Well the craziest part of the wedding season has finally passed for me. I shot 9 wedding in 9 weekends and had weddings on both Friday AND Saturday last week! I really thought that it was going to kick my butt but it hasn't been bad at all. I think I even got the proofs for each wedding online within 3 days!

Friday I photographed Kelly and Andrew's wonderful wedding. These two are so fun to be around. They are super nice, too. It cracked me up because every time I fixed Kelly's dress, got her shoes, fixed her hair, or took a picture she would thank me for it, haha. She's such a sweetheart. These two make such an awesome couple. I'm really glad that they found each other and thankful that they let me capture their big day!

I don't think it is possible to fit any more bling into this shot.

Thanks, Austin, for letting us shoot in the Oneighty building!

They harvested this wheat field right after we got this shot.

The guys doing the "Reservoir Dogs" walk. Unfortunately only Austin and I have ever seen that movie, haha.

The New Hope church in Effingham is really cool. If you are looking for a young, contemporary church in Central Illinois, this is your place.

First kiss. Pastor Van's face is priceless!

Bubbles can look so cool in photographs but there always seems to be one right over somebody's face.

We got a quick jumper behind the church

It was all they could do to keep from cracking up with me under the veil with them.

Thanks to the owner of this house for letting us shoot there!

Why couldn't the farmers have waited one more day to harvest wheat?

They are so cute together.

Summer is finally here and I must say, I'm ready for fall! I can't handle this heat! Lately I've been joking that I need to hire an assistant to follow me around and fan me during sessions and weddings. Kelly suggested the little battery powered fans with the foam blades and as the temperature rises, that idea is sounding better and better, haha. This weekend I have weddings on Friday AND Saturday so wish me luck as I try to keep from having a heat stroke! I think I'll reward myself sunday by turning the air down to 65 and eating ice cream all day.

Last week I did a really fun senior shoot with Kelsey who was really an awesome model. She was so much fun to work with and her mom and sister were a hoot as well! They made the almost 2 hour drive from Paxton to have me take Kelsey's senior pictures and that really means a lot to me. Thank you guys so much for making the drive. I might be a little biased, but it was totally worth it!

Here's a quick little excerpt from the email her mom, Julie, sent me! (this is the condensed soup version)

"Holy cow Brett- youve made my life very difficult- the girls and i had such a fun time getting the pics done... you really made her work it!!!! they are amazing pics and you truly have a gift. i thank you from a mom's perspective for making this part in our lives very special!"

Here are just a few of my favorites!

This one has seemed to be everyone's favorite even though it was a pretty spontaneous moment. The photographer in me wants to apologize for the background but its all about the expression!

This was a really cool wedding for me because Ashli was like the 3rd or 4th senior I ever took pictures of! She was my first senior to ever get married. I think she deserves a trophy or something, haha.

If I had one word to describe Ashli and Colton it is the same one I would use to describe myself - goofballs! Put the three of us together and you end up with some pretty funny photos (as illustrated below :) I really had a blast with them.

These two really are made for each other and I'm so happy that they found one another! I could shoot a wedding for you guys every day!

Here is a small selection of my many, many favorites!

Ashli was looking stunning!

Crowe, Colton Crowe.

I'm sure Colton is going to be thrilled that I posted this on my facebook and on my blog but I can't help it. I thought it was funny to make him look straight up into the sun because he was squinting and he made this face. It cracks me up. Luckily he is in Napa Valley right now on his honeymoon and he can't kick my butt, haha.

Some classic "boy band" action

More bling

They both got pretty emotional at the alter. Again I'm sure he appreciates this :)

I love this shot!

I think I love this one more though!

Colton is a volunteer firefighter at the Pana Fire Dept. so the wedding party got escorted on a couple fire trucks which was pretty pimp.

Ashli is a cake decorator so obviously their cake was going to be awesome!

This cake fight was amazing. 2009 is the year of epic cake fights. I might even have to give an award to whoever "takes the cake" with the best of the year.

I told ya they were goofballs! We would have turned this bad boy on but I didn't want to be blasting oncoming traffic with a fire hose. It didn't seem safe... probably would have been worth it though!

Classic Ashli :)

Congrats guys! Hope you are having a great time on the honeymoon!

David and Stephanie are another awesome couple that I feel privileged to know and call my friends. They both have such wonderful and loving families. I had a great time hanging out with them and the wedding party too!

The wedding was at the Life Foursquare Church in Decatur and was one of the coolest churches I've been in. It even has its own coffee shop! Needless to say, it was pretty enormous. It had to be considering David and Steph had about 450 guests! I'm not sure I even know that many people :) They are a pretty popular couple though!

This wedding turned out to be a pretty big challenge for me because everything was running behind, the wind was blowing about 35 miles an hour, and the church is basically just surrounded by fields so there weren't many places to shoot. We only had about 10 minutes to take all of David and Steph's portraits together!

I'm all about overcoming the odds though and I think we got some great shots!

Getting ready in the ladies room never looked so good!

I'm not gonna lie... Stephanie was looking pretty hot!

David was lookin' pretty good too. (That sounds a little fruity for one dude to say about another dude, haha)

The ceremony was GORGEOUS!

450 guests throwing flowers... not all at once, of course.

One of the groomsmen was nowhere to be found! I'll have to photoshop him in later, haha.

Not sure where Steph found all these hotties ;)

David has A.D.D. so most of the time I just let him check out Stephanie. She is about the only thing that can hold his attention!

Congrats guys!

Lately I've had so much to blog about that I just haven't blogged anything! Well, tonight I'm going to make it up to you!

A couple weekends ago I photograph the wedding of the very amazing/kind/warm/fun Kim and Chris! These two are the very definition of kind. I always enjoy being around them and photographing them especially! (They're pretty hot too, haha)

Congratulations guys and thank you so much for letting me share your wedding day with you!

The flower girls were hilarious. The one on the left is Kim and Chris' little girl Kelsey. It was her birthday too!

Kelsey was up there with them and she blew out the unity candle. It was pretty comical.

I love crying dads! I think they hate me though for getting shots like this, haha.

Isn't she adorable?

The cake was pretty fun!

I always find myself longing to do more with photography, to push my limits, and to create something unique. As my skills behind the camera have grown, it becomes harder and harder to create an image that really blows me away but that is always what I am striving for and really, that is what makes me feel alive. Maybe that sounds cheesy, but it is true. Photography is an art that comes with many plateaus. Any artist can relate to that. You get better and better at your craft and occasionally you feel like you have peaked. I know in the short time I've been photographing, I've felt this way many times. Every time, though, there is one realization, one serendipitous mistake, or one incredible image that takes you to the next level and drives you even more. Those moments and those images are what drive me to push myself to the next level. Creating those images on a wedding day is a really big challenge (that I love) because you have time restraints, limits to how far you can drive, the places you can go that won't mess up the dress/hair/etc, and all the other little details in a wedding.

One type of photography that I have always wanted to do but never got a chance to is a trash the dress session. Brides are one of the most photogenic creatures there is, haha and definitely one of my favorite subjects. I would love to be able to photograph a bride with no time limits, no worries of the dress getting dirty (or destroyed entirely), and no limit as to where we can go. SO, I'm offering 3 FREE trash the dress sessions to ANYONE! I don't care if you don't even order a single picture. This is purely about creating art and experimenting with new ideas and techniques.

Is there really any point in having your wedding dress in a box in the attic for 50 years, never to be taken out again? Do you think your daughter really wants to wear it on her wedding day? Probably not. If you want memories of your wedding dress, take it out of the closet, call me up, and lets get crazy!

This week we did Couture Shoot number 3 with Anna and we had a blast! She is just a natural in front of the camera and I'm looking forward to taking more of her senior pictures. We tend to stick with the serious faces for these shoots because it just seems more fitting for the style but it is so hard to not bust out laughing sometimes. One of my favorite things to do is tell people to do a serious face and then intentionally try to make them laugh. It cracks me up every time!

About halfway into the shoot we drove by the water station and I had a crazy idea... The photograph says it all. (Posting incriminating images probably isn't a good idea. However, I didn't see a sign that said you couldn't just blast this water all over the place, haha.)

It's not the greatest picture ever but it was pretty hilarious anyway!

I also tried out a new shot using a chinese lantern type thing I got from IKEA. We took the first image below (which everyone seems to like more) and then we took about 10 other shots of the scene with me holding the flash inside the globe. Then I dropped them all into photoshop, erased myself out, and was left with a pretty unique image. It looks a little dumb this small. I think I'm going to try this out as a night scene in tall grass. Leave a comment and let me know which of these two you like more!

Here are the rest of my favorites!

If anyone is interested in doing a Couture Shoot please shoot me an email! We love doing these!

First off, let me apologize for my lack of blogs lately. I'm currently working on what I think will be my best before and after ever. No, it isn't something in photoshop! I basically gutted the studio last year, had it re-drywalled, painted, and now I am laying all the floor by myself which is a pretty big task. It is really starting to look great in there and I can't wait to share it with you!

(I can't think of a clever segue here so I guess I'll just jump right in ;)

Sunday I took pictures of the wonderful Cour family! Their little boy, Ethan, was feeling a little under the weather but luckily we got a few smiles out of him, haha. Monday Emily sent me a message saying that Ethan was a finalist in the WDBR “Babes of Summer” contest! So I figured if I posted a link here all my blog stalkers would help him win!

To vote for Ethan go to: http://wdbr.com/Babes-of-Summer-finalists-/4510558 Ethan is the little boy in green and white. (no I didn't take the pictures)

Here are the pictures of him that I did take!

How could you not go vote for this little guy?

The beautiful Cour's

I'm going to try and post another blog tomorrow about Anna's amazing Couture Shoot but for now, go vote for Ethan!

I have so many wonderful things to say about these two and their wedding that I don't even know where to start!

Ashley and Barry were actually the first or second couple I ever had the chance to photograph. They weren't engagement pictures or anything, just a young couple in love who wanted some photos together. I knew from the second these two were in front of my camera that they were meant to be. They just have that bond between them that is almost tangible to everyone around them. I was excited for them when they got engaged and honored when they chose me as their photographer. What is really cool for me, is being able to look back through their first session, engagement shoot, and now their wedding photographs; not only seeing how their love for one another has grown, but also how my photography has grown.

They had a truly wonderful wedding and I enjoyed spending the day with them, their families, and their friends.

Thank you guys for supporting me from the start and I can't wait to watch you two continue to grow together for years and years to come!

(Also, thank you so much for allotting so much time for pictures! I think it paid off ;)

There were plenty of tears but I think a smile is more flattering on Ashley ;)

I waited almost 2 years to shoot in this field. It was worth the wait.

Sorry these look so dark online. You would have to see them large to fully appreciate them.

I was cutting off more heads than Maximilien Robespierre on Saturday. Hopefully my high school history teacher is reading this. He would appreciate that joke, haha.

One of my favorite ring shots

Another great cake fight. I caught somebody else's flash but luckily it worked out instead of ruining the picture.

We got some really cool shots as the sun went down!

Well, it is Wednesday and I promised a huge blog would be delivered today. I was planning on getting this bad boy ready later tonight but some of you were harassing me on Facebook and Twitter (you know who you are!) to get this posted sooner, haha.

First off, I want to remind everyone that for every comment left, I'll be donating a can to charity. Since I started this we are up to 60 cans. I know there are a ton of you who just lurk (especially all you St. Louis/St. Charles folks!) and never post a comment! You better come out of the shadows and post some blog love or (insert scary threat here)! Comments make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and they also help those in need feel nourished inside!

I won't be able to talk much about these sessions/weddings because I've got a lot of work to do. Luckily pictures are worth a thousand words ;)

So here we go, in reverse chronological order!

Yesterday I got to do my second Couture Shoot with Bailee! (I still have one 50% off session to the next person to book. After that they will go back up to $150.) We had a ton of fun and decided early on that Bailee was definitely a smiler and not a serious face kind of girl, haha. She did really great and we got some awesome pictures!

Hair and make-up was done by Casey and Maggie over at Hair M.D.!

Last weekend I got to shoot the beautiful wedding of Erica and J.J. The ceremony was supposed to be outdoors but that location was probably turned into a swampland from all the rain. It got moved to The Walkway in Mattoon and everything worked out perfectly! I had a blast with these guys. Congrats you two!

This was my favorite from the day.

The cake fight was one of epic proportions! I have about 40 shots I'd like to put on here, haha.

Handcuffed garter removal. He was under there for a long time! What really cracks me up is that it looks like his head is coming out of the side where the best man is, haha.

A touching moment with J.J. and his grandma.

I also had a really fun engagement session with Jamie and Brian in Pana last week. I love when guys show up dreading pictures and then actually admit they are having fun by the end of the session!

Two weekends ago I photographed another amazing wedding for Kelley and Pete. The First United Methodist Church and Decatur Club in Decatur are both really beautiful veunues. I'm looking forward to shooting in them again!

I didn't even realize until now that all my favorite pictures of Kelley and Pete were one's of them kissing! Bare with me... this could get a little mushy ;)

Kelley was lookin' pretty gorgeous!

This was my absolute favorite from the day! This small picture doesn't do it justice.

This is inside the reception at the Decatur Club. The chairs and tables were done up beautifully by Twin Elegance.

One of them not kissing, haha.

Earlier this month I got to photograph Heather's son Rhyatt. Heather won the auction on a free session and $250 print credit I donated to a local benefit. Congrats!

Rhyatt was a little "difficult" during the session. Luckily I have a fast shutter finger and caught the little moments where he was cooperating! I think Heather and I were both surprised with how many pictures we actually got of him smiling!

And last but not least, I had a ton of fun with the Bolinger family earlier this month! I've known them all for so long. Mary was my 8th grade english teacher (hopefully she isn't checking my grammar on here... I'm probably failing.) We had twin day in 8th grade and she was my twin. She wore one of my skateboarding t-shirts and spiked her hair up. It was pretty hilarious!

Noel and I actually worked together through the Youth Alliance Council to get the skateboard parking built here in Shelbyville. It took several years but all that hard work payed off! I got to spend one summer on it before I re-injured my ankle. I've had to retire the old skateboard since then, haha.

Ok, I'm starting to ramble. Let's get to the pictures!

Noel also played a huge role in getting the amazing pool we now have in the Shelbyville park. We got the chance to take some pictures in it before they filled it up. It was a pretty unique situation that made for some cool shots.

I actually worked out at the pool a couple of summers ago and occasionally I'd have to sit at the top of this slide and tell people to go. Those were my favorite days out there because I could just sit and listen to my iPod for hours (even though I probably wasn't supposed to :)

Well, that about does it for this enormous blog! It only took me an hour and a half to type this up. I better get back to work!

LEAVE A COMMENT!

Ok, so I'm at this weird stage where I have a ton to blog about but not enough time to do it!  I've been so busy with weddings, engagements, and studio stuff that I haven't had a chance to share some of the cool images and awesome clients I've had lately!

I think this will call for one big, enormous blog with photos from the past week or so.  I should give myself a public deadline so I definitely get it done, haha.  Let's say... oh... Wednesday.  Sound good, people?  It's settled then!  Wednesday by midnight I will have a hot, tasty, new blog sitting in the window to cool for your viewing pleasure!  (I'm thinking of apple pie right now for some reason :)

Check back then!

My good friend Brad and I had a chance to do an engagement session up in Chicago last month. I was obviously doing the photography and Brad was shooting video. For the full story you can scroll down a bit and find the past blog about this trip.

Brad and I love to do these hybrid shoots because they make for such a dynamic and unique end result. You can check out more of Brad's work at his Modern Memory Film's Blog.

PLEASE hit play and then pause to let the video load all the way!

Jessica and Clint Engagement Shoot from Modern Memory Films on Vimeo.

I just got this email from Louise.  I just love making women cry ;)

 

"BRETT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Fortunately for me, they have internet at the resort we are staying at in Mexico.  Unfortunately for the weird German guy sitting at the computer next to me, I have been laughing/crying for the past 45 minutes in complete awe of the wedding pictures!  These pics and your awesome self, fulfilled and far exceeded all of the high expectations that I had for my wedding pictures.  I am so happy I don´t even know how to put it into words.  Thank you so much for everything.  I was so lucky to have your calming presence with me the day of the wedding as well as your artistic eye to capture the evening beautifully.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!   

Louise & Phil"

Last weekend I got to photograph the amazing wedding of my friends Phil and Louise! You may remember them from this picture!

Louise is probably my biggest blog stalker so it is only natural that my blog of her wedding would be my largest ever!

The timeline for the day was different than most weddings. The ceremony was at 7 p.m., the reception ended at midnight, and after that we all piled onto a party bus to cruise around and take some pictures. I have been wanting to take a picture of the St. Louis skyline for years now. Every time I drive there I try to figure out where the best place to shoot it from would be. So we decided to go across the river and give it a shot! We found a perfect little opening and made a short walk over to the river. I set up my lights and camera and about 2 shots later, a security guard pulled up. I just told them to keep smiling and we would get as many shots as we could before the guy removed us. (Yes, this is the 3rd time this year I've gotten kicked off of a location, haha) I explained to the security guard that we spent 30 minutes trying to find that spot, that it was their wedding day, etc. and asked for two minutes to get our shot. He obliged and luckily, we got some really amazing photographs! When we got back to the bus, everyone was telling us we had to leave immediately. Apparently when we stopped, all the guys decided to get off the bus and, well, relieve themselves on the Casino Queen's property and they had called the cops. So we took off to shoot at the arch and got some really cool night shots there as well.

The wedding was wonderful and there are a lot of awesome wedding professionals that made it happen!

The St. Francis Xavier College Church is definitely the coolest church I've ever shot in and was also the location of the reception!

The make-up and hair was done by the amazing, Danielle Erb!

Becky Robbins also did an awesome job with the hair as usual!

Jenny at Stems did the beautiful bouquets.

and last but not least, the guys at Ultimate Party Bus Rentals topped the night off with a trip around St. Louis and some great tunes!

Congratulations to Phil and Louise! You guys rock!

Now let's get to some pictures!

We love the mafia shots :)

Sticking with the gangster theme, haha

Louise and her army of bridesmaids!

Wedding rule number 1: Keep your bride cool!

Louise was looking gorgeous

This is one of my favorites from the day just because it looks so different than it does in person. The lights are actually orange but by using a cooler white balance I made them blue!

The doors and architecture of this church is amazing!

Definitely the most amazing church I've shot in before!

Louise was a bag of emotions all day!

Phil wasn't, haha

This little guy couldn't handle the excitement

They did the couples dance and I believe this couple had been together 57 years. I love this shot because it juxtaposes (don't get to use that word often) where they are now and where they could be 57 years from now.

My favorite from the day!

This last weekend Brad and I went up to Chicago to take engagement photos and video for Clint and Jessica. We had originally planned to do the shoot at the end of March but mother nature had different plans and we had to cancel due to rain. When are these April showers going to stop!? Not only did it rain before we left, but it also rained while we were up there and every day since we got back! The forecast for the next 8 days is calling for rain as well. Seriously, start building boats people... we're going to need them!

We had never met with Jessica or Clint before and to simplify getting around, Jessica was just going to come pick us up at Navy Pier. She pulled up and as we started to get in I saw something shoot up from her seat and there was a huge thud on the windshield. For no apparent reason, her umbrella handle just shot up and put a huge crack in the windshield. It was one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen and definitely not ideal circumstances for introductions, haha. Luckily, after the possessed umbrella incident, everything got better. Jessica's friend Sue (who is one of the best friends in the history of best friends) drove us around from spot to spot and dropped us off so we wouldn't have to worry about parking. She really helped make the session great (especially considering Brad and I spent 30 minutes trying to park to go to Pizza Hut that day!)

Jessica and Clint were a great couple to work with. They are both so laid back and willing to do whatever. We had a blast hanging out with them!

Here are a few of our favorites from the day!