Jeanne & Steve- Sneak Peek (Warsaw IN Wedding Photographer)

We had a wonderful day yesterday, witnessing another family coming together in marriage. Steve is a fellow photographer, so what a vote of confidence to be hired to shoot his own wedding!

I love doing Sneaks, and this one is no different! Very hard to pick!!

 You're looking at these flowers, and thinking "Wow!", I'll bet?

The bride MADE them!! I just blew your mind, right?!

Shots of courage, before going out to meet the groom.

 Love this one of the girls watching the guests arrive.

 Waiting to go down the aisle! (Total Sam Shot!)

 And here's Steve seeing his bride come down the aisle.

Since Steve is a photographer, he knew how important using the sunset is, and I hope I don't disappoint!

 A cute cake for a cute couple!

 Only my husband can create a First Dance shot like this... LOVE it!

 This is Jeanne and her daughter, doing a special dance together. Very touching!

 And then it was time to PARTY!

I'm ending with this shot of the ring bearer being tossed in the air by his dad. Just one of my favorites from the reception!

Steve & Jeanne, I hope you two can continue the party through your lives together! Having fun together as a couple is an important part of married life! And we had a blast together at your wedding! ~Naomi

A Little Country Wedding... (Avilla Wedding Photography)

When I met Kaylah & Andrew to discuss photographing their wedding, I might have drooled a little when Kaylah told me the tale of her rescuing an abandoned piano, and wanting to set it out in a field for wedding portraits! I could just see these photos in my head- and I'm thrilled that they turned out the way we wanted!

So without further ado, here is the First Look & piano portraits from Kaylah & Andrew's country wedding in Avilla IN!

 This one might be a personal favorite of mine... credit goes to Sam, and these creative groomsmen!

I have to give a shout-out to Kaylah, for envisioning all this, and thank all the wedding party for being such troopers! If you look closely in some of these shots you can see raindrops! We worked it & got it done! ~Naomi

Love is...

... sometimes saying goodbye. But knowing it isn't forever.

This Friday Samuel & I will be traveling up to Michigan, to join his family in saying our fondest farewells to Grandpa Waldron at his memorial and burial. Grandpa passed away on Sept 29th, just about 12 hours after we had left his daughter's house, after saying our goodbyes in person. I don't think there are words to describe how important that trip was, and how grateful we are that we were able to make it.

It is difficult to explain just how important and amazing Grandpa was, but I'm going to attempt to tell you, because I need to...

The first time I met Grandpa, he made me feel like I was a part of the family. He was my Grandpa too. He was a very talented carpenter, which is amusing as one of my own grandpas is as well. Grandpa Waldron made 18 dulcimers in his life. I'm very blessed to say that Sam owns one, and is learning to play it. Here is Grandpa with his grandson Levi, and his son Bob, playing at our wedding reception in MI.

 And this is my grandpa, on the left, talking with Sam's grandpa. Even though these were snapped with just a little pocket camera, I am so grateful we have these memories.

In addition to being a creative person, he truly encouraged creativity in others. He loved seeing our photos, and he never judged me when he went through the entire roll of film I had taken of one particular pregnant rhino we met at a zoo on our honeymoon. He even invested in our business when we started it up, and he was always eager to see what new things we were photographing.

Grandpa was a Sea Bee in the Navy, on the Pacific Islands, and I can't remember him not wearing this hat after it was given to him! This remains one of my two favorite photos of him & Sam!

A couple springs ago we took him to see the butterflies in "bloom" at the Frederick Mejier Gardens, in Grand Rapids.

He was so fascinated by them!

Here is a snap of him & Sam waiting patiently on me...

And here is what some of what they were waiting patiently for:

I hope I didn't disappoint!

When the time came for assisted living, Grandpa was very blessed to be able to move in with his daughter. We visited him a couple times, and during one visit Sam and Grandpa watched old home movies together.

We were able to journey with him to kidney dialysis the following morning, and it was amazing to see the love his nurses had for him. I'm including these photos because I love the shot of the Louis L'Amour book in his lap. Sam definitely gets his love of westerns from Grandpa!

The following is my personal favorite. Grandpa visiting us at the lake cabins while we were on vacation last year. He and Sam got to spend some quiet moments together.

I don't think there was a person he met that he didn't touch in some way. And he will truly be missed. The upside is we know we will see him again. And for that, we are rejoicing through our tears. ~Naomi

Megan & Scott- Sneak Peek! (Fort Wayne, IN Wedding Photographer)

Megan, Scott and their families are truly special people. They are warm, caring and kind, and it really shows in the amount of friends who gathered to help make their day truly worthy of them! We loved being a part of every moment of happiness yesterday! I'm so excited to share this with you!

Roxie was so involved with the wedding preparations, I'm inclined to think she WAS part of the wedding party. At least in her heart! This shot was captured by Mary Bodkin, of Mary Bodkin Photography. Mary is a long-time friend & came to help us out this weekend.

You'll understand what the flower girl is staring at when you see this next shot!

Are they not STUNNING?!

Love these two together:

 They did it!

 This is another shot from Mary:

And this really is the way to travel in style:

Rather than share the first dance of the couple, I'm going to share the Father/Daughter dance, and the Mother/Son dance, because I just love both these moments so much:

Megan and Scott- you two are an amazing couple! You can consider us as just two more friends rooting for you two to succeed in everything! ~Naomi