I met with Liz and Greg in the fall to do a few engagement shots with them downtown.  The evening light was gorgeous and they are a great couple, so I had a lot of fun playing around at their expense.  Ok, hopefully they had fun too.

Not paying attention to the camera and just loitering on a sidewalk is always a good start.

Lipstick - good on women, bad on men.

Love this one.

Seriously, can’t go wrong with these two.  And while it’s not on a mountain top, I can’t wait for their wedding.  Whenever I get out to Denver, maybe we can do a bridal session of sorts, just for you Kailey.  Andy, you can be the “art director,” A.K.A. not the one I’m pointing a giant lens at all the time.

And if you happen to know someone with a helicopter standing by to put us on a ridgeline…  It would be cool, that’s all I’m saying.

Mmm, sparkly.

We wanted to get a few fun shots with them in the church, but the mostly overcast day was making thing difficult.  Then, pop, the sun come out for a precious 4 or five minutes.  I stick them right in the sliver of light and shoot like mad.

I snapped two like this before we lost the sun.  Good thing I got it.

Leave it to film gaffers to go gung-ho with the lighting over the dance floor.

I would dare say this is the most dramatic bridal party shot I have ever done.

Gotta love the J.W. Marriott.  The light that they have scattered about, coupled with loads of fun spots, makes finding great locations nice and easy.

Congratulations John and Juli!  Since most of the film work is over in Detroit, our days on set together will be fewer.  Sad, as lighting nerds can be hard to find.

So what better way to start than with Ben and Rachel’s wedding.  I had been looking forward to this wedding for a while as they are both good friends of my brother’s.  Here’s a few pics from the day.

Everybody likes an entourage.

Rachel is pretty doggone easy to shoot.  The girl knows how to get her model on.

Didn’t I tell ya?

This little man was a stich.  Ben can tell he was being upstaged.

Ben was able to get a sweet old MG for a getaway car.  While Rachel almost got an accidental peak before hand, this was her first glimpse.

You’d get a little attitude as well if you had a car like this.

Party time.  Sorry ladies, I know Ben’s dance moves are irrisitable, but he’s taken.

This beautifully emotional moment is brought to you courtesy of Kelly, my second shooter for the day.  Skills.

And, being the 4th of July, a fireworks shot is kind of needed.

You two enjoy your lobsters this weekend.

Uh, and if you can’t tell, it’s a western.

Ready for the close up

And a couple more, just cause.  And, since I’m a guy, I think guns are cool.

A little detail of the side of the cabin, with authentic wood smoke!

What’s a western without a couple of horses?

You can tell from the horse’s breath, it was COLD.  Yeah, more on that later.

Let’s start at the beginning.

The snow ain’t gonna shovel itself boys…

The brave soul.

Ladies and gentlemen, the bride:

I love Kristen’s dress glowing up front.

Now this is what I call group formals.

When I told them I would make these outside shots quick due to the cold, blowing, snowy conditions, Kristen told me, “no, I’m fine; let’s go take pictures.”  Music to my ears.

Jenn, from Modern Day Floral, works wonders.  Yes, those are feathers in that arrangement.

More of her handiwork-

I ALMOST had a second piece of this…

“Let’s hear it for the photographer!” they were all shouting.  OK, no, they really weren’t.

And no wedding photo album is complete without a shot of… the photographer?  Yeah, hard for me to believe as well.  Me, surrounded by beautiful women.  Look outside, you might see pigs flying.

The one complaint I had about the day  - it went by much too fast.  Scott, Kristen, thanks for being so much doggone fun and letting me be there for it.

These are the safest pictures they got to be in.

Now on to the trains…

I love graffiti

And the staircase of death

Look at how edgy and moody it got once I climbed over the rail.

No, I kid.  I did that after the fact.  But the true rocking of the camera came totally and completely from these two.  I just had to point and shoot.  They make it easy for me.  Make sure you stick around to see their wedding pics…

Welcome into the room

Getting ready for the entrance…

This night was all about letting the bride and groom relax, talk with guests and have some fun.

Kids are surprisingly good at having fun…

I love catching family together having a good time.  Usually not too hard.

And, of course, who can forget the FOOD.  It is a good thing I had my camera in my hand (for the most part), otherwise I would have gorged myself this whole weekend.  The food was terrific.

At the end of the night, we were able to quick get some fun shots of just Rabya and Nauman.

Remember I said the snow hit later on?  Well here you go, the proof.  And proof that these two are brave.  It had to be done.

There you go.  The end of Nauman and Rabya’s wedding saga.  I hope you had at least a fraction of the fun looking at it as I had shooting it!

The hair…  These mirrors made for a pseudo-funhouse shot.

Next, the make-up

The detail of this sari is just fantastic -

Rabya is stunning…

Of course, everyone wants to help out

Awww.

Nauman and his family arrive

This one was Rabya’s idea…

The grooms cake, made by none other than Barb at Sweet Cakes.

As the end was approaching, Rabya’s sisters handcuffed her to a railing on the stage.  Let’s hope Nauman has deep pockets.

I had another photographer join me part way through the day, Jen Kroll.  Maybe you know her?  It was a change of pace having HER shoot for ME.  Thanks Jen.

Let’s see if I can’t get Part 3 up before Christmas…