Photographing children is my favorite thing - their ease or complete lack of insecurity in front of the camera is inspiring, they are truly themselves because that’s what they know - it’s refreshing and lifts me up every time. A few weeks ago I went over to meet the newest little member of the Dillenbeck family and photograph a morning in their home and it was a real treat.
Nora turned 10 on June 3rd - to me this was a big one, I’ve had this little lady in front of my camera since she was a baby. I spent a few days a week with her as a small child, taking her to Victory Cafe for baby lattes (which was very lightly steamed milk) I took her to the Children’s Museum and would shoot a few rolls of film of her exploring the space - I travelled with her family to Colorado as well as Namibia - still two of my favorite trips to this day. Basically Nora has been a part of my life now for 10 years and I love her and her family dearly, I look up to this families way of life, this magical gatherings of folks- they have built a lovely home and space for gatherings and I always leave feeling inspired and refreshed after some time in the Gagnon home. So when Sarah asked me to do a session with them before and during Nora’s 10th birthday party, I was very excited. Below is a collection of images of the Gagnon family and then the beginning of Nora’s camp out birthday party.
In the fall of 2017 I got an email from B’s mom asking if I could document her son proposing to his girlfriend - I had never photographed a proposal and it was such a wonderful thing to witness. A few months after that I was able to meet up again with these two to photograph some engagement photographs at the Edgewood Campus, which is where these two met. On June 1st, 2019 I got to witness and document these two get married - there was not a dry eye during that ceremony - it was a beautiful day.
Perfect weather, a wedding dress with pockets, a photoshoot at the Arboretum and vows exchanged in a little garden on campus followed by an incredible meal, speeches that made everyone cry and an epic dance party. Courtney and Steve planned a wonderful day to celebrate their life together and I am so glad I was there to document it all.
This wedding was a real treat to be invited to document - with being 1 of the 35 people they had witness their wedding, I felt so thankful to be there. I really loved every minute of this day, from their first look to the wonderful Uber driver who was so happy to be driving a bride and groom to their wedding she may have missed a turn of 2, to Jess and Chris having a cup of coffee together in the Little Goat Diner before their rooftop ceremony to the ceremony itself (so many tears and then so much laughter) to every bite of food I got (seriously go to Little Goat next time you are in Chicago) and finishing off the day with a walk with the newly married couple for some photographs. Jess and Chris are incredible and I am so grateful they picked me to photograph this day.
I have gotten a few opportunities to photograph this beautiful family but this photoshoot was the first time in their new home. I went over to their new home a few weeks ago and spent a few hours with my camera as they lived their lives. My favorite way to photograph - witnessing what is in front of me and documenting it, no retouching just real life.
I was there when these two started dating, I stood up in their wedding, I sang a song at their wedding, I photographed them when they were pregnant, I photographed Ruby when she was born and now Ruby is two, Amy and Dan are making their dream home in my old neighborhood and I get to watch Ruby grow and continue to photograph it. Last month after we were all stuffed from turkey and mashed potatoes I went with the Becks to start the Christmas season off - we went to a tree sale, picked up some peppermint lattes and I documented them decorating their tree - It was a real good day and I love this family a whole lot.
It’s always hard to leave the Lang’s home - they always seem to have fresh coffee, homemade goodies and wonderful conversation and I’m grateful for their friendship and for the opportunity to document their days together. A few weeks ago I went over with my camera for some fresh coffee, homemade bread and fort building.
It’s no secret that I love children, I love spending time with them and I love to photograph them. When I was younger and I imagined my life as a photographer I imagined traveling the world to spend time with children and document their lives. Lately my favorite thing to photograph is families living their lives together and last month I got together with the Heidemann family right after their 2nd son, Adler was born and I got to spend sometime following them around with my camera - it was a really good day and Ezra, their two year old was real fun to hang out with.
My afternoon with Simon and Leah started at one of our favorite places in Madison, Mickey’s Tavern - we caught up over cocktails and they played a few rounds of cribbage (Leah totally won) before we headed off to the woods. I like these two, in fact I have been a fan of Simon’s music for years - if you don’t know it, check him out: https://www.simonbaltomusic.com/ - he is incredibly talented and when these two reached out to have me photograph their wedding I felt so honored that they wanted me there. So enjoy these adorable moments between these two, check out Simon’s music and come hang out with me at his shows.
A cloudy and misting Sunday afternoon was spent with Lisa and Evan exploring the UW Arboretum - one of my favorite places to photograph in the fall. Lisa and Evan are lovely people, like really lovely and I am so glad I got the chance to meet them and get to know them and I am really excited to document their backyard wedding next June. Enjoy these images of them being the cutest ever.
Ashley and Jake share so much love and not just for one another but for the people they have in their lives. I was blown away by all the little touches these two had for their friends and their family on their wedding day. Every person in the wedding party I got to talk to, I got to hear about their friendship with the couple, how long they have known the couple and it was so wonderful to hear. With the timeline slightly off, when Ashley told me she wanted to give gifts to her wedding party before putting her dress on and in all honesty, the timeline went off in my head but I am so beyond glad that we took the time to do this - it was an honest slap in the face for me documenting this moment, watching her ladies read the words Ashley sat down and wrote to them, watching the Mothers open their gifts and have their eyes instantly filled with tears and watching Ashley go around the whole room hugging each of her women and thank them for being here with her reminded me of why I do this and why I am so grateful to meet and work with people like Ashley and Jake. This day was wonderful, filled with so many people who love and support this couple, a beautiful ceremony outdoors, an epic dance party and late night cheese curds - couldn’t have a better night in Wisconsin. I had a wonderful second shooter with me on this day, Nikki Hanson.
Andy was once my upstairs neighbor, so when these two emailed me to photograph their wedding, I knew it would be a beautiful day to be apart of. Andy and Lisa wanted an outdoor wedding and it was a little chilly this day but they had it outdoors and I am so glad they did - it was so beautiful and intimate. They also decided to wait and see each other as she walked down the aisle, a rare thing these days and watching Andy’s reaction when he saw Lisa I’m pretty sure brought everyone to tears. This day was wonderful, this day was so full of love and joy and I really enjoyed being both a witness and the one to document it. Congrats Lisa and Andy, you two are lovely and your friends and families are all gems.
When Sonja messaged me about being apart of their wedding I first couldn’t believe they wanted me there, I thought, i mean I’m okay but they live in Seattle! I could list off 10 amazing photographers within a minute in that city - Seattle is crawling with talented photographers. I am so beyond honored that they picked me to photograph this day, that they had me come to my favorite city to go to a magical land to photograph their intimate wedding among the trees. I had a wonderful time creating images with Sonja and Alex, and I would literally meet them anywhere in the world to photograph them - if you missed their engagement session, you should click here - we met in El Paso for a quick 36 hour trip for another epic location.
Olivia and Brian were in town from Chicago for a wedding so we met up on Sunday morning for some coffee and stroll around Madison. These two were wonderful to work with, Brian makes Olivia laugh about every 2 minutes and I loved being there to document it! Can’t wait for their Chicago wedding next fall.
I have known Annie and Zach as Annie and Zach for about 10 years, I got to live with Annie for a year back when we were both in college and her and Zach now take care of my favorite cat on the planet, Gomez. Their wedding day was hot but it really didn’t matter because it was a wonderful celebration of these two exchanging vows and I am so grateful I was there to both witness and document this party.
I met up with Courtney and Steve at Courtney’s work campus where they have a weekly farmers market and lovely trails to walking through. We started with the market since it’s something they do on a weekly basis and then we hit the trails trying to not get eaten alive by mosquitos and they took a break for a quick popsicle - these two are lovely, even with the terrible mosquitos we all had fun and I’m really looking forward to their spring wedding in 2019!
I love it when my wedding couples continue to let me document their lives - Laura and Aaron have been in front of my camera 4 times now and a few weeks ago we got to celebrate their son Jameson, who turned 1! Thank goodness Jameson finds swatting at mosquitos funny, for we were all being eaten alive but we still managed to get some lovely photos of this sweet sweet family.
A hot August day, Madison is flooding and these two get married on a rooftop. Izzy and Ben live in Chicago but picked Madison as the place to get married because this is where they met - their friends and family all traveled in from all over the country to witness these two get hitched, for Ben to take Izzy’s last name and to dance the freaking night away on the rooftop of the art museum. I love my job, I love these two and I’m so grateful Izzy and Ben hired me to be apart of this epic gathering.
4 weeks before Kaylee and Nate’s wedding and they got a call from their wedding venue saying they could no longer host their wedding - that is stressful, yes, maybe even a bit of a nightmare for most, but it all worked out, a wonderful venue happened to have this one date open Bowery Barn - a new and beautiful space. Kaylee and Nate planned a new wedding in just 4 weeks, they exchanged their vows, made everyone cry, had the perfect weather and an epic dance party. When I showed up to start photographing, everything was so calm, everyone was just hanging out and that really was how the whole day felt - not a stress in the world, just two people with their people hanging out and exchanging vows. It was perfect.
