jamie sangar

www.jamiesangarblog.com

2008-09-11T23:35:00.002-04:00

If you have this blog bookmarked, please make note of my new blog! All new and future posts will be found at www.jamiesangarblog.com. Stop by and see what's new!

UPDATE!

2008-09-11T18:26:00.002-04:00

I wanted to let you know that the new blog will be launching TONIGHT at 11:00PM EDT! Stop by and check it out before you go to bed! Just visit www.jamiesangar.com and click on "blog" at 11pm or later! I am so excited!!

hello!

2008-09-11T08:27:00.003-04:00

I'm still here! I just haven't made any new posts in a few days because I'm waiting on the new blog to launch. It is so very close to being completed, so I am saving all of my new stuff to share once it's up and running! I cannot wait for you guys to see it! Here are some shots of me that my good friend, Jess Marvel snapped! These were shot for my new blog too!!! Stay tuned, and I hope to have the new blog up asap!

ashley + tom!

2008-09-08T21:47:00.008-04:00

Ashley and tom got married in Florida several weeks ago, but over Labor Day weekend, they had a huge party/reception at Tom's mom's house to celebrate with all of their families and friends. They had a big, beautiful white tent setup, fantailed doves, purple tulips, a dance floor, bbq, corn hole...it was a really great setup and it was evident that their guest enjoyed themselves!

They had so many friends show up. Here's Ashley on the right!

More mingling with friends...

Meet the newlyweds!

I like the reaction on the guy's face as he checks out Ashley's rock!

Ashley has gorgeous blue eyes (and so does Tom!! I always notice eyes because that's what I focus on whenever I shoot!)

The doves greeted the guests as they entered the tent.

Shot with my brand new macro lens!!!

Nice dance moves:)!

I pulled them aside for a couple of sunset shots:)

I took this handheld with only available light. They had a perfect night! (Notice the lone star just above the tent and to the left)!

They displayed a slideshow on the ceiling of the tent! That happens to be a photo from their Florida wedding!

Tom and Ashley, it was great to meet you two! You had a wonderful reception and I am so fortunate to have been a part of it! I wish you all the best. Enjoy your slideshow!

landon | 9.months!

2008-09-04T16:36:00.007-04:00

This kid has changed SOOOO much since his 6 month shoot! He is a little daredevil, he'd rather walk holding your hand than sit on the ground, there's a lot of grunting to let mommy and daddy know what he wants, and did I mention he's a daredevil??!! His looks haven't changed much except that he's a little taller, but boy is he smart! Good thing we started at Holliday Park in an area where Landon couldn't see the huge playground! When we started walking towards it, he started leaning forward trying to jump out of Ryan's arms once he made eye contact with the playground. We were all busily talking and when Landon started leaning, pointing and grunting, Vanessa laughed and said "he sees the swings!" Kids are so smart! Checkout some of my faves from our morning together...

We sat him on his bottom to try and snap a few pictures, and that lasted all of two seconds. He quickly put himself in this crawl position!

He LOVED the slide!

He'd rather be standing like this all of the time! This kid will be walking soon:)

Momma's boy:)

another shot on the slide...

Little daredevil...

You wouldn't know it by just this photo, but the photo that I snapped immediately after this one involved Vanessa's hand stopping Landon's hand from going into his mouth because he was about to eat a wood chip!

Ryan and Vanessa, thanks so much! I can't believe that the next time I see Landon he'll be one year old! Enjoy your slideshow!!

new.album.sample!

2008-09-03T20:19:00.009-04:00

I am excited to share a new album sample with you! This is a 10x10 white flush mount wedding album. Thanks to Todd & Steph for having such a fabulous wedding that I wanted my own sample! If you would like to touch and feel this beauty, give me a call and we can arrange to meet! (Can't wait for the new blog to launch. I'm not exactly sure of the date that it will launch, but I am guessing about a week or a little more:)!!!

paige+tyler+jacob

2008-09-02T10:12:00.008-04:00

It was so great meeting Shelly and Chad and their kids. They are related to Brooke and Lauren! These poor kids were so hot, so the whole time we were bribing them with a little fountain dip at the end of the shoot. It was so humid and sticky! Paige was a little shy at first, but Tyler and Jacob are so good with her and they all warmed up to me pretty quickly! Checkout our shots at the IMA...

Meet Paige! She was peeking through the cute little orange tree at the IMA:)

Meet Paige's handsome older brothers, Tyler (on top) and Jacob (on bottom)...

The whole gang...

Yep, I take funny-face photos too:)!

Here's that fountain we were bribing them with! Hopefully this cooled them off a bit!

Paige loves flowers...

The future Manning brothers...

Jacob's expression in back cracks me up!

Shelly and Chad, thanks so much and it was so nice meeting you. I hope you enjoy your slideshow!

miss.meg | 1.year!

2008-08-31T14:05:00.010-04:00

I can't believe little Meg is already 1 year old! I've already had a couple of my baby clients celebrate their first birthday, but Meg is the first baby client that I've worked with from newborn through 12 months. In fact, April is the one that told me I needed to put a newborn package together, so she is the one to thank for that! Even though Meg should kinda know me by now, she doesn't get overly excited about our shoots and the fact that there's a camera in her face for 45 minutes to an hour each time. Josh and April always end up leaving the shoots thinking that Meg didn't smile much, but I am hoping that they're always pleasantly surprised at the results! I am hoping that is the case with the results below. I happen to love Meg's reactions and expressions in the photos! In some you see laughter, in some you see her sassy side, in some you see a pouty face, in some you see a soft, sweet smile. I love seeing that range because it's real--we all know too well that 12 month olds are not smiley 100% of the time:)

We chose the IMA this time around. Meg liked the outdoors, but none of us liked the humidity that we were experiencing. All in all, I am so grateful to have met the Miles family and can only hope that baby #2 comes sooner than later:)!

I love Meg's huge smile with the finger in the mouth!

You can't tell in this photo too well, but she's riding in her new convertible...her green wagon from Grandma! She LOVES this thing..

Lots of crawling this shoot...and she liked to crawl AWAY from my camera:)

Trying to pull the wagon on her own:)

Here's that sassy yet innocent look I described above...

Here's her devilish grin:)...

Here's my favorite Miles' family photo, even though it's not your traditional pose-and-smile type of family portrait!...

her soft, innocent smile...

"party in my ride"...

so sweet...

She found a couple of sticks and started to play drums with them!

Josh and April, thank you so much for trusting me to capture Meg's first year! It has been great getting to know you. Enjoy your slideshow!

bryon+allison | engaged!

2008-08-30T12:23:00.006-04:00

Bryon and Allison are so easy and great to work with. From the time that we first met, they had exactly 3 months to plan their wedding! That would stress most people out, but I didn't sense an ounce of stress when discussing all of their wedding plans with them! We had a beautiful day at the IMA. Checkout what we got...

Everyone LOVES the LOVE sculpture...

Allison looks so gorgeous:)

There are so many pretty trees at the IMA!

We found this awesome tree! Considering the number of times I've shot at this location, I've never seen this tree! It gigantic! We were actually under/inside the tree!

I love how they look each other in the eye! Perfect for photos!

Here's another taken under the huge tree!

Bryon and Allison, I cannot wait until your October wedding! Enjoy your slideshow!

megan+brandon | 08.16.08

2008-08-27T08:45:00.012-04:00

Megan and Brandon could not have asked for a more beautiful day for an outdoor August wedding. The words "outdoor" and "August wedding" could have been a combination for one sweaty mess, but they had perfect weather! The wedding and reception were both at the same location, Lumiere du Corps. This place was awesome! It's this hidden, little treasure in the middle of some cornfields!

Megan and the girls started out at Rejuve in Zionsville...

Not sure what was so funny here, but I love these of Megan and her mom...

Meet Megan and Brandon's little baby, Dixie!

Megan had a gorgeous bouquet.

Megan's maiden name was Alexander, and her new last name is Zink. I thought these bookends were too cute!

I love Megan's laugh! She has a great smile:)

We opted for some shots in front of all the corn!!

The flower girl was so adorable and soaked everything in!

and then it was time for the ornery boys...

I think the boys were telling jokes behind Brandon's back!

The ring bearer was a little shy:)

Mr. & Mrs. Brandon Zink!

Megan's friend, Hannah, did a fabulous job with the cake!!

Megan and Brandon, thank you so much. It was so great to get to know you over the past several months! You had a beautiful wedding! All my best in your future! Enjoy your slideshow!

a.photo.of.photos!

2008-08-26T08:54:00.002-04:00

It is rare that I ever get to see how my clients have decked their walls with the shots that I have taken. At our last shoot, Angie had told me that she had started a Reece wall collage at their house, so I asked to see it if she ever got the chance to snap a few pictures! Angie was kind enough to send this to me and I love every last one of the photos! It means a lot to me to see this!

On a side note, you guys have been hearing me talk about my new blog for like 5 months now! Well, the time has now come and it is getting oh so close! I think it should be live within about a week!!! I cannot wait to share it with you!! Check back for more updates soon!!

sydney | 1.year!

2008-08-24T13:38:00.010-04:00

It was fun to see Sydney again last weekend! She is such a big girl now! Not only has she grown physically, but her personality is something else. As I was editing her shoot, I caught myself smiling a couple of times because of the expressions and hand gestures that she makes! We met at the Indiana State Museum and enjoyed some of the beautiful flowers surrounding the area!

Meet Sydney who is now 1 year old! This is one of my all-time favorite pictures!:)

You can really see those 2 bottom teeth with that big smile!

Stefanie brought Sydney's birthday hat along, so during the outfit change I suggested that we get a few in Sydney's birthday suit!:)

There was a lot of pat-a-cake:)

I love this ornery grin!

Sydney wasn't too sure of having her feet in the grass, and Richard and I were laughing because she kept lifting one foot!

her serious pose...

We got a lot of pictures where Sydney is making this hand gesture. Not sure what it means, but I think it's cute!

Sydney found a beautiful willow tree...

Rich and Stefanie, it was so nice getting to know you over the past 6 months. Sydney is a doll and I hope you enjoy her slideshow!

macy | 6.months!

2008-08-22T17:21:00.003-04:00

I have to admit that I was pretty excited about this shoot, because Jeff and Erin are friends of ours and it's always great to catch-up! I really love having the opportunity to shoot the entire first year of a baby's life because every three months I get to see so much change in a child. In this case, Macy has gotten a little taller, gained a little weight, I swear her eyes have gotten a little bluer and her hair a little lighter! All in 3 months! Also, she is exceptionally strong for her size. I remember at 3 months she was able to lay on her tummy and hold herself up with her elbows--not something that all babies can do! At six months, she's sitting up and hanging like a monkey from bars! Yes, Erin took her to gymnastics practice and I hear she hung on the uneven bars by herself (with Erin right there to grab her, of course!!) for about 5-10 seconds!! That's not surprising though considering she's got two big brothers that I'm sure will toughen her up real fast:)!! Take a look at our shoot below...

Meet Macy! Isn't she adorable??!!

I loved her little pants, and also her curly "wings"!!

Love this one! She's such a big girl!

Macy has a little fun on the slide...

Macy's big brothers were able to get these big smiles out of her. They are quite helpful at shoots:)

Another booty shot...

Outfit change!

The family Dog, Smalls, also made a cameo appearance!

The boys told Erin that they didn't want their pictures taken this time, so they came along to play at the park. You'll see, however, that they snuck their way into several shots!

This cracks me up. I decided to snap a few more of Smalls, and right as I was taking the second shot, he barked! Doesn't he look ferocious??!! He's quite the opposite:)

Jeff and Erin, your kids are too cute! I can't wait to see the fam in November. Enjoy your slideshow!

emily + danny | engaged!

2008-08-20T21:09:00.007-04:00

Emily and Danny are too cute! They laugh a lot and just seem like all around happy people! They're the kind of people you want to hang around because their happiness is contagious. They are planning, what I am sure will be, a fabulous wedding for next May. I am excited to see everything that they pull together for their big day. For the engagement shoot, Emily and Danny chose to shoot at Butler University, the place where they met! How fitting! Butler happens to have some awesome architecture which makes for a nice backdrop. Checkout the shots...

This series of photos is my favorite. I think it totally captures their personalities. (click on the image to view larger)

The lighting, and the reflection of the bright green trees and blue sky in the reflection of the windows looked awesome!

more laughs:)...

I love Emily's blue eyes!

more pretty lighting...

...and even more laughs! Aren't they so cute?!

We ended the shoot in their Butler t-shirts down by Hinkle Fieldhouse!

One last shot with "Blue" the Butler Bulldog...

Emily and Danny, I had a blast working with you guys. I can't wait until May to roll around! Enjoy your slideshow!

little.thief!

2008-08-19T20:56:00.004-04:00

Would you believe that something this cute and innocent stole my peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Yeah. I was sitting on the couch with my laptop on my legs talking to Simon, and all of the sudden Simon asked "where's peyton?" Parents, you know that feeling when suddenly there is silence so that can only mean one thing...your kid is up to no good! Well, in our case, Peyton had somehow taken the entire, uneaten sandwich down to the brown rug in front of our leather bench and chowed down. By the time we saw her, it was gone. Every last bit of it...GONE!

This happens to be precisely where it all went down...

But it couldn't be this thing, could it? She looks too innocent!

In any case, I have learned my lesson. DON'T LEAVE FOOD ON THE COUCH ARMREST!

kate.&.emma!

2008-08-19T14:52:00.008-04:00

I was so excited to see the Conners family again, only this time there was another member, Emma! Kate has gotten taller and skinnier, and Emma has a full head of hair! Both girls are adorable! We hung out at the IMA for some fun in the sun...

(Oh, and if you are a Yankees fan, the content you are about to see below may not be suitable for you:)!!)

Meet Emma!

Here's Emma's big sister, Kate!

Here's Emma's big girl pose!:)

This was the smile that I kept seeing from Kate. It makes me laugh!

I warned you not to look if you were a Yankees fan... I LOVE this shot of Emma:)

Shannon and I started cracking up when Kate posed like this on her own!!!

Peek-a-boo!

My FAVORITE! I have a feeling this will be Dan's favorite too!!!:)

Dan and Shannon, thanks so much! It was great seeing you guys again. you have two beautiful daughters! I hope you enjoy your slideshow!!

tyler | class.of.'09!

2008-08-18T15:50:00.008-04:00

Who said Senior pictures had to be cheesy and posed?! I mean seriously! Do you naturally just sit down on the ground with your letter jacket on with your awards and trophies surrounding you? NO! No one does that, but for some reason it's just one of those things you feel like you have to do and check-off of your list during your senior year of high school (sorry if I offended anyone, but I TOO have that senior photo with my awards surrounding me so I felt like I could make fun of it...yuk!). ha. I like to try and capture real expressions, natural reactions, and comfortable body positions in your own environment. That way, you still get to incorporate some of your passions/activities into your photos, but hopefully it's not something you'll look at just 5 years from now and think that the shots were taken in the 80s!

I have to thank Tyler's mom, because she too has these feelings. In fact, she's very creative and came up with several different looks that she was going for. Tyler is a football player, a drummer, a dog lover and a nature lover, so my goal was to have that show through in the photos! We also had the help of his girlfriend, Kristen, who came to the shoot and helped get some good reactions out of Tyler!

Here's the star of the show, Tyler; senior at Mooresville High School!

I give Tammy all of the credit for envisioning Tyler's drums setup on the top of a grassy hill! I love this look!

Quite possibly my favorite from the day...

The lighting on the top of the hill was awesome...

We had a beautiful blue sky to work with:

Meet Tyler's dog, Lobo...

Lobo wanted his own portrait taken:)

At the end I snapped a few with Kristen too!

Tyler and Tammy, I had a blast with you guys. Best of luck, Tyler, as you complete this chapter of your life. I'll keep an eye on the Mooresville football team this season since I now know you AND Nick! (and Kristen too since she's a cheerleader)! Enjoy your slideshow...

nichole + eric | engaged!

2008-08-17T21:32:00.005-04:00

**Man oh man...another busy weekend for me! For those clients that I worked with last week, I appreciate your patience and I'm still trying to catch-up from the nine shoots that were squeezed into last weekend! Next up is Tyler's Senior photos, then the Conners family, then Danny & Emily's Engagement shoot, then Macy's 6 Month shoot, then Sydney's 1 Year shoot, and finally Megan and Brandon's fabulous wedding from yesterday!!! Whew!**

I met Nichole last winter, but it wasn't until our shoot that I got to meet Eric. It took me all of 5 seconds to pick up on the fact that Eric is easygoing and laid back! They were so cute. They looked each other in the eye and giggled a lot:) (which is perfect for good, candid shots)!! We loved the warm weather that we had because their January wedding will likely be a tad chilly! We had a beautiful blue sky to work with, so you'll notice that I tried to incorporate that in a lot of the shots;)...

...like this one! Checkout how BLUE it was!

I dig this funky tree!

I love their reactions here!

Their expressions crack me up. ha!

more blue sky...

Nichole and Eric, I had so much fun with you! I can't wait until January! Enjoy your slideshow!

riley.&.landon!

2008-08-14T17:27:00.014-04:00

I got to meet some new friends on Sunday morning...and they happen to be HUGE COLTS FANS!!! Woohoo! We had long talks about our excitement for this season to start. Cheryl and Ryan have the cutest little kids. Riley is 3-1/2 and Landon is 3 months old. I immediately picked up on the fact that Riley has a big imagination. She's a smart little cookie too. She has several friends that came to the shoot, including "Big Al" (who you'll meet below) and "Popcorn Chandelier" (Who is her blow-up pony. Don't you love the name she gave it?!!) Kids are funny:) Landon was pretty laid back about the whole thing. He likes to stick out his tongue a lot. I didn't even realize it until I was weeding through all of the photos and noticed that in the majority of them his tongue is hanging out like Gene Simmons!

Without further ado, let me introduce you to the whole crew...

Riley and I started things off while Landon was finishing his breakfast. Look at those beautiful eyes!

Meet Landon. See what I mean with the Gene Simmons tongue?

Another. Isn't he cute?

Giving me a little attitude. I LOVE it!

Meet the most important reptile in Riley's life, Big Al.

Not sure how we managed to get them to BOTH look at the camera! It could have been the 4 adults behind my back trying to get their attention:)

Meet Sadie!

You know me...a sucker for baby feet!

We went around back to play a little.

Sadie posed for me:)

Landon is so handsome!

I love all of the nursery rhymes that were painted on Landon's wall...

The lighting in their backyard was perfecto!

Sadie taking a breather after being chased by Riley!

Two of my FAVES!!!

Grandma and Grandpa also joined us!

Cheryl and Ryan, thanks so much for having me! It was so nice meeting you and your family! I hope you like your photos. Enjoy the slideshow below!

simone | 9.months!

2008-08-13T21:42:00.002-04:00

I got to see one of my favorite little girls this weekend! I see Simone every 3 months for pictures, and every time I post her photos, I get so many compliments...not because of my photographic capabilities, but because Simone is so stinkin' cute and always dressed like a doll! And not only does Simone come dressed to impress, but Quatrel and Steve always look great as well!

We had the opportunity of shooting in slightly cooler weather than a typical Indiana August afternoon, so we took advantage and hit up all of my favorite locations at the IMA! As you'll see below, Simone loves to pat-a-cake:)! I am sad to think that I only have one more shoot with these guys, but we'll make the birthday party shoot one you won't forget!

For those of you visiting my blog for the first time, meet Simone! For all of you regulars, I know you remember this cutie...

her more serious look...

What a beautiful family!

One of Simone's many pat-a-cake photos:)

Simone workin' the pose!

When I saw this on the back of my camera, I started laughing and had to show Quatrel!

Cool fountain photo!

Steve and Quatrel, thank you so much. It was great seeing you guys again. I'm looking forward to the birthday party! I hope you like your photos and slideshow! (Oh! And in the Olympic spirit, I thought I'd use one of the songs from the Olympic soundtrack. If you've been glued to the Olympic coverage like I have, I know you've seen the advertisement for it. If not, go check it out! www.nbcolympics.com/soundtrack)

the.kelch.family!

2008-08-12T18:00:00.006-04:00

I had the privilege of working with the Kelch family again! I first met the Kelch's last August and then again in November! Each time I'm amazed at how fast Logan and Taylor are growing! Last time, Taylor was just a baby and fell asleep near the end of our shoot. This time, she was unstoppable! We hit a new spot in Carmel, West Park! If you've got little kids, it's a great place! Checkout our shots...

Here's the whole crew!

Taylor loved being swung...and then Logan wanted to try!

He brought his fishing pole...

He actually caught something!

I noticed that Logan was walking with a little strut, and then I laughed when I saw this on the back of my camera!

Play time!

Superman!:)

Taylor loved the water!

Alan and Linda, thank you so much! I had fun hanging out with you guys. I hope you like your photos and enjoy your slideshow!

cressie.&.chase | engaged!

2008-08-11T19:50:00.010-04:00

I love engagement shoots! Actually, I love all shoots, but it's always fun when I've got a couple to work with that doesn't mind trying new things! Cressie and Chase were so easy to coach along. They decided that they wanted to shoot around the Indiana State Museum and along the canal! Great choice as always. We had great, cool, non-humid weather to work with which made the beautiful scenery even more enjoyable.

These two happen to be high school sweethearts! In working with them, it was easy to sense how comfortable they are with each other. I always ask my couples to look each other in the eye a lot, and it was a cinch for these two!!:) Checkout the results...

Meet Chase and Cressie! Cressie has the sassy look DOWN!

Love the attitude here:)

Don't they just look like they belong together??!!

One of my FAVES! I also love the "almost-kiss"!

Another serious look...Cressie, you're SO GOOD at it!

Play time...

Chase & Cressie, great job rockin' the poses! I cannot wait until your September wedding! Enjoy your slideshow!

macy | 1.year!

2008-08-11T13:55:00.007-04:00

I know it's been a few days since I posted anything new, but stay tuned this week for lots of blogging from me. From Friday evening through this morning, I've had NINE shoots, so there will be lots of new things to checkout!

So, to start things off I got to spend a little time with my Chicago family. Only NOW they live in Indiana! Yea! Back in December I drove up to Chicago to shoot Macy's 6 month photos, but from now on they'll only be a hop, skip and a jump away. This time, we were celebrating Macy's 1st birthday! She is such a big girl with lots of personality. She's got some funny facial expressions and some crazy dance moves as you'll see below!...

I love this series where Macy is dancing to "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"! Isn't she so cute??!!! (click on the image to view it larger)

Macy is such a big girl!

She can be serious too sometimes...

Milk break...

I love her smile here! Doesn't this look like fun??!!

Thanks so much, Shellie and Sam! I had a great time with you guys. I hope you love your photos and slideshow! Happy birthday, Macy. Hope to see you guys again soon!

Michigan + a.50th.surprise!

2008-08-08T10:31:00.009-04:00

Last weekend I had a blast visiting one of my best friends, Angie in Michigan. Ang and I were teammates at Miami University, and unfortunately we don't get to see each other much because she's in Michigan and I'm in Indiana. Ang and Nicole had been planning a 50th surprise birthday party for their mom, Terri, so I got to go to the party on Saturday night! Terri was SHOCKED! The family was so great about keeping it a secret from her. Ang and I had several close calls with her mom showing up at the house unexpectedly...stuff for the party was laying all over the house! We hid everything just in the nick of time!

Here are a few pictures from my stay in Michigan and of the par-tay!

Ang lives out in the country, and we saw all of these animals just down the road from where she lives!

More pretty shots from our walk in the country...

Miss Layla sporting here Pound the Pavement bandana!

Here's Ang! We were all waiting outside for Terri to pull up!

Surprise!!!!

Ang made some funny signs to hang around the room!

Love this one...

Ang thought it would be a good idea to go up and dance on the stage!

And here's me dancing. I don't dance. I SHOULDN'T dance. I don't know HOW to dance. But everyone else was dancing, so I joined in:)

Ang, thank you so much for hosting. I had a great time! And to all of the family, thanks for being so kind. It was great meeting you all, and I cannot wait to come back again soon. Enjoy the slideshow below!

lauren.&.brad's.guestbook!

2008-08-06T22:22:00.004-04:00

Lauren and Brad order the biggest coffee table book that I sell to use as their guestbook! This puppy is 8x11 with 28 sides (or 14 pages). With their long guest list, they opted for the biggest in order to have room for all of the guests to sign it. This has been one hot item this year! I am so glad that my brides are enjoying them!

Lauren is one of my most faithful blog followers, and I cannot wait to blog her upcoming wedding in September!!

megan.&.lamorris | 07.26.08

2008-08-05T10:16:00.017-04:00

I had the privilege of shooting an awesome wedding up in the Chicago area! You may remember Megan & LaMorris' super fun engagement session. After working with them at this session, I KNEW that their wedding photos would rock because they knew how to work it for the camera! Not to mention, Megan and I are friends on Facebook so I get to see how much she and her friends love to take cute photos! Let me walk you through the day from start to finish!...

Lets start out with a couple of the details!

After shooting the details, I ventured into the ladies' room to find this...

...and THIS! She was sitting here watching Megan get her hair done, and I couldn't resist this shot. The hair, the dress, the necklace, the coffee cup; it ALL looked like she belonged in a fashion magazine! I happen to love this!

Then is was dress time! Yes, it does take LOTS of help to get the dress on without messing up the hair OR makeup!

The finished product = a gorgeous bride!

Megan and LaMorris opted NOT to see each other before the wedding, so we had to make sure that we knew where the guys were at all times so there was no peeking before the wedding!

I love all of the girls' style! They look so great in their little black dresses!

LOVE this shot of Megan!

LaMorris requested some shots on the b-ball court!

Don't the kids look adorable??!! In fact, I had a shoot with Maddy (the flower girl) last summer!

Megan had one request, and that was to get a lot of facial reaction shots during the ceremony. This happens to be one of my faves, but there are SO MANY cute ones!

Then it was time to boogie down!

After the reception, we drove into downtown Chicago to one of my favorite places...Millennium Park! Here we are in front of "the bean" designed by Frank Gehry! For those of you that aren't familiar with "the bean," it's a giant reflective/metallic colored mass that's shaped, well...like a bean, and from certain angles you can see the entire Chicago Skyline in the reflection!

They look so classy!

This might look strange to you at first, but I had the entire wedding party look into the reflection of the bean. I'm in the shot too. Where's Waldo??!!

I thought this one was so cute of Megan laughing with her brothers!

Who would have ever thought that we'd find a spot where we could get beautiful flower along with big buildings in the background??!!

Megan looks BEAUTIFUL! I wanted to get those earrings in a shot as well to show off her glammed-up style!

Also at Millennium Park, they had a really long wall (not sure if it was a construction wall or what) that had a bunch of beautiful art along it. We liked this one because it was a little bit funky and very colorful!

I LOVE this! Checkout all of the people around Megan and LaMorris!

Megan and LaMorris, thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your day. I can only hope that I captured the love and respect that you two have for each other. I hope you guys had a blast sailing through the Caribbean and made it home safely! Enjoy your slideshow! (To view ALL of the images from the day, click here and sign-in to Megan and LaMorris' guestbook at Pictage.com)!!

reece | 6.months!

2008-08-01T10:21:00.009-04:00

Finally, I got the opportunity to shoot at Trader's Point Creamery! I have been wanting to shoot here, but it's got a specific look and unless you're looking for a little "country feel" it's not the place for you. When Angie emailed me about what Reece would be wearing, I immediately suggested Trader's Point Creamery. Angie visited the spot and LOVED it! I have a feeling that future clients will ask to shoot here as well after seeing how cute Reece looks below!!

Reece is already 6 months old. She's growing so fast. I am looking for to our shoot in November! Checkout our shoot below...

Could Reece BE ANY CUTER??!!

Look at those little rolls on her arms:)!

Big girl pose!

This was obviously not intentional, but her hat kept falling in her eyes and I liked some of those shots...especially this one!

She crossed her feet like this all on her own!

So funny!

Checkout the little chickens that came in the barn and joined our photo shoot! They either wanted their pictures taken, or they were telling us to get out!

Thanks so much! I can't wait for our November shoot! I hope you like your photos and your slideshow!

claire.&.lyza!

2008-07-31T09:10:00.004-04:00

I got to hang with my nieces yesterday. Getting any good photos of them is challenging because they move so fast, but I think I got a few cute ones!

I love Lyza's big cheeks!

Checkout the two teeth on the bottom!

Claire was brushing her hair with her babydoll brush. Then she proceeded to brush my hair with it. It's never looked so good;)

Lyza loves to pat-a-cake!

Not the clearest of photos, but we haven't been able to capture the two of them together like this at all. Whew!

chi-town!

2008-07-29T16:24:00.003-04:00

I just started skimming through my images from this past weekend's wedding up in Chicago before starting to edit! I came across some cool shots that we got at Millenium Park, but this one caught my eye. Isn't Megan beautiful??!! I hate to share my little secrets until the entire shoot is ready to be blogged, but I couldn't resist! Stay tuned for more!!

ruby | 9.months!

2008-07-29T14:56:00.008-04:00

I could not wait to meet Ruby! I got to shoot Brooke and Matt's pregnancy shoot, but I just now got to see their little beauty, Ruby! She is so sweet. Everything in her room was pink, so needless to say she's already a girlie girl! You might also remember the other kids/dogs, Gerty and Poncho. They made it into some of the shots during the pregnancy shoot, and they managed to get their photos taken this time too! We started out in Ruby's nursery, and then went downstairs for a little play time!

Meet Ruby...

Poncho +Ruby!

She looks so bored with me here:)!!

We were laughing at how Ruby crossed her feet here! What a little lady:)

She loves this little play toy!

So serious...

I didn't even know that I captured this until I started editing. I think it's so sweet!

Daddy's girl...

They just moved into their new home a month ago. It is beautiful!

See...the other kids made it into some of the shots too!!:)

Matt & Brook, thanks so much! I hope you like all of your photos. See you in November for Ruby's birthday shoot! Enjoy the slideshow...

coffee.table.books!

2008-07-29T12:47:00.002-04:00

Beth and Jonathan's coffee table book arrived today, and I thought I'd share! Isn't it cool??!!

congratulations!

2008-07-28T23:15:00.005-04:00

I got news that three of my family members were pregnant! Ryan & Lindsey are expecting (Ryan is my cousin on my dad's side of the family), Stan & Taniya are expecting (Stan is Simon's brother), and Tony & Anita are expecting (Tony is Simon's cousin)!! I am so excited to have some new babies in the family to take pictures of.

We happened to be staying with Stan & Taniya this past weekend up in Chicago. I shot a wedding on Saturday in Chi-Town, so we went for a long weekend to hang out. We took my in-laws too! Five minutes after we arrived, Stan handed his mom a gift. She read the card first and had a somewhat puzzled look on her face. I asked to read the card. It was a "congratulations" card, and they had written inside, "Now we have a new Colts fan!" I immediately blurted out, "You're PREGNANT!!" Still a little confused, Gladys open the gift bag, and inside were two Colts onesies. She was so excited that she sat the onsies on a burning incense and went and hugged Taniya! Luckily Simon had an eye on the onesies that were about to burn! So after waiting and begging for a grandchild, Gladys and Cecil will finally be grandparents sometime near the end of the year, or the beginning of next year. We are excited to have a little one around! Until now it has been all about the dogs...Guploo and Peyton. Guploo is an adorable little puggle, and Peyton loves her cousin oh so much. They spent some quality time together this weekend!

Here's the handsome, Mr. Guploo!

Stan, Taniya and their baby! Well, I guess he'll be a big brother now!

Here's Ryan and Lindsey. Simon shot these at Pound the Pavement a couple of weekends ago!

CONGRATULATIONS!

sydney!

2008-07-27T21:27:00.008-04:00

Sydney is a doll! We had a blast playing at Falls Park in Pendleton. We were all drenched in sweat by the end, but it was fun! This girl is QUICK and she is a daredevil. I felt like I had just completed a marathon chasing her around. Once we made our way over to the playground, she handled all of the slides, swings and bridges like the big kids. She wasn't afraid of anything! Checkout Sydney's shoot...

Meet Sydney...

Kara REALLY wanted Sydney to wear her hair bow, but as you can see it didn't make many of the shots:)!!

She's a little monkey...

She was pretty happy once we made it to the playground for some shots!

She was concentrating pretty hard while walking across the bridge:)

So cute!

At the end, we decided to feed the ducks. I think some kids would have been scared to get in the center of about 20 ducks...NOT Sydney! She just laughed and thought it was funny!

This one cracks me up. Checkout the white duck that walked right in the way of my shot!

Thank you so much! You have such a sweet little girl! I hope you guys like your photos. Enjoy the slideshow!

just.a.peek!

2008-07-24T23:41:00.004-04:00

I have been so swamped and I hate to make people wait on their photos! One thing I always try to do is have a quick turnaround! I had hoped to have Sydney's photos posted sooner, but with weddings and Pound the Pavement, I'm just trying to knock one thing out at a time in the order that they happened just to keep up! In any case, I'll share just one with you while I work on finishing the rest of this cutie's shoot. I figured I'd post this one since Sydney is...well...peeking from behind the flowers!!:)

...and to continue on my busy streak, I am headed up to Chicago tomorrow to shoot Megan & LaMorris' wedding on Saturday. You can still call me or email me, but if I don't answer it's probably because I'm roaming through a cornfield somewhere along Interstate 65 with no cell phone service:) No matter what, I'll get back with you quickly!

john.&.cathy | 07.11.08

2008-07-24T21:00:00.008-04:00

Finally! I know that my family has been waiting to see this post! I had the privilege of shooting my Uncle John's wedding. John and Cathy were high school sweethearts before breaking it off and going separate ways. Wouldn't you know that years later they would reunite and tie the knot! It was a typical, scorching hot July Friday evening for their wedding. However, they planned a beautiful outdoor wedding at Falls Park, and just in the nick of time the sun went under the clouds for the ceremony to cool things off a little ("little" is a relative term, but at least the sun wasn't beating down on us!). A horse carriage delivered the beautiful bride, and then later took the Mr. & Mrs. after the ceremony to the reception site. Checkout their photos...

They opted to see each other before the wedding! Meet John & Cathy!

Here's a shot of the hardware...

Some final prep work taking place before the wedding...

Cathy opted for the comfy flip flops before the ceremony!

Recognize this one? If you'll recall from my post a couple of days ago Claire was the flower girl!

They did the sand thingy instead of the unity candle. Doesn't it look cool??!!

Mr. & Mrs. John Carey!

more bubbles...

Remember that I told you Jess had to bribe Claire to walk down the aisle? Well, this is the sucker that did the trick. Looks like she was enjoying it. ha!

Aunt Cathy and Uncle Dick flew in from Florida for the shin-dig!

One of my favorite all-time photos! The horse is looking me in the eye and SMILING! Can you believe that? Look at those GIANT teeth!

Congratulations, John and Cathy! I know that you two will live a long and happy life together! I hope you like your photos. Enjoy the slideshow!

Grohl.Is.Our.Friend!

2008-07-24T09:26:00.003-04:00

Well, last night was the Foo Fighters concert at Conseco Fieldhouse. We've seen them two times now (Simon has seen them more than that I think) and they are amazing! For our first anniversary, I decided to be the wife of the year and surprise Simon with a trip to Denver and tickets to the Foo Fighters/Weezer tour. That's right, he didn't even know we were leaving the state. I packed his bag, got him up at 4:30am, asked his bosses for the day off from work, we headed to the airport, and I didn't tell him where we were going or why until we got to the gate. I know I'm cool like that!!:) What was so crazy though was that at 5:30am on our way to the airport, the Foo Fighters "Learn to Fly" came on the radio. I was going nuts inside because I LOVE buying surprises for people, but it's really hard for me to keep them a secret. So when the song came on, it was all I could do to keep my mouth shut. I suppose I could have told him what we were doing, but it was more fun to just continue driving and having Simon wonder where I was taking him!! Last weekend, some of my family members (my faithful blog readers) were asking who the Foo Fighters were and what they sang. Here's a YouTube video of the Foos performing "Learn To Fly" back in '06...

This is my FAVORITE song from their new album, "Long Road to Ruin."

Here's one of Simon's pride and joy photos. This is Simon and Dave Grohl (lead singer for the Foo Fighters) in Chicago outside the House of Blues Hotel. Back in 2002 or 2003, we were in Chicago, and all of the sudden Simon said "holy crap, that's Dave Grohl!!" He was standing outside waiting for his car to be pulled around with his wife. I was like "go get your picture with him!!" So Simon approached him, and Dave was totally cool and down to earth. Look how he posed for me as I took the shot! We recently decorated our upstairs tv room in all rock and roll/music-related prints, so this is the last piece to the puzzle. We need to get this printed and framed to hang in this room! Simon is a drummer himself, so with Dave's background of first being a drummer for Nirvana and now being the lead singer for the Foos, Simon has so much respect for his musical talents!

(click on the image to see it larger)

Michigan.&.Laguna!

2008-07-23T11:08:00.003-04:00

I have a couple of trips planned within the next couple of months, so I thought I'd share where I was going to be in case any of you are interested in scheduling a shoot in either of these locations (or in case you have friends or family that live near these areas). I will be in LaSalle, Michigan on Friday August 1st through Sunday August 3rd and I'll be in Laguna Beach, California from Sunday September 28th through Thursday October 2nd. You can send me an email through my website (www.jamiesangar.com) or feel free to give me a ring! I'd love to shoot in some new parts of the country!

Here's a shot I took in Laguna Beach last March. This is DEFINITELY one of the locations I'd use!

craig & angie | 07.12.08

2008-07-22T23:21:00.008-04:00

Craig and Angie had a gorgeous wedding! Yet again, we had a wet and rainy morning. Through some sort of miracle, from the time that we got to the hair salon to the time that we left the hair salon, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining bright! The wedding ceremony was at the Meridian Street United Methodist Church. Let me tell you...this church is a photographer's DREAM! Tons of daylight and great architecture! The reception was at the lovely Ritz Charles. Angie did a great job selecting colors as well. The bridesmaids wore short navy dresses, and then made the dresses even more vibrant with a bouquet of bright, contrasting colorful flowers. I loved this look. Now, without giving away too many details, lets take a look at the day from start to finish!!...

Angie's started off at Brunette's Salon in Broad Ripple. We still don't really know who this guy in the orange shirt is, but when he saw the bridal party, he asked the stylist "who's the bride?" Seconds later, he began to serenade Angie. The entire place got silent, and we were all shocked to hear this stranger do such a nice and thoughtful act to another stranger. Hopefully Angie's sister got this on video!!

Then we were off to Philipe's Day Spa for makeup.

More fun photos at Philipe's:)

Then we were back at the church for final preparations!

Meanwhile, it probably took Craig about 15 minutes to get ready. Boys are lucky...

Angie and the girls looked beautiful!

I LOVE the reactions here!! One of my favorites!

Love the bouquet!

Checkout this handsome bunch of guys!

Craig wanted a shot with Aiden, but this was the best we could do! Isn't this hilarious??!!

Angie looked so beautiful. We found a room in the church that had great light, so we took advantage and got a ton of great shots of her!

Favorite...

Craig and Angie had a total of 7 kids in the wedding. They all walked down the aisle together (well, one came down in a wagon because he had broken his foot a week earlier--it was darling)! This little guy walked down the aisle and was "sssshhhh-ing" people the entire walk down! How CUTE is he??!!

Craig's first glance of his bride!

Love this reaction with Angie and her dad:)

A second view of the gorgeous church!

During a period of silence, there was a loud "YAY!" that came from one of the kids in the audience. Everyone turned around and thought that was hilarious!

Granola bars for bribery...

Congrats, Mr. & Mrs. Kinzer!

The little ones had bubble guns to shoot at Craig and Angie as they exited! I love this shot of Gabby shooting at me:)

We stopped at Holcomb Gardens on the way to the Ritz...

The first dance and the father/daughter dance...

Angie and her sister Amy rocked the house with the Fablous Imports!

And I don't know the whole story here, but this is a tradition at family weddings. This guys sits and dances to "Macho Man" while the ladies at the wedding tuck some bucks! I love these two shots!

I had such a great time at the wedding. It's been great getting to know you two over the past several months. I hope you guys had a fabulous time in Bermuda. Enjoy your slideshow! (To see ALL of Craig and Angie's wedding photos, click here and then sign-in to Pictage!)

As I was editing, I found a few fun outtakes! My lovely assistant, Jess is on the left. She got the great, wide shots from the balcony at the ceremony! And it seems that I'm always fixing the brides dress!!!

bribery!

2008-07-22T18:01:00.006-04:00

My little niece, Claire, was asked to be a flower girl in my Uncle's wedding. She JUST turned 2, so we knew that there was a good chance that she wouldn't walk down the aisle once the day came. She had practiced at the park, but a 2 year old has no idea what they're being asked to do...especially when the chairs/aisle aren't setup in the park. My sister turned to bribery. I personally think that bribery is COMPLETELY fine! Hey...it ended up working. Claire walked down the aisle all because there was a big sucker waiting for her at the end of the aisle! See, a little bribery never hurt anyone!

The morning of the wedding we walked into town to visit the candy store. For my family members out there, I'm sure you find this shot funny considering that Jess was a sugar-a-holic herself when she was Claire's age!

Claire chose the Whirly Pop. We bought one to eat right away, and saved the other for the aisle-walking.

She was really excited about her purchase.

Probably the first time ever that she's smiled at the camera!

Enjoying it on the walk back...

This was taken at the wedding rehearsal. The page in this book that Lyza is looking at has a mirror. Whenever Lyza looks in the mirror she puts this HUGE smile on her face. I just LOVE her chubby cheeks!!:)

More to come later this week when I post my Uncle John's wedding photos!!!

nick | class.of.'09

2008-07-21T10:38:00.001-04:00

Last week, I had the opportunity of shooting Nick's senior photos. I haven't done many senior shoots, but I want to do more of them! I had a really good time! Nick is going to be a senior at Mooresville High School. He's a football player, so we decided to start out at the football field before heading downtown for some urban shots. It was scorching hot outside. I think it was in the 90s when we were out on the field. So needless to say, I tried to work quickly on the field so we could get dowtown to some shade!!!

Boys are funny. Nick was so laid back about the whole shoot, and I told him that girls are typically totally opposite. Girls like to bring 50 outfits, touch up their makeup in between changes, have their own ideas on locations and shots...Nick was open to anything. That made my job pretty easy!! Here are just a few of my favorites from the shoot. Click here to see them ALL on Pictage.com.

Meet Nick. We had to get a nice mix of serious face shots and smiling shots!

I discovered this new favorite location while we were walking around downtown!

Love this one. It was probably 93 degrees here!

Nick's opponents better watch out for #34 this year!

Nick, I hope you like everything! I'm sure you look completely different now since you decided to shave your head RIGHT AFTER our shoot! I guess it has something to do with football season getting ready to start! Cheri, at least you have these photos to remember Nick's curly locks! Enjoy your slideshow!

foo.fighters.tickets!

2008-07-21T10:24:00.002-04:00

Ok, I still have 2 floor level tickets to the Foo Fighters concert this Wednesday evening at Conseco Fieldhouse. The face value per ticket is $45, so at this point I'll take offers! Shoot me an email if you are interested: jamie@jamiesangar.com. I've seen the Foo Fighters in concert before, and they put on a great show!

avery | 6.months!

2008-07-20T16:35:00.002-04:00

Last week, I got to visit one of my favorite families, the Homan's! It was a real treat because I got to see their beautiful new home that they just moved into. I cannot believe that Avery is already 6 months old. It feels like just last month I met them for the first time for Avery's newborn shoot.

Avery, Samantha & Gracie are such cute kids, and they all have unique personalities! Checkout how our shoot went...

Avery is such a happy little baby!

He really enjoyed riding his rocking horse:)

So handsome...

And here are his big sisters...Samantha on the left and Gracie on the right!

Samantha has a purple bedroom...

...and Gracie has a pink bedroom!

Samantha decided it was reading time during our shoot:)!!

It's not a baby shoot unless I get a picture of the little feet!

Gracie decided it was time for the hairbow to come out and the shades to go on!!

We got a couple of shots in their playroom. Isn't it cool??!!

Jenny & Andy, I hope you enjoyed your photos. Thanks again for having me. Here's your slideshow!

the.kropa's!

2008-07-17T00:48:00.001-04:00

The first time that I met Jill, Erik and Brandt, they were complete strangers just like any new client. However, they hold a completely different place in my heart now. This may be one of the most bizarre and small-world stories I've ever heard, and I'm still blown away every time I think about it. Ok, so several months after I took the Kropa's photos last summer, Jill emailed me to ask what my husband's name was and where his family was from. Not knowing what was prompting the question from her, I replied that my husband's name was Simon and that he grew up on the west side of Indianapolis. I thought to myself, "Man, this is weird. Maybe she's wondering where his extended family is from." So I added that Simon's grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles were from Pakistan. I hit "send" on the email, and I think I got almost an instant response from Jill. She had been talking with her mom and/or grandma about me and the fact that I had taken their family photos, and they recognized my last name. Believe it or not, when Simon's grandparents were coming to the United States to start a new life here, Jill's grandma and grandpa actually sponsored them. I am not sure of all of the details, but from my understanding, there was some sort of affiliation between their Christian churches, and Jill's grandparents supported Simon's grandparents financially and added guidance when moving to the United States. The families continued to remain close as they were growing up, and Jill remembers going to Sangar family get-togethers as a young girl and getting bangles from Simon's mom and all of the aunts! There are probably old photos that exist somewhere with Jill and Simon together as young children. Isn't that so Bizarre??!! I think is it amazing that we met through my photography. I LOVE my job!

So, after learning of all of that, I was so excited when Jill emailed me this Spring to tell me that she was pregnant for baby #2! Last weekend we hung out to take some photos of the belly before baby Christian is born, and to also get some new shots of Brandt. Check 'em out...

Meet Christian...:)

Brandt is so cute and acts MUCH older than 3!

Just a glimpse of the nursery. We'll save the rest of the nursery once Christian is born and we have our first shoot together!

We headed outside so Brandt could play a little!

My all-time FAVORITE pregnancy photo EVER!!!

Air-Brandt...

I love how Hans snuck into this photo:)

So sweet..

Big brother Hans is going to have his hands full with TWO younger brothers!!!

Jill and Erik, thank you so much. And if any other Unger's are out there, thanks for sharing your story with me and I am so thankful for your family's generosity. I hope you enjoy your slideshow!

www.poundpavement.com

2008-07-15T07:43:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to post a reminder to sign-up for Pound the Pavement! You can read more about the 5K and 1 Mile race in this previous post. I am in charge of the race, and we are offering a 5K run/walk, a 1 mile Fun Run, 1 Mile Stroller Strut and 1 Mile Dog Walk. In addition to the race, we also host a health fair where cholesterol screenings, blood pressure checks and body fat composition checks will be conducted. It is a GREAT time, and our proceeds benefit an annual scholarship that my family and I give away in memory of my dad. Click here to visit our website. Make sure you sign-up before 10pm this Wednesday before I close online registration. You can register the morning of the race as well, but we can't guarantee your shirt size at that point.

...and SPEAKING of the t-shirts, check these out! My handsome and talented husband, Simon, designed these retro-inspired threads. Aren't they cool? Our goal was to make them look like one of my dad's old race shirts. If nothing else, register for the race to get one of these!

For those of you that enter the 1 Mile Dog Walk, your stylish pooch will get a camouflage bandana! They have our logo on them in bright orange. Aren't these too cute??!!

Hope to see you there this Saturday morning!

foo.fighters.tickets!

2008-07-13T23:49:00.003-04:00

Anyone out there Foo Fighters fans?!! Simon & I are going to their concert in Indianapolis on Wednesday July 23rd at Conseco Fieldhouse, and we have two extra tickets that we are trying to sell. They are fabulous general admission seats on the FLOOR...right next to the stage!!! We are selling the pair for $100 (face value is $45 per ticket plus the convenience fees that we paid). I checked out prices on ebay, and starting bids for a pair of tickets are already at $100. So, if you're a fan like we are, send me an email right away. If I don't sell them here by tomorrow night (Monday night), they're going to be posted on ebay on Tuesday. Don't miss this opportunity to see a great show!!!

(My email address is jamie@jamiesangar.com) Thanks!

josh + nikki | engaged!

2008-07-13T19:06:00.012-04:00

I had such an amazing shoot with Josh & Nikki last week. It was smokin' hot outside, so we tried to work rather quickly. They chose to shoot at Josh's parents' house, and WOW...it was gorgeous inside and out. I happen to LOVE doing yard work and landscaping, so I completely appreciate the hard work that Josh's parents have obviously dedicated themselves to with their yard. I wish our yard looked like theirs!

Josh & Nikki are busily planning their April '09 wedding, and I cannot wait to see the all of the details that they are pulling together. It will be at Fort Ben and I love the colonial architecture there. I didn't have to do much directing at the shoot when it came to how to position themselves. They were very natural and looked each other in the eye which makes for GREAT shots. I had a fun time. Here are my favorites from our time together...

My absolute favorite from the shoot...

See what I mean with the landscaping??!!

This one is a very close second on my favorites list:)

Josh & Nikki are too cute!

We also opted for some indoor photos to cool off a bit!

I have to give all of the credit to Nikki & Josh for this shot. They had a vision in mind for how they wanted to pose, and also the angle that I should shoot from. I happen to LOVE it!

I dig the reflection in the countertop!

And checkout Nikki's ROCK! It is so gorgeous and Josh picked it out all himself.

Thanks so much guys. It was great working with you two, and I am really looking forward to your big day. I hope you enjoy your slideshow! To view ALL of their images or to purchase photos, click here! (Just before I left, Nikki asked, "What song are you going to use for our slideshow?" Honestly, I didn't know. I typically just pick as I'm putting it together, however, since she asked, I felt a lot of pressure to pick a GREAT song. After a bit of contemplation, I figured I couldn't go wrong with this one. Some might call it the greatest song of all time. Whether or not you believe that, it is a timeless and beautiful song. I hope you like!)

bad.to.the.bone.

2008-07-10T08:32:00.003-04:00

By now, you all know that I love to spoil my little pooch. And I know I'm not the only one judging by some of the doggie boutique and bakeries that exist out there. Over a year ago I found one called Trixie & Peanut. They have some of the most adorable, over the top goodies for dogs. Peyton's first purchase was an aqua colored rhinestone "P" charm for her collar. On the back we had her name added with Simon's cell phone number. However, when he switched from Sprint to AT&T when he purchased his iPhone, he wasn't able to keep his cell phone number (long, long story that still makes us angry so I won't even go there). So, this justified another purchase from Trixie & Peanut (it took us almost a year to remember that we needed to buy her a new charm to update the phone number on the back). After several visits to their website, Peyton and I finally agreed on the new winner...a rhinestone encrusted skull and crossbones! There were several skull designs and colors to choose from. They even have a pink version and a red version for the girlie dogs, but Peyton is such a tomboy that we figured the traditional black and white worked best for her! You HAVE to checkout the site. I mean, checkout this "Pet Bungalow for the low low price of $675!!!! Are you kidding me?? People have to be buying this stuff--why else would they be selling it?!

Here's Peyton modeling her new necklace!

dan & sarah | 06.28.08

2008-07-09T09:22:00.014-04:00

When you see the photos below, you won't believe that it was pouring down rain on my drive up north to the church. The entire drive I was running through plan b in my mind assuming that we'd be stuck indoors for photos. But wouldn't you know, it completely cleared off a couple of hours later. And it didn't just clear off, we had beautiful blue skies and bright colors everywhere. Sarah and Dan, I'm not sure what kind of super-powers you have, but I need a touch of that!

They had an absolutely beautiful wedding. Sarah's dad married them, and it was such a cute and personable ceremony. If I remember correctly, when he said "Dan you may kiss your bride" I think he threw in "...but watch it!!!!" at the end. Ha! No pressure, Dan! After the ceremony, we squeezed in some photos of Dan & Sarah since they opted not to see each other before the wedding, before heading a few miles away for the reception. I've never seen so many people so anxious to get on the dance floor. We've all been to those weddings where it's like pulling teeth to get folks on the dance floor. Not this group! It was a great time and I am so honored that I got to capture your day, Dan & Sarah. Here's the good stuff...

It's so funny to witness how differently girls and guys prepare for weddings. The girls started preparing several hours before the ceremony, and well...the guys had other priorities. You'll see what I'm talking about below.

I snuck into the church before the lights were on, and snapped this photo of the stained glass window. No color correcting here! This is straight out of the camera!

Ok, here's what I'm talking about. The guys DEFINITELY had different priorities before the wedding. They were in the basement of the church playing four square. Apparently this is a family tradition.

This is also a tradition. Dan's family uses the exact same ball to play four square before weddings, and they write their names on the ball on their wedding day. How cute!

I love this photo:)

being silly...

Isn't Sarah beautiful??!!

It was extremely hot and humid outside, so once we got back in, the girls were steaming Sarah's dress:)

Dan had a great group of guys. I love this...

One of my faves...

Sweet photo of Sarah being walked down the aisle with her dad...

This was shot as Dan and Sarah were announced for the first time at the reception. The funniest thing happened though...as Dan passed by one of his groomsmen, he gave Dan a bite of something. If you look closely, you can see that he has it in his hands. It was seamless...almost as if they had it planned:) Too funny!

The cakes were gorgeous. And checkout the Groom's cake:)

Par-TAY!

Dan and Sarah, thank you so much. I hope you had a fabulous time in Clearwater! Sit back, relax and enjoy your slideshow! To see ALL of Dan & Sarah's photos, click here and sign-in to Pictage! (And for those of you who have asked about the music that I use, you can always take your cursor over the music note icon below the slideshows to see the name and artist of the song. In this case, it's Dan & Sarah's first dance song.)

And here's one outtake for you. Where's Waldo?

almost.done!

2008-07-09T09:18:00.003-04:00

Hey! Today is the day that Dan & Sarah's wedding photos are going to be posted. I just wanted to let those of you that are checking my blog for them, know that they should be posted within about an hour. We lost our power last night at 8:30pm as I was trying to finish up the photos, so I was pretty helpless the rest of the night. I wasn't sure what to do with myself without my computer, the tv...torture I tell you! Anyways, please come back soon...they're almost ready!

-Jamie

big.bertha!

2008-07-07T18:13:00.006-04:00

I am a gear geek, and I'm not afraid to admit it. You kinda have to be if you're a photographer. When I set out to start this venture, I told myself that I was not going to buy cheap gear just to get me by. I wanted to buy the best. I knew that would mean I'd have to be more patient to accumulate everything that I needed, but it was worth it. The Canon L Series lenses are the best of the best. I remember the first time I rented the Canon 85mm f/1.2 L lens...it blew me away. Lenses are definitely more important than the camera body in my mind.

After lots of hard work, thousands of photos, hundreds of shoots, and a little sweat, I finally just completed my lens family with the purchase of the Canon 70-200mm IS f/2.8 L lens. I believe that as a wedding photographer, you have to have a wide angle lens, a prime lens and a zoom lens. Before now, I had to rent the zoom...but not now! I am excited to use it this weekend for my Friday wedding and my Saturday wedding. The zoom is the lens that I use the least, so that's why I saved it for last! This puppy is so HUGE. I am used to my short prime lenses, so it's weird seeing this thing protruding off the end of my camera. Just thought I'd share my excitement with you, although this is probably the most boring thing you've read all day!

Here's big bertha...

Here are 3 of my 4 L Series lenses. (I'm shooting with one of them, duh!)

Big bertha on the left (mainly going to be my wedding ceremony lens), the 16-35mm L lens in the middle (used mostly for wide group shots at weddings, but also when I have a cool landscape behind my subject), and the 85mm f/1.2 L on the right (the perfect portrait lens. Most of my engagements, bridal portraits and kid portraits are done with this lens).

The 85mm lens is my rock. It's the one I shoot probably 85% of my work with. It's super heavy and slow, but it has amazing results. The lens I shot all of these photos with is my 50mm f/1.2 L lens. I always use this one with baby shoots, and also pull it out for portraits and weddings. The camera body that I use is the Canon 5D!