Tag Archives: wedding
Culver Indiana Wedding Photographer: Troy and Mallory Engagement Session
Today, we decided to give this rainy a go to get some shots of the beautiful Mallory and one of our favorites, Culver police officer Troy. Mallory and Troy are getting married in June, so we decided to wait on engagement photos for this Spring. We have had several sunny days, so we scheduled the engagement session and got rain… Still, Mallory and Troy put on some color and provided some together time for us to take a handful of pictures. They were engaged at a drive-in movie theater, which is where we plan to meet next for a photo shoot if the owners let us. We are also going to take some shots with Troy in his Culver uniform. Troy said the sweetest thing today. He said that over 70% of police officers divorced after just three years, but he and Mallory were going to beat those odds. After today, I have no doubt that will be the case.
Culver Indiana Wedding Photographer: Kalamaras Wedding
Ginny and I just got back to Culver from one of my best friend’s weddings in Chicago. It was great to be a part of this wedding, as I’ve been a friend of Chris’s for around 25 years, and Keri, his new wife, is such a kind and sweet person. Keri and Chris smiled throughout all the events and their happiness was contagious.
I was a groomsman for the wedding, but Ginny and I still took some photographs. Chris had a wonderful photographer named Laura who is from Chicago. She did a great job of keeping everything running and organized.
Not being the photographer, I decided to leave some equipment at home. I have to admit that it was nice to enjoy the event and not be responsible for all of the photos. I hope the photos reflect what a beautiful and fun event it was. I think Chris and Keri have great friends and family and they know how to throw a classy party. I apologize that in many of the photos, it is obvious that everyone’s attention was on the hired wedding photographer. Out of professional courtesy, we tried to stay out of the photographer’s way, as we know how tough it is to get the right shots when a lot of guests are in your way and taking their own pictures. 
Indiana Photographer: Martin 50-Year Anniversary Party
This past weekend, while I was in Vegas, Ginny did a photoshoot in Indianapolis for her sister Angie. Angie, her husband Darin, her brother in-law David, and David’s fiance Kerry Ann hosted a 50-year anniversary party for Angie’s in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Carl and Judy Martin. The Martins are from Knightstown, Indiana. Their 50-year anniversary party was held at the famous Hoosier Gymnasium. This is where the movie The Hoosiers was filmed.
Ginny went down to help her sister prepare for the party on Friday (they did the decorating), and then she took pictures of the event on Saturday. Ginny said it took her an hour to find settings that would work with the unusual lighting in the building. There were lights that had to heat up hanging from the ceiling, and there was natural light coming through windows that were high up above the bleachers. Ginny said, “This gym was incredibly beautiful from the standpoint of vintage 50s. It was the perfect place for a 50s party, which was the theme of the party, but it was really difficult figuring out the lighting situation.” She said that getting unobstructed shots of all the guests while they enjoyed the party was also difficult, as there were a lot of people and a lot of decorations. However, she also mentioned that the music was fantastic and she enjoyed watching people as they enjoyed the 50s atmosphere. They had an ice cream bar that was a huge hit. And, as you can see, some of the guests dressed the part for the party. Ginny says that as usual, she found the kids at the party and couldn’t resist taking some pictures of them. I like the shot of Carl and his grandchild Lucy, our niece.
We met the Martins when Angie and Darin got married. They are as kind in person as they look in their photos. Ginny said that there was a lot of love in that old gym. She picked a selection of pictures from the evening. Happy Anniversary, Carl and Judy!
Culver Indiana Wedding Photographer: Practice, Practice, Practice
This week, we had a well-known nature photographer (Corey Hilz) in town who spent some time shooting areas in and around Culver with us. While we had him here, we decided to take some pictures at Culver Academy’s Memorial Chapel. We thought it would be great to shoot with Corey because it became obvious to us after a few days that Corey was an expert scene photographer. We thought it would be fun to look at the ”potential scene shots” we could take at the Chapel.
We were fortunate that Minister Joanna Wagner gave us permission to go to the chapel and take some pictures. We also decided to hire a model for the shoot. With the help of Ashley Ellinger, a bride whose wedding we shot earlier this summer, we set out to see what scenes we could get at the chapel. We also decided to take our off-camera lighting equipment to set up some portrait shots that would show off Ashley’s beauty and enhace the lighting in the chapel, which isn’t ideal for shooting portraits or scenes.
We struggled with scenes inside the chapel and outside, as we had to shoot around long shadows and fading sunlight. We managed to get some great shots that we’ve posted here. Ginny kept saying, “I think the model bride is so beautiful that it will be hard to take a bad shot of her.” We tried to use lighting to highlight our model in the scene shots, to give her warm lighting when the lighting seemed to demand it in portraits, and to capture the sky that finally decided to warm to us as the day came to a close.
We thank Corey and Ashley for providing us a great learning experience. And thanks to Joanna Wagner for allowing us some time at the chapel.
Culver Indiana Wedding Photographer: A Sunset Ceremony
Ginny and I were honored to shoot the wedding of Ty and Diana Fujimura. Ty is the son of Cheryl and Tom Fujimura. For those who went to Culver Academies in the 80s, you might know Mr. Fujimura as “Dean Fujimura.” For this wedding, we fought the rapidly descending sun, as the ceremony started around 7:30 p.m. We struggled with lighting issues all night, but we learned that you must work with what you get in this scenario, and sometimes, you get more than you hoped for. In some cases, the sun gives you warm, golden pictures that you couldn’t create superficially if you wanted to; in other cases, it created a romantic setting. In still other cases, it blew out shots and meant we had to adjust settings throughout the evening.
The bride and groom are fun people, beautiful to photograph, and showed great love and respect for their friends and family. We enjoyed catching some of the moments they shared on their special day.
Plymouth Indiana Wedding Photographer: Wedding in a Park
Ginny and I shot the wedding of Ashley and Seth Ellinger. The ceremony was held at a park in Plymouth, IN. They used a gazeebo for a more intimate ceremony, and then had the reception in the park with a larger crowd. Ginny shot from the back of the gazeebo, while I moved around it. My favorite shot is one Ginny got of the flower girls. She noticed they were getting tired of being on their feet and had begun to move toward each other. Ginny waited patiently for the right moment, and I think she captured it here. Though it was a short evening, we had a great time shooting this beautiful groom and bride. Here are a handful of shots from the evening.
