Julia's Photo Blog

At just seven days old, this cute little one was surprisingly awake for the first part of her session, but once she drifted off into sleep she was the most adorable sleeping beauty imaginable. There is something so special about photographing a newborn session.  It is a huge honor being chosen as the person that will document this precious and fleeting stage in the life of a baby and a family…. curled up little body, tiny little fingers and toes, and (when they aren’t sleeping), eyes wide with wonder at every sight and sound.  I always feel like a newborn session is really like a celebration welcoming the baby to the world….. Callie Mae… meet The World! World… meet Callie Mae!!!   

A few weeks back I was very excited to do engagement pictures for one of my fall 2012 wedding couples, Stephanie and CJ. Since CJ lives out of town, it was actually my first time getting to meet him and see this adorable couple together! Not only are they a gorgeous and very fashionable couple, but they were also super cute in their interactions with each other… since they have been dating for quite a long time, they had the most beautiful, cozy, comfortable, but still cute and lovey-dovey way of interacting… it was a lot of fun photographing them together!  We did this session at Tower Grove park, right in the perfect sweet spot of evening light, and we got a lot of beautiful images!  Here are a few of my favorites! Enjoy!

When last we left Jen and Dave, they had been happily declared husband and wife, and we had several hours of time for pictures at the Missouri Botanical Gardens and Forest Park. Next came the part everyone (including me!) was really excited about… the City Museum! Jen and Dave had their reception in the Vault Room of the City Museum, so named because of the HUGE old bank vault door that serves as a dramatic entrance into the room.  Before the festivities really began, however, we had to make time to do the thing that everyone really goes to the City Museum to do…. play! The WHOLE wedding party went up onto the roof, and with the large size of the group, FILLED the ferris wheel, which made for some of my favorite shots of the day!  Afterwards, everyone had a little more time to goof around on the slides, climbing towers, etc., and I had a little bit of extra time to do pictures with the couple around the museum. Then it was time to for the party to get started!  It was a great night with excellent food, great music, and tons of laughter and dancing.  Having had the chance to get to know Jen and Dave a little bit over the last year, their laid back, fun, and genuinely sweet personalities were reflected in all of the friends and family who had come to celebrate their special day with them.  I really loved every minute of this wedding day, so once again I had a hard time limiting down the images for the blog post. But here are some of my favorites! Congratulations once again to the newlyweds!

On September 24, I had the great pleasure of being with Jen and Dave on their wedding day.  I love Jen and Dave- they are super cute together, they are a lot of fun, and they told me from the beginning that their photography was one of the absolute most important things for them while planning their wedding! This meant that they were game to drive a long distance for something unique for engagement photos (and we had such an awesome session!- Check it out here!). This also meant that they gave me plenty of time, even a leisurely amount of time, for pictures on their big day, which is a total luxury for a wedding photographer! :)  It also translated into my longest wedding day of the year (14 hours!), but since I was having so much fun with them, it just flew by!  I started out the day with Jen and her girls at Identity Salon for their hair and makeup. Favorite part of the morning: all the funny dirty looks the flower girl kept shooting me when she saw me taking her picture!  Then we headed to the Missouri Botanical Gardens, where the girls got dressed and the guys congregated before their ceremony in the Lehmann Rose Garden, which was in full bloom!  The temperatures were perfect, the sky was gorgeous, and the ceremony was touching and beautiful.  After the ceremony we walked around the gardens for some pictures before heading over to Forest Park for some more pictures and then finally going on to the City Museum for some more pictures (really fun ones!) and the reception.  Since it was a long day it was super hard to limit the pictures down for the blog post, but here are some of my faves from the first part of the day! Enjoy (and Jen and Dave…. thank you for all the picture time!)!

The ring bearer clearly had no respect for the fact that I was trying to photograph the bride’s dress.  But that’s okay… how many bride’s have dress shots like these? :)

Maybe the cutest ring bearer moment EVER. :)

So last spring I had one of my favorite maternity sessions ever with Donielle and Brad. I was sooo excited to finally meet their bundle of joy for his three month pictures!  Mason is ADORABLE, not that I expected anything less after working with his adorable parents. He has the brightest blue eyes, the cutest little grin, and a natural little mohawk that was totally precious!  We had our session at the family’s house, where he would be the most comfortable, and his mom was super prepared with cute little outfits and props… she told me she even practiced helping him to “stand” (or at least lean) against a little ottoman for brief periods. I have NEVER had a baby so young able to do that. Doesn’t it make him look like an 8 month old at least? :) Anyway- it was an absolute pleasure working with this cute little guy and his parents, and I can’t wait until the next time I get to see him! :) Here are a few of my favorites from our session. Enjoy!

After sharing a beautiful morning with Julie and Kevin- the anticipation of getting ready, the excitement and emotion of the first look, and the fun of picture time at Lafayette Square Park both as a couple and with their wedding party, we headed to St. Ambrose on The Hill for their ceremony.  The ceremony was really lovely- it is such a beautiful church, and you could feel that everyone in the room shared in the love and happiness of the couple.  After the ceremony it was time to head to the party at Rose of the Hill!  The reception was beautiful- the cake by Missouri Baking Company had gorgeous detail, the heartfelt toasts had me both laughing and crying (yes, I actually teared up during the maid of honor’s toast!), dinner was served family style to the tables, and then the dancing went late into the night, with everyone having a great time!  Thank you again to Julie, Kevin, and their families for having me be a part of their special day- and congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Milford!

On September 16, I had the great pleasure of being a part of the day that Julie and Kevin, one of the cutest couples ever, became Mr. and Mrs. Milford!  I say they are one of the cutest couples ever because while both of them are cute/good looking/photogenic by themselves, they seriously become like four times as cute/good looking/photogenic when they are together! They light up in each other’s presence and just radiate in-loveness (which I declare to be a word because I needed it as an adjective to describe Julie and Kevin).  After getting dressed in separate houses (Julie at her parents house and Kevin at the new house they bought together), we met up for an intimate “first look,” where the Kevin got to see his beautiful bride for the first time with just the two of them present (plus two photographers who just stood back and let them have their moment).  They couldn’t stop hugging and kissing and smiling, so the moment kind of stretched into maybe like 5 minutes of them being adorable before they looked up and remembered we were there!  After that we rejoined the rest of the wedding party and headed over to Lafayette Square Park where we had a lot of fun capturing some beautiful portraits of the couple and wedding party.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the first part of the day- Enjoy!