[the ernst family]

This past holiday weekend I spent the morning hanging out with the Ernst family.  It had been about a year and a half since I last saw them, when Keaton was just a little munchkin.  He has grown up so much!  Such a polite, sweet and funny little man and he showed me all his best moves.  Incidentally, it is also deanna and kurt's 5th wedding anniversary....I can't believe it has been 5 years already!  Check out their wedding images here.  And here are some images from last Monday!

[baby jack]

It's spring, finally, and the very best time to celebrate new life!  I had the chance to meet Baby Jack last month and check out his awesome pad, super colorful with a vintage vibe.  No doubt it would be awesome, considering his mom, Christa is a graphic designer.  Here are a few of my favorites from the session!

[katie and andrew]

In August, my sweet niece Katie tied the knot with Andrew, a very funny and all around great guy that she has been working with in China for the last couple of years.  Their wedding incorporated a lot of elements of the Chinese culture as well as preserving their down to earth personalities, including origami flowers made by Andrew, a tandem getaway bicycle, red chopsticks at the reception and a parasol.  They put the entire wedding together themselves with a ton of help from Katie's sister, mom, grandparents and aunts and uncles.  I was incredibly honored to photograph their wedding and I share it with you as proof that it doesn't matter what you spend on a wedding, so long as it reflects who you are!

[corey and kevin]

 Buffalo is a very small, very tight community, indeed, and sometimes I feel like I am participating in some sort of six degrees of Kevin Bacon game.

I met Corey and Kevin just before Kara and Jay's wedding last summer.  Corey was one of Kara's bridesmaids but in addition to their connection,  I had met Kevin way back at Ellen and Dennis' wedding (a wedding that predates this blog). Kevin is Dennis' brother.  And for those of you who have been following my blog for awhile, Ellen and Dennis started it all- I feel like I have been a part of their family for a very long time, through weddings like Leah and Matt, Bridget and Andrew, Julie and Jeff, Tim and Johanna, Katie and Bob, (and I should mention that Ellen's parents were at Ann and Brian's wedding just the week before!)....the list goes on and on!  And this wedding sort of summed all of that up.  Of course what makes weddings so enticing to photograph for me is all of the eye candy, but what stays with me when I get home after a long day of photographing all of this pretty stuff is the human connection that is so strong at a wedding like this.  I love to see families at their happiest, and that was ever-present on that day.  

Corey's uncle was instrumental in kicking off the restoration at Buffalo's Central Terminal, so we had special access to the space for some photos...
























Maybe my most favorite ring shot ever?












Dennis and Kevin were hysterical, they could have entertained everyone all night.



And when all was said and done, I had taken more photos than ever (this us the summer for it, somehow) and all the while I felt right at home.  Thanks for including me, Corey and Kevin!