Stouts Island Lodge Wedding with Katy & Jon

The forecast was for rain. I was bummed. Stouts Island Lodge is a destination venue where family and friends travel to enjoy a weekend getaway. Guests swim, kayak, fish, soak up the sun, read while looking out over the lake, enjoy nature, and experience a slowing down and enjoying friends that is hard to replicate anywhere else in the midwest. Rain just gets in the way of enjoying the weekend. BUT, as often does...the weather turned. The wedding day was gorgeous and was only outdone by how amazing Katy and Jon looked together. Everyone involved pulled off the perfect wedding. Below are a collection of random moments and portraits caught throughout the day.

Bookings for 2019 are coming in, but I still have plenty of availability and I'd love to hear from yah! After 7 years, I'm amazed photography has turned into a career and one I love more now than when I started. Thanks so much for all your support. Literally, cannot do this without your help.      

Twenty Seventeen.

This year end post and the content is so dear to me. Its a statement of faithfulness and endurance. A reminder when I feel too weak to finish, I'll be given the strength to take another step and carry on. I don't go into a new year hoping for it to be a hard one, but it does have a unique way of shaping and molding in a way the easier seasons just don't. I want to remember and feel this until it truly informs 2018 and how I prepare for it.

I'm still processing this past year and its impact on me and will be for a while. The cross current beneath all of 2017 (and half of 2016!) has been a house remodel (post coming, soon). I cannot separate my photography work from the remodel, because I was so involved in much of it. It was my second job and seemed full time most of the time. I truly believe I had the perfect amount of photography work, however (and an amazingly helpful, forgiving, understanding and patient wife). These facts enabled me to juggle everything else on my plate this past year, but I never want to try it again. 

What a year.

I totally neglected the photography business and feel as though it took a step back after a very inspiring 2016. Momentum seems to have reversed for the first time in 6 years. Now, I'm left dusting myself off (literally and figuratively), picking up the pieces and getting this thing back on the right track. I'm so excited about this, though. 

More time to focus. To invest. Less housework.

Thankfully, I am very proud of the work I delivered to my amazing clients and friends this past year. Even though I felt at the end of myself on a weekly basis, inspiration, energy and motivation always came when needed. I cannot thank God enough for that. There have been so many moments of profound joy this past year and God continues to humble me. I don't deserve such amazing grace. You people. This job. All the moments I witnessed with a camera in hand.  

Thank you.

Here's to turning a page and starting afresh. But, always remembering the sweetness amidst tough and trial filled years. One wedding, one session, one destination and photo at a time. 

I Hope you enjoy this look back. The past two years have been filled with more film photography than ever and I'm finally feeling "comfortable" with the challenge/reward of it. I Hope you and yours start the new year off right and it's one of the best, yet.

Lets create something amazing together.

Peace out to my assistant for the past two seasons. Josiah, you'll be missed but I'm beyond excited for whats next for yah. Thanks so much for all the help, bro. 

Amy & Rob's wedding at Stout's Island Lodge in Northern, WI.

I'm doing something different for my journal entries this year. Instead of weddings and shoots being displayed in a linear timeline style, I'm going to drop highlights in random order. Well, not completely random. But, it may appear that way. When I go through a wedding I've photographed, certain moments jump off the screen and bring me back in a way others just don't.  Sometimes its what happened in front of my camera, other times its a moment of inspiration or unique light, etc. Memories of the past usually hit me randomly and out of order, then my mind puts the pieces together and I feel something. I'm hoping to give it a try through these entries this year. Random, often mundane moments, strung together as an abstract collection of records of the past. 

Amy and Rob are amazing. Most of my clients are this way. More interesting, smarter, cooler and better people in general than me. I'm usually left wondering why they hired me? But, I must be doing something right because they keep coming back and keep telling their friends. I'm absolutely blown away. Amy and Rob will go on to do amazing things and travel the world together. They fit. Together. It was a high privilege to spend a weekend with them and witness their love and commitment to each other. I'm just blown away.     

Tons of thanks to my friend, Josiah for helping me with this wedding. A few shots in this post are his.