We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.” — Dr. Seuss

Alison was calm and happy from the moment I stepped foot in her childhood home. That calm and warmth set the tone for Alison & Kevin’s entire day and it was just lovely … perfect weather and all. My favorite part was the dueling pianos at the reception. Super creative and unexpected. Everyone was having a blast and I hung around late just to hear them play some more.

Congrats, Alison & Kevin! Thank you so much for having me along as part of your completely gorgeous day. I hope we cross paths again … maybe for brunch at El Dorado :)

PS — Alison did push-ups before she walked down the aisle so her arms would look good. And they did. Future brides, you should try it.

These two fashionable cuties were really fun and silly. I loved running around (well, I limped since I had two broken toes at the time) with Bri and Dan and hearing about their stories and about how Dan is living his dream job as a teacher.  Bri reminds me of myself with her random little dances and sound effects. Good stuff.

At the end of the session Dan said he felt like he just made a new friend. I couldn’t agree more (except I made two new friends)! Bri and Dan, I can’t wait to see you both again for some beer and laughs. Enjoy your little preview … I love all the life, movement and energy you both brought to the shoot.

Katie and Ben were anything but traditional and I loved their wedding because of it. Katie wore pink, their dog Miller was the ring bearer, the wedding ceremony was super personal and followed no determined path/set rules. They were married under a huge willow tree and timed the ceremony to begin when the tree cast its shade over all their guests. An intimate dinner followed right in the orchard. It was so beautiful. Even the rain at the end of dinner didn’t ruin a thing.

I am nearly jumping up and down here because Katie and Ben’s wedding is featured today on GREEN WEDDING SHOES! This is one of my favorite wedding blogs and it is Katie’s all-time favorite. She used it a lot while planning her wedding and we are both thrilled about the feature. Head over to Green Wedding Shoes to read more about the wedding from Katie’s perspective.

Badger Farms is easily one of my favorite landscapes against which to shoot wedding portraits. Here are just a few of my favorites from Krizia and Scott’s wedding (we had a great mix of full sun, clouds, wind, stillness and a rainbow):

I admire and love how Krizia & Scott did their wedding their own way and not anyone else’s way. Simple and to the point with amazing food (best I’ve ever had and I eat wedding food every weekend), amazing music (best band at a wedding I’ve heard and I hear wedding band music every weekend), and an amazing backdrop. Apart from the ceremony, no real scheduled “events.”

Krizia and Scott, I am so happy and grateful I was able to be part of your wedding and more importantly, that I got a chance to know you both.  I look forward to seeing you again in the future (THATH!!!).

You know when you go to a blog and the blogger is blogging about how she hasn’t been blogging? And it’s kinda annoying because you’re thinking, “well, why don’t you actually blog something legit instead of this dumb blog about how you’re not blogging.” Yeah … this is that.

The month of August saw me out of state more than in state. Two long trips out west and several mini-trips around the Midwest. Mostly for work/photography; a tiny bit for fun. I love the west coast, but you know that already. Washington, Oregon, California. I want to pick it all up and place it inside Wisconsin. West Coast, WI. Population: Everyone and Everything I love (as long as my east coast friends move there).

I’m still reading a book a week. Massive amounts of time on a plane really helps. You can check-out some of my recent favorites on my Goodreads page.

Troy and I saw Bon Iver play in Minneapolis this week. Along with any large crowd comes the misplaced whoops, hollers, heckles and applause. But there were also these moments … of perfectly placed gaps of silence. Those were my favorites. Consider my recent lack of blogging to be just like that. A build up of sorts.

Lots of full weddings, engagements, features and travel photos to come starting next week. I promise.

My friend Jonathan of Encarnacion Photography took these photos of me last week near San Francisco. Notice the glowy light? We’d have light just like that in West Coast, WI.

BTW, you know you’re hanging out with nerdy photographers when you’re driving through the Ikea parking lot together … notice the brilliant light … and exclaim simultaneously, “what time is it?!?!”

For the record: IKEA parking lot. East Palo Alto. 7:03pm.