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.

Natalie's Senior Portraits in Lincoln, Nebraska - Class of 2011!

Natalie was a lucky girl: she got two photo shoots! Actually, the first time we went out, a storm rolled in and ruined the light after about 30 minutes. So we decided to call it a night and go out again later.  Natalie was so much fun to work with!  Her plan after graduation is to open a kids' bookstore! Isn't that cool? And just check out how photogenic she is!  It's impossible for my to choose my top favorite, sohow about 18 of them? :) Both times we visited East Campus in Lincoln. This is the first time I've done photos there, and I realized it's pretty much a hotspot for portraits. I saw at least 5 other photogs there on our two trips.

Vacation Photos from the Pacific Northwest

Whoo-hoo! We are so glad to be home after such a whirlwind trip! 11 days, 8 states, four national parks, one smelly cooler, and 4,250 miles, to be exact.

Photographically speaking, I was SO VERY GLAD for my circular polarizer on this trip! It is the one little gadget I've come to absolutely depend on for outdoor shooting (and even some indoor).  It's a little piece of magic that makes the clouds look 3-D, the grass look greener, and lets you look into water instead of seeing a reflection.  If you don't have one, they aren't super expensive but can really add a lot.

With so many landscapes on bright sunny days, I also felt very badly the need for a graduated neutral-density filter. The top part of the GND filter is dark, and the bottom is clear, with a very graduated level of darkness.  Very often when shooting landscapes, I just have to either underexpose the land or blow out the sky, or try to get something in-between. I don't do much landscape stuff around here and never thought to get that filter before I left. It was pretty tricky business without it.


But anyways...here are a few of the photos I took!  You can see some other ones on my personal blog, Moore Than Fine. 

The famous Tetons.

Here's Old Faithful. I loved how the clouds, far up in the sky, seemed to mirror the mist coming deep out of the earth.

Michala's Senior Portraits in Lincoln, Nebraska - Class of 2011!

Some people feel uncomfortable in front of a camera, and their personalities fizzle away when I need them the most. Other peoples' personalities naturally come out in front of a camera. Michala was definitely the natural sort! She posed herself almost intuitively, and clearly enjoyed being in front of the lens. You can really tell through the photos that she loved the shoot. As a result, her fun, sassy, and unafraid personality came through!  Which, of course, makes for a really fun and smooth session.