Category Archives: Blog

The Nutcracker Ballet

Published by jess in Blog on December 23rd, 2011

The kids I volunteer with at The Other Way Ministries have gotten free tickets to see The Nutcracker the past two years and I have have the privilege of  getting to join them and chaperone :)   I love ballet and this year we had front row seats so I had a chance to take some great photos!  Here are some of my favorites.

^ The little baby was so sweet everyone clapped for her when she walked on stage!

                                              ^  kids loved the 'fighting' scene

^ I love the motion blur of the skirt in these two photos

^ The boys loved this group of dancers

The kids were saying hi to people in the orchestra pit during intermission.  It was such a fun day and we even got a backstage tour afterwards.  I love that these kids get an opportunity to experience the ballet because it is something they normally would not get to do!

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Red Riding Hood

Published by jess in Blog on November 11th, 2011

A couple years ago I photographed Isaac and Jenn's wedding and since Isaac is my cousin they know I'm still doing lots of photography.  When they asked me to do a photo shoot with them in their Halloween costumes I was pretty excited and quickly agreed!  They wanted to act out scenes from the story  of Little Red Riding Hood and came with lots of fun ideas.    The weather cooperated nicely and we got some great pictures with the fall colors at Bertha Brock park.  I love so many of these photos, but here is just a sample of what we took.

                                              ^  I really like this one!

^ isn't his wolf mask great?!

                               ^ this was so clever - Isaac as  'grandmother'

^ yes, he even had a tail

^ little red riding hood walking through the woods :)

Thanks for suggesting this great idea guys, I will get you the photos soon :)

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Kayla at Millennium Park

Published by jess in Blog on November 3rd, 2011

I wanted to take advantage of the last bit of warm weather and the great fall colors a couple weeks ago so I asked my friend and neighbor Beth if I could do a photo shoot with her five year old god- daughter Kayla.   Normally this girl loves having her picture taken, but of course the one day  I want to do a real photo shoot she just wanted to play on the playground!  Thankfully I managed to get a few cute pictures still - Millennium park in  Grand Rapids is is a great location because its so big and so close to my house!

^she was pretending to be an animal in the grass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

              ^ this smile was a reaction to making it across the monkey bars by herself!

Thanks for letting me steal your kid for a few hours Beth! We had lots of fun at the park :)

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Martha and Roy’s wedding

Published by jess in Blog on November 2nd, 2011

At the end of September I had the privilege to photograph Martha and Roy's outdoor wedding at the Grand Ledge Opera House.  These photos would have been posted a few weeks ago but my website was down.  Now that I'm back up and running here are some of my favorite shots from their special day!

 

Thanks for letting me photograph your wedding - enjoy the photos!

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Karen & Doug’s wedding

Published by jess in Blog on October 2nd, 2011

A  few weeks ago Karen and Doug got married on a sunny day  on the beach of  Lake Huron.  Karen and I used to work together and before she was even engaged she told me she wanted me to photograph her wedding.  I'm so glad it worked  out and I was able to be a part of their special day!

Congratulations again you two! I hope you like  this small preview of your pictures- I promise to get you the rest soon :)

 

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Tim’s senior photos (and family photos)

Published by jess in Blog on September 16th, 2011

I know Tim's parents from church and was pretty excited when his mom asked me if I would take his senior photos last month.  I have the least experience with senior photos and was happy to take some of him.  While we were at the park  I also took a few photos of their other two kids (and loved talking  to their  daughter about her  interest in photography!) and ended with some whole family photos.

Thanks for putting up with me guys! I hope you enjoy your photos :)

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Phelps Family

Published by jess in Blog on September 7th, 2011

I've known Rick and Sheri since I was in high school (shortly after they were married).  I have watched their kids grow up every summer at camp and babysat more times  than I can count! The last week of camp this summer I was visiting one day and happened to have my camera with me and Rick asked me if I would mind taking some family  photos for them so of course I agreed.

For being an unplanned photo shoot with three kids and loads of  distractions I still got some good pictures for the family to use on their prayer cards.  If you are interested in the ministry of Camp Beechpoint check  out their website: beechpoint.com

Their son, Isaac is 3 1/2 and entertained us  all by his funny faces and poses in these next two...

ps- I"m attempting a new way of uploading photos to my blog so if the formatting  seems strange that would be why :)

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Heather & Jerry’s wedding

Published by jess in Blog on August 31st, 2011

Heather and Jerry got married  about a month ago in Kalamazoo and something that made this  wedding unique was the amount of family and the amount of love they were  surrounded by!  Heather was adopted as a baby and recently met her birth parents.  Her birth mom has three kids and  Heather and Jerry included  all of them in the wedding.  I enjoyed seeing everyone dancing and laughing together and acting like one  big family.  Despite not  having  much  time  for pictures I am thankful I could be at their wedding to witness the love that exists not only between Heather and Jerry but also amongst all the family members.

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Becca & Josh’s engagement photos

Published by jess in Blog on August 9th, 2011

I had the great pleasure of taking engagement photos for Becca and Josh at Camp Beechpoint a few weeks ago.  Becca's uncle was my boss when I worked at camp and I babysit his kids often so when he told me his niece was engaged and needed a wedding photographer I told him to recommend me :) Actually Becca and I have met before, in spring 2006 or 2007 we were both on the same trip to Kentucky, but we have both grown a lot since then.

Here's just a small sample of the over 100 photos I ended up taking of these two!  They were fun to work with and had some great ideas of their own I can't wait until their wedding next spring!

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Gabe & Sarah’s wedding

Published by jess in Blog on July 30th, 2011

In June my longest lasting friend Sarah, who I've known since middle school, married Gabe and I was happy to photograph their special day!  I also took their engagement photos last summer which was so much fun.  Congratulations you two, sorry it has taken me so long to get these photos done!

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