Megan and Devon - Planterra Conservatory Wedding Photos

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Megan and Devon are people who make your day better just by being a part of it, and their wedding very much reflected that.

Funny enough, when we all first met, Devon was an actor for a commercial I was directing with Elemental Media, and Megan came with him to set. We wasted absolutely no time making Megan an extra in the ad, which led to her commercial debut, and a fun story that Devon loves to tell.
When the time came for them to find a wedding photographer, I was thrilled to pieces to hear from them again! I already knew how much fun they are to have on camera, and I was absolutely sure this was going to be an amazing day.
Spoiler alert: I was right.

They had friends and family travel from all over to celebrate their love in one of my favorite venues to date. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many candles, and everywhere you looked was greenery to make you forget the ice storm brewing outside in the Michigan winter. It was so clear how adored they are, and just when you think it couldn’t get any better, the dance floor exploded with some of the most dedicated party energy I’ve ever seen.

Congratulations Megan and Devon, you deserve every second of happiness life gives you!

Venue, florals, catering, decor: Planterra Conservatory
Live Band: Jackamo


Jaci and Nick - Kalamazoo Engagement Photos at Home

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Okay, this one is special for me for a few reasons.
Jaci and Nick have been together since high school, and have seen, accepted, and loved all of the different versions of each other that have come since they first met.
In addition, they are actual family to me through a series of relationships and marriages, and there’s certainly a connection you get from sharing a cabin away from phone service on a vacation that doesn’t simply go away.

They used winter as the perfect excuse to document the first home they own together, and wove pieces of their story throughout the shoot. Their fur babies, playing games together, and even the classic date night at home (which is never complete without a bottle of wine, and vinyl to dance to).

Alongside the digital photos, I shot some Kodak Gold film, which leans into the nostalgic and sentimental vibes, and I was pretty stoked with how they turned out.

Congrats Jaci and Nick, I can’t wait for even more joy, and even more film on your wedding day!

Michelle and Joey - Kalamazoo engagement photos

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Michelle and Joey are the kind of people you want to hang out with the moment you meet them. They are unapologetically themselves with great taste in style, home decor, and pets. In addition, they’re both in med school, and are absolutely going to change a whole lot of lives for the better.

Their wedding may still a few years away, but they wasted no time in scheduling engagement photos to celebrate this new milestone in their relationship. The photo must haves:
1. The fur babies in the comfort of their home
2. Their favorite spot on WMU campus where they shared their first kiss, and even their proposal. I mean, how cute is that?

We started at home where I fed the cats an equivalent of about a month’s worth of treats, and then headed out for a snowy adventure around Heritage Hall to finish up the January engagement session. These two are absolute sweethearts, and I’m sure there are so many beautiful memories to come for them.

Congratulations Michelle and Joey!

Autumn and Alec - The Millhaven Wedding Photos

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If I had to choose only one word to describe Autumn and Alec’s wedding, it would be joyful. They are both kind, passionate people who just attract friends and loved ones who share that energy.
The first time I photographed Alec, it was as the head chef of a new restaurant in downtown Kalamazoo, and part of their marketing efforts meant documenting his sabrage (ie. opening a bottle of champagne with a knife, and I died of exposure to coolness). When I heard these two were doing a sabrage + champagne tower instead of a cake cutting, I knew Autumn matched, and then increased the amount of cool perfectly.

The whole day was full of smiles, and although it was my first time photographing there, I can’t recommend the Millhaven enough. Loads of amazing details and photo spots, and the staff is the sweetest.

Congratulations Autumn and Alec, I hope every day is just as joyful as this one!


Venue - The Millhaven
Catering - Millennium Catering and Events
Floral - Viavi Floral Design
DJ - Luxx Entertainment Dj Mike Holiday
Dress - The Wedding Shoppe
Hair - Lauren Suzanne Salon

Lauren - Kalamazoo studio portraits

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I always find myself craving creative work to help make the Michigan winters seem a little more bearable, and a little more … short. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of cold weather activities to be enjoyed, but for me, they are drastically overshadowed by the lack of sunshine and drivable roads. Paired with the overwhelming amount of brown and beige, I look for color in photos where I can.
When Lauren reached out to me, we went back and forth on portrait themes until we landed on this moody and colorful concept.
She does her own hair and makeup, and she put together this sweet look to complement a lot of experimental photo techniques, and I had the best time working with her on these (We even snuck a film soup by Dubblefilm shot in here).

Thanks for making the season a lot more joyful Lauren!

Erin and Athens - Sundance Secret Garden Wedding Photos

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I’ve been pretty excited to share a full blog from this ultimately colorful wedding, and today seemed like the perfect opportunity to spread some Love.

A few things that I adored about Erin and Athen’s big day that were sweet, and unique:

1. They had a list of VIP guests as opposed to a traditional wedding party. Everyone got to choose a cool outfit, and we took a singular group photo which left plenty of time for partying.
2. They hired THE Dj Myint (If you know, you know.)
3. They decided to both change their last name, giving them the opportunity choose one that really meant something to the both of them. The announcement was a surprise during the reception, revealing that they had hidden it in decor and teased it all over the wedding. That Name? LOVE.
I died.

The day was genuinely all smiles. These two are the best people, and they attract the best people, and I left absolutely grinning from ear to ear.

Congratulations Erin and Athens!

Esther - Personal branding portraits

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What makes personal branding sessions different than a traditional headshot?
Great question, I’m so glad you asked.

The short answer is that it’s more. It’s more personality, more lifestyle, more of what you do, and less of just you standing in front of a paper backdrop.
Esther for example (great name by the way) reached out to me for a personal branding session because she was starting off on a new chapter of her professional life, and wanted visual assets to represent and support that. She needed something that was the perfect balance of approachable, authoritative and badass, and she absolutely nailed it.

Anyone with an online presence can benefit from personal branding, whether they’re an entrepreneur, leadership figure, or just want to be more intentional social media.

I hope Esther being a boss makes your day a little better!

Haily and Sean - The Union at Railside wedding photos

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With active work always taking priority, I haven’t been blogging nearly as much as I’d like from finished portrait sessions, and especially wedding days. Lately, I've felt motivated to revisit and share some of the past weddings that absolutely deserve to be appreciated, so buckle up for more throwback days filled with gorgeousness and inspiration.

So with that, another one from the archives, here’s Haily and Sean’s colorful day at The Union at Railside!
They added personal touches to everything, which I love, and the team at Alder Hair studio killed it as they always do. It was a great day.

Ariana and Chris - Grand Rapids Engagement Photos

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Ariana and Chris are absolutely effortless to be around, and it makes perfect sense that these two wonderful people ended up together.
We started the engagement session in the backyard of Ariana’s parents, and I can’t believe people get to live with daily sunsets like this. After a lot of genuine laughter and these two looking like movie stars, we moved on to the Ada covered bridge where we ended the day.
They are some of the kindest, most thoughtful humans ever, and I can already tell their wedding is going to be full of people celebrating who they are as individuals as well as a power couple.

Congratulations, and I can’t wait for the big day!

Matthew and Sam - Anniversary photo session at Al Sabo

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I’m a huge believer in documenting milestones in your life, and that goes so far beyond the traditional graduation, engagement, and weddings.
Photos can help preserve memories, and make new ones, and that’s exactly what Matthew and Sam did to celebrate their anniversary this year.
We met up at Al Sabo land preserve in Kalamazoo for the most perfect golden hour we could have hoped for, and adventured around the trails while they told me more about their story. They are genuine sweethearts, and I’m so honored they let me be even a small piece of how they celebrated their time together.

From the archive: Casie and Matt - Blue Dress Barn wedding

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The crazy thing about wedding season is it’s just that: a little crazy. There’s a lot of photographing, backing up files, editing, answering emails, and delivering galleries.

I love it. I definitely feed off the momentum, but it means that I prioritize doing the immediate tasks, and have to decide what can wait until a little later. Blogging has become the thing that I know will still be there, and because of that, I haven’t yet gotten to share some of my favorite weddings, portraits, and couple’s sessions even dating back a year or two!
Well, the time has come, and I’m excited to start rolling out a little bit of past work from the archives that still deserves it’s spot on the website, starting with Casie and Matt’s gorgeous Blue Dress Barn wedding from 2021 in Benton Harbor, MI.

Enjoy the summer vibes and the lovebirds being gorgeous.

Dani and Zach - Grand Rapids engagement photos

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March in Michigan means never really knowing which season we’re going to experience on any given day. As Dani and Zach’s engagement session date approached, a flash blizzard decided we would be working with winter, and they both rose to the challenge.
Location one looks like it could have been a nature preserve, but it’s actually the land where their home together will be built. It’s so cool to me that they’ll be able to look back at their engagement photos and see how different the property is through the years, and that’s a huge reason why I love including personal aspects into the portraits.

Location two was a bonus for me as someone who lives off coffee as my number one source of fuel. We ventured to Lantern Coffee in downtown Grand Rapids for a latte break from the cold, and then wrapped up at my favorite GR parking garage for some golden hour magic.

Spring is almost here, but I didn’t at all mind one final winter session. Congratulations you two!

Bri - Yellow color theory editorial portraits

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If you live in Michigan, you know how precious the first few sunny days of spring are. We wanted to represent the mood of that first time you’re able to roll down your car windows and soak in the 50 degree sunshine, the smell of grass instead of salted roads, and the new forsythia blooms that are a sure indicator that the winter finally gone.

Bri put together the perfect look to suit the new spring mood, and it’s tempting me to turn in by all-black wardrobe for….. colors?

Enjoy the sunshine pretty people!

Alex and Nick - Kalamazoo moody engagement photos

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Alex: "We already had traditional engagement photos taken when I proposed"

Me: "Okay cool, how about we do ultra-moody UN-traditional engagement photos then?"

I’m a huge fan of alternative engagement portraits, and Alex and Nick were absolutely up for the challenge. I completely embraced the opportunity to go full “fine art” mode, and sent them a mood board with style inspiration in preparation. When going for a more monochromatic look, I want a simple, usually urban, location that doesn’t have a lot of color naturally. A parking garage is one of my favorite go-to spots for this reason, but this time around, I wanted something new with lots of leading lines, and this set of bleachers completely spoke to me.

The weather may have felt super inhospitable when the shoot day arrived, but they came prepared with all the moody layers to fight even the coldest winter day. This was also the perfect trial run for their January wedding photos (Pocket warmers are key), so win-win all around.

Thanks for being rockstars with hearts of gold you incredible humans!

Kelsey - Rosé styled portraits

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Have you ever been presented with a bottle of Pino Grigio so vibey it prompts an entire styled portrait session?
Same. That’s how we began looking for the perfect summer evening to bring out the wine and Trader Joe’s flower stems, and get shooting.
Kelsey was my model, and the original plan was to photograph primarily in her boyfriend’s beautifully restored vintage boat. In classic “best-laid-plans” fashion however, upon arrival to the location, we found the boat launch area of the lake was covered completely in a thick mysterious layer of green goo (??). We’re all used to being flexible at this point, and we made it work with the props we brought in the sunniest spot we could find, and I will admit the photos still make me want to pour a glass whenever I see them.

Rosé picnic season is right around the corner, but in the meantime, hopefully these photos get you through the last of winter!

Olivia and Garrett - Al Sabo engagement photos

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Olivia and Garrett’s engagement session had all the necessities (specifically flowers and wine). They were already so sweet and natural in front of the camera, but it is definitely a portrait session pro-tip to have a sip of something before, or during your session to loosen nerves and just generally make photos more of a complete activity, or maybe even a date night.
It was a fairly hot Michigan fall evening when we adventured around Al Sabo preserve looking for the best photo and picnic locations, and we were certainly not disappointed.

Congratulations you two!