Lauren - Kalamazoo studio portraits

I always find myself craving creative work to help make the Michigan winters seem a little more bearable, and a little more … short. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of cold weather activities to be enjoyed, but for me, they are drastically overshadowed by the lack of sunshine and drivable roads. Paired with the overwhelming amount of brown and beige, I look for color in photos where I can.
When Lauren reached out to me, we went back and forth on portrait themes until we landed on this moody and colorful concept.
She does her own hair and makeup, and she put together this sweet look to complement a lot of experimental photo techniques, and I had the best time working with her on these (We even snuck a film soup by Dubblefilm shot in here).

Thanks for making the season a lot more joyful Lauren!

Haily and Sean - The Union at Railside wedding photos

With active work always taking priority, I haven’t been blogging nearly as much as I’d like from finished portrait sessions, and especially wedding days. Lately, I've felt motivated to revisit and share some of the past weddings that absolutely deserve to be appreciated, so buckle up for more throwback days filled with gorgeousness and inspiration.

So with that, another one from the archives, here’s Haily and Sean’s colorful day at The Union at Railside!
They added personal touches to everything, which I love, and the team at Alder Hair studio killed it as they always do. It was a great day.

Matthew and Sam - Anniversary photo session at Al Sabo

I’m a huge believer in documenting milestones in your life, and that goes so far beyond the traditional graduation, engagement, and weddings.
Photos can help preserve memories, and make new ones, and that’s exactly what Matthew and Sam did to celebrate their anniversary this year.
We met up at Al Sabo land preserve in Kalamazoo for the most perfect golden hour we could have hoped for, and adventured around the trails while they told me more about their story. They are genuine sweethearts, and I’m so honored they let me be even a small piece of how they celebrated their time together.

From the archive: Casie and Matt - Blue Dress Barn wedding

The crazy thing about wedding season is it’s just that: a little crazy. There’s a lot of photographing, backing up files, editing, answering emails, and delivering galleries.

I love it. I definitely feed off the momentum, but it means that I prioritize doing the immediate tasks, and have to decide what can wait until a little later. Blogging has become the thing that I know will still be there, and because of that, I haven’t yet gotten to share some of my favorite weddings, portraits, and couple’s sessions even dating back a year or two!
Well, the time has come, and I’m excited to start rolling out a little bit of past work from the archives that still deserves it’s spot on the website, starting with Casie and Matt’s gorgeous Blue Dress Barn wedding from 2021 in Benton Harbor, MI.

Enjoy the summer vibes and the lovebirds being gorgeous.

Dani and Zach - Grand Rapids engagement photos

March in Michigan means never really knowing which season we’re going to experience on any given day. As Dani and Zach’s engagement session date approached, a flash blizzard decided we would be working with winter, and they both rose to the challenge.
Location one looks like it could have been a nature preserve, but it’s actually the land where their home together will be built. It’s so cool to me that they’ll be able to look back at their engagement photos and see how different the property is through the years, and that’s a huge reason why I love including personal aspects into the portraits.

Location two was a bonus for me as someone who lives off coffee as my number one source of fuel. We ventured to Lantern Coffee in downtown Grand Rapids for a latte break from the cold, and then wrapped up at my favorite GR parking garage for some golden hour magic.

Spring is almost here, but I didn’t at all mind one final winter session. Congratulations you two!

Bri - Yellow color theory editorial portraits

If you live in Michigan, you know how precious the first few sunny days of spring are. We wanted to represent the mood of that first time you’re able to roll down your car windows and soak in the 50 degree sunshine, the smell of grass instead of salted roads, and the new forsythia blooms that are a sure indicator that the winter finally gone.

Bri put together the perfect look to suit the new spring mood, and it’s tempting me to turn in by all-black wardrobe for….. colors?

Enjoy the sunshine pretty people!

Alex and Nick - Kalamazoo moody engagement photos

Alex: "We already had traditional engagement photos taken when I proposed"

Me: "Okay cool, how about we do ultra-moody UN-traditional engagement photos then?"

I’m a huge fan of alternative engagement portraits, and Alex and Nick were absolutely up for the challenge. I completely embraced the opportunity to go full “fine art” mode, and sent them a mood board with style inspiration in preparation. When going for a more monochromatic look, I want a simple, usually urban, location that doesn’t have a lot of color naturally. A parking garage is one of my favorite go-to spots for this reason, but this time around, I wanted something new with lots of leading lines, and this set of bleachers completely spoke to me.

The weather may have felt super inhospitable when the shoot day arrived, but they came prepared with all the moody layers to fight even the coldest winter day. This was also the perfect trial run for their January wedding photos (Pocket warmers are key), so win-win all around.

Thanks for being rockstars with hearts of gold you incredible humans!

Kelsey - Rosé styled portraits

Have you ever been presented with a bottle of Pino Grigio so vibey it prompts an entire styled portrait session?
Same. That’s how we began looking for the perfect summer evening to bring out the wine and Trader Joe’s flower stems, and get shooting.
Kelsey was my model, and the original plan was to photograph primarily in her boyfriend’s beautifully restored vintage boat. In classic “best-laid-plans” fashion however, upon arrival to the location, we found the boat launch area of the lake was covered completely in a thick mysterious layer of green goo (??). We’re all used to being flexible at this point, and we made it work with the props we brought in the sunniest spot we could find, and I will admit the photos still make me want to pour a glass whenever I see them.

Rosé picnic season is right around the corner, but in the meantime, hopefully these photos get you through the last of winter!

Lori - Color theory portraits

I don’t always do passion projects, but when I do, it’s pretty much always with awesome people.

I’ve been wanting to photograph color theory portraits for some time, and I could not have had a more perfect model for the teal/orange theme than Lori. I’ve become kind of obsessed lately with backdrops where they don’t belong in the world, so we met in a big ol’ field at Bow in the Clouds Preserve in Kalamazoo, and had plenty of strange looks from the parking lot as I assembled the setup equivalent of a traffic cone.

Lori is also an incredible photographer, and I’m always honored as heck whenever someone trusts me enough to step to the other side of the camera.

Always remember to take time to experiment!

Emily - High fashion portrait photography

I had the pleasure of getting in one last studio session a few days before the stay-at-home order was announced, and I was so thrilled that I did.
Emily is a crazy talented model who came to me with the concept of shooting portraits inspired by the sign Aries. She stylized the wardrobe like a boss, showed me her inspiration board, and let me go crazy with my lighting and camera tricks.

I used a 1/2 stop Pro Mist filter to get the dreamy vintage vibes, and edgy strobes to bring the drama. Additional drama was brought by Emily killing it.
This was the perfect mood booster to be editing within the first few days of home office life, and I can’t wait until we’re able to work together on a new concept!

Tammy and Paula - Sherman Lake Outdoor Center wedding photos

What can I even say about Tammy and Paula that could possibly do them justice? You can’t help but love them when you first meet, they are both such bright, beautiful l influences on your day, and you can tell their hearts of gold touch everyone they come in contact with. They balance each other perfectly, Tammy is steady and organized to Paula’s enthusiastic and spur-of-the-moment additude. They support and love each other, and it’s genuinely an inspiration.
Their wedding day took place at the stunning Sherman Lake Outdoor Center. Their first look took place at the lakeside fire pit, and ceremony at the outdoor chapel. I absolutely love first looks. We were able to get most of the important photos out of the way beforehand, and you could not beat Paula’s reaction as Tammy walked towards her down the aisle. You could see so much genuine joy in all the faces of the guests for these beautiful humans, and we were honored to be a part of it.

Congratulations Tammy and Paula, you have so many happy years ahead of you!