Introducing The Covenant Sessions
Love grows. Love changes. Love is easy. Love is hard. Love is worth it.
A little over nine years ago, Mindy and I made a promise. This promise was made between the two of us, but also between us and God. Even more than a promise, it was a covenant; a sacred bond that cannot be broken. It goes far deeper than the feelings we have for each other, which ebb and flow with the daily current of life. We made a commitment to stay with, support, and love each other through thick and thin, every day from here on out.
We take this commitment seriously, and believe this covenant is meant to be celebrated. Not just ours, but every marriage covenant. Committing yourself to one other person for the rest of your life is hard, but oh man, is it good. Celebrate your marriage. Show it off to the world. Cling to your spouse, make your relationship your priority. If you have kids, teach them how to love by showing them how you love. Give the world a reason to be hopeful.
We're excited to announce The Covenant Sessions, new series we're launching this year, to coincide with our TEN year anniversary. We'll be offering sessions on select dates, in select cities around the country throughout the year. This is where we'll be, and when:
The Covenant Sessions are our way of celebrating the marriage relationship that we value so much. We believe the stories of couples who are in it for the long haul are beautiful, and that they're worth sharing. Couples have photos taken to celebrate their engagement, and everyone has photos taken to remember their wedding, but too often people forget to give their relationship the credit deserves after the honeymoon is over and the real work begins. We love highlighting these milestones, and we think life after the wedding deserves it's own place in the spotlight.
Shoot us an email for more information about booking a session on one of these dates. Availability is extremely limited.
Hannah + Seth // Maternity
There's something beautiful and amazing about a growing little life inside of you. I really enjoyed my pregnancy and sometimes even miss it (not planning on having any more for a while though!). I think that's what gets me excited about maternity shoots. I had the pleasure of capturing Hannah in her pregnancy beauty (isn't she cute?!) along with her husband Seth. Hannah is the sister of one of our recent brides, Becky. We spent the evening on Hannah's parents farm in New Carlisle, OH. It's such a beautiful place to shoot and turning into a favorite of ours. We shot Becky & Jesse's engagement photos on the farm as well. The farm has such charm and rusticness, not to mention 2 of the coolest old trucks! Congrats Hannah & Seth!! I cannot wait for Naomi's arrival! She is one lucky gal with one amazing family!
Ashley + Bryan // Cincinnati Engagement Photography
Today's Friday, which means we're on the road to vacation! We're headed to the Outer Banks in North Carolina for a week, but we've got a few posts in the queue to keep you entertained. Meet Ashley + Bryan. They set up a darling little picnic at the spot where they got engaged in Devou Park in Covington, KY. I love these guys because they're so easy to talk to, I feel like we just get along. In fact, we ended our session with me telling Bryan that I was confident he could change the oil in his car himself, and I gave him a step by step walk through. Yes, believe it or not, even though I'm an artist and like to be creative, I actually do all of the work on my own car. I'm a man, man.
Anyway, back to the point. We really enjoyed spending some time getting to know Ashley + Bryan, and we can't wait for their wedding this December at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati. You have NO idea how excited we are for that.
Kelli + Brian // Columbus Engagement Photography
Kelli + Brian are awesome. Downtown Columbus is awesome. Winning combination? I think so. Kelli has this sweet smile that shows up when she looks at Brian, and it was clear how much she adores him. As my friend Holly would say, these two have "the Love." Stay tuned for their wedding in October.
Molly + Nick // New Philadelphia Wedding (Part II)
Click here or scroll down for Part One. Last week Mindy brought you Part One of Molly + Nick's wedding. Now it's my turn. I wish I could've brought this to you a little sooner, but it's been insane around here lately. Prime wedding season, engagement sessions, and vacation coming up... it's been nuts. All good things, because it means we're busy, but I can say for sure that we cannot wait for our trip to the Outer Banks this coming weekend.
Where do I even start with Molly + Nick? Well, how about at the beginning... Molly heard about us from a friend of hers who had gotten married last fall. The best part is that her friend didn't even have us as her photographers. We were already booked when she asked us, so we had to refer her to some of our friends. Despite that, she sent Molly our way, and thus began the long journey of booking these guys. Let's just say that Molly is picky. Like, REALLY picky. And she asked us about anything and everything except maybe our social security numbers. Some people might think this was annoying, but it was quite the opposite. You see, I could tell Molly knew what she wanted, and that she wasn't going to settle for second best. We went back and forth, and in the end she agreed that we were the right fit for them, but I think there was still some hesitation somewhere.
And that lasted until we did their engagement session. We've talked a lot on here lately about our process. We like to meet couples up front, and we include an engagement session with every wedding. I know I've said it before, but we have a purpose behind almost everything we do, and Molly was a perfect example of the trust that we build with our couples at the engagement session. She was so thrilled with her photos, and sent me a million emails about how thankful she was and how she couldn't believe she ever had second thoughts, and how we were "the real deal."
So you can imagine, that come the wedding day, her and Nick were both so excited. They had planned this day for so long, and on top of all of the details, they had photographers they could trust and that they felt totally comfortable with. We worked very closely with Molly to develop a great schedule, which gave us plenty of time to get some really stunning photos. (Also, I can't forget to mention that Molly ended up taking my advice and had Brett and Drew from Timeless Pictures come to do their wedding video. Those guys are brilliant, and we really feed off of their energy and creativity)
Alright, on to what you've been waiting for. I'm so happy with these, but I have to admit, I think Mindy might have given me a lesson this round, her pictures are absolutely amazing. You'll probably notice pretty quickly that Mindy spends time with the ladies while they get ready, and that frees me up to go spend some time with the guys. In this case, a quick round of golf!
This could be one of my favorite frames ever. The guys were all set up in this crazy football formation, and they said, "let's pose like we're chasing Nick with the ball." We tried it, and it just looked lame. So I said, "Why do you guys go back there about 100 feet and actually chase him?" Boom.
Loving the lines on this garage door!
After the ceremony we headed over the to reception hall, which was ridiculously amazing, but we had to sneak out and grab some shots before the sun set. Mindy said it perfectly, these guys just fell into place. None of these shots were posed, what you're seeing here is real, natural love. And they have it by the truckload.
Okay, I lied. This next shot was kind of posed. Brett (one of the videographers) asked Molly to run into Nick's arms and spin around. That was all he said, and they ended up doing this. It's also my favorite frame of the day.
Yes, the groomsmen picked Molly up and were throwing her in the air. Priceless!
And finally...
Molly + Nick // New Philadelphia, Ohio // June 25, 2011
Flowers: Forget Me Knot
Dress: Dreams to Realities Bridal
Suits: Robert's Mens Shop
Cake: Litty's Cakes & Cookies (Best cake of the year so far!)
Ceremony: First Baptist Church of New Philadelphia
Reception: Kent State University Performing Arts Center
Caterer: Trax Diner
Videographers: Timeless Pictures
And I have to throw one more shout out to our friends Brett and Drew from Timeless Pictures. These guys are so awesome to work with, and their wedding films are first class all the way. Keep an eye on this post, I'll be linking their video here once they have it finished!
Erin + Brad // Dayton Engagement Photography
We love shooing in Troy, it’s just far enough outside of the city that it has that historic small town feel, but it’s close enough that it’s not a pain to drive there. It also happens to be about halfway between Dayton and Maria Stein, which is where Erin grew up. Her and Brad live in Washington DC, but they were in town visiting and finishing up some of their wedding planning, so we took the opportunity to do their engagement session. Keep an eye out for their wedding in September!
