Evie Kutler {One Year Portraits/Cake Smash}

Sweet little Evelyn Kutler turned one earlier this month and her proud mom and dad threw her a huge first birthday party to celebrate.  Krystin made all of the decorations and the birthday girl's outfit completely by hand.  (I have craft-envy, to be sure!)  Of course Evie looked absolutely adorable in her fun little tu-tu and pom-pom hat, even more so because they were lovingly made by mom!

To have a little fun with this momentous day, Krystin and Jared arranged a cake-smash portrait session with us.  Evie's birthday celebration was snow-themed, so of course the cake and all of the decorations were winter appropriate - including the igloo-shaped cake!  Buttercream + spice cake = YUM!  Evie wasn't too sure about the cake at first, but with a little coaxing from mom, decided to dive right in.  We thought she was going to go for a full-out mouthful when she lifted the whole cake to her face.  She proved to be a sweet little lady, however, when she just sampled a bit and set it back down.  lol

We still can't believe that Evie has grown so big so quickly!  It seems like just yesterday that we were shooting Krystin's maternity pictures.  Evie is a precious little girl and we can't wait to see what a beautiful young lady she grows into.

~ Kevin & Heather

Snow Riding {Personal}

Although the day was certainly chilly, the sun was shining beautifully and it was a great day to be outside!  We just recently gained a new hooved resident in our barn and the boys couldn't wait to get to know "Lady".  I'm sure Romeo was glad for come company as well - herd animals just hate to be alone.

While we were meeting in our office with clients, Gabrielle Gow took Elijah and Kaden out for a little ring riding in the pasture.  She grabbed these shots of them as they practiced their cowboy skills.   They loved it and I'm so happy we have little cowboys-in-the-making!

After our client session was over, Gabrielle and I decided to head out on a trail ride together.  Despite bundling up from head to toe we both froze a bit, but it was still a ton of fun.  The icy roads and trails made the evening a bit more challenging, but we're always up for a little excitement!

Darkness came quickly and you know I was on the hunt for the perfect sunset photo-op!  Gabby knows the trails really well and took us up to the top of a big hill off the beaten path for the best angle.  I quickly grabbed this shot from Lady's back and am glad it wasn't blurry or out of whack since she was antsy to keep moving.  :)
~ Heather

Kattoo {Family Portraits}

Rain, rain go away!  This was the mantra for our session with the Kattoo family last week.  Two weeks ago we had scheduled their family portrait session, but we had to reschedule due to an absolutely drenched and soggy day.  This past week was also threatening rain, but fortunately we were able to fit in a fantastic portrait session with them before the heavens let loose once again!

One nice trade-off for the rainy weather was that the fall colors were heightened and even more gorgeous with the soft, diffused late afternoon light.  We were so happy to incorporate some of the color and texture in the the portraits.  In our opinion, reds, oranges and yellows are the perfect backdrop for portraits.

We had a lot of fun getting to know the Kattoo's and loved capturing this important and memorable time in their family's life.  Kids don't stay young forever and it is so important to document them at every step of the way.  With such incredible style and smiles, we were so glad we had the opportunity to be a part of preserving memories.

~ Kevin & Heather

Destination Florida - Eads Wedding / Julie Story

As you may have heard, we recently had the awesome opportunity to travel down to Florida on what we are considering our first destination wedding.  We've had a few Midwest 'destination' weddings that were quite a good distance but still drivable.   Clearwater, Florida may "technically" be drivable, but we chose the easy way out and flew.  LOL

Our connection to this wedding was a fellow photographer who happened to be best friends with the groom and was thus chosen to be the Best Maid.  Her name is Julie Story and we met her through a professional photography message board we are actively a part of, called Showiteers (a networking group associated with the website design program SHOWIT).  Back in late Spring she posted that she was looking for a photographer from our group to be the photographer for Ricky and Leann's wedding when she was unable to photograph because of her wedding responsibilities.  A large number of photographers responded and Julie narrowed down the group to her top 5 favorites.  Ricky and Leann then took those 5, looked at them all independently and came back together with their favorite.  Lucky us - they both chose us first!

We had an amazing time there staying with Julie Story.  She was an absolute riot to hang out with and a branding/marketing/social media genius!  We already knew she was gifted in these areas, but after hanging out with her for a weekend, our own business outlook was inspired, adjusted and re-energized!  If you own your own business it is DEFINITELY worth getting to know her for all aspects of branding and marketing.  Just make sure you tell her that Kevin and Heather sent you!

 

Below is a short, high-speed video we shot of our trip.  We would have loved to have shot more footage while we were in Clearwater, but we got so caught up in the busyness, business and fun of it that we forgot to turn on the GoPro video camera.  Oops!  :)

(Caution - you might need to take some motion-sickness medicine before you watch this)  LOL

Check back in soon for a few teasers from Ricky and Leann's big day! 

~ Kevin & Heather

Kutler {Family Portraits}

Every three months, for the past 9+ months, we have been lucky enough to be able to photograph little Miss Evie as she's grown.  And my, how she's gotten big over the past few months!  When we first photographed her as a newborn she was so teeny tiny and now she is so much more alert, capable and simply joyful!

We have loved working with Krystin and Jerad so regularly over this past year and are excited to present them their images each time their session teasers are posted.  It's like giving them a little bit of Christmas each and every time.  :)  Please have fun looking through these great fall images and let Krystin, Jerad and Evie know what you think!

P.S.  The pumpkin and apple hats were all handcrafted by Krystin - AMAZING and so stinking ADORABLE!

~ Kevin & Heather