Congratulations Andy and Jennifer!

Andy and Jennifer were married at Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens in Akron, OH on June 21st. Their ceremony took place at the Tea Houses at the end of Birch Allee with the reception immediately following in the Carriage House.

The day's weather had been threatening to rain, but being the optimist that I am (and I think others were too) we were convinced that it would just blow over. As the ceremony took place, a very large storm cell was blowing in from the west. In the distance I could see lightning and we all heard thunder at different points. The best part of that was the fact that it made for amazing images!

About 5 minutes after they were pronounced man and wife and had walked back down Birch Alley and the guests had headed for the Carriage House, the sky opened up with large amounts of rain and even some hail! We also headed for shelter and after about an hour or so we were blessed when the rained had slowed to a drizzle and then stopped completely in time for some beautiful garden images and sunset images. An amazing rainbow even came out so we incorporated that into the day's images as well.














Thank you for having me in to capture your day with you! Through the ups and downs of weather you guys had an amazing day!

Steph

Congratulations Josh and Stephanie!

Josh and Stephanie were married at Zion Lutheran Church in New Middletown, OH on June 14th. They integrated so much of themselves into their wedding. They are very into music and so had a variety of different musical elements including steel drums, flower pots, soloists and clapping music. It was such a unique combination of musical elements and it really made the day all about them. They had their reception at Das Dutch Village Inn. The decorations were amazing and they had a great time with their friends and family.












Congrats guys!! Thanks for sharing your day with me.

Steph

Welcome to the World Ian!

I had the amazing opportunity to be present at the birth of Ian Pierpoint Clark yesterday. Stacy called me at 3am on June 12th and told me that she was getting ready to go to the hospital. I quickly gathered all of my gear and took off for the 30 minute drive to the hospital.

I got to meet Aiden, Stacy and Jared's 5 year old son when I got to the hospital. He was very excited about his baby brother being born. Stacy's parents, Tim and Linda, came to pick Aiden up not too long after I got there so that he wouldn't have to wait around in the waiting room all morning.

Her labor progressed pretty well. She tried to get some rest, but I don't think that she got very much. Before we knew it though, it was time for Ian to come out and meet us all.

Ian was born at 10:12am, weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20 inches long at Mercy Medical Center in Canton, OH. I stayed and got pictures of Aiden meeting his baby brother for the first time and the grandparents first meeting with Ian. Then I headed home that afternoon for a bit of rest myself! LOL

Here are some of my favorite images from Ian's birth.















I always take the opportunity to go back on Day 2 and get some more images of the baby and the family. It gives everyone a chance to rest and clean up. I went back today and got a few more of baby Ian with his Mom and Dad.







If you are interested in seeing the slideshows of Ian's birth and Day 2, here are the links for those.

Ian Pierpoint Clark - Birth

Ian Pierpoint Clark - Day 2

Thanks for looking and thank you again to Stacy and Jared for allowing me to be part of this amazing event!

Steph

Engagement Session: Andrew and Jen

Andrew and Jen will be getting married this November. They wanted to do a very casual and laid back engagement session. Engagement sessions are definitely a big challenge for me, being a photojournalist, so many times, I just allow the couples to be together without any direction. I want to see them come out as people and look natural. I want to capture their relationship in a very real way. And I think we accomplished just that with Andrew and Jen.

Enjoy!
Steph



Oh...they also let me play a little with a new concept. It is called Stop Time. The premise is that I give the couple 3 minutes to do whatever they want. I let them know the boundaries of my viewfinder and I just let them have fun and play around. All the while, I am taking pictures of the action. Then I put it together in a Stop Time movie. I think this will become a standard in my engagement sessions! (To view this Stop Time movie in it's own window, go to the following link: Andrew and Jen - Stop Time )