February 15, 2012
February 14, 2012
Sami and Jake are childhood friends. Their families lived across the street from each other their whole lives. Their parents watch their children play in the streets together and hang out after school together. Since Sami and Jake loved spending all their time together, they decided to do it the rest of their lives. They have a beautiful wedding planned this fall at Cedar Lake Cellars. I can’t wait to shoot your wedding. You guys are fabulous.
Since we’re in the middle of winter and the weather has turned nasty the past few days, we decided to elbow our way through the crowds at the City Museum. It turned out that we were able to find a few corners off the beaten path to capture some fun shots!
If the world’s largest underpants are available, you should never miss a photo op!
Have a cold and snowy week!
~C
February 10, 2012
February 6, 2012
Laying in bed Saturday night, Matt & I were chatting about how busy our day had been (we had Charis’ first cheerleading game, her sixth birthday party, then Matt and his dad took Porter to the Monster Jam). Matt was showing me the pictures of the monster truck event when I noticed the odd order they were sitting in.
Why did you guys sit like that? Why didn’t you put Porter next to your dad?
Exasperated Matt shoots back, “Charity! We’re four guys at a Monster Truck rally. We don’t care about that stuff! We sat in the order we walked in!” (then in a high girly voice) “Umm, ok guys, where does everyone want to sit?”
Little does he know that if that were four girls, we’d have an entire conversation about the order in which we’d sit at a Monster Truck Rally. Here’s to celebrating the differences between men and women.
Sunday our church had a huge Super Bowl Party. I think somewhere a game was playing on the big screens, but we were in the kids area climbing the jumpy houses, waiting for balloon animals and face painting. That is a real Super Bowl party. I should have gotten my face as a wildebeest. Maybe next time.
Everyone looked so adorable with their faces painted, I couldn’t miss an opportunity to snap some shots of them!
(Shot at 1/125, f/1.4. ISO 100. External flash set at 1/8 power bounced off the wall to the left.)
Hope you had a great weekend!
~C
February 3, 2012
Since I only shoot weddings, I see a lot of young couples starting their lives together. Standing among fragrant bouquets and layers of satin, I watch as beautiful people steal kisses and share inside jokes. I witness, along with family and friends, commitments that last a lifetime. Those days are happy days and always perfect days. In fact, I usually leave wishing I could have another wedding just so I can experience the euphoria of marrying Matt all over again.
Lately though, my mind has drifted to what I like to think of as Mature Love. A love that has weathered life’s storms. It’s a love that’s outlasted setbacks, hurts, disappointments, fights, betrayals, and raising children.
I’m being a little melodramatic, I know. It’s probably all the warm weather we’ve been having.
How long have you been married? What are you doing to keep it together?
Or maybe you experienced the pain of a divorce. What advice could you give to couples just starting out, so they don’t have to experience it too?
Have a great day!
~C
February 2, 2012
How about some of my post process editing today? I try to keep it simple and easy (I have four kids to take care of!).
I am all about getting images right in the camera. If I ever say to myself, “Oh, I’ll fix that later in Photoshop”, I put my camera down, slap myself on the face and say, “I’m a professional. Now get it right”. Does that mean I always get it perfect? No, but I won’t do it the lazy way.
So, here’s an image I shot on a rainy spring wedding day. We had a few minutes reprieve from the showers to capture this moment. It’s under exposed, but I love Emily’s sexy look!
In Lightroom I first bumped up the exposure and then ran one of my favorite preset actions, 9_Thriller, from the set called Brilliant. This really made the image pop, which really brings everything alive. Next, I got rid of the vignetting. Finally, in Photoshop, I softened their skin a bit and then sharpened the image.
Resulting in this stunning image of a beautiful couple!
I’d love to hear from you about how you edit your images!
Have a great week!
~C
January 29, 2012
Driving in the van my four-year-old, Porter, announced, “I do NOT want to grow up”.
Puzzled, I naturally asked Porter why he came to this conclusion.
“I don’t want to grow up, because I don’t want to kiss girls”.
Thinking this had everything to do with cooties, I continued to question his motives.
“I will get lipgloss on my lips and I don’t want lipgloss on my lips”.
Sadly, we know that’ll change all too soon.
May we all share a little lipgloss today!
~C
January 27, 2012
Midwest winters are pretty drab. I often wonder why my mother took me away from sunny Southern California when I was young. On grey days, like today, I try not to blame her for such circumstances that I abide in, then I remember I probably would have never met Matt and birthed him four amazing children. So, I forgive you, mom.
If you’re like me and you’re wondering why you’re not in basking in a tropical climate right now, then take a moment and dream of the lazy days of summer.
Here’s to sunnier and warmer days ahead.
~C
January 23, 2012
Since our family started attending church on Saturday nights, I’ve declared Sundays as my official day off. I don’t clean and my kids are lucky to get a hot meal. Lately, throughout the week I’ll serenade my children with The Bangles, Manic Monday. I wish I still had my stone washed jean jacket.
They say you should make everyday count. Here’s to the days that count. My Funday!
~C
January 21, 2012
St. Louis Wedding Photographer :: Engagement
One of the benefits to shooting an engagement photo session at the St. Louis Zoo in the dead of winter is that you’re the ONLY people (and animals) there. Did that stop us from having a blast and getting some VIP treatment? VIP? Yea, I have pretty awesome clients.
Dawn and Jim are childhood friends. They first met in elementary school in Chicago, IL. After Jim and his family moved to St. Louis when they were young, Jim and Dawn lost touch like all little kids do when separated from classmates, but as fate would have it Facebook was invented (let’s give a shout out to Facebook!). A friend request was sent. Two old childhood friends bantered about college football. Then an invitation to a black tie affair in St. Louis sent Dawn flying from Chicago. I guess that date went well, because just look at them! In love. 
A little healthy competition adds spice to any relationship.
~C