Wedding Season Warm-up

Earlier this week, I'd been up at the church where the wedding this weekend will be to scout locations. I loved how there were so many wonderful places within just a block or two. One of my dear friends decided I needed a warm up for the wedding season, and I heartily agreed that I needed to get out there and shoot. And last minute after work yesterday, a group of 5 of my friends from church followed me around a brewery for some fun, unique shots! I did some portraits, some details, a little bit of everything. We even broke out my veil. There were so many that I loved, that picking just a few to post was impossible, so there is a link at the bottom if you want to see more.

Thanks to the ladies who participated and put up with all the honking from passersby... I told them to break out their best poses, and to "work it." I guess they knew I meant business! Great job. You were all naturals.









Click here for a more complete look at our photoshoot.

Photography Favorites

One of my favorite things about photography is that even when you are technically skilled and proficient, things always look a little different than your minds eye or in reality. I've always enjoyed taking a picture simply to see how it looks. There are often pleasant surprises hiding inside the lens. It is something that I rather enjoy.

A few weeks back I took a few pictures of the moon the night of the lunar eclipse (though I didn't know we were about to have one and I was a few hours too early). I was also just taking some dusk images of the park across from my house. Most of the images were only mediocre for what I was hoping for and I didn't really care for the batch as a whole. The crisp clear pictures didn't strike my fancy. But what did was this odd ball that I took. It was a pleasant surprise hiding in my lens... And it became even more striking to me after I did just a few small adjustments in post-production on the computer.

Baby Cooper is 1!

Our nephew turned one last week, and boy is he wonderful! These are random favorites, not really the story-telling type of photos, just bits and pieces that I'd like to share.


I had a goal to get the Coop to walk for his aunt Nikki for his birthday. My name means "easily comes success when reaching for your goals" or "victorious one"... I guess that was right.

Cozy.



I loved this candid of three generations with baby, mom, and grandpa.

Next door neighbor over for the party... she's one of the cutest children the world may ever see. No joke. No exaggeration. It's true.


Mmmm. Cake.

And for all the family & 35 friends who came to celebrate this soon to be British boy, you can view the rest of the images from the party (well, at the least the final cut). Click here.

From Okinawa to St. Louis

Recently our daughter-in-law and grandson came half-way around the world to visit. :) Hats off to Brianna for traveling with a toddler spending endless hours in air and at numerous airports. Their journey took them approximately 36 hours. We had a spectacular time! Zach is all smiles, full of energy, and quite the curious little soon to be 2 year old. On Monday, it was 72 degrees and we took Zach to the zoo. The melting snow created puddles which naturally attracted Zach. While they were here, we also visited The Magic House which he loved. As you can see, it was a hair raising experience. Zach has definitely mastered his small motor skills. Uncles Ben and Daniel enjoyed coloring with him. We also took pictures of them at the Arch and Busch Stadium and e-mailed them to Kevin. Zach also got to see his new cousin, Hayden. Grandchildren are the best! They make you want to have fun and not work. Brianna and Zach have since returned home safely to Okinawa where Kevin is serving in the Navy. We are looking forward to the next time Kevin, Brianna, and Zach can visit. Our prayers are for them and all military men and women serving our country.

Please take my picture!

I was taking some standard photographs of our small group leaders at church and all the kids thought it would be a good idea for them to get a picture, too. This delightful young lady decided to raise her hand each time she knew I was about to hit the shutter button. She's cute as a button. That's for sure.

Sunday morning

This post is a continuation of the church photos I'm working on for my churches website, which is www.citylightschurch.com, by the way. These are from a typical Sunday morning. I was loving how many fathers I saw bringing their kids in to worship with the family. Also, it was great to see the joyful countenances of our community.

Team City Lights

Once a month, those who serve in our church come together for worship and prayer. It's one of my favorite times in the life of our church. I have been asked to take some pictures for our website and Team City Lights was one of those time I got to capture what it is that we do on camera.

I was talking to some people about how over the years I've had several opportunities to take photos during worship. It's a time of conflict for me. On one hand, normally when engaged in worship, I am not focused so much on the people around me but on praising God and hearing from him. But when I take pictures I get to watch everyone else and it brings such joy to see how much people are worshiping God with great intensity and love for Him. On the other hand, though, it is hard because I want to allow people to worship without distraction. People are engaging in sacred and intimate moments with the Lord and there I am trying to take a peek.

On a more technical note, Team City Lights takes place at night and with low lighting and plenty of movement. I wanted to limit distraction so I used no flash. We have lots of different light sources so I played around a bit with white balance and later some sharpness techniques and other fun things in photoshop. These are a few from that night.