In addition to taking photos of my daughter I was able to convince my wife to go before the camera this time. Kate’s not always willing to put herself in the “spotlight” so to speak so I was thrilled when she agreed to pose for a few photos. What I know she learned is that posing for photos is harder than it looks and smiling on demand isn’t easy. I also hope she learned that she is just as beautiful today as she was when I met her for the first time years ago. I’m truly a lucky man to have her as my wife and partner in crime. I hope she continues to let me photograph her as we continue our life’s journey together.

I love taking engagement photos! To bear witness to a love so strong that it is leading up to marriage is a truly powerful thing.  When a couple asks that I be responsible for capturing their love in photos I consider it a tremendous honor and I do everything in my power to make the process one they will remember for years to come.

A few months ago I had the privilege of taking photos for my niece Courtney, and her fiance, Dave. We headed down to Lafayette Square Park on what was, at the time, the hottest day of the year with temperatures right at 100 even though it was 5:30 pm in the evening.  Over the course of the next few hours we walked throughout the park taking pictures and capturing the special relationship between these two young adults.  I’ve captured photos of Courtney over the years and have seen her grown from a little girl to an amazing young woman and I couldn’t be more proud of the person she has become.

As I post this entry today Courtney is at her bridal shower being thrown by her aunt – my sister.  I thought it only fitting to get this online as an extension of her special day.  And while the weather has finally cooled down, at least temporarily, I hope the memories of that hot day a few months ago live on for years to come whenever Courtney or Dave look at the photos we created together.

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A few weeks ago I bore witness to something amazing. The 50th Wedding Anniversary of Richard & Patricia Gill. (Full disclosure – Patti & Dick are my wife’s aunt & uncle.)

The simple truth is that you rarely hear of people celebrating their 50th anniversary anymore. So I consider myself lucky in that I was able to watch them renew their vows in front of their family & friends.  And when you consider that a few months I was in the presence of several other family couples celebrating their 35th, 40th, 50th & 60th wedding anniversaries, it’s been an amazing year!

I’m incredibly humbled that I was asked to capture this special day for Patti & Dick in photos & hope that the memories I’ve preserved will be enjoyed for many years to come.

Here’s a brief photo montage video from the day’s event.  Enjoy!

My assignment was to take photos of everyone interacting and having a good time so they could use them to not only remember the event but also for future marketing of the event.  I think the photos turned out great & initial response from the attendees to the photos has been outstanding.  To complete the event photography session I’ve posted the images online in a gallery for review and ordering (with proceeds going back to the parish community) as well as a video remix format as you can view below.

Thanks to everyone at St. Ann for a great evening & for being such great photo subjects.

This event is the main fundraiser for St. Ann Catholic Church & School and I’m proud to be a part of the event again this year.  Along with the portrait session package I’ve also donated a few select prints for the silent auction.

The video below showcases the session I’ve donated.  If you’d like to find out more information about the auction and how you can get tickets to attend please click here for details.

This past weekend I had the privilege of shooting the American Chamber Chorale’s In Tribute concert.  The chorale performed by candle light at Salem in Ladue Methodist Church.  The evening’s performance included Mozart’s Requiem and Arvo Pärt Stabat Mater – both of which were performed flawlessly.  If you love chorale music or simply great musical performances I recommend that you learn more about the American Chamber Chorale and attend their next concert.  They’re a real gem in the St. Louis music scene and should be enjoyed by all.

Amazingly good! That’s how good of a production an 8th Grade Musical can be these days.  I’ve watched 4 years of productions at St. Ann and this year’s was just as good as previous years.  I have to give the students and their faculty producers a ton of credit for their hard work and dedication.  This was my first year officially shooting the event and I couldn’t have enjoyed my time more.  It was truly a wonderful production!

There will be undoubtedly a video available of the production for cast and crew to look back on over the years but I hope my photos will also play a role in remember this very special event in their young adult lives.  So without further ado, I present to you a video remix of the photos I took at St. Ann’s production of  ”Don’t Say No To The USO”.

Winter weather is always good for at least 2 things in my book: 1) an increased desire for warm spring weather & 2) it drives me to think outside of the box when it comes to shoot portraits.

Doing a portrait shoot can be infinitely easier during the non-winter months as you get to use all of the outdoors as your backdrop and light-source if you wish. But during the Winter you are more limited.  There are always the people who want an outdoor Winter portrait but believe me they are few in number.  And when it comes to families getting portraits of their kids done Winter is not the best time of year.  There’s nothing wrong with following the trend of having photos of your kids in the great outdoors but maybe Winter is the perfect time of year to think out of the box.  A time to get creative with your ideas for a portrait.  A talented photographer can come up with a myriad of posing ideas using indoor landscapes and light that will result in a truly unique photo for you to treasure for years to come.

In working with my clients I’ve learned that as much as they treasure a good picture of their children or spouses what they really get excited about is having a picture that no one else will have on their mantle.  I propose that this Winter you think about the possibility of getting out of the box and asking your favorite photographer to do something different with this year’s portraits.  You won’t be disappointed.

Now that all the excitement of turning 10 years old has passed us by I thought it would be a good time to take a formal portrait of my daughter Elizabeth for her birthday. The weather still isn’t cooperating here in St. Louis so we headed down to our basement to do an ad-hoc setup with lights, etc. After clearing out the kids toys and setting up some grids to give an interesting pattern in the background we got some great shots including the one you see above. Personally I’m at a loss for words when looking at this photo as for the life of me I can’t figure out where my little girl has gone.

Remember to stop and capture the special moments in your life and document your families growth and accomplishments. You’ll never regret taking too many pictures unless of course you are never in any of them yourself.  Keep shooting! (photos that is)

For the past several months my wife and mother-in-law have been leading the decorating committee at our parish church, St. Ann, located in Normandy, MO. They have been doing a wonderful job all along but when I saw how beautiful the church looked during Christmas Eve mass I knew I had to get a picture of the church all lit up for Christmas. So I headed down to the church this evening with my wife and we lit the space just as it was on Christmas Eve. I think there’s a special feeling of Christmas Spirit that you can experience in a space like this. Click on the photo to see a larger version.