It was pouring rain all weekend so as the wedding celebration of Jai and Nakhil came closer we became pretty nervous about the ceremony since it was outside and the couple wasn’t sure how they’d handle the large group. Luckily, the beautiful landscape at the Cranbrook Mansion in Bloomfield Hills brought out the tents and camopies even right next to their fountains and patios. I came prepared with my typical 14 umbrellas but much to our surprise the sun came out and the weather turned very quickly right as the bride and groom were announced; no joke, we never needed to be that resourceful but we were ready for it!
Cranbrook is an amazing location for weddings and all the details at the Cranbrook Mansion is a perfect fit for Hindu Indian Wedding Pictures. After the ceremony we wandered around to explore the beautiful location with saturated color from the clear sky and recent rain.
While Jai was getting ready, Nakhil celebrated his Baraat in the rain. The brightly colored umbrellas were so much prettier than the ones I brought with their brightly colored outfits… what a GREAT event!
Indian Wedding Ceremonies are always a very close and intimate gathering of a large group of friends and family. It’s hard to believe something can be both large and intimate but it’s absolutely something I love about all types of Indian weddings.
While the couple was being showered with rice, the rain was still POUNDING down but within 5 minutes the rain stopped and allowed the couple to walk out of the canopy without an umbrella.
This is one of the reasons I love doing destination weddings and traveling away from home to shoot; there’s no place in Grand Rapids like the beautiful Cranbrook academy. Even better is going from a great place like Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills to a beautiful modern location like Twin Lakes Golf & Swim Club in Oakland.
This reception was very different from most Indian receptions starting when Jai sang a poignant song to her groom but ended up just as big and amazing as every other with thumping music and a GIANT celebration where everyone was involved.
Posted in Destination, Detroit, Uncategorized, Wedding Photography | Tags: Bloomfield Hills, Cranbrook Academy, Detroit, Hindu Wedding, Indian Ceremony, Indian wedding photos, Oakland, Twin Lakes Golf Club, Wedding Photography
I know, I know… It’s cold outside right?!?! Well, the nice thing about having a studio to do pictures is being able to offer fantastic winter portrait specials close to home in Grand Rapids on the Northeast side of town new Celebration Cinemas North. This is the time to get photos since we’re gearing up for the busy “warm” season in Western Michigan and we’re staying warm in the portrait studio.
We like to keep it relaxed and comfortable during our portrait sessions in the studio and this family photo of Robert and his kids was a great example of dressing up for hip and fun photos! Robert chose his jackets as the main theme and it’s exactly the sessions I love when someone wants fashion and style in their photos. During the session, we took some head shots for Robert’s upcoming hip hop album and although that’s not typical, it was a bunch of fun to photograph.
Sometimes people have an idea of what they’d like to do and it’s not “common” so don’t feel afraid to call and make a suggestion or ask! Robert asked if I’d done photos like this and it opened up the conversation about ideas with the jackets and “rap poses” which is exactly what I like to do… LET YOU BE YOU IN YOUR PHOTOS!!!
Posted in Children, Family Portraits, Kids, Portraits | Tags: cool photography, Family photos, fashion, Grand Rapids Michigan, head shots, hip hop, Kid photos, Portraits, rap
I recently had the pleasure of working with a Spectrum Health doctor for his forth baby’s newborn portraits when he turned 7 days old in Grand Rapids. It’s really funny to be a photographer that works with so many families with their brand new babies because when Dr. D came in he was SO natural and easy going.
It’s not often I can say this but Miles may’ve only opened his eyes for 3 seconds total during the shoot! This is largely because Tara and Larry called to get complete instructions and follwed them to the “T” which made everything go PERFECTLY. This allowed me to capture all the little details and baby parts that capture the insane differnces in Dad’s fingers and the cute little hands and feed.
I love the simplicity and beauty of working with babies. They’re more like being a fine art newborn artist than a portrait photographer and I’m glad to have been the originator of the style in the area. It sounds terrible but sometimes babies are more like a pile of puddy in their parents’ hands but when they kick out little expressions and sound it makes it so much more fun!
It was nice to play with some of Mom and Dad’s jewelery on baby Miles since it shows just one more measurement of how tiny this little guy was!
Posted in Children, Family Portraits, Kids, Newborns, Portraits | Tags: Baby, Baby Pictures, Family Portraits, Grand Rapids, Newborn, Newborn Pictures, Newborn Portraits
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Posted in Children, Grand Rapids, Kids, Portraits | Tags: Babies, Baby, Children, Photography, Portrait, Portraiture, Studio, Toddler
During a busy weekend of outdoor winter photography in West Michigan I joined Melissa & Mark in downtown Grand Rapids for some engagement photos near the Gerald R. Ford Museum, the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, and the JW Marriott buildings.
It was pretty chilly and Melissa had heals on that made it hard to walk in the snow but her super-stud fiance Mark picked her up and carried her from place to place through the downtown area!
When you compare the weather to the day before, it seemed like night and day with my Grand Haven engagement photos taking place on an extremely gray and cloudy day and my Grand Rapids engagement photos with a perfect sky and sunset. Don’t let the photos fool you, we still had very chilly temps and the wind was bitterly cold!
I always love taking engagement photos at the beach in Grand Haven Michigan but this last weekend I had the rare opportunity to shoot a couple during the winter at the State Park! We didn’t have much time with the extreme temperatures and their clothing but we walked down the Pier and back onto the dunes. The wedding is in September so since we know we’ll have perfect weather then we picked the extremes of February 
I hope to get more online soon but wanted to share a favorite right away!
For the Wedding Photography in White Lake, Michigan at the Indian Springs Metro Park the weather looked terrible but I knew we’d have AMAZING wedding photos! Not many brides say “I hope it rains on my wedding day” but not many handle it as well as Amy where she had beautiful antique lace and long veil. The day didn’t allow us to shoot our photos under the old oak tree but we made every portrait amazing!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
I’m excited to share some Wedding Photos from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas that I took of long time clients Jen & Troy. It’s hard to find a better place to plan a destination wedding then Las Vegas due to the amazing locations and non-stop entertainment for amazing photo opportunities and we were able to take advantage of wedding portraits in Red Rock Canyon for my Bride and Groom.
We were lucky to explore the locations within Caesars Palace the day before the wedding but getting great photography in Las Vegas is easy no matter what the time or temperature.
The entire group was so fun to shoot so we went from Caesars Palace to Mandalay Bay then down to 4 Queens the next night after visiting the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign and Red Rock Canyon. Sadly, when you bring a photographer you have to give up the “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” concept.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
There is nothing like Florida Destination Wedding Photography when you’re from up north. It’s even better when you’re working with the Pink Shell Resort in Fort Myers Beach Florida with a couple that came from an even colder place! The Pink Shell offers really beautiful sugar white sandy beach ceremonies with the Gulf of Mexico right behind your preacher after you walk down the stairs and aisle right onto the beach.
Michael and Krystle came all the way from Fargo and they weren’t going to let a little bit of cold temperatures stop them from taking high energy wedding photos!
The sun shined bright on this beautiful wedding day and although the day started and ended a bit chilly, we kept warm with some help from the event staff at the pink shell.
I would like to thank the awesome photographer, Karl Rouwhorst, from Luminairefoto for connecting me with these guys and giving me the chance to get out of snowy Michigan for a sunset like this! Karl knows the Pink Shell inside and out where I’ve shot with him in the past and also with our partner Ben Pancoast.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
As I’m looking at the weather outside I’m thinking about the upcoming wedding season and The Basilica of the Sacred Heart located at Notre Dame in South Bend Indiana. It is well worth the drive to such a beautiful catholic cathedral no matter where you plan your reception and that’s no exception for us as photographers! The folks at The Basilica ensure the perfect wedding day by helping you plan out your entire event long in advance.
These wedding photos at Notre Dame are from Ken and Katy’s ceremony last August where I shot along side of the amazing Ben Pancoast along with the sharp attention to detail of Jessica Pennington at Stella Event Design
The beauty of having two award winning photographers working together is the ability to count on all angles being covered in such a large and beautiful cathedral like the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. While Ben was shooting front and center, I covered the wings for emotion and expression.
It’s always comfortable to make the wedding party comfortable in their wedding photos and with a large group of guys like this it was no exception. Having the cathedral at Notre Dame as busy as it is, we always work fast and with story telling angles that also help to remove unwanted guests for your photos.
Whenever possible, I love to get the entire group in your Wedding Photos in a memorable area. Even with Rain on your wedding day as Katy and Ken had, I’m always mindful of the guests not only by keeping them in dry areas but also in keeping them entertained and energetic. A large photo like this received a lot of attention from all the guests around and if you look really close you may even see the hidden umbrellas! What a GREAT group of people we had for this shot too!
Posted in Notre Dame, Wedding Photography | Tags: Basiclica, Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Ben Pancoast Photography, bride and groom, Northwest Indiana, Notre Dame, Photographer, South Bend, South Bend Indiana, Terpstra Photography, TerpstraPhoto.com, The Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Wedding, Wedding Photographer, Wedding Photography at The Basilica at Notre Dame, Wedding Pictures
The triplets originally came to my studio for their 
There are always a lot of photos taken when you do multiples at this age so you can be sure you have the best shot and I think we nailed it but here are some of the “wacky photos” that happened along the way!
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