urban exploring- a port huron senior session

Every great session forms from a story. It's how your session is built.
Except this one. This one starts out with a quick phone call and the rest is history.
Meet John, the typical guy who is forced in to this Senior Picture business by his mom. Never mind the fact John looks like he’s about to walk off and start his Calvin Klein career any day now, he just wasn’t interested.

So mom calls me and says no need to meet to chat, I trust you, he’ll probably let us do 2 outfits, that’s it, let’s do this as soon as possible, I'll wait to hear from you on location.
So I have no story to go off of, and my creativity sprouts from stories, until I hear- ok, thanks, see you soon, oh, and by the way, my son and his friends like to explore abandoned buildings.
And THAT is where this session finally starts.

NONE of us want to go and do something we’re not in to, so it’s my top priority to make sure this session it’s laid back, it’s fun, it’s cool, and it speaks to him. 

So abandoned buildings speaks to him… hmm… ok. Well, I’ve also spent some time in some pretty sketchy places, so I felt like I could understand that language.

I decided to take them here- an over grown railroad track that curves between 2 abandoned buildings on the back side of downtown that comes complete with weird doors that lead to god only knows where and even weirder noises that make you question why you’re there, and still not leaving.
We had a blast. I don't know if mom ever stopped smiling as she watched her son take his first steps in to adulthood, and me and my assistant couldn't get enough of their laid back personalities while we took a session with hardly no planning and watched it grow in to such an awesome collection. Every turn brought something new, a new color, a new backdrop, new light, and new reasons for us to still not understand why this guy looking like a model didn’t want to do this in the first place! 

See his final story as a high school senior here :

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Check out our Full Senior Gallery!

If you like this edgy urban look check out Nik's Senior Session!

For more senior guy fashion check out Troy's Senior Shoot!

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Vintage Glam Barn Wedding

   This wedding is way back from 2012. Way back then, I didn’t even have a blog, so it really didn’t get the beautiful coverage it deserved, so I’m breathing new life into it and re-telling the story for all of you. Plus it’s one of our most popular weddings we’ve ever done. SO many brides have came to us saying, “Oh yeah, you shot Steven and Caitlyn’s wedding, I loved their photos.” So now you can see what all the buzz is about.
   I can see why so many people fell in love with this wedding. It was gorgeous. All the details were planned out perfectly. It had just the right amount of country, rustic, vintage, and glam all rolled in to one.
   There were handmade bottles of wine, custom beer mugs, sparkly lights, burlap, and love, so so so much love in the air.
   It was a HOT June day and their church was tiny! But the whole family and very close friends packed in for an intimate and emotional ceremony. Right afterwards Dad had lined up for a bucket truck to come for me to hop into, lift myself up, and photograph EVERYONE in a HUGE heart about 40 feet below. I hate the word epic, but… that’s pretty epic.
   We took the whole bridal party over to Goodells Park and grabbed some shots just as the sun was coming down. Again, perfection.
   The reception was just as emotional and over flowing with love as the ceremony, from the speeches, to the first dances. The rest of the night stayed warm, and things got pretty sweaty. We spared you those images. haha But what we did show you looks straight out of the pages of a magazine. 

Port Huron , Michigan Wedding Photographer

Floating through the Veil- An Endless Performance

The stage was lit and the crowd was quiet. 
She sat watching them, taking in the silence. 

Her red dress freshly washed from the performance before. 
Her hair let down and her bare feet on the floor.

Her talent was enough but her beauty was greater. 
She was a burning star, but she wouldn't realize until later.

Later did come, yet time no longer passed.
She stayed in that theatre now reciting the past.

No tickets were purchased and the front door was locked. 
The dust sat beautifully on top of what others had forgot. 

She floated above the scuffed and tattered floor. 
Her dress never dirty, her burning, no more.

Days were nights and nights were days.
Her piano rotted on top of the stage.

Now her skin was washing thin.
Transparent was her beauty.
Either this was her chance
Or a pure game of cruelty.

Days had been years and years had been days.
But today the sun was actually burning through the haze.

Oh to return for one more night! 
Just to touch the keys and caress the light. 

She called out with hope, raspy was her voice.
She began to levitate as if by choice.

Colors began to rush back in. 
Her star back to burning, the show to begin.

And there she saw it, her piano, her friend. 
Where she could play for one more night, while the veil was thin again.

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Behind the Scenes:
I've never done levitation photography before, so that was the driving force behind this shoot. 
We were lucky enough to be able to shoot in the second and third floor of the Old Town Hall Winery in Lexington, Michigan.
It wasn't until I entered the space that I switched my thinking from a glamorous "floating" shoot to a haunted levitation shoot. 

It's told the Winery is said to be haunted, really haunted, by adults and children. Even tv crews have came to check the place out and left because it was that haunted.
Not sure where I stand on this... I can at least say I was happy to be photographing there in the daylight.

We did have a few happenings with lights and our fog machine, and our model, with no clue how it happened, did look down to see her big toe cut and bleeding. She later lost her toenail, so, take that how you wish (extra props to her for working through the shoot the WHOLE time like that!). Maybe the ghosts were not happy with our presence, or we just had bad luck. 

As gloomy as the day looks here we shot this in August (I think) on what had to be the HOTTEST day of the year. Only a few minutes in and we were literally stripping off our clothes and shoes to continue working. Not to mention what we hauled up 2 flights of tall stairs:
fog machine, a gallon of fog juice, loaded camera backpack, loaded trolly with light stands, lights, reflector, extra fabric, cords, battery pack, and god only knows what else. Oh, and a ladder. A 6 ft tall metal ladder. Oh, and a small, heavy ass trampoline we found in the garbage a week before. Call us crazy, but... Ok, no, no excuses, we're crazy.  

After 3 hours I got what I wanted and we hauled all of our stuff back out and celebrated with lunch and a cold beer. 

When editing, this effect is created by layering images, removing unneeded things, adding in shadows, and a lot of blending. 
Here's a look at what an image looks like BEFORE and AFTER I mess with it. 

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Check out the full beauty gallery here!

If you have a thing for hauntingly beautiful girls in red dresses (or black dresses!) I suggest you click those links! 

And if you're in to Dark Beauty see what we shot in the woods at dusk!

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Photographing my Grandfather as he truly is

I want to share with you what I think, to date, may be my favorite image I have EVER taken. Let me tell you why. 

Last Sunday my husband and I had to do a commercial shoot for a rope manufacturer. We decided my grandparent's wide spread sycamore would be perfect for the job so we headed out to their place. 
We set up our ropes and got up in the tree. About 20 minutes in to the process I see my grandpa walking down the driveway and I gave him a wave. 
We continued to move around and shoot. A few minutes later I look down and I see this- my grandpa lounging under a large pine tree, in the middle of all the dried needles that had fallen, hands behind his head, watching us. I immediately stopped working and moved the camera to him and took a couple of frames.
I've never been able to capture my grandpa in his true element before. He takes horrible pictures. His grin is always ridiculous and we always laugh about it. 
But he's truly one of the most amazing men I know. 
To start, he's 87 years old. 
87 years old and still walking outside on a brisk day to lay under a tree. 
I really don't feel like I need to say much more. 
We got home and I browsed through everything I got that day. 
Out of all the shots we planned, swinging from branches at great heights, images that would make us money and get us published, none of them compared to the one I got of my grandpa. I saw it and was instantly filled with joy and pride. 
That awesome man, looking like a total bad ass in the photo was my grandpa, and I now had a moment that I could look at forever that truly reflected him and his whole life in one photo.