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Christa+Jeff | St. Louis Engagement Photographers

Posted on October 21, 2010

Let’s start this sneak peek out by telling you that we only take on a few weddings a year. First the couple has to like our work and inquire, then they have to be ok with our pricing and finally we like to take them to dinner so we all can be sure we click. Clicking is a HUGE part of being a wedding photographer. We shot a wedding once when we did NOT click with the bride and it was miserable. She didn’t trust us and we were forced to take photos that don’t represent us or our quality of work. After that wedding we drew a line in the sand and said that we’d never work for another client we didn’t like and who didn’t fully trust our vision or ideas. Which means that after we meet for dinner we have turned some couples down. Even if they can afford us. Simply because we knew they’d ultimately be happier somewhere else. So we send them a list of names of other photographers and wish them well.

But then there are the few couples we meet for dinner and fall in love with. Christa and Jeff are those people. We talked and laughed the entire time we met with them. They trust us. We adore them. It’s a match made in heaven! So when it was time to schedule their engagement shoot I told Christa I had this idea…

To shoot a sunrise session an hour outside of St. Louis!

And I figured she’d think I was crazy and blow us off for a MUCH easier session here in town at sunset. But NOPE! She was ALL over it! And they got a hotel room in the small town we chose, brought their baby Lilly and made the most of the weekend! I LOVE THAT! They even were up for having Ursa and Tammy, the Fresh Class winners from May, come and practice shooting!

So all six of us met in the DARK at 6:30am on the top of a hill at a gorgeous farm in Union, MO. And had a blast! So on this Thursday morning get ready for photo overload!

Kim’s view…

My view…

By the end we were all soaking wet and exhausted (since we had to wake up at 4am to make it to the farm in time!) but so happy! It was the best time! As we were walking back to our cars, done for the day, I snapped this shot and love it…

Such a great group of people to watch the sun rise with! Oh, and in case you wanted to see the beauty that this farm is…

That’s the back of the house! SO pretty right?

Love this place. And love the people.

We can’t wait (a YEAR) for Christa and Jeff’s wedding! 11.11.11 you’ll see them again! Although it’s SO far away we might just have to do another engagement session in the spring! Either that or meet for lots more dinners in the meantime!

And thanks to Tammy+Ursa for coming all the way up from Jefferson City, MO just to hang with us while we work… it was awesome to see you ladies again and hope we can get together again soon!

the Westbrook family | St. Louis Maternity and Family Photographers

Posted on October 18, 2010

We LOVE this family! And a photo from their session last year is still my all-time favorite family shot EVER!

Oh man. I might have to beg Kim to take this for us this year b/c I’d want this on a huge canvas!

Anyway, they all came out this year to our mini sessions to get a few shots of Kathy’s baby belly and then just a couple days later little James Matthew was born! We couldn’t believe it! And we’re hopefully going to meet up with her and James this weekend so don’t worry, baby cuteness will be here on the blog soon! And we’re doing this newborn session TOTALLY different than any we’ve done before! SO excited!

I mean, don’t they make the cutest kids? We can’t wait to meet James!

Brad+Hannah=Love Light | St. Louis Photographers

Posted on October 16, 2010

The last time Kim and I did a Love Light Session we froze our bottoms off. We had a blast but MAN was it cold! So when Brad contacted us for a Love Light to surprise his wife for their anniversary we jumped at the chance! A Love Light session on a beautiful fall night is literally, perfection.

Normally we try to keep our sneak peeks to just that, a PEEK. But I have to tell you, Kim and I are OBSESSED with this session. Shooting an entire session using available light late at night with no flash is exhilarating! It pushes and stretches you creatively as an artist and well, it actually makes us FEEL like artists as we paint with light on our subjects. Because if you didn’t know, 90% of the time we have our ISO set to 200 or so. We shoot like we’re shooting daylight. In the dark. Occasionally a shot calls for a massive bump to the ISO but otherwise we keep it low. So that it’s crazy hard to make the light work for us.

All that to say, get ready b/c this post is LOADED down with photos! Enjoy!

My view…

Kim’s view…

Notice the butt grab in the above photo? HA! Love it!

Brad and Hannah were awesome. They WANTED this and just trusted us. This is not your normal photo session, but it’s such a special one! And just in case anyone else wants one… our pricing for these is $525 and it includes the HIGH-RES disk. A crazy deal but we love them so much we love offering this package!

Oh, and for the funniest photo of the night…

Kim somehow always catches me in the most random positions! HA!

Thanks so much Brad and Hannah… we NEEDED this session. It fed our souls, got us excited about our work again and you have SO many more images than normal because of that!

The Ackerman Boys | St. Louis Childrens Photographer

Posted on October 15, 2010

You all know these boys, they are regulars on this here blog and we LOVE that! Repeat clients are the BEST kind of clients, obviously, and we just ADORE their mom, Carrie. She drives from FAR AWAY Illinois to get to us and last weekend it was for a 15 minute mini session! Of course since she was our last I think we went longer but still, it’s a long drive for photographs and we ALWAYS appreciate her!

It doesn’t hurt her FOUR boys are stinking cute and so easy to work with!

Thanks again for coming so far just to let us capture your boys Carrie! We always love seeing your family!

Mountain flipping Dew.

Posted on October 14, 2010

So if you’ve read our blog at least once you know I have a love affair with The Dew. It got me through some pretty rough times. Rough times meaning every single day since I had kids, or KID because I was an addict even before Bailey was born but that initial sleep deprivation took it to a whole new level.

If you’ve read this blog more than once you might know that it’s so bad I’ve had clients bring me a soda to their session, people show up on my doorstep with soda in hand as a mid-day surprise, Imo’s will deliver me JUST a soda and word about that got around enough I’ve had lots of people order LONG DISTANCE for me during rough times (mostly when PJ was in the hospital). Blog readers and internet friends I’ve never even met. It’s bad. Like most days I drink between one and three 32oz Mnt Dews just to survive.

And it’s not just because I’m tired (which I am) but it’s mainly b/c it’s the ONE thing I have always treated myself with. Even at our poorest I could dig out 73 cents to go get a soda. I don’t drink alcohol or smoke or go to nice restaurants or buy myself nice clothes/shoes/make-up/accessories and I don’t get my hair done (or even cut) but maybe once or twice a year (and then we usually trade work with someone) and a manicure is using the kid’s nail clippers in the shower. Truly, we’ve ALWAYS lived on a tighter than tight budget and so this was my one huge splurge.  It was a TREAT. The thing that broke up my day when I could run to the gas station. The thing that gave me a boost of energy to make it through dinner or baths or work or carpool or whatever. The thing that helped me stay up until past midnight every night working AND that helped me not be a total zombie when we’re up by 6am every morning.

IT KEPT ME SANE PEOPLE.

And now it’s been exactly one week since I had Bailey dump out my last one.

Now, if you REALLY know me you also know that I’ve given up the Dew a MILLION times before. And it usually lasts a day. Or two. Or three+ if I’m super determined. So when I told Chris I was giving it up he just shrugged. Like, “yeah, whatever.”

And if you could be in my head you’d know the last seven and a half days have been hell. I wake up thinking about the fact that I can’t have my fix, I go through the day avoiding my normal routes so as not to randomly, without thinking, stop at a gas station and have to fight my will power to turn around and drive away and I even let my car go until the gas light was SCREAMING at me that we needed gas today b/c I KNEW it would be HARD to resist buying just one. Just one cheater. And then God laughed at me today because I pulled in to my FAVORITE gas station, the one with the perfect cups and the good ice and the nice people that give me free sodas sometimes, with no wallet. But the car was not going to make it back home so I had to dig in the car for cash (I came up with $18 which TRULY impressed me BTW) so I could PRE-PAY. Do you know what that means? I had to GO INSIDE and stare at the soda fountain and NOT BUY A SODA. OMG it was hard. Hard like an alcoholic going into a bar at happy hour for an ice tea. I mean seriously.

But I resisted. And every time in the last week I had desperately wanted to call Imo’s or run to the gas station I didn’t. Every time my kids were driving me CRAZY and I thought, “I deserve this, damnit!” I would fill up my new Tervis Tumbler with more water and pretend it tasted like SOMETHING instead of NOTHING.

Wanna know why?

Because my dear friend Lyndsay sent me an article that describes the ingredients in Mountain Dew. And the article is titled “Death in a can” of all things. Nice right?

And here’s the thing. I KNOW it is bad for my body. I know it’s part of the reason I’ve gained weight the last two years and I know I should quit. It’s just become such a part of my life, my routine, my coping mechanism that it’s been harder than hard to ever quit.

But if you know Lyndsay than you know Teagan, her son. And his intense struggles this year with his health, none of which was his fault. It’s been SO hard to watch their family go through this and not be able to do anything. Because I adore Lyndsay and want to, I don’t know, HELP. Like help with laundry or running errands or babysitting or just something. ANYTHING. But I’m so far away. So when she sent me the email and actually blogged about me HERE (it’s the article too if you’re interested in knowing the ingredients!) I cried, called Bailey over and asked her to dump out the newly delivered Mnt Dew.

And I haven’t had one since.

Because if Lynds can go through SO much and give up SO much I can do this one thing. Which I know makes her happy b/c she worries about the JUNK I was filling my body with. Because she cares about me and so in return I’m honoring her and quitting. And so far, so good.

I’ve let this post sit all day and now it’s after 10pm. I let it sit b/c today kind of sucked. I had a head ache (haven’t actually had many of those thank goodness), I had NO patience and yelled at the kids ALL day about stupid crap that makes me now feel like the worst mom in the world. Not to mention I found out yesterday I actually have to increase my hours at work which means my mom will be doing a lot of the driving to and from school for me and I hit a wall. A big huge concrete wall. Right now I just can’t imagine working harder. And to be perfectly honest, I love taking Bailey and Parker to school with all the stay-at-home moms… it makes me feel normal and for just minutes a day I can pretend I live the life I dream of and not the one that’s been forced on me by necessity. So today sucked and I wasn’t sure I could get through it without cheating.

But I did.

After I got the kids bathed Terri read books to them so I could go for a run and those 31 minutes of jogging were the perfect remedy. I came back sweaty, exhausted and feeling better. And although I talked all night about just giving up and getting a soda, I didn’t. My will power is getting stronger.

Oh, and the BIGGEST (and only?) benefit? I’m losing weight! Weigh in for our biggest loser competition at the KCCI office is tomorrow morning so I’ll get to see where I am but I’m actually excited to step on the scale now and see the numbers slowly+steadily getting smaller!

All thanks to Lyndsay. Who cared enough to put herself out there and say STOP JOD!

Oh, and to the Duder, Teagan. My biggest cheerleader!

Untitled from Kuhn Construction on Vimeo.

Marissa | St. Louis Children Photographers

Posted on October 13, 2010

I am on day six or seven (I’m loosing track, which is good!) of NO soda and no caffeine. Which means ALL day and ALL night I literally dream about Mnt Dew. It is all I can do not to stop and get one and last night I nearly broke down and called Imo’s to PLEASE RESCUE ME FROM MY HELL but instead my MIL, Terri, gave me a Super B Complex vitamin or whatever. I pretended it did the trick to wake me up a little. Really it smelled awful and made my pee SUPER yellow. Actually, it looked like I peed out Mnt Dew which did NOT help matters any!

I’m telling you all of this b/c TOMORROW I’m going to share WHY I quit Mnt Dew and WHO is behind my massive transformation and which little man I think of every time I almost cave and drink one. I’m ALSO telling you this so you understand if I’m a little snappy or forgetful or just plain old MEAN right now. Because DUDE I survived my life with Mnt Dew! It was my life force! And it has been RIPPED from my fingers. So today I’m posting the sweetest little Kindergarten girl you could ever meet and tomorrow I will tell you my story.

And if anyone knows any support groups for caffeine addiction I am ALL ears b/c THIS IS HARD! And if the person who did this to me lived anywhere near me she would most certainly have TP in her trees or her can saran wrapped or SOMETHING right now! HA!

Alright. Marissa.

We met Marissa last year at our fall minis… actually I met her then b/c Kim has known her for some time since she was in the same preschool class as her son, Thomas. So I got to meet her last year, just briefly since it’s a mini session but I adored her. Super sweet, good listener, not out of control… just one great kid! And this year? Even better!

I mean could she be any cuter? Seriously!

Although every kid has to be silly sometimes…

HA! Look at those eyes!

Thanks for bringing her out again this year Tara! It was great to see you girls!

Fall Mini Sessions | The Lang Family

Posted on October 12, 2010

We LOVE mini sessions but I forget that until I’m in the midst of shooting numerous families all in a row and have a photographers high! It might sound AWFUL but it’s actually really fun to capture kid after kid after kid all in a quick afternoon! You have no time to think or chat or worry… you just shoot shoot shoot until you collapse into your car dreaming about dinner! HA!

Saturday Kim and I had our fall mini sessions and had a blast. The families that came out where awesome and the kids were perfect! We’re going to be showing these sneak peeks randomly over the next couple of weeks… and up first are the Lang girls!

Mom and Dad weren’t there to get their photo taken but we made them get in right at the very end and I’m SO glad we did! Love this family photo!

Thanks to the Lang family for coming out and keep a look out for our other great families later this week!

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