fallen down my face!  Within about 20 minutes, I'd settled in and was comfortable with the lighting and thus able to let my creative juices flow.  There was a key holder right behind Katherine's head as her make up was applied and it was driving me crazy enough to ask that it be taken off the wall so it would not distract from her beautiful face in the photographs.  Why am I telling you this?  Because what happens next is pretty much key to the entire day.  After it was removed, I apologized for asking that it be moved... didn't want to be too demanding a photographer after all.  I think this must have been the 5th time I'd said, "Sorry" or "Excuse me, do you mind if I move this?" because Katherine looked right at me and said, "Karen, stop that!  I completely trust your eye.  If you need something moved, tell someone to move it, or just move it.  If they don't want you to move it, they'll tell you!  You are just doing your job and so do whatever you need to do - I completely trust your eye."  And, just like that, I relaxed.

Again, maybe it's too personal to share that moment, but this is the beginning of my journey as a professional photographer and I want to keep myself grounded and honest from the beginning!  I really, really needed to hear someone tell me to stop apologizing and just do my job!  From that point on, I settled into my element and shot away!  There are so many moments that I cannot wait to share.  My plan is to share a few of my favorites in the order they happened  so that you can take the journey of re-living this day with me.  You'll see why I really didn't want it to end, as exhausted as I was after 10 hours of being on my feet!  I think I did it justice... I hope you enjoy their wedding day story as I try and tell it through my photography.  I wanted to start with this snapshot of them together so you could see how amazingly happy they are to finally have made things official!


P.S. I'm still working on the logo placement/transparency thing... ;)

Stolen Sweet

The sweetest moments are stolen ones... this was not planned at all, but says so much about the love between these amazing people and the bond they have.  There are not many people I know who have hearts as big as theirs and I am grateful that they are a part of my life.  I am equally thankful to have caught this magical moment!  What an inspiration it is... especially as I anticipate the upcoming debut weekend wedding!

Photographing Friends

I thought this article was wonderfully written; taught me a few things, and I think is a good reminder for all of us, photographers or not.

Photographing Your Friends