Josh & Ashley {Engaged!}

We were excited to be able to photograph Josh and Ashley's engagement portraits because, although most people aren't aware, Josh is a HUGE and integral part of ignited Photography.  Last fall we put out a help wanted post looking for a office/administrative assistant and went through an in-depth process of interviewing people.  We received a great response to the ad, and we talked to a lot of really great individuals with great skill-sets and abilities.  It became very challenging for Kevin and I to determine who was the perfect fit for the position and for our business.  After much prayer and discussion, we decided to hire Josh as an editor instead of the office assistant we originally thought we were looking for.  Josh presented us with some great skills and abilities as an already established graphic designer, but was also extremely open to learning how to edit and match our style of work.  From the very beginning we could also tell that he was a hard working, dedicated, God-fearing man.  We now trust him with our business, appreciate his abilities and gifts, and value his integrity in his work ethic, personal life and future goals.  I think we hit gold with him!

In November when Josh started talking about wanting to ask his girlfriend, Ashley, to marry him, we were very excited to get to be a part of the whole proposal and celebration.  We joined a bunch of their friends on a very (very!) cold evening in February to document the surprise he had planned for her in downtown Ann Arbor.  It was a beautiful evening and we had fun getting to know both Josh and Ashley better through the experience.

Josh and Ashley's wedding is quickly approaching in September and we are really looking forward to be able to be a part of their wedding day.  We are happy to repay Josh for all that he gives to us and the company.  Ashley is such a beautiful, genuine and fun person and we are so excited for the two of them and their future together!  After looking through these teasers from their engagement session, I think you'll quickly understand how much fun and love there is in their relationship.   There is no doubt in our mind that their's will grow to be a beautiful marriage that stands the test of time.

Congratulations you two!

~ Kevin & Heather

Chris & Shannon {Engaged!}

Chris and Shannon are two of the kindest, sweetest individuals ever!  We met up with them at Spicer's Orchard in Hartland for their engagement portraits and immediately felt connected with them.  They are quiet, calm and a lot of fun to be around!  We absolutely loved how we were able to see them visibly relax and become more comfortable in front of the camera as our time together went on.  It was a perfect example of why we love engagement sessions so much - it is so valuable to be able to have the time to connect and to really get to know each other, so that on the day of the wedding there are no nervous jitters regarding photography.  There are so many other things to fill a couple's mind on their wedding day and we're glad to help them relax as much as possible throughout their day.

It was so intriguing to be able to share in one of Chris' biggest pastimes for part of his and Shannon's e-session.  Chris is a pilot and a flight instructor so it was no big deal for him to fly his plane over to the Fenton airport for the portraits.  The airport was neat and there were so many things that made the evening perfect - the couple, the location, the sky!  The night was truly unbelievable and I do believe we kept saying so the entire time.  lol

Shannon and Chris' wedding is coming up later this summer at St John's Catholic Church in Fenton with their reception at the Coyote Preserve in Fenton as well.  This will be our first wedding to photograph at these two locations and we are so excited to experience them both with Chris and Shannon.  We know their day is going to be absolutely perfect!  Meanwhile, enjoy these teasers of the soon-to-be newlyweds!

~ Kevin & Heather

Justin & Jessica {Engaged!}

Kensington Metro Park holds a special place in Justin and Jessica's hearts, so it was only fitting that we captured their engagement images there.  Both Justin and Jessica worked at Kensington during college and they met one fateful afternoon when they were assigned shifts together.  Jessica said that pretty much right away she thought Justin was hot, and it didn't take long for their love story to begin.

We had fun retracing their steps around the park and got a fun variety of images of the two of them together.   Although Kevin and I love Kensington, and have spent a lot of time there hiking, we loved being introduced to a few areas we hadn't visited before.  It's such a big park with so much to discover, if you have the time to explore.  Thanks Justin and Jessica for showing us around!  :)

Enjoy these few teasers and keep your eye open for the rest of the proofs soon.

~ Kevin & Heather

Andrew & Stephanie Robinson {Married!}

It is true that we have been blessed to work with a lot of really great brides and grooms throughout our wedding photography career, and we have come to love them all for various reasons, but with Andy and Stephanie there was so much about them to fall in love with!  The list is long, but two things we will always remember them for is their amazing sense of humor and how much fun they truly had on their wedding day!  It would be a good assumption to say that most brides and grooms enjoy their wedding day, and that may be true is most respects, but Andy and Stephanie actually had FUN the entire day and really soaked up the value of every minute.  Stephanie's emotions were raw and unfettered, and it was easy to tell that through the smiles and through the happy, sentimental tears, that this was the wedding day she had been dreaming of all her life.

Andy and Stephanie met in a rather unconventional way, and their love story is sweet and truly unique to them.  They owe their long distance relationship to the modern communication of Twitter.  Stephanie lives in Akron, Ohio and Andy hails all the way from England.  Although distance and space made their ability to date challenging, they pursued each other anyway and very soon were madly, deeply in love.

We were honored when Stephanie and Andy contacted us back in February of this year about photographing their wedding.  Originally they had entered our 2013 Wedding Giveaway contest, and although they started out near the top of the contestants, they eventually began losing their lead.  Because the wedding was approaching quickly, Andy and Stephanie didn't want to wait too long to book a photographer and so they started talking about options.  About this time, Stephanie mentioned to her friend Nate (who originally introduced our photography to Stephanie) that she really wanted us to photograph the wedding, but she didn't know how she could make it work.  Nathan was impressed by her desire and was compelled to contact us to let us know that he would like to purchase our services as a gift for Stephanie and Andy as an anonymous giver.  Uh....WOW!  Were we ever impressed by Nathan's amazing generosity and kindness to his friends!  We kept the identity of the giver a complete secret and had so much fun contacting Stephanie to let her know that she had been given a wedding collection absolutely free with no strings attached!  Her joy and her tears were heart touching.

The wedding day came quickly and we drove down to Akron the day before the wedding to meet up with Andy and Stephanie and to capture some great "engagement" portraits of them before the wedding day.  Immediately we fell in love with them both and teased Andy that he could just keep on talking all night long and none of us would complain - you gotta love a british accent!

There were a few delays on the set-up details for Stephanie and Andy, so as soon as we arrived in the area we gladly pitched in setting up the ceremony area and decorating the tables for the reception.  It was a great way to get to know them both better in a purposeful and fun way.  We loved being able to lend a hand!  Afterward we headed over to the Virginia Kendall area of the Cuyahoga National Park for their portraits.  However, on the drive over the clouds began rolling in and almost as soon as we pulled up and unpacked our gear, the rain started pouring!  The winds gusted and the rain fell in waves.  Within seconds we were all drenched and dripping wet.  We ran back to the cars and took shelter from the storm.  Unfortunately, the engagement portraits were a complete wash out, but we decided to make the best of it and took Andy and Stephanie out for a pre-wedding dinner instead.  We were all a bit water-logged, but it was a great alternative regardless. 

Andy and Stephanie's wedding day dawned stormy and windy, but with perfect timing the rain split it's course and rained north and south of the Turkeyfoot Island Club, but not a drop fell until after all of the guests had left that night.  What an incredible blessing!  Enjoy all of these teasers from the couple's beautiful day and I think you can see from the pictures how much fun Stephanie and Andy really had!  Thank you, Stephanie and Andy, for allowing us to be a part of your wedding day, and for being so sweet to us the entire weekend.  Your friendship is truly appreciated and we wish you both the very best as you journey on your life together.  We hope we can meet up with you both next summer in Europe!

~ Kevin & Heather

Josh & Emily {Engaged!}

Do we travel out of state for engagement sessions?  You bet!  We were thrilled to have the opportunity last week to head over and explore Cleveland, Ohio for Josh and Emily's portraits.  Neither Kevin nor I have ever been to Cleveland so it was a fun experience to get to know both Josh and Emily, and a new city, all at once.  The areas that we saw were quite beautiful and we loved all of the intriguing architecture and detail in the downtown area.

Spending time with Josh and Emily was a lot of fun - we spent a long time taking pictures and then finished the evening off with a great dinner together.  It was great getting to know them both and learning their story and the details of their relationship.  We can't wait for their wedding this fall here in Brighton, Michigan and are really looking forward to capturing all of the moments of their wedding day.

Enjoy these few teasers from our time together!

~ Kevin & Heather