Tower Grove Park Engagement Photography of Lindsey and Justin

In case you haven't heard, I'm holding free engagement photography mini sessions in Tower Grove Park here in St. Louis. The first ones were last Saturday (4/25/2009), and the next ones are scheduled for this coming Sunday (5/3/2009). Believe it or not, I still have a few slots available.

Analyzing my bookings and cancellations for these two days of engagement photography sessions, Sunday is a much more popular day for free stuff. Lindsey and Justin obviously didn't get that message, and they came out anyway for last Saturday's mini engagement photography sessions. We had a fantastic 30 minutes running around the park, and they got acclimated to the cameras rather quickly!

Here they are:

I found out last night that they picked me as their wedding photographer; I can't wait to shoot their wedding next year! Thanks again to Lindsey and Justin for coming out and being awesome subjects.

Nurse-Family Partnership, Building Blocks Program

The Nurse-Family Partnership is a national organization providing support, education, and counseling on health, behavioral, self-sufficiency, and parenting issues for first-time, low-income parents. It accomplishes its mission through home visitation by highly educated registered nurses. In the state of Missouri, this fantastic program is called Building Blocks, and it is available to residents of both St. Louis County and St. Louis City who meet their enrollment criteria.

One of my friends, who is a nurse in the Building Blocks program, recommended me to the national office (thanks!) to photograph one of her home visits. I aimed to candidly capture their visit - including the overall scene, some details, and pictures of the nurse, client, and her daughter.

Here are some of my favorites:

Moonrise Hotel St. Louis: Grand Opening

The Moonrise Hotel in St. Louis is a new 125 room boutique hotel built by Joe Edwards in The Loop, next to The Pageant. I took photos of their grand opening (for their marketing firm, Twist), which involved hotel management, Alderwoman Lyda Krewson, and of course Joe Edwards.

This fantastic old Buick was parked right outside of the hotel entrance for the grand opening:

While I did capture photos of everybody speaking, I think Joe stole the show with his outfit:

Joe also christened the hotel by breaking a bottle of Segura Viudas Brut Reserva against a wall. Shards of glass flew everywhere, scratched his head (causing it to start bleeding), and ended up collecting on top of my camera bag. Here are two shots from two different cameras taken at nearly the same instant (a lucky coincidence!):

Despite his cut and bleeding forehead, Joe went on and introduced the hotel to the community:

The hotel is going to be a huge boon to the East Loop, and I'm sure it will be a fantastic success. Congratulations to everyone involved!

Did I Mention "Free"?

In case you have not heard, we will be holding free 30-minute photo sessions for select engaged couples who have not yet chosen their wedding photographer. Appointments still remain on two days, April 25, 2009, and May 3, 2009. Each session includes a web-based gallery for sharing with family and friends as well as full-resolution downloadable photos that the couple may print, use in "save the date" cards, or show off in a guest book.

Considering the current uncertain economic times, these free 30-minute sessions are a great way for couples to try before they buy; they will get to experience working with a professional St. Louis wedding photographer prior to signing a contract with anybody or paying any fees.

To request more information about these sessions, please contact us via email or call us at 314-374-3249. Also, please browse this blog or visit our web site to see more samples of St. Louis engagement photography and St. Louis wedding photography.

St. Louis Newborn Photography of Baby Marchesa

Megan and Ryan contacted me looking for a newborn photographer in St. Louis to take pictures of their baby, Marchesa. They wanted organic shots rather than staged ones. I pictured that when I arrived (I tend to envision the scene, setting, or circumstances ahead of time - that's my mental preparation for the job), the baby would be sleepy and really cooperative.

I'd capture that cute sleeping baby look that everyone loves, right?

I got to capture the cute, wide awake look instead!

Even though she was squirming all over, I got some adorable shots of her little baby toes, expressions, and interactions with Mom and Dad.

Here are some of the funnier shots from the newborn session:

Congrats to Megan and Ryan on their new arrival!

St. Louis City Museum: Engagement Photos of Kim and Craig

The St. Louis City Museum provided a great backdrop for Kim and Craig's engagement photos. That's partly due to the creativity that Bob Cassilly (City Museum's creator) and his crew have put into making the space, and partly due to a scheduling snafu that let us into the City Museum before it opened to the general public. That's the kind of opportunity that yields fantastic engagement photos!

Random fact: I used to work in the International Shoe building, which joins the City Museum building via a skyway. When I worked there, the City Museum was still very much under construction and hadn't yet opened. Nobody in St. Louis could figure out what it would end up looking like - and I still don't think people have figured it out!

It took a few minutes for them to warm up to being photographed, but once they'd gotten used to the sound of my camera's shutter, the great images started flowing. We did a combination of candids and posed shots in different City Museum spaces (that we could easily fit into):

Kim and Craig also brought along Kim's awesome daughter, Maddy, and we made sure to include her:

Congratulations to Kim, Craig, and Maddy! We're excited to be your wedding photographers!