Madison + Tyler | married at The Mercantile

Loved this spring wedding at The Mercantile in Mt. Sterling Ohio. Madison had all the details perfect, and they enjoyed every second of their day.  Such a fun group to spend a day with!

Enjoy!

summer time portraits

The thing about a farm wedding in July is....HEAT. So what my job is, is to make sure that 1. you get your portrait time completed + beautiful memories to keep forever and 2. you're comfortable doing it. When I work with a couple on their timeline, I make sure to point out. you might not want to do photos at 4pm on July 22nd. What is the point of me taking your precious wedding day time when you're just.sweating.your.face.off!? When the thing I say over and over is "get closer" and the couple is looking at each other like, I love you but no thank you!!

I wanted to share some of my favorite portraits from the year so far with you and point out these weren't done when they were *supposed* to be done. It was just too much to do these after the ceremony. So, we improvised. The couple went to cocktail hour, enjoyed themselves, COOLED OFF, and then after they ate their dinner, we skipped outside and did all our portrait time during sunset-ish golden hour. Everything lined up perfectly, and we're left with some of my favorite portraits! (shot on digital and portra 160)

Deanna + Cory | a backyard wedding

When I'm asked what my "favorite venue" is, it's never an easy answer. One thing that I find brings about happy couples, happy guests, and a great atmosphere to spend a day shooting is at a venue that people don't have to leave. That the ceremony leads to cocktail hour, leads to reception. My feelings are that it lets guests flow into each other. You're not moving from place to place within your own group, you have all night to spend getting to know family members from "the other side" and get into casual (awesome) conversations with once strangers. It's my favorite thing to be a part of, the energy is kinetic, and it's just so happy.

Deanna + Cory are adventurers, their story is anything but normal....and, true to themselves, they had a wedding that was just perfect for them.

Enjoy reliving their hot (remember summer?) July wedding day!

Alyssa + Andrew | New Albany Links Wedding

I could be the worst blogger in the wedding photography industry. I've been so fortunate that so much of my business comes from referrals from previous clients who just know my work, or who've been in bridal parties that I've worked with. I love + my business thrives on referrals. BUT! Maybe you're out there and you're a stranger, AND you're looking for a wedding photographer. I'm not reaching you by not blogging. That's seriously doing myself a disservice. So here we go! A month until wedding season starts + I'm determined to show a whole lot of my 2015 (yes, that's correct, 2015) and 2016 couples who I adore.

First up is Alyssa + Andrew. What stands out most is when we met, Alyssa describing her, and her family's love of the movie Father of the Bride. A tent wedding, everything about it. I love knowing the whycouples pick certain things on their wedding day. I love that Alyssa had such a wonderful experience on her own wedding day that was something she probably thought about over and over again with her sisters!

Enjoy reliving their day as I saw it last May!

Liz + Michael | Married at Strongwater!

Love when I get a chance to shoot at venues that, on their own, inspire me. Liz + Michael were married in September (I know, seriously, blogging is clearly not on my priority list: if you're waiting to see your wedding on here, dear clients, someday...someday I will get all caught up!), on a day that started out HOT and gorgeous. As you'll see, that weather quickly changed (as in, Mike and I wondered if the people we were in the tent with, before the ceremony, would be a good group to stick together during a natural disaster! the winds! the rain!). They had planned to not do a first look, and as the clouds came rolling in, I realized I had the difficult job of questioning their original schedule, to make sure they didn't want a chance to get the urban portraits around Franklinton they did want - but wouldn't be available with the impending forecast. Why's this relevant? Because I see my job as so much more than just photographer. I saw it as my job to think ahead, and help with anything that they might regret. We had this window of opportunity to create the portraits they had imagined, but it meant going against what they thought they wanted. Ultimately, they stuck with their decision, and it's because they trusted me. They knew that, regardless of where we did the portraits, they'd get the experience and outcome they desired.

It all ended up perfect. A (hot) trek around the art space allowed us to get the bridal party photos. And, they braved the rain for a few awesome umbrella photos.

Enjoy a glimpse into their day!

(Floral design: Eco Flora , planning: Something Blue Designs , venue: Strongwater)

Sulin + Ted | on film

A winter wedding (12.30, to be exact) in (grey) Cleveland, with an awesome second shooter (heyyyaaaa Mal!) and I shot more film at this wedding than I had all year. Seems crazy due to the (dark) conditions and all...but the time off from my last November wedding until this one fueled the passion I have to create art for my couples in a way that's different. See their film highlights below!

(black and white film shot on HP5, rated 1600, pushed 2 in development. color is fuji 400 h. All developed and scanned by The Darkroom)