Brian & Angela’s Wedding at St. Leo’s and Stoney Creek Inn

Saturday Jen and I headed out to West Salem and Onalaska to photograph Angela and Brian’s wedding.  It was a gorgeous, warm, and SUNNY October day.  After we showed up, I was witness to a definite “first”: the bride did a shot in the church!  Well, it was actually a shot of Pepto-Bismol, but it was pretty funny to catch a picture of it:

The whole wedding had some neat details.  From the individual cakes on each table to the personalized wedding quilt to the Redneck Express Party Bus, it was a unique experience.  In fact, I got a pretty darn cool picture of their transportation.  Yes, you are seeing it correctly… that is rays of light surrounding the party bus.  It’s almost like the skies opened up and smiled on the Redneck Express!  (Okay, I’ll stop with the cheesy jokes!)

 

But seriously, this is one of my favorite pictures of the day… 

Angela and Brian, thank you for letting Images of Distinction share your wedding day.  Congratulations!

Erica and Wayne’s Classic Wedding At The Orpheum

Saturday was Erica and Wayne’s wedding, so Sean and I headed out to The Orpheum.  It was a beautiful wedding with lots of great details!  And I have to say that it was probably the coolest venue I’ve ever done… and also the most difficult!  But so far, the pictures look great!  

I don’t have any of Sean’s photos for the preview yet (those should be coming in the next week or two), but in spite of that, I had a tough time deciding which photos to use!  Check it out for yourself: 

 

 

 

 

And here is their slideshow!

Trying something new: Maternity Session

Since I specialize in weddings, it’s not often that I get the chance to do other things. However, I’ve been lucky because I have two senior portrait sessions in the next few weeks, and I was also asked to do a maternity session for Stacey. She is due in two weeks, and was an incredibly good sport about doing anything asked of her. (Not to mention she makes a killer lasagna and yummy fruit salad!)

I also had the pleasure of working with Vince at this session. Since I mainly work with natural light and a combination of flashes, and he has a great knowledge of studio lighting, it was interesting to see the different types of photos that came out of the session.   Some of you may see Vince in the future as he may become a part-time member of the Images of Distinction team.

Anyway, two types of pictures came out of this session: the relaxed looking, natural light photos, and the more artistic, studio photos. Now some of them will be posted on my site with password protection, and not here on the blog for privacy’s sake. If you are interested in viewing examples that aren’t shown, just let me know

So finally, here they are:

Kate, Scott, and Starbucks.

This weekend I met Kate and Scott when we did their engagement pictures in Madison.  We met up at Starbucks, and that’s when I found out that they actually met at a Starbucks a couple years ago.  So it’s safe to say that they are both pretty big fans of Starbucks.  In fact, they are even giving away coffee beans as their wedding favors!  I thought that was particularly cute. 

 

Anyway, we’d been watching the weather all week to see if it would cooperate, and aside from a couple raindrops, it was absolutely perfect.  The natural light was amazing!

 

We hit up some great locations for photos: a park on the lake, Edgewood College, and the soccer field near West Towne Mall.  We had wanted to get some at the Union and Capitol, but with the UW graduation that day, decided not to fight crowds.  Regardless, the photos are excellent (well, I think so, anyway!).  😀

 

Oh, and Scott graduates from Edgewood today… Congratulations!

Enjoy!

 

Carlie and Jason’s Wedding on the Mississippi River

Yesterday I had a blast at Carlie and Jason’s wedding in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  They got married at a small church along the Mississippi River, and their reception was at the Best Western Midway, also along the river.  It was cold but at least it didn’t rain!  These guys were a hoot- their whole wedding party, family, and guests sure knew how to have a good time and made me feel so welcome. 

Anyway, here is a sneak peak of their pictures.  More to come soon on my website! 

 

Sharon and John: A Love Story

This weekend I photographed the wedding of Sharon and John at Pamperin Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  After heading that way, driving through snow and rain, I finally made it.  Boy, am I glad I was able to witness their big day.  It was one of the sweetest weddings I’ve ever seen.

 

Sharon entered my free wedding give-away contest in January and they won one of the runner-up prizes.  One of the things she wrote about that made them unique: They were both in their 30’s and had never been married.  If the saying that says “good things come to those that wait” rings true, these two are in for some really good things.  😀 

 

Anyway, this is just a sneak peak of their wedding pictures.  Please check my website later this week for the full album.  It’ll be great!

Jamie and Jack: First wedding of 2008!

This weekend I met Jamie and Jack when I photographed their wedding just outside of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.  They were married in a small country church, probably the smallest church I’ve ever been in with only 8 pews on each side.  They picked the warmest day of the year so far- it was almost 60 degrees!  I’m so excited for spring to get here.

 

Jamie and Jack, it was an honor to be present at your wedding. And I loved your location.  Thanks again for a great day! 

 

Here’s a sneak peak of their pictures.  The rest will be posted on my website sometime this week.

 

My weekend in Michigan

You gotta love family. 😀

Let me tell you a little bit about my husband’s family. There are about 20 first cousins and most of them are starting families. Almost all of them are living up near Monroe, Michigan. This last weekend, Ben and I headed up there for a visit because I never had a chance to meet one set of his grandparents before, and one of his cousins was getting married.

After braving a harrowing freak snowstorm (at the END of MARCH!) we finally made it to Monroe. We crammed quite a bit of visiting into just a few short days. It was nice to attend a wedding as a guest instead of as the photographer, and I still had some fun taking pictures of the kids. We’ve been married a grand total of six months, and nearly everyone we talked to had one question for us: “When are you two going to have a baby?” I suppose it doesn’t help that his sister and a cousin’s wife are also expecting babies this year- the pressure is officially on!

Ben and I have been saying we are on a Five Year Plan for kids, but after seeing all the adorable kids at the wedding, I’m having second thoughts on that plan. What do you think? And for those of you getting married soon, what are your plans? Are you having kids right away, or waiting for a while?

 

Free Trash the Dress or Bridal Session in Wisconsin (and Virginia)

Currently, I have over 20 weddings booked for 2008 and 3 already for 2009.  I was looking over my portfolio when it occured to me: I have absolutely NO Trash the Dress or Bridal Sessions to show potential brides! 

For those of you who don’t know what a Trash The Dress session is, think Bridal Shoot.  However, the biggest difference is that you generally have a TTD shoot after the wedding when you aren’t afraid to get your dress dirty.  You could do the session at a local lake, climbing rocks, visiting a diner and having a big plate of spaghetti or a chocolate milkshake, or anything else that’s fun. I’d love to add one of a bride milking a cow.  What can I say- it’s a Wisconsin thing! 

But for those of you who have a lot of sentimental attachment to your dress, you can do a bridal shoot and stay clean, or do like many other brides before you and buy a cheaper wedding dress that resembles your real one so you can get it dirty.

My first bridal shoot will be in April.  But I’d like to have more than one to add to my portfolio.  This is how you guys get lucky!

The giveaway.  Here are my requirements. 

1) You must meet me in or near one of the following cities: La Crosse, Richland Center, Boscobel, Prairie Du Chien, Viroqua, or Gays Mills, or if you are up north, Chetek (Wisconsin). And if you are from Virginia and saw my posting on Craigslist, I will be visiting Hampton Roads / Virginia Beach in April and would love to get an interested TTD shoot on the beach and boardwalk.  You are welcome to apply, too!

2) You must be willing to let me use your photos in my portfolio and in promotional materials that I will be printing up throughout the year. 

3) You MUST be photogenic.  Now that doesn’t mean drop-dead-gorgeous and size two.  I’m looking for real women that are happy with themselves and their appearance.  That just means that you must be comfortable in front of a camera and not so nervous that you forget to smile.  🙂

4) You must have fun!  This is a free giveaway- and I want it to be fun.

5) You must own or have access to a wedding dress that fits you.  I will not provide that for you.  I provide myself and the camera. 

6) This session will take place in May, so please be married by then, or have a dress you can “trash” by then.  🙂

After the session, I will provide you with a free 5×7 print and an online album of your images.  If you like them and would like to purchase a photo CD, it will be $50 for a keepsake tin, personalized label, and the edited images. But you are not required to purchase anything- it truly is free to you.

So if you think this is something you’d be interested in, please email me at iodphotography@yahoo.com.  Please tell me why you are deserving of this session.  Also, please include a photo of you and of your dress.

A trip across the bridge to Lansing, Iowa

I live about 60 miles away from La Crosse, and just a few miles from the Mississippi River.  A couple weeks ago, I was on my way to meet one of my summer brides in Ferryville, and Ben (my husband), Aaron (my brother), and I decided to take a trip across the river to Iowa.  Since I’d just received a new lens, I had fun playing around the fun little town of Lansing, Iowa. 

 This first picture is the bridge that goes from Wisconsin to Iowa.  It’s pretty unique.

The next couple photos are of a store that is right along the main drag.  They had handwritten ads held up by clothespins in the window.  In case you can’t tell, my favorite of all the signs in the window says: “Kites.  Go Fly One Today!”  There’s just something appealing about a small town advertisement.  I feel as though I MUST take pictures of them!  

  And how about these two entirely WAY to exciting pictures of doors?  They were about a block away from each other, but as different as night and day.  I’m not sure why I took these pictures… but they’re kinda fun. 

  And this would be my favorite Launderama sign, ever.  Of course, there aren’t any other Launderama signs that I can think of, but if I could think of some, this would still be my favorite.  🙂

And lastly, another cheesy self-portrait.  Usually I hate pictures of me, but this one is kind of fun.