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).

Mary + Tom's wedding slideshow

Mary and Tom were married last weekend during a lovely ceremony at the Church of the Resurrection in Wichita. Following a brief portrait session afterward, the newlyweds took a limo to their reception at the Petroleum Club. I don't know what it is about the Petroleum Club, but some of our best couples choose to have their reception there! It's an elegant location on the top floor of the Westar Energy building at Douglas and Broadway in downtown Wichita. Karen and I were both very excited when we learned Mary and Tom would be partying there with their friends and we weren't disappointed! Thanks again, Mary and Tom, for inviting us to photograph your wedding. We had a great time!

Please CLICK HERE to see your slideshow! -Mike

Christmas deadline fast approaches!

A quick reminder: To guarantee Christmas delivery, it is IMPERATIVE you place all orders by SUNDAY!

As you can see, our Christmas Cards can be tweaked to your own liking — color, word, fonts and even some small design elements can be tweaked.

You can view all of our active proofing galleries by CLICKING HERE.

Many of our portrait galleries will go offline after Sunday. If you would like to extend the gallery, the associated cost is $25/month (but we won't be able to promise prints/products will be delivered by Christmas).


We'll be taking some much needed time off in December. I to take a honeymoon with my new husband, and Mike and his beautiful wife are preparing to welcome their first child into their family.

Mary + Tom's wedding preview

Karen and I wrapped up our 2008 wedding season with Mary and Tom's wedding on Saturday at the Church of the Resurrection in Wichita. It was a cold and breezy fall day in Kansas but you'd never be able to tell from the warmth of this portrait.


Tom, a leading cancer research physician in the state, has a great sense of humor. He surrounded himself with a great group of groomsmen.


And Mary. What a stunning bride so full of spunk and energy! During the ceremony she repeated her vows with more passion than any bride I've ever seen. Later, at the reception, she serenaded her new husband with Frank Sinatra's "Come Rain or Come Shine." The newlyweds are honeymooning in New York City this week. I hope to have their wedding slideshow finished by the time they return so check back soon! -Mike

Lori + Derek's engagement slideshow

What an awesome, awesome, awesome engagement session! Seriously. One of my most favorite ones to date!

Saturday, I met up with Lori and Derek in Chicago, where the couple lives. These two are planning an April wedding in Kansas, but since they both live in the Chicago area, we decided it would be fun to spend some time in their favorite places.

Being in their presence is SO refreshing. Their love is palpable. Derek just drinks Lori in when she speaks to him ... and Lori is smitten — constantly clowning around with her main man.

Since I don't live in Chicago and am not familiar with all of its charms, I relied heavily on Lori and Derek to come up with some awesome locations for our session ... and they hit it out of the park! Seriously!

We started at the Leigh Gallery, where Derek proposed. I was SO excited to go there because Lori told me all about the proposal and how Derek surprised her with her stunning engagement ring.


For the next few hours, we bounced around the city, doing what Lori called "a Ferris Bueller tour of Chicago." But each location had with special meaning to the couple. A highlight included a trip to the farm at the zoo ... fitting because their wedding reception will be at Lori's family farm (I'm SO looking forward to it! About a month ago, they planted 700 — YES 700 — tulips around the area for the wedding reception). Would you believe we even found not one, but TWO John Deere tractors in the city of Chicago? Fun times!

Our engagement session could not have been more perfect. We chatted, visited special locations, took loads of awesome photos, captured the essence of the love between Lori and Derek, and finished it off with a great meal at the neighborhood diner.

Lori and Derek, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for such a lovely afternoon! Mike and I are SO EXCITED for your wedding!


Please CLICK HERE to view a slideshow of my favorite images from their engagement session.

As a little aside note, from time to time, we get asked if we travel for photos. As you can see, the answer is YES! If you're interested in having your engagement session (or even wedding) somewhere special to you, let us know. If it happens to be somewhere that requires a passport, all the better — my passport loves to travel! ;-) Rome, Istanbul, Dublin ... even places closer to home like Maui or Mexico ... just give us a shout.

Also, on occasion I have brides ask if they have to be a wedding client to have a super-fun engagement session with us at Heartland Photography. We'd NEVER turn down a session! If you'd like to have us do an engagement session or even family session, feel free to contact us through our Web site.