Maggie and Tom

I am excited to show you a few highlights from Maggie and Tom's engagement session from a week or two ago! If you were at a wedding I photographed last summer, there is a good chance you saw Maggie with me as my wedding assistant. It was usually pretty entertaining watching the single guys at the weddings cast glances Maggie's way. It just so happens that she is just as sweet, talented and kind as she is beautiful! I'm sorry to inform all the single men that Maggie is now officially spoken for! :-)

I think Maggie and Tom are a perfect match...it is so much fun to see them together!

I am blessed to have known Maggie and her family for a long time. Once a week Maggie comes here after class at NWC and helps me in the studio. Through our conversations I have learned so much about Tom, but this was really the first time I had the opportunity to spend more than a few moments with him. Couldn't be more impressed! Of course it does not hurt that Tom graduated from my alma mater!


There is a part of me that wonders if spring is really ever coming this year. But I can hardly complain when I am still able to take such fun winter pictures this late in the year!

Maggie and Tom....thanks for spending a little time here with me....I can't wait for July 3!!!

Jill and Chad....engaged!

Recently I had the chance to get together with Jill and Chad for some engagement portraits. The forecast was for rain, but thankfully it was dry!

Jill and Chad's wedding will feature the color black and so we wanted to use the black and white damask backdrop for a few shots. I just LOVE the dress that Jill has on here!

Chad is an outdoorsy guy who loves fishing. We went to a local pond to get these next outdoorsy shots. Engagement shoots are a great time to capture images in a more remote location that you would not have time to access on your wedding day.


On the way back to my place we stopped here for a bit of a different look.

We shot in our pasture area....I love the yellow /flowers weeds that are blooming right now!

I will leave you with this image...isn't the ring gorgeous? I love the smell of these blooms too. These bushes are already bloomed out now...I can't believe how fast summer is going already!

Jill and Chad...I am sure this summer will fly for you as you prepare for the wedding in September! I can't wait! :-)

Once upon a cold and rainy afternoon...

...Joe and Katie came in for their engagement session. As you can see, the rain did not stop us from getting some really fun images outside!

Katie...

Joe...

Pretty sure this is my favorite engagement ring shot ever!



And I thought I would leave you with this shot....a little more post processing than I am used to...but I thought it fit this image well!

Joe and Katie...thanks for being good sports in the rain! I am looking forward to your Aug 8 wedding!

Kristine and Travis...engaged!

Kristine....

...and Travis!

Together!

At the last minute, these guys came down from Sioux Falls a night early for their session, as the forecast was for rain the following day. It was a beautiful night...no wind! I really had a difficult time narrowing down favorites from this session...I love the couple's clothing choice and also how the green grass is trying to peek through the brown!



Thanks, Kristine and Travis...I am looking forward to your wedding this summer!

Nickie and Dan...and Buddy!

I recently had the enjoyable job of shooting some engagement pictures for Nickie and Dan, whose wedding I get to photograph on June 13. Dan's lab Buddy came along just for fun!

In order to get Buddy to look at me, I was holding his favorite toy, a big red rubber ball type thing. :-) This was yet another one of the many times that I am thankful one can only see who was in FRONT of the lens, and not crazy ME, in this case waving a red ball thing and yelling "buddy.......buuuuuuuddy......BUDDY!" while balancing my camera BEHIND the lens!




My favorite image from the session:

Thanks for the great session, Nickie and Dan!

Natalie and Trevor...engaged!

Here are some favorites from my session with this super fun couple.






Natalie and Trevor...thanks for being troopers in the cold and windy weather! I am looking forward to your July 17 wedding!

Eric and Karissa got engaged...

...at a charming old abandoned church near Rock Rapids. Friends of the couple own the land this church sits on, and they kindly agreed to come out and turn the heat on for us as we took some engagement pictures on a chilly but bright and beautiful day a few weeks ago.

We had some gorgeous light and some really neat old wooden seating, and a couple in love. What more could I ask for? :-)

There was a little aqua/green painted room off to the side of the sanctuary area...

Karissa plugged in the organ and started playing!


Eric and Karissa: I am looking forward to your May 2 wedding...all the best to you in these final weeks of preparations!

Alycia and Trent

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet Alycia and Trent for the first time at their engagement session. We met up at a local coffee shop...

After chatting a bit, we went on a little walk through downtown. We found this fun old orange seating unit-kind of retro and fun!

If I had to describe this couple in one word, it would be "happy." The way that they look at each each other just makes me smile! You can tell these two truly love being together...very sweet!

My next photo op with this couple will be MUCH busier. They have told me there will be TWELVE flowergirls at their September wedding!!! That will be a first for me, and I cannot wait! :-) I am sure all those little girls will max out my cute-o-meter! Another reason I am excited about this wedding is that Alycia happens to be a niece of the BEST wedding floral designer in the area-Marilyn Dekkers. Marilyn never disappoints, and I can't wait to see what she and Alycia dream up!

Alycia and Trent, I really enjoyed meeting you and getting to know you!

Kaitlyn and Dan...

...have some of the most contagious smiles I have ever seen! They plan to be married in December, and had their engagement session one day before leaving on a summer adventure working at Taryall River Ranch in Colorado. The family that owns the ranch is from Orange City!

Won't she make a beautiful bride? Love that red hair!



This last one is probably my favorite of the day...

To Dan and Kaitlyn: Thanks for the fun session and for smiling through the rain! Have fun the rest of your summer!!