Sneak Peek...Julie and Travis December 27 2008

Facebook Photos!

I have to admit after a lot of resisting on my part I have fully become addicted to Facebook. One of the things I like best about it is getting to "see" my clients that I haven't met face to face yet since they live out of state and, of course, looking through everyone's photos. And I'm tickled when people put their wedding pictures on their Facebook pages for everyone to see. I had a recent client email me recently telling me that while she would like to put more pictures from her wedding on Facebook but that "It takes forever for them to upload".

Here's a simple explanation to that problem. The files that you get from your wedding coverage are huuuuuuuuge files. They are intended for printing out to a photo, not for web use. The photos you see on the web are actually low resolution so they don't take up as much space on web servers. That's why when you try to print out a photo from the web it looks pixilated and icky. When you try and upload those huge files to Facebook, it has to render them to smaller files; hence the long upload time.

If you would like web sized versions of your wedding photos so you can put them on Facebook or your own blogs with ease, I am happy to provide that for you. I won't put my logo or anything like that on them because that's just not how I roll, but you could, oh...do something nice like rant and rave about how great I am and link to my website :) THAT is how I roll, shameless self promotion.

If you'd like a low res copy of your files just email me an I'll pop a disk in the mail for you.

Happy Holidays!

Jared and Kelli's Wedding Featured in Milwaukee Magazine

I think I've had the latest Milwaukee Magazine sitting on my counter for about two weeks, so imagine my surprise while slurping my Tomato Soup with my kids for lunch on a blustery day I came across this article! I knew Milwaukee Mag was doing a piece on them because they asked me for the pictures, but I had kind of forgotten about it. When I came across the article I said "Hey, I know them!" and then "Hey, I took those pictures!" My kids think I am dork and were spectacularly unimpressed. In their minds, me learning to play Rock Band would be a much more marketable skill.

Emily and Chad's E-sign in book!

I just mailed out Emily and Chad's engagement sign in book and I thought I'd show you all a few pages!

An engagement sign in book is used at your wedding for your guests to sign in and leave you a message. This creates a keepsake for you rather than just a bland sign in book. The book contains pictures from you engagement session arranged with some negative space so there is plenty of room for notes and names.

I blogged about Emily and Chad's session HERE, and what is fun about their book is they added fun facts about themselves in the photos. I'm betting Emily and Chad's friends and family will really get a kick out of this book!

The book has flexible pages very similar to a yearbook and a hard cover. If you are interested in adding this to your package or purchasing it ala carte, here's the info:

E-session alone $250
Sign in book alone $250
Session and book (discounted!) $400

Some recent in home portrait sessions

A different kind of bridal show!


Hate those huge bridal fairs that herd you through like cattle? Me too...which is why I don't do them anymore. If you are looking for ideas and vendors, please come by the Bridal Show and Tell.


Come check out the not so conventional wedding expo at the Milwaukee County Zoo’s Peck Center. Where we offer a more relaxed, fun and informative environment to help brides get ready for their big day.

We have standard booths available to various vendors, such as florists, caterers, Spas, Make-up Artists, bridal shops, DJ’s. You name it they will be there. Vendors are also offered to give 30 minute interactive workshops to inform brides about those endless questions they may have about that infamous day.

The O2M Wedding Show & Tell will offer various types of live music as well as a fashion show. You not only have the opportunity to meet different vendors, but see and hear their work first hand.

This is a fun and interactive way to do some non-stop shopping for the newly engaged in a stress-free environment. Walk away with more then a pamphlet or brochure. Fashion show, vacation giveaway, Show & Tells and much more.

Tickets: $5 in advance or $7 at the door

Meredith and Andrew, November 29 2008

Wedding and Reception: Union League Club, Chicago


This is my third wedding that I have had the privilege to photograph for this awesome family. The wedding was beautiful, Meredith was radiant and I have the best job in the world that I get to see families celebrating again and again. Congratulations Meredith and Andrew, much luck and love in your life together in New York.




















Click here for the link to the slideshow with music, or click out of your reader if you cannot view it on the blog!

Ahhhh-Laska!

Common questions asked of me about Alaska

Why are you going there in November?! Wedding photographers don't live life like the rest of the world. We work on week ends when everyone else is off and we have to travel when we don't have a wedding. Generally that is in the months that there are not as many weddings. Case in point, I shot 9 weddings in August and 1 in November. So we get while the gettin' is good, so to speak.

Where did you go? Well this is an interesting question. I went...to the Matanuska Valley, more specifically Palmer and Wasilla. Yes, that Wasilla.

Did you see Sarah Palin? No. And strangely enough, this trip was planned before she got the nod for potential VP. So I learned very quickly to say that I was going to be staying "Just outside Anchorage" because it was the number one question people asked me. I cannot even imagine how annoying it was to live there during that time. And for the record, I saw her house which is a non-descript brown two story. I'm told she is often spotted at the local Wal Mart.

Was it cold? The temperature was just about the same as it was here. The difference was mostly that the sun did not fully rise until 10AM and it was dark around 4PM, just like here. And since I was on vacation I slept until 9AM pretty much every day, so who cares!

Did you see Moose? I did, on the first day there. I did not have my camera ready and I was too enthralled to try and dig it out. He was cute, and my friend Missy said he was "just a little guy" but he looked ginormous to me.

What did you like best? Well, besides having time to spend with my awesome friend and her family I loved how rugged it was there. I loved seeing mountains all the time. They have a very different mindset there, much less materialistic than it is here. They lament when a new "box store" such as Target moves in because it usurps mom and pop shops, yet getting anything shipped there is either very expensive or cannot even be shipped. It's like a very small town in a VERY big state. I will tell you honestly that if not for the mountains Anchorage looked a lot like Racine to me and that is the largest city in Alaska.

Funny things I learned Cars are called "Rigs". And if you have ever made fun of people who drive SUV's you understand that in this place, they actually make sense. The roads have grooves in them from tire chains. There is literally one road in and out of Anchorage, and it's fourlanes and if it snows or avalances then you don't go anywhere. When I was driving to Girdwood with Missy I said "Wow, this is pretty remote" and she said "Not really. There is a road here. Anything with a road is not really considered remote"

Going outside This is a phrase used if you go to the "lower 48". Such as the statement that was uttered to Missy by a waitress who knew her "You look like you have a bit of color. Did you go outside?"

Reindeer Sausage
Tastes like Kielbasa

Erin and Andy

Wedding : Zion Episcopal Oconomowoc
Reception: Milwaukee Athletic Club

Thanks to Erin and Andy for being patient while I was out of town! I loved working with Erin and Andy from start to finish, and I pretty much wanted to be adopted by their family by the time I was done shooting their wedding. What a fun crowd, what an awesome wedding. Congratulations to you both!

View their wedding slide show with music by clicking here. Or enjoy it on the blog!

Photographers!!! Are you open 9-19-09?

As of today I have received 37 inquiries for 9-19-09. If you're a local photog and have this date open, please email me so I can pass your name on. It seems that everyone I have referred is also booked.

Updates from the beautiful state of Alaska to come, I am uploading the pictures now!

Alaska!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow I start my great Alaskan adventure! It may seem a bit odd that I am going to Alaska during the coldest darkest days there, but hey...I can't exactly travel in June like normal people can! I'm going to visit my good friend Missy, also known as "The Picture Lady" so we can hang out, eat moose and drink martinis. I'll be gone until the 30th, so please forgive if my responses to phone calls and emails are delayed. I'll be updating the blog as I can with some awesome pictures...I hope. I'm not much of a landscape photographer. Be well, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Sneak Peek! Erin and Andy, October 18 2008

Giving back

For many years I have been aware of an organization called "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" a program that photographers join. I've typed and re-typed what this means, but perhaps it's best quoted from their website

There is another aspect of pregnancy and birth. There is an unexpected place in this journey where some families may find themselves. When a baby dies, a world is turned upside down. There is confusion, sadness, fear, and uncertainty that cannot be explained. There is sorrow where there should have been joy. During this time, it might be impossible for families to know what they might need in order to heal in the future.

This is the place where the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation gently provides a helping hand and a healing heart. For families overcome by grief and pain, the idea of photographing their baby may not immediately occur to them. Offering gentle and beautiful photography services in a compassionate and sensitive manner is the heart of this organization. The soft, gentle heirloom photographs of these beautiful babies are an important part of the healing process. They allow families to honor and cherish their babies, and share the spirits of their lives.

When I first started considering this, I have to admit, I dismissed it because I just thought I could not do it. I spend my life documenting the happiest days of people's lives, why would I want to photograph such a tragedy? I have kids, I reasoned. I might cry, I reasoned. I might...feel bad, I reasoned. But for the last year it's niggled at me, that I wasn't brave enough to do it. I recently was going through some photographs of my oldest son and came across a photo of my friend Eli. At the time, I lived in Florida and Eli and I had met at one of those "first time mommy" groups. Eli was the one who got pregnant with twins when her son Trent was about 3 months old. We marveled that while the rest of us were trying to reconcile never getting any sleep that Eli would soon have 3 kids under the age of one. Shortly before she was due to give birth, she found out one of the twins had died in uetero.

I was 27 years old, and that was the first "person" I knew who died. I had never been to a funeral. The idea of losing an infant was beyond my comprehension. I went to visit Eli in the hospital before shortly after she gave birth to the little girl who survived. While in the hospital, she asked me if I wanted to see the photo the nurses had taken of the twin who had passed...God help me, I wish I remembered her name for sure, but I think it was Sarah. I said that I did, and I looked at the photo and for me, it was a kind of closure. After I looked at it Eli grabbed my hand and said "You're the first person who has seen it. You're the first person who has wanted to see it. I haven't looked yet, but I will."

I thought of that, and logged on to their website and applied for acceptance. I got word today that I have been accepted and for the first time, I don't feel bad about that. I can't say that if I am called doing this type of photography will be easy. I might not have the heart for it. I hope I do.

If you're a photographer, please consider this worthy organization. I believe that photos are the greatest legacy we can leave.

Liz and Phil, October 4 2008

I met Liz and Phil in Chicago over the summer for an engagement session that turned into a entire evening. I had so much fun hanging out with them that by dinner time we caught a bite to eat and then went outside for some night time shots. I got to meet their kitties, see their cool apartment so by the time their wedding rolled around it felt like photographing old friends. The Osthoff is one of my favorite venues in the area, I love the views of the Lake and the porch where they hold cocktail hours. This was the first time I got to photograph the wedding ceremony on the grounds and once again, the weather was perfect. Liz was radiant, Phil was debonair and funny as ever, and the entire day was a joy to photograph. Congratulations Liz and Phil!

Wedding and Reception at The Osthoff Resort















You can view their wedding slide show with music by clicking here

Or enjoy it here on the blog, click out of your reader if using one.

Jennie and Bill, September 27 2008

Wedding: Brookfield Reformed Church
Reception: Coast

Jennie and Bill had probably the most stress free wedding this year. I don't know if it was just that they had all the people around him and their day was exactly as they wanted it, but there was not a moment where things felt rushed; something I can tell you is very rare at a wedding Everything just flowed, people were laughing, Bill was crying (His best man noted in his speech that Bill cried during "Ratatooie") and everyone was celebrating and dancing. This was obviously a union that pleased so many people, and Jennie and Bill seemed to truly enjoy their day. I certainly enjoyed photographing their wedding, I felt like I hardly worked!

You can view their wedding slide show with music by clicking here

Or just enjoy it here on the blog