Milwaukee Wedding Photography at the War Memorial

The Milwaukee War Memorial is an incredible venue for wedding pictures!! The wedding ceremony on the terrace over looking Lake Michigan was amazing and so was the wedding reception. The wedding party danced the night away to some great tunes and we finished the wedding pictures with this incredible bridal portrait of the Bride and Groom in the stair well of the War Memorial in Milwaukee Wisconsin!

In the background you can see the Milwaukee skyline! I think this is one of the most unique and beautiful facilities I've ever shot at and although this particular bridal portrait took quite a bit of co-ordination to pull of it was well worth it and one of my favorite wedding pictures of the year! Although I don't get to shoot in Milwaukee as much as I'd like I look forward to coming back to this location soon!!

Wedding Photography: Saint Joseph Michigan

Saturday was such an incredibly beautiful day for a wedding here in Southwest Michigan! I started the day shooting the bride getting her Hair done at Devoir Salon's brand new location in downtown Saint Joseph, if you haven't been there it's worth the trip, what a cool space!! After the hair we went just up the road to Saron Lutheran Church where the bride had her makeup done and got ready. The ceremony was in a beautiful little chapel and we went to the Tiscornia beach for photos on our way to Point O'Woods golf course where they had their reception. The images where processed using one of the Boutwells Totally Rad Actions, which totally rock!! I love the way the muted colors enhance the mood in the photographs! Congratulations Kirk and Carolyn!

Photography Planning Tips

If you just got engaged, and are starting to plan your wedding photography it can be a bit daunting. There are so many photographers and so many styles of photography, where do you start and what should you be thinking about when planning your wedding photography? Well today I was a guest blogger at Stella Event Design where I shared 6 really great tips on how to plan for the perfect wedding pictures. While I believe all the tips will help you plan for a successful wedding day here are a few of the most important ones to consider, Communication is KEY, Start the photography early, and Personalize your Must Have photo list. To read about why these things are so important and for even more tips on planning your wedding photography check out the blog post and good luck to everyone planning a wedding!

Stella Event Design - Photography Q&A

This week is photography week at Stella Event Design, a full-service wedding coordination and event planning boutique, specializing in weddings along the Michigan lake shore. I worked with Stella Event Design on a spring wedding this year and they were amazing, I wish all of my clients had such a knowledgeable and creative resource at their disposal! This week they're featuring 3 photographers in a Q&A session and today it's my turn! Check out Stella Event Designs blog for the full Q+A. Also, I have been invited to be a guest blogger tomorrow so check back for some great tips on how brides can work with their photographers to get some really creative images on their wedding day!

Here are a few photos from the wedding I worked on with Stella Event Designs in April. The day started at 6am on the beach in Saint Joseph Michigan where the bride and all her bridesmaids went for a run. I kept up on my bike and documented the early morning run. What a fun way to start the day!

Another beautiful Chicago Wedding

Joe and Gloria tied the knot on July 26, 2008 in downtown Chicago. After the ceremony we did this amazing portrait shoot under an overpass near their church in Chicago. For those of you who are planning a wedding, you'll definitely want to consider setting aside some time for a quick photo walk like this! It's a great opportunity to have fun, relax, and capture some unique wedding pictures on your wedding day. Don't limit your photo walk to a park either, as you can see from these photos, you can get beautiful wedding pictures just about anywhere!













This last shot was taken outside the Meridian Banquet Hall in Rolling Meadows, IL. We snuck out towards the end of their reception to get a quick closing shot for the day and found this spot behind an abandoned restaurant next door. Joe and Gloria were so much fun to work with and their willingness to try something different for their wedding portraits really made for some incredible wedding pictures! To see the rest of their Chicago wedding photos visit, www.benpancoast.com.