Some sweet engagement shots

October is a great month for outdoor shots. Last week, we went to North Shore suburb of Highwood for Erin and Dino's engagement shoot. There were pumpkins everywhere in the attempt of breaking the worlds record of lit pumpkins. They were close...you can check out photos, video, and comments at www.facebook.com/CityOfHighwood.

Chicago Botanic Gardens is a photographer's dream with over 365 acres and 24 gardens situated on nine islands surrounded by lakes. This is where we started Erin and Dino's engagement session. We then took a unique personalized tour of the beautiful homes where some of the 80's movies were filmed and Fort Sheridan - a once US Army Post now renovated into residential neighborhood. The architecture is exquisite!

Thank you Erin and Dino for your hospitality (and for the freshly picked pears from your front yard)...Looking forward to your wedding at the Grand River on 9/10/11!

Closer to Dubuque, Todd and Kendra's engagement session was just as colorful and the light was just perfect. We had a lot of fun - and, by the way, like the new phone! Looking forward to your wedding in July.

Sarah

Sarah and I took a few shots in this old barn, this was

one of my favs.

Chris & Lara and Michelle & Jeff

Congratulations to Chris and Lara, we loved the Model A Ford

and Todd, their ring bearer. He was a good puppy!

Michelle and Jeff had a great day! We missed the rain or should I say the rain missed us.

We were able to enjoy the beautiful October day in the Galena Territories.

Telling the Story

Every now and then, it's great fun to just go crazy outside the 5x7 box.... Which is exactly what we got to do in working with Mr. and Mrs. Hackbarth on the design of their custom wedding album from JM Studios.

I really enjoyed thinking about the newlyweds showing this album to all their friends and family, telling the story of their wedding day with the turn of each page. The internet is a great way to share, but photographs often are lost to the immediacy of the mouse click. A print that you can touch, admire, and pass on to generations is simply a beautiful thing. 

Here are a few of my favorites from the book:

"Honey, We're the Big Door Prize."

Jill and Alex came all the way from Austin, TX for their wedding at the Grand River Center in Dubuque, IA last week. Took some great photos and met some even better friends... Their fun and carefree personalities made for a fantastic and memorable day.

Thanks to Jill, Alex, and family for showing us a great time. You guys are the best!

Nikki and Brandon

Nikki and Brandon officially became Mr. and Mrs. Bell on Saturday!
Beautiful weather, fantastic wedding, fun crowd. What more could two photographers ask for?

The happy couple even worked the camera in the super cool JM Studios red chair.

Congratulations and thanks for a great time, you guys rocked out...

Summer in Iowa

Drove back to Decorah yesterday from a busy weekend in Dubuque with Dad... could not help but notice the beauty of Iowa in the summertime. It really is quite serene.
Need to make an effort to stop and take photos during those drives. To think, I almost let this just pass me by.