So when we had Christy and Kevin's engagement shoot a couple of weeks ago, it was the first time we really met! We decided to have the engagement shoot in downtown Rochester, MN, as Christy loves historical buildings. We started at Sontes, and walked along 2nd St SW and ended up around Calvary Episcopal Church. Usually when I shoot on locations, I may have a few spots in mind, but most of the time, I'll just check the lighting, see what backdrops go well with the models' clothes, and decide on a spot. So by stopping here and there, the shot took 2 hours but we had fun! Kevin is more of an outdoorsy type, so we managed to find some trees and grass as backdrop to reflect him as well :)

Here is the cute couple! I love brick walls! We took a few others here too which I won't post here just yet... because I want Christy and Kevin to see their guestbook in person first, so this blog post is just a teaser! I love so many of the shots it was hard to narrow them down to just three for this post :)

This is one of my favorites!! Love the expressions and the interaction - two persons totally in love. I also have a thing for having ivy as a backdrop :)

This is another favorite! I cropped it so that it is more of a pano shot. It is actually kinda funny how we found this spot - Christy saw an image* on my website that she likes, it has tall grass in the foreground and background. However, all the lawns are neatly mowed in downtown!! So we have to be creative to find something similar and then I spotted this location, and Christy and Kevin was too nice to say no to my crazy idea so they had to cuddle real close to get themselves into the gap there :) They were very careful and no plants were harm in the process! I really love this image in b&w as the plants created many layers thus giving the image a very 3-D look. The challenge with photography is to capture something 3D onto something 2D. That is why lighting is critical, as the lighting and the shadows give an oject its dimension.

Can't wait till Christy and Kevin's wedding next month!

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PS - this is the image that Christy saw - coincidently, the groom in this image is also called Kevin! Some of you may remember Jenny and Kevin, my couple from last year. In fact, their 1 year annivesary is coming up soon and since this blog started after their wedding, I should post a few of their images to celebrate the occasion! :)

This was taken at the Mayowood Trail, so no where near close to downtown. I think Christy and Kevin's pseudo tall grass image turns out just as nice though - altogether a different image (as I try not to copy previous images... hey otherwise I could've just photoshop a new couple's faces into an old picture instead! j/k) but the most important element in both images, which is also the common factor, is the love shown.

~ christa

ETA:  I was looking at one of my bride's from last year...her blog & found this lady  I am not a baker of sorts, BUT her designs look soooooo awesome.  I've never seen anything like it before!!!!  So all you Betty Homemakers out there want to try something new...check out her blog.  Totally FUN!!!!

~click on image to see larger~

Feel free to leave a comment :-)

Enjoy!

Until next time....................

They chose go to to the Plummer House in Rochester MN for their engagement pictures. We ended up having to do their shot on two separate days because it rained the first time! We got some nice shots that first day, but I wanted to take more. They are such good sports, since they actually don't live in Rochester so they have to drive back a second time. We ended up doing the second shot on the 4th of July morning which was a beautiful day!

Even though I was only at the Plummer House just a few weeks back for Alex and Andrew's engagement pictures, the flowers looked completely different already! The gardeners at the Plummer House is doing such a good job, that there is always something blooming at different time of the year!

Here are a few teaser images!

Initially I had planned to have Susie and Craig stood at another spot, a spot I had previously scoted out before the shot started. But when we got there, I turned 45 degree to my left, and saw this spot which is even better! Sometimes we really need to just look around to see what we would otherwise miss. I love how the plants framed them, and the lighting was just beautiful at that time. This is why I love shooting outdoors without studio lighting - you are forced to find good lighting and work around that, which means I'll end up with a different outcome for different couple, even if we shoot at the same location.

This was taken on the first day when it rained... the lighting wasn't the greatest (very low lighting since there was a big dark cloud), but I saw this spot which I knew would look perfect in black and white. I wanted to create a more moody shot and it came out exactly how I envisioned it! Of course Susie and Craig were great models which definitely helped :)

Sometimes I'll scout out locations first, but most of the time, we'll just walk around, then I'll spot something that works, then we'll just photograph there. This is a spot I have passed other times before but this time it really stood out to me when I saw the foilage. I love how the layers of the leaves create a great backdrop and the leaves and branches frame Susie and Craig perfectly.

Their engagement guestbook has been designed (exclusively by me) and is now being printed and binded by a professional album maker - I don't make the album myself because I belief I should let the experts handle something I have no experience in! I love photographing and designing albums, but I don't work well with glue... Can't wait to see how the guestbook turns out!

~ christa

Dan and I had a great time shooting Katie and Jared's engagement photos. Katie and I were great friends in high school. After high school we kind of went our separate ways and had not seen each other for many years. So I was so excited when she told me she was getting married and we got to meet up for their engagements. It was fun catching up with her and hearing about her family and her wedding plans. Congratulations girl!

They decided to have their engagement pictures done by the playground near Soldiers Field in Rochester MN (because Alex loves playground! In fact, Andrew proposed to her in one!), then we moved on to the very popular Plummer House.

Here are a few teasers from their session - we had fun!

I love that they have the same smile :)

So sweet :) I love those pink flowers in the background. The nice thing about the Plummer House is that, they always have different flowers blooming at any given time (okay, maybe not in the winter time...). I decided on a more of a vintage/desaturated look because I think it goes with the mood of the image.

All I did was ask them to kiss :)

I am designing their engagement guestbook right now, and will post it later once it's ready!

So, on the way to the session Natalie and David were rear-ended on the highway.  Thankfully, everyone was fine...not so sure about the car though.  But, they made it and were ready to go photo hopping.  They brought along a friend of David's and Daniel proved to be an incredible assistant for me, plus had a great sense of humor and fun.   I was so honored to take Natalie and David's pictures.  I had the great pleasure of being Natalie's youth pastor since I think she was in 8th grade, which was 6 or 7 years ago.  The Lord brought her an incredible man in David and it is obvious that they are deeply in love.     So, earlier in the day, I had spotted this random field of yellow wildflowers on the side of the road in suburbia JoCo and knew I had to use it with them.  David was so sweet to carry his bride to be down the embankment and into this high field of flowers.  The shots look amazing.   We took hundreds of shots before heading to our final destination and because of the earlier accident, we were running out of time.  I figured we had maybe 30 minutes of daylight left.  We booked it over to my friend's field and creek and I think these pictures ended up being my favorite.  It seemed like I really caught David and Natalie in some really real moments.  They danced in the field, splashed in the creek and looked spectacular against another beautiful Kansas sunset.  Thanks guys for letting me in on your love....it is special.

I am blessed for many, many reasons.  For one, I am blessed to know these two young people and then blessings were heaped on me when they allowed me to capture their love for one another during their engagement session.   I am thrilled for the two of them and I had such a fun time taking their pictures.  Besides the fact that they are beautiful people, they are sharing a beautiful love.  Hopefully, it is captured in these pictures.   Hang on guys....more shots to come!  Thanks!

These two made my job so easy – and so much fun! As Northwest natives, they weren’t afraid to take their shoes off and run around the beach with me. They even waded in the icy water for me – and then waited on shore while their clumsy photographer almost bit the dust (along with her camera) in the icy water as well. The good news is that we all survived, a little sandy, a little damp, but with a great set of photos. Their natural, carefree approach to being in front of the camera really paid off. Take a page from their book and you’re bound to have the kind of shots we captured below: Natural, candid and beautiful.

Thanks again, Dave and LaDonna. Looking forward to the big day next month!

As (hopefully!) every wedding photographer would tell you, their first solo wedding is probably their most terrifying, their most sleep robbing, their most nerve wracking. I'm sure mine will be the same, but after this engagement session, I am super excited to be there for them!

This, incidentally, is the best reason to get an engagement session done if you're planning a wedding: if you and your photographer have a good relationship, that will make the day of the wedding go all that much more smoothly. It's tough to develop that relationship, that trust, if the first time you're in front of your photographer's lens is the big day. An engagement session allows you to get to know each other, to discuss your style, what you'd like to see, and to allow your photographer the chance to earn your trust ahead of time.

Back to the session: I knew I was in for a great day when I got there and discovered just about the most beautiful day ever.

This is where Olivia really wanted to get married, but when she called to find out if it was available, she was told that they don't schedule any events here during football home games. So, we planned to do her engagement pictures here, even though they said it was the same day as graduation and that the grounds would probably be full of people. We decided to risk it and go ahead with the shoot.

We hardly saw another soul the whole time we were there.

Soon after Olivia and Mac showed up, we had a great time exploring the grounds and getting comfortable with each other. And let me tell you, they wasted no time getting comfortable.

Look at how easy these two are on the eyes!

They really wanted to make sure that we were able to make use of the fountain, and who am I to say no?

We made good use of the rest of the grounds and flora as well.

We also made good use of my Polaroid.

They were such an awesome couple to work with. Here's a few more of my favorites:

I just love the feeling of this last one:

Olivia and Mac, thanks for such an incredible session! I had a blast, and I am just jazzed about your wedding in September!

Eating Lunch in Granville Island.

Congratulations Little Sis!

I had a fantastic time this year photographing all the kiddos in their Daddy's ties.  I will publish some sample pictures later.  If you have any questions about your images, just drop us an e-mail and we will get back to you ASAP!

Jill and Mike are getting Married!!!!

I finished up this absolute blast of an engagement session.  This couple are just so fun to be around!!!!  We had a great time scoping out places to shoot & just simply having lots of laughter & fun.  This bride works here in Logan at the Opera place & she has such awesome style.  She's fun & funky!  I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The groom...he's hilarious & just kept laughing the whole time too...haha!  I love it when we all can just have a FANTASTIC time!!!!!  Foot loose & fancy free I tell ya...hahahaha!!!! ;-)

This week in LIFE'S MOMENTS.....another engagement session and family session to post on the blog, I will have a newborn session on Wednesday morning & an engagement session on Thursday to shoot.  Life is just busy busy busy.  I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!

Let me know what you think........

Until next time....................

I hope you enjoy your session sneak peak!

First off, we would like to thank you for checking us out and also to give you a little educational advice today.  How do you choose a photographer?  Good question.  The most important thing to remember is as follows:  your memories are precious and important!!!  Would you hire a electrical "wanna be" to wire your home?  Neither would we!  So why may we ask that you would hire a "natural light snapshot artist"?  When you pay a photographer, you are paying for their knowledge, talent, and use of equipment.  There are so many snapshot artist running around trying to be "photographers" but haven't a clue how to set up studio lights, let alone use them properly.  Not to mention, they are taking images outside or with window lighting that you yourself could take!  Then they throw a few "fancy" effects over the image, and whoala....call it ART!  SAVE your money!  Contact us a midstatesphoto@gmail.com and we will send you all the info on learning how to capture your children, family, and friends! We will be setting up classes to personally teach "natural light photography."  Demonstrating how a 7 yr old can take these snapshots!  Don't be afraid, you can't mess up natural light snapshots!  We currently have 5 classes scheduled throughout Lake and Porter County, contact us to register today.  We will provide you with educational materials as well as where to purchase software and equipment.  So many of you are scammed, we are here to show you the LIGHT!  True photographers will not be offended by our teachings!  They know how to control their lights, this is meant to educate the community and help other parents!

A quiet moment at the beach

Here are a couple favorites...

We had fun running around Balboa Park. The wedding is in a few weeks at karl Strauss Brewery Gardens. 

 *click on the continue reading to see more pic's*

SO cool.   The stones used in the wall where the inmates were kept active were all intricate and unique, and very tall.  Combine that with some fabulous blue sky and a sun that was trying to convince us that spring was on the way and we got some great shots!!  Thanks again so much guys for having me out to your city!  I enjoyed it all immensely and here is your sneak peak!

I couldn't decide which I liked better so I included the colour & b&w!

And finally one last series... apparently Ms. Samantha is a wee bit ticklish!! 

Thanks again guys!  Stay tuned to my website for a slideshow coming soon with the rest of your session!!

We had some fun running around La Jolla Cove at sunset! The wedding will be at the North Chapel, NTC.