Heins Wedding - Quad Cities Photographer

Wow. It's been just over a month since I photographed this gorgeous couple's wedding day! I just completed editing all of their images!

I have said it several times, I am NOT a wedding photographer. However, I am so happy that I agreed to photograph Jake and Jessie's wedding...so so happy!

There is so much I could say about this gorgeous couple. They are as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside and truly, they were so much fun to photograph! They had a gorgeous wedding party...like the most gorgeous one I have ever seen. They were layed back and fun...all of them.

It was such an honor that they trusted me to capture their big day.

I mean, c'mon! How beautiful can 2 people be?!?!!!

The rings placed on Jessie's purse which was made from her grandmother's wedding dress...

The "first look"...I totally cried the whole time. Not the most professional thing in the world, but this is a prime example of why I don't do weddings! :)

And just because you're getting married doesn't mean you shouldn't represent, right?!
See, my kinda couple! :)

The Recker Family...

The Heins Family...

The groom and his beautiful sisters...

The bride and her beautiful neices...

And then I cried during the entire ceremony. I am not even kidding...

The church was breathtaking...

First kiss as husband and wife!

Hitched!!!

After the wedding, I met the wedding party in downtown Dubuque for some more pictures...well, after I got lost for about 15 minutes and had to call the groom for directions. Yup, not my finest moment.

But honestly, this group of people was a BLAST!

How cute are they?!!!

This was not staged...I swear. Jessie accidentally lost her shoe while walking and Jake had to put it back on!

And then the whole "team" had a meeting of the minds before entering the reception. Lots of important stuff to discuss I'm sure!

Then it was a party the rest of the night (not before I sobbed during the toasts though!).

The cake was adorable!

There was lots of dancing to be done and a bouquet and garter to be tossed...

The day was unbelievable and magical and so special!
Not sure what the future holds for me in regards to photographing a wedding again, but I am so glad I did this one! I certainly am not a wedding photographer, but if all weddings (and wedding parties, brides, grooms and families) were like this one, I definitely would be!!!

Congratulations Jake and Jessie and best wishes for a happy life together!

Genuine - Quad Cities Family Photographer

I was trying to think of a word for this family.

Fun

Gorgeous

Inspiring

Kind

Welcoming

Yup, all of those were good, but not the word I was looking for.

Genuine.

That's it.

Each and every one of the members of this family are genuine. They are who they are (which is amazing by the way!) and they don't put on a show. It was so much fun spending some time with them!

Genuinely Fun

Genuinely Gorgeous

Genuinely Inspiring

Genuinely Kind

Genuintely Welcoming

I have known this family for years. They are related to 2 dear friends of mine who I've known for close to 20 years. I remember when their oldest child was born...she's now 13! Yikes!

Can someone please tell me how one can birth 4 gorgeous kids, keep an amazing home, work a full time job and still have time to look this incredible?!?!?!!!

Anyone? Anyone?

Ya, I don't know how she does it either!

Lessons please, Angie!!!

Let's start with the 2 middle children.

Boys.

I love photographing boys...maybe it's because I have a boy, or because it's a challenge and oh so satisflying when I get a genuine smile out of them. Not sure what it is, but these boys were fun to photograph!

Douglas and Drake...adorable brothers and honestly, they were uber cooperative!

I have to include my Mommy Love shot of Angie with her youngest, her little angel Alayna...

There just aren't enough words to write what an amazing miracle this child is. She has blessed her family incredibly and she is blessed to have her incredible family!

And I was blessed to be able to photograph this beauty!

And the oldest, Lexi.

She is a stunner if I've ever seen one! She was truly so sweet and fun to photograph and c'mon, how could the camera NOT love her! Gorgeous...unbelievably gorgeous!

And it's no wonder these kids are so amazing and so beautiful!

They come from beautiful stock...inside and out!

And I must say, I am fairly in love with this next shot. Super candid, super beautiful, super fun!


Genuine.

What a blessing it is to have had the opportunity to meet ALL of the members of this family finally!

Thank you Dana, Angie, Lexi, Drake, Douglas and Alayna for welcoming me into your home and onto your beautiful property to capture your family.

I cannot think of a better way to have ended my 2011 season of photoshoots!!!

Perfect Conditions - Quad Cities Family Photographer

I will never forget my session with this beautiful family.

It will be the session I remember as having the "perfect conditions"...oh, and the amazing family too! :)

The morning of this shoot last week was yucky...the forecast called for rain. I was worried. I thought for sure we were going to have to cancel. Not minutes after I pulled up to our location, the sun peaked out and this gorgeous family stepped out of their car. The temps were mid 60's, there was no wind and the fall colors were at their peak! Seriously, PERFECT conditions! I like cloudy days for photoshoots...no harsh shadows to worry about. The second I lifted my camera for the first shot of this family, a big cloud covered the sun and never left. It was wonderful!

And this family was pretty wonderful too!

Ahhhh, I love fall photoshoots!

This beauty was uber cooperative. :) She was very concerned about getting back to school to eat from the chocolate fountain. I get it Katelyn, I would have been concerned about that too! :)

And this stunning little dude just turned 1! He was a JOY to photograph!

Well, they all were...

Thank you guys for spending some time with me and being the perfect family to shoot on such a perfect day!

adorable boys - Quad Cities Children Photographer

I have the pleasure of knowing the lovely family that these 3 handsome men belong to. I've taken their photos 3 times now and these 3 are so much fun every time! Not only are they gorgeous, but they all 3 have such great personalities...all different from each other, but all adorable!

And whatever it takes for a group picture. Even if that means eating a leaf...whatever. :) Their mom was not in the slightest concerned with the leaf consumption little Quinn had. My kind of Mommy!

We added in Quinn's 1 year photos while we were at it...

And Cooper's 3 year photos...

When you have a busy brood of boys, you gotta multi task, right? So why not take some of the eldest, Gavin while we were at it! :)

And with another leaf in hand for dessert, I managed to even get a few shots where all 3 brothers were smiling!

It's always a blast to photograph this family!

Thanks again guys!!!

(Check out my 1st shoot with these boys HERE, and my 2nd shoot with them HERE.)

Christ Family - Quad Cities Family Photographer

Just as I was driving to this photoshoot with my heat blasting in my car and the wind whipping my little car all over the road, it started to sprinkle. Oh no...this was going to be an interesting photoshoot! I had never met this family, didn't know what to expect and was crossing my fingers that this family would be cooperative so that we could get all the shots I wanted in a short period of time. There was no way they were going to want to be out in the brisk weather for too long and I was afraid of the possibility that a storm was blowing in.

This was quite possibly the quickest photoshoot I have ever done. And seriously, I had JUST as many adorable images to sift through when all was said and done as I would have with my typical hour long session. So needless to say, this family was AMAZING!

Look at their beauty...and would you have even guessed that it was freezing and super windy and on the verge of raining?! Well it was...

I loved my time with these two girlies. They were a total blast...workin' it for the camera like I pray most kiddos will!

I couldn't stop snapping pictures and eventually just let them go crazy doing whatever they wanted!

Yup, they delivered... :)

However, their energy and wildness were quickly toned down when it needed to be...

A perfect mix I'd say of wild and crazy fun along with poised and natural.

Thank you, Christ Family...I had so much fun, I completely forgot about the brisk conditions!

Inspiring - Quad City Family Photographer

It's hard to know where to begin with this family.

Sometimes there are just families who are inspiring to me when I photograph them. I have been blessed to photograph many families like that. This family had me snapping pictures like crazy. However, the beauty of this family runs deep. They are inspiring in so many more ways than just photographically.

I am blessed to call these people friends.

And just when this family couldn't have possibly gotten more beautiful, they welcomed their gorgeous daughter into their family less than a year ago. Does she not just fit in perfectly?!

And the grafitti...wow, what a perfect find! I mean, it was as though I snuck to this wall before their shoot and spray painted these words onto the wall just for them. I promise, I didn't. :)

I am in love with the love that is pouring out of this picture...

And the children that this gorgeous couple is raising are such amazing kids! Wow...I need parenting lessons from these two for sure!

Oliver

This handsome little man is one smart cookie! He couldn't have been more cooperative and fun to photograph.

Elihu

And this adorable guy is the most even keeled 4 year old I have ever met. He just never gets worked up about anything! Pretty much the opposite of my little man, but yet a friendship between these two just works. Opposites attract maybe? :)

Sintayehu

And this stunner. Wow...her beauty is incredible. She is one of the spunkiest little girls I've ever met. She is one tough little girl. I don't believe she has any fear at all. I love it...she can make me laugh like no other year and a half year old. What a blessing to this family she is and what a blessing this family is to her!

I am pretty much in love with this image...

It was a blast being able to work with this family. They allowed me the freedom to photograph them however I wanted and were unbelievably cooperative and willing to do whatever I asked of them.

To know this family is such a blessing. They would literally give the shirts off of their back to anyone. They make me want to be better. And I'm not sure they really know how incredible they are.

And if there were more people like this family, the world would be a much better place.

Thank you Jake, Leslie, Oliver, Elihu and Sintayehu! I hope you know how inspiring you are to so many people! To say that it was a joy to photograph you would be an understatement and to say that you have blessed my life just being in it would be an even bigger understatement.