CGM Photography

When Ginny and I moved back to Culver and started our first business here, we hired a high school student named Lyndsey to intern at our small business, CulverLodging. Lyndsey had a strong work ethic, excellent graphics skills, and a desire to put a new work experience on her resume. Years later, we have added a new business, Lyndsey is completing nursing school, and we are happily photographing people. One of the great things about getting to know Lyndsey is that we also got to know her parents, including her newly engaged mom Jeanine. And Jeanine is one of the people we got to photograph a few weeks ago. Jeanine is newly engaged to a great guy named Todd. We met them at Todd’s place on a cold, rainy day. Jeanine’s cat and dog joined us on the shoot, and though the weather wasn’t ideal, Jeanine and Todd smiled a lot for each other. We caught some of those smiles on camera, and we also caught the cat jumping on Todd every minute she could. Ginny called appropriately called this the “it’s raining love” photo shoot. Congratulations to Jeanine and Todd. We look forward to seeing you (and Lyndsey) at your winter wedding ceremony. Maybe it’ll snow love!

Ginny and I had the honor of photographing the wedding ceremony and reception of David and Samantha Haase. The story behind this goes all the way back to Ginny’s teen years. When we were students at Culver, Fred Haase, father of the groom, was Ginny’s Latin teacher all 4 of her years at Culver. She was also the family babysitter for the Haase family. David fondly referred to her as his favorite babysitter. Ginny says she always thought of the Haase kids as her own siblings and “spoiling them was great practice for when we would have nieces and nephews.” Apparently, David was quite a great golfer as a kid because Ginny lost many a bet to him when he’d say he could sink a 20-foot putt if Ginny would buy him a Blizzard after she’d take him golfing. She recalls one round in which she owed him 6 Blizzards. The Dairy Queen saw them often. David and Caroline Haase were both a part of our wedding, so it was great being able to witness David’s wedding day and help capture the moments. Ginny was so happy to see all of the Haase family members together, and she was thrilled to get to know Sam from behind the lens. Sam is not just beautiful on the outside. She’s kind to the core and, as Ginny says, “Exactly what I would have hoped for David.”

Sam and David’s reception brought on a horrific summer storm, which forced the party into the Math and Science building. They say if you can weather a storm on your wedding day, you’ll have good fortune all the days of your marriage. Well, these two took it all in stride and the guests had a blast as a result. It turned out to be a great night: The sunset was colorful once the rain ended, the music was fantastic, the food was incredibly good, and everyone had a great time. We were exhausted after a long day. When we got home, Ginny kept saying, “What a fantastic, beautiful couple.” I have to say that I agree. Oh, and because of all that mud, we got to do a “trash the dress” session the day after the wedding. All the mud from the previous night gave me the courage to ask Sam if she might want to do this. She thought it would be fun. As you can see, we got to see a difference side of Lake Max at this wedding!

This summer, we had the honor of photographing a few of our weddings at Culver Academies Chapel, one of our favorite places to shoot. For Bethany and Tommy, it had meaning, as Bethany is a graduate of CGA. The Chapel has special meaning to us, too, as we were married there in 1995. The Chapel has its share of issues: heat (it’s not air-conditioned yet), lighting (most churches are a challenge with light, but this one is a huge challenge), and the special attachment us alumni have to it. However, all of these issues provide the perfect level of anxiety and stress for a photographer. That is, it’s exciting to shoot in a venue like it. Bethany looked beautiful in the majestic setting of the Chapel, as did everyone in attendance. Afterward, the bridal party went to the park with us for some quick shots, and then jumped on a party bus. I got to travel with them to the reception, and I have to say that it was a lot of fun. We spent the evening at the reception, always an impressive place for a wedding reception. Congrats to Bethany and Tommy. We hope their puppy Sadie continues to be spoiled!

Sometimes we get lucky enough to photograph people we know. That was the case with this wedding. The groom, Mark Click, went to Culver Academies around the same time that we did. Mark married Rhonda, who is, as Ginny says, “one of the sweetest people on this Earth and exactly who I would have picked to marry Mark.” We enjoyed playing witness and photographer for this wedding, as we grew up knowing the Click family. It’s always fun when you know some of the people at a wedding and that was the case with some of the guests at this wedding. We also had the great fortune of shooting at the Culver Academies Chapel and then the Culver Cove. Great night. Kind couple. Beautiful family and friends. Life is good for the Mark and Rhonda.

A couple of years ago, we photographed a wedding for Mallory Ulch and her husband Troy who happens to be a police officer. Earlier this summer, we had the honor of photographing Mallory’s sister Linley and her husband Travis, also a police officer. We’ve decided that we really like police officers. We also love the Linley and Mallory’s family. They are kind and a lot of fun. The reception was held at the Back 40, which is located by Bremen out in the middle of nowhere. What a great venue it turned out to be. The grounds were beautiful and the perfect style for our bride who wore cowgirl boots under her beautiful dress. What a great night and great couple!

Ginny and I just finished editing photos for a Plymouth wedding. It was a hot day, but we had a fun group to work with, including groom Nathan and bride Suzie. We had the opportunity to take some shots at the Plymouth park before we headed to a reception in Knox. This was a Catholic wedding with a pirate-themed reception! It was also Ginny’s first wedding as the primary photographer because I had to be on assignment during the second half of the reception. We shot the ceremony together, the formal photos, and part of the reception. I left to shoot Final Ball at Culver Academies and Ginny did the rest of the shoot on her own. We put in a long day and didn’t want to move from the couch once we returned home. We had a great time with Nathan, Suzie, and their friends and families, though. Here are some of the color shots.

Ginny was a teenager when one half of this couple was just a toddler and Ginny was his regular babysitter. She tells stories of his athletic talent, particularly in golf and how he was smart enough to bet her Dairy Queen treats on the golf course. She remembers how he’d birdie hole after hole to win blizzards. I think this must have been when Ginny learned how to spoil her niece, as she has always told me how she could never say no to David Haase or his sister. She was thrilled to hear of his engagement and upcoming wedding to the beautiful, down to earth, and kind Samantha (Sam). We had the pleasure of photographing them on campus for some engagement shots. When we leaving, Ginny said, “I’m so happy he found such a wonderful girl. I just love her.” David and his sister were part of our wedding, so we are thrilled to be part of his. We look forward to the big day.