AAAHHHHH

QUICK CHANGE.

And of course, the parking garage had some of my most favorite lighting….

Hahaha oh my GOSH this was just a load of fun. Tom and Kim had some of the best outfit changes and perfect lighting to showcase their awesomeness.

Tom and Kim have a super interesting career duo, as Tom is an attorney for the people filing for bankruptcy and foreclosures. Kim works for a company that deals on the other side of foreclosures. So really, it just makes sense that they have that baseball rivalry. Kind of hilarious actually.

I loved hanging out with Tom and Kim, seeing how they have a truckload in common and still have those unique differences to make it really fun.  They are so darn great together, as I really didn’t have to do anything more than laugh my face off and keep hitting the shutter button.  I have a pretty good feeling it will be that way come October for their wedding!!! Hey I’m pumped you guys, you ready for this???

A surprisingly AWESOME day out! December is just turning into a mixed handbag of frost and heat, and we got lucky.  Overcast with no winds is just amazing to shoot in.  

Do you recognize these two??  In November, I photographed David’s Sister’s (Kerry Donenberg) wedding! We got along so dang well that our paths just crossed at the most perfect time of their engagement.  These two fun loving cats met in the summer of 2010 through some mutual friends and just hit it off after.  So basically, two and a half years ago. Since then, they still have so much fun together.  One of my favorite lines from David when we were first rolling the session was “this is gonna be awesome, I get to kiss you all the time now!”  And man, don’t they look good???? Just fantastic.

Looking forward to your wedding at the end of May you two!!!

This couldn’t have been better.  I got the privilege to photograph Drew Golz and Tiffany Overlien over at the Danada house! Drew actually proposed to Tiffany here!!! The story was so dang cool…very thoughtful and planned out, with a great picnic set up.  We were extremely lucky not only with the weather warming up a bit, but also in just Drew and Tiffany’s schedule.  Holy cow.  Drew is studying in Med school, so you all can imagine how much time he doesn’t really have…and Tiffany has a great full time job at PowerShares.

Another great reason about this spot, apart from how GORGEOUS the colors are, is the fact that Tiffany really digs the horse riding scene.  This is what it’s all about, getting really fun and special shots…especially when it means something more than just aesthetics.  I really enjoyed seeing Drew and Tiffany have their super cute moments together.  Sometimes I need to give direction on what kind of things to do with each other {hey I get it, usually you don’t have some creeper third party all up in your grill, no worries!}, but with Drew and Tiffany I’m pretty sure they could hear me think.  It was uncanny.  I was so happy to see them naturally this great together.  You guys are AWESOME.

Congrats on your upcoming marriage you two!!! Thank you again for being outstanding.

What a great way to spend a sunday morning!!! Oh my gosh, Kurt and Jen are really great.  So we got to explore some groovy spots in Chicago with their energy ball of a dog Toto.  Look at that guy run around.  He was so much fun, and he stayed with us the whole time! Very well trained dog.

I was lucky enough to meet Kurt and Jen at Jen’s sister’s wedding, Heidi Aubin! (Her wedding was a little over two months ago already! Wow.)  If you look on the post, Kurt is totally busting a move on the floor, and Jen was a BLAST all day long.  I am so glad we  got connected and made this happen!!  They are such a great couple, and awesome people to be around.  They are absolute rockstars…really kind and fun to be around!!!  I really dig their relationship.  As most or at least some of you know, I study human communications (majored communications in college what up) which puts my mind in observation mode a lot.  They have a great blend in personalities that don’t overpower one another, but still cover a LOT of ground having different strengths.

Keep your eyes peeled for them coming up in Feb!!! We will be taking a little trip for their wedding! Should I say? Nah. You’ll find out soon enough.  I’m pumped.

More of their story to come!

If you don’t love these two then you honestly need to take a good hard look at yourself.  Okay don’t really on my account…but you might consider that.

Did you see their matching socks??? Um, NOT planned. ….I know right???  I love hanging out with these two, either talking about their upcoming wedding in the fall, or watching Matt pound a shepherd’s pie and Jess tearing up some fish and chips.  So they’re ridiculously adorable.  Matt is a designer/illustrator star in the making that would love to dive in to more children’s books.  Jess takes on a roll at the library with the kids and young adult section helping them pick out some killer {killer as in awesome} novels, and just plain being awesome around them.  Can you imagine what these two are capable of??? Yeah, I cannot wait to see what is in store for them.  Here are some snippets from emailing we’ve had back and forth:

> Hey Robb!
> Jess and I were sitting here talking, and being engaged people, and we thought “HEY! WE SHOULD GET PICTURES OF US BEING ENGAGED PEOPLE!” And then we were all “YEAH, GOOD IDEA! WE SHOULD FIND OUT WHEN ROBB IS FREE TO DO THAT THING WITH THE CAMERAS!”  So I was wondering, when do you want to do that engagement shoot?
>
> Tickles,
> Matt.

What do you think? Glasses? No Glasses?

I was shaking in my boots heading through airport security when I checked up on Panama City’s weather.  Rain.  ALL DAY.  Then I land.  Boom.  Clouds roll out. And I roll over to meet up with this amazing duo, Craig and Paige.  Ho-lee COW.  This was super.

We actually were all in the same boat on not knowing the lay of the land too well, as Paige is from around my neck of the woods growing up, and Craig is actually involved with teaching people how to survive when they are abandoned or crash in the military.  So he’s been all around training, learning, surviving, and leaping around everywhere {as you can see from pictures}.  I love this dude, super happy person, loves what he’s doing, and he’s all sorts of muscle.

Teamed up with Craig, Paige is learning all about interior design, and diving into that realm.  Wicked cool, as I took some of the same classes {drawing/design} in college.  I only had sympathy for her as she endures the many hours of work that lays ahead.  But heck, she is super impressive, and a total go getter…so I’m positive she’ll own that course.  But wow, I was so impressed with her having a TON of fun and really getting in to our session.  She can really roll with the punches {And Craig can vouch saying she can hand a few out as well}

Thank you guys so much for taking some time out of your insanely crazy traveling schedules to do this! I am super pumped for your Dec. 31 wedding this year!!!

Team Barnie! (Arne + Barbie = Team Barnie)  Amazing.  It’s really funny how dependent I am in this biz to have decent weather for most of the shoots that go down.  We originally planned a few weeks ago to do this session, and of course mother nature had other plans.  So instead, we just had an awesome time hanging out, having dinner, and being rad.  The next round, we made magic happen.  Well they did, and I just documented it all going down.  Incredible day for it too, if I might add.

Arne’s legit as they come.  We probably didn’t even need to meet before to be so comfortable around each other for this shoot, as Arne has a great sense of humor, and enjoyment out of life.  Hey if you’re ever in Grand Rapids, check out Arnie’s Bakery in Grand Rapids! He holds that place together, NBD. As you can tell, he can lift a few pounds with ease here or there…so this trooper had to help out a ton that day with TONS of 100 pound bag lifting on top of other work to do, and then drive straight in to Chicago for our E session.  So cool. And cooler…finds some random change and instantly gives it to a homeless dude.  Yes.

Barbie is a bundle of energy, teaching out in Indiana.  All you teachers know that you need a barrel of energy teaching just about any age kids, and luckily she has plenty.  I actually had the privilege to catch the train in to the city with her, and we got to chat up allllll about the wedding coming up in July! {Keep your eyes peeled for THAT doozy of a post}  Saw the dress {OH EM GEE}, heard what the dudes are wearing, colors, ALL that awesome stuff.  So she had all sorts of appointments that day before our shoot as well.  Crazy awesome.

I love these two, and this will be one epic summer.  Congrats Team Barnie! I’ll be doing pushups until your Barnie wedding goes down in July!!!!

Lovely afternoon in Chicago with these groovy cats Ryan and Heidi!  We had ourselves a real adventure going around the city and finding some cool little spots that kept us stopping every few seconds for more fun shots! Plus, as you can tell, they’re just really fun people.  Period.

Ryan’s a great dude that has this “it” factor that could probably talk to you about something that normally wouldn’t be anything super interesting, and completely captivate you.  Granted that skill was never really tested out thoroughly, as his position at HP is all sorts of crazy awesomeness.  I’m pretty sure he can keep a level head so easily not only from his natural self, but also handling his duties as training, skill set equipping, meeting goals, and all other aspects of his job allow him to take on just about anything.  His humor is just spot on…timing, delivery, and content are all just money with this dude.  He rocks.

Heidi and I actually talked up some nerd talk during the shoot, and afterwards when we were just shootin the breeze.  She’s got a sweet job at a pharmaceutical company in the marketing side of things.  She’s taken some classes with photography, and is actually enrolled for more!  So of course, I couldn’t shut up for a while on that deal.  Aside from all that, Heidi is just a great person to be around that loves good humor {enter Ryan}.  The more honest a person is, the more you know whatever that person says or does is true as well.  This resonates so well with Heidi, as she is super honest, and at the same time one of the happiest people around.  So you know it’s legit.

Look out for these guys gettin hitched in a few months!  I will say that it’s gonna be a slammin party.  Congrats you two! Can’t wait for your wedding, and thanks again for a sweet day to remember!

YES!!!  I will say, Merrick and Kerry are so wicked awesome to hang out with me in Chicago on such a windy day.  I know you girls out there are with me when I feel for Kerry on this windy insanity of a day.  Hair everywhere.  But you know what? She was so cool about it and was up for anything.  Really groovy.  With the combo of that awesomeness, and Merrick being really enjoyable with just everything we were doing,  I was so glad to be with these two for the day.  Yeah, haha Merrick was all about exploring around for fun spots, putting themselves in crazy fun places. {yeah, working at RUSH hospital has certain advantages like getting on the roof…}

AND!!! Did you see that we had hotdogs? So great.  Got to hear some….interesting…stories from a worker there and just had a great time.

Both of these rockstars work in the medical field, and of course that’s kinda how they met {First at U of I}…but it’s really interesting how Merrick worked his magic.  HA, I absolutely love it. Look forward to that story….

I can’t wait for November 17th! Your story is so awesome, and I can’t wait to share that as it even grows more by then!

It’s shoots like these that really make me so happy to do this all the time. Congrats you two!!!

Really cool sign at Beans and Leaves Coffee shop.  So true.

Alright so first off before I unload how insanely fun this was…check out these two fun animations!!

The Fall

Cemetary

Garrett and Wyntir are wicked awesome.  With a super cool dog, (they’re getting married at Disney, hence the awesome collar) an amazing spot for our session, we couldn’t go wrong.  The weather seriously scared us all right up until we started taking pictures…and man am I glad we called the weather man’s bluff.

I love these two.  I straight up had sooo much fun getting to know them and ripping apart my abs from laughing so hard.  Seriously if you ever run in to them, be sure to chat them up.  Rockstars in their fields for sure.  I swear, the very first picture I got was the funniest face from both of them, and the last one was amazing as well.  And WOW did you see that ring?? Dude, good job Garrett…he said that he wanted to get something super different and kinda old school.  Nailed it.

Look for a few more from these two, as we have more to come!!!