Smith Family Portraits | Champaign Family Portrait Photographer
This family was SO much fun to shoot! The boys were absolutely adorable and so expressive!
Colleen Senior Pictures | Mahomet, IL Senior Portrait Photographer
I <3 Seniors! Especially this one. Best wishes to you, Colleen, as you enter a new and exciting phase of life!!
Tenna & Seng Laotian Wedding | Urbana, IL Wedding Photographer
This was my first Laotian wedding, and in Champaign-Urbana, of all places! Who knew there were so many Laotians in East Central Illinois?? It was a beautiful, traditional ceremony filled with lots of prayer, string tying (to represent the uniting of the couple,) and the exchange of small money gifts and good wishes from the elders. My favorite part was when the groom and his family processed into the venue, where they were met at the door by the bride’s family. Traditionally, this is when the grooms family pays the agreed upon “bride-price,” which is a set amount asked by the bride’s parents for the breast milk that has been fed to the bride since she was born. During this time, the bride’s family asks several questions to the groom such as: “Where did you come from? What did you come here for? What did you bring with you?” Typically, the elders and relatives answer these questions for the groom and they all exchange alcoholic shots. Be sure to check for these pics in black and white toward the middle of the set, and feel free to add your congratulations to this lovely couple! Congrats, Tenna and Seng!
Salsa Dance at Urbana Landmark Hotel | Urbana, IL Photographer
I’ll be honest, I’ve been burnt out. But I’m ready to get back in the game and start capturing and sharing beauty again.
Sabrina & Chris | Champaign-Urbana Engagement Photographer
I don’t know why this bride to be, Sabrina, is not a model. Well, at least she was my model for her engagement shoot last week, and will be again next weekend for her wedding! I am so stoked. This couple was so natural in front of the camera, we had such a wonderful shoot. Chris is a pilot, so we thought it would be perfect to capture them in front of one of the planes he drives. And perfect it was! I got a few shots of some of his model planes at their house, too. Aren’t they cool?
Enjoy the rest of the pics, and feel free to share some love in the facebook comment box below for this soon-to-be-wed couple!
Jenny & Andrew Engagement Shoot | Champaign-Urbana Photographer
Engagement shoots are so much fun because not only do I get to observe personalities, but I get to observe and work with the interplay between two personalities! Jenny and Andrew were two individuals with very distinct, yet different personalities. Let’s just say, a classic case of opposites attract. Andrew is calm and sweet, while Jenny is bubbly and warm. It was fun to watch Andrew make Jenny laugh, even despite going through his list of jokes twice. (It was a long shoot, so he joked he was running out of jokes!) You’ll be able to tell from their many facial expressions and Jenny’s expressive body language that we had a very jovial, upbeat shoot!
I’m looking forward to shooting their wedding this October! Congrats, Jenny & Andrew!
Norman Wedding Album | La Jolla, CA
Let’s be honest, despite all of your great intentions, you’re not going to have the time to sift through all of your photos and create your own album. So, let me do it for you! My albums are elegant, modern, and timeless and are available in leather, linen, or glossy photo bindings. Mini-albums are also available, making great gifts for family members. Check these beauties out!
Alyssa & Richard Surprise Engagement Proposal | UIUC, IL
It’s always exciting when a client you don’t know contacts you out of the blue asking for a photoshoot. It’s even more exciting when they have an elaborate plan as to how they are going to propose marriage to their significant other and that they have chosen you to be part of that plan! That is exactly what happened two weeks ago when I got a call from Richard. Richard had been dating Alyssa for five years and was thinking it was finally time to pop the big question. He wanted the proposal to be captured on camera, so he scheduled it the day of her birthday, and that morning, he announced that for her special day he had gotten her a makeover at Sephora and a professional photoshoot so they could get some nice pictures together. Alyssa looked gorgeous when she arrived. We started the shoot at the location that they met on their first date, a fateful five years ago, at the Beckman quad. We meandered through the campus, had Cocomero on the quad, got some super fun photos at the main library, (Alyssa is a librarian and did her master’s at UIUC), and ended where they finished their first date–at the Weston Fountain on the Business quad. The pictures tell the rest of the story:
Congratulations to you both, Richard and Alyssa, and thank you again so much for including me in this very special day! It was SUCH an honor. More photos from the actual engagement shoot (although, technically isn’t since it was before they were engaged…) to come!
Baby Blue Eyes–Little Juliette
One of the best parts of being a photographer has been the opportunity to interact with adorable little people and capture them in their most precious moments. If you were to sit and watch me while I edit a baby shoot, you would see me grinning from ear to ear the entire time. I mean, really, when else do you have the ability to fully enjoy a baby’s sweet expressions, tiny fingers and toes, adorable outfits, etc etc without having to listen to it cry and change it’s diaper? 😉 I’m telling you, baby photography is where it’s at! Hope you enjoy this sweet, three-month-old Juliette. Her eyes are to die for, no?
