Bridal Show in Salina

Sunday we had a fantastic time at the bridal show! There were some brides I've visited with on the phone and been e-mailing back and forth with, and it was wonderful to finally put some faces with the names!


Thank you to everyone who stopped by. It was fantastic to visit with all of you!

Reminder — Bridal Show on Sunday!

A quick reminder, if you've been wanting to check us out, our final bridal show of January will be Sunday.

Here's the pertinent info:

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.

Bridal Show in Dodge City

Sunday certainly started off cold and blustery, but it turned into a glorious day for a bridal show.

A huge thanks to all of the brides who stopped by to say hi.


Perhaps my favorite part of this show was all of the "mother of the bride/groom" and "grandmother of the bride" buttons I saw. With daughters and sons off at college, moms and grandmas hit the show to get the scoop on wedding planning.


A closeup of the images in our booth.


And a quick shot of the variety of albums offered .... from a photo front to leather to a sweet metal cover, the sky truly IS the limit in wedding albums nowadays!


Last photo is Stanley Cordova (from Sieber's Palace Salon in Liberal) sharing his wealth of knowledge with brides about hairstyles.

Oh, and all of the dresses for the fashion shows were provided by Cupid's Corner in Hays.

If you missed the show, no worries. We still have one more this month (and admission is F-R-E-E!!!!!).

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.

Reminder — Bridal Show on Sunday!

Good afternoon, ladies!

A quick reminder there will be a Heartland booth Sunday in Dodge City.

Here's the nitty gritty details:
Time: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Date: Sunday
Place: Dodge House Hotel & Convention Center, 2408 W. Wyatt Earp Blvd.
Please CLICK HERE for a map.

There will be some minor tweaks, but the ever popular 2009 Wedding Pricing Guides will be making a repeat appearance:


See you Sunday!

Permanent Diaconate Ordination

It's always a pleasure to photograph for Doug at the Northwest Kansas Register (I actually worked with Doug at the newspaper in Hays back in 2001, so I've known him for quite some time).

This is the first time the Catholic Diocese of Salina has ordained permanent deacons. A permanent deacon is a married man who has taken vows and can now preside over weddings, baptisms, funerals and any other tasks assigned by his pastor.

Since there would be 7 men prostrate on the floor in prayer, I knew I wanted to make the above image.

And here they are, waiting to be called up:


Some of our regular blog readers who saw me running around last weekend asked me where the ordination photos on the blog were. :-) I love, love, love our faithful blog readers! They're so much fun! It's awesome that they know within a few days of an event to come and check here for photos.

I've not been a regular contributor to a newspaper for awhile, but in the last 10 days, I've had my new last name in print twice, which has been fun. I'm used to seeing "Karen Mikols" in a byline, but seeing "Karen Bonar" makes me do a double take.

Oops. I'm rambling. Sorry! That's what hour after hour in solitude doing taxes does to this girl!

Chloe's Infant Portraits

THIS is why we shoot our portrait sessions on location! Check out how fun Amy and Matt's window treatment in their bedroom is! Instead of having you haul the kiddos to a sterile studio, we just come to YOU and document you in your location (hint: kiddos are often more comfortable in familiar environments and the photos tend to be much better!).

I love, love, love how graphical this photo is. Every time I see those wooden rings hanging in the window, I comment on how fun they are. And every time I do, Amy says "Matt picked them out! I wasn't sure about them in the store, but they look SO AWESOME, don't they?" They DO!


More or less the same photo as above, but using the beautiful window light to show off this stunning mother and daughter. What beautiful brown hair ... I think Chloe gets it from her mom. :-)


I simply adore baby bits! Aren't Chloe's toes the cutest thing EVER?!??!?! I also love the contrast of her little toes in Daddy Matt's big hands.

And (of course), please CLICK HERE to check out a slideshow of my favorite images!

Lori + Derek's Engagement Album Design

More kickin' engagement album designs! This is from Lori and Derek's engagement session in Chicago.

After seeing a sample of our engagement books, they decided they wanted one for a keepsake, but "We're NOT planning to use the album as a guest book -- it's too special to let people write on it, in my opinion." Isn't she too cute?!??!?!!


I love, love, love how we found a John Deere tractor in the heart of Chicago. We couldn't have orchestrated it if we'd planned it for MONTHS! There are SO MANY happy surprises on engagement shoots!


We had such a good time in the diner down the street. It was so full of *character* ... and with all of the pedestrians walking by, just made for some fantastic visuals!

To view the entire album design, please CLICK HERE.

Bridal Show in Wichita

Good evening! Phew! It's been a busy, but fruitful day.

I spent the bulk of today at The Cotillion in a Bridal Fair hosted by our friends at Kansas Wedding Plan Magazine. Their winter/spring 2009 issue is out with tons of excellent information. Also in the magazine is an article by yours truly. :-) Check it out on p. 3.

Oh, and for those of you ladies curious, the above gowns are by designer Wil Alvarez. Stunning, aren't they?

Check out our rockin' booth:


A HUGE shout out to one of our former brides, Robin, for coming to the show and visiting with all of the brides. Robin graciously shared her experiences with wedding planning/photography, as well as showed off her killer engagement album.


A clearer view of the awesome screen display:


And our newly updated price guides:


If you missed the show, no worries. We still have two this month (and admission is F-R-E-E!!!!!).

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 New Year!

What a great year 2008 was for Heartland Photography! Karen and I are forever grateful to the people we met and for the places we traveled. As we plan our next year's events, we can only hope that they are nearly as good to us as the last.

Click here to see a slideshow of some of our favorite images from the year. And be sure to leave a comment to let us know you stopped by! -Mike