Ashley and Luke

This past weekend I had a wedding and three engagement sessions. Ashley and Luke were engagement session three, and we were blessed with light cloud cover. We did a few images in my studio, then headed to Bray Park and found some fall color there.

Ashley and Luke are FUN and FUNNY. Laughter ruled the session and smiles came easily.

Taia and Brad's Wedding

Friday, October 15

Theirs was definitely a family event, and when all is said and done, theirs is a family of ten! In the days leading up to their wedding, six of their eight had stomach flu, but Taia and Brad knew better than to panic. What will be will be, and the entire family was there and healthy for the wedding. The ceremony was at German Lake Lutheran Church, and we had bridal party photos at Geldners' Saw Mill. The weather was bright and sunny - not necessarily perfect for picture-taking, but the mild temps made picture taking comfortable.

In every wedding, there is one moment that leaves a wonderful impression; and in this ceremony, it was the lighting of the unity candle. It wasn't just Taia and Brad who lit the candle, but seven of their eight children helped to light it too. (Cameron was excused - he's just three months old :) )

Erica and Aaron

October 9, 2010... Erica and Aaron were married in Owatonna at the beautiful Trinity Lutheran Church. You'd think that on October 9, one might need to worry about cool, damp weather (as was the case a year ago when I photographed another wedding). On this day, though, we dealt with 94 degree heat.  Following the ceremony, the couple had planned to have pictures taken in Mineral Springs Park, but due to recent flooding, and the very good possibility and Erica's dress would get way too dirty, we followed a suggestion from Aaron's dad, and went to the Village of Yesteryear. What an amazing location!! Even with another wedding party taking pictures, we had plenty of room to take photos in an historic setting.

I'm grateful once again for the assistance of the talented Bobbi Urban. Some of the following images are hers.

Erica and Aaron's first dance was beautiful, and exceptionally unique. Aaron composed the music, and it was beautiful.

Bri & Brandon

It's been far too long since my last post and much has happened. (Updating the blog isn't one of them!) This is definitely a busy time of year compounded by a lot of other factors.

Bri & Brandon were married Sept. 25 - following two days of flooding - and preceding the closing of most roads leading to St. Peter, Minnesota by two days. Now, nearly a week later, the roads are still closed, but should reopen by this weekend.

I think the one thing that stands out most for me from this wedding is Brandon's very touching speech at the reception. In it he professed his abiding love for Bri, and credited her with the planning of their entire ceremony right down to the last detail. And details were important to this couple. Bri, her mom and aunt, made all the reception table floral center pieces, as well as several larger arrangements. They also made the dessert - scrumptious cheesecakes, and mints.

Thank you, Brianna and Brandon, for allowing me to be a part of your special day, and until your previews are ready, enjoy these sneak peeks.

Shelby

What a neat senior session I had this afternoon. First of all - this horrible, humid weather finally broke! And although I got ringing wet, it was because I knelt down in the bathwater warm lake - not because of the high humidity. Shelby (accompanied by her mom, Raelynn, and her sister, Jackie)  had her senior pictures done at her grandma's farm, and here in Elysian. The outbuildings on the farm are awesome, as well as other natural settings - the aged barnwood, corrugated metal, fields, her grandpa's old car, her vintage Oldsmobile, even her bull, Sampson! Afterward, we went to Lake Francis and to an old building here in Elysian for some early evening shots. They left town just as the evening clouds turned a vivid red-orange. Here are just a few images of this oh-so-photogenic young woman...