Tara & Brian – University Circle Engagement
For some crazy reason, we volunteered to host Thanksgiving for the first time at our house this year. While I certainly love having family around, I needed to get out of the house by Sunday. Thankfully, I had something fun to look forward to. Tara and Brian were in town to visit with family and we decided to schedule their engagement session as well. Their dog joined in, which is always something I welcome. Tara and Brian didn’t have a special location in mind, so we chose some beautiful favorites of mine. Step inside to see their amazing dog and some photographic favorites.
Stephanie & Ben – Music Lovers Engagement
I think it was very clear to Stephanie what she wanted to do for her engagement session. While Stephanie and Ben got engaged at the Cleveland Zoo, she wanted to incorporate something much more important for their engagement session. I was not surprised either. From the get-go, we shared a mutual love for music. Whenever we chat, we end up exchanging our current music notes. Stephanie and Ben introduced me to The Dawes and Head and the Heart. I made sure they knew about Iron & Wine. Step inside for a music lovers engagement session around various Cleveland neighborhoods.
Molly & Zac – Summer Simplicity
An engagement session that feels simple is usually a great one. Working with Molly & Zac felt very simple and comfortable from the beginning. I consider all of my clients to be friends, and this was especially so for Molly & Zac. Prior to working with them, I already considered Molly’s family to be personal friends, but that’s a story for another day. Step inside to see how a simple session can be the best session.
Elise- High School Senior Portraits Around Lakewood
I focus on weddings around the Cleveland area almost exclusively. However, I’ve spread out a little lately to take on some high school senior portraits for students around Lakewood and Rocky River. The sessions are a welcome change from weddings. Instead of working hard for one client over months and photographing large groups of people, senior portrait sessions offer a completely different approach. I love working with a single student for a few hours at a time. The concentration on just one person can have magical results. So I was happy to take on another senior portrait session when Elise and her mother, Mary, contacted me. Step inside for a look at how a great session turns out.
Elise – Real Film vs. VSCO Film
So a simple question – which one of the two presented photos is real film? As many of you may know from my prior post, I happen to shoot both film and digital. I have also been playing around with VSCO Film lately, a new preset package designed to make digital photos mirror their film counterpart. I’m definitely not a fan of preset packages because the results can often times look unnatural. However, the idea behind VSCO Film seemed to be entirely different. Step inside to see a comparison between VSCO Film and the real deal.
Lender Family – A Sweet Summer Sunset Session
When Paul contacted me about photographing his family, I not only jumped at the opportunity, but I was also sincerely touched. Paul is a professional photographer as well, and quite accomplished. His trust in me to represent his family well means the world to me. It’s often said that good work earns the respect of [...]
Molly & Zac – Wedding of Love, Family and Seersucker
A little over five years ago, my wife and I wed and we have been blessed ever since. In large part, we owe a debt of gratitude to our dear friends Patsy and Paul, who are responsible for introducing Brooke and I. When Patsy’s little sister, Molly, called to inquire about wedding services, I jumped at the chance. I wanted to offer my gratitude to her family for the blessings they had helped bestow on my little family. In the end, working with Molly and Zac was more rewarding than I could have imagined. Step inside to see a wedding filled with love and family.
Dillard Family Lifestyle Portraits
“Have you ever heard of Jose Villa” asked Cyndi. In that moment, it felt like fireworks went off. “Absolutely” I responded, adding “Do you know Jonathan Can…” Cyndi jumped in with “Jonathan Canlas…I love him!” At this point, I knew we were going to have an amazing family lifestyle portrait session. When your clients know and respect those that influence your work, it’s just going to be a good day. We spent the rest of the evening walking around Cleveland shooting photos and talking shop. Step inside for more about this amazing family.
Jessica & Justin – Cleveland Sports Engagement
Jessica and Justin first met at work. They said their relationship was nearly unavoidable. I can certainly understand why – they make an extraordinary couple together. The locations we chose for their downtown Cleveland engagement session were also unavoidable. I asked if there were any places that are special to them, and almost in stereo, they responded with the same ideas. Jessica and Justin are both huge sports fans. In particular, they love the Cleveland Cavs and Cleveland Indians. Take a deeper look at this engagement session to see how we carefully worked Cleveland sports into the session.
Jennifer & Chris – Winter Wonderland Engagement
This must be the year for winter engagement sessions. My clients keep asking for winter scenery for their engagement photos and I am happy to help, but it’s cold outside! Well, at least I get to dress warm and spend the afternoon with some extraordinary people. For Jennifer and Chris, we had an awesome day and the sun even came out, a rarity for Cleveland. Step inside to see the best from Cleveland’s wintery wonderland.
Engagement Photos – The Very Best of 2010
WOW, what a year! 2010 went so fast I hardly had time to notice it was gone. With the new year comes a time for reflection. I regularly take time to celebrate what I have done well while planning to improve other things. This is especially true during the new year. Join me after the jump and help me celebrate some great engagement photos from 2010.
Anna & Chris – Winter Engagement in Little Italy
I’m quite a sight when bundled up for winter work. With snow boots, warm pants, fleece, ski jacket, gloves, and a wool hat (with a tassel) I look like an arctic explorer ready to take on polar bears. I do keep warm though, which is more than I can say for my clients. Anna and Chris wanted a great wintery look for their engagement photos, and we had a great plan. Due to the cold and wind, we would take a hot chocolate breaks every few minutes to warm up fingers and toes. At least, that was the plan. Step inside to see how Anna and Chris’ engagement photos in Cleveland’s Little Italy turned out.
Lindsey & Matthew – Elyria Country Club Wedding
I am still surprised by “firsts” on a pretty regular basis. Certainly, my clients keep me on my toes. With Lindsey and Matthew, you just learn to expect a lot of firsts. To say they are exciting and dynamic would be an understatement. Their wedding at Elyria Country Club was not only beautiful, but a bunch of fun thanks to a surprising couple. Step inside to learn about all the “firsts”.Speak
Holly & Brian – Mentor Lagoon engagement, deer and scallops
Photography needs to be more than digital imagery. The end product must have meaning to the viewer or the photographs will fall flat. That is why I took some time to photograph Charlie Fry (the dog) with Jackie and Scott for their engagement photos. I took similar but different steps for Holly and Brian. Step inside to see how we made their engagement photos more personal.
Cecilia & Roger – Ohio City Engagement
I knew I was going to make Cecilia and Roger’s engagement shoot different. After all, I want people to have a unique experience that is just for them. All week I had been brainstorming ideas and they were coming to me fast. We needed a mixture of styles to make this shoot stand out. In the end, I chose contrasts – natural and artificial light, posed and casual, dynamic and still. Make the jump inside to see how these contrasts balance.
Rachael & Michael’s Cleveland wedding
I finally finished editing all 569 of Rachael and Michael’s wedding photos. To this date, their wedding contains the most photos I have ever delivered. I tend to edit really tight so my clients receive only the best photographs. With Rachael and Michael’s wedding, I just couldn’t cut any more. It felt like I was choosing between my children (not that I have any, just saying). Make the jump to see a few good photos.
Preview – Rachael and Michael’s Cleveland wedding
We had a long drive home that night. Michael, my second photographer, and I were exhausted. Slowly we began to recover and started discussing the night’s events. We knew we had captured a really special wedding. It was not until later that we both realized how special it really was….
Rachael & Michael – Engagement in the Valley
I previously published a little preview of Rachael & Michael’s engagement photos. This was done because I was (A) excited, and (B) waiting for the film to get back from my lab. That’s right, we shot it all – digital, medium format film and polaroids. Inside you can see a mixture of all three formats.
Creative Wedding Photos – Polaroids
Back again with a little more of Jamie and Ethan. I mentioned before that they were dream clients. They really let me experiment in many ways to provide creative wedding photography unique for them. Given this latitude, I went all out with Polaroids.
Tattoos & Honey Bees
After discussing it for eons, the time had finally come. Going on forever, my wife had been talking about a tattoo. We bounced around ideas and she never seemed to settle solidly on anything. Then came the honey bee idea just a few months ago. She knew immediately that is was the right concept. Now, just to find a good artist in Cleveland.
Jamie & Ethan – Cleveland wedding
Have you ever had a day where everything seems to go your way? I had one not too long ago. A couple was recommended to me by a fellow photographer. So that’s good. Then the couple hired me to photograph their wedding in Cleveland. OK, getting better. Then they gave me complete creative freedom! I nearly had a creative orgasm on the spot. Read on to learn about their wedding and what I did to make it special.
Troy & Sherita – portraits at the Lakewood studio
Troy and Sherita stopped by the studio earlier today to drop off their wedding photography contract. They are getting married in October just south of Cleveland. Little did they know I had little surprise planned. The photo studio was all setup to grab a couple quick portraits of each of them. I didn’t know how they would be dressed or what kind of mood they would be in after a day of wedding planning. Needless to say, the portraits could not have gone better. They were in a fantastic mood and I was ready to roll. Here are the results.
Summer Sizzlin’
As I shoot more weddings and portraits, I am carrying my camera with me more often. And my friends are getting used to me with a camera. They have learned to just accept it and largely ignore me when I have the camera in my hand.
Maternity portraits – Jessica & Jevon
I met Jessica and Jevon through work completely separate from my wedding photography. At the time, they were not even dating. Before you knew it, they went from dating, to married to expecting.
At that point, they both wanted to capture some great photos of their little family before it grew one person larger. Since then, I am happy to report they have a healthy baby girl.