I love to check out other photographer’s wedding blogs.  It’s inspiring and keeps my ideas fresh.  Oddly, I do not see many pictures of the couples with their families.  So in honor of the two beautiful weddings I was able to photograph this weekend and all the sets of wonderful parents I was able to work with, here are a few family pics taken at my last few weddings.  Family pictures are not usually the most creative shots of the day, but I think they are some of the most important.  Especially being a mother myself, every time I take a pic of a groom and his mother, I immediately put myself in her shoes and start thinking about the day that my boys will eventually get married.  Happy tears, sniffle, sniffle, refocus…ok.  Enjoy!

As a wedding photographer, I get to attend numerous weddings every year.  My wedding “season” in Michigan normally runs from May until the end of October.  And I tend to have a lot of outdoor weddings during the summer months.  My wedding today is actually indoors, but we will be doing all the photos outside.  I give my brides and grooms a lot of credit planning an outdoor wedding in Michigan.  I don’t care what month of the year it is, you have the potential for rain, snow or blazing heat.  Out of all the outdoor weddings I have shot over the years, none of them have been rained out.  But I have had a few with high temps and lots of humidity.  In honor of the wedding I am doing today (temps are supposed to reach the mid 90s with some humidity thrown in), I am pulling out a few shots from previous years weddings that were held outdoors.  Enjoy!

In celebration of the wedding I am photographing today, I thought it would be fun to talk about wedding detail photography.  When I got married (wow, 15 years ago this year) detail photography was not very popular.  You might have a shot of the cake, but not much else.  With wedding photography today, detail shots are very important to brides and grooms.  I set aside specific time at every wedding to shoot details.  These include the dress, shoes, veil, rings, bouquet/flowers, table settings, favors and anything else that catches my eye.  I actually love this part of the day as it allows me to be creative and I can relax while doing it.  You don’t have to worry about someone blinking while shooting the shoes.  Also, for anyone that wants to submit their wedding to any sort of publication to try to have it published, editors always want to see a lot of detail shots showcasing your wedding day style and theme.  Enjoy a few shots I’ve collected over the years!