Julia's Photo Blog

In the spirit of the season, and perhaps to help chase away any post-Christmas blues… here is a little sweet Noelle… guaranteed to make you smile. :)  Noelle is absolutely one of my favorite kiddos- I first photographed her newborn session just after Christmas last year, and she may actually get cuter each time I see her.  She has these huge, beautiful, heart-melting brown eyes that make me think her parents (or at least her dad) may never be able to say no to her when she gets older. And she is the most expressive little girl- I LOVE all the cute faces she makes!  I probably could have posted any picture from her 9 month session with her parents- they are ALL adorable… but here are some of my favorites.  Enjoy! :)

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!  To help get everybody in the Christmas spirit-I just wanted to post a few quick images from my Christmasy session with Buster and Rocky, two adorable bulldogs who were very good sports getting their pictures taken.  I’m pretty sure they made Santa’s “Nice” list this year.  I hope all of you did too!!! :) 

When I first met with Kristin and her mother to discuss their wedding photography, I knew right away I was going to love working with this couple.  These ladies were gushing with excitement, and they came to meet me knowing that I was the photographer for them!  So I was very excited to finally get to meet James for their engagement session in downtown St. Louis. We met up at the Old Court House, walked around the Arch Grounds, and finally made our way down to the riverfront for some lovely pictures at dusk (the muddy Mississippi actually looks kind of pretty in the right light- gotta love the golden hour! :).  I had a great time working with these two- they were playful and cute and a lot of fun to hang out with!  Here are a few of my favorites from their session. I can’t wait for their wedding next June!

Joe & Mollie’s wedding ceremony in College Church was beautiful.  The church architecture itself is stunning, but of course the most beautiful things I witnessed that day were the emotions and joy Joe and Mollie shared with their family and friends as they said their vows and their “I Do’s” and were officially declared husband and wife!  At the end of the ceremony, I always sneak the newlyweds away for a few minutes of private alone time, just to let it sink in for them that they are finally, officially married.  Joe and Mollie’s first few minutes of marriage were undoubtedly the most powerful of the day for me, as an observer and storyteller.  Mollie started to cry as they embraced, both of them looked so overwhelmed with joy and love…. it is moments like those that truly leave me awestruck and humbled that I am given the honor of observing such personal and emotional moments in the lives of two individuals who have just come together and become a new family.

The reception at the Forest Park Visitor Center was fantastic- the decorations and food were amazing… I loved the twinkling lights hanging from the ceiling and rafters- they made the perfect backdrop for dancing pictures!  The toasts were funny and heartfelt, the cake by Sugaree Baking Company was gorgeous, and everyone had a blast dancing late into the night!  Congratulations and thank you once again to Joe and Mollie for sharing their day with me… it was truly an honor (and a lot of fun!).  Here are a few of my favorites from the second part of the day. Enjoy!

On October 22, I had the honor of being with Joe and Mollie for their wedding day.  When I arrived at The Chase Park Plaza hotel to photograph the couple as they got ready, Mollie was a picture of perfect calm. As her family and bridesmaids whirled around her, dressing, laughing, chatting, worrying about little details of the day- she laughed and joked with them, but always had a very calm, radiant, joyful peace about her.  I could tell that she was just very, very ready to marry her best friend and love.  She looked absolutely stunning in her gown, and Joe is quite the handsome guy in a tux as well- I knew from their engagement session that getting beautiful pictures of these two would come naturally- they light up around each other!  The first look was in the lobby of The Chase- both Joe and Mollie got a little emotional when they saw each other for the first time (I am pretty sure she knocked his socks off!). We took some time to do pictures in the Chase and then headed over to Forest Park for more pictures with the couple and wedding party. Finally we went to Saint Louis University campus, for their ceremony at Saint Francis Xavier College Church (in my opinion- one of the most beautiful churches in the whole city!). We had a little bit of time for a few more pictures on campus (how cute are the flower girl and ring bearer?!) before we headed to the chapel.  I loved working with the couple, their friends, and both families!  Here are some of my favorite images from the first part of the day. Enjoy!

What’s cuter than a sweet, blonde, curly headed little girl and her tiny, adorable dog? Mmm… how about TWIN sweet, blonde, curly headed little girls and their matching tiny, adorable dogs?!  Oh, and throw in a teenage brother with modely-good looks and a set of playful, affectionate parents, and you have the makings of an awesome family portrait session!  I had a great time with the Stanfill family at their fall session in Faust Park- they obviously share a lot of love and a lot of laughter between them, and a fun and happy family makes for a happy photographer! :) Plus I just loved that as a WHOLE FAMILY of St. Louis Cardinals fans, they wanted to rock out their Card’s t-shirts for some of their family portraits! :) It was a pleasure capturing some beautiful memories for the Stanfills… here are a few of my favorites from their session!

When most engaged couples come to talk to me about their wedding photography for the first time, I know that more often than not they are talking to a few other photographers as well, wanting to make sure they get the right fit for them in terms of artistic style, personality, and the kind of coverage and album they are wanting.  I think choosing a wedding photographer is one of the most important decisions you make while planning your wedding (aside from choosing your bride or groom, of course;), so I absolutely understand that couples want to do their research, and I’m always thrilled to be given the honor of being with them to document their special day.  That said, I LOVE when couples come to me knowing that I am the photographer that they want, because that means that of the many photographer’s websites they looked at, my work spoke to them the most.  Basically, I’m just extra especially excited to work with couples who are extra excited to work with me!  But when Austin called me several months ago, said hello, asked if I had their wedding date available, and then immediately asked how they could book me for their date with no other questions asked, I almost felt like I had to say, “Whoa, wait, don’t you want to meet with me or ask me some other questions first?” So we did meet, and I’m happy to say that after visiting with this couple a little bit, we totally hit it off!  

Austin is a photographer himself (although he now works for Apple), and a graduate of Brooks Institute of Photography (a very well known and respected photography school in California), so I was very flattered that he was drawn to my work, and we got to chat a little bit about photography.  I also really appreciate that Megan is an outreach coordinator at the Alzheimer’s Association of St. Louis, since my grandmother suffered from Alzheimer’s, and I understand the importance of the work that they do! We connected on a few other levels as well, like the fact that they got a Star Trek reference that I made (and somehow I knew that they would!), and they are very much pet-people, so I was happy they brought their dog, Suki, along to the engagement session!  We did the session in historic St. Charles, and I had a great time walking around with them, getting to know them a little bit better, and of course taking some pictures of them together in all of their cuteness. :)  Here are a few of my favorites from the session. I can’t wait to be with them for their 6/2/2012 wedding!

I have a confession to make, and I’m trusting that my readers will be forgiving….  I sometimes “facebook stalk” my clients.  Now before you go thinking that is creepy, I will tell you that I have a very good reason for it!  First of all, I like being facebook friends with my clients because it gives me a chance to get to know them a little bit and for them to know me a little bit. Especially for wedding clients, I think this is very cool, because on their wedding day I have a little bit better of an idea of who they are as a couple, which makes it easier for me to capture the story of their day in a way that is uniquely, truly, “them.”  But when I say I facebook stalk them, what I really mean is that before a portrait session or wedding, I will sometimes take a minute to look through some of their past profile pictures on facebook. People choose profile pictures of themselves based on how they think they look their best- smiling, laughing, serious, shot from a certain angle…. you get it. And people really do have “best sides” as the old saying goes, so it helps me to go into the shoot with a little better idea of the most flattering way to photograph someone.  My reason for confessing this online stalking is this: when I went to look at Mike’s facebook profile pictures before shooting his engagement session, I was struck immediately by the fact that every single profile picture dating back to January of 2009 was of Mike and Becky together. Not only were none of the pictures of Mike by himself, but there wasn’t a single picture that had anyone in it but Mike and Becky.  I kind of love this little tidbit about Mike… because what it really said to me, looking at his whole album full of couple profile pictures, is that Mike sees Becky as an inseparable part of who he is and who he wants the world to see him as…. like these two come as a package deal- they travel together and go to events together and play and goof off and are silly together, and they are best friends as well as being crazy in love, and he wants to make sure everyone knows that.  And I think that is pretty cute. :)  

So my session with these two lovebirds was great- we went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens and had a beautiful, sunshiney day and lovely fall leaves.  Then we headed to The Grove (my neighborhood, between Forest Park and Tower Grove park) for a few shots in a different setting.  Mike and Becky were cute and playful and a lot of fun, and I think we got a ton of great images! Here are a few of my favorites (I’m hoping one of them makes the cut for Mike’s next profile picture…. we will see. :)