Camille & Stephen

What an engagement session! Last night, I met up with Camille and Stephen here at the studio for a few photos downtown, and then we headed over to Sedgwick County Park for the majority of their session. As we arrived at the park, I started hearing thunder, but I'd watched the weather the night before and knew there was supposed to be no rain on Monday. The thunder continued, more often and louder, as we went about with our photos. Once, as we came out of the trees, we started feeling some raindrops, but decided to ignore it. At one point, we were standing on the sidewalk where it was dry, and we looked to the east and saw lots of rain falling on the nearby pond. That was crazy! It looked like the pond was vibrating! We took a few more photos over in the tall grass by the zoo, and it started raining pretty heavily at that point, but Camille and Stephen, being the fun people they are (and trying to ignore the raindrops falling directly in their eyes...), were up for as many photos as I was willing to expose my camera to in the rain. Luckily, I was wearing a scarf so I covered the camera with that for awhile. Of course, the rain stopped as soon as we were done! But it made some beautiful clouds for our photos, and a story for the couple to share for years to come!

You can see the raindrops in this one!

Michael + Sara: A Colorado Wedding

My big brother, Michael, married a wonderful girl, Sara, this weekend in Colorado. Get ready for an extra long blog post on this one.

As I was going through the photos we took, I just realized how proud I am of Michael. He's been through a lot, and has kept such a positive outlook on life. He's so goofy and I just love his fun-loving personality. Sara is a sweetheart. She's helped Michael strengthen his walk with God, and I am so thankful for that by itself. My parents love her, she was a part of our family long before the wedding took place. The wedding day was absolutely PERFECT. Sara looked beautiful, and we had great weather and awesome scenery. I could go on and on. I love them both so much and can't believe my brother has a wife now! :) I'll tell more about their day throughout the photos.

Sara helping her little sister Hannah, who was the flower girl, get dressed.

Michael and the guys kept it casual and just wore white shirts and black pants...my favorite for the guys for a wedding!

Michael was pretty skeptical when I asked them to jump, but he thought the final photo was pretty hilarious.

My dad and Michael. He was so proud of his son that day!

Hannah and Sara again.

The beautiful bridesmaids!

Sara's mom, Theresa.

My mom, Nancy. Didn't she look SO good? The bride looked okay too... :) Just kidding, Sara is gorgeous as well!

There was a policeman parked at the church, so we used his car for some photos with the bride!

Michael and Sara wrote their own vows. I'd never seen this side of my brother before, what he wrote was beautiful. He was so excited to marry his best friend. It was a little tricky to take photos through my tears (of joy). :)

My dad hugging Sara right after the ceremony. My parents love Sara so much and are so excited to have another daughter!

Another awesome couple who decided to have their family formals outside. Here is Sara and Michael with her family.

And our family. We went from 4 to 6!

They enjoyed it when I asked them to kiss. :)

After dinner and cake at their reception, we went over to the dam and lake that they spend a lot of time at for photos. I was so glad they decided to go there for their photos...it can't get any better than mountains in the background of you and your new husband.

Congratulations Michael and Sara! I love you and hope you're having a great time on your honeymoon cruise.

Behind the Scenes

Here's a behind-the-scenes photo Adam took of me taking photos of my brother and his WIFE this weekend right after their wedding. Isn't this scenery amazing?! It made me want to move there so I can have this awesomeness as the backdrop for all of my shoots. Get excited for their full wedding post that's coming later today!

Heads Up

I'm BACK! ...for a short time. I will be working long hours this week to get your pictures to you, if you're waiting on them. But come next week, I will be out of town for the entire week. Adam and I are taking some much-needed time away. We're headed to beautiful Yellowstone, so expect some fun landscape photos when we get back. This is just a heads up, and I ask you to please be patient with me, as this will set me back a little on editing and album designing. Thanks for being awesome and understanding!

Also, we just got back from the wedding in Colorado yesterday, and oh my gosh! We got some aMAZing photos. Just you wait, a blog post to come hopefully later today.

CLOSED

Gingeroot will be closed tomorrow - Friday, June 26. I will be in Colorado photographing my brother's wedding, and Lindsey will be in California for a little vacation. We will open as usual Tuesday morning, though Lindsey will still be off, frolicking in the ocean (lucky). Have a great weekend!

Becky & Brad

Last night, I had a super fun (albeit hot) engagement session with Becky and Brad. We had to reschedule once, due to heat and wind, so I'm glad we finally got to take their photos! I've known Becky for a long time through church, I believe she was even at my wedding. Adam and I also worked in the youth group with her parents for a long time, they're the sweetest people! Brad and Becky met just last October and are planning an April wedding next year. They are so much fun together, always laughing and sticking fingers in ears...what? Yeah, a little strange, but very funny. :) I didn't have to coax smiles out of them, they were giggling and making faces at each other the whole time! Thanks for a fun evening, Brad & Becky!

Workin it!

Wedding Dresses!

A few weeks ago, Lindsey and I talked her sister and Cortney, our studio manager, into modeling some wedding dresses from I Do Bridal & Tux next door. We wanted to give I Do some pretty pictures to put around their store. Here are a few that I took, Lindsey also posted some that she took on her blog.

Emily & Aaron

This past Saturday, despite the pouring rain we had in the morning, Adam and I photographed Emily and Aaron's lovely wedding in Kingman. It sprinkled throughout the ceremony and reception, but the clouds parted and the sun came out after that when we were ready for outdoor photos at the park! Perfect. These two have quite the story...Aaron made a committment long ago, before he met Emily, that he wasn't going to kiss anyone til his wedding day. He stood by that committment, and as the kiss at the end of the ceremony approached, I got butterflies for him. It was quite the first kiss, with a dip and all. These two are so in love, it's evident by how affectionate they are. I had no trouble getting natural photos of them. Here are the faves.

First kiss EVER:

Things Lindsey Says...

"I love irresponsible morons of quadtuplets."

ROOTS

We had an absolutely fantastic time at our ROOTS Workshop on Tuesday. It was a success! The 10 ladies who came were awesome and full of questions. I think we got most of them answered, and they were all ready to come back for ROOTS 2! Here's a little collage that Lindsey made of all the lovely ladies that came and a group photo too!

HOBY

This past Friday, I was asked to be one of the panelists to speak on an entrepreneurship panel for the HOBY conference. There were four of us: Ben Simon, who's grandpa started Freddy's Frozen Custard, Connie from Connie's Cookies, and the owner of Century Manufacturing. Erica Short, of ericamay photography was the program director this year, and since we've known each other for awhile, she asked me to be on the panel. Thanks, Erica! I had a great time answering all the kids questions.

The format was that each of us said a little intro about our business, and then the kids came up to the podium to ask us questions. Lindsey came to watch me and to take photos.

This is Erica:

Tara & Nate

After our Manhattan wedding on Friday, we stayed the night in a hotel and then went to Inman on Saturday. If I have it right, Tara and Nate have been together for 6 years! They love to be crazy and silly together, and that is hopefully reflected in their photos! Their wedding was very specific to their story. Tara's dad passed away a few months ago, and they had a beautiful way to memorialize him during the ceremony. Tara's walk down the aisle was emotional for everyone. Then the ring bearer and flower girl drove out of the sanctuary in a PowerWheels! We headed to the couple's land in the country after the ceremony to take photos, and we had some great light for that. On to their reception where they had a special song performed by a really cute couple of kids, a fun game for the newlyweds, and an emcee who read through a long list of funny quotes from kids about their take on marriage!

Tara made the bouquets, corsages, and boutinneires out of beads and tulle, so cute!









This little ring bearer was adorable. He walked around all day saying "I'm getting MARRIED today!"

Chelsie & Adam

Okay, for real this time....a full post. Chelsie and Adam's wedding on Friday, what can I say? It was amazing, a photographer's dream. I felt inspired the whole time. We were able to do family formals OUTSIDE, which is a treat for me because natural light is so pretty. I will show you one of them to entice all my future brides to do their formals outside. :) Anyway, the wedding was up in Manhattan, at the K-State Gardens, which provided a beautiful backdrop for an evening wedding. While the guests were heading to the reception, we made a stop on campus for some wedding party and couple photos. Then off to the reception at the Wareham, that was decorated gorgeously, for a night of dinner and dancing and fun. Chelsie had the most expressive personality, and the love that she and Adam share is so evident. MY Adam and I had a blast working with them!

Isn't this just beautiful light for a family formal? :)

Sneak Peek: Chelsie & Adam

I don't have a lot of time to blog today since we're getting ready for our ROOTS Workshop tomorrow (by the way, you are TOTALLY missing out if you didn't sign up), so I'm going to share one of my favorite photos from one of the weddings this weekend. Here's Chelsie, looking beautiful during some bridal shots on the K-State campus.

And We're Off...

...to a two-wedding weekend. Chelsie & Adam are getting married tonight in Manhattan, and if the weather cooperates, it'll be an outdoor garden wedding. Tomorrow is Tara & Nate's wedding in Inman, and I'm hearing great things about what they have planned for their reception. Look forward to fun blog posts next week and we will "see" you when we get back!

Things Lindsey Says...

"You don't throw model releases at old people.
In fact, you don't throw anything at old people."

Skylin & Her Posse

Tuesday evening I photographed Skylin and her parents Kati and JR. I've been taking pictures of Skylin since she was days old. It is so crazy to see how much she's grown! She wasn't really into sitting still for me in the studio, so we took several trips outside where she ran around, swung on some bars, and showed me how good she can climb steps. She has this super cute tricycle that is not only PINK and retro, but it says Sky King on the side! Whoa. She definitely rode it by herself for the very first time as I was taking pictures, so that was a milestone.

Things Lindsey Says...

"Hey, cello player. Can you go play the cello?

You know what sucks? The word cello."

Aunya & Brandon

Saturday was a hot one! Lindsey and I photographed Aunya and Brandon's wedding in Hutchinson. After their personalized ceremony, we went to the Dillon Nature Center for pictures, and it was so perfect. The sun was in the right spot, there were fields with wildflowers...if you put a attractive bride and groom in a field, you're bound to get great photos! Then off to the reception in a tent set by a pond where the guests partied and danced into the night. Aunya planned so many details that made for good photos, so thanks for that Aunya!

I love this one because, if you look close, you can see a tear coming down Aunya's cheek.

I Do Bridal

All you brides out there should go to our next-door-neighbor I Do Bridal to find your wedding and bridesmaid dresses. Trinh is the owner and is super nice. She let Lindsey and I play around today and try on wedding dresses!! I want to get married again...

Check out my facebook for more fun pictures from our wedding dress escapades today.

Katie's Last Day

Wednesday was our beloved studio manager Katie's last day. We celebrated her next step in life with flowers, balloons (that said "Thinking of You" ???), lunch at Sabor, and an impromptu photo shoot. Here are some photos from the day.

At lunch...

This is Cortney, our new studio manager. Cortney says hi. :)

The ongoing joke around here (that's NOT TRUE) is that Lindsey comes to work drunk. So we gave her all the champagne.

FOOD.

Group photo, taken by our waiter.

And this is Cortney's first attempt at using an SLR camera, she did great!

Next we headed out and around for some fun photos of Katie.

And we forced Cortney to get in on the action.

Katie, thanks for being so awesome and good at what you do! We wish you all the best at your new job, and you have to come back to see us. A lot! :) We'll miss you!

3 Years

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the best day of my life. Three years ago today, I married my best friend.

Adam has been the most amazing husband. We started dating in high school and I remember thinking that it was too good to be true. I knew I'd do something to mess it up or he'd find out how dumb I really was, and he'd break up with me. Every other relationship I'd had had ended with a break up...and who finds their soul mate in high school anyway? But then one month turned into a year and a year turned into 4 years. We were closer than ever and inseparable. We went through 2 years of long distance dating while I was up at K-State and he was at WSU. We took turns making the two hour drive every weekend to see each other. Finally, during my sophomore year at K-State, after 4 1/2 years, he proposed.

We were married a little over a year later and haven't looked back. I have no doubt in my mind that I found my perfect match. He's everything I need him to be, and especially through this most recent storm that we are enduring, I would be nothing without him. Words can't describe the support and encouragement he's been while I've been trying to deal with this. I know sometimes these things can drive couples apart, but it's helped us to be closer. Maybe that's the what we were supposed to get out of our loss. I'm so much more in love with him now than I was even on our wedding day!

Thanks for the best 3 years of my life, Adam. I love you!

Jessica & Aaron

This past Saturday, Adam and I photographed Jessica and Aaron's wedding in Salina. The church was pretty and had good light, we had a great location in between the ceremony and reception for photos, and the reception was tons of fun. All in all, a perfect day. Minus the heat. And the time their car wouldn't start. I have photographic proof we had to jump their car at the park, as you'll see. :) Jessica and Aaron - thanks for letting me be a part of your day, I hope your honeymoon is awesome.