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Wedding: Brooke + Joel

January 2, 2009 – 11:00 am

Ceremony - First United Methodist Church of East Peoria; Reception - Embassy Suites of East Peoria

This December 6th wedding was such a pleasure for Amy and I to photograph. Not only were Brooke and Joel and their wedding party and family members so fun and easy and laid back to work with, but they chose an incredible lineup of wedding venues and vendors to make their day go smoothly. We love shooting at Embassy Suites. The venue is beautiful, and the food and service is always fantastic. Sound and Light Creations created some beautiful ambiance for the reception with their room lighting. You’ll see a couple of images below. Miranda Kemp with After the Diamond wedding coordinating did an awesome job of making sure everything in the day went off without a hitch. If there were any problems throughout the day, No one knew about it. And we now have a favorite videographer to work with, Ingrid Schwoerer of White Lily Productions. We worked really well together, and we love her unobtrusive style. Our favorite DJ service, DJ4U Entertainment, kept the party rocking. Then of course, you add us to the mix, and you have a recipe for a stress-free, beautiful, fun, and happy wedding experience. Here are a few of our favorite images from the day.

Congratulations, Brooke and Joel! Best wishes to you both!

By Josh and Amy | Posted in Weddings | no comments Add a Comment

Greener Photography

December 9, 2008 – 1:04 pm

For a long time Amy and I have worked towards being more earth friendly in our personal lives and also within our business operation. We’ve made continuous efforts to reduce our energy usage and reduce waste. We recycle and purchase recycled materials, and generally we’ve tried to do our part to make our planet a better place to live. We also do our best to offer products and packaging that have minimal impact on the earth.

We recently became aware of an organization for like-minded photographers called Greener Photography. Greener Photography is an organization dedicated to making the photography community more eco-friendly. It’s a place for photographers like us to share ideas and learn how to be greener, to share resources, and to advocate for change within our industry. We were accepted for membership recently based on what we’re already doing, and we’ve already learned some new things that we’ll be implementing soon and in the coming year. We encourage photographers to check out the organization for their own businesses, but the information shared there is applicable for everyone, whether you’re a photographer or not. So check them out, and see how you might be kinder to your planet in the coming year!

By Josh and Amy | Posted in Studio News | 1 comments Add a Comment

alex -

Add to my Bookmarks

Wedding: Laura + Matthew

December 8, 2008 – 3:50 pm

Ceremony and reception on November 22nd at Wildlife Prairie State Park. Weddings don’t get much more fun than this one. Amy and I had a blast documenting Laura’s and Matt’s day. It’s evident that they’re very much in love, and they have so much fun together. Here are some of our favorite images.

The bridal preparation was taking a little longer than anticipated, so Amy, a skilled and licensed hairstylist, graciously put her camera down to tame Laura’s hair.

I think she did a great job. Everyone loved Laura’s hair, and it looked this fabulous all night.

Laura is another extremely talented bride. She made all of the flowers for the wedding and reception using the Japanese art of origami.

She also made her own wedding gown which was so beautiful and unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.

Ceremony time

These are some of my favorite group photos ever.

Ladies and gentleman, it was cold outside. But these two were troopers. Also, notice the dress change? Laura’s dress transformed to party mode.

I was warned this summer that Matthew likes to rap. When I asked him about his rhyming earlier in the day, I was told “my flow is bonkers”. Matthew did not disappoint. This was one of the most impressive and entertaining things we’ve had a groom pull off at a reception. Well, there was that other groom who parasailed to his reception, but he didn’t work the crowd like Matt did.

Laura and Matt, thanks so much for making us a part of your day. Best wishes to you both!

By Josh and Amy | Posted in Weddings | 2 comments Add a Comment

Sarah Cline -

Josh and Amy — This is Sarah, Laura’s sister and maid of honor. Can I just say, these photos are AMAZING! You have done a simply awesome job of capturing Laura and Matt’s day. Seeing these photos is such a perfect way to relive all the wonderful memories. We had SO much fun. Thanks for your work and for putting together this selection of highlights! All the best to you, and of course, all the best to my amazing sister and brother-in-law. I love you, Laura and Matt! HUGS!
r0o favor -

great photographer!
y’all complement each other wonderfully!!
….r

Holga Ryan

December 2, 2008 – 10:11 pm

I recently purchased a holga film camera. A holga is a toy medium format camera that’s made entirely of plastic and shoots square pictures. It’s basicly a box that holds film with a plastic lens. Holgas can be purchased for about $28. The box of film I bought actually cost as much as the camera. Our friend Erin creates incredible art with holga cameras, and she inspired me to pick one up, even though I haven’t used film in 6 years. For my first roll of film, I photographed our son Ryan in the yard. Here are a few favorites.

By Josh and Amy | Posted in Personal | no comments Add a Comment

Jenny

December 2, 2008 – 11:53 am

Jenny braved the cold for her senior session, but she’s a hockey player player. She’s tough like that. We had a lot of fun shooting downtown and at the park. Here are some of my favorites.

By Josh and Amy | Posted in Portraits | no comments Add a Comment

Vintage Wedding: Lori + Brandon

December 1, 2008 – 4:59 pm

I traveled to Cedar Rapids for this November 15th wedding. And it was well worth the trip. Lori and Brandon are very talented artists, and they did not settle for an average wedding. They created for themselves a vintage theme, and this was obvious all the way to the smallest of details. Lori and Brandon married at the People’s Church with reception following at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. I cannot possibly do this wedding justice in a single blog post, so if you want to see more, feel free to visit their gallery at our client proofs link above. Here are some of my favorite images and a sampling of the fantastic details all around us at this wedding.

Congrats, Lori and Brandon! Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your beautiful wedding. Best wishes!

By Josh and Amy | Posted in Weddings | 1 comments Add a Comment

jen capone -

this is fontalicious!

River Trail Classic

November 29, 2008 – 4:29 pm

Another Race! This time was just a four miler on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. My fastest pace yet. Amy and our two youngest came out to see me finish, and my stepsisters Kim and Kelly, niece Vienne, and their mom and stepdad were out cheering me on at mile number one. It was great having them all there for support. Here are a few pictures.

At the starting line.

Our two youngest, Jenna and Ryan, waiting at the finish.

Approaching the finish.

Less than 30 minutes, baby!

By Josh and Amy | Posted in Personal | no comments Add a Comment

Engaged: Kirstie + Austin

November 20, 2008 – 6:01 pm

Another fun engagement session, this time in downtown Peoria. We photographed Kirstie’s sister Brandi’s wedding a couple of years ago. Looking forward to seeing everyone again at Kirstie’s. Here are some favorites from their session.

By Josh and Amy | Posted in Engaged | no comments Add a Comment

Engaged: Amanda + Chad

November 20, 2008 – 5:55 pm

I recently had the pleasure of photographing Amanda’s and Chad’s engagement portraits. We still had some gorgeous Fall color for their session. A few favorites below.

By Josh and Amy | Posted in Engaged | no comments Add a Comment

Dan + Alissa

November 20, 2008 – 5:50 pm

Dan and Alissa got married in April of this year, but never were able to take advantage of their engagement session. So we scheduled a Fall portrait session instead. They seem to still be feeling the love. Here are some of my favorites.