Sarah + Craig :: Love

Sarah is the greatest laugher. Seriously. She laughs easily, and it's contagious. Even when I was editing the images, I couldn't help but smile as I looked at these. And Craig is the master at getting her to laugh. Every time we told him to make her laugh.... couldn't have been better.

They love riding bikes and doing outdoorsy things together, so we planned the session to reflect that.

Beth + Zac :: Love

We had a few locations picked out for Beth + Zac, but we ended up never leaving the parking garage area. We did have to wonder, though, if last Friday was "Grumpy Old Person" day. We were working a scene in a stairwell, and the few people that had to go around us seemed to be just ticked off that they had to wait nearly 15 seconds for us to move out of their way. Lighten up, people!

Angie + Nick :: Love

Angie + Nick got into our mini-van with us, and our 5 year old Jackson ran outside and stopped us as we started the van. "Dad... (seeing the couple in the back of the van)... um, why do you need to make money?" I'm sure our faces turned red, and Angie + Nick started to laugh as we quickly tried to remind him that money helps buy food, pay for our cars, gas, and to live in our house. He seemed to agree, and apparently the answer satisfied him, so he shouted "bye Dad, bye Mom" and scampered off! What a kid!

Anyway, we had fun with Angie + Nick. They're having an outdoor wedding this summer and we are excited about that! Love me some outdoor weddings!

Carmen + Joe :: Love

These two avid Hawkeye fans met us at our house, and we headed to Iowa City for some fun engagement shots downtown. Spring was in the beginning stages of launching an assault of color on the town, and we were lucky enough to be able to photograph some of it! I love the pink flowers on the trees this time of year. Of course, if you went looking for those trees today... it's not happening. The pink is gone, sadly.

Anyway, Carmen and Joe were awesome! They were great fun to work with, and we ended up finding a few new places with them we've never shot before.

Mandi + Jared :: Lifestyle

We like to trade stuff.

If you have driven past our house, or have been to us for a photo shoot in the past week or so, you may have noticed that our yard looks absolutely fabulous. The major reason that the yard looks so nice is because of Jared. He owns Kalonial Lawn Care, in Wellman Iowa, and we've been swapping lawn care for photos with them for a while now. He sprays for weeds, fertilizes, does Spring and Fall clean up for us, and even provides mulch and dirt when we need it. So, props to Mandi + Jared for our nice green lawn!

Some of the other services we've traded for in the past: baby-sitting, house-cleaning, meals, massage therapy and a pig. Yeah, you heard me... a pig. Not so much in the "alive" state, but more in the form of bacon, ham, etc.

Anyway, all that to say, Mandi + Jared are another couple rocking our new Lifestyle sessions! Lifestyle sessions are for 1) couples who have been married a few years, may or may not have kids, but either way, haven't had photos taken of just the two of them for a long time, or 2) single people who haven't had professional pictures since their senior photos.  These could be used for business cards, christmas cards, or just for fun.  All in all, it's a fashion photo shoot with some sort of theme or concept. Mandi + Jared enjoy riding motorcycle together, so we the first half of the session, we took them to a gravel road and did a sunset shoot with the cycle.

After that, they changed into a little more dressy clothes, and we hit Iowa City for some late night shots.

Megan + Charlie :: Love, Forever

Since these photo shoots were within a few days of each other, and they are of the same couple.... you get two posts for the price of one, today!

Megan + Charlie were lots of fun to work with this past week. They told Jodi that they enjoyed spending time together cooking, so we sought out a friend of ours at Naomi's Kitchen in North Liberty to see if we could do the engagement session there.

Then, a few days later, we were honored to photograph their wedding at Parkview Church. It was a short day for us, but we had some fun with Megan + Charlie in downtown Iowa City before the wedding. It was fun hanging out with them, and between locations, Charlie taught us some things about the Marines that we didn't know. For example... the Marines were formed to work security on Navy ships protecting the ship from invaders and the ship's captain from mutiny. I didn't know that. He has been with the Marines for 19 years, so here's huge props to Charlie and all of you serving our country... Thank You!

After a beautiful wedding ceremony, the reception was at Ms Susan's Catering and Reception Hall in North Liberty, which is a stellar little place with delicious food and a great staff!

Megan + Charlie, you guys were great, and it was fun working with you! We wish you all the very best in your lives together!