Engagement | Kristin & Joe

"You know, you are going to marry her right?" his friend said to him with sparkle in her eye and a huge grin. He looked over at the girl he had brought with him to this party, chatting with his best friend, the birthday boy. Kristin laughed and tossed her strawberry blonde hair and he thought of much earlier that day, when their date had started. He had arrived at her house, a tad nervous. They had never actually met before, only chatted on the phone and talked over email. Each conversation had been so comfortable. He had enjoyed talking to her so much he didn't usually want to hang up. For a guy who didn't care much for talking on the phone, that had to mean something. He had reminded himself of this as he approached her front door. And moments later he saw that she was as wonderful in person as she had been in his head. They had gone off on a Brewery Tour, out for drinks, out for dinner, and then out for drinks again. It was clear that neither of them wanted the date to end. And now, almost 13 hours later here he stood at his best friend's birthday party, still on a date. He had planned to drop her off hours ago and come alone. But when their date kept extending itself he figured, why not really put her to the test and introduce her to friends and family. She wasn't fazed by the idea and now here they were. "Oh yeah, she is definately the one Joe. Don't you let her get away." said another friend, joining the conversation. He looked over at Kristin again, and she met his gaze and smiled. Yes, it was all over, she had won.









Kristin and Joe are another Match.com success story. He checked into the website one day, sure he had a profile on there, only to discover it had disappeared. He quickly put one up and the first response was Kristin. She had been dating a few people she met on there, but no one had stuck. Joe was the first one she let pick her up, a relinquishing of control she didn't realize the significance of at the time. Some time later, he devised a deceptively simple engagement. He knew he couldn't put anything past Kristin so one night when he was walking her to her door, he asked her to turn around, and it was right there and then on the porch that he popped the question. One of the best parts of the story, is that a man was walking his dog across the street and saw the whole thing - and started cheering. Sweet, right?

I had a fantastic time shooting with Kristin and Joe. Some shoots you just really click with a couple, and this was one of those cases.








On these two - I really can't decide which one I like better. The first one, which is more or less, right out of the camera with a little sharpening, or the more artistically edited one (second). What do you guys think?



Check out the slideshow (all you reading via blog readers, click into the real blog to see it):

Miscellaneous Monday

First and foremost, my older sister got married over the weekend. Hubby and I now have a new Brother-in-Law and three new nieces. The wedding went really well, despite a 20 minute rain shower that threatened to put a damper on our backyard festivities. I shot the wedding, and it was a real challenge trying to be a sister and also a documentarian. I was with my sister while she was getting ready and I found myself completely forgetting I had a camera in hand, I was wrapped up in being there for her instead. I'm sure there are a few missed moments b/c of that, but what are you going to do, right?

Three quick shots to share:
From the ceremony, that's our Dad officiating in the background:

Stacy & her new Hubby, Doug:

The wedding also marked the reunion of all of my sisters after five years. From left is Shelley, Stacy, Katie and Myself:


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If you know me personally, you know I've been sick for just over two weeks with a wicked cough. I have coughed so much lately that this morning when I sneezed I was taken by complete surprise by such an odd, new sensation. Late last week this mysterious cough (that responded to no prescription cough syrups) was finally diagnosed as asthma. Strange, yes. But I did start feeling better (during the day) on Saturday, and that has increased with each passing day. However, I'm still coughing for several hours at night and getting very little sleep. Ugh. I'm really hoping this gets better by this weekend - my poor assistant Jamie will not be too keen on tolerating my midnight coughing fits at our Madison wedding overnighter this weekend. That is to say nothing of poor Hubby's lack of sleep after over two weeks of this.

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Ringo's New Trick that I mentioned weeks ago: It has taken me quite awhile to get a shot of it, especially since he has kind of stopped doing it. And every shot is blurry - because well, the dog is fast, and as explained in the previous tidbit, I lately, am not so fast. So here you go:



What is the trick? Well, we have bell trained Ringo from the start - there is a bell hanging from the front door, and when he needs to go outside he rings it. Well, lately, when I don't get up right away to take him out, he starts bringing me my flip-flops. He seems to have figured out that flip-flops are part of going outside. It really is too cute, and oh so smart.

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Today is Harmony & Darin's Anniversary. I don't plan to mark every clients' anniversary, but these two get special treatment. Why? Because they were the first full-fledged clients I had officially as Mthree Studio (as in booked). So today is kind of an anniversary for me too. It is hard to believe that it has already been a year for them, and also that it has only been a year since I shot their wedding. I look back on it now, and I wish I could throw it all out and start over with they way I shot it. If you want to check it out, here is the link to a very early blog post about it: Click Here. It is kind of old school people - a post before I did slideshows or watermarks, or even knew how to host images so they could be bigger. And also a wedding shot on my old Rebel XT (small, but faithful and trusty) and maybe two lenses, no flash and all editing done painfully file-by-file in photoshop. My, how far we have come in one year! (What I thought I knew then....) Must have worked out though, I booked a good portion of the weddings I'm shooting now based on a slideshow of Harmony & Darin's.

Happy Anniversary you two!

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I have to admit, I'm dissapointed by the lack of participation in my little photographer's contest from Thursday. I know there are more of you out there - why you didn't give it a shot I won't ever know. Guess that is the end of such giveaways or contests. :0(

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I don't have much to say this week apparently. Have a great Monday!

And the Winner Is...

Thanks to the three of you who participated in the Fast Track Photographer giveaway contest. (I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty dissapointed in the number of people who gave it a shot)

Dane himself seems to have left the first comment (Hi Dane!), so comments 2, 3, and 4 were eligible. And the Random Integer Generator says the winner is:



Claire!
Here is what Claire said:



Shoot me an email Claire and I'll email you the prize collection information.
Thanks everyone for your great ideas!
Have a wonderful weekend - I'm off to shoot my sister Stacy's wedding!

A Contest...A Giveaway!

This one is for the fellow photographers out there who might read my blog.

I have a free e-copy of Dane Sander's Fast Track Photographer book to give away. The credit really goes to Dane, who gave everyone who bought his book (that would include me) two free e-copies to give away to friends. I already gave one away as a thank you to someone, but the other one is up for grabs! It is an awesome book, and should prove helpful to just about anyone out there who is looking to take their business forward.

So, here is the catch, or rather, the contest. Leave a comment by Midnight on Friday in this post. Your comment has to include an idea for what to call a "Trash the Dress" Session. This is something I've been struggling with for awhile - the phrase Trash the Dress really scares a lot of people, and the Midwest really hasn't caught on to the craze yet in general. I've tried Fearless Bride, and that works fairly well, but it really leaves the groom out. Day After session also works, but it does confuse those who think it means the shoot has to be the day after the wedding, which it doesn't. So I need a really good name for this session, and I am turning it over to you, dear readers, to help me out. Submit as many ideas/comments as you like, I'll choose the winner using a random number generator, to keep things super fair. But only comments with legitimate ideas will qualify.

Good luck!

Paging Michelle Schmidt

You sent me an inquiry from the website today and unfortunately the email address you provided keeps bouncing my response back to me. I have no other way of contacting you. Hopefully you read the blog. Please email me directly at molly(at)mthreestudio.com or call me at 262-497-7246. I do have your date available, and I would love to get you the info you requested.

Michelle mentioned in her inquiry that she found me thru a friend who I took pictures for - so if you are that former client, please help me out in finding her and getting her this message.

Thanks all!

Wedding | Dawn & Sam

Dawn and Sam had a gorgeous Sunday wedding day - blue skies, puffy clouds, golden sunshine. It was also incredibly hot. Fortunately, no one really noticed. The ceremony was held on the rooftop patio of the Silver Spring Country Club under a glowing white tent. It was a unique ceremony in that Dawn and Sam faced the guests full on for the entirety. The officiant was Judith Kubish, who did a lovely job of incorporating the couple's story into the ceremony and had the guests enraptured with a sense of reverence.












How cute is this munchkin?:




The reception was also at Silver Spring Country Club, in their banquet hall which Dawn & Sam had decorated beautifully in their colors of tiffany blue accented with bright, vibrant pinks and oranges. Oh, and the chicken at SSCC is to die for.






I couldn't choose just one first dance picture - it was too hard:






Bright and Vibrant it was:


Check out the sideshow for more images, including one of the couple who caught the garter and bouquet - Dawn's brother and his girlfriend! :

Miscellaneous Monday

I caught a piece of The Babysitter's Club Movie the other day randomly on tv. It is amazing how something like that can bring your childhood flooding back. I used to LOVE those books as a pre-teen. I would read them over and over again waiting for the next one to come out. I remember I got to around book 35 or so before I outgrew them. Each one of the girls had such distinctive personalities, and there was something I could identify within each of them. (Hmmm, the story of five enterprising young girls who start their own babysitting company? I guess it's no wonder I loved them) Seeing the movie made me sad I sold my collection in a garage sale in an act of desperate separation from childhood. I would love to still have them around for my future daughter one day. There aren't any cell phones, internet or ipods in them, but I don't think it would matter. I wonder if they are even still sold?

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Thank goodness Project Runway has returned to tv. One, because there is nothing on tv right now. Two, because I really needed this does of inspiration, creativity and entertainment. Love that show!

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I am so not ready for the back-to-school sales to begin. Summer isn't over, is it?

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Last Tuesday night I got a call from a fairly stressed bride who suddenly found herself without a photographer for her wedding on Saturday. Thanks to potential clients Adrienne and Chris who had a meeting scheduled and also to Sara & Nick who had a Day After session scheduled for moving their appointments to make room for this bride's wedding. It was a gorgeous affair with a glowing bride, a happy groom and two amazing kids. I'm so glad I got the chance to meet them and record their day, even if it was last minute. You'll see the results soon.

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Tonight I'm shooting at State Fair with the fabulous Monica. Her dad asked me to come and record a sort of "Day in the Life of Benno" there . He runs a bunch of the concessions, including the micro-brew tent. Hopefully, samples will be included in this experience...

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My sister Stacy gets married this weekend! I'm so excited for her. We had a few little bridal shower/bachelorette type of activities over the weekend, and you can see her getting so excited for the big day. I'll be shooting the wedding, which as we get closer I'm realizing will be quite a challenge to play the roles of sister, aunt, and photographer.

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Have a great Monday!

Engagement | Nancy & Eric

Nancy and Eric met at a Halloween Party thrown by mutual friends. As Eric put it, a little "Captain" courage helped these two otherwise not-so-forward individuals come together. The ease with which they navigate the space between them and the comfort they have in the other's company was so nice to watch. They don't show their romance in an outward way, they just are. We had a great time on their shoot, full of laughter, giggles and style. Mad props to Eric for showing up in suit coat and pink tie, and to Nancy for the perfectly coordinated pink polka-dot shirt supremely acccented with just the right Tiffany's jewelry. They also brought me one of their invitations - I've never seen something so elegant with such a unique color combination. Like all good invitations, it just makes me look forward to their day even more.







Marriage had been a discussion, something they talked about, planned for. The date had been set for months, venues booked and plans put into motion. She had known from the moment she had met him that here in this man was her partner. That quiet comfort, that resolve, was what they cherished. More than romantic dinners, spins around a dance floor and candlelit evenings, was this feeling of belonging, of home. And yet, here she was, braving the winds on the deck of a cruise ship, hand tightly clasped in his. This brief moment alone, away from her parents and daughter who had also come on the trip was something to cherish she thought. He led her along the deck, looking out onto the vast ocean in front of them. So much unknown, he thought, and squeezed her hand tighter. There might be a lot of undiscovered moments in front of them, but of this moment he was sure. Pulling a ring out his pocket he turned to her, smiling. She gasped, smiled broader than she ever had before and whispered "yes!" as he slipped the ring on her finger, cementing the deal.









Check out the slideshow below. (As usual, those of you tuning in via blog readers have to click into the blog itself to see the slideshows)