A different spin on a senior photo

Now for something... kind of different.
Paige's senior photos.

Keysa and Andy get married

It's official. Well, it's been official for a while now, but I'm officially sharing their wedding photos.

It's that time of year again!

Time for all my couples to start getting their engagement photos done for summer/fall weddings. This past week was almost a blur.



Calee and Charles - see a few more of their sneak peek here.

Candi and Rico - see a sneak peek of their engagement session here too!

Hannah and Sam's Wedding Sneak Peek - St. Joseph, Missouri Photography

Sam and Hannah were married last weekend in St. Joseph, Mo. We had such a good time with them, such wonderful people!

If you'd like to see a few more of their sneak peek, stop by my other blog.

The Ceases - Family portrait Photographer, Maryville, Missouri

My oldest stepson and his 3 girls, live in Colorado. None of which we get to see nearly often enough. So needless to say, when they wanted to come visit over Easter, we were all excited. We decided to help them kill 2 birds with one stone and had Easter for all of my husband's family (well, all those available) at the same time.

........

Each girl got to pick where their photos were taken and each really represented each of the girls well.

Click here to see the rest of the photos.

Meet Jeffrey - Senior photos, Maryville, Missouri

You should meet Jeffrey. Visit our Cease Fire Studios blog to see more photos.

Oh, and PS - new website over at CFS coming soon! Hopefully by the end of the week. *excitement!*

Tessa's Senior Photos - Maryville, MO Senior photographer

If you'd like to see more of Tessa's senior photos, you can head over to the Cease Fire Studios blog!

1...2....3... "Say mac and CHEEEESE!"

I've talked about Daniel Dunlap and his family before a few weeks ago. He's a fellow photographer from Council Bluffs, Iowa. We met online in a photography group and we tend to complain about most of the same things. Correction... I complain, and he mostly agrees.

He presented me a challenge around a year ago when I commented on a photo of his daughter on facebook. "You get her to look into the camera, I challenge you."

Game on.

So a couple weeks ago, I had a issue I needed to sort out, and Dan's one of those guys that knows just enough to get you in trouble. He volunteered to come all the way to lowly Missouri and help me fix it! All I had to offer was a stack of fat T-bones.
*he took the bait!*

So Saturday, they came down early and went to Stoney Creek for a little get away. We went down to have dinner with them, and I started turning on the charm with little Alayna immediately because I knew I'd be taking her photo at some point.

Over dinner Dan and I had this conversation:

Dan: "I'm never going to photograph another photographer's wedding."
Lana: "Yeah, me neither. Talk about pressure."

around 18 hours later:
Dan: "So you'll take our picture right?"
Lana: *eek*

(well, not exactly like that, but you know....)

I want the record to show, I got several shots of Alayna looking at the camera several times.
BOOYAH.

I also made a new little BFF. I'm going to talk her into spending the summer with me. I'm confident it'll work.. I have a pool. I might have to rent a pony tho.

Telling the story

I once read, some place, a long time ago, from someone that I can't remember...

"A good photo has a beginning and a middle and an end."

I love the story that is being told in one solitary frame, 1/320th of a second, of one special day, tells the whole story.

Jenny and Drew get Married! St. Joseph, Missouri Wedding Photographer

You might recognize Jenny. She was one of my bridesmaids at Lauren and Josh's wedding back in July. Nope, they had no idea that they both booked me. I had no idea they were friends until I saw them in a photo together on facebook. In any event, it's always so much fun to see a lot of the same players at multiple weddings as you get to know everyone a little better. Both are really sweet people, and I'm not just saying that because. I'm saying it because it's true. I have both Drew and Jenny on my facebook and every few days, Jenny posts a sweet little love note on Drew's wall. It's so obvious that these two are head over heels for each other.

To see the rest of the photos, please visit here.

Front page feature at The Wedding Chicks!

I am SO EXCITED!

I've been keeping a secret for a WHOLE MONTH. I'm actually very good at secrets, but this one has me about ready to bust from excitement.

About 5 weeks ago, myself and several other vendors pulled together to create a styled inspirational wedding/bridal shoot. It was specifically to inspire brides for ideas for their weddings! Morgan was our model and she did such a great job considering how cold she was! My husband, son, and Morgan's mom and sister were my pit crew. Everything fell into place almost perfectly. My husband didn't understand it completely, but he followed me with blind faith, and then he "got it" Half of the fun has been seeing him be so proud and excited. He's even talking to strangers on the street about it. LOL

*blush*

I submitted to The Wedding Chicks and heard back quickly that it was accepted for a front page feature! YAY! It took a while to get up (I think they had a backlog!) but today, it was finally there! It's been one of my proudest moments in my photography career yet.

It was even picked up by our local paper, the Maryville Daily Forum, as a front page news! From that, also a possible magazine feature! Isn't it funny how all these things are connected and good things happen?

What's next??

I can't wait!

THAT'S ME!!

Photographer: Cease Fire Studios
Hair & Makeup: Rockin’ Rollers Salon
Dress Designer: I Can Has Kitsch
Floral Design: Bittersweet Floral
Jewelry: Cease Fire Heirlooms
Stationery: Pink Orchid Invitations
Veil or Hair Accessories: I Can Has Kitsch

Married! Lori and Michael get married - St. Joseph Missouri Wedding Photographer

"Love, free as air at sight of human ties,Spreads his light wings, and in a moment flies."

~ Alexander Pope

"Who would have thought, all these years later, I'd be marrying little Michael M?" she said as she put on her dress.

Most junior high experiences involve puberty, learning algebra and awkward gym classes. But these 2, well, they experienced a little more. They first were "a couple" then. They parted ways and years later found each other again. Isn't it funny how the universe sometimes says "wait a minute, I had it right the FIRST TIME" and sends you backwards?

To see the rest of the photos, please visit here

Family Portraits - The "E" Family - Maryville Missouri Portrait Photographer

This sweet little family lives just a few short miles from my house but we'd never met before mom called looking for some portraits of her family. She wanted to capture what they were really like, not how well they could pose.

See the rest of the post, and photos here.

Izaak and Abby - Kid portraits Maryville, Missouri

Exibit A:

These two are full of life.
That's a polite way of saying they are ornery.

But ornery is not bad, especially in the case of this brother and sister. Even tho they will probably have a life time of "Mom he hit me!" and "Dad she won't give me back my ball glove!" you can tell that they have a beautiful little relationship, and truly love each other.

I give you the above photo as proof.



See the rest of this post and more photos here.

Sneak Peek - Sarah and Kyle Engagement Portraits - Maryville Missouri Photographer

What she cared most about, was being outside, and so that's what we did. They are rustic sort of couple, with a country feel so being outside, with her uncle's old barn was just right for them. It would be hard picturing them any place else.

See more photos from their engagement session here.

Megan and Levi - engagement sneak peek

These two are so cute and fun. I have many more to share soon!

More than just a little obsessed with this building lately.... it's a mini "barn" near me that has seen better days. Great small scale to shoot with.

More soon!

Hannah + Sam = Engaged! Maryville, Missouri Wedding Photographer

She spoke in hushed tones, even though Sam stood only 12 inches away. "I can't wait for everyone to see my dress it's [redacted**] with a long [redacted]." Slowly, you could see the color flood her face as she realized what she'd just done. "Uh oh" she said, as she looked at Sam. Sam just smiled, like Sam did the entire time. "I already know it's [redacted]." "Well," she says This is when I learned three things about this couple. {Read the rest of this post here}

Kandy and Ryan Get Married! Iowa Wedding Photographer

Kandy and Ryan, were married in my home town in Iowa, on a deck, in her parents yard. Oh.. it's also in the middle of a pond!

Yeah, that's what I thought too.
Saaahwweeet!

I've decided that rather than always showing all photos in both locations, I'll direct you to the photos on my business website. I know I've been showing a lot of photos over here lately. Considering I'm working 14 hour days and I'm a photographer, you shouldn't be shocked by this revelation, however, I feel an urge to talk more about chickens and spiderwebs instead of bouquets and diamond earrings over here

Just sayin'.

Lesley and Colby - Engaged! Sneak Peek - Nebraska City, Ne

Lesley and Colby are so sweet and kind. It's obvious that they love each other. They wanted to do something different, and so we ended up in Nebraska City, Nebraska at Arbor Day Farms. This place is golden! No really. I could shoot every day for a year and never hit all the good spots!

A million and 12 more to come.
OK, maybe just 12.

In the meantime, lots more shoots coming up, another wedding, some senior pics, some albums to make, blah blah blah. Calgon take me awayyyyy!

Two Weddings - Two Sneak Peeks! Missouri Wedding Photographer

Amy and Dustun from last weekend....

And Lori and Michael from just yesterday.....

I have officially declared that all weddings shall occur from now on in October. So be it.