Our Kitties

Our kitties are now 13 weeks old. We have had them for about five weeks and I haven't posted about them so check out our cool cats! They are sisters and their names are Mona and Lisa. They are in the trouble-making stage. So if you want to say hello to them let me know. They are very social cats. They are not allowed in my client viewing gallery because I am afraid they will tear up my awesome couch in there. My favorite thing is when they fall asleep in my lap while I am watching my favorite tv show. Of course they aren't ready to fall asleep until I am about ready to go to bed myself.

Curious Lisa is always ready for trouble!

Mona sitting pretty for her portrait.

Blog Updates: subscribe to our blog

Y0u can now subscribe to our blog! If you want to stay current with what we have been photographing - be sure to check it out. There is a link on the right side to help you do this. Also, we have a new logo for the blog. Hope you like it. I will need to figure out how to add my labels back in so you can search specific topics. For now you can use the search function in the very top corner. It's late and I can't spend any more time on the blog right now. So good night!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

This weekend I had a chance to celebrate my Grandmother's 85 birthday in person! Our family threw a big surprise party and it was a blast. I rode up to Wisconsin with my mom and dad. The morning of her birthday dad called to wish her a happy birthday - just like normal - only he wasn't in Kentucky he was in Wisconsin. An hour later I called Grandma and I was complaining how hot the weather had been down by us. She said it was nice and sunny and beautiful up by her. I couldn't help but smile since it was great weather outside the hotel room! She said she was a little suspicious that something might be going on. But you can tell by her surprised face she didn't expect such a big party. Surprise! What a great and fast weekend. Thank you to my aunt and uncle for hosting such a great party.

The invitation actually says 2:00 to when the cows come home! My Grandmother used to be a cow farmer and she still has all kinds of cool cow stuff.


My Grandmother was surprised to see her sister and brother there. We gothchya!


And my awesome auntie who threw a great party got a big hug!

Wedding Tip: Alternatives to Unity Candles

Unity candles are great. But I like how personalized some of the other options are as well. Nicole and Brad are getting married next month and are using sand since they will be getting married outdoors. I wanted to post a great shot above from a really cool sand ceremony we photographed last year. The three candles around the outside of the vase represented the couple and their son. Last year we also had a couple use soil from where they came from. She had relatives bring soil from her part of Africa where she was born and had lived and he had soil from the Cincinnati area. And if you are more traditional and you have a unity candle one quick tip is to go ahead and light the candle's wick once before using it at the ceremony. This helps mothers and you two to light the candle without having problems.

Engagement Wardrobe Tips

I love photographing Engagement Sessions. They are a great chance to warm up to the camera and to try out some fun poses. It's kind of like a date except I get to follow you around. I usually start with a classic pose and then after a few snaps you get to break from it. He might want to kiss you on the cheek or give you a big bear hug. The session lasts about an hour and it is a lot of fun. During the wedding day I only get about thirty minutes for portraits of you two so it is important that we can move quickly during that time and I will already have a good idea what you two are comfortable with. Plus on the wedding we might put thirty minutes on the timeline but in reality it usually ends up only being twenty minutes. Below is a list of wardrobe tips I hope you will find helpful!

Engagement Wardrobe Tips:

Don't wear black and don't wear white

Avoid wide stripes or polka dots

Pick something simple and classic

Wear something you know you look good in (not something new and trendy)

Try to match your styles and coordinate your colors - either both wear dressy or both wear jeans and a collared shirt

Don’t wear a mini-skirt - there will be a lot of sitting and standing so wear something you can move in

Don't go heavy on the make up - natural makeup looks best outdoors

And the most important things: always bring a smile and be ready to have fun!

Congratulations Lynette and Charles

Lynette and Charles had a great wedding and reception Saturday at The Crowne Plaza in Blue Ash. Lynette had a beautiful ball gown that she looked amazing in. Her hair looked awesome and her makeup by Linda Diebold from Mary Kay was so flattering. Charles looked handsome and the best part was seeing him smile at his bride. One of my favorite parts of the wedding was seeing many of her guests check out her engagement signing album. And once the party got started everybody was great dancing on the big dance floor. My other favorite part was hearing Lynette and Charles thank everyone for coming to their wedding and to all those who helped. She included us and that meant a lot to us to have them remember us. Lynette and Charles - thank you for letting us be a part of your big day and have an awesome honeymoon!

La Di Da designed the awesome ceremony decor. Lifetime Video was great to work with throughout the day.

Congratulations Katie and Matt

Wow what an awesome wedding yesterday. Katie and Matt were so much fun and we all had a great day. We started with the girls getting ready. Katie's dress from Fabulous Bridal was amazing and she looked so stunning in it. I love the black and white portrait of her below because she is relaxed and she just looks amazing. Once all the girls were ready we headed off to Ault Park. There we photographed the gals and then the guys. The ceremony was beautiful with the sun behind the couple. Ben shot from the top of the pavilion to get some awesome angles. After the ceremony we took the bride and groom down to the gardens to get some relaxed portraits of the two of them. The reception was full of surprises. Matt surprised Katie by pulling out a guitar and serenading her with Grow Old With You (the song from The Wedding Singer - one of my favorite movies ever). And later on in the reception Katie surprised Matt with a snow cone truck! I love the photos I took by the light of the snow cone truck. What an awesome wedding. Katie and Matt - have an awesome honeymoon!


The flowers by The Secret Garden were awesome. I loved the variety of flowers used in each bouquet.

Village Pantry Catering did an awesome job with the food. It was so delicious.


Their officiant was Bill Proud. He did a great job with the ceremony and is always a fun guy to work with.