Now, I can’t imagine what it would be like to be away from your fiancee for more than a  month immediately before your wedding, but I think when you see the energy between these two, you’ll get some idea of how they feel about each other, and how much they are already looking forward to being reunited.

I swear at no point did we ask them to look like J. Crew models. They did that on their own.

Oh yeah, apparently looking spookily like Scarlett Johansson also comes naturally to Sarah.

Do you think they’ve gotten used to the camera? Maybe?

It’s always good, when shooting an engagement session, to elicit the occasional “Woo-hoo!” from passers-by.

Kyle and Sarah, it was great meeting you two, and we cannot wait to photograph your wedding!

P.S.- We’ve just added Facebook commenting to the blog, so feel free to tell Sarah and Kyle how attractive they are or just generally say nice things using the power of words.

Amie is about to finish her Master’s degree in library science from USC. Given that Wendy and I are bibliophiles, it didn’t take us long to come up with the idea of photographing Amie in Thomas Cooper Library. Fortunately, both Amie and the staff there were amenable to it. If you happened to be studying the day we were there and were distracted by a lovely bride striking poses while we whispered direction to her, you’re welcome.

Books are fun!

The image below is one of our absolute favorites! Amie was so patient with us while we took her from pose to pose.
(Please note that we don’t generally advocate stepping on books, but this was a special occasion and Amie is dainty.)

Yup, we’re still in the library.

And now just outside the library.

Finally, we capped off the shoot by visiting the beautiful Inn at Claussen’s. The Inn has a special place in our hearts because it’s where Wendy and I spent our wedding night. The rooms are gorgeous and the folks who work there are great. If you want a place to get away while you’re in Columbia we highly recommend a stay there.

We had tons of fun capturing Amie’s bridal portraits! Be sure to come back soon to see images from her wedding, as well as more brides, babies, and other photogenic things!

No, seriously. Last pic.

Wendy, as usual, started her day off with the girls…

…while I went over to Alison’s house where the guys were getting ready.

Hugo gave his groomsmen one of the coolest gifts I’ve ever seen: real books that had been hollowed out to contain a flask and a cup.

Wendy took this next photo so that Alison could see what the back of her hair looked like and whether there was enough baby’s breath in it. And you thought wedding photographers were just good for taking pictures!

I love this picture below on the right that Wendy got of Alison shortly after the rain ended. I think she captured the thankfulness that Alison was no doubt feeling beautifully.

So the guys packed up and headed to Founders Hall, which, have I mentioned, is gorgeous? Here’s the room where the girls were getting ready:

And here are the ladies, all ready to go.

A toast!

Alison’s friend and former roommate Kaitlyn put together these gorgeous centerpieces for Alison and Hugo:

Additionally, the path to the hall was lined with votive candles in mason jars filled with dried beans. When I type it out like that it sounds odd, but I promise the effect was magnificent.

So while the girls finished making themselves beautiful, the guys arranged a patriotic tribute…

..then just stood around looking good.

Then, well, why not? Alison and Hugo got married.

Okay, enough of that mushy stuff! Now onto the food!

This gorgeous (and delicious) food was provided by Fork fine catering & events. If you like to eat, I suspect you’ll like them.

I have to stop now because you need to be prepared for what you’re about to see.

The food below is (and I promise I’m serious about this) chocolate-covered bacon.

And this is its effect on a healthy adult male:

That guy, by the way, was my best man. If I see you making that face over chocolate-covered bacon, I probably won’t post it on our blog. (I may, however, ask you to hand me a piece.)

So, if you have chocolate-covered bacon at your wedding you’ve already pretty much won the wedding competition. But Alison and Hugo couldn’t be content to stop at that. No, Alison’s dad had to go and make and bottle his own wine for the reception.

At the reception, a guest suggested I take this photo of the ceiling fan. I can’t figure out why.

As the sun began to set, I stepped outside to get a photo of Founders Hall in the fading light. Seriously, I love this venue.

As the sun went down, the party kept on going, with dancing, singing, eating, drinking, and lots of great friends.

Remember these guys? It’s Britt and Jason! They just celebrated their 1-year anniversary back in June.

Alison and Hugo, we can’t wait to see the ways God blesses you through marriage as the two of you grow closer together. We love you!

To start with, we’re going to celebrate the wedding of Chris and Joie. These two were married on a beautiful (if famously hot) South Carolina day at the Seibels House and Garden. Chris and Joie are a fantastic couple and obviously overwhelmingly in love. Wendy and I both love the way they look out for each other, even if it meant Chris shooing us away so that he could have some alone with Joie before the wedding. And Joie–when she looks at Chris, you can just tell she has his back and that she knows that he has hers. They’re a beautiful pair.

Anyway, enough of my blathering. Here are the pictures!

(Don’t forget about the guys.)

I swear we did not set up these next two photos.

Chris and Joie opted to have a “first look” before the ceremony. That gave them a chance to spend a few moments alone together and gave us a chance to get these uninterrupted photos of the two of them seeing each other for the first time on their wedding day.

The party next moved on to the Columbia Museum of Art…

We don’t know exactly what was hanging from the ceiling, but it looked dangerous!
[Update: The chandelier is by artist Dale Chihuly, who looks fairly dangerous, himself.]

Chris dancing for joy at his good fortune in marrying Joie.

Chris and Joie, it was wonderful celebrating with you and your delightful family and friends. May you continue to delight and delight in one another for many, many years to come!

Here’s Lunch Money.  They will rock your socks off!

Now for a few of Lunch Money’s biggest fans… the spicy kids!

Lucy is both spicy and sweet.  Last Valentine’s Day, one of my favorite gifts was a Valentine’s pencil she gave to me through J.P.  How thoughtful little ones can be!  Thanks again, Lucy!

Phoenix is quite the observer.  I was so intrigued by her attentiveness and many expressions.

You may remember pictures of a much tinier Isaiah.  He’s growing fast and learning how to use his eyebrows very effectively.

Alexandra is getting pretty good at eyebrow language, too.

Did ya bring any food, Mom?

Balloons should be available at every concert.

I met some really great people at this last show, and Cecelia’s parents were among them.  Cecelia loves to dance and pretty much added a free recital to the rest of the day’s events.  Just look at the spirit in this little lady!

So there you have it – great music and cute kids.  These kids and their parents had something really special to be a part of last Saturday afternoon.  Folks like Lunch Money, who contribute their time and talents to community events, are such a blessing!  They are one of the reasons I am thankful to live in Columbia.

That was not for us.

We decided that if we were going to take senior photos, we were going to make images that our clients could actually get excited about. We were going to make images that we could get excited about. As such, Christy was a wonderful first subject.

Apart from her other wonderful qualities, Christy has an awesome sense of style. It’s a good thing, because she’s looking at studying fashion marketing in college. Taking that into account, it only made sense to take her shoot in a fashion-y direction. I even asked her to practice making the faces that models do in fashion ads. I think she pulled it off magnificently!

So that’s senior session #1 from Lumos Studio. If you’re getting ready to be a senior and want something that’s a little more you than a black wrap and a canned smile drop us a line at info@lumosstudio.com and set up your session for this summer before your hair turns gray from filling out college and scholarship applications.

This past week, I got to celebrate this amazing woman and our marriage to one another. See, our anniversary was on Wednesday and Wendy’s birthday was on Thursday, meaning that, should I ever forget these dates, I am totally and completely doomed. No, I’m kidding, I have an amazingly patient and forgiving wife but I plan to never test her forgiveness that hard.

Anyway, we started out our anniversary in full wedding mode, with a bridal shoot with the lovely Joie (who you’ll meet next week) at the historic Seibels House and Garden. It’s a gorgeous site, which you can see from this quick snap I took of Wendy while testing light.

After our shoot, we were trying to decide on a place to eat our anniversary dinner. Unfortunately, we were both pretty stuffed up (pollen, anyone?) and didn’t really want to splurge on a fancy meal that we might or might not be able to taste. What to do? Eat at Blue Cactus, of course! Let me be clear–we chose Blue Cactus not because they’re not delicious, but because the way they cook, we knew we’d be able to taste it.

So yeah, in short, there were photos, there were gifts, there was food. It was a good day.

Thursday was set aside for us to celebrate, so there were…more gifts, more photos, and more food. This is Wendy in her new camera t-shirt:

In the photo we’re on our way to the McCutchen House for lunch. If you’ve never eaten there, you must remedy that soon. The food is delicious and the restaurant is staffed by USC students from the School of Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism Management who must be getting graded on their performance because the service is excellent. The McCutchen House is also where Wendy and I had our wedding reception. This visit wasn’t quite as exciting as that one, but we did actually get to eat this time.

There is no explanation for these next photos except that my wife is beautiful and we were messing around:

(I wish Wendy had told me how flat my hair was.)

(Did I mention that the McCutchen House has some great light?)

“Ooh! A brick wall!”

So, after eating and playing around USC, we went shopping so that Wendy could spend a little of her birthday money. I know you’re dying to know what she bought, but hang on!

Finally, we wrapped up our celebration of our anniversary and Wendy’s birthday by treating ourselves to…another photoshoot! This one was at  The Inn at Claussen’s–the place we spent our wedding night–and Wendy busted our her birthday purchases:

And if you think blondes have more fun, you haven’t seen anything yet:

So yeah, that’s my wife.

I am more grateful than I can express to have had the joy of spending the last three years of my life with her. She is my constant inspiration and the love of my life. Thank you for three amazing years, Baby, and happy birthday!

There’s more to come, but here are a few teasers from the wedding.

Anyway, we put together a slide show of some of the photos we took. We hope you like it!

At one point, while I was either hogging Michael and Katie or looking over Lee’s shoulder, Wendy grabbed Megan, who also graciously agreed to pose for us that night, and got these glamorous shots…in the bathroom. Yup, for some reason that’s where they keep the really cool furniture at 701 Whaley.

Thanks to the PPofSC and to Lee for putting this together, to 701 Whaley for having us and providing a great backdrop and to our lovely models Katie, Michael, and Megan. You guys rock!