Couples Shoot with Parker and Lisa - Portrait Photography in Lincoln, Nebraska

When my brother-in-law Parker brought his girlfriend Lisa to Lincoln for a few days to Meet The Family, I jumped at the chance to take them out for a photo session with my new camera and lenses. They were kind enough to subject themselves to my whims for a couple of hours.  I was so very happy with the way these turned out. (I am loving my new glass and camera too!)

Oh...can you guess which photos were taken in a PUBLIC BATHROOM?? (Bonus points if you know where the bathroom is!)

"Preview" of the Lyon Family shoot!

I had a busy weekend last week, if you couldn't tell! The amazing weather has held out long enough to get a good number of photo shoots in.  Justin and I know Josh and Amy Lyon, and their adorable kids Max and Ruby, from the little white church we all attend.  I really had my work cut out for me, choosing photographs for this blog...it was an impossible task, because they are such a precious family, and their happiness and love really is evident in every photo. That's why it was hard to call this a "preview"...I should just link to the full gallery! (Thanks, Josh and Amy, for having me take these photos - it was a lot of fun!)

[Click on any photo to see it LARGER.]

Sneak Peek: a gorgeous engagement session with Sonny and Anika near Lincoln, Nebraska

I don't usually do these 'sneak peek' type of posts, but I'm so excited about this shoot I have to share it!

Anika and Sonny are getting married in October! They don't live in Lincoln, but she found me over the internet and asked me to shoot their engagement photos during a brief period when both she and Sonny were in town. The only time that worked for all three of us was early last Saturday morning. With the help of a coworker I found a killer photo location just for the occasion, and although we weren't out as early as sunrise, we were definitely able to take advantage of some amazing light! This is pretty much my dream shoot: a beautiful, affectionate couple who's up for anything; an obscure and gorgeous place, and the perfect time of day with magical light.

One thing I love about photography is the chance to meet new people (and engagement sessions are the best...fun, romantic, no pressure). From the interactions I had with Anika through the shoot and the weeks leading up to it, I became convinced that she and I could be great friends.  Their wedding will be full of personal, artistic touches. She's an artist too, and it shows through her great taste, and also her inspired photo ideas! We both love sunny, warm, vintage-ey photos.  She has the same Scandinavian name as several of my Swedish and Norwegian ancestors. And she has an awesome little tattoo on her ankle that reads "grace" in Hebrew (also the meaning of her name). While I don't have a tattoo, we have both been truly "saved by grace," her words during the shoot, and that might be the most beautiful connection of all.

I'll talk a little more about Sonny and Anika in a later blog.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these two photos from our magnificent shoot. Thanks so much for looking!

Mitchell & Sarah's Nebraska Prairie Wedding!

For a long time, I turned down wedding photography requests because I was completely terrified of shooting weddings. I have to credit Mitchell and Sarah, some good friends of ours, for being among first to insist that I could and should (and would) do their wedding photos. I was pretty anxious about it at first (and it really helped that there would be another photographer there), but I'm so glad they had the confidence to trust me with taking their wedding photos.  I think it was the push that helped me realize that I could really do this, and that I even really wanted to do it, and couldn't wait. So this was the second wedding I did (with Chris and Natalie's being the first). I've got four of them under my belt now, and am beginning to feel just a little bit "broken into" this whole experience.

Chris and Natalie's Outdoor Wedding in Lincoln, Nebraska

Hmmm...it's been a while since I updated. (Lamest blog intro, ever.) Really truly though, I've been busy taking pictures, reading reviews and shopping for new equipment, working on my website, trying to design some business cards, and the zillion other tasks that go along with getting a viable business set up.  It's all coming together, slowly but surely!

A little while back, I wrote about my experience shooting Chris and Natalie's wedding, and promised more photos. So here they are! These ones are some of my favorites...although there are about 500 more that I could have chosen, because there were so many fun images!

Ryan, Tina and Kolbee's Family Portraits at Holmes Lake

It's great to be able to say that I haven't had time to write on my photo blog because I've been so busy, well, being a photographer.  I've been taking photos for a church directory, trying to work with a web designer to create a website for my photos, and shuffling around a few photo shoots as well (at least trying to, because the weather has been so crummy). The one I'd like to share with you today was a lot of fun -- and exhausting!  Small children are delightful to shoot -- but they can be challenging.

engagement pictures - Joe & Dana

I took these photographs a couple of months ago, in the Haymarket and train station (where else?).  :)  I've known Dana for a long time, and more recently have gotten acquainted with Joe as we were English majors at UNL (all three of us were/are).  Dana and Joe were a lot of fun, and their photos are full of energy and movement.  The one above is my most favorite from the shoot!

Engagement Photography in Lincoln, Nebraska: Jim & Kelsey!

These are pictures of my brother and his now-wife, Jim and Kelsey. I took these shots back in March, as soon as it was (barely) warm enough to spend time outside. It was actually my first time doing engagement pictures, and looking back I wish I'd have done a lot of things differently. I didn't have a lot of creativity in the poses and prompts that I've become at least a little better at recently. Everything is a lesson, right?

The bench they're sitting on for some of the shots is the exact place they got engaged. :) It's in a park not too far from my parents' house.

Engagement Photography - me and hunky husband!

A lot has changed since I wrote my last post in May. The biggest event was definitely getting married! :) These are some of the engagement pictures we took of ourselves a few months before our wedding. It's taken me forever to put them, or anything else, up here!

This summer also brought a move into a new apartment with my husband, and my final semester of undergrad studies. I'll graduate in December with a major in English and a minor in History. Right now my world is a flurry of wifely duties (which I simply adore) and scholarly assignments (which I usually also adore, though not in the same way). On today's agenda: write a basic overview of the Great Vowel Shift. Fascinating, isn't it? For me, yes, actually. It is.

But this blog is about photography, not linguistics. I haven't done a lot of shooting on my own this summer, mostly because of the busyness of this summer (my brother got married too, just a month before mine!). I have continued to sell photography at my Etsy shop, and I was also part of the Cathedral Art Show this past month - my first art show ever! It was a success, and a lot of fun.

rachel

the sunshine falling on rachel and the piano as she practices.