Amy + Craig: Sneak Peek

Saturday, we moseyed around Goshen, IN with Amy and Craig, and loved watching and photographing them interacting with each other. They had great smiles! Here are two (the rest due up shortly!)...

Maria + Jeremiah

We had a great time on St. Mary's campus and along Lake Michigan with Maria and Jeremiah. We had great weather (a bit hot, if anything) and got some really nice pictures. Can't wait for their wedding in October!





Leandra's view:


...and mine! Love that ivy.




Love these next two.






We had really great warm, rosy light that Lake Michigan sunsets are famous for (if they're not, they should be, then!)




Love this one.








The quintessential lovers-on-the-beach-at-sunset shot. Couldn't leave without getting this one!

A Little Slice

Yesterday, Leandra and I made our annual pilgrimage to the mecca of teenagers by the herd, spinny rides, livestock, and deep fried everythings: the Elkhart County 4-H fair. And, we went on rodeo night to top it off. Rodeo night at the fair was one of our first dates 4 years ago. You can't find a better place than a good 4-H fair to look at animals (4-H rabbits, bengal tigers, and everything in between), watch people (all the way from a substantial Amish "crowd" to a family of Italian acrobats), eat lots of food, and blow money on games for overstuffed and overhyped road-worker-vest-green gorillas. Here are a few from the fair!



Leandra's choice for the gooey-doughy-and-sweet course (which comes right after the salty-fried-and-cheesy)


Mine. Getting pie at the fair always makes me remember mom saying when I was younger how much she loved the fair because it was a "little slice of Americana". This is a big slice, a la mode, but it doesn't get much more American than this. Red checkered tablecloth not included.




It's fair to say that I was quite glad there were one, two, three fences between me and this guy:




The rest of Maria and Jeremiah's will be here... tomorrow! Then a little peek of Amy and Craig's engagement session.

Maria and Jeremiah: Engagement Session!

Here's just two from Sunday evening with Maria and Jeremiah. We had great weather. We were at beautiful places. They had great smiles. Enough said.

The rest will be up as soon as we finish them!

Coming up...

We caught a few pictures of each other at our last engagement session with Maria and Jeremiah. Just had to post 'em up... Tomorrow we'll have a little sneak peek of their session, and soon as we finish the rest of them, a full post of their photos. Stay tuned. We had a great time with them on the campus of St. Mary's and on the beach for sunset.

The photos Leandra took of me, and probably a few that I jumped into...



And two that I got:



If you didn't see Leandra in one or either, that's because she's super stealthy! The first, she's wearing her favorite colors (mine too!) -- green and brown--which, incidentally, are the colors of the gardens at St. Mary's (I know, surprised me too). I didn't even notice her until I heard "click-click" coming from the grass. That blurry mass in the grass behind Jeremiah's shoulder? Yep. That's her. And yes, we got plenty of good ones without unrecognizable figures lurking around... or crouching men in shorts, for that matter.

Just two

Yesterday Leandra and I drove out to our favorite park around Grand Rapids. About 15 minutes into our walk, one of us said, "we need to do this more often." It think it's been that way for the past, oh, I don't know, every visit. It's so relaxing, freeing, and good for us to put aside everything for a bit-- just go, us two, with no distractions. The wind was blowing; it was a bit cooler than normal. I'm more invigorated by weather like that-- it felt like a fall day, in a lot of ways. And we both love fall. There's the hoodie-and-jeans, warm-in-the-sun-but-quite-cool-in-the-shade, windy Saturdays in early October, and the violent, big-clouded afternoons later on, when it's suddenly feasible to want some hot cider, chai, or cocoa in the middle of the day (or a nap under a big blanket with the window wide open)...

And of course, both of our birthdays are in October! That means chocolate cake, apple dumplings (not in the same meal, of course... but I wouldn't be ashamed to try that sometime) family, and a nice, fat, Barnes and Noble gift card from any one of our relatives who don't have to be geniuses to know how we love that!

All that to say: We went to the park. We liked. Took a camera. I love going places with beautiful scenery and beautiful people (like weddings!) but I also love going to little county parks with not a whole lot more than trees, trails, a few buggy ponds, and open, grassy fields. Here's a few from the park. They look quite springy, for how much it felt like fall. Just two of 'em:







Lots of engagement sessions and weddings (and a few things in between) coming soon!

Meg + Shane: Engagement Session

Here's the rest of Meg and Shane's engagement pictures. It was so hard to choose, so
there's a lot...









Favorite barn one. Love it.


Love that look...


This one too. (Meg and Shane: this is an alternative crop to the one we gave you. If you like this one better, shoot us an email! It's just a different-er size than the rest of 'em)


It's nearly impossible to pass up the opportunity for pictures in front of big, red, barn doors.
Shane was pullin' out the cheese on the smile for the last one, which I am always quick to note, producing the "who, me?" smile on Shane's part and outright laughter on Meg's. When you tell someone they're being cheesy, they a) cross the line from awkward-looking cheesy to pour-on-the-Velveeta-we're-makin'-salsa cheesy, b) make a weird face, or c) smile/laugh...all of which are better than the alternative.



Shane's got the GQ...I-could-kill-you-if-I-wanted... look down in this one.




Love this one! 3 awesome things about this picture: 1) Meg's smile. 2) The big rock. 3) Shane's feet.






The running one? It was too cold standing there they decided to run down the beach to warm up...what resulted is what looks like a designer clothing ad (you know, where they assume everyone runs down the beach in a collared shirt and black dress...on a regular basis). I like it.
And that last one. Whew.

We'll be posting quite a few engagement session in the next few weeks... and as for any other pictures we deem blog-worthy, we'll stick 'em up!

Meg and Shane

A "sneak-peek" from our last engagement session with Meg and Shane. We had a lot of fun, even in the ghastly wind on the beach. It was *supposed* to be warm... not 65 and windy.

One in Meg's family barn...



And.... at the beach

G-l-a-m-o-r-o-u-s!



Check back soon for the rest!

-Grant and Leandra