When I arrived at this wedding it was like walking into DIY heaven - from hand painted signs to help their guests find the ceremony spot to a beautiful arch built by the brides father. Kayla and Tanner had the perfect day and I was so happy to be apart of it.   

I met up with Ashley and Josh last Tuesday at the little market in the Willy St. neighborhood to do some shopping followed by a session at Tenney Park. It was really great to spend some time with these two and hear about how they met, what they do and more about their wedding day.

I woke up the morning of the 22nd to the sound of rain, and it rained until 12 and then became a perfect day for a wedding (90 was a bit hot, but we survived). I have always wanted to document a wedding at the Pres House, and I was so excited when I found out that was where these lovely two were getting married - a beautiful couple, wonderful friends and families and amazing Madison venues - all in all, it was a great day.

Summer time become my busiest time of year and it is hard to stop working when your work is always on your mind. With this year being a bit more packed than normal with my trip to Ethiopia in the middle of the wedding season, I have a lot to finish and a lot to plan all before July 9th. The terrace has become my place to relax by the lake, sip a beer and listen to my friends play beautiful music. Last week at Dietrich Gosser's show, this beautiful boy had his Mother make him a jet pack - oh to be young again, how I long for the days where summer vacation existed and all you did was play with your friends and go to the pool to get summer blonde hair and have your skin smell like chlorine, always.

A beautiful wedding at 11am, followed by a delicious lunch and an afternoon dance party, finishing up on a boat for a 2nd dance party. A day that started out raining, ending in a beautiful sunny day. It was a wonderful day filled with many people who have traveled far to celebrate with these two, I had my dear friend Abi of AKPhotography come from Missoula to help me document this day.

A few weeks ago I got together with my friends Jessica and Joseph to meet their daughter Dee Dee and catch up. I've Known Jessica and Joseph since the first week I moved to Madison, they both lived in my neighborhood and we would spend many late nights on the porch listening to records that would end in a dance party. I remember when Joey proposed, I remember their lovely wedding day and now, years later they have a little girl that I get spend time with and document her life .

It is one thing getting asked to document a couple's wedding being the beginning a friendship, it is quite different when you document a couple who you have known from the beginning, lived with for 3 years and help pick out the engagement ring and also wedding dress - being there from the beginning and then seeing my best friend who also happens to be my boyfriend marry them in front of the closest of family and friends - oh man, if I could relive that day, I would in a heartbeat. A day truly about the vows being exchanged, about the couple's journey and how this is only the beginning of a wonderful life together - as Luke put it so perfectly in the ceremony "…we bring together two travelers, two people equally at home in Madison, Mexico, or the back country of Colorado.  Equally at home alone in a cabin or tent as they are when surrounded by friends at their dinner table; a place that has seen its share of gatherings. They are two travelers, but they are travelers with a deep sense of family, of community, of generosity, and of home." I feel so blessed to have these to beautiful people in my life, enjoy the images from their wedding celebration:

Last Monday I got together with Mike and Kate who live in Philadelphia but were in Wisconsin just for a few days to get some wedding planning done. We met in Milwaukee in the Third Ward and finished our shoot in the fog by the lake, it was quite magical. These two are lovely and were so much fun to work with, they truly are best friends and I can't wait for their wedding next May.

Madison, Wi is where I decided to live, and I couldn't be more happy with my city, my job and my community. I sit drinking my Monday morning coffee and reflect on my weekend of photo shoots and the community I surround myself with and I feel truly blessed. One of the biggest reasons why I love what I do is the variety of work that I can do with my collection of cameras- one day I do a fashion shoot, the next day I am documenting two of my best friends getting married  to a Sunday with a family at the park, catching up and documenting their ridiculously cute child. Here are a few photographs from those three shoots: black & white look book - Styled by the lovely Char

Katie and Maia got married this weekend, a small backyard wedding with a guest list of 17 - service was done by my wonderful boyfriend followed by an amazing dinner and bonfire:

Jessica and Joseph were my neighbors back in my college days- we would spend many late nights on the porch listening to records that would end in a dance party, I remember when joey proposed, i remember their lovely wedding day and now, years later they have a little girl that I get spend time with and document her life .

I had the opportunity to go to Phoenix, Arizona to shoot Katie and Ben's wedding at the Botanical Gardens- it was a perfect day, even if the high was 108. I love when I get the chance to travel with weddings, to get out of the midwest and to photograph in a different landscape, it is inspiring and it is why I love my job so much. These two had a perfect day, filled with family and friends and love, we had a wonderful time exploring the gardens for photographs.

My friend Shannon asked to do a session with her and her friend Chris - they both teach private music lessons and at times play shows together.

After 13 years of dating, Sam and Dallas celebrated their love on May 25th with a big party with all of their friends and family. It was such a beautiful day, and I was happy to share it with them.

Monday marked 35 years of marriage for my wonderful Parents and I happened to be in my hometown that day and they agreed to do a little shoot with me. My Parents and I just walked down to the park near their home called Alicia Park which was a gift to the city of Appleton from Alexander Reid in memory of his wife, Alice Conkey Reid back in 1910. A beautiful park and a perfect place to document two people as so in love.

It is finally sleeping outside weather, so Luke and I packed up the Station Wagon and headed West to Wyalusing State Park for a weekend outdoors. It was my last weekend before my life becomes filled with weddings and portrait sessions, so one weekend where I replaced my computer with a book to sit still for 2 days. Camping calms me and slows me down- in order to get a coffee, I don't have the luxury of walking down the block to get one, instead we build a fire, heat the water and pour it over the grounds. Luke and I made all of our meals on the fire, we spent the afternoon hiking to caves and to a beautiful view of the Mississippi River meeting the Wisconsin River.

I have been photographing the Johnson family images for the last 3 years and I am so happy that they are having a baby girl come July. I am so eager to meet her and to document her childhood, here is a collection from our shoot last week.

San Francisco is a magical place, I recently went there for a visit and a few projects and it was hard to come back here. I had a very lovely trip, and saw many wonderful people, I can't wait until I get back out there. Here is a collection of image from when I wasn't doing projects:

Before today I only had a few conversations with these two and I managed to cry about 5 times throughout their wedding day. I can't describe to you how beautiful this day was and in so many ways- to start, everyone looked so beautiful, these two are ridiculously cute and they manage to have really attractive family and friends. The community that these two have is so genuine, their love for each other is so evident, their friendship is so true. Every bit of this day was perfect, to the cute little chapel they got married in, to the song Cait recorded for their first dance. These two are new owners of a coffee shop and music venue on Monroe St. called Crescendo, and you should all check it out.

I decided I should follow the photographer blog trend a dedicate a post to my favorite Instagram images. I am so grateful for my life, I love the people I spend my days with and I love the work that I do. Instagram allows me to quickly document my day to day, something that I find is very important - I love being able to follow my friends all over this world to stay in touch with them visually - here is a collection of my beautiful life through the filters of instagram:

While I was in San Francisco I was asked to go to Edna Brewer Middle School and take photographs of the wonderful after school programs. My dear friend Meg works here so it was so nice to see what she does everyday and to get a change to meet this kids that she works with. I have never seen an after school program quite like this one, there was skateboarding, arts and crafts, hip hop dance class and a place to get homework done. It was by far my favorite project I did while I was there, it was such a great way to spend an afternoon and the kids were wonderful to hang out with.