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Location: Kalona, Iowa, United States

Husband and Wife wedding and lifestyle photographers based in Iowa.

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    16 March 2011

    Goodbye.

    Time to turn a new page!  We're outta here! This will be the last post on gehmanphotography.blogspot.com.

    The new blog location is http://www.gehmanphotography.com/blog

    If you're reading this on an RSS feeder, or blog aggregator, make sure you update the link! 

    07 March 2011

    Lorelei :: ONE!







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    21 February 2011

    A Case of the Mondays :: Part 11

    Here's my list for this week... I know I haven't done one for a little while.  A Case of the Monday's is my personal list of things that intrigue, inspire and/or humor me. Hope you like it!


    1.  A collegiate quarterback with some incredible accuracy.  (I got this off of one of my favorite blogs http://www.twentytwowords.com.





    2. Google Weddings?


    Here's the "funny" part, though. Look at Google's estimated photography budget.


    A lot of people are going to be disappointed if they take that seriously. Last year, we had two couples bring their wedding photographs (from other photographers) to us asking us to "fix" the pictures.  It's just not possible. You can't change light after it's captured the same as you can't change your Toyota Camry to an SUV. Sure you can put a lift kit on it, change some paint here and there, give it some big tires, but it still looks like a Camry.  We can't change expression or focus or blurriness after the fact.  Both of these couples hired photographers that seemed more affordable, but in it end up costing them beautiful memories of their wedding day. 

    I'm not saying you have to pay $20,000 to get great images, or that someone charging $400 will ruin your special day.  But it's far more rare to hear someone say "we over-payed" than it is to hear someone say "I wish we'd invested in a better photographer."  

    So if you take Google's advice and your photography budget is $400... 

    3.  Top Ten Wedding Regrets.  
    You can read the entire article here on how to avoid wedding regrets, but I'll just give you the quick version. Of course, each couple has their own priorities, so this list isn't necessarily one size fits all. 
      10. My dress didn't fit.
        9. My ceremony was too far from my reception site.
        8. I should have eloped.
        7. I wish I wasn't so obsessed with not seeing my groom before the ceremony.
        6. I wish we didn't leave for our honeymoon so quickly after the wedding.
        5. I wish I would have been more comfortable at the reception.
        4. I wish I had a video of the wedding.
        3. I should have spent more time with my guests.
        2. I should have spent the money to get a great photographer.  
        1. I should have slowed down and enjoyed the day.

    What would you add to the list? 

    4. F-Stop Looking Key Cap
    How cool is this? A clever little key-topper from ModCloth to help you quickly identify a certain key in your keychain!
      

    5.  Life & Death
    We had the privilege of attending the most amazing funeral service I've ever been to this past week.  A woman from our church, a dear friend, lost her battle with cancer at age 59. She was a wonderful, godly woman who lived her life with the glory of God as her focus.  She had everything planned for the funeral exactly how she wanted it, with regard to her audience, and asked me to sing 8 of her favorite songs throughout the service. What an honor. Each song seemed more powerful than the one before it as worship rang through the rafters of the building that day. Throughout her life, and in her death, she inspired many people to live for what matters most, and to worship God no matter the circumstances.

    You've only got one life... what are you doing with it?

    6.  Iowa Children's Museum
    If you've been to the Coralridge Mall in Coralville, you've no doubt seen the Iowa Children's Museum near the food court. We've been blessed to have worked with them the past couple of years, creating promotional images for their website and marketing material.  But we were stoked to find out that NASA is using a picture of our son Jackson, who happened to go with us one day we were shooting at the Musuem, on one of their posters nationwide! Just look for this image by the front door at the ICM.

    7. Training Wheels For Motorcycles?
    If you live in Iowa and like to ride motorcycle, but just can't figure out how to keep the thing from falling over all the time... help is on the way!  "Training wheels" might be legalized! I just think this whole thing would make the Hells Angel's motorcycle gang a little less intimidating. Especially if the new law would provide for the gang to also clip a baseball card to their bike's frame so the wheel spokes make it sound like a motorcycle. :)

    8.  Is it summer yet?
    Seriously. It's a dreary day today, and days like this make me want to sit by the fire with a good book, or just play games on the iPad all afternoon.  I can't wait to take my golf clubs for a walk again!


    That's the list for this time!  There's some super-adorable kids/babies coming to the blog this week and next!  Our first 2011 wedding isn't until mid-April, so we've been working with a lot of children and families recently, which has been quite fun! See you soon!

    17 February 2011

    Scarlett

    Its been 3 months since little Scarlett entered our lives, and we couldn't be happier! She's got her momma's eyes, and her daddy's receding hairline. :) I'm sure the part about the hair will change at some point, but her eyes are just captivating.  I captured this image at our photography convention last weekend, where she stole the show. Jodi finally admitted that she only took Scarlett along to get attention, and it worked. Ha! 






    This is how we roll some days.  

    16 February 2011

    Pierce :: Newborn

    "A Person's a Person No Matter How Small." - Horton Hears a Who


    This little man has one of the most happenin' nursery walls of all time, right?! It's sweet! Well, so is Pierce, and while he's not as small as he once was, he is a handsome little fellow that Jodi had a blast photographing!  




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    14 February 2011

    Happy Valentines Day!

    This was supposed to auto-post yesterday, but didn't for some reason.  So, here's my late Valentine's Day video. :)  




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    09 February 2011

    Iowa Convention

    In 2004, when I quit my construction job to join Jodi at Gehman Photography, one of the first things she made me do was go to our Professional Photographers of Iowa state convention with her. I was blown away. I couldn't believe that people who lived so close to us would be willing to teach us how to improve our work, when they knew full well we could end up taking business from them.  It still makes some of our friends shake their heads to this day. 


    But we have come to appreciate and enjoy the friendship and competition that comes from knowing other photographers across the state.  Iowa has one of the best associations in the USA, and we're proud of it.  Some of our best friends are photographers, and if we're unable to photograph your event for some reason, we're blessed to have an extensive list of people that are not only trustworthy professionals... they are our friends and people you will enjoy spending your day with!


    TEACHING



    This year, we had the honor of co-teaching a class with our pals Dan and Alex McClanahan on how to use creative lighting.  We've been blessed to sit under some amazing teachers and speakers the past several years, and it's awesome to be able to give back... to impart what we've learned to the next generation of photographers.  



    AWARDS


    Each time our association meets, we have a print competition.  We all put our best work out there for 6 out-of-state judges to look at, talk about, and give a score. We were excited and blessed to come away with a few awards, including...


    JODI: 
    First place in the Non-Event Album category for her senior album: Taylor
    Second Place in the Event Album category with her album: Shawn & Haley


    RODNEY
    First Place in the Wedding category with: "Soaking It All In". This same print also earned the prestigious Kodak Gallery Award for Photographic Excellence which is a tremendous honor. 





    HONESTLY...
    We love our job, and know that we have a long way to go before we are the business we want to be, and wanted to tell you about this past weekend to show you that we are advancing.  We know we have holes at Gehman Photography... but we're fixing that.  We are dedicated to elevating professional photography and it's value for as long as we're a part of the industry. I know it seems cliché these days, but those who know us well know we mean it when we say we'd like to thank Jesus Christ, the One who gives and takes away, for blessing us with a job that we look forward to going to every day, and for allowing so many opportunities to come our way... it's all His anyway.

    Much love...
    R&J  

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