You see, their wedding is July 20, 2013. With almost 2 years to plan, they have plenty of options—including photographers. Chris and Sara are EXACTLY my kind of couple. Warm. Relaxed. Real. Funny. Smart. I reeeeaally wanted to work with them, and I hoped that feeling was mutual.

When I asked if they’d booked any vendors yet, they paused, looked at each other, then looked back at me with serious expressions. And for a second, I thought the worst—In my mind’s eye, I pictured them telling me they’d chosen another photographer. I thought we’d really hit it off when we’d met at the studio. We’d stayed in touch since then. Sara would email me with questions about venues and vendors, and I’d try my best to be helpful. Looking back to that moment, I don’t know why they would have invited me out for coffee to tell me bad news, but they’re incredibly sweet people. It would be like them to want to break it to me gently. I know it’s crazy, but those were the thoughts running through my head during that long pause.

To my relief, Chris’ smile broke through first, followed by Sara’s, and it was then they asked me to be their wedding photographer. A proposal! Whew.

With a decade of experience and a fairly well-established brand, you might assume that I’m past the point of being insecure. I might seem 100% confident, but inside, I’m still that little boy taking a drawing up to his teacher’s desk, looking for a smile and approval. There’s always that voice inside saying Like me! Like me!

And I suspect that we’re all that way a bit.

To Sara and Chris—YES. 100 times YES. I appreciate your trust in me. For liking my work. You’re amazing people, and I can’t wait to spend more time with you.

Thank you to Kimberly and Adrian at Hunter Valley Farm for letting us come out on a cold, Saturday morning.  Quite a spread you’d got there!

Way to rock the boots, Sara!

If you’ve been following my work for long, you know how much I loath jumping pictures at weddings. Sara and Chris feel exactly the same way. Which is why we chose to spoof the jump. To show that it’s not that we can’t. Bwahahaha!

Love this.

Timeless.

I almost always do sessions closer to dusk, but this one was mid-morning. The lighting is waaaay different. Felt good to change things up.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by! If you feel so inclined, I’d love for you to connect with me. Take care!

To my photography friends: The trick to photographing a wedding at Talon is to *gasp* ignore all the other photographers’ blog posts out there (including mine). It’s been photographed so many times that, if you’re not careful, you’ll fall into the same rut of shooting all the same shots as everyone else.

I wanted this wedding to feel different from the others because, well, my clients are special—to me especially. Each with their own unique story. Heather and Brandon met with me earlier in the year determined to hire me as their photographer. They trusted me with their big day. I think they’re awesome, too. Funny. Laid back. Hot….LOL.

I hope you enjoy my telling of Heather’s and Brandon’s story. Magnus Lindqvist and Jeremy Davis helped me out that day, and I think that together, we produced something pretty great.

Congrats, Heather and Brandon! Let’s hang out again soon!

Here’s the highlights slideshow:

To see ALL the images, you can click HERE:
If you like what you’ve seen and want to stay in touch, HERE’s a great place to start. Thanks!

Lastly, thanks to all the great vendors that contributed:

Venue: Talon Winery
Catering:  3 Peas in a Pod
Cake:  Leora Blevins
Music and Photobooth:  A to Z Productions
Flowers:  Jenni Roberts with CK Florist
Decorations:  Especially For You
Suits:  Men’s Wearhouse
Gown:  Allure Bridals
Matron of Honor and Flower Girl: Dessy
Makeup:  Macy’s Clinique
Hair:  Shawna Stigall Salon at the Towers
Vintage Bentley:  Gold Shield Transportation

To Purvi and Paras—Thank you again for choosing me to document your day. It was amazing.

Magnus was second shooter on this wedding. Awesome shot, bro.

And below, you’ll find a slideshow with all of the highlights! When you’re finished with it, I’d love for you to connect with me HERE and stay in touch! Thanks!

Venue – Embassy Suites
Cake – Tinker’s
Video – Something Mohr
Flowers – Stems
Catering – Shalimar
DJ – PM Sounds and Lighting
Makeup – Ana Crane-Simpson
Hair – Kinnari Shah (always good seeing you, Kinnari!)
Decor – Mandap World

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Part 2

Kimberly is a talented photographer. She found out about me and Magnus from her friend Aseel, another amazing photographer here in Lexington. That has a way of putting a person on alert, eh? Maybe we were hyper-sensitive to our surroundings that day? Maybe just the coffee?

But while those things are true, I think the unique quality of this wedding has most to do with how honest and genuine Kimberly and Adrian are as people. There’s nothing about them that feels routine.

-Kimberly and Adrian got ready at home on their horse farm. Two separate houses so they wouldn’t see each other.
-The hanbok wedding dress was designed by Kimberly as a way to tie in her Korean heritage.
-One of their rings is from Brilliant Earth, a company that uses conflict-free diamonds and recycled gold and platinum.
-In lieu of favors, donations were made to the Parathyroid and Kidney Foundation.
-Kimberly flexed up her impressive biceps while I was photographing her bridal portraits. She worked hard for them!
-Toasts lasted for almost 45 minutes. In between the laughs and collective awwwhs, you could hear a pin drop.
-The 80’s band from Texas stirred up a party so loud as to draw a formal complaint from a Spindletop neighbor.

And that’s just the start. Every word, every detail, every moment from that day had meaning. No wonder people love Kimberly and Adrian so much. They’re awesome people.

They do. And they are.

Hunter Valley Farm

Waffles and Marty couldn’t be left out.

My friends over at House design some pretty amazing florals.

Before leaving the church, Adrian made sure to go back in and thank Father Danny.

To see more highlights from the day, I’d love for you to check out the slideshow below. If you’d like to see ALL of the images, you can go HERE. And please stay in touch!

Vendors:

Bridesmaids’ dresses – Aria
Bridesmaids’ jewelry – Handwired
Cake & desserts – Martine’s
Church – St. Leo Catholic Church
Flowers – House
Groom’s suit & all ties – Howard & Miller
Groomsmen’s suits – Geno’s
Hair & make-up – Joli Day Spa
Music – Spazmatics
Personal trainer – Justin Ford/Underground Athletic Development
Reception site & catering – Spindletop Hall
Rings – Redcatrun and Brilliant Earth
Transportation – Gold Shield Limo
Hanbok wedding dress – designed by the bride Kimberly (awesome, right?), created by Alter Ego of Lexington

That’s one of the things I’ve enjoyed most about the direction my wedding business has moved. The longer I do this, the more defined my niche has become. What’s interesting is that if you look across my last several weddings (as well as the next few I’ll be posting in the coming weeks), you’ll find an enormous variance in locations, looks, details. Seemingly all different.

But underneath the surface, if you look beyond the visible, you’ll find the common thread that pulls all those weddings together. My niche. My kind of people.

I work with people that love people. And I think my love for them as people  is that “look” that comes through in the images. That’s something that never be duplicated by another photographer, because no two people see the world exactly the same way. That’s a very cool thing.

I hope you’ll enjoy getting to know Chris and Mia through these images. Here are some of my favorites, but for a more complete telling of their story, feel free to check out the slideshow. Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to connect with me HERE.

If you saw Mia’s and Chris’ engagement session, you’ll remember that they’re always throwing up “deuces.” There were several of these moments throughout the day. Even during their recessional, Mia managed to sneak one in!

The wedding party wanted to do a bit more of a mean-mug, “gangsta” pose. One of the bridesmaids was just too happy.

I love this shot Magnus captured.

My view.

One of the best moments I’ve been witness to during a ceremony. The minister got his wording a bit mixed up and asked Chris to repeat after him the phrase, “My heart is your shoulder.” Chris followed instructions and repeated it, and Mia lost it. Together they laughed through much of the ceremony.

My friend and fellow photographer CJ Cruz came along to this wedding, too. Love this angle he nailed during the recessional.

Beautiful shot of Mia and her mom Mary.

I’m a big believer that every moment in our lives offers an opportunity for learning. Since meeting Magnus in early 2010, he might tell you that he’s learned a few things from me, but I’ve learned just as much from him. A lot of that has to do with seeing the world through my camera in different ways. But I’ve also learned that he exemplifies great character, focus and friendship. I’m so glad to have you in my life, Magnus, and I’m thrilled for your success in photography. You deserve it!

It was a wee bit chilly that evening, but a good time was had by all.

Chris had warned his wedding party not to mess with his truck, but they didn’t listen. It’s hard to tell from this shot, but on the driver’s side window, someone wrote, “My heart is your shoulder!” Bwahahahaha!

Here’s the slideshow, complete with one of Mia’s favorite songs AND a fun 90’s throwback. Enjoy!

To look through the complete collection of images, you can click HERE.

Thanks to all the vendors!

So…the couple points I left out:

Shopping for photographers isn’t like shopping at the grocery store. At the grocery, the food industry pretty much knows how to price its goods. They’ve done their research and know how they fit into the marketplace. High quality/high demand products sell for the most, lesser quality/lesser demand sell for less. If you put chuck steak in the filet mignon package, folks will quickly figure out the difference and cry foul.  

In the wedding photography industry, though, there are tons of tools for photographers of all skill levels to use to package their service. Whether they’ve shot one wedding, ten, or one hundred, they all have access to the same website/blog options, photoshop (some use this more than others), and most importantly, social media (where everyone can become a self-proclaimed rock-star overnight—even before singing their first song). It’s almost like the business of growing photography businesses has become more important that growing as photographers. Funny, but true.

Bottom line? If you’re shopping for steak and aren’t happy with what you paid for, you can buy a different product next time. With your wedding photography? Hmm…not so easy to return the item, you know?

This is not to say there aren’t good photographers at all price ranges. Just that I want you to be extra critical in evaluating what you’re getting (experience, ability, product, service).

Hope this helps!

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Whether photographing weddings, events, families, high school seniors, dogs, products, or food, it’s the common quality that I want running through my work. So those viewing my photographs feel an instant connection with the subject—like they’re there.

I’m a HUGE believer that we attract what we give. I love people, and that’s the vibe my work gives off. As a result? I tend to work more and more with people that love people, too. It’s a great cycle.

Amanda and Richard? They’re awesome. Their families? Sweet as can be. I hope you can look through these images and see that, too.

Thanks for stopping by!

My faves:

Here’s a slideshow with even more of my favorites:

To see all the images, you can click HERE.
To stay up to date on new work and upcoming promotions, feel free to click HERE. Thanks!

Vendors:

Florals: Floral Expressions
Ceremony: The Crossing
Cakes: Bit of Whimsy Cakes
Transportation: 360 Limousine
Catering/Reception: Richmond Army Depot
Dress/Accessories: Wedding Wonderland
Music: Bobby Jordan
Photography: Shaun Ring Photography (special thanks to Scott Hicks for coming out and second shooting with me!)

But then I remembered something. I went back and reread their engagement session blog post from the fall of 2010. Sure enough, the first sentence there talks about how they’ve left a lasting impression on me. Isn’t it telling that, nearly a year later, they still make me feel the same way?

They’re just so dang thoughtful. In most weddings, the details are the icing on the cake. The sizzle, so to speak. In this wedding? Each detail was there as a reminder of the day’s broadest and deepest sentiment—loving people.

To Ben and Kaitlyn—Thank you for including me in  your big day. I’ll never forget it! And let’s get Newman and Cera together soon!

Ben and Kaitlyn abstained from eating french fries for months leading up to the wedding. Kaitlyn’s card to Ben had french fries on the front. This picture also shows Kaitlyn signing her new name for the first time.

Each bridesmaid received a monogrammed clutch and robe.

Like Kaitlyn’s ring? It’s a collection of her grandmother’s buttons.

Kaitlyn has a thing for penguins. So Ben proposed during a penguin painting session at the Newport Aquarium. That’s why you’ll see so many penguin references throughout their wedding. That, and well–penguins are pretty awesome.

Not to be outdone by all those boys and their black Louisville Slugger bats, Kaitlyn had her own.

Kaitlyn signed “I Love You” to her sisters while coming down the aisle.

Ben surprised us all (including Kaitlyn) with this dip while coming down the aisle. Niiiice.

Timeless.

Natural.

Ben’s favorite.

You, too, can support the Wave Foundation at Newport Aquarium HERE.

Photos of married relatives. What a nice reminder of why wedding photography is important. Imagine a picture of Kaitlyn and Ben from their wedding day making an appearance on a table 50 years from now. That’s good stuff.

During cocktail hour, guests were treated with fun tidbits.

Magnus was my second shooter for this wedding. I loooooove this shot of his.

Kaitlyn made the menu holders.

Amazing color and texture. To be fair, Kaitlyn is the catering and sales manager at Embassy Suites in Lexington. She knows a thing or two about planning a party. Just incredible.

Love this.

Ben came up with a plan to scrub in before going for the garter. What he found under Kaitlyn’s dress, however, was a cold Smirnoff Ice. Yes, that’s right. Ben got ICED.

The Bernie.

Nothing masterful about the way I shot this. But the story it tells? I can’t stop smiling. Bwahahaha.

To see all my favorites, I hope you’ll take a few moments and check out this slideshow…

To see all of the images from the day, you can go HERE. I hope you all enjoyed this post! If you feel so inclined, feel free to stay in touch with me HERE and HERE. Take care!

Vendors:

Florist: Flourish
Makeup & Hair: Ana Crane-Simpson/Applied Cosmetic Services
Invitations: Amo Ink
Photography: Shaun Ring Photography
Video: Scott Hayes
Reception Venue: The Henry Clay
Church: St. Boniface Catholic Church
Bridesmaid Button Rings: Jeri’s Custom Originals
String Quartet: Highland Chamber Players
Bridesmaid Dresses: Twirl
Custom Bar Signs: Architette Studios
Caterer: The Silver Spoon
Pre-Dinner Tarts: Love at First Bite (hey Laura!)
Cake: Mert’s Cakes
Linens: BBJ Linens & Linen Hero
Bridal Jewelry and Fascinator: Maui Crane—Love Rocks
Band: Soul Explosion