Des Moines Wedding Photographer

12-19-2012

Anya’s Senior Portrait Session in Grinnell

It’s hard to believe this session was about a month and a half ago, but time goes by quickly! Anya chose the couture session, which includes hair and make-up provided by my amazing stylist, Megan. I love the natural and pretty look that Anya went for, with the beautiful soft curls! We started off her session at a location I was testing out for the first time, and I love how it all came together!

After a location change and outfit change, the sun was about to set, which made for absolutely INSANELY gorgeous light! I love these next few!

I love this one on the bottom left. It has this quiet serene quality to it, which seems to capture Anya’s personality quite well in my opinion. She is incredibly brilliant, talented, yet also on the quieter side. I really enjoyed getting to know her, even though she’ll have to forgive me for mixing up the oboe with the clarinet multiple times! Quite an unforgivable mistake considering I played the clarinet for years in grade school!

Thanks for an amazing time, Anya! Congrats on your senior year, and good luck with all your college applications

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Susanne - Gorgeous photos! I adore the sunflare ones… so pretty!

12-14-2012

Kara & Mike’s Des Moines Engagement Session

There’s nothing like spending the rest of your life with your best friend. With a lifelong friend. With someone who just puts you at ease. Kara & Mike are that kind of couple, and it’s the sweetest thing! They’ve known each other since grade school; their grandparents even went to high school together, that’s how far back these two go. When you’re around them, you can’t help but enjoy their friendship and love – it’s pretty amazing!

I had such a great time getting to know Kara & Mike better, and I can’t wait for their wedding next summer at Jasper Winery!

I love this one of Kara on the right! You look beautiful!

One of my favorite moments from their session…

Haha! Mike, you’re such a good sport

Mike & Kara enjoy a lot of different things together – fishing and football being one of them. When I found out that Kara is a Huskers fan (go big red!) we both lamented the recent (fairly pathetic) loss of our beloved team during the big 10 championship. It’s not every day you find a Nebraska fan in the middle of Hawkeye & Cyclone territory!

Where they went on their first date, after years of knowing each other, heading off to college, and reuniting at a friend’s party. Gotta love Smokey Row!

Met: When they were 5…or something like that!
Engaged: Oct 2012
Wedding: July 26, 2013 Jasper Winery

Kara: A talented teacher!
Mike: In transition, but he just finished student teaching and is into business and education.

Kara’s 5 words or things she loves about Mike: funny, thoughtful, outgoing and brings that out in her as well, willing to try new and adventurous things (she says she’s the practical one), how he values his family

Mike’s 5 words or things he loves about Kara: caring, fun, loyal, independent, SO beautiful (he may have said something about her sparkly eyes…) :-)

P.S. I’ve had a few people ask about if I travel for weddings. YES! A great majority of the weddings I photograph are in the Des Moines metro area, so please don’t be dissuaded by my location in Grinnell!

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11-27-2012

Robyn & Darrell: Mount Vernon Engagement Session

Getting on the other side of the camera is always a bit nerve-wracking when you’re a photographer. One might expect us to be completely calm and relaxed, but let me tell you, we get nervous too! Recently, my husband and I had maternity photos taken by a dear friend of mine, and I asked our photographer all of the EXACT same questions my clients ask me during a session, even though I very well knew the answers! Well, I have to say that Robyn didn’t let on any of her nerves at ALL during this fun engagement session I was fortunate to shoot for her and Darrell. An incredibly talented and accomplished wedding photographer herself, I think that I was more nervous than her!

Here’s a few quick ones from yesterday, I can’t wait to share more!

Robyn brought this awesome vintage camera, and we had some fun with it!

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Robyn Schwab - Duh, I like this! My schmoopie’s a hottie! Check out some sneak peeks from our e-session yesterday.

Tom Haggas - Your overwhelming adorableness has crashed my computer.

Rosie Beechen - Love Love Love. So happy for you and Darrell, and excited for your special day!:)

Nina Harwick - Awesome! so cute.

Stacey Buck Hunter - So stinking cute!! LOVE LOVE LOVE THESE

Wendy Adams Riley - LOVE these!!!

Marc Johnson - Very well done, Jennifer!

Marie Feehan - Beautiful photos of a beautiful couple…miss you guys!

Dominique Strom - Awww! Loveeee!

Sherri Erickson - adorable…both of you

Truman Jordan - My schmoopie???? I hesitate to ask what Darrell calls you . . . .

Robyn Schwab - He also calls me “schmoopie”, @[1019588322:2048:Truman Jordan]. It started as a joke, but now it just happens. haha

Shawn - Awesome Photography.I like it.Update like that in future also.
kelowna wedding

11-11-2012

Katie & Jeff: Minneapolis Engagement Session

I’m so excited for Katie and Jeff’s wedding next summer! We ended up needing to reschedule their engagement session due to weather (um, yeah…. 40 degrees and rainy? No thanks!) and lucky for me, I was able to shoot in Minneapolis while up for a visit with my family, and that’s where Katie and Jeff live while planning their Des Moines wedding. I always love when I get to try a new location, and surprisingly, even though I’m originally from the Twin Cities, I haven’t done much there in the way of photography. We ended up meeting up over by Lake Harriet for a quick session after work, and were able to capture some fun fall engagement photos. Hope you love them!

LOVE!

Jeff has the BEST laugh, and of course it makes Katie laugh too. So much joy!

After a quick outfit change, we headed closer to the water front…

One of my favs!

Leave some comment love!

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Katie Warford - Thanks again, Jennifer! We are soooo excited for the wedding, and to have you there capturing the best moments of our day. 7 months to go

Jennifer Weinman - I’m excited too!!! Can’t wait

11-08-2012

Amanda’s Senior Session in Pella

Amanda had her senior couture session in early October on a frigid day, but you would never know! She was so wonderful in front of the camera and I loved getting to know her. From learning more about show choir to what it’s like to live in Pella (I’ll admit, I’ve sort of always idealized the cute little Dutch town that’s 45 minutes southwest of Grinnell!) I had such a great with her and her mom Michelle. She brought perfect outfits and looked absolutely gorgeous!

Gorgeous! I’m always jealous of girls with brunette hair, fairer skin, and blue eyes.

One of my favorites!

When Amanda contacted me back in August about her senior session, I was excited about the opportunity to shoot a session someplace new – in Pella, Iowa. The town isn’t new to me (I have several friends that live there, and my former supervisor in my old job often held meetings there), but shooting a session was. I had SO much fun finding little nooks and crannies to shoot in, and I’m so grateful that Amanda trusted me as we hunted through back alleys to find some awesome locations. My absolute favorite was this one – a little awkward corner behind a couple of buildings with brick, grass, and other interesting features. So wonderful!

Amanda, I hope you have a wonderful senior year! I had such a great time with you

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11-08-2012

Alison & Matt’s Grinnell Engagment Session

I’m so excited to share Matt & Alison’s beautiful fall engagement session with you today! We shot their session back in early October (I’ve been a bit busy lately…a bit behind on the blog!) on the first truly cold day of fall. They were gracious enough to meet me for an early-bird Saturday session, and I think it maybe got up to 35 degrees outside! They were good sports though, and we got lots of sweet cuddly photos, which are usually my favorite anyways! :)

We started out just using some of the beautiful fall colors around our neighborhood.

Two of my favorites!

Matt and Alison met when Matt’s mom hired her to work at their family-owned restuarant, West Side Diner, where Matt happened to also be working. I think he was even her manager at one point! We captured a few shots of where their little “office” romance started, and also warmed up with some hot cocoa. These are some of my favorite shots from the session, just because it’s the simple everyday relationship that they share that is so wonderful!

We headed into downtown Grinnell…

Huge gust of wind = desperate hugging to stay warm! Love it

I can’t wait for Matt & Alison’s wedding next summer – thanks for an amazing engagement session and being such good sports about the cold!

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Nancy Fleming Nikkel - WOW, they are amazing picture of Matt & Alison.

Jennifer - Thank you so much, Nancy!

10-30-2012

Lexi’s Lux Senior Session: Grinnell High School

I’ve been looking forward to Lexi’s senior photo shoot since her and her mom first contacted me back in January. They knew exactly what they wanted: beautiful fall colors, a few specific locations and concepts, and gorgeous photos for her Lux session. When we met for their consultation, they came fully prepared with photos of her outfits, a few locations they had already scoped out, and a very clear idea of what they wanted (and didn’t!) This made things super easy, and when it finally came to the day of her session, the weather was absolutely perfect.

We headed out to a few locations Lexi found that were amazing! I loved all of textures and elements we were able to use for her senior photos!

One of my favorites!

Lexi was hoping to find a cool vintage car to incorporate into the conceptual portion of her shoot, and was lucky enough to find the neighbor of her aunt (follow that?) with this AWESOME older Ford truck!

Another gorgeous spot that Lexi found ahead of time. So perfect!

We headed into town for the remainder of her shoot, and went for a completely different look. I loved her outfit, and I think she looks absolutely stunning!

At the very end of her Lux session, Lexi pulled out her ballet shoes and tutu once more, and I was able to experiment with some creative lighting and step a bit outside my comfort zone. These are two of my favorites!