the gang's all here | tenney family

A tripod and cable release helped capture enough light shortly before sunset of this beautiful, colorful family in Chesterfield, Mo.

forget the park: family photos @ home

It's always such a joy to photograph the Tilton crew -- more so when it's actually above 40 degrees, which has hardly ever been the case! And although our favorite locale this year has been Faust Park in Chesterfield, Megan talked us into photos at their O'Fallon home.

Good call, Megan.

sisterly love

We absolutely love this photo for its colors and the love and humorous interaction between the Brown sisters.
This photo was made around 10:15 in the morning in late September. { 100mm, f/3.2, 1/160 }

happy accidents

Ahhh, posing. Good when it's good. Bad when it's bad (ahem, see Awkward Family Photos). And then there are those awesome accidents that come about when you're just out having fun. Like these guys. We love this shot!
About the photo: 50mm, f/4, 1/160, ISO 250. No flash.

Two kids. Too cute.

"Ummmm. I'm telling Mom."

175mm. f/4.0. 1/160. ISO 200. Colors edited in Lightroom.

love that laugh.

Remember these guys? Time flies when you're having fun.

playing catch-up

... Speaking of busy, this fall has been just that. Becca's got a seemingly never-ending stack of books to read. Ben's got a constant stream of photo collections to edit. That comes off negative. It's anything but. We're busy. And enjoying it.

Remember to love life. We sure do.
* Technical Specs: 1) 1/40, f/4, 85mm, ISO 200. 2) 1/160, f/3.2, 50mm, ISO 200. 3) 1/100, f/7.1, 85mm, ISO 200. 4) 1/125, 85mm, f/6.3, ISO 800

For the Love: the Wilson fam

When we get caught up in the busyness of our lives and become immersed in the thick of thin things, we run the risk of missing out on the joy in life. Seriously.
In May, we decided to help organize a fundraiser to benefit the young men and women of our church. Our goal was to donate our talents to something bigger and better than us, something that would serve a greater cause. We would encourage others to purchase a mini photo shoot for themselves or for a deserving friend or neighbor. Every dollar donated would go to help pay for the youths' summer camps.
We met our goal. On Sept. 10, with the help of some very good friends, we carried out the major part of our fundraiser event, which we called For the Love. In the days leading up to it and over the course of some days afterward, we have been working to finish the project (because not everyone who was invited to participate could join us on the 10th). We're not done yet but expect to be within the next 15 days.
After fighting off a string of bad weather, we moved one step closer this week when we met up with the Wilson Family on the St. Louis Temple grounds. Here's a look at some of their family's photos:


Several years ago, we started making photos of others because we had newborn nieces joining the family. We did it because others asked us to do it. We did it because we wanted to improve our own skills. And we did it because we realized how much we love to do it.
For the Love 2011 has helped us remember why we do what we do. Why we started. Why we'll continue.

The love of a family is life's greatest blessing.

From the moment we met little 2-year-old Rhythm last week at Quail Ridge Park he was smiling, his big grin setting the perfect tone for our first "For the Love" photo session of the year. (What exactly does that mean? In summary, later this year we'll carry out the rest of our special "For the Love" photo project -- essentially a fund raiser for our church's girls camp and Scout camp that consisted of families purchasing photo gift certificates to give away to a deserving friend or family member. The big day is set for Sept. 10... More on that later.)

Back to the shoot... Each of Doug's kids had his own awesomely unique personality, which was fun to see play out through the lens. Two minutes into our shoot, we knew one thing for sure: they all were super-comfortable in front of a camera. (Dad, you've taught 'em well!)

No question, we were blessed that day. For starters, it was practically a miracle that we got the shoot in that evening... The day's sun had been nothing short of scorching. Near-record temps put things into question early on. And then the rains came in the late afternoon -- thunder, lightning, the whole nine yards. Turned out, the storms were just what we needed leading up to our 6:45 start time, cooling temps off in the ballpark of 15 degrees.

With the help of a few good friends on set, we breezed through the shoot. It's amazing what a few extra hands can do (Thank you to everyone who pitched in!).

We are so excited to finish editing this round of images, along with the Schmutz Family images, which we made that same night (see the previous post). Now that our hard drive is back up and running (another miracle, indeed), we're ready to get things moving again.

Now. And Then.

Couldn't help but go back in time and pull out a picture of J&K from 2009 to include with this sneak peek at their recent Faust Park 2011 shoot... So fun to see how these two adorable siblings changed and grown since then! During this shoot, we also learned that Baby J was photographed here when he was six months old. Pretty special place, no doubt.


Love the b/w of K&J on the rocks. Don't you?

pillow fight!

What makes you happy? For our little friend Maddox, it's Saturday mornings, siblings, and, of course, a good pillow fight!

17mm, f/7.1, 1/60 sec, ISO 400.

Faust Park, But Not the Butterfly House

Some (many?) of you may know of Becca's genuine distaste for butterflies. Perhaps that had something to do with her leaving town and not being able to be a part of the Cannon fam's shoot in Faust Park last weekend. Hmmm...

But we steered clear of the Butterfly House anyway (you can shoot inside, but it takes a lot of paperwork) and, instead, walked around the lake and found spots of shade under trees and used the cool, glass building as a backdrop. The collection of photos, made up of several families, is a gift for Grandma/Great-Grandma's 75th birthday. (Images that will last a lifetime -- an awesome gift idea!)

See more of their family shoot in this 3-min. video/slideshow.

time flies.

When you're watching the clock and marking the calendar, it feels like time just crawls along. Just watch the clock at the end of the school day, and wait for the bell to ring, or count the days until your next work vacation. It can be agonizing.

But step back from it all, and it becomes hard to believe where the time has gone... Just ask the parents of a 16-year-old as they hand her the car keys for the first time. Or look at the calendar right now -- it's already May! Or, in our latest example, just ask Danielle and Alan about Austin returning home after a two-year Mormon mission to Southern California. Strange feeling, isn't it? Heck, it hardly seems like it's been 18 months since Cailan stood in front of the camera for senior photos.

But it has. And, wow. Time flies.

a piece of heaven. in hermann.

Drive 52 miles southwest of Lake St. Louis and you'll stumble across the sleepy, romantic, historic town of Hermann. It's considered by many to be Missouri's most beautiful town, and it's an undeniably popular weekend hideaway. And for a lengthy list of couples, it's far more than that. Atop the bluffs, overlooking the Missouri River, you'll find the aptly named Hermann Hill B&B, Cottages and Wedding Chapel. It's a little piece of heaven. In Hermann.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
If you live in the St. Louis area, you were probably witness to a massive storm that blew through a few weeks ago. It was March 4, and we remember it well. The lightning. The rain. The thunder. The flash-flooding and the hail. Not-so-perfect timing for area wedding planners who scrambled to move everything indoors to safety that evening. We heard from the friendly staff at Hermann Hill that a wedding was actually in progress at the height of the storm (yikes!)... However, by dawn, the storm had blown through (leaving, nevertheless, a remarkable impression on downtown Hermann). An impeccable setting and a breathtaking vista had drastically changed come Saturday morning, giving way to downed tree branches, scattered leaves and misty gray skies. Not exactly storybook, but far from devastating. The chapel doors still opened. Eager guests still shuffled in. The big day still went forward ...


... It's funny. As dramatic as the storm and its aftermath were, its fury and effect will soon be forgotten (if not already). But March 5 will be a day Rachel, David and their four beautiful children will remember for a long, long time to come.

And so will we.

even the smallest stars shine

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For the third year in a row, we've landed the opportunity to photograph a group of young up-and-coming actors and actresses, directed by our friend and neighbor, Erin Rodabough. This year was particularly cool for us as our niece, Aubrey (top right), hit the stage. We've seen Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Can you guess from these images which play the kids and Erin rocked this spring?...