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Josh and Breanna: Wedding

Josh and Breanna have a special place in my heart and they are one of the most inspiring couples I have worked with. They come from such a wonderful community of friends and family that I am proud to call my own. The wedding was put together in a two-month time frame and was held at my own church, Fellowship Missionary Church, on the southeast side of Fort Wayne. With the impact Josh and Breanna have had on the church’s community it seemed only fitting to see people who have been touched by Josh and Breanna’s story to come along side them to help make their wedding day a success.

The reception was held at the beautiful Arts United Center in downtown Fort Wayne. This building is home to the Fort Wayne Philharmonic among many other talented performing artists that Fort Wayne has to offer. With a blend of brick, concrete and oak set as the backdrop to the reception the evening was just as beautiful as the building it was held in. I don’t ever recall seeing a wedding with so many of the guests becoming so involved in the reception to make sure the evening went smoothly. The entire reception was done by youth at Fellowship Missionary Church. They did the set up and teardown and even served the food all with a servant’s heart. They are such amazing people!

Josh and Breanna, the story of your love for each other inspires me. God has brought the two of you together in a wonderful way and I am amazed to see how He brought a community of friends and family together to make your wedding day as magical as it was intended to be. Thank you for such a wonderful time. Congratulations on your marriage!

Dance like no one is watching

Last weekend I captured a wedding that grounded me on so many levels. I have learned so much from this couple and their story has truly touched my life. As I was processing some of the images I ran across this image that reminds me why I love wedding photography so much.

Planning a wedding takes so long, except for this one but more on that later. When the wedding day finally arrives it quickly becomes a blur from all the big important stuff having to fall into place to all of the people coming to witness the amazing union. The moment captured below is a great example of how we can still connect with the ones that mean so much to us in the midst of all the noise around us. It is as if they are dancing like no one is watching.

What are you doing this Christmas to connect on a deeper level with the people that mean so much to you?

Thankfulness

Because today is the day of giving thanks I wanted to say a big thanks to all of my clients who so generously give me the chance live out my passions and dreams. Without the encouragement you have given me I would not be the person I am today.

Today is also our little Ainsley’s first Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving around our house the past five years has been loaded with family packed into our home. With nearly 15 people I quickly run out of room to stack them so most choose the floor to sleep on. With all of the noise, crowdedness, and lots of dishes I found myself enjoying those few days a year when everyone comes over to my house for food and fun.

This year nobody came over. It was a slow and quiet day with just the three of us. We did spend a few hours over at my brother-in-laws house but most of the day was spent with my new three-person family. It was a welcome change of pace and a day full of thanksgiving for me as I am surrounded by the two people that mean the world to me.

Here are a few shots of my little Thanksgiving.

The day started off by mom doing a little bit of “Pre-Black Friday” shopping. She got up at 4:30 to snag this cool noisemaker of a table for Ainsley at half price. By the time Ainsley woke up we had it set up for her to begin the play of a new toy.








Because this was Ainsley’s first Thanksgiving Sarah and I have been doing a lot of talking about traditions. Today we started our first Thanksgiving tradition of drawing turkeys by tracing our hands on construction paper. It was obviously difficult for a 6 ½ month old to hold her hand still but we made it through it. Once we finished coloring each of us wrote a few things we are thankful for this year. The goal is to do this every year and write down five things we are thankful for. We will move this to small index cards in the future. It will be fun to read through all of them and see how our kids change their priorities over the years.








Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Mark and Kathy's Family

My latest family photo session was one of my most unique family sessions. In what is considered a very rare occasion, Baby Ainsley made a special guest appearance at my photo session. She came along with Sarah and I to capture my brother-in-law and sister-in-laws family and did a fantastic job at entertaining them. She held up great even with the cooler weather in which she hardly complained.

Mark and Kathy are our closest geographically located family. Most of my family is either in St. Louis or the great state of Texas. Having them near by has given us a chance to watch their three children grow up. It was a joy hanging out downtown with them and I look forward to our big Thanksgiving dinner over at their house this year!