This is no doubt one of the coolest campuses I've ever visited. The blend of old and new buildings is gorgeous. Miami University, located in Oxford, Ohio is the home of one of my good friends, Matt and his new fiance, Katie.

Matt and I go back a few years where we met at the International Lilly Conference on College Teaching. I love to teach just as much as I love to shoot photography, and this conference has been a great home for me to learn about becoming an awesome instructor. Matt and I presented a workshop together last year on "new tech tools to use in the classroom" as well as a featured session on "what students really hear". Over the years, we became good friends and so of course I jumped at the chance to give Katie and Matt some awesome engagement photography.

The day started out sunny, but incredibly humid. I knew that I wanted to knock out the "sun-kissed" shots early so they literally wouldn't melt in the extreme heat. After running around the campus for an hour or so, we decided to grab a quick bite to eat. During dinner, we realized that Miami was in the path of a major thunderstorm so we camped out in the restaurant for a while until things settled down. Luckily, after the storm had passed, the humidity dropped down and it was relatively cool outside. So, we continued with umbrellas and came up with some really cool photos.

Just like an Ohio evening, it was cloudy until right around sunset... then, the sun comes out, it gets beautiful, and we were able to end the shoot with some of the best shots of the day. I was really happy with how the photos turned out, and I hope Katie and Matt can look back on our little adventure through the weather and smile.

Congratulations to Katie and Matt! I had so much fun working with you guys!

-Steve

I've always enjoyed working with Bowling Green grads. We always tend to swap stories about crazy nights in downtown BG, or argue about who had to walk farther in 6 ft. of snow... and so when Kylynne and Justin chose us to be their photographers, I was thrilled.

We started off the day at Shaper's Salon in Marion. I've worked with Char (the owner) a few times now and we always seem to come up with cool ideas for shots while I'm there. It's a lot of fun mixing it up with the girls early in the morning. Break the ice. Make people feel comfortable. Relaxed with photographer = better shots.

From the salon, we moved on to the church, Emanuel Lutheran. This church is amazingly beautiful with it's blue ceiling over the altar and amazing pipe organ. It was a bit dark in the church, but the d700 performed great. What I always tell aspiring photographers is that you have to understand what your camera can do and not do. You can go nuts on ISO so long as you get the right exposure. Too far underexposed or overexposed and that's where noise becomes a problem.

After the wedding, we moved on to the reception at Brookshire in Delaware. This was a very nice reception hall and it had a great lobby. The Chiavari chairs were an excellent touch to the room and really made things look great. Kylynne and Justin also had an awesome ice sculpture made with their names and B.G. Falcon logo embedded into it. So cool!

It was a fun night of dancing and certainly full of memories. Congratulations to Kylynne and Justin!

-Steve

Hey everyone!

This year, I'm submitting another image for the 2011 Photo Cover Contest for Professional Photographer Magazine. Last year, we won 3rd place for reader's choice! I would be honored and grateful if you would click on the link below and vote for our entry this year.

This is Ava, our flower girl from one of our favorite weddings this past year, Tara and Joshua Kemp. Let's make her number 1!

Click here to vote:

http://www.ppmag.com/cover-contest-2011/vote/40979/

Thanks everyone!

-Steve

Let me start off by saying how thankful I am for being invited to help out Progressive Insurance volunteers with a wonderful community service project. Last weekend, about 70 volunteers from various departments at Progressive Insurance volunteered their time and effort for The Cleveland Sight Center's Highbrook Lodge. This place is awesome. For those of you who don't know what this is:

"Highbrook Lodge, the first camp in the United States built specifically for blind or visually impaired persons, was opened in June 1928, the gift of three pioneering Cleveland Sight Center volunteers and early supporters: Prudence Sherwin, and Ida and Josephine Grasselli.   Five miles south of Chardon, Ohio, it is named for a rippling stream that descends the length of Highbrook’s gently sloping hillside. 

It is a place where independence and self-sufficiency are encouraged, campers can improve orientation and mobility skills, increase their ability to live independently and, most importantly, learn while having fun surrounded by natural beauty."

Bob Kochmit, the camp manager, had an ambitious list of projects that needed to be completed before the camp opened... and we were happy to help.

After a full day of work, Bob sent me the list of what was accomplished:

- 50 tons of stone were used to pave 708ft of walking track…
- 10 yards of mulch were laid on 375ft of sensory trail…
- Over 500 fallen branches were removed…
- 10,000+ beads were sorted…
- 1,000+ crayons were sorted…
- 15 gallons of paint were painted with 19 paint brushes…
- 3,500 lbs of furniture were moved…
- 1 sports and recreation shed was moved…
- 9 Gallons of off-road diesel were burned in the equipment used…
- 8 ropes course elements were cleared of debris…
- 1 mouse had to find a new home…
- 1 Conestoga wagon had it’s top restored…
- 50 plants were placed in the ground…
- 24 gallons of water were drank…
- 100,000+ smiles will happen because of your hard work…

This was such a wonderful experience all around and it felt great to work alongside such motivated, well-organized and caring volunteers.

I wanted to post some photos and a quick video to show all of you just how much we were able to get done. Thanks to Progressive Insurance and The Cleveland Sight Center for letting me come along!

-Steve

When I first met Carrie and Stefan I knew that these two would be a lot of fun to photograph. They are non-stop personality and always seem to have a blast around each other. I can definitely appreciate their sense of humor and their wedding was so much fun to shoot. I showed up in the morning at the hair salon and got a chance to mix things up a bit with the girls for a bit before going over to Carrie's house. Whenever I am able to visit someone's home, I try to utilize home decor to compliment the photos.

Something I always tell new photographers is to not underestimate textures. Often, I'll find a cool pillow, table or leather couch to shoot details of rings, earrings, etc... It looks amazing, and in the end, you get some really cool shots with things the client may have never realized would make a good photo.

The day went great, and the bridal party was awesome to work with. As you're looking through the photos, I'm sure you'll also notice that one of Carrie's sisters traded a bridesmaid's dress for a tuxedo... and...vice versa! Certainly was one of more interesting ways to enter the reception, but everyone's reaction was priceless! A beautiful wedding for a beautiful couple. Congratulations Carrie and Stefan!

-Steve

Every once in a while, I get to work with friends from back in the ol' college days, which is a lot of fun because it definitely makes for breaking the ice faster. Jeremiah was my roommate's best man in his wedding a few years ago, and of course, we had plenty of college stories to share. Nicole and Jeremiah are such a cute couple! It was a little cold out on the day of their engagement session, but we all toughed it up and came out with some really great photos.

It's really fun for me to watch and be involved in my friend's evolving relationships. It seems like everyone I know from college is now either married, in the process of having their first child, etc... and looking back, I'm thinking, wow... I'm getting old. It does however, put a smile on my face to know that I could be a part of helping my friends tell their story and the next chapter of their lives. It's a really cool position to be in, and I'm always grateful that photography allows me to stay connected.

Nicole and Jeremiah had a blast on the session, and I think their personalities definitely come across. The wedding is only a few months away, and I'm sure it will be amazing!

-Steve

It's hard to keep up in a world that's changing ever-so quickly. This year alone has seen numerous changes to Kaufman Kramer. Brad has moved to D.C., Chris is getting married, and I'm engaged... as if we all aren't busy enough right? The thing that I'm most proud of is how our company has grown right along with us. We've been in business for a wonderful five years and so I thought that now would be a great time to put together our five-year reel and to also announce some up-and-coming blog posts we are planning to release.

Along with our posts about our engagement sessions and weddings, I plan to showcase more posts about technique, image processing, travel photography, food photography and photo gear. We're also running full swing into wedding season, so between edits and album designs, I thought it would be nice to read up on some of the things going on in the industry.

We've always been grateful to our family, friends and clients for all the success we've had thus far, and we're all looking forward to another five years of great photography with amazing people.

One thing that will never change is our commitment to using our passion to tell our client's stories... Enjoy the reel!

-Steve