Tara & Jake [Second Shooting]

On September 10th, I was given the opportunity to be a second shooter for the wonderful Emily Crall. It was a new experience, and I just want to take a minute to thank Emily for thinking of me. I had a great time, and it challenged me in ways that I didn't expect. I ended up learning some new things about photography as well as myself - all in all it was an invaluable experience and I hope to do it again in the future!

Tara and Jake's wedding took place at the First United Methodist Church in Iowa City and their reception was held at the Sheraton downtown. It was a beautiful day with a gorgeous couple, and I had such a fantastic experience (my first as a second shooter). Below are some of my favorite shots from the day, and you can view more photos over at Emily Crall's blog (click HERE), as well as read a more in depth story about the couple and how they met. Congratulations to Tara & Jake, I wish you both a lifetime of happiness.


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I always love the reaction a bride has when she sees herself in her dress plus hair and makeup for the first time on her big day.
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Tara and Jake chose not to see each other prior to the ceremony, so that was also a first for me! We had a chance to get a lot of beautiful portraits of Tara before the ceremony, and Emily got some great photos of Jake as well.
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After the ceremony we had an opportunity to get some photos of Tara and Jake before joining their bridal party at Micky's Irish Pub and then the reception at the Sheraton.
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One of Tara's sisters did a unique and very funny toast when she redid the lyrics to "Jack and Diane" to fit the bride and groom. As you can see, it was a huge hit with Tara and Jake!
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Thankful Thursday

I haven't done one of these posts in awhile so I figured it was time to post one again. I hope you all are having a great (short) week!

I'm thankful for...

1. Fall TV shows starting soon. I love trying out new shows, but I also love old favorites. I'm currently counting down the days until How I Met Your Mother starts up on September 19th. I love all the characters equally, except maybe Ted...although I think Barney might be my secret favorite. Everytime I see the following photo it makes me laugh out loud:


2. Fall like weather. Could the days be any more perfect this week? I wish I could bottle these days and enjoy them again in the dead of winter.

3. Completing another item on my 101 in 1001 list! I will have you know that I finally got around to making myself a stellar wedding album. Does it weigh 50 pounds because I stuffed the maximum number of spreads in it? YES, but that makes it doubly awesome because I get a fantastic arm workout when I look at it. I'll take some photos of it soon - I'm working on some new packages for my sessions (likely to debut in January) that include one of these albums, which are more expensive than a typical book (which I will likely still offer) but you get more photos and it's a great heirloom quality album. It's definitely something that you can treasure forever, which is important to me.

4. Lincoln Cafe. First let me say that Mt. Vernon has to be the cutest little town - they even have lights in their trees on Main Street. LOVE. Anyways, the Lincoln Cafe is probably my #1 favorite restaurant in the entire state of Iowa. I'm extremely excited because I just booked a spot for Josh and I to partake in their September Sunday night dinner where the theme will be honey from the chef's backyard bees. I think I'm already drooling. If you haven't been there yet, you better check it out. Have the special. Invite me. ;)

5. And of course, I'm thankful for my family, friends, and four legged friend Einstein. I snapped this photo on a lazy weekend in our new house. I think Einstein has the right idea - a nap sounds perfect about now, what do you think?

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Just a small update...

Things have been a little slow around the blog recently, and I wanted to take a minute to apologize for that. I kind of took a step back from photography this summer, mainly because we had so many personal obligations and things going on that I really couldn't devote much time to taking photos. I did have a couple great sessions though, and want to thank everyone for your continued support.

I have a busy fall schedule ahead with lots of photography opportunities that I'm super excited about and I hope you'll keep checking back to see what I'm up to. On the agenda: second shooting a wedding with the amazing and super sweet Emily Crall, a 1 year session + birthday party with the adorable Myelle, a couple weddings, and a newborn session for Chelsea and Richard's little one once she arrives. I'm looking forward to all I have scheduled, and it will be great to see some familiar faces.

Just to give you a little peek at what we've been up to - here are a couple house photos. We moved in on July 22nd and have been busy bees trying to get everything set up just the way we want it (we have a ways to go, but it's a start!). As you can see, Einstein has a place of honor in the living room...would you expect anything less?

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Hope everyone's having a great Monday!