melissa + jeremy | engaged

Oh goodness....where do I even start?! I fell in love with Melissa + Jeremy immediately...apparently so much so that I more than doubled my picture taking during their engagement session and ended up with 1015 photos. Um, yeah...just a wee bit much?!  Culling down to the number of final edits I usually give for an engagement session is going to be brutal. But the couple, their eyes and Melissa's firey red hair that glowed in the sun, her bubbly personality, the light, the way Jeremy pulled Melissa's face into his, the light, the location, the dancing, the music, the light, the laughter, did I mention the light, all of the above. I couldn't help myself.  I was addicted to Melissa's personality right from the start which is quite perfect (you will find out when you scroll down).

A great big thank you to Amber of Hazel Media for capturing their love on video. Amber is looking into offering video for engagement sessions as well and asked if she could come along. We were all more than happy to have her there. If you're looking for a videographer, please check her out! And become a fan on her facebook page to be sure you don't miss Melissa + Jeremy's video preview.

So Melissa, tell us your favorite thing about Jeremy?

 Ok Jeremy...your turn ;)

As we were wrapping up the session we headed back to the park for a few quick shots with the sun. What we found was perfection in every way. A guy playing his guitar, a love song, and slow dancing to the sunset over the mighty Mississippi River. Yes, please.

Melissa + Jeremy, I cannot wait for your May 2013 wedding!!  I had an absolute blast with you two!

Hugs,
Em

the mulhollands | family

This was probably one of the most laid back sessions that I did in terms of just following the family around and documenting their lifestyle. The boys ran free, played in the rain, the water fountain, older brother bopped younger brother on the head with a ball, young brother squealed with delight, parents kissed & celebrated their anniversary, it was them: the Mulhollands and how they are. I loved that Heather said after I posted the preview "these pictures brought tears to my eyes because you did such a wonderful job. You caught a side of my boys that many people do not get to see." This makes me heart happy and what I hope to accomplish and capture for everyone. 

We had originally agreed to meet in early June but had to cancel twice due to thunderstorms. The third time ended up being the charm even though it was actually storming that day too.....what's with the luck?!  But, luckily the storms were extremely scattered and even though it was downpour and tornado a short distance north of La Crosse where I currently work fulltime during the day, La Crosse itself was gorgeous.  I met up with the family at Riverside Park and we did have a few short showers inbetween shots, but overall the weather finally cooperated for us!  Thank goodness! The boys even got to play in the rain puddles and we got to see a beautiful rainbow over the town.  Kids will be kids and I don't think any kid I've photographed so far has wanted to actually sit in front of my camera and cooperate so I usually spend the session chasing them around like a lost puppy dodging in front of them, to the side, up high, down low, sometimes too slow. But it's fun and I'm so happy I was able to capture a side of the boys that was special to Heather & Jason.

Alec trying to hide from the camera behind the bench...but I gotchya!

Learning to walk....always such a precious moment!

After the fun in the sun, ice cream from The Pearl is the perfect treat to the end of the day. Happy Anniversary Mulhollands! Here's to many more :)

Hugs,
Em