My friend Mary and Aaron started a tradition last year of hosting an annual theme party and I’m so grateful they’ve asked me to photograph the event. This year’s theme was the 1970’s and though it was a smaller crowd everyone seemed to have fun playing games and eating foods that were popular in the 70’s. Here are some of my favorite photos from the day!
A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to photograph my first senior of the year. Melissa and her mom knew of a cute little park in Grand Rapids that I would never have found on my own. Although we were one of three photo shoots happening at the park at that time we still managed to find some great spots and take turns with the other people :) It was so fun getting to know Melissa a little bit and she has great things planned for her future. Enjoy your senior year!
On a rainy Saturday I drove down to Indiana with an assistant to photograph Heather and Dale's wedding. I don't often work with an assistant but knowing we didn't have a lot of time for pictures on this day I was very thankful Dale and Heather had asked for two photographers! Despite the bad weather the wedding party were in good spirits and the tent kept everyone dry during the ceremony. Their reception was at a cool old courthouse downtown within walking distance of the backyard wedding - plus the rain stopped long enough for a few photos outside before the reception started. Enjoy this preview of some of my favorites!
Last weekend I had the pleasure of meeting the McAleenan family and taking some photos in their beautiful backyard. All of their kids and all of their grand kids (5 boys) were home for just a short time and luckily the rain held off until we were done taking photos! I loved seeing the little cousins play together and amazingly none of them started crying while I was there :) Here are some of my favorites of this sweet family!
A couple weeks ago on a beautiful summer Saturday in Northern Michigan I had the pleasure of photographing Megan and Kahler's wedding. They both attended Grand Valley which was where we took their engagement photos, but these high school sweethearts chose to return to their home town for their wedding. The ceremony and reception were at a venue on the shore of Lake Huron which made an awesome backdrop and despite a forecast of rain it stayed dry the entire day. Plus, the bridal party all knew each other and wanted to have fun when taking photos which always makes my job easier :) Here are some of my favorites from Megan and Kahler's special day!
Baby girls are popular on the blog right now, a few weeks ago I got to meet and photograph my second one in a month :) Baby Amelia was so sweet and didn't seem to mind us moving her around for photos or even when big brother Jackson was driving his tractors on her. I had lots of fun with this family and loved seeing how Jackson tried to play with his baby sister. Thanks Aupperlee family for letting me come take some family photos for you, here are some of my favorites!
A couple weeks ago I met up with Heather and Dale for an engagement session downtown St. Joe. They drove up to Michigan from Indiana so of course I wanted to show off our lake shore and fortunately we discovered now and not on their wedding day that we are in different time zones :) Despite the crazy wind we still got some great photos and I'm excited to see these two again in a couple months for their wedding! Here are some of my favorites.
Last weekend I had the joy of meeting two week old baby Cora and catching up with her big brother and big sister. The Kosters family have always been willing to let me photograph their big events from their wedding to pregnancy with baby #2 and family photos commemorating the move out of their first house. Although, neither Cora nor her older siblings were in the mood to have their picture taken I still managed to capture some sweet moments in between tears (all three kids were crying at one point) and I hope the big kids always love their little sister this much!
Last Friday I had the privilege of meeting Mady and Nick and photographing their intimate courthouse wedding in South Haven (so intimate that I was asked to sign the marriage license as a witness). These two live out of state and wanted a cute lakeside town for their wedding which they were keeping secret from everyone. I love that they still wanted photos despite keeping the rest of the wedding small and am amazed that they managed to keep this wedding secret for months from everyone they know! Mady and Nick were so much fun and more then willing to brave the cold and the wind of southwest Michigan for some great photo spots - I just wish I could have seen the reactions of their friends and family when they surprised them with these pictures :) Here are some of my favorites from their wedding day.
Last week a friend asked me if I had any scenic winter photos and after looking through my archives I realized I did not have many. I love being outside in all seasons and I always take a ton of photos in the fall, but never think to walk around a park with my camera to capture the beauty of fresh snow. West Michigan is due for a warm up this weekend so I went to Aman Park Tuesday after work and captured a few photos before the sun set and before I slipped and fell on the ice that was hiding under the snow ;) I'm now hoping for more snow before winter is over becasue there are more places around Grand Rapids that I want to explore and take photos!
My last photo shoot of 2017 was a fun winter afternoon with the Baker family at Wedgwood Park in Grandville. This family attends church with me, but it was fun seeing them outside of there :) Despite initial complaints about the cold- Shanna and her 4 kids all trudged through the snow with me to find good spots for photos! These pictures were a Christmas gift for the kids Grandma so I had to wait to post them until after the holiday, but I'm excited to share my favorites with everyone now!
While the snow was still here last weekend I squeezed in two more 'mini' sessions at Wedgewood Park in Grandville and one of them was of my co-worker Ethan, his wife Angela and their two dogs. The park was not very large but has a creek running through it which looked so pretty in the fresh snow. Due to the cold we only got a couple pictures with the dogs before they were put back into the car to wait but here are some of my favorites from their session.
Yesterday was one of those rare moments this time of year where a last minute photo shoot was able to be scheduled when everyone was free the weather was also cooperating! Two years ago I took family photos for the Budricks at this same locations in the fall and they had been hoping for updated photos before Christmas this year, but wanted snow which was late to arrive in west Michigan this year. We also added Gia's brother and his son to the family photos this year and it was fun watching the cousins interact with each other and play in the snow between photos. The location looked so beautiful with the fresh snow and I appreciated how everyone was patient with me despite being cold- here are some of my favorites from this session!
It's been such a joy to photograph so many special moments for Jess and Jason this past year and a half. From their engagement to their wedding and now their first family photos with baby Josephine I love that they keep asking me to document these occasions! Though the fall colors were still bright the weather was a little cold for the baby so we purposefully chose a location that had some good indoor photo spots as well. Here are some of my favorites from the new family of 3- I can't wait to finish editing the rest :)
I've known Pearl since she was in elementary school and in the neighborhood kids program I used to volunteer with at The Other Way. It's crazy to think that she is a senior this year but I was thrilled to take her photos in some of my favorite spots downtown Grand Rapids. The days we chose for pictures there was a chance of rain all afternoon, but thankfully it held off until we were done and all we had to put up with was wind during her session! Pearl has such a big heart and it was a joy hearing about her desire to educate people about homelessness and try to make a difference. Good luck with the rest of your senior year Pearl, hope you enjoy this preview of your senior pictures!
This fall has been filled with family photo sessions and so many cute kids! Little Emma was no exception at almost a year old she is full of personality and was in a good mood for most of the photo session. I've taken many photos of Chris and Sarah over the years and look forward to many more in the future as Emma grows. Here are some of my favorites from our unseasonably warm day at Millennium Park in Grand Rapids.
I love taking photos of growing families and the Beverages are no exception! Karen and I have been friends for several years and I had the joy of photographing her and Doug's wedding as well as taking newborn photos of both their kids. Their yard makes a beautiful backdrop for fall photos and we were luckily able to schedule this shoot on a perfect fall evening. Here are some of my favorites!
I've known Brian since he was a kid in the neighborhood program I used to volunteer with. He has grown into a nice young man who is hoping to go to college for something relating to the medical field. After rescheduling due to rain on a Saturday, Brian and his parents were kind enough to meet me on a weekday evening at Millennium Park in Grand Rapids. Brian was a good sport and walked all around the park with me looking for fall color. Here are some of my favorites from his session, I can't wait to edit the rest, but enjoy this preview!
I love photographing growing families and I love returning clients. I had the joy of photographing the Johnston family last fall and was excited to see them again a couple weeks ago. Though the fall colors have been disappointing in Michigan so far this October, we found a few good backgrounds. These two little boys have grown a lot since last year and in just a couple more months they will be welcoming a little sister into their family! Here are some of my favorites from the Johnston family!
I can not believe that Tristyn is a senior this year! I've known this boy since he was a baby and it's been a joy watching him grow up. Tristyn has never enjoyed having his photo taken and his mom started a tradition several years ago of me taking pictures of the kids instead of her buying school pictures. Taylor is now a junior in college, Tristyn a senior in high school and Ty a freshman in high school so I might have to stop calling them "kids" soon! He knew some great spots around Plainwell and it was worth going off the trail to get there. After exploring went back to their house for photos of the extended family. Take a look at some of my favorites from the day.
