Another busy weekend...

Last weekend, I also got to hang out and shoot a beautiful wedding with the wonderful Stephanie of Stevie Photography. We had a great time at Mandy and Mike's wedding. Here's a quick look...

Stephanie at work...

Photographers contort themselves into all sorts of positions for the sake of a good picture, that's for sure!

I've been known to lay on the ground (on my stomach) and cause passing vehicles to get so distracted they popped a flat tire running over a curb. Seriously...not kidding.

I didn't think my backend looked that good...or maybe it was too wide and that's what caused the accident...hmmm, better start working out properly if that's the case. Either that or do what Stephanie here is doing and lay on my back and hope that my abs can hold me in that position long enough to get the shot. Stephanie is obviously in better shape.

Thanks Stephanie for letting me shoot with you again.

Sometime soon, I'll post more from this fun day.

~Von

Abby and Allen: Shhhhhh....it's a surprise

Okay...so everybody that sees this particular post needs to keep it hush hush. You MUST promise to keep quiet about this before scrolling down to see these images.

Did you promise?

All right then, if you nodded your head in agreement you can scroll down.

This past weekend, Abby and Allen went with me all around town so we could get some really cool pictures of them.

They are brother and sister and they get along wonderfully...do lots of stuff together they said. (That boggled my mind because my two children fight and bicker all the time. They just laughed and said not to worry because when they were younger they used to fight and bicker all the time too...but now, it's great. They have similiar friends and actually hang out with each other too. Okay...I hope they're right. I guess I'll just have to wait and see if my two will grow up to get along...at least some of the time).

Anyway, they were awesome!!!!!!...and so sweet too. Their parents are getting ready to celebrate a major milestone wedding anniversary. And Abby and Allen wanted something really meaningful to give their parents for an anniversary gift. So Abby called me to see if I could take some pictures of them (the kids). They want to give their parents a beautiful portrait. Isn't that sweet? I think so.

So here's just a few images since I haven't finished editing the session yet.

Loving the wind in the hair in this picture below.

~Von

Crazy busy weekend

I've been insanely busy this past weekend. Evidently October is THE month for weddings and family pictures. Shot 2 weddings and 2 portrait sessions in 3 days....crazy but fun. I'm still working on processing all the images so just putting up a few now for a sneak peak.

Friday, shot a wedding with the fabulous Brandi Brown. The couple, Nate & Suzanne, were married in Greece last month and Friday was their reception with family and friends at the Mad Art Gallery....a super fun and funky venue.

Then, on Saturday, drove down to Perryville for an even crazier party...uh wedding...shooting with Samantha Iverson of Mirage Photo. I can't remember the last time I had such a rambunctious group to photograph...I LOVED it!!! It was like being part of the wedding party. (No pictures will be posted on this wedding until after the bride & groom see the images).

Then, on Sunday, got together with my good friends Anna and Dan and their new baby girl, Samantha (who is 10 weeks old and just too stinkin' cute!) for baby's first photo session.

Also, had a mini-session with Anna's brother, Daryn and Lori and their crew...Kyle (center), and twins Clayton(far left) and Kerstyn (far right).

I'm working furiously trying to get all the images processed in between weekends of shooting...so thanks for your patience all my portrait clients.

~Von

Wedding - Kelly & Brandon

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of shooting a wedding in Collinsville, Illinois with St. Louis Area photographer Dorinda Peyton of Captured Life Photography. We had a great time with a fun wedding group.

As I was downloading the images to my computer, a couple jumped out at me as some really great images and I wanted to share. What do you think?

I especially love this image below.

It makes me think of the sweet days of summer and how its fading fast with the onset of fall. The joy in her expression...how she's reminiscing with her girlfriends about this day...this beautiful day...perfect for getting married.

Well, back to editing now. . . and trying to pick out the rest of my favorites.

Check back to hear more about this truly beautiful day for Kelly and Brandon...there's some really fun, sexy shots of the ladies coming up too.

And Dorinda, thanks for having me along...really enjoyed shooting with you.

~Von

My best imitation of Martha Stewart. . .

I'm so proud of myself. I did a Martha Stewart-ish type thing over the last few weeks. I made over my Consultation area and I did it all for under $200. I think it would qualify for an episode of "Design Remix" on HGTV ....that's the show about doing over a room for next to nothing by the judicious use of paint and repurposing of other items found around the house. The only thing I bought was a little bit of paint and some gallery shelves. Thats it.



Everything has been freshly painted. A beautiful blue on the accent wall with random blocks of color in subtle shades of the same blue paired with a simple dark cream on the remaining walls...perfect for showcasing all the lovely brides and families I've had the pleasure of working with.



Thanks to my mom for coming out to help me paint (for two days...that blue wall was time-consuming for sure). My husband saw all my handiwork and declared I was in Martha Stewart mode...I guess that's a compliment.


I even got to use my new made over area right away. I had a client consultation on Sunday and they were pretty impressed with my wall. I was walking tall...well, as tall as a 4'11" woman can walk that is...I was so proud of my handiwork. I don't know what made me more proud, the fact that it turned out so well or that I saved money....maybe both.



I'm not exactly done yet...still need to get all my prints and samples on the wall but here's a few pics of what's done so far.

I'm particularly proud of this foyer area with the mirror and chest in this picture below. Didn't buy anything ...just repurposed stuff that was sitting around in the basement ...dabbd a little paint and wah-lah ...perfect for what I need.

~Von

Preview: Meghan & Kirk

Had an awesome session this evening. Everything was just about perfect...the weather, the light, the location, and the couple. Surprisingly ... Wentzville, Missouri, turned out to be quite the location to be for some amazing shots.

Meghan and Kirk were up for just about anything I asked them to do...they were so easy going. I had sooo much fun. I hope you guys did too, Meghan.

As I was importing all my images into my computer, these few jumped out at me as some pretty awesome images. What do you think?

Who knew standing in the corn stalks could be so pretty...

Very romantic....

Wow!!! All I can say is Wow. This has got to be my favorite...

They brought Jack along...he was so well behaved.

I'm sure I'm going to have more favorites once I get everything processed. So check back for more.

Actually, I think I've missed (that is...totally skipped over) blogging about a couple of weddings and other stuff and so I should be having those up soon.

~Von