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Another Race! This time was just a four miler on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. My fastest pace yet. Amy and our two youngest came out to see me finish, and my stepsisters Kim and Kelly, niece Vienne, and their mom and stepdad were out cheering me on at mile number one. It was great having them all there for support. Here are a few pictures.
At the starting line.
Our two youngest, Jenna and Ryan, waiting at the finish.
Approaching the finish.
Less than 30 minutes, baby!
Another fun engagement session, this time in downtown Peoria. We photographed Kirstie’s sister Brandi’s wedding a couple of years ago. Looking forward to seeing everyone again at Kirstie’s. Here are some favorites from their session.
I recently had the pleasure of photographing Amanda’s and Chad’s engagement portraits. We still had some gorgeous Fall color for their session. A few favorites below.
Dan and Alissa got married in April of this year, but never were able to take advantage of their engagement session. So we scheduled a Fall portrait session instead. They seem to still be feeling the love. Here are some of my favorites.
The last 7 months I have become something of a running fanatic. I’ve really started exercising and eating right this year after letting myself go for far too long. I’ve dropped a lot of weight, and I’ve been feeling really good. And I’ve conditioned myself to run some serious mileage. On my recent trip to San Francisco, I was reading a running magazine on the plane, and I saw a half marathon advertised for the coming Sunday. Thinking about running in San Francisco and the pride of completing my first half marathon, I decided to go for it. And I finished! My time was 2 hours 6 minutes 32 seconds. It was so awesome. The scenery was incredible. We ran some hills and across the Golden Gate Bridge twice. The last stretch was along the water with the waves crashing just yards away. It was an experience I will never forget. Here’s a photo of me a couple of miles from the finish. What a sweaty freak!
I spent Halloween weekend in San Francisco with our friends Cliff and Malarie Brunk. Cliff needed an extra photographer for an award gala on Saturday, but I tagged along for Vanessa’s and Alberto’s wedding on Friday as well. Vanessa and the bridesmaids got ready at the Rose Hotel, and the wedding and reception took place at the Palm Event Center. I had an awesome time shooting my first California wedding. Check out some of my favorite images below as well as some of Cliff’s favorites at his blog.
Congrats, Vanessa and Alberto! And thank you for allowing me to be a part of your wedding day!
Amy and I had a blast at our October 25th wedding. Everything went smoothly without a hitch. Our coverage began at Skin Dimensions where Jackie and her bridemaids had their makeup done. They do an awesome job over there. Amy’s a huge fan. The wedding and reception took place at Bethany Baptist Church in Peoria. A beautiful ceremony, and a really fun reception. Oh, and there was some serious cake at this wedding. I didn’t get to try the wedding cake which was available in three different flavors, but I did get a piece of the groom’s cake, which I have to say was the most delicious cake I’ve had all year. The reception ended with a little daylight left, so we headed over to Detweiler Park to find some Fall color. Here are some of our favorite images.
Congrats, Jackie and Josh! Best wishes to you!
On October 18th, Amy and I headed Northwest to photograph Samantha’s and Steve’s wedding. The ceremony took place at St. Malachy Catholic Church in Geneseo with reception following at the I Wireless Center in Moline. It was a beautiful day with brilliant Fall color. Good times were had by all. Here are some of our favorite images from the day.
Congrats, Samantha and Steve! We wish you the best for your future.
I have been saying for MONTHS now that I needed recent pictures of my kids. But if any of you out there are like me…getting ready for family pictures, even just pictures of the kids… is on the bottom of my list of *fun things to do*. Frankly, I hate it. I hate all the prep that goes into it…the matching of clothes, doing of hair, ironing of clothes…all of it. Inevitably, something happens that drives me crazy and really makes it hard for me to enjoy the picture taking process. Now, I LOVE taking the pictures. But being in them, or getting ready for them…eek. Not so much.
So a few weeks ago, I decided to go against the grain. The kids were all outside playing. Well, Austin is 16, and he was out working on his truck, so we will consider that playing. I decided at that moment to go into the house, get a camera, and shoot the pictures. I didn’t care about dirt in the hair, about stains on their jeans, or if their teeth weren’t brushed 5 minutes before the smiles began. Although I did have to tell our daughter to go put something else on…the child loves designs and patterns in her clothes…and it doesn’t work well for photos. More on that later…
My point being – The kids didn’t have to be spotless, I didn’t have to have crazy high expectations…we just had fun. Yes, the pictures *could* be better. But at least the granparents won’t be talking about the shoemaker’s kids and no shoes!! At least my children enjoyed it…well two of them did anyway…and I accomplished my goal. I have RECENT pictures of our kids! And the grandparents that live in Florida will have proof that they do indeed have grandchildren. That is, when we take the time to actually send them the pictures…
…kids…
Austin
Jenna
Ryan
Now. Remember that I said there was more to the story? This is actually an outtake from the shoot..but I have to show it. Jenna had a friend over to play, and I asked her to go inside and put something that was brown and plain on. As in all one color. She picked out clothes for her, and also for her friend…so they could get pictures together. Man, I love that girl. She has the best heart and best of intentions. But I think she will need some guidance for future portrait clothing choices.
I shall call this picture *What not to Wear to your Photo Shoot*
We have just added a new kitty to our family! I rescued some kittens from our garbage can about two weeks ago. There were two kittens, but we have found a great home for the one the kids and I named Charlie. We decided to keep Lucky, because I think I literally saved her life. When I found her she could not move…it took over an hour to get any movement or response other than the faintest, saddest meow. But she was a fighter and pulled through, and I’m a little bit attached to her…so we are going to keep her. (This coming from someone who, just a little over a year ago, didn’t think she was a cat person) She is the softest, fluffiest, cutest kitten, who LOVES to purr. I think she purrs if you just look at her! She is trying her best to become friends with her animal siblings, but I think we still have a long way to go with that.
Here are Charlie and Lucky about an hour after I pulled them from our trashcan.
Lucky, who was really looking good at this point…
Charlie
Here they about a week later!
Lucky. I mean…COME ON…how can you resist THESE eyes?
Charlie
The kids saying goodbye to Charlie
Lucky’s animal siblings…well, two of them at least. I can’t find a recent picture of our cat Polly.
Casey, who at this point is scared to death of the little furball we call Lucky.
Bennett, the best dog ever
