Amy Wenzel Workshop

This little guy was 22 months old and was an expert on his board!

The young man above LOVED the camera. He was still smiling like this more than an hour into the shoot! His sweet sister is below...

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to attend a workshop held by Grand Rapids photographer, Amy Wenzel. Amy's niche is in children's and senior's fashion photography. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Amy and all the other wonderful photographers in attendance. On the second day we went out and shot some fantastic kids. You'd never know they're not professional models! They were fabulous and didn't seem flustered in the least to have 21 camera lenses pointed at them at the same time!

While I'm known mostly for shooting 'big kids' (the kind getting married), I'm also a mom and am excited about shooting the smaller ones too! This was a great opportunity to fortify my toolbox with some more knowledge on this age group. Let me know if you're interested!

Shane and Jodi are Married!

I always love these first few moments after the ceremony -- such happiness!

It's not uncommon for me to have a pre-existing relationship with one of my wedding clients (my husband and I do live on a college campus), but not often can I say I witnessed the beginning of the wedded couple's dating relationship! About two and a half years ago and I was visiting with Shane, discussing a couple of possibilities he might pursue for a missions trip experience the following spring or summer. I remember encouraging him to consider an option in Hungary, facilitating an English Camp -- a great place I thought which would fit his skill set and gifts.

Fast forward a few months. Nathan and I are in Hungary with a team from Asbury, we're serving as "house parents" for about ten high school and college-aged young men who were working as camp staffers. (Editorial note: I'm from a family of all girls, with a mom who was one of four girls, and her mom one of all girls, and my great-grandmother after that -- the thought of living with all those boys was initially a bit of a concern for me that turned out to be ill-founded -- though the dirty laundry piled up, the boys were also a pile of fun). While we'd be hanging out and rehashing stories from the day, Shane would slip out and write in his journal. Outwardly it wasn't evident what was growing in his heart.

The camp staff was comprised of volunteers from other parts of the US besides Asbury -- a really fun bunch. One of those other staffers was a young woman named Jodi. This Indiana girl was a quiet worker, sweetly taking care of others behind the scenes. One evening after a long day at camp I was I uploading camp photos to Facebook and noticed that Shane and Jodi had done a frequent amount of mutual 'wall writing'. Hmmm, I thought to myself. A few months and a status change later, it was official.

The roads between Marion and Wilmore bore the treads of Shane's Ford Taurus. Many a trip was made so the distance didn't feel so great. A year and one day after Shane and Jodi met, they were engaged. One year and one day after they were engaged, they got married. Congratulations you two. We love you and pray God's best for your future!

Lexington Wedding Photographer: Cydil Waggoner Photography, copyright 2009.

David and Lisa: Married!

(above) moments after their first kiss

I had total flower envy -- Lisa's bouquet had my two most favorite flowers in the whole world: peonies and hydrangeas!

In homage to Lisa's Japanese heritage, some neat details from the wedding and reception:
Top left: David designed and created these reception centerpieces
Center: I believe it was also David's ideas to hang these Japanese balls from shepherd's hooks staked in ferns,
Top Right: of course, the reception hors 'deouvres would not be complete without sushi

Isn't this photo sweet? Everyone in Lisa's family and many of her friends could DANCE (I mean the classy, cool kind of dancing that takes practice, looks like so much fun, and makes you wish you could join in without looking like a fool!)
I've known Lisa for about two years and over lunch one day early on in getting to know her I discovered we had many common interests, including a love of Jane Austen films. You can thus imagine my tingles when I heard the musicians (a pianist, flautist, and cellist) warming up her processional music: the theme song from the movie, Emma (it happens to be one of my favorite soundtracks of all time)! It was such a beautiful day, rich in love, meaning, and family. Thank you, Lisa and David, for making it possible for us to be present. We pray God's best for you and your future! He has great things in store for you both!

David and Lisa: Teaser Photo

Lexington Wedding Photographer: Cydil Waggoner Photography, copyright 2009.

Jodi and Shane: Teaser photo

Congratulations, Shane and Jodi! More fun ones to come soon!

Lexington Wedding Photographer: Cydil Waggoner Photography, copyright 2009.

Introducing Becky

The past few weeks have been a blur! I just returned from a three-state tour to attend a workshop and two special weddings. Photos from all three will be posted soon!

This post though marks the official beginning of Becky's internship with me. I'm excited to have the opportunity to share some knowledge and experience with her. At the same time she will provide some much needed assistance in the office! I also wanted to introduce her here because she may be showing up as my assistant at your summer photo session or wedding! Becky, I'm so glad and grateful to have you on board this summer!

Matthew and Jessica: Engagement Session

Luke was grateful to be released from the confines of the pick-up truck to run and run and run. Nathan captured this great shot of him in mid-stride.

Matthew found this cluster of purple flowers. Aren't they gorgeous?

Matthew and Jessica live in Nashville, so capturing an engagement session could have been difficult, especially if inclement weather would have required us to reschedule. When the day arrived, you can see the sun was shining and the sky was brilliant blue! This session was my first opportunity to meet them in person and Jessica was just as lovely in person as she was on the phone. I was so excited that it worked out to shoot on the Bourbon County farm where Jessica grew up. We will be returning to this area in October for their autumn wedding!

Mark and Kaylene's Engagement Session

I was SO glad for the opportunity to spend some time with Mark and Kaylene before their wedding later this month. The busy-ness of work, school and weather prevented us from doing this any sooner, but the time was definitely worth it -- we got some great photos and I can't wait for them to see the rest! I'm just sad that no sooner have I met this pair (who have literally been living just across the street from me) then they have to up and move to Texas. ;-) But we wish them the best as it sounds like some great things are in store for them down there. See you at your wedding!