Congrats dad!!
If you look in today's Carmel section of the Indy Star, you'll see an awesome write up they did about my dad and his Fantasy Football experiences at Notre Dame! Congrats dad!! 🙂
Very busy week! :)
This past week has been crazy busy….last Friday was my grandpa's b-day, Saturday was my aunt's b-day and Sunday was mine! 🙂 We did a joint b-day celebration on Friday at my mom's house for me & grandpa…then shot a wedding on Saturday…John & I celebrated my b-day together on Sunday….did a joint b-day party at dad's for me & my aunt on Monday after a planning meeting for the next holiday bridal show…we've been working on orders…meeting with brides and corporate clients…we did a photo shoot for UPS today and now tomorrow will be filled with preparing for this weekend's shoots! 🙂 I've been slacking on the blog this week due to all of these projects, appointments, shoots and celebrations but now I can post some cool pics. 😉 You'll have to excuse the photo quality on this post…all of these were taken with my little point & shoot…well, except for this one below. That was taken with my new D200. 😀 (Sweet camera!!!) The photo above is one of three cakes I received last weekend…loved the pink! (Of course…) My sister decorated one of my gift bags with all kinds of bling, she's like a little mini me, it's hilarious.
On Friday, my grandparents came into town and my mom made her famous turkey & mashed potatoes for our b-day dinners. We bought grandpa a cool blue jacket for the Fall that looked great on him as well as a new book he wanted and some fun jelly belly stuff. On Sunday, John surprised me with a dozen pink roses, b-day balloons, chocolates, a cute pink iPod (which I LOVE) and a surprise dinner to Kincaid's. That's definitely one of our favorite restaurants. They have a Dijon chicken dish that is amazing!!!
On Monday afternoon, I ended up at Robert's trying to repair or replace my camera from Saturday's wedding (read post below) and ended up getting the Nikon D200 instead. I love it! The highlight of Monday evening's b-day party was when my dad wrapped up his Minolta X-700 for me though. When I was 5 years old, I shot my first "real" pictures on this manual SLR camera…dad and I were vacationing at the Orlando World Center and he handed me this camera to take some pics of him by the pool and they turned out great! Little did we know where this love of photography would lead. It's now a part of EHP history and he retired it on Monday evening and handed it over to me for posterity. 🙂 Thanks dad!!
Also, I wanted to congratulate him on another big win in an ND uniform!!! 😀 He played in the first ever ND vs. Penn State Fantasy Bowl game last Friday evening and helped lead the team to victory…16 to 15!
The luckiest couple we’ve ever met…
They say if it rains on your wedding day, it's a sign of good luck. Well, Jennifer & Phillip are the luckiest people we've ever met! LOL John & I woke up early on Saturday and starting watching the radar…it was overcast and wasn't looking too promising for our outdoor wedding scheduled for that afternoon. We decided it would be best to arrive early, even though we weren't technically allowed to get into the venue until 3:45 to start pictures. At 2:45, we rolled into Lumiere du Corps in Lebanon to begin setting up our equipment. Another wedding reception was finishing up from that morning but the storm clouds were rolling in. John whipped out his new LG Chocolate phone and started tracking the weather on site. I took outdoor shots of the location, the ceremony set-up, the location's flowers and decor, etc. I knew that if it started pouring, there would be no chance to get these shots later. Little did we know at the time what the day would hold in store for all of us…
At 3:45, it began sprinkling outside. Within the course of the next hour, Jennifer and her wedding party encountered so many wedding emergencies. Somewhere between duct taping boobs, removing excessive tulle and the veil, ironing the wrinkled dress, getting a dress zipper unstuck, looking for our stolen umbrellas, sewing together a tux, looking for the site coordinator to turn on the air and finding the flowers, we managed to get everyone dressed and ready to start pictures. Our emergency kit definitely came in handy!!! LOL Jennifer had a gorgeous Mori Lee wedding gown…it was SO beautiful!
A little music to help diffuse the sound of the thunderstorms going on outside…
Loved the hoodie….
Diana got a shot of me helping Jennifer get all taped in…gotta love the Hollywood Fashion tape! 🙂
Once everyone was almost done dressing, Diana and I scouted out our photo options. As photographers, we're always looking for the best possible options for lighting, natural backgrounds, soft colors, etc. This was probably the most challenging situation we've faced yet. We couldn't shoot outside obviously since it was raining….we couldn't shoot in the reception hall since there was another wedding finishing up…the tent was filled with chairs and tables that were in the way…and the best light that we had coming in was from a window that faced a parking lot full of cars. Here's what we had to work with….
(Yikes) So, we decided the window was our best option…Diana pulled the curtains back and tied them up, John moved the furniture in front of it and we actually loved the way it looked!! Here's our handsome groom, Phillip….
Cheers! Jennifer found a cold drink while we shot Phillip's pics… LOL
Here's our happy bride, Jennifer…she and Phillip were such troopers through the whole day. She spent months and months of planning and the weather put a wrench in her plans. 🙁
But of course she still has amazing pictures….. 🙂
LOVED it!!!
They are so cute together!!
After we finished pictures of the bride, the groom and the two of them together, we ventured outside for some fun "in the rain" shots…
Then finished some pictures at the reception site once the other wedding party cleared out. Here's a cute one of Jen & her girls…we loved their dresses! I love it when bridesmaids have black dresses, they're so elegant and they're practical – you can actually wear them again. 🙂
According to the bride, the staff at the venue wanted them to continue with their plans to hold the wedding outside. :O I didn't think you could fit 200 people under a tent of this size?!
The poor videographer…. hope his equipment didn't get wet like ours did. 🙁
I don't think this is what she had in mind when she envisioned an outdoor wedding. 🙁 I felt so bad for her, but mom still managed to walk her down the aisle, smiling in the rain. 🙂
The rain was coming in at an angle, hitting everyone in the face….John held the umbrella over me as I used my body to shield the cameras from water. No such luck…one of our cameras got water logged and quit on us…but have no fear, my back-up was already in my other hand when it happened. We just kept on shooting and never missed a shot. 🙂 Note to all photographers out there: Tamrac bags and Shootsacs are the bomb!!!!! John zipped up the Tamracs before we went out in the rain and we put all other necessary items in the Shootsac and not a drop of water got on anything in any of our 3 bags! They took a full day to dry out of course but we were AMAZED at the quality and durability that they all withstood while shooting in the pouring rain.
Eventually, we had to back-up slowly in tandem to get under the tent (it got too bad outside) and here's a shot of the water pouring off of the tent…what a day to remember!!! LOL
I don't think I've ever heard more cheering during the kiss than at this moment! 🙂
After everyone managed to get dried off, we continued on with the reception….the sand ceremony obviously didn't work out as planned but we still managed to get a shot of it, maybe they can do that on their honeymoon? 🙂
They had cupcake cake centerpieces, they were so cool!!!
And cookie cutter favors…
Jennifer dancing with her mom…
Congrats you guys!! I hope you have a great time on your honeymoon and that it's sunny and perfect for you the whole time!!! 🙂 You definitely win the award for the most memorable wedding ever, that's for sure!!! 😀
Congratulations Kerri & Ryan!
Last Sunday, we photographed Kerri & Ryan's wedding at First Baptist Church and their reception at the Marriott North. It was another beautiful, sunny day with a gorgeous couple to photograph! 🙂 We had the opportunity to work with Bob Ridge from Indy Visual (who did our wedding video in '03) and he's always a blast to work with, I know their video will be fantastic!! Here's the handsome groom….
The adorable flower girl….
A detail shot of Kerri's gorgeous Jasmine Couture gown….
Kerri looked absolutely stunning!! She looked like a celebrity bride….:)
Favorite!!
They had two yellow roses at the altar in remembrance of Ryan's first wife and Kerri's father that passed away. Through those tragedies, fate brought them together though. Melissa & I used a few of those rose petals to create this shot, showing their past, present and future together…. 🙂
An emotional but happy ceremony for both families….
I love cool bubble shots!!
Here's Ryan's son, the ring bearer, trying to get the wedding party to laugh for me….hilarious!!!
They are so cute together!!
Classic Cakes did another amazing job as usual…. yum!!
Gorgeous flowers….
The DJ had the guests surround the outside of the dance floor during their first dance…I loved it, you could really feel the warmth and love that everyone has for both of them….
They had a chocolate fountain which was a huge hit! The guests LOVED it!
Congrats you guys!! Hope you're having a blast in St. Kitts this week!! 🙂
Holy cow…
I know most of you saw my post last week about us being in the running for WRTV's A-List in the category of "Indy's Best Wedding Photographer" and I checked out the comments again tonight on my listing…holy cow. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing career, amazing clients, amazing staff and an amazing life. When I started out shooting weddings in '94 (yes, high school) I had NO IDEA where it would all lead. Who would've ever thought that 13 years later, so many people would be voting for us and cheering us on like this! (This feels like American Idol…but I promise, I won't sing…) LOL We meet so many cool people every weekend and we have such a great time, I'm so lucky. You guys all made my night (again!) and I truly appreciate all of the kind words…I couldn't ask for a better life. 🙂
Cori
"Erin and staff produces wonderful photos that not only capture the day/event, but the emotion that goes with in. Not to mention what wonderful people they are. "
Dawn Stemle
"Erin and her wonderful assistants photographed my best friends wedding on August 18th. I already knew from seeing my friends pre-bridal portraits that she was an amazing photographer, so I wasn't surprised by the quality of her work. What I was surprised by was how friendly, personal, just plain out nice they all were to everyone in the wedding party. Unlike other weddings I've been in where the photographer BARKS orders at everyone so they feel like they are in the army, they were calm and patient. What a delightful change! Erin has such an eye, getting the perfect shots at those intimate moments. I was so touched with one picture at the ceremony when my friends brother sang the Father/Daughter song and caught the family moment afterwards. How touching and personnel. THOSE are the moments people remember and she captured it beautifully!!! Oh, and it doesn't hurt that she makes everyone look so darn good in the pictures too!!! I can't wait to set up my own little session with Erin soon! "
Cathy
"Erin photographed my daughter's wedding two years ago – best choice I made! She was just wonderful to work with and the pictures were so creative. Very responsive to e-mails – we loved her, John and Diana!"
Karen
"They go out of their way to make you feel comfortable. Erin is truly excited for every bride and her joy comes out in your pictures. "
Christine A. ~ carmel, Indiana
"Erin and her staff are AWESOME! They have photographed two events for me, and she always does an AMAZING job. I love her creative abilities and her willingness to go the extra mile for the perfect shot!"
Heather
"Erin and her staff are incredible. We love our album and received so many compliments on the photography. Erin makes the day run smoother – extremely organized . No other wedding photographer that I have seen has been as comprehensive in their coverage or as efficient as Erin and her crew."
Jessica
"She is a WONDERFUL photographer! She has photographed my wedding, rehearsal, reception, a friend's bridal shower, my sister's maternity shoot and baby shower as well as my newborn nephew. She is always professional, kind and ingenious!"
tkai
"I have never used Erin Hession Photography myself but have heard comments from many others about the great quality of work."
Linda
"Erin and her team photographed my daughters wedding last month and I have never seen such remarkable shots in my entire life. So many emotions captured for our memories, you wonder where you were when she took them and how you could have missed it. "
Michelle Flowers
"Erin is so professional, fun and amazing at what she does. She basically helped me plan my wedding. I had no idea where to start and she sent me in the right direction, she's incredibly knowledgable. I didn't have to ask for a single thing on my wedding day because she was right there, literally, taking care of me. She goes above and beyond the duties of a wedding photographer. She took care of everything! And the pictures were ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!! I had no idea I could be so pretty. Anytime I hear of somebody getting married I ALWAYS refer them to Erin Hession. She's the BEST IN THE BUSINESS as far as I'm concerned!!!!!!"
Molly
"Erin and her team are so sweet and low key…they made my wedding day stress free and I have so many wonderful pictures that bring the memories to life!"
Jennifer
"My roommate just had her wedding in June and the pictures turned out great! There were even pictures developed by the time of the reception for everyone to see. In December the groom's sister is using Erin for her wedding too!"
Bonnie Orsa
"They photographed my daughter Kelly's wedding. Which turned out wonderful. "
AdriAnne Jones
"They are wonderful, they not only take your photos which are awesome but they care about you and want your day to be perfect. They are easy to work with and are NOT rude. They are the most genuine people I know and I have used them since my wedding and will continue in the future. It is more than a business to them it is their passion. They only do top notch work!! They were a miracle to us!!"
Crystal
"Erin's photography is amazing. She is photographing my wedding on 6/7/2008 and I cannot wait! The pictures are the memories of weddings and I know that mine will be the best because of Erin and Staff! I am always looking at her blog to see what NEW photography she has done and it just always seems to amaze me!"
Beth
"One word, AWESOME!"
patrick
"Because she has the best side-shooter in the business!" (LOL…of course!! ….this one is from Melissa's husband…LOL)
Amanda Meyer
"Erin and her staff are phenomenal! Her personality is great, and she truly cares about all of her clients. Since she has photographed my wedding, I've become addicted to her photography!"
Angie Eberhart
"Erin Hession photographed my wedding in April and she did an amazing job. Most of the time we didn't even know she was there. They say the day goes so fast and you can't remember anything… when I got my pictures I was able to relive my whole wedding day. She does a great job and is very reasonably priced especially for all of the extra things she throws into her packages that I just didn't find with anyone else. Our album is also beautiful. The first time I saw it I cried! She is a wonderful photographer that I would recommend to anyone."
Bobbi
"She is an amazing photographer. SO MANY different ideas. Just AMAZING. "
Crystal Shively
"The most awesome photography I have ever seen. They have a great relationship with their clients and make them feel very comfortable! I haven't used them personally yet but my fiance's sister did. They will be photographing my wedding on 6/7/2008! I have seen so much of her work already though on her blog. I look at it all the time! I am so excited for my wedding pictures!"
Corrina Mccorkle
"Erin and staff are the best out there, no one comes close to the services they provide. "
