The Locket, fine arts and photography

Engagement: Eric & Rachel

2012-01-27T19:42:00.000-08:00

For goodness sakes, my little big brother is GETTING MARRIED!!! My family has joked that Eric and Rachel were going to get married since they were four years old and by golly - June 9th it is! This was a very short impromptu shoot since it was faaahhhhh-reezing, but Rachel looks cute even when it's below zero and Eric... well we don't give him a say in these situations!

Crazy enough, I used to babysit that beauty my little brother is now marrying!

Check back again to see pics from their late summer proposal! There are tons of cute ones, but I want to include their proposal story so stay tuned....

Anytime: Ice!

2012-01-23T16:47:00.000-08:00

My hubby and I had a tail end Christmas gathering yesterday in Dubuque and surprise, surprise - I was running late! I knew I shouldn't stop, but I just HAD to! It was too gorgeous NOT to!

Sometimes it's been a combine stirring up dust as the sun sets on a fall evening and other times it's a frosty early morning, but there are many times I pull off the road to take photos! As long as it's safe, it's worth being a few minutes late for a good photo!!!

Engagement: Wick and Kristi

2012-01-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

Love these two cats! I can't wait for their February wedding! I'm just praying for snow to make it that much more romantic! I am in the process of making the promotional information to make Wick and Kristi's wedding day into a wedding photography workshop for beginners, sooooo...... if you're interested - shoot me an email so you're first on my email/information list!

These two met at Joe's Place so naturally we made a stop there during our session!

And this one was shot at Old Brick, the site of their February wedding reception!

But this set in the woods is my fave!!!

And I guess I should mention - THE BLOG IS BAAA-AAAACK! WHOOP, WHOOP!!! I'm vowing to do better this year! I have tons of shoots and ideas to post but seem to let my blog keep going to the bottom of my to do list! So with much reminding from my family and friends who enjoy following my work and life through this blog - welcome back!

Newborn: Ambrielle

2011-08-30T06:24:00.000-07:00

Another oldie, but goodie! Love it!

Ambrielle's dad played football and now works for the University of Dubuque.

Engagement: Joe and Cody

2011-08-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

An older session, but a good one! I want to post their wedding this week so I thought I better get this up first:)

Senior: Jordyn, Mid-Prairie, Wellman

2011-07-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I got to do this! I have many more photos to post, but here's a few pics of Jordyn taken in the Austrian Alps. I'm in Europe with 13 of my high school art students.

Aubrie & Steve: Dubuque Wedding Photographer

2011-07-19T07:31:00.000-07:00

Steve and Aubrie got married in Dubuque. They got ready at the beautiful Julien Hotel. I love being spoiled with gorgeous venues! The background and light options are so much more gorgeous than a salon! Woohoo!

Aubrie was simply stunning!

Ronann's Floral out of Maquoketa did a beautiful job with the flowers! It's been fun to run into Ronann's multiple times this wedding season!

And on to Galena, IL for some fun!

One of my favorite images of the day! And it was taken by my sweet assistant, Tayler!

And a few favorites from the photo booth!!!

Senior: Emily, Iowa City West

2011-07-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

Can I just say - Miss Emily is gahhhhhh-geous! For real, what a beauty! I only got to meet Emily for a few hours, but I can genuinely tell that she is a beautiful girl on the inside too! So polite and fun to be with! Emily and her parents confirmed again, that I really do have the best job in the world! I am continually grateful that I get to do what I love for a living! My goodness, I'm a blessed young lady!

This is a German dress that I believe, Emily's grandmother made. Her mother was so proud when she wore this for a few shots!

I really don't know how I keep getting so lucky! Dancers are my favorite to shoot! They carry themselves so well and make my job so easy! It's no secret that Emily is a dancer!

As senior photo sessions are kicking into high gear, I've been scouring tons of clothing websites the last few weeks. There are some super fun ideas that I love to tuck away, to take parts of, or that help me brainstorm new locations, themes, and posing ideas. For this shoot, I wanted to give her an almost Bohemian, vintage look. In a prairie setting. When I first met Emily, I knew she could pull it off! I had shared several links with her and when she opened up her suitcase of clothes - I felt like I was in an ice cream shop with unlimited flavors! I LOVED everything she had and so much of it worked perfectly with the props and overall "look" I was going for!

Isn't my typewriter the coolest!?! My little brother, Eric surprised me with it a few weeks ago! It is the CUTEST on my back porch! Love it!

My fave dress she wore! I'm jealous of your closet, Emily!

Child: Katie

2011-04-04T11:44:00.001-07:00

Katie was 18 months in these pics and SUPER curious! I have my studio set up in my home and also use the space to meet clients. Katie is at that cute age of wanting to see and examine anything and everything new. It was her mom, Molly and my job to keep finding new things to interest Katie... mom's wallet, dried lima beans from my business card jar, my grandfather's old telephone, bubbles, balloons...

My fave from the day!!!

Children: Cate's One!

2011-04-03T06:56:00.001-07:00

Cate is my sister's youngest of three. And if she isn't the most gorgeous one-year-old you've ever seen... my goodness!!! She's going to give her sister, Caroline a run for her money!

Wardrobe change!

Cate and her dad share a birthday... which serves well for me - double the cake, right?

Oh boy, did Cate LOVE her cake!

Love this!!!

And here's a pic my mom took of my hubby, Brandon and me. Brandon is one of the happiest people I know, but when it comes to photos - this is as happy as it gets:)

All tuckered out from a long day of birthdays! Grandmom and Papa lovin on their Cate.

Anytime: Natalie

2011-03-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

I finally did it. I got the lens I've drooled over for way too long. I'm not sure why I drug my feet so long, but I finally bought a prime lens. I got the 50mm, 1.2 and mmmm, mmm, mmm, I'm enjoying it! I love the yummy backgrounds I can get and am excited to play with it more. I was so excited to try out my new toy, that I planned and impromptu shoot with a couple friends for the next morning.

We didn't quite realize how insanely windy it was until we were out in it! It's really not fair that Natalie looked so gorgeous in such cruddy weather! I'm pretty sure I looked like a ragamuffin left in a tornado too long by the time we were done with the shoot!

Hello BEAUTIFUL!!! And she says she's never modeled before... She fooled me!

Maternity: Jaqueline

2011-03-22T11:44:00.001-07:00

My fave!

One, hot mama!

Anytime: Spain

2011-03-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

I'm in Madrid, Spain, being trained to lead my student trip to Europe this summer. What a whirlwind! I'm exhausted, but wanted to post a few quick pics from Madrid and Toledo before I come home!

Maternity: Andrea

2011-03-11T16:18:00.001-08:00

Even though it was fah-reeeezing out, Andrea insisted she was fine to take some outdoor pics!

And I'm pretty sure she is one of the most gorgeous preggers women I've ever seen! Beautiful, Andrea!

We ended by shooting some in her home! I just love, love, loved her super soft little cardigan! Andrea got married in the winter and it was actually the jacket she wore with her wedding gown!

And a few taken in the baby-to-be room! How incredible is that pink wall!?!?!

Love it!

Valentine Special!!!

2011-01-25T05:07:00.001-08:00

Erin 'Manson' Kirchhoff of The Locket and Minda Davison of m.davison photography are joining forces to offer a $50 Valentine Special!

We're booking 30 minute mini-sessions in downtown Iowa City this Sunday, January 30th!
~ each session includes a DVD and copyright release of all edited images - just in time for Valentine's Day!

Kids, families, couples!

And who says you have to have a boyfriend on Valentine's Day? Get a group of girlfriends together for a fun fashion shoot.

Email Manson at the_locket@hotmail.com to book your mini-session!

Available time slots:
- Sunday, January 30th, 10 am - BOOKED!
- Sunday, January 30th, 11 am
- Sunday, January 30th, 12 pm
- Sunday, January 30th, 1 pm
- Sunday, January 30th, 2 pm
- Sunday, January 30th, 3 pm

Engagement: Michael and Emily

2011-01-24T10:42:00.001-08:00

Emily and Michael are both from my hometown of Maquoketa, IA! Emily is insanely on top of things and I am unbelievably excited to see the details Emily has described to me! Since Emily is on rotations for medical school, we had to be strategic with the date of their engagement shoot. So even though it was rainy - we went for it and Michael and Emily were troopers! These two are getting married at the beautiful Hotel Julien in Dubuque this April and I can hardly wait!

It was only seconds after I added the bottom right pic in the above set, that Michael had it as his Facebook profile pic! I joked with him that he couldn't ask for more - his car and his woman lovin on him in the same pic!

Va va voom!!!

Engagement: Michael and Kate

2011-01-19T20:34:00.000-08:00

These two are the cutest! I graduated high school with both Michael and Kate! Kate has been in two weddings I've shot and I'm so pumped she contacted me to shoot HER wedding! Kate played sports with me in high school and her mom was my confirmation teacher! I went to preschool with 'Michael Taylor Meinecke,' as he used to say, and ate breakfast with his dad and a bunch of old farmers for ten of my school years. So needless to say, I was pretty stoked when Kate asked me to be her photographer! Michael and Kate, I can't wait for your big day!!!

Be sure to read their proposal story! Love it!

And Kate joked with me that Michael timed his proposal just right! He left right away again so he wouldn't have to help with all the wedding planning! I think he'd get along great with my husband, Kate;)

Isn't Kate absolutely stunning in that bottom shot?!

Anytime: Turtle

2010-11-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

Here's our little turtle! I used to make fun of people who dressed up their dogs. After living with my husband for three years and realizing I own the cutest dog on this planet - I now dress my dog up too! Aw, well! As long Riley isn't embarrassed I'll keep dressing him up! All the trick-or-treaters loved seeing him hanging out in the front yard last night!

Wedding: Rob and Jill

2010-10-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I love silly Facebook! I took engagement photos for a friend I teach school with, and as I typically do, uploaded a few favorites to my Facebook account. Jill was a college friend of this engaged couple and emailed me to inquire about wedding photos. When I asked how she heard about The Locket, she sheepishly responded that she saw my work on someone's Facebook account and then blog stalked me. I love it! Social networking at its finest!

Rob and Jill got married in the Des Moines area last weekend and were more than blessed with the most beautiful October day EVER!

For real - Jill may be the most insanely organized bride I have ever seen! Itineraries galore! Each person had their own personalized list of tasks and it made for an awesome, stress-free day!

After hanging with the girls for a bit, we headed to check in with the boys! We knocked on their hotel door and Rob's dad answered. We explained who we were and what we were doing and he looked at us like we were out of our minds!!! He and Rob were both bewildered that we would take photos of them getting ready! It seemed bizarre to them, but after I explained that it would help tell the story of their day for their wedding album, they pretended they thought it was cool!

Little brother prepping for his Best Man speech!

Loving the intimacy of a wedding prayer between the bride and groom!

I love that there is no "typical" when it comes to weddings anymore! It is definitely easier when couples opt to see each other before the ceremony - photo wise, but I do love the tradition of not seeing each other until the ceremony. Rob was insistent that he didn't see Jill before the wedding! Too cute! Jill and her mad organizing skills, still budgeted for TONS of time for pics of the two of them! They could not have been more blessed with the. most. gorgeous. October day EVER!

For real? Did a hot air balloon just take off right next to us? You bet it did! Cah-raziness!!!

Jill was stunning! My goodness - she was the most easy going bride ever!

This bridal party was a riot! The boys bought suits rather than renting tuxes and the girls had the most incredible dresses from Etsy! They were called chameleon dresses because they could be worn in at least 12 different ways! AWESOME!!!

Check out these faces!!!

And I'm in love with the emotion and stories these last two images show! Lovin the father/daughter, mother/son dances!

Anytime: PLEASE VOTE FOR ME!!!

2010-08-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

If you tried this before and the link didn't work - it is now fixed!!!

So... I happened along this incredible contest sponsored by my favorite store on earth - CB2!!! I thought, what the heck, and I entered! Please click on the link and vote! Once you vote, you have to open your email account and verify it before it'll count! The contest said to rally for votes, so use all your email accounts, put the link on your facebook status with a sweet message about voting for my house, and tell all your friends and family to help me out! Love you all, Manson

VOTE HERE!!! (and don't forget to confirm your vote through email or it won't count!)

Here are the three images I decided to use for the contest:

Please vote, vote, vote friends! And tell everyone you know!

A Bit of me Friday: Jewelry

2010-08-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

If you saw one of my earlier posts, I LOVE to decorate! I subscribe to way too many decorating magazines and love to merge modern and vintage into one! Here's a few pics of my latest project.

What I love about this little corner, is that I remember the story of each piece of jewelry! I could list which pieces I bought at my favorite "Everything's a Dollar" store in Maquoketa, which pendants I bought on the St. Charles Bridge in Prague, and which earrings I bought in the London airport on my way home from shooting my first overseas wedding! Some of my favorite pieces are my tree necklaces. The neatest one is the one with a tree punched out of metal my husband gave me as a wedding gift. The underneath layer reads, "Love should be a tree whose roots are deep in the earth, but whose branches extend into Heaven." I LOVE handmade jewelry from Iowa Artisan's Gallery and AKAR, both in Iowa City. For real - check both of them out! I am crazy for European jewelry and my husband had my wedding ring designed in a European style I had eyed in Prague. Veto out of Switzerland is my absolute favorite designer at the moment!!!

I love that this whole display was made from stuff I already had!

The frames were used at my wedding and I just added scraps of scrapbooking paper and old ribbon I had. The frames didn't have glass or backs so I just glued cardboard on the back to act as a cushion for the straight pins I used to hang my necklaces. The long spiral thing on the left is actually meant to hang photos, but I hung it vertically to show off some of my cutest earrings. I hung my headbands on an old handle I bought a long time ago and never used. The wooden quote thing in the back was a gift I made my husband one Valentine's day and the keys and mirror were clearance items I bought some time ago but never found the right spot to display them.

The little commode/dresser is something my dad bought me at an estate auction and thought I'd like when we first moved into our house. I scrubbed it up awhile back and put cute knobs on it. I've always used different dress forms to display my jewelry, but it has been a mess! Until now that is! My husband swears it will never look this cute again but I beg to differ!

Anytime: Minda

2010-08-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

Here's my beautiful friend, and photographer herself, Minda! This was our crazy experimenting with off camera lighting late one night! I think we're starting to get the hang of it and it's super fun!

Love ya Minda!

Anytime: Teasers!!!

2010-08-02T19:21:00.001-07:00

Ahhhh! I've been shooting so much the last two weeks that now I feel like I need to superglue myself to my office chair and edit, edit, edit!!! That being said, I have tons to blog but for some reason it takes me forever to put blog posts together! I have lots of incredible images I've been working on and thought it'd be fun to show a random mix of them on here for now!

Bridal: Britt

2010-07-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

Oh. My. Goodness. This was such a dream of a shoot! Sarah, my old business partner, was back from Georgia last week for a visit and we knew we needed to plan a fun shoot together! After lots of ideas, we called up Britt - one of our 2009 brides, to see if she would be up for a bridal shoot! I think she was as excited as we were! Britt's mom own's Sister's Garden and Bloom, the absolute cutest vintage shops just outside of Kalona so we headed there and found the most ahhh-mazing backgrounds EVER!!!

Our first goal was to doll Britt's dress up to make it different than we shot for her original wedding pics. We went inside and had an unlimited choice of vintage ribbons, scarves, and belts to choose from! And geesh - how excited we were to find the most gorgeous hand-made headpieces in the world!!! I have to get my hands on some of these for my own wardrobe!!! The headbands are beautifully crafted by the talented local artist, Mary Hassenfritz. If you are interested in her work and would like to know more, stop by Sister's or shoot me an email.

Really, Britt? Is there anything you can't pull off?

Senior girls! You've got to look Britt up to style your hair and makeup for your senior shoot! She is phenomenal and so sweet! Britt's salon is called Adorn Salon and is located in Kalona. For real - you'll just love her!

Children: Mia and Emma

2010-07-17T06:35:00.001-07:00

These two were naturals! They showed up to my place from the Des Moines area and were ready to show me their stuff! I took Mia's one year photos a few years back, so when their mom, Jodi, a grad school classmate of mine, called me up to shoot Emma's one year photos I was pumped !

Here's Emma's debut!

And it's fair to say that Mia is a ham in front of the camera!

As soon as they walked in the door and saw the set up, Mia jumped in and starting making her own poses! Loved it!!!

Dolls!

A Bit of Me Friday: Daniel, Caroline, and Cate

2010-07-15T22:29:00.000-07:00

There's nothing I love more than my sister's kids! Daniel, Caroline, and Cate are seriously too much to handle! They exhaust me, but for heaven's sake - they are gorgeous! My husband says I spend more time in the little kids clothes section than I do in my own size! I'd say my nieces and nephew are well dressed because of it!

Daniel's the best! For the most part, he'll do whatever I ask him to do when it comes to taking photos!

My little Caroline is a stinker when it comes to getting her picture taken! Even though she's feisty she takes pretty dang cute pics! I think my sister should find her a place to model!

And look at our miracle, Cate! She doesn't look like a premie anymore!!! She is definitely going to give Caroline a run for her money! Gosh I just love her wrist rolls!

And these are the best attempts at the three of them together! At least the images make us laugh! The story they tell is exactly them... Caroline is the center of attention, Cate is just along for the ride, and Daniel can't believe what's going on! He's always laughing and saying, "I just can't believe it, I can't watch!"

Engagement: Shane & Joan

2010-07-15T17:01:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness! What a ride summer has been! As a teacher and photographer, you'd think summer would allow lots more freedom and time, right? That doesn't seem the case lately! Life has been nuts in a scary way the last month and I let go of business things to put my family first! I know you hear it all the time, but I'm now experiencing that you can't take your health or family for granted. Ever.

Prayer is powerful and I'm excited about the rest of my summer with my husband and family. I have so many new ideas I want to try that I'm having a hard time deciding what to try first!

This couple found me through the wonderful Holly and Loren from Tru Salon of Coralville. Shane and Joan are stunning!

In my stretch of getting behind, I never blogged Shane and Joan's engagement pics! I can't wait to show their vineyard wedding pics!

Wedding: TJ and Chelsea

2010-06-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

Typically I shoot an engagement session and get to know my clients a bit before their big day! Unusually, I met up with these two just a few days before their big event (since they live so far away) and found out they were both teachers! No wonder I loved these two so much! Chelsea is a school teacher and TJ runs the Elite School of Wrestling in Morton, IL. Here's their story!

The girls started getting ready first!

And then the boys were ready to get dressed...

The ceremony and reception were both held at the new Bella Sala Reception and Banquet Facility in Tiffin.

TJ was insistent that he not see Chelsea before she walked down the aisle, but they saved time after the ceremony for a bunch of couple shots!

And goodness gracious - did this group know how to dance!!!

Love it!!!

Check back in another day or so to see pics from the photo booth we set up at their reception!!!

Children: Rowan

2010-06-14T21:50:00.001-07:00

Rowan is 1 and I've taken her pics several times now! Somehow - she gets cuter every time!

We started off at my house and took a few using my new photo booth lighting. I think they are pretty darn cute!

And then we went outside and played in the weeds!

And this is the time we decided we had enough good pictures! Too cute!

Anytime: Iowa Sky

2010-05-31T08:38:00.000-07:00

Did any of you see the sky Friday night? I was driving home from the Dubuque area and had to stop alongside the highway several times! I take at least one camera with me EVERYWHERE I go and my husband gives me such a hard time! He always argues that I'll never use it! Helloooooo!?! This is why I take it everywhere - just in case! These are real colors, just as I saw them! CRAZY!!!

Anytime: May Flowers

2010-05-27T06:40:00.001-07:00

How can you NOT think these are the cutest kids in the world???

I'm pretty pumped for a three day weekend! I bought my two nieces the cutest matching dresses and can feel a photo shoot in store!

Photo Booth: Greg & Tracey Wedding + CONTEST

2010-05-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Here are the long awaited photo booth pics from Greg and Tracey's wedding! Thanks for your patience while I was shooting a wedding in Europe! I have some beautiful wedding day pics that I will add in the next few days, but for now... the funny ones!!!!!

I got the idea for the photo booth from a manual I bought from The Image is Found. Seriously - check out their blog, it is a hoot! They are incredibly talented with the most off the wall ideas and they call their booth, "The Crazy Booth". I can't use that title, but am in search of a name for my photo booth. List your ideas in my comment section and if I find the perfect name - the winner will receive a free photo booth session at an event of their choice! Sweet deal, right?!? Good luck!!!

These are just some of my favorites! If you'd like to see ALL of them, click this link.

My favorite of the night! Makes me laugh every time!

And then the bride came over and wowzas!!!

Bridesmaids...

This was in close running for my favorite of the night! Check out Pastor G!!!

Click here to see ALL of the photo booth pics!

Rome: Wedding Day!!!

2010-05-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

Too tired to write... but the photos should speak louder than words!

Anytime: Italy!!!

2010-05-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

I'm going on no sleep and tomorrow's the big wedding day so this will be short and sweet! I'm soooooooo excited for tomorrow! Sarah and I are shooting a wedding in Rome! No - for real! SARAH AND I ARE SHOOTING A WEDDING IN ROME tomorrow!!!!! I can't believe my life right now!!!

Just to tide you over, here are a few quick pics of our trip so far! So many more to come when there's more time!

Our first stop was Venice...

My camera screen became our map after we took of a photo of some man's map since we didn't have one! Whatever works, right!?!

When I rains in Venice, the gondola guys don't go out! We stayed an extra night just so we could wait out the rain and get a gondola ride before we left! Totally worth it!!!

Next was Pisa (sorry for the silly pic - we just had to do it!)

And a quick stop in Florence!

And we've ended in Rome, but have a couple days left. Heck - the wedding hasn't even happened yet!!!

And he's (my dad) all tuckered out after a long day in Rome!

Work it: Fashion Tara

2010-05-04T18:33:00.001-07:00

I need, emphasize NEED, to update my website! Unfortunately this is always about number 22 on my "to do" list... yikes! I'm crazy overwhelmed with work lately and while I love my current group of students at school - I'm in dire need of summer break! June 7th is our last day and simply for the sake of my sanity, it can't come soon enough!

I really want to gear my site a bit more toward fashion and personal artistry. I want to brand myself to find seniors and brides with a love of clothes, uniqueness, and a sense of personal style. In hopes of doing that, I desperately need to update my site and really... I'm pretty excited with the ideas stirring around in my head! As a start to these updates, I did a fashion shoot with this gorgeous young lady, Tara.

Tara. Is. Fabulous. I just love this girl! Tara is also a dancer and I am positive this is why she holds herself so well. Not every person can pull of some of the awkwardly unique positions I asked her to do and still look good doing it!

My favorite!

After exploring the North Liberty area for a bit, we ended in downtown Iowa City.

Tara, thanks for working it for me! I'm so excited to use these on my site!!!

A bit of me Friday: Concerts

2010-04-23T21:10:00.001-07:00

Oh my poor blog... How I have neglected you! I've been shooting like crazy and just haven't had time to transfer those images into posts lately! This week is especially nuts for me at school! The kids in my college level art class send their portfolios to the AP College Board next week and I'm playing my French horn in the pit of our musical every night till at least 10:30! I love it, but between prom last week and musical this week I am getting way too little sleep! Enough of my own pity - here goes a new post!!!

I looooove, love, love country music and I am constantly on the hunt for concert tickets! I have always loved going to concerts and since my parents have retired from teaching, their hobby is going to each and every country concert in a four hour radius (and I always tag along since my hubby isn't crazy about concerts). Two weeks ago we went to a Carrie Underwood concert and it was one of the most phenomenal concerts EVER! I swear she changed outfits over 20 times! Her special effects were insane! The coolest was when she sang from the back of a pickup truck as it hung from the ceiling and moved over top of the crowd below! Oh - and a bonus, Craig Morgan was the surprise opening act (he sing the ridiculous International Harvester song).

As my parents and I drove to the concert, I thought it'd be fun to make a list of concerts I've been to. I'm sure I'm not remembering them all, but here it goes...

Bette Midler
Cher
Sugarland, 3 times
Lone Star, 4 times
Rascall Flatts, 3 times
Darius Rucker
Billy Currington
Journey
Brooks and Dunn, 2 times
Trace Atkins
LeAnn Rimes
NSync, you know I'm cool!
The Jetts
Jewel
Roberta Flack, Pebo Brison, Luther Vandross
Big & Rich
Echelon
Alabama
Colin Ray
Carrie Underwood
Craig Morgan
Sons of Sylvia

Here's a list of the concerts I hope to go to this summer: Brad Paisley, Sugarland, Darius Rucker, Zac Brown Band, Billy Currington, Jason Michael Carroll, Lady Antebellum, Alan Jackson, The Band Perry, Montgomery Genty, Kellie Pickler, Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Kris Allen, Little Big Town, Sheryl Crow, Colbie Caillat, Justin Moore, Easton Corbin, Steel Magnolia, Josh Thompson

Here are some pics of my niece, Caroline. We took these at her 3rd birthday party! The suitcases and fan are things I inherited when my grandfather passed away. I have them in the entry way of my house.

So serious...

And then she loosened up! Now that face is my little Caroline's!

"I'm three!"

I just can't choose my favorites! They're all cute in their own way!!!

Children: Cate, 1 week

2010-03-30T10:26:00.001-07:00

How perfect is she?

My sister's new baby, Cate, is progressing well and we are praying she will be able to go home soon! The last three months have been crazy long and I think our whole family is craving our typical, everyday routines again!

Cute flower headband, right? I thought so anyway! I found the flower in a scrapbooking set and sewed it to a baby headband! I think she looks crazy cute in it!

Here's the announcement I designed that my sister chose! If Cate doesn't melt your heart...

Kauai: Rick and Ashley Mini-Shoots

2010-03-22T05:14:00.001-07:00

Have I mentioned, these two individuals are INCREDIBLE? Prior to our recent Hawaii wedding, we spent a few days learning about the island of Kauai with personal tour guides - Rick and Ashley! These two spent a bit over a year working on the island and were so eager to show off the incredible beauty of the island to Sarah and I! While we saw so many phenomenal locations, we also had two models! Rick and Ashley were so great to us and we can't thank them enough. And on the flip side, I think they will love to have images of the two of them during this special time in their life.

This shot is from our way down from Waimea Canyon. We drove all the way to the top of the canyon and it was too foggy to see anything. Bummer! I guess that means we have to go back again someday!

This shot is from what they call, Glass Beach. The area used to be a dump. I checked with Ashley and she explained that over time, the waves turned all that broken glass to sand and there is other debris on the rocks around the beach. Either way, this was one of my top favorite places we went to! Rick was a trooper after getting wet by a crashing wave about two minutes in! In one of Ashley's photo albums on Facebook I saw a pic of this tree. I told her we had to go back!

We drove up the north shore of Kauai to the Kilauea light house. It was blazing hot but we got a few fun shots! The view was phenomenal!!! I have tons of "just scenery shots" that I'll post soon too!

We ended our drive up the north shore with a stop at this dry cave across from Ha-ena Beach Park.

Children: Alexis

2010-03-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

This is our beautiful Goddaughter, Alexis! Alexis is our niece on my hubby's side. I love having cute nieces and nephews to model for me all the time! I'm getting anxious for Lexi to be more mobile so we can go outside next time!

This little girl NEVER stops smiling! I am a huge exaggerator but in this case - no way! She is always smiling and giggling! Love her!

I think we wore her out! Look how sleepy and sweet she turned toward the end! Can't wait to see you at Easter, Alexis!

A bit of me Friday: A Day Late

2010-03-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

Whoops a daisy! I missed Friday! Dang! My intensions are always there, but my follow through is terrible when it comes to my blog lately! I'm going to attempt to prepare a few posts ahead of time this week and see how it goes!

I thought I'd share a few pics of the new business cards I recently designed! In the last few years of running my own business, I've focused so much on the creativeness through photography that I lost the fine arts touch that I always vowed to keep as part of my business brand. I have tons of ideas how to incorporate more art into my photography and hope to implement more and more or those ideas throughout the summer (once school's out)! I need to update my site and blog and hope I can pull off the "look" I envision. The same goes for some advertising pieces and albums as well as my packaging! Just thinking about it gets me all excited!!!

The front of the card features Caitlyn and Geoffe with a sweet new font I found!

And the back is fun with a little drawing I made to imitate me holding an old camera!

Keep watching for changes!!! Oh, and I almost forgot - I got a card a few days ago saying The Locket was nominated for KCRG's A-List! Awesome news! I'll touch again on that later!

A bit of me Friday: Family Room

2010-03-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

I LOVE to decorate and dream of a job where I can decorate for a living, specifically using photography as an element in every design! Doesn't that sounds phenomenal? For now - I'll keep dreaming and decorating my own home!

My hubby and I finally bought our first home last fall and we are slowly getting it put together! The first room I finished is our family room. The shape of this room is really long and skinny so I needed to come up with a unique idea for that long stretch of wall. After many different ideas, we decided on a suspended photo wall and went to town! The outcome... I love it, I love it, I love it!!!

We bought our two white couches at Ikea and built our family room around those. I figure I can change the room as often as I want with white couches to work with. The two chairs were bought next. After searching stores online, in Chicago, and in Des Moines, we found a great deal on a look we were going for at Slumberland. The TV cabinet was something I've had for a long time. It was originally a deep red but I painted it black and embellished it with silver hardware. The coffee table is from Ikea too. I printed a huge photo to fit under the glass and I change it from season to season. Sometimes I have little boxes of fake grass on the table, but right now I have this sweet bowl filled with split peas and topped with small disco ball ornaments. My younger brother built the shelf shaped like a branch and gave it to me for Christmas. Right now it is my favorite part of the room! Many of the accessories are from Ikea, with several of my own touches mixed in. I went with a black and white theme with just a few touches of color brought in from the colors in our kitchen.

All of the photos on our "hanging photo wall" are photos from my travels. There are images from Florida, New York, Italy, New Orleans, Prague, and Iowa. I love the combination of color palettes and that each photo tells such a personal story! We bought the tracking and hardware at Ikea and the chain at Lowes. I had the shop teacher at my school cut masonite for us and I painted them white. After drilling small holes in the boards, I glued the photos down and measured out the spacing. I love the white borders against the dark gray walls!

I hung obnoxiously glittery ornaments from the tracking and from our new ceiling fans for Christmas. I took my trees down a long time ago, but kept the ornaments up much longer than I probably should have because I loved them so much!

Next, I'm on the hunt for a new floor lamp for the room. I imagine one that hangs in an arch and is oversized. I dream of ditching the TV cabinet one day and putting in a fireplace at the end of the long room with a flat screen above it on the wall. I can't wait for school to be out so I have time to tackle another room!

Anytime: Hallelujah

2010-03-10T19:52:00.000-08:00

Thank you Lord for the sun today! We have had so many foggy, dreary days lately, that today just put me in a good mood! As I walked to my car on my lunch break this afternoon, it even smelled like spring! I don't know how to describe the smell of spring, but it was fabulous! And I heard birds chirping too!

On my drive home from school, the sun had come out and I felt like I was dreaming! I love snow, but I'm done with it for the year and was so excited to see the sun making the fields golden! I am so excited about upcoming shoots and events I can hardly wait!

Introducing.....

2010-03-08T07:58:00.000-08:00

the long awaited -

Cate Hazel

She is simply beautiful! Just a gorgeous little peanut! My sister, Eve, was due with her third child toward the end of April. To everyone's surprise, Eve's water broke January 2nd! The long journey to the goal date of March 5th, 6 weeks early, was a long haul! Although it was tough to leave her family behind, we were lucky I live so close to the University Hospital! I could stop nearly every day and help pass the loooong sixty-some days in the hospital. The outcome was soooo, so, so worth it!!! We were praying for at least 4 pounds, and she was 5 lbs. 2 oz. Crazy prayers being answered!

I love Cate's name! My mom's name is Mary Kathleyn, but she has gone by Kathleyn her entire life. My dad, and only my dad, calls my mom Kate so that's where my sister Eve and her husband got the name Cate. Hazel is our grandmother's name. They chose to go with a "C" rather than a "K" because their other daughter is named Caroline Helen.

More pictures to come once we're able to hold her!

Kauai: Chad and Allyson

2010-03-01T21:19:00.000-08:00

You've seen this couple before! Sarah and I shot Chad and Allyson's wedding in northern Iowa this summer. Allyson is our Hawaiian bride, Ashley's younger sister. We did a mini shoot with Chad and Allyson before Ashley and Rick's rehearsal dinner.

I love the orange glow of the sun in these images!

Another Hawaiin sunset!

This was the beach Rick and Ashley nearly switched their ceremony to at the last minute! This beach was gorgeous but the spot they ultimately chose was just perfect! I'm glad they shared this pretty spot with Chad and Allyson!

The first few images were shot on top of that cliff. We heard that a lot of people get married at the top of it. From the bottom it looked super high, but it only took five minutes to walk up it!

I loved Allyson's pink dress against the rocks!

Kauai: Josh and Kristin

2010-02-23T10:39:00.000-08:00

While in Hawaii we lined up several shoots other than just Rick and Ashley. The day we left Kauai, we had the pleasure to shoot a session with Josh and Kristin! We had this shoot in the works for months which allowed Kristin to bring her wedding dress to Hawaii from her home of Canada! Kristin explained that she chose her dress based on the site of their wedding ceremony. Josh and Kristin love the outdoors and got married at the Gananoque Conservation Area in Glenburnie, Ontario on September 6, 2008.

Since Sarah and I weren't familiar with the area, Josh and Kristin chose several locations they thought would be nice and we went from there. The first spot we went to was an old replica of a Hawaiian village. I especially loved the straw-like huts that gave us shelter from the bright sun! For a couple who was nervous about modeling for us, Josh and Kristin sure knew how to work it!!!

And then off to the beach we went!

Thanks for sharing yourselves and your story with us, Josh and Kristin! I dream of the day we can come visit you guys again!!! You'll have to keep your eye out for newly engaged couples ;)

Wedding: Rick and Ashley Ceremony

2010-02-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

One of the many reasons I love shooting weddings, is that I get to meet so many new people. I love learning about other people through their life stories. I'm a sucker for movies and books based on real stories and have always loved to tell stories about my everyday life too! I read so many other photographer's blogs and they each have their own way of posting, their own way of writing, and their own way of illustrating the feel of each wedding they shoot. All that being said, I feel like I've never really been consistent or creative with the way I post wedding images. I've been brainstorming for a long time and I'm going to try something new! I love, love, love capturing the unique relationship between the bride and groom on their wedding day and what better way to experience that feeling than to hear their engagement story! I think engagement stories tell a lot about a couple. The context of the story and the way it is written often reveals personalities and connections that others may never know about the pair. While the photos are important, I hope these stories make each post that much more intriguing!

Link to Ashley's blog to see photos from their proposal. Ashley loves to write and has a fabulous blog I encourage you to check out!

Just to help you get a feel for the scenery we were dealing with...

While I wasn't close enough to hear what was said over the sound of the waves, emotions were strong and I was overwhelmed that I was shooting my very first destination wedding. My dream was coming true!

Sarah and I compliment each other's shooting style so well. I enjoy staying back to capture the entire feel of the ceremony, whereas Sarah loves the more intimate moments and is completely comfortable getting crazy close to the couple. Keep checking out Sarah's blog to see more images from the wedding!

And a kiss to seal the deal!

Some faves of the fabulous couple!

How much more perfect can it get? A beach. Hawaii. 80 degrees. Gorgeous sunset. Sailboat in the distance. Who wouldn't want to get married in Hawaii?

I have many more Hawaii images from our trip so keep watching for more!

Anytime: Frozen Solid

2010-02-17T21:28:00.001-08:00

Oh. My. Goodness. Gracious.

It is soooooo, so, so cold in our house!!!!! I'm the kind of girl who can layer long underwear, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, and a blanket and still have goosebumps! My office usually stays pretty warm with two computers running and an external hard drive, but I walked to our bedroom to change out of my work clothes and holy cats... It was fa-reezing!!! Our bedroom has always been a cold room compared to the rest of the house but this was especially noticeable. I went downstairs to get a cup of water and the wood floor was unbelievably cold and I knew it was more than just a "cold night". Something was wrong.

photo is pre-sleepless night

I felt like I never really fell asleep last night because no matter how many covers I had tightly wrapped myself in, and no matter how closely I snuggled with my pup Riley, it was unbearably cold. I breathed air onto my nose and fingers just to get feeling in them! Maybe I'm exaggerating. Wait. Nope. We woke up this morning and the temperature had dropped to a flat 50 degrees! My cheap hind end broke down and decided that if we still hadn't figured it out the thermostat we better call for professionals! Tonight we are basking in a warm 70 degrees and loving it! I couldn't live in a place without winter, but after this year - I'm ready for the cold of winter to go hibernate till next year!

Anytime: Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T21:10:00.001-08:00

I've written about this before, but thoughtfulness is probably my favorite quality in people. That being said, that is one of the many reasons I married my husband. My Brandon tops the list for being most definitely thoughtful. My husband has a great ability to make me feel special - and who doesn't want to feel special on Valentine's Day? Since we started dating back in high school, Brandon has always sent me flowers. Since I also teach school, Brandon sent Valentine's flowers to school. The school secretary brought a special delivery to my room Friday afternoon. A gorgeous bouquet of flowers!

Check out how they box them up and ship them! The flowers started out closed up and small.

But later that night opened up and look beautiful on my desk at home!

When I got home from school that day I had a wedding consultation at my house. Once the couple left, my husband came to my office and had gotten me one of my favorites - a "Double Doozie" cookie from the American Cookie Factory. A horrible, horrible favorite that I'd never buy for myself, but when someone spoils you with a chocolately, frosting filled cookie of goodness... you HAVE to eat it!

While my husband begged to exchange Valentine gifts on Friday night, I insisted we wait until the REAL day. So Saturday night rolls around, midnight on the dot mind you, and guess who asks to exchange gifts? I didn't give him my gifts yet, but I got one of mine - the cutest pair of new flats! Brandon nervously gave them to me and said, "I can't believe I'm supporting your habit!"

On Sunday we finally exchanged our gifts and he got me the most darling paper weight for my office - a fake, gigantic diamond ring. I thought it was the perfect gift for a wedding photographer! And of course I received a few more lip glosses to support my addiction.

I love this guy and hope that everyone has someone or something in their life that makes them feel special. Happy Valentine's Day!

Check out my super cute shower curtain and rug I put up for February!

A bit of me Friday: My Ring

2010-02-12T18:49:00.000-08:00

We started dating when I was just 15. I was a sophomore. He was a senior. I had reconstructive surgery done on my knee after a softball injury and was bound and determined to still go to the homecoming dance just a few days later. I was still pretty groggy from pain killers but I had bought the dress months before this surgery and I would have been crushed to miss the event! As I finished getting ready, my mother was so nervous people might see my underwear as I tried to maneuver the gigantor brace I had to wear that she made a last minute trip to Wally to get a pair of black spanks for me. After dinner we got into our vehicle and my date had to physically lift my leg into the car because I couldn't do it myself (hence, the spanks). We made it to the dance and I hurt so badly it felt best to just stand on my crutches out of the way. Time passed and the last song came on. Some senior guy came over and said, "Aren't you going to dance?" I thought the answer was obvious. For real? How? He said, "There's no reason you can't dance." And he proceeded to pull me onto the dance floor, picked me up under my arms, and held me up so we could dance. Hmmmm... I wasn't sure what to think. I'm sure my date felt horrible and I knew this new dance partner of mine had a steady girlfriend. And really? He was a senior. It couldn't be.

That next Monday at school there was no longer a steady girlfriend in his world.

Somehow I got tricked into believing that a bunch of people were going to an out of town football game one Friday night. When I showed up with my best friend - it was just us. We went to the game with this guy I barely knew and he acted funny toward me all night. I remember him tickling my leg on our drive home and I just hoped my friend in the back seat couldn't see because I was mortified he was touching me. He insisted he would drop her off first and I begged and begged for him to just take me to her house. I was pretty helpless because I couldn't drive with my leg screwed up. That night he asked if we could be more than just friends. It still makes me laugh to this day. Really? The farm girl who really had no interest in boys and would rather hang out with her dad at a school basketball game than sit with her friends in the student section. Really? Well of course I didn't give him an answer and on we went. Did that really just happen? In his typical way, he sent one rose to school that next Monday. The note read something to the idea of, "Do you have an answer yet?" Nope! The rose a day continued for two weeks before he finally stopped. We began to hang out and the boy I wasn't interested in, wasn't attracted to, didn't need right now - began to grow on me. We had so much fun together and started to become best friends.

Fast forward through him living at home and going to college while I finished high school. I went to Wartburg and he moved to start his junior year at UNI. He graduated and began teaching while I completed my degrees. We hadn't ever seriously talked about getting married. It was evident we'd get married eventually, but we never talked of it aloud outside of me always saying I wanted to be graduated and have a job first. My roommates all made bets that he would be at the end of the graduation stage waiting on one knee. No really - they actually had a pool and each picked a date that he'd propose. Well everyone's chosen dates came and went and why be in such a hurry anyway?

I went to Europe with a college friend the summer after my second year of teaching. While I was there, I saw a ring I loved and took a photo of it because I was way too cheap to buy it. I always dreamt of designing my own ring one day and thought this ring would be one version I could play around with. I told Brandon about it, but I told him everything. No biggie. Little did I know that while I was in Europe, he arranged to go out to dinner with my father. He cautiously asked for my father's permission to marry me but my father didn't give him a clean cut answer. Come to find out - my dad didn't know exactly what this boyfriend of mine was asking and my boyfriend didn't really know if he had gotten an answer. Too funny but so predictable. How could my dad not know what he was asking? After my boy toy called my sister's husband to confirm the strangeness my dad showed, he started to make plans. One weekend I visited him he took that ring photo off my camera without me knowing. He invited his parents along and went to a jeweler to see if they could make it. A few weeks later they had a mold for him to approve and then it was go-time! Once the ring was made there wasn't much time before he couldn't wait any longer. I had always hinted at how romantic going on a walk over a bridge would be while it was snowing. As thoughtful as this boy is, his romance level has never been top notch - but just wait.

After begging me to come up to visit him even though the weather was less than perfect, I finally gave in and drove up to see him. I remember meeting him at Target and the first thing he said was, "Your teeth look so white." What? He would normally never say something like this. RED FLAG. UP! We left there and I begged to go to Hobby Lobby. Agreed. This guy HATES Hobby Lobby and would willingly clean a rancid toilet before volunteering to go to Hobby Lobby with me. Strange. RED FLAG #2. UP! He even carried the big frame I bought up to the front counter. Again - highly unusual. So then he says we have to go to the nearby town to get gas. Could it really be that good of a deal that driving seven miles to the next town would save much? Whatever. At that point I knew something was up but honestly, we had never seriously talked of getting married and even scarier - we had never looked at or even discussed what kind of ring I liked. I was an art major and tend to think I have a unique taste. Scary to let a sports boy blindly choose a ring. Really scary. We left the gas station and he said we were going to take a walk on this bridge I had begged him to take me on a walk on for years. Although he got flustered trying to find the bridge and talked non-stop, I kept talking myself out what I thought was going on because I didn't think he had asked my dad and we hadn't talked about the 'M' word yet.

It had stopped snowing at that point, but it was the first snow of any type that year and as we got to the middle of the bridge he talked about how much he loved me and sure enough - popped down on one knee with a ring. Since we were on a snowy bridge, he wouldn't let me put the ring on! He made me walk back to the car first and man, was I nervous. I was so scared to see what he had done but was so in love with it when I saw it. I loved the European asymmetry of the stone and couldn't believe he was able to do what he did to have it made for me. Other than myself, nobody seemed surprised after more than nine years of dating. "It's about time," is all we heard for very long time! So after being together over 11 years we are more content than ever and excited to see where life leads us as one.

This always happens. When I finally make myself sit down to write, I just ramble and ramble. And I just wanted a story to go with the photos of my ring I shot in Hawaii! I didn't realize it, but my story is quite perfect as Valentine's Day is on Sunday. Brandon came home tonight and called when he was in the driveway. "Stay in your office until I tell you." When he came up to say hello he immediately asked when he could give me his Valentine's gift. On Sunday, duh! He is such a little boy. He's always begging to swap gifts early!

Anytime: Daniel and Caroline, winter

2010-02-03T21:35:00.000-08:00

I decided it had been much too long since I last posted any pics of my gorgeous niece and nephew, so I asked them to bring their hats and gloves the next time they came for a visit and we'd do a mini photo shoot.

She is just too much to handle!

And Daniel may be the cutest little boy ever created!

I have a thing with little kids in hats and find myself buying cute hats more often than I should. My nephew would do anything I asked when I take photos of him but not always with the best of attitudes. It was so cold out when I took these that I didn't look at them very closely until I pulled them up on my computer to edit them. Every time I look at these I crack up! Daniel looks 100% irritated that I'm making him where this goofy hat! I love that he's trying to smile but it looks terribly painful.

I think he's much more comfortable in his own hat!

I love these kids so much! My sister has another on the way and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't ecstatic!

Wedding: Rick and Ashley Preparation

2010-01-31T21:54:00.000-08:00

Ahhh! School really got ahold of me the last few days! My apologies for leading you on - hopefully it was worth the wait! Here are a few favorite shots from the preparation portion of Ashley and Rick's Hawaii wedding!

Wedding days are oftentimes fairly hectic but one of my favorite parts of the day are when I can escape and concentrate on capturing the details of the day - the little decorations and touches the bride wonders whether people notice or not. Since Ashley and Rick's day was so relaxed, I was able to steal their rings and just lose myself trying some unique ideas with new and funky backgrounds/objects. Other than getting eaten alive by skeeters, I had a blast. I even took some of my ring too I may post later!

Check out the red rambutan! These creepy looking fruits are supposed to be the next big thing - according to People Magazine. Once you open them up the have a gigantic grape-like slimy thing inside. Inside that strange, but yummy thing is a gigantor seed. You've gotta try one! They look spiky and sharp, but really they're not!

Ashley's ring is actually Rick's grandma's grandma's ring. I'm a vintage kind of girl and her ring is one of my top favorites of all time! Love it!!!

Ashley brought her dress with her from Iowa and said one of the flight crews on her way down even let her keep it in the cockpit!

Wedding: Rick and Ashley Day Before

2010-01-30T06:59:00.000-08:00

Because I have so many Hawaii images, I've decided to make several posts from Ashley and Rick's big day. In preparation for THE day, we went to the Pono Fish Market in Kapaa, HI to get their marriage license. For about three days during our time in Hawaii, we were basically Rick and Ashley's personal photographers and they were our personal tour guides. It was so nice to finally relax and let someone else worry about the details of traveling. Here's a few from their fun time at the fish market! Way cooler than a court house, right?

Oh my goodness gracious!!! While we were there, Rick ate one of the most disgusting creations ever! I'll have to ask him what this was called again, but it was a piece of Spam wrapped in seaweed and filled with what appears to be rice. Uhhh - it makes me gag just looking at it! Rice alone makes me feel queasy (I'm insanely visual and rice reminds me of maggots) and then add in the other stuff... I'm really happy you can't smell photos!

* UPDATE: Ashley just emailed me and said the spam in seaweed is called musubi and is a breakfast or snack item. She said Rick saw the picture and instantly said he missed them!

Engagement: Rick and Ashley

2010-01-28T09:12:00.001-08:00

In the next few weeks I have lots of images to post from our recent Hawaii trip. My business partner Sarah and I were crazy blessed to travel to the islands of Hawaii in January to shoot Ashley and Rick's beach wedding. I got to thinking... I took Ashley and Rick's engagement photos in December which was also my drought of not blogging. So before I post any wedding images I thought I'd tease them for another day by posting a few shots from their FA-REEEEEEEZing engagement shoot in the Des Moines area!

Love the colors of this gigantor wall!

These two seriously crack me up! They could not stop laughing at each other the entire shoot! The next two images sum Rick and Ashley up pretty well! The last one was from standing in front of an air vent in an alley. We were all laughing so hard it was tough to keep the camera still!

I can't wait to post Hawaii pics!!!

Senior: Chelsea, part 2

2010-01-27T20:22:00.001-08:00

You've may have seen this senior before! Chelsea is my spokesmodel for the Maquoketa area and we did several mini-shoots rather than one longer one. I met up with her and couldn't believe how different she looked from the first time I worked with her. She had a different hair cut, different hair color, and had gotten her nose pierced! I love this girl! She is interested in a lot of the same things I am and is looking at going to college out of state to major in art!

I have never worked with someone who knew how to work it so well! I rarely told her anything about posing, just a "hold that for a second, look left," once in awhile.

I'm not sure why I had this idea, but I've always wanted to do something with balloons and silly string and Chelsea's personality was the perfect match for it! This was at the Maquoketa Caves and I'm pretty sure the family picnicing nearby thought we were nuts! This set is a riot!!! I told Chelsea to spray the silly string at me and I guess I didn't realize what a good shot she had. She plastered it all over my lens!

Riley

2010-01-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

This is my best friend. He goes by Riley. He isn't vain, even though I tell him everyday he's gorgeous.

Whenever I bring out my camera I swear he poses! My permanent model! I made this image into sticky notes for my hubby for Christmas.

MN trip

2010-01-25T21:05:00.000-08:00

Here's a few random pics from a trip my hubby and I took to Minneapolis this past summer!

While I'm mentioning random things, here's a few more...

I'm scared to death of coyotes. I have an average of three flavors of lip gloss in every coat pocket I own. The smell of vinegar makes me cringe. It drives me nuts that I am habitually five minutes late to every commitment I have. In heaven, I pray the air will smell of chocolate. Lips fascinate me. I hate to shave my legs. Vacuum is one of the most bizarre words ever. I'm claustrophobic to middle schoolers only. I consume enormous amounts of ketchup when I go out to eat. And I am insanely addicted to anything with the word clearance in it.

Wedding: Geoffrey and Caitlyn

2010-01-24T20:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a short set of images from a wedding we shot in GORGEOUS Galena this summer! A gorgeous bride, a gorgeous groom, a gorgeous day, and a gorgeous setting! I can't say it enough - I have the best job in the world!

My fave from the day!!!

Senior: Tyler

2009-11-19T09:25:00.000-08:00

Whenever I have a shoot or meet with a client I ask where they heard about The Locket and why they chose us. Tyler heard about us through his friend Chelsea (and way back in the day I babysat him a few times), but also said he remembered seeing a photo I took of straws and entered in our county fair. Crazy! That was honestly during my early college years which would have put Tyler at about middle school age! I remember exactly the photo he mentioned. I took a photo of a cup full of straws. The straws that are white with a red stripe down them and have a crinkly bend toward the top. I worked at the local ice cream shop during high school and college and shot the photo looking down on the bunch of straws standing on end in a cup. Even stranger than that - I babysat Tyler a few times back in the day!

I always tell my seniors to bring more than they think they'll need so we have options as to what will look good with the backgrounds we find. Tyler did an awesome job! He brought all sorts of things and had lots of his own ideas too. We took lots of pics around the town of Maquoketa - who knew there were so many unique corners of junk! I almost felt like I was shooting in the Iowa City alleys I know too well. We then ended up shooting in the country where Tyler works.

Kind of creepy, but definitely my fave from the day!

Anytime: Brad Stiles Release Concert

2009-11-05T05:20:00.000-08:00

Goodness - nearly two years ago Sarah and I started working with Brad Stiles! Brad is seriously one of the nicest guys out there and would do anything to help us be successful. Brad has been working on recording his first Christian Rock CD in Nashville and here's a few quick pics from his recent release concert!

Pretty sweet to see our images made into t-shirts!

This banner goes with Brad to each of his shows. It is seriously gigantic but totally cool to see our work so huge! Wouldn't that be sweet to have a fine art print that huge across my office wall!?!

Check this guy out everybody - he's the real deal! Brad is one of the most honest, real musicians I've ever heard and he and his musicians are incredible!!! Brad, the Locket Ladies wish you all the luck in the world and pray for your continued success! Thank you for all your encouragement and friendship! You pushed me as an artist in ways I hadn't experienced in years - thank you! We can't see where your journey leads you!

Read this short article from Eastern Iowa News about Brad and his music!

Check back again soon to see some pics from some of Brad's sessions with us!

Anytime: A funny

2009-10-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

I would guess that most people who read this blog know that I'm also a school teacher. I teach middle school and high school art and the kids more than keep me on my toes! A few weeks ago kids were running for student council and were allowed to hang signs to encourage people to vote for them. These two signs absolutely cracked me up! Every time I walked by these signs they made me laugh!

This little guy can "relly" help you out - just don't ask him to help you study for a spelling test.

I got a kick out of the creepiness of the face on this sign! And again, spelling is not their forte! But don't worry, if you vote for this student - happiness will surely follow!!!

Senior: Kayla

2009-10-14T20:50:00.001-07:00

Kayla came to us from Dubuque Hempstead High School. We shot her sister's pics a few years ago and her cousin's last year. Kayla and her mom were like a walking salon! Every time I turned around Kayla's mom had her throwing on a new top or switching out her accessories! Kayla's mother is a hair stylist in Dubuque and changed her hair in just minutes. I was so impressed at how fast these two could create such completely different looks in no time!

Kayla, I love your laugh and your dimples! You are a gorgeous young lady and The Locket wishes you tons of fun memories in your last year of high school!

Wedding: Lara and Chip

2009-10-13T11:18:00.000-07:00

For the most part, I think people know that the other half of The Locket, Sarah, got married last weekend and moved to Georgia! Holy cats, right!?! As scary as this is for me, I can't help but think I put the nails in my own coffin! When we were shooting a wedding last year I introduced Sarah to her now husband, Brent. Yikes! Brent was one of my high school classmates attending Lacey and James' wedding. Talk about my two worlds colliding! My high school classmate marrying my business partner and originally one of my high school art students! For real though - she married a wonderfully respectful and kind man - I just wish he hadn't taken her away from me!!! "Can someone please get me a tissue?" Just kidding, but with that being said, we are going to give it our best stab to book as many destination weddings as possible. We are so looking forward to shooting two weddings together we've booked in Hawaii and Rome in 2010. So, if anyone knows of friends/family having destination weddings, please send them our information! If anyone knows information or resources to help direct/guide people to our site as destination photographers, please contact us and let us know. I think after the hype of Sarah's wedding dies down, we'll create a completely different site that specifically features our work from and for destination weddings. Oh, I can't wait!!!

Miss Lara was one of the most gorgeous brides I've worked with! She was so stunning I decided to make a mini gallery of just Lara! Love this set!!!

Lara and Chip kept the tradition of not seeing each other before the ceremony so that first glimpse of each other was especially awesome! If you remember Lara and Chip's engagement session, these two are crazy tall and made an impressive statement as a bride and groom. I loved Lara's mother's sweet hat! Not everyone could pull that off as beautifully as she did!

Lara and Chip were married at Schwab Barns outside of Solon and the facility was nothing less than breath taking!!! Brides, I've heard the owner only allows a few weddings a year, but this round barn and the outside facilities were unbelievably gorgeous! As Lara's father explained in his speech that night, the day felt like a dream!

Engagement: Greg and Tracey

2009-10-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

Although I'm nervous I've lost all my followers after such an insane lack of posts, I. AM. ALIVE! In the craziness of losing my business partner, I still have many, many clients to complete work for as well as continue with new ones everyday. I have been trying so hard to stay afloat and in the midst of figuring out how to run a two person business with one person - something had to go. My college years of sleeping three or four hours a night have returned and something had to give. Blogging is something I love to do, especially to have the chance to tell stories, but it just slipped aside for a bit. While I'm nervous out of my mind of what is to come with my, "I've finally got a plan and know exactly what I want to do with my life," I'm trying with everything in my heart to stay focused on my dreams and trust that God will guide the rest of my life in the direction it needs to go. I'm behind. I'm scared. I'm exhausted. And I'm timid to trust. And even with those feelings of doubt, I ask for the courage to be confident in my business and patient to see the results. I want to refocus. I want to be refreshed. I want to serve.

Enough of that deep talk! I really do love what I do and am thankful for my blessings everyday - I'm just trying refocus my goals! So... without further ado, I post again with high hopes of keeping things updated. I've had lots of exciting and creative shoots lately so keep checking back for more!

The next series of shots is from a recent engagement shoot of Tracey and Greg. I met these two through my college roommate Minda. Minda is just getting her feet wet in a possible photography career and we are going to shoot their wedding together in Chicago this coming May and I can't wait to see everything they have planned. I'm so pumped to work at a new venue!

Tracey and Greg met while attending the University of Iowa and stopped by Iowa City on their way home to the Chicago area. We did a few shots at Quinton's because this is where they had their first date!

My Wedding: A Photography Workshop by Bob Davis!

2009-08-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, so now for the big news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The workshop is finally released!

OUR WEDDING, a photography workshop by celebrity photographer, Bob Davis! Check it out!

http://davisworkshops.com/#/calandar/

Happy Thursday! Woot! :)

-Sarah

Wedding: Cameron and Liz

2009-08-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

~ Manson

Wow! What a gorgeous day Liz and Cameron! These two really lucked out and had the most BEAUTIFUL Iowa summer weather day ever!!!

I love this pic! Liz wanted her dress to be a complete surprise so I believe her sisters were the only people that had seen "the dress." I love the bridesmaids as they saw her for the first time!

The stunning bride!!!

I caught this photo during the ceremony.

The reception was held in Dubuque at the Julien and it was incredible!!! I was in love with the beautiful furniture!

Liz and Cameron kept the tradition of not seeing each other before the ceremony so snagged them away from the reception for a bit. I love the classic, a bit old fashioned look to these two!

And the cute flower girl was hamming it up for us too!!!

Anytime: Daniel and Caroline

2009-08-14T06:48:00.000-07:00

~ Manson

And the real reason they invited me over... to take photos of the kids with their new kitties! Daniel is really sweet with them and Caroline, she just grabs whatever part of the kitten she gets ahold of first - head, tail, fur! One time I turned around and she had climbed on top of a filing cabinet to get one of them! No fear! She has scratch marks everywhere!

This was my attempt at getting a photo of the two kids together! I have better ones but this one is hilarious!

My favorites from the day...

Senior: Chelsea

2009-08-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

~ Manson

Wow - this was an all time favorite senior shoot! Chelsea was a blast! She's actually in California right now checking out colleges for art next year - my kind of gal! Chelsea is our spokesmodel for the Maquoketa/Dubuque area this year. Chelsea loves art and is on the school dance team and found us through some girls we shot from her area in 08!

Over a year ago I posted several images from a gigantic fire that took out a huge portion of Maquoketa's downtown - well, the rubble is still there! The DNR and the city have been arguing about what to do with the asbestos-ridden mess so we took advantage of it for our background!

I loooove, love, love junkyards and all the unpredictable 'schtuff' they provide! You never know what you're going to find!!! Sarah and I have had some unique encounters at junkyards - and this one didn't let me down! Most of the time I don't ask for permission to do things which is my own "I think I'm more BA than I really am and that my mouth can talk me out of anything. Well for some reason I had my dad get permission from his buddy for us to shoot in this junk yard and it actually paid off this time! Once we were almost done shooting a cop car pulled up. Surprise, surprise! I really didn't give the officer a chance to say much before I said we had permission to be there. Even so, he said, "Well it is kind of out of place to see a girl in a fancy dress walking around a junk yard." Once I explained what we were doing he didn't have much to say and went on his way.

This is only a glimpse at this girl! We have several mini-shoots planned rather than one longer one so I'm pumped to work with her again! Tomorrow's FRIDAY!!!

Engagement: Lara and Chip

2009-08-07T07:57:00.000-07:00

~ Manson

Holy cats folks! Talk about MIA? We're sorry we've neglected the blog so much lately but heaven-sakes alive!!! We have been to more weddings in the last month than most people go to in their lifetime! It is a good thing we love it 'cause I am pooped! August and September are nothing short of nuts too but I'm determined to get some sweet new stuff up here because we have plenty of that!!! Soooo.... without further ado, we present Lara and Chip's engagement session!

How 'bout that sky, right? CA-RAZY!!! We could obviously see how awesome the sky was but clearly hadn't watched the weather forecast for that evening. My husband called in a panic, speaking of 75 mph winds and trees being uprooted in towns. We were probably a bit more daring than we should have been but we got some sweet shots nonetheless!

Queen Anne's lace - my fave!!! Side note: I remember using Queen Anne's Lace in a bouquet I took to our county fair and being disqualified because they considered it a WEED rather than a flower! It created a tiny uproar in my family!!!

Since we ended up getting chased home by the storm, we met up a couple days later and changed the look to a bit more colorful and urban!
Just an FYI, Chip is nearly seven feet tall, yes - SEVEN!!! And Lara is no shorty either being over six foot tall. Hmmmm, and I'm a staggering 5'2"! I'll just say... we brought a ladder!

I swear his legs alone were the length of my entire body!

Isn't Lara stunning? I just can't wait to see her in her wedding gown!

Bridal session: Bethany, St Simons Island

2009-07-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

So while I was visiting my fiance on St Simons Island I was able to do a bridal shoot, thanks to Brent.

We took these a week before she got hitched, so she is married now- congrats, girl!

Bethany totally worked it! See for yourself!

Can't wait to hang out with you some more, Bethany. You were a blast!

-Sarah

Wedding: Ferguson and Baumgart

2009-07-23T09:07:00.000-07:00

Our recent bride, Lindsay, went to high school with Manson and we had been booked and looking forward to this day for over a year! Brett and Lindsay - you didn't let us down! Our day was over 18 hours long but we wouldn't do it if we didn't love it!

The ladies were troopers! They started getting ready at 7:30 am!!!!! Thank you to William Wesley Salon in Davenport for letting us play around with our crazy ideas! The girls looked awesome!

hello ring!

this is my favorite putting the dress pic on ever! lindsay is just stunning!

We sure hope you're not stressed Grandpa!

I love that The Proposal was one of the movies!!!

Can you say B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!! Thanks for being the bride we dream of Lindsay! Willing to try all our ideas and not crazy paranoid about your dress! We loved working with you two!

HOTTT!!!

What an insane dress!!!!!!!!

An all-time fave fo-sho!

~Manson
So at the Grand River Center - it really is "grand"! I swear there had to be eight wedding receptions going on at the same time! Sarah got Lindsay out on the rocks and I starting looking for my spot to shoot from! A balcony!!! I made up my mind and knew I had to move fast! I took off, ducked under ropes, ran up the wrong side of the staircase, burst through the doors of another way fancy reception, walked through their party and out the back door onto the balcony. I didn't ask - I just went! I did get some crazy looks but nobody complained once they saw my GORGEOUS bride sprawled out on the rocks below!

Wedding: Cayton

2009-07-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

What a crazy weekend! Last week we had a Friday and Saturday wedding! Phew!!! Sunday Sarah left for a trip to Georgia and I left for a last minute getaway to New Orleans! I'm glad to be home with my boys (my hubby and pup) but am not excited about the ridiculous amount of emailing, editing, and just catching up on things we have to do!!!

Jim and Kris were married last Friday. I met Jim when I first moved to Kalona to teach as Jim taught social studies at the high school where I taught art. Kris is a doll and I love her laugh!

Kris is also a school teacher as well as many of the members of the bridal party so a school bus as a limo was quite fitting!!!

Child: Jade

2009-07-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

~ Manson

Oh my goodness - C - U - T - E!!! We took photos of Jade when she was born and now she's turned one already! Taking pics of a one-year-old is so tricky! They can move like crazy and have no idea what you're telling them to do. I teach school with Jade's mom and she and her husband were the best photo parents ever!!! They weren't worried about her getting dirty or wet - they let her play and do her thing, while we worked it and did our thing. It is nice to have parents around to help with smiles but it's tough when parents are worried about the little things. The best way to capture the personality of a child is to let them play in their surroundings. No poses, nothing perfect, no rules!

Keep checking back often - lots, lots, lots to blog!

Wedding Teaser: 4th of July Wedding, Wedding Plans

2009-07-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

Whoa!!!

Fun!

Wedding!

On the 4th! :)

Here's a little sneak peek:

This week will be a busy one! Edit, edit, edit!

I'm visiting my Brent in Georgia soon! Woot! :)
(which, by the way...if any photogs want to get together to meet or anyone wants to shoot give me a ring! 319 936 3760)
So one week from today I will be there. Can't wait! This long distance business isn't the most fun, but it helps us stay creative in the ways we tell each other we love one another. For example, I love getting snail mail and Brent is great about sending me letters that make my day. It will be great to get to see him in person though. It's been about a month and a half! We'll be getting things set for our wedding that will be in Georgia in October. We just need to confirm a thing or two, but we've got some exciting info on what's going to happen at our wedding! So, photographers especially, check back for more info! I'm so excited!!!

Happy Monday!

Sarah

Wedding: Amy and Kevin

2009-06-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

This couple rocks, seriously, they are awesome! We shot their engagement pics in Red Rock Canyon in Vegas.

For the hair and makeup, we met the ladies at Twin Image Salon Spa in Iowa City. All of their employees looked like models. If any of you Twin Image workers want a shoot we would be more than happy. Give us a ring :)

Then we went to the IMU hotel:

First look:
I love her reaction!

Some bridal party:
This group was pretty badass if I do say so myself :)

The Groom:

The ceremony was hotter than a pistol but was so emotional and beautiful at Danforth Chapel in Iowa City:

wiping tears :)

the whole day was tear-jerking

Some couple pics (we'll be adding to this tomorrow, so check back!):

I went with the fellas to the deadwood downtown IC:

Loved the flowers! When it comes to flowers we're very picky for some reason - this lady was awesome! If you're in need of a sweet lady with pretty flowers, contact Julie of Fountain Flowers at 319-629-5522.

There will be more from this wedding tomorrow! :)

-The Locket Ladies

Anytime: Rainy Pictures!!

2009-06-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

A BIG thank you to Randy, my future father-in-law for finding someone who would let me shoot them last minute in the rain! I have been wanting to do this for the longest time! And another big thanks to Kelli and her friend Adam for modeling for me! You guys are rockstars!

Yay! Now I can check that one off of my list! Double woot!

:)

-Sarah

Wedding: Christine and Mike

2009-06-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

Prep!

Couple pics! Christine had some ideas and locations picked out, which was super helpful!
Mike and Christine did the cutest blindfolded first sight. loved it!

The adorable flower girl showing me her flowers:

The rings:

And bouquet:

The ceremony:

Wooo! All done!

Here are some fun bridal party shots:
This one reminds me of Fonzie. "heeeeeyyyyyy!"

Here are some fun reception shots!
Erin got these ones:
The bridal party was SOOO fun! What a great group!

And this cutie made me want to have these little outfits for my ring bearers for my wedding! Love the converse!

Manson was cracking up for a good 10 minutes after she saw this happen:
Who would've guessed he could still go that low?!

Manson was kind enough to let me experiment with my pocket wizard while she got some of the shots with more traditional light.

The flower girl and ring bearer think their getting hitched next! They were so cute the whole day!

and this one was lucky! I felt a dip coming so I quickly ran to the other side of the couple so I could get the flare. BAM!

And I want to end with a big thank you to Carie for saving the wedding day.
Carie has been shadowing us and will be helping at a couple of weddings that Manson and I are splitting for.
She was taking a picture and kneeled in a pile of poop.
She got up and didn't complain and said, "That could've been the bride! I just saved this wedding!"
Thanks for taking one for the team. Too bad you were wearing white. ha!

Have a wonderful evening, folks ;)

Engagement: More Chad and Allyson

2009-06-19T18:46:00.001-07:00

~ Manson

Phew!!! What a CRAZY day! As I was finishing up editing this session, it started to storm. Even though I only had about ten pics to finish up, I saw lightning and quickly shut down and unplugged my computer. I had sat at my computer all morning and even though the air was on, I had the window open a crack because I love to hear rain! After I shut my computer off I ran downstairs to turn my husband's new laptop off. Once I did that I went to the basement to be sure he shut off his desktop. As I was in the basement it started storming a million times worse and I could see water building up in the window wells. I walked over to the windows and realized it was already leaking through the floor into the carpet. My husband pulled the carpet up and I sprinted to the upstairs bathroom for towels. When I ran by my office I saw an even worse DISASTER!!! My 30" Mac was drenched!!! HOLY CRAP!!! (Sorry for the excessive exclamation points but they'll soon be justified!) This wasn't just kind of drenched either! Soaked! The crack the window was open must have blown WAY open in that five minute time span I ran downstairs to shut the other computers off. We have strange windows too - they open outward rather than up and down??? Regardless, my monitor, tower, new desk as of two days ago, external hard drive, and clear to my closet door were absolutely soaked. Thank goodness I had unplugged things before I originally left the room. I was so freaked out I didn't know what to do first. I had come upstairs to get towels for the basement and now this!!! All kinds of old photos I inherited from my grandfather from the early 1900's were wet too (and they were miles from the window). Unbelievable!!! So I frantically dry things off, freaking out the entire time - I just had to leave things to dry, say some mega prayers and go back to the basement problem.

My husband left in a panic to buy a ShopVac and I decided the only thing that would help would be to get rid of the water in the window wells. I crawled down into the well and began to shovel water and mud like crazy. I was drenched, scraped up, and pooped out but it helped. Our neighbors must have thought I was nuts! I'll skip to the good part - as of now, everything WORKS!!! The Lord is good - very, very good! We keep sucking up water in the basement and water leaked from my office floor through the kitchen ceiling but I think we have it under control. Now I just have to find new glasses because mine fell on the cement during the water scooping episode (and now have a chip right in the middle of the lens). Sorry for the vent session but that was crazy stressful and could have been a tremendously different outcome!

Sooo.... on to those pics I finally finished! Here's a few of my faves from Chad and Allyson's engagement session last week! They are getting married in Chad's home church because Allyson's is too small. Their wedding is this summer and they have arranged for us to take photos at Allyson's little white country church before the ceremony and I can't wait!

Many people have asked on my facebook page where this is at. This nutszoid stick weaving is at Ada Hayden Park in Ames, IA, and was created by Patrick Doughterty. One of my favorite all-time artists is Andy Goldsworthy and this strongly represents the outdoor sculptures he does! If you're interested, click on this link to see more pics of the incredible work of Patrick Dougherty.

Thanks to Allyson's sister, Ashley (our upcoming Hawaii bride), for recommending this site for photos! I think it'd be a fun field trip for my art students next year!

Advice for the day: Don't leave your windows open when it's raining (not even a crack) (not even for five minutes)!!!!!!!!!

Engagement: Allyson and Chad

2009-06-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

Whoa! The weekend was so fun when we shot these photos!

We went and spent the night on a Sunday night with our January bride, Ashley, who is Allyson's sister.

On our night with Ashley we got to sit and chat with her and Rick about their destination wedding in Hawaii that we will be shooting in January. Yep, you heard it...HAWAII! We got to flip through photo books about Kauai that were more than enough to make ANY photographer drool all over the pages. Manson and I stayed up laughing and talking afterwards because we were on such a high from all the Kauai excitement!

Oh goodness we're so excited!

!!!!!!

Ashley will send us random fun emails that always make our day. We were not disapointed one bit when we met her sister Allyson for our Monday shoot. We knew she would be wonderful as well!

Check out some of what I got!

This was my favorite! Allyson was so stinkin' cute laughing the whole shoot!

here's a pic of manson getting a super cool angle. all i can say is im glad i was on this side of her. ;P

Yay! It's FRIDAY!

:)

-Sarah

Anytime: Crazy Cool Sky

2009-06-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

~ Manson

When I shoot weddings I sort of lose track of everything! I forget what time it is, sometimes I forget to eat, and I shut my phone off from my outside world! Saturday's wedding was the best eye candy for a photographer ever - beautiful bride, gorgeous details, unique accessories and decorations!!! Oh, I love my job!!! Well, evidently my parents called and I didn't notice until they called back the following day. My husband and I were on our weekly trip to Target after church on Sunday and my dad called! He said my family and all of our extended family were having a picnic on our farm. I hate to miss out on things so we actually just left our cart right there and went straight to our house. We had planned a cookout with friends at our house that day too so my husband stayed behind to get ready and I went on my way to my parents place. Sunday was a gorgeous day for a drive and I had a great time four wheeling and spending time with the best family in the world!!! On my drive back home I stopped alongside the road about ten times to take photos of the crazy, crazy cool sky!!!

Gotta jet! Tons of editing to do!

Wedding: Nichole and Grant

2009-06-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

Wow. These guys were awesome! They took such good care of us. Thank you guys for being so wonderful!
Check out some pics from Saturday! Oh, and by the way - we loooove, love, love comments!
Pre Wed:

The girls got their hair done at Inspirations, Salon and Spa in Cedar Rapids.

Some bridal shots:

and we brought along the flower girl:

Ceremony:

Brides, if you still need a musician for your wedding - Dana Starkell, a classical guitarist out of the Quad Cities area, was fabulous!!!

The wedding site was GORGEOUS!!! It was held at Honey Creek Acres, an orchard near Swisher.

I liked this one of the guys:

Couple pics:

The reception was in Solon at the Brosh Community Center. We loved the site - the meal was inside and the dance was outside!!!

this little guy was throwing rocks into the water by the bonfire. when i put my camera to my face he got all serious on me. what a sweetie!

She threw the bouquet off a balcony!!!

after the bouquet toss:

and a couple pic to end:

Firefly experiment!

2009-06-12T06:25:00.001-07:00

Happy Friday everyone!

Last night I made an attempt to shoot fireflies! I have never really shot with a long shutter speed before. So I borrowed a tripod and accidentally broke it. yikes! (Randy if you're reading this I owe you a tripod!)

So anywho-- it was hard to keep the shutter open a while without a tripod without getting a blurry shot. I realize this isn't the most wonderful picture in the world, but i just want to share what I've been up to. I would love to incorporate a couple or a child in something like this. So sometime in the next week I am going to give a try to that. Should be interesting. I will let you know if I get any shots that aren't too embarrassing to post. You have to start somewhere I guess!

If any of you photogs out there have any tips for this let me know! :)

Peace!

-Sarah

I shot this at:
FStop 7.1
Exposure time 13
And I played around with the ISO

Perfect Wedding Shoes and Other Random Updates...

2009-06-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

-Sarah

Well, on Monday when Erin and I went shopping we found the perfect wedding shoes.
Gladiator shoes!
Woot!
I fell in love with them and then later found out they were on sale! God is good!
I snagged these pics from aldoshoes.com

There are some stones on my dress and I wanted some funky shoes, so basically these are exactly what I was hoping for!
And, I also ordered some higher than high purple heels (yay for having a tall man) that I will wear for a portion of the day.
So the wedding will be 4 months from TODAY. 1/3 of a year away... one hundred and twenty-two days! Well however you want to say it... Yikes!.... gotta get on my planning...
We decided colors...plum, brown, gold accents and, of course, white will be involved.
We decided on having it on driftwood beach on Jekyll Island where he proposed, but are reconsidering because of our budget (or lack of!)
Any stupendous planning ideas or ways to save? I would looooove to hear them! And if I find any good ideas I will surely post them. It's mostly the reception part that I am concerned with.
All this wedding planning business is strange! I am so used to just showing up at weddings.

-Sarah

Wedding: Angeles and Jaimie

2009-06-10T07:30:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Kenny Kim who invited me to shoot with him on Saturday in Chicago. I met Kenny last year at the Vegas Love Story Workshop. It was fun to see how Kenny works at a wedding. He is fast, efficient, and in charge! He nails the shot every time. The man knows his stuff! It was a great opportunity and learning experience for me. Thanks for that, Kenny. You da man! Good times! :)
Angeles and Jaimie were a great couple and the wedding party was so fun! It was also great to go and shoot and have no pressure whatsoever. Kenny took care of the group shots and all of the main stuff and all of my work will just be extra. I got to just play around with camera settings and have a good time.
I also met Gina DeConti who is hilarious, wonderful, kind, and a fantastic photographer.
Kenny and Gina- I can't wait to work with you guys again sometime.
Woot!
Thanks for checkin the blog :)
-Sarah

I love the hairspray shot every time.

Happy Wednesday!
:) Sarah

Engagement: Michael and Ashley

2009-06-09T22:02:00.000-07:00

~ Manson

I've gotta jet this morning so I'll write more about this session later - just wanted to get some pics up for today!!!

Check out the sweet reflection up top! I didn't even notice till I was home editing!

Engagement: Mitch and Marce

2009-06-09T09:05:00.000-07:00

~ Manson

After Sarah and I finished our shoot yesterday, we detoured a bit and got to have a little girl fun! Working two full time jobs doesn't allow for much of a social life at the moment so I have to live it up when I get the chance! I can't quite figure it out... why does shopping pump me up so much? My adrenaline rolls fast, I forget that I'm hungry, and I forget how badly my legs/feet hurt. All that plus I spend money on things that I never need??? I don't really get it, but I know I love it! I had such a great day - piddling around, going out for lunch, being girly, trying on clothes just for fun! Shhh... it's a secret, but I splurged on a gorgeous formal dress I have absolutely no purpose for at all!!! I've never done anything like this but now it's my mission to find a reason to wear it! Hmmm, maybe I can convince my hubby to take me to a broadway show??? Or maybe an anniversary photo shoot by the one and only, Sarah Skow??? Let me know if you have any great ideas!

Sarah and I have been on engagement overload the last few weeks! Sunday evening we traveled to Des Moines and Monday to Ames, both for engagement shoots! It's so much fun to shoot in new places and we have lots to share with you as we're crazy busy editing everything! Here's a few from a recent shoot near Solon. Mitch cracked me up so many times during this shoot! We'd suggest they stand a unique way or turn their heads a certain way and Mitch would just give us a look like we were losing our minds! I figure that's what we get for the crazy ideas we suggest and that's what they get for choosing us!

Loooove, love, love Marce's expression!

I'm slightly obsessed with this eyelash and scruff photo!

Engagement: Mo and Emily

2009-06-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

~ Manson

I've known Mo for eight years now! Mo lived on third floor Ryder and the University of Northern Iowa - just down the hall from my boyfriend at the time. Eight years later that boyfriend is now my husband and Mo is our great friend. Brandon and Mo lived together for at least four more years and did some of the craziest things not appropriate to explain on this blog:) Mo was a groomsman in our wedding nearly two years ago and my husband, Brandon, will be a groomsman in his wedding this coming September. We've gotten to know Emily in the last year and she is just perfect for our good friend Mo! Emily and Mo came down from Algona and stayed with us over the weekend! We had a great time getting to know the two of them as a couple better and also got in their engagement session!

The cutest reaction in the world!!!

Loved their clothing change! Emily, that pink dress rocked!

"Work it" is an understatement!!!

Love these two images!

Sarah and I are headed to Des Moines to shoot an engagement session tonight and then on to Ames for another engagement session in the morning! Have a fabulous week!

Engagement: Brett and Lindsay, part 2

2009-06-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

~ Manson

I drive by this gorgeous yellow field on my way to school everyday! I envisioned shooting in it forever and finally convinced Sarah and her fiance Brent to meet me there for an early morning shoot one day. We had shot Lindsay and Brett's session the evening before and went with a more urban feel. It starting getting dark that evening and I had to leave to present a scholarship so we invited them to the "field of yellow" the next morning as well - a double engagement shoot!!! Too fun!

I wish I had this exact photo of my husband and I! I'd print a huge one on canvas.

I went to school yesterday to finish up a few things and saw the field was now mowed and made into bales! Bummer! I guess we won't get any photos of my husband and myself there this year!

Engagement: Dave and Molly

2009-06-05T06:32:00.001-07:00

~ Manson

We met this sweet couple at a coffee shop back when it was still cold out! I remember thinking they were really sweet and that Dave worked with bulldozers or something of the sort. I remember having five or six wedding consults that week and thinking that I would have troubles remembering who was who. It was so fun to get to know these two during their recent engagement shoot! These two have the sweetest souls, the most beautiful respect for each other, and not to mention they're gorgeous! As we trekked around North Liberty and Iowa City I learned they were first introduced at her sister's wedding when Molly was the maid of honor and Dave was the best man! Oh, how I love weddings!!! I found out Molly was an art major which really excited me and that she studied in Italy. I love this lady! Well, these two were troopers while we were our crazy selves experimenting with all kinds of new ideas. We got so carried away that it was all of a sudden nearly 10:00 and none of us had eaten supper!!! Thanks for sharing yourselves with us Molly and Dave. I can't wait to learn more about the two of you at your wedding!

Sarah working her thang!!!

OK, so I went crazy with the puffy dandelions but I love em and am super bad at choosing favorites... Who knew my neighborhood had such a gorgeous backdrop for photos. I hope Sarah will take a few pics for my husband and I at the same spot!

>

And a drastically opposite look and mood...

The next two are my favorites!

On a side note - school is out for me and I'm beyond excited! I need some time to regroup and focus on our business. I have lots of new ideas and am soooo, so excited to have time to work on them! Live it up - it's FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Engagement: Molly and Dave

2009-06-04T07:06:00.001-07:00

Loved these two! Can't wait for their wedding! :)

We just can't get enough of these yellow flowers :)

Then we drove downtown for a completely different look!

And afterwards Manson and I chatted with this fellow for a bit. His sign was cracking me up!

Happy Thursday! Its almost Friiiiiiidaaaaay! :)
-Sarah

Child: Rylee

2009-06-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

Rylee is suuuuuch a sweetheart! Oh my goodness. And she's super cute too! Check out these photos from last week:

I looove this one below! Her expression is perfect!

Thanks for the fun Nicki and Rylee! :)

-Sarah

Wedding: Adam and Mandy

2009-06-01T17:57:00.000-07:00

What a fun couple they are! Check out some of what we got on Saturday. We will post more after we edit the entire wedding.

prep:

couple pics:

some fun ones:

ceremony:

and some post wedding shots:

Engagement: Brent and Sarah -some more!

2009-05-28T05:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Manson for grabbing some more pics of Brent and I before he took off to go back to Georgia. Check out what she got!

Planning is going slowly, but surely! We finally picked a date! With all of the weddings Manson and I have this year the weekends where we would have the option of honeymooning for a week after were slim to NONE! 2 weekends open in a row for a wedding photographer in season is very rare. Brent and I were praying that God would make it clear when we should have it and then a couple days later some people who will be very important in our ceremony told us some dates that don't work and after marking them all off on our calendar if seemed like October 10th was pretty much the only weekend that would work while still being able to have an outdoor wedding. It's amazing how fast the Lord answers our prayers even when they don't seem like something thats a "big deal." I'm so excited. I picked up Brent's ring yesterday and I also ordered my dress! (Thanks again to our bride client Emily for sending me the picture of that dress that reminded you of me! You were right- it was EXACTLY what I was looking for.) If I could put it on the blog without Brent seeing it I would. Darn it!

Have a happy Thursday!

:)

-Sarah

Engagement: Brett and Lindsay, part 1

2009-05-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

~ Manson

Lindsay and Brett were so fun to work with! Lindsay was so creative herself and Brett was up for anything we asked! We had so much fun downtown we actually met up again the next morning for some more outdoorsy pics - you'll have to check back again for the rest!

So as we walked around Iowa City looking for new, unique spots, we looked to the right and there was a really old staircase inside a door that looked like it was somewhere we shouldn't sneak into. We looked around and there was a guy carrying clothes to the upstairs part of the business and he just said, "Yes, you can take pictures on the stairs." Sweet! We didn't even have to ask - he read our minds!

Lindsay had the cutest dresses! I've been waiting so long to get dress pics! Love it!

My favorites of the day!

I told her to work it, and work it she did!

Lindsay is from my hometown of Maquoketa so I'm extra pumped for their summer wedding! I'll get to shoot at my home church for the first time ever! I can't wait you two! Thanks for a great weekend!

Engagement: Kinsey and Aric

2009-05-25T10:22:00.001-07:00

Manson

I've recently been working on a memory book for a colleague who will be retiring from teaching this year. I sent pages out to current and past students, parents, teachers, and administrators, family friends, relatives, etc. I did my best to find families she had multiple generations, families where she taught all five kids, students from her first classes, and students she had unique connections with. I encouraged the families and individuals to create their page with memories, funny stories, and pictures - anything goes! As I've been receiving all the pages for her book, I've also been receiving some of the nicest notes. Isn't it neat to do something thoughtful for someone else and you end up getting more out of it yourself? I'm often frustrated that I only remember to be like this at times. There are times where I'm thoughtful toward others, but there are even more times where I think about writing a card or responding to an email or compliment on Facebook, but don't actually get it done! I wish I was more dilegent with the things I think about but don't take the time to carry through! My mother really did teach me better than this!!! I've never been very good at resolutions but I'm definitely going to make it my goal to focus on being more thoughtful to others throughout the summer! I've got a huge list of people I need to write letters to or give a call to! After today, only six more days of school left! Woohooo!!! I can't wait to have more time to do some of the things I love!

Here are some pics of Aric and Kinsey! These two are so cute and I can't wait for their wedding this summer! We typically prefer to shoot in the morning or evening to avoid the brightness of the sun and bright sky! I'd have to say the sky was incredible this day!!! As we went through the shoot we kept repeating how crazy cool the sky was! Have a great holiday weekend!

I love HOME!

2009-05-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

~ Manson

Although I'm now graduated, married, and own my own house, I still call where I grew up, "home." I love to go home and forget about all my worries! I love that I can go home and leave all the craziness of teaching school and owning my own business behind! I love being with my family and I love remembering how things used to be so much simpler! When I go home I don't have the internet to distract me and I do my best to ignore my cell phone. When I'm at home there are no students complaining and no photos that I know in the back of my mind need to be edited. For some reason, "home" makes me forget all of those things!

The last two weeks I've been able to go home for part of the weekend and spend a day with my family. My husband is my high school sweetheart and it is really nice that we're from the same hometown. Last week we went home to celebrate Mother's Day. We first spent the afternoon having a picnic with my husband's family. When that was over with, we went out to the farm where I grew up and went mushroom hunting before my family went out for supper.

We had dinner at a restaurant along the Mississippi and my sister's kids couldn't wait to get outside to throw rocks into the water. I snagged a few quick pics!

Daniel loves Uncle Eric!

What a little dare devil! Caroline would jump right off the dock if we let her! She could care less if anyone is watching her, if she gets dirty, or if she falls and gets hurt...

Daniel is my Godson and I have to say - he's pretty stinkin cute too! This kid should be a model! He will do anything I ask and oftentimes comes up with his own ideas for photos too!

This one's my favorite!!! I might have to switch my bathroom photo of Daniel to this one!

This is my husband and I doing what we, I mean I, do best - eat ice cream!

I only have 11 more days of school left and then I can go home for visits whenever I feel like! I can't wait for SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!

Engagement: Sarah and Brent

2009-05-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

Finally! A new post!

Last night Manson and I were supposed to do a couples shoot, but it didn't work out because of the rainy weather. We thought, PERFECT! Manson and I have been dying to take pictures in the rain, so my fiance Brent and I headed out but we didn't make it in time to get rained on, but there were still some cute pics. I thought I would share some. Thanks, Mans, for shooting the pics last minute. We had a good time, but we're still hoping to catch some rain sometime! :)

We decided for our engagement pics we would do lots of mini sessions to keep it fun, so keep checking for more!

-Sarah

haha!

This one below is my FAVORITE! Good work Mansizzo!

Some fun cropping...

Wedding Toasts: 10 Worst Wedding Toasts Ever

2009-05-05T06:37:00.000-07:00

As wedding photographers we get to spend one of the most exciting days filled with so much love and laughter and heartfelt words. We get to experience so many wedding toasts that are beautiful and make me get a little teary. Then there's the other side. We also get to experience a lot of wedding toasts that are honestly just awful. Sometimes there are those toasts that you know everyone in the room is cringing and thinking, "Sit down!" Most of the ones that make me feel that way wouldn't be so painful if they weren't so long!

So, my tip for the day is to keep it short and sweet. :)

We've never experienced any this bad!

Here's a clip from theknot.com that may make your toes curl a time or two.

1. "At a friend's wedding a few years ago, the best man made it apparent that he wasn't such a fan of the bride. The speech went something like this: '(Groom's name), man I love ya, you know I do. I hope you thought about this and that this is what you really, really, really want.' Then he said the bride's name, hit his fist against his chest twice, and pointed at her."

2. "A friend of mine from college got married, and his best man said in his speech: 'Finally John has found someone with low enough self-esteem to marry him.'"

3. "The maid of honor (the bride's sister) not only talked about herself during the whole speech, she also mentioned the possibility of an affair between herself and her sister's new husband."

4. "At my cousin's wedding, the best man ended his toast by saying he wanted the groom to know that he'd be there for him at his next wedding when this one didn't work out."

5. "The best man at a wedding I was in said during his toast, 'Congratulations to the new parents!' No one except a select few knew the bride was pregnant -- not even her parents!"

6. "I was a bridesmaid in a wedding where the best man gave a toast about how cheap the groom was and how they'd been friends all their lives but the wedding was the first free meal he's ever been offered by the 'cheapskate.'"

7. "The father of the bride stood up and said, 'I'm Jill's dad. I just want to say that I met David before Jill did because of my other daughter.' And he sat down."

8. "My cousin gave a horrible toast at her younger sister's wedding a few years ago. She began by saying that she never liked her sister's new husband throughout high school and that 'today he's still at the level of slightly below the scum on the bottom of a dirty waste pond.'"

9. "I attended a wedding where the best man commented on how the bride used to work at Hooters (which her family didn't know about) and how he was jealous of the groom for 'bagging her.'"

10. "During the toast the groom's dad (after many drinks) said that he was so happy for his son and his beautiful wife Sara. But his wife's name wasn't Sara, his ex-girlfriend's was."

-- Miles Stiverson

More: Ashley and Ben

2009-04-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

~Manson

Love these guys!

Anytime: Ashley and Ben

2009-04-30T07:24:00.000-07:00

-Sarah

Here's a handful of my favorites from a recent session. I've got a big long list of different ideas I want to try and I got to cross off a few of them for this session. It was a lot of fun to shoot and edit! Check out some shots I like:

Ben is really into music, so we went to the record collector in downtown ic.

Then we wandered around downtown for a bit:

And swung by a coffee shop!

Favorite!

I hope you enjoy your Thursday! :)

We will be editing our buns off tonight. Lots of fun stuff to post! :)

-Sarah

My Engagement!

2009-04-28T06:41:00.000-07:00

So sorry it has taken me so long to post this story. My head has been spinning like a top and my phone has been ringing off the hook this past week! Time to focus again!

I had the most exciting weekend of my life recently. I got engaged to a wonderful, wonderful man. So it's about time to post the story of the engagement, right?!

About a week and a half ago I was heading off to St Simons Island in Georgia to see my boyfriend, Brent. I hadn't seen him for almost a month.

Okay, let me back up for a second.

Brent and I met at a wedding last Summer.

A wedding I was shooting. :)

I remember seeing Brent and thinking he was very attractive. I nudged Manson with my shoulder and whispered to her "Oooh, run me into purple shirt!" I was COMPLETELY joking. That was just my funny way of telling Manson that I thought he was cute. Manson replied with, "Oh, I know him! He was in my class in highschool. He is a really great guy!" I probably responded to her with something like, "Nuh-uh..!" or "Are you serious?!" Then, Manson and I parted ways and finished out the night. I was packing up my equipment and the next thing I know Manson goes over to say hello to her old classmate, purple shirt. I was walking with her and then she continues to chat with purple shirt's friend. So I'm left there to chat with purple shirt.

I remember thinking:

......seriously......was Manson..... just...... my wing man???!!

Purple shirt politely shook my hand and introduced himself as Brent. There was something different about him. Something refreshing. We chatted briefly and when we parted he gently shook my hand again and said, "It was a pleasure meeting you." Hmm...something was just different here. I was so used to guys trying to act macho or cool when I meet them. I have never had a guy be so genuine and polite.

So, then Manson and I left for the evening and we were both pretty quiet and suddenly in the parking lot she said, "So what are you going to do now?"
I replied, "What do you mean what am I going to do now? Nothing!" I have this thing about making sure I am pursued, not doing the pursuing.
Then, Manson said, "Well, are you going to add him on facebook?"
I was surprised she even had that thought and I said, "Manson!!! I can't add a guy from a wedding on FACEBOOK!"

About a week later I was writing something on the Brides wall and recognized Brent from his tiny little profile picture. I don't remember if he had written on her wall or if he was one of the randomly listed friends on her profile, but either way he was there.

I sat to think for a second. Hmmm...

Then, I clicked on his picture. I sat there for a few more moments.

Ahhh, what the heck. (click.) I sent him a friend request.

I figured this way IF he wanted to talk with me he would at least have the opportunity.

It had been maybe a week or so and I got a short message from a Brent DeShaw. I had to think for a second about who this was. I had forgotten that I added him, then it dawned on me. So, I messaged him back. The messages went from a few lines to being so long that you had to scroll down because it couldn't all fit on one page. After about a week and a half of writing back and fourth he suggested we talk on the phone and he gave me his number. I agreed and teasingly suggested he might need a way to get my number. So, he asked for it and I gave it to him. The next evening I got a call from him and I was so nervous I didn't answer and gave myself 10 minutes to collect myself and then I gave him a call back. I'm kind of a dork. :) When I gave him a call back we talked for three hours! He asked if it would be alright to give me a call again sometime and I agreed that it would be a good idea. He called again a couple days later and we talked for three hours again. Holy moly! We continued to chat on the phone. He lived in MN at the time. It didn't matter to me that he was so far away because I was continually impressed by his thoughts, ideas, and his faith. He was easy to talk to and he made me laugh. We were able to commute back and fourth to see each other during the slow season, which was so nice. A few months later he moved back to Iowa (score!). Then while I was on vacation in FL he called me and asked what I thought about him covering for a chiropractor in GA for a bit. I agreed that it was a great opportunity and he should do it.

So, hopefully that clears up how we knew each other and why I was going to Georgia to see him.

Okay, okay...on with the engagement story...

It was kind of an all day deal. Brent came over to the house I was staying at so we could make breakfast together. He brought me a rose and there was a sweet note written on the card that was tied to the rose with a red ribbon. It was a lovely surprise. Brent is always doing sweet things like this. When we hang out he will sneak a note in my pocket or in my bag so I can find it later. It is my favorite.

By the way I think its really cute he wrote these notes in cursive. :)

That morning after breakfast we took a walk around the beach on St Simons:

Throughout the day I got a few more roses at various times with different sweet messages tied to them with a ribbon:

For dinner that night we had a picnic on driftwood beach. I told Brent the only thing I wanted to do while we were on the island was have a picnic on the beach.
a picture of driftwood beach:

Brent gave me another rose before dinner:

And another one before dessert (he made peanut butter pie! my favorite!)

a couple pictures from our picnic:
Brent even brought a picnic basket!

Here's a shot of me that Brent took.

the beach was amazing! after we ate I suggested we take some pictures. The area was absolutely beautiful and I just couldn't leave without taking some of it with me, so here are a couple pictures we took while we were there:
the beach at sunset

this AWESOME tree was there. I remember being like, "Ummm...uhh...can weeee..." as I was glancing back and fouth between Brent and the tree. I knew it was going to sound crazy, and he knew I was stewing an idea. I wanted to climb up there for a photo. When I finally got the sentence out of my mouth Brent's response with no hesitation was, "alright." Then he walked over to the tree and I told him, "ummm...I actually wanted you to climb the tree." Then he kind of chuckled and said, "whatever you want, love." Yessss! He's always up for trying my crazy ideas. I love it. Brent was able to set his point and shoot for 30 second delay and then it would take 10 pictures in a row. Perfect. So I let him climb up there and told him where I wanted him and clicked the button and hurried my little tush up the tree. I figured if it took 10 shots at least one would turn out.
I
love
this
picture.

It will most definitely be large and framed in our future home :)

And here's one we had a passerby snap:

After wandering around for a bit Brent and I watched the sun set. Just a little while later he went and got an orchid, which is my favorite kind of flower. There was a ring tied to it with a red ribbon. He got down on one knee and told me how much he loved me and asked me if I would marry him. I said, "OF COURSE!"

He hugged me tight and spun me around. Then we did a happy dance. :)

We then gathered our things and brought them to the car. I was on cloud nine.

here's a shot of the roses and orchid:

As we were driving back (mind you I had no idea where we were or how to get home, so I didn't even realize we were taking a different path) he pulled up to a pretty building and someone came over to see about parking the car for us. I gave Brent a "what in the world is going on" kind of look and he let me know we were going to stay there tonight.

When we got out there was a woman who introduced herself as our butler.

Whaaaaaaaaat? a BUTLER? haha! It was a very fancy place. I had never seen anything like it in my life. I remember saying to Brent. "Do people seriously live like this?!" after the butler left. It was incredible. When I got in the room there were rose petals on the floor and Brent had a bottle of wine ready for us to celebrate.

The hotel:

flowers were waiting for me

And here are a couple shots of us. Yay! we're gonna get married!!!

Doesn't he have the cutest dimple? :)

It was a beautiful, beautiful day and I really couldn't have asked for anything more. Brent is so great and I appreciate him so much. And I get to marry him! Woot! :) It will be so wonderful.

Oh...and by the way...at that wedding we met at, brent caught the garter. Funny isn't it? Maybe what they say about whoever catches the garter will be the one who gets married next is true! ;)

We haven't set a date yet, but we're going to figure that out by the end of this week. I'm always at weddings, but its so fun to get to look at all of this stuff from the other end. I think it will help me be a better wedding photographer.

Holy long post, batman!

Hope you have a beautiful Tuesday!

-Sarah