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!