Upcoming bridal shows

Did someone special give you some-BLING-special for the holidays? Well, congrats on your engagement!

I think one of our brides, Lori, says is best here: "All of a sudden I can legitimately buy bridal magazines in public. (As opposed to secretly snatching one in my trenchcoat while at the airport, carefully discarding it in the women’s restroom outside security, so as not to be ratted out by a first date sifting through my coffeetable reading material.)"

Isn't she a scream? But you know what I'm talking about, ladies!


Now it's time to kick wedding planning into high gear.

If you've been wanting a chance to meet with the Heartland team, there are three upcoming opportunities. We'll be at three shows sponsored by Kansas Wedding Plan Magazine. There are plenty of shows this time of the year, but the folks at KWP have smaller, more intimate shows. This will allow us more time to visit. :-) So please DO stop on by.

And did I mention there's no entry fee?

Sunday, January 4, 2009 — Wichita
The Cotillion, 11120 W. Kellogg St.
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Please CLICK HERE for a map.


Sunday, January 18, 2009 — Dodge City
Dodge House Hotel & Convention Center, 2408 W. Wyatt Earp Blvd.
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Please CLICK HERE for a map.


Sunday, January 25, 2009 — Salina
Masonic Temple, 336 S. Santa Fe Ave.
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Please CLICK HERE for a map.

Happy Anniversary, Robin + Chris!

Time has REALLY flown since Robin & Chris were married last year.

Congrats you two!

Simba, Pumba, Nala and Gizmo

Anyone who knows me well enough can tell you what a sucker I am for animals. So when Lisa, my wife's boss at the medical school, asked me to photograph her four "kids" a couple of weeks ago, I didn't hesitate! I had a pretty good time hanging out with her feline friends, all four of which she rescued. And, from what I hear, she even has taken on a dog in the two weeks since my visit. Since I'm more of a dog person anyway, I'm hoping she has me back to photograph again real soon!

Published — Kansas! Magazine

This is long overdue, but I thought I'd share a few of my images that were published in the Fall 2008 issue of Kansas! Magazine.

The images are from September 2007 when I photographed The Great American Cattle Drive with my good friend (and first photo editor in college), Jeff Cooper.


The photo on the right is mine. MY PHOTO is a full page in a magazine. How stinkin' cool is that??!??!??!?!?!???

Gosh, looking at these photos takes me back. It feels like ages since the drive, but I know it was about a year ago. I love an excuse to look back and reminisce. That's why I love posting our couples' anniversaries so much! The same goes for their albums.


Some of Jeff's beautiful handiwork.


Look at that! A FULL PAGE PHOTO!!!!!!!


And closing it up with a combo of our images ... mine is on the upper right.

Robin + Chris' Wedding Album Preview

It's been nearly a year since we've seen Robin and Chris' smiling faces. Well, our spectacular designer, Amy, sent me some more visual snacks (have I told you lately I looooooove Amy and her fabulous design work!??!?!??!).


Don't you just LOVE the layering of preparation details above?


And the awesome storyboard on the right side of this album spread?


And these awesome details?


I love how the above and below spreads have similar design elements ... just spectacular!


I'm excited to share the rest of the album as it comes together!

Fr. Nick's Album is IN!!!!!

Last week, Fr. Nick's album came in! I couldn't keep my hands on it ... I simply HAD to get it to Fr. Nick before he went home for Thanksgiving.

Check out how thick it is! It's a whopping 80 pages!!!! Unbelievable.


There are some beautiful "double trucks" in the album!


And some exquisite design.

Stay tuned later this week for some sweet album teasers from Robin and Chris' wedding.

Christmas Cards!

Yay! Cards are in and they look *AWESOME*!!!!!!!!!!!

The idea is to have the rest of our print orders out by tomorrow, so if you've placed an order, keep your eye on your mail box!

Bhavna and Corey — Grah Shantek and Raas Garba

A few months ago, I had the honor to travel to California and help my friend, Jessica, document Bhavna and Cory's wedding. It was such a personal celebration of the life and love of these two.

The above photo is actually a relative of Bhavna's. I could not get OVER the beauty of these women's eyes!

(Oh, and I suggest you get comfortable because this is going to be a LONG post!)

Here are a few of Bhavna's parents during Saturday afternoon's Grah Shantek:




My task as second shooter for Jessica was to capture some of the smaller moments of the day ... the smiles, laughs, look and love of Bhavna and Corey's families. Check out this awesome reaction during the Grah Shantek:


It wouldn't be a wedding without a beautiful bride, though!




Isn't Bhavna SIMPLY STUNNING?????

Check out her awesome jewelry:




And doesn't the henna make her ring look UH-MAZING?


Following the afternoon festivities, there was a Raas Garba. They served the most AMAZING food ever ... I can't begin to describe it or even remember what it was all called, but I *adored* eating Indian food all weekend! Sunday night, however, my tongue revolted. About half way through dinner, it was THROBBING and I couldn't eat another bite. :-( BUT the ice cream sundae bar cheered it right up! :-)

OK, back to Saturday!

While we were waiting for dinner Saturday night, one of the kiddos was occupying herself by jumping from stone to stone:


Right before all of the dancing began, Bhavna and Corey lit the candles.


Then there was copious amounts of dancing!


And let me take one second here to talk about Bhavna's attire. Blue is my absolute FAVORITE color ever ... and I was eyeing her stunning outfit all evening. Isn't it amazing???? I'm wishing I wore something so BLUE. But those shoes had to do! ;-)


The movement and flow of these skirts wasn't easy to capture, but I think the following photo shows how beautifully these skirts move.


The BEST part about the evening is that the young and old alike were dancing! I LOVED IT! This is one of Bhavna's nieces ... and I *think* this is one of her grandmothers teaching her the dance. Aren't they adorable????


Bhavna's brother-in-law was also working with his daughter on her dance moves.


And I'll close today's post with this simply stunning black and white image of Bhavna and her mother.


The wedding was a 3-day affair, and I'll post the Hindu-Christian wedding, which was on a Sunday, later this month. It's hard to believe it's been three months since their wedding, but I've been up to my ears ... and have yet to peek through the wedding day images (in fact, it was so long ago that when I was working up the photos, I put my maiden name on the photo credits).

Angie + Mike's Pregnancy Portraits

Wow.

What an honor for me to photograph my business partner, Mike, and his wife Angie ... just weeks away from welcoming their daughter into their family.


Isn't his wife, Angie SO beautiful??!?!?!??!!! She's seriously stunning!

Mike and I were photographers together at Kansas State University and it's been fun to watch each of our respective careers grow ... until about three years ago when we joined forces to form Heartland. Many, many, many people make the mistake of thinking Mike and I are married. Well, we are married, but just not to each other. Mike's wife, Angie, is one of the sweetest people I know ... she's also vying for the title as Heartland's No. 1 fan/supporter (my brand new husband is giving her some stiff competition!).


Since Angie is an avid reader, I knew we needed to include some of the parenting books she's been reading. And since Mike and I are news nerds, I suggested he grab a paper to read.


The sun even came out for a little bit, so we headed to their enormous backyard to grab some casual portraits.


And I would be in trouble if I didn't mention Mike and Angie's "oldest child," Harley the dog. We're all interested to see how Harley will respond once Maddie comes home with Angie and Mike. Mike said after last week's baby shower, when they had "the baby loot" spread across the living room, Harley went into pouting mode and stayed there for a good 24 hours.

Speaking of baby shower, please CLICK HERE to check out some images I grabbed from her baby shower. :-)

And, of course, please CLICK HERE to see a slideshow of my favorite images from Angie and Mike's pregnancy session.

Give Thanks!

Is it really Thanksgiving again??!?!?!??!?!!

Today, we like to pause and remember all the things we're grateful for — and there are a TON of things we're thankful for this year! So, here we go (in no particular order):

— Our wedding clients, and especially their families, who at EACH wedding have welcomed us into their family. It's so amazing to be welcomed with such open arms. :-)


— The willingness of our clients to bring us to THEM do document weddings and engagements. We've been blessed to travel to Los Angeles for a wedding and for me to go to Chicago for an engagement session this year. Next year, who knows? Maui? Paris? ;-)


— For the incredible opportunities for continuing education, especially for Mike Colon's willingness to travel from Orange County, CA to Kansas to impart his knowledge with us during the Keepin' it Fresh Workshop.

Also, to Liana for her extreme generosity in granting a scholarship to Karen to allow her to attend Photography Business Boot Camp.


And finally in education, to Angela, Kim and Kitty for all of their hard work and passion they put into Flourish Workshop.


— For amazing families who give us complete artistic freedom. That they trust me when I say "there's a nice field behind the Quick Trip and I'd like for us to go there for your family portraits" ... that they enthusiastically say "you're the artist — we want the best pictures possible and we trust you."


— For ALL of the infants we've photographed this year! Seriously, I think 2008 was the "year of the baby" here at Heartland!


— For Amy, the "graphic goddess" behind Heartland. Seriously. Have you SEEN the albums she's designed this year? And DO stay tuned, because ALL of our weddings this year have albums she's working on! :-)

— And as you can see in the above photo, our own Amy and her husband are getting ready to welcome a little girl to their family. I'm SO thankful that BOTH Amy and Mike are going to have little girls within about a month of each other (weeks, if we're lucky). It should be loads of fun, and I'm SO excited to meet these little ladies!


— To be a Heartland bride myself! Getting married and going through my OWN wedding day was SO enlightening! I've often thought "why didn't she sleep this week?" ... Well I certainly allowed ample time for sleeping before my wedding, but guess what? Sleep eluded me! It was unbelievable!

All of the tiny details to attend to the week before a wedding are just mind boggling. My head is spinning right NOW as I think of them! It makes me SO glad we work with our couples to put together a timeline so everyone knows the game plan of the day going into the wedding day.

A SUPER BIG thank you goes out to my friend and business partner, Mike, who agreed to work during Erik and I's wedding. His awesome wife, Angie, had to bring another date because Mike was working hard all day to capture the many memories we have. Thank you Mike and Angie for being so awesome!

And finally, a MASSIVE thanks to my friend, Heather Essian, for traveling all the way from Texas to help Mike capture our wedding memories.


(Heather, Erik, Karen and Mike).