Brian & Regan Layer {Married!}

Brian and Regan are such incredible people and we are so blessed to have been a part of their wedding day!  Although the day dawned chilly, rainy and wet, the wedding was gorgeous and the bride and groom were wonderful to spend the entire day with.  Regan was beaming and her smile was absolutely contagious all day long.  She was a calm, relaxed bride and we could tell from her smile that she was living her dream her entire wedding day.  Brian was also calm and relaxed, but underneath his cool exterior you could definitely see he was excited that his wedding day had finally arrived. 

The day was truly an autumn masterpiece, with the warm colors and crisp weather providing a perfect backdrop to Brian and Regan's wedding.  The overcast skies helped bring out the richness of color in the fall leaves and in the beautiful autumn-themed bouquets the ladies carried by Pat's Field of Flowers. 
Regan was surrounded by her family and close loved ones before the wedding began and it was sweet and tender to see the tears of joy intermixed with all of the nervous and cheerful laughter.  
The girls were tucked away in the church fellowship hall to get ready before the ceremony began, but they were able to spy on the arriving guests through a small crack in the double doors.  Everyone took turns peeking through the crack to watch all of the activity in the church.
One of the most amazing moments of every wedding is that second when the bride rounds the corner on her dad's arm and the groom catches a glimpse of her for the very first time.  Brian's reaction to seeing Regan was one of awe and love.  We're so glad we got to capture that moment for Regan to treasure forever and ever.
We loved that Regan, Brian and the whole bridal party weren't bothered by a little rain and were more than willing to pose outside so that we could truly capture the beauty of Regan and Brian's autumn wedding day.  Between the ceremony and the reception we stopped off at Maybury State Park for a few minutes of chilly, but fun group portraits.
And one more important stop before the reception was to Regan and Brian's house for a family portrait with the puppies.  
The decorations and details of Regan and Brian's wedding were simply gorgeous.  The reception was held at Baker's of Milford, and the room was transformed into a fall fantasy will all of Regan's beautiful touches.  The apple placecards and the sweets table were two of our favorite details - they even provided for the fur-faced, K-9 friends.

Chris French of Metro Music Entertainment did an excellent job keeping the dance floor hopping and bringing all of the guests out to celebrate Brian and Regan's marriage!  He had a few fun and unique dances that had everyone laughing and having a wonderful time together.
Congratulations again to you, Brian and Regan!  We wish you a life full of happiness and love.  Thank you very much for allowing us to be a part of your very important day.

~ Kevin & Heather

Jake Champagne {2013 Senior}

Jake Champagne is a man with focused ambition, who has a big plan for his life.  He's the type of guy that just by meeting him you know he's going places and there isn't much that would stop him short of his goal.  It was an honor to be a part of his senior year of high school and capturing memories of his life right now, and we loved spending the evening with him, his mom and sister, and his girlfriend Gabrielle.

We started the evening on our property and had gorgeous evening light to work with as the sun began to set.  The fall colors were at their peak so of course we had to hunt down some of the prettiest locations nearby.  We are blessed to live on a beautiful country road, so we never have to go too far for those locations.

After capturing some great country shots we headed into downtown Howell to find a few cityscapes backdrops.  These pictures ended up being some of our favorites of Jake because they really seemed to capture him and his ambitious personality.  Enjoy these teasers from his entire portrait session and be sure to tell him what you think of his images.

~ Kevin & Heather

Stephanie Bixby {2013 Senior}

Golden.

If I had to sum up Stephanie's portrait session is one word, that would be the word we'd have to choose.  The evening sunlight was brilliant, the breeze was unexpectedly warm, the location was in full autumn splendor, our subject was super sweet and beautiful - the evening was really just golden.

We traveled to Kensington Metro Park to capture Stephanie's senior portraits and really we couldn't have asked for the scenery to be any more vivid.  Her session fell on that idyllic Autumn day that we will all long for and dream of when the throes of winter are thrust upon us.  If we could place our order for weather, this evening would be what we'd pray for.

Stephanie is such a wonderful girl with a super sweet smile that you know reflects her spirit.  She was a pleasure to photograph and we loved working with her and her mom.  We are excited to share these few teaser images from our session together.  To see all of her images, visit our proofing website at: http://pictage.com/1338508.  

~ Kevin & Heather

Lauren Wilcox {2013 Senior}

Once October rolls around it's always hard to predict what the weather is going to be like for our portrait sessions.  Every now and then we get blessed with some absolutely beautiful, summer-like evenings, just like we did for Lauren's senior portraits!  The warm breeze lasted well into sunset and we were able to really enjoy our time with Lauren without freezing or chattering teeth!

We've known Lauren for a few years now and met her though her best friend, Jamie Vickers.  However, it's been about a year since we've seen Lauren and it was so much fun having the opportunity to spend an entire evening with her and Jamie again!  We first met in Brighton after Lauren had her make-up professional done by Kendra Warren of Kb Nail Designs, and then carpooled down to Ann Arbor together.  Our first stop was Nichol's Arboretum to get some great portraits amidst the woods and gardens.  Then, it was off to the downtown area and the UofM campus.  There are always so many cool locations in and around Ann Arbor, and Lauren had her heart set on a few of the best - Graffiti Alley and the Law Quad.

It was effortless to get so many great shots of Lauren because she is such a beautiful girl (check out those amazing blue eyes!) and very photogrenic.  She was extremely comfortable in front of the camera and that made working with her easy and fun!  Please enjoy this small glimpse of a few of our favorite images from our session with her.  The rest of her proofs are uploaded to our proofing site: http://pictage.com/1337688.  Check them out and be sure to let Lauren know how beautiful she looks!

~ Kevin & Heather Autry

Michael Lupo {2013 Senior}

Michael Lupo is such a talented, fun-loving, good-looking guy and we were thrilled when he booked his appointment with us all the way back in June!  We photographed his older sister, Julie, two short years ago and were really looking forward to our session together.  Not only is Michael laid back and smart, he is also an extremely talented and gifted musician.  Although he plays a few different instruments, Michael's primary instrument of choice is the piano.  In fact, as the main part of our senior portrait session together, we visited the Steinway Piano Gallery of Detroit so that we could capture Michael in his true element.  We catured some really nice shots of Michael in the store, but I think we may have enjoyed the experience even more than he did - we got to work to an amazing and majestic live soundtrack all evening.  :)