Julia's Photo Blog

When the temps start dropping outside, I know I’m about to get a little less busy with photo sessions.  The fact is, a lot of people don’t like the idea of an outdoor photo shoot if they are going to be cold or have to bundle up.  I don’t do as many sessions in the winter months, but I have found that my winter sessions are often some of my favorites, especially with couples.  As I joked with John and Jessica at the beginning of their chilly, windy session… they had a very good excuse to cuddle up!  The Shaw Nature Reserve was a perfect place for this session- the tall grasses blowing softly in the wind, the quiet stillness of nature accepting that winter had arrived… it made for a very romantic setting! Jessica and John were fantastic to work with… the perfect combination of goofy playfulness, affection, and tenderness.  Yes, I was quite convinced that they like each other. :)  I loved the props they brought along… nothing says “snuggle up together”  quite like a big plaid blanket, and the sign they made with their wedding date was so cute! We even got their cute pup, Denver, into a few shots (she was SOOO excited to be outside, but very well behaved!).  I loved so many pictures from this session, it was hard to narrow it down for the blog- but here are some of my faves! Enjoy!

On December 4, the world said hello to baby Blake for the first time!  And I think this little guy is going to have a good sense of humor just by how he timed his arrival… his parents were at a Christmas party dressed as an elf (dad) and Santa (mom). They had just left the party when Santa went into labor!  While the sitcom-worthy mental picture of a man-sized elf rushing his laboring wife in a Santa Suit into the hospital is just TOO FUNNY FOR WORDS, in my opinion, dad did insist on stopping off at home on the way for a change of clothes. I guess he didn’t want to stand around in tights and pointy shoes all night (I jest… I don’t know for sure what the costume looked like. Still… funny mental picture. :)  Anyway… I had an awesome time with Blake’s parents for their maternity session, so I was super excited to meet the little guy, and he was just too precious for words! We had an amazing first photo session with him, and as always with a newborn session, I am beyond humbled at being given the honor of capturing the first beautiful portraits of a precious new life!  Here are a few of my favorites. Welcome to the world, baby Blake!

It’s not uncommon for a person to show up to an engagement session just a little bit nervous about having their picture taken.  I do everything I can to help them to relax and to make the session not just painless… but easy and fun!  I KNOW, however, that I don’t have any words or phrases or games or other tricks up my sleeve that will help the nervous person to relax and enjoy themselves more than the person who makes them feel the most comfortable and happy… their fiance!  So the first thing I always do is to ask them to help their partner to have fun and to enjoy each other.  This is the best trick I know to get natural smiles and laughter!  Tracy is an absolutely beautiful girl, but she confessed upon arriving that she really doesn’t like having her picture taken (you are preaching to the choir, sister! Why do you think I like staying behind the camera? :).  So I gave my usual, encouraging talk and Jon jumped into the role immediately, making jokes and hugging on her, and after 10 minutes or so you would never have guessed that she’d been nervous at all, and you CERTAINLY wouldn’t be able to understand why she wouldn’t like having her picture taken!  Nothing looks better on someone in pictures than being in love… so I think this is a pretty good looking pair, don’t you think?  :) I had a fantastic time working with them and getting to know them a little bit better, and I can not WAIT for their wedding in March!  Here are a few of my faves from their session. Enjoy!

I’m not so much of a morning person, but I didn’t mind waking up early for Bethany and David’s engagement session in Tower Grove park in November…. the colorful fall leaves in the park were AMAZING, so I was excited for the session anyway, PLUS it was actually my first time getting to meet this cute pair in person, even though they had already booked me to photograph their May 2012 wedding.  Bethany and David met and started dating in St. Louis, but Bethany currently lives in Chicago and David currently lives in Indiana. So not only are they planning their wedding from out of state, but they are also having to date long distance for their entire engagement (bummer!), and I do mean ENTIRE engagement… the long distance won’t end until their actual wedding day, when they will finally be able to live in the same place! My session with them was a lot of fun because they were a little extra lovey dovey and cute and excited to be together, since they were visiting their old stomping grounds AND getting to be together for a nice visit!  I can’t wait to be with them for their wedding day and help them to celebrate the end of long distance and the start of their lives together! Here are a few of my favorites from their session. Enjoy!

I said awhile back that I was going to start posting the teaser photos that I put up on facebook between blog posts on here also, but I haven’t been keeping up with it. Maybe that can be my New Year’s resolution!  In any case, here are a handful of the teasers that already hit my facebook page.  Look for the full blog posts soon!

Kirsten & Brandon endeared themselves to me quite a bit during their engagement session in Forest Park.  These high school sweethearts have been together for quite a long time, but you wouldn’t know it by watching them giggle and laugh together and gaze lovingly at each other as if their love is brand new. You might suspect it when you notice the deeper level of comfort between them, like when Brandon teases Kirsten that her hair is like Hermione Granger’s (Harry Potter Reference) and she acts just slightly offended and pouty while he laughs and kisses her and tells her he is kidding and she quickly forgives him and laughs along… like a comfortable dance that they know the steps to.  The word cute comes to mind quite a bit with this pair, which is why I loved the description of their proposal, which involved a picnic in Forest Park on Art Hill and Brandon finally popping the question. I asked Kirsten if she suspected that she would be proposed to that day (what with the romantic planned-out picnic and all), and she said no she didn’t, because really that is something Brandon would do any day (Brandon chimed in, “I’m cute like that.” :).  

So the couple was cute and fun and very easy to photograph since they were just very naturally affectionate and happy together.  I would have come away from their engagement session liking them quite a bit and excited to photograph their wedding no matter what.  So really it was just major BONUS points when Brandon, a police officer, noticed from the top of Art Hill (which is a VERY big hill for people not from St. Louis) that a cop car was pulled up next to my car at the bottom of the hill.  ”Is that your car?” he asked. It was, but I told him I couldn’t imagine why I would be getting a ticket- on wedding days the cars, limos, and buses, line both sides of that street bumper to bumper while wedding parties get their pictures done.  He insisted, “I’ll just go check,” and actually ran all the way down to the bottom of the hill. He was gone for a few minutes before running back up and telling me that the officer WAS, in fact, writing me a ticket (so I guess parking there on a weekday is bad… who knew?), but that he talked him out of it.  Yay!  Well that’s a nice perk to having a police officer as a client (guess he’s just cool and helpful like that :).  In any case- these two quickly earned a spot among my favorite couples… so I hope you enjoy their session as much as I did!