When we really sit down and think about it, the moments we are invited to capture for a family are incredible. We're blown away by the honor that it is to document the love within a family.
The first glance you exchange as a husband and wife with eyes that say a thousand words and "I love you's". The loving way you hold your newborn baby, so gently, so overcome with a love you didn't know you could feel. The belly laughter you share during a family portrait session as your little ones let their personalities shine for us to capture. The way you watch your soon-to-be high school graduate pose for her senior portraits while thinking to yourself "I can't believe you're about to go out into the world; just yesterday I held you in my arms!"
... all of these moments of love and life, captured artfully and preserved forever. A photograph so easily becomes more than an image or a print. It's a treasure. A story. An heirloom that will be a part of your family history and passed down for generations, just as our parents, grandparents & their parents have before us.
Let's continue live a life filled to the brim with love. But along the way with how busy our days-weeks-months are, let's not forget to live a life that is also well documented so that our memories never live far away. Fleeting moments come right back while holding a printed photograph in your hands. As time passes, families grow & change and loved ones make their way up to Heaven. Universally, we all appreciate photographs even more with time. And, both personally & professionally, we can attest to this. We've seen the power of an image, and it's part of why we are truly blessed to call this passion of ours a 'job'. A moment... a photo that overwhelmingly captures the spirit of the one you love. The way a photograph warms your heart, and the overwhelming gratitude that we were able to capture their spirit and preserve those moments forever.
So, this holiday (and all year round!) take lots of pictures, both yourself and with a professional! Print your photographs, display them, and have albums made to sit on your shelf or coffee table. It's the first thing us & everyone we know wants to pick up when visiting a loved one's home! :)
Love, Kelsy & Butch
All photographs captured on medium format film with Contax 645, Hasselblad 500cm or Pentax 67.
Christriana & Patrick happened to be the last wedding we were to photograph in 2014. Wow, did they blow us away! We actually said to each other that we were really going to miss the two of them as we were leaving on their wedding night. Maybe it was because we were able to be there as they celebrated with their closest family & friends from their 
Christiana & Patrick decided to skip an engagement session and instead have their rehearsal dinner documented. Can we just say how much we LOVED this?? All of their closest friends and family joined them at Bistro on the Boulevard to kick off their wedding weekend in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and there was so much energy and excitement buzzing around!! Hugs and laughter in every direction we turned, delicious bites and cheerses, all in honor of a truly amazing couple. After a few spontaneous portraits and lots of mingling time, Christiana & Pat welcomed everyone to town with an amazing dinner (& dessert!) and shared their words of appreciation to everyone for making the trip to Michigan to help them celebrate. Feelings and emotions are worn right on their sleeves, and that's just part of what makes Christiana & Pat the kind of people you want to stick in your pocket and never let go!
Lakeshore State Park served as a gorgeous setting for Rachel & Charlie's engagement photos just a couple weeks ago. We have a huge soft spot for Lake Michigan and, as soon as Rachel & Charlie mentioned it, we couldn't wait to get down to Milwaukee for their session! We made our way around the park (which also happened to be where Charlie proposed to Rachel!) and ended their session at the Third Ward, walking through the streets and sprinting hand-in-hand through alleys. :) These two are planning an awesome weekend-long wedding celebration in beautiful Door County next summer and we have been looking forward to their Horse Shoe Bay Farms wedding since the moment their inquiry arrived in our inbox! ;)
