anthony & whitney: wedding

Blog, meet Anthony & Whitney. Anthony & Whitney, meet Blog :). It was so much fun to be a part of this wedding - although I didn't come into this wedding knowing the bride and groom (big thanks to Jay at Digital Photography Services for having me second shoot!), it was a blast to get to mingle with their family and friends and get to know them second hand. I started off the day with Anthony and the groomsmen at a gorgeous home in Brecksville where one of the mom's made a delish breakfast fit for a king before the nerves kicked in about it being the big day. The groomsmen were a blast to hang out with and a real riot at the reception - by far one of the funniest (and shortest) toasts I've ever heard.

The ceremony was at Christ the Redeemer's Lutheran Church in Brecksville and the reception was held at St. Michael's Woodside - both were gorgeous locations. I loved all of the natural lighting at the church, it was perfect :). Anyway, here are a few of my favorites...Thanks again to Jay for having me along to shoot with you and congratulations to Anthony and Whitney!

a week away from it all

Our little vacation has come and gone and tomorrow we both go back to work. Having nine days off together was amazing - I feel so relaxed, removed from the hustle and bustle of the last few months and so enjoyed just being with rick. Although I am loving this crazy busy time of our lives, I can't wait for the day when we are settled into the careers we're working towards now and hoping that time will start to move a little bit slower.

I didn't want to over-post photos from our trip, but here's a few mini-collages :)

We definitely had our share of Starbucks on this trip - dark chocolate, cherry mocha frapp is my new BFF! And I have to mention Wild Wing Cafe...Where we stayed was right near Michigan State's campus and this little wing joint was so yummy, insanely hot (temperature of the wings) and the drinks were delishhh and so cheap. Mix all of that with some live music, Cavs game in the background and the love of your life sitting next to you - this was a great night!

Okay, by far our favorite animals here were:

1) The Otter: This thing was crazy. I loved it! He literally would swim a huge circle around the pond, run out, run a circle around the land and then come back to do a crazy twisty dive back into the pond...Rinse & Repeat, over and over and over.

2) The Lion: Well at first, the lion looked hecka boring. He was sleeping on this big rock in the sun...nothing cool at all. We were about to walk away when, BAM, he started roaring. If you have never heard a lion roar in person, you are seriously missing out. The bass in that thing's lungs was insane. It literally shook the ground. It was pretty amazing.

3) The Meerkats: These little guys are just adorable to begin with, but they were oober adorable this day. All of these huge birds and peacocks kind of just roamed free around the zoo and the meerkats and peacocks had quite the stand off, it was comical to say the least.

These are just a few randoms...we ate at Cracker Barrel one morning and got some Dubble Bubble to keep us busy. But this Dubble Bubble was serious! It was the toughest gum ever and we had some bets on not being able to blow a bubble...but sure enough, rick succeeded!

This first photo is a quick shot of the Somerset Mall near Detroit which is a shopper's paradise. From Anthropologie to Nordstroms, Saks Fifth, Louis Vuitton....It was a madhouse. I ended up leaving with only a headband from Nordstroms and Rick got a pretty fun polo from Puma :)

Sad faces for saying goodbye to our amazing vacation and amazing hotel. For anyone traveling to or around Detroit, I highly recommend staying in the Greektown Casino Hotel - it was absolutely gorgeous! ... and I doubled my money at the casino, so yay for that!

military ball: event planner extraordinaire

Tonight I had the pleasure of photographing the magic that Christine and Sarah at Simplicity Events created at DeLuca's Place in the Park in Lorain, Ohio. These two are so incredibly creative, talented and passionate about their work and they did a phenomenal job with this evening's festivities! Here's a small look into what they put together this afternoon:

Also, they had the cutest cupcake display from Sarah's Stylish Sweets and it took just about everything in me not to grab a few cupcakes, shove them in my purse and run! Take a look and tell me you wouldn't have done *ah-hem* wanted to do the same thing...

there ain't no business like (photo) business

Last night I attended the business portion of the Gray Photography Workshop series here in Michigan...and let me tell you...I have completely and fully fallen in love with the business side of photography. I always knew that I loved photography, loved the people, the art, the reaction that you get from providing clients with amazing photos that capture who they are...but when it came to the business end of it, and making a business constantly thrive not just remain stagnant, I was clueless. I feel completely armed with everything I need to know and do, to rock it out and be successful. Be 100% me and nothing more or less because there isn't another me doing what I do. And I am so excited. When we get home from vacation I am going to schedule two evenings a week where I  get out of work, drive on over to Starbucks, sip a cherry dark chocolate mocha frapp and work on my business. Build my business. And never, ever stop growing.

I'll leave you with two more photos from the in-camera & post workshop from sunday...

PS - I absolutely adore Zach and Jody Gray. They are amazing people who are so generous, kind, talented and passionate. I couldn't possibly put a price tag on attending their workshops - they were a wealth of knowledge and my business and photography will be forever changed by simply meeting and spending time with them. Thanks you two, you rock!

gray photography workshop: sneak peek

I'm still on vaaaacay with my man, but wanted to post a few photos from the amazing workshop that I attended this past Sunday. Once I get back into town and can spend some time really going through my photos, I'll post more. Hope everyone had a lovely Monday!