Laura + Colin are Engaged!

Laura and Colin's engagement shoot is most likely our final outdoor couples session of the season; as all of the leaves have fallen off the trees, things have gotten cold and they've even put away all the chairs at the Memorial Union.  (And now at the time of this post we obviously have a lot of snow) We still found plenty of great spaces to shoot and it was nice to have the terrace to our selves as not many others braved the elements that day to hang out by the lake.  Laura and Colin were fun to shoot with and we look forward to working with them on their wedding day next year.  Below are some previews from their session.  

10.10.09 Meg + Tyler are Married!

Tyler and Meg held their ceremony and reception at the Milford Hills Hunt Club. Which is a beautiful setting for a wedding, especially in the fall. The weather may have been a touch colder than they may have wanted, but besides that they really couldn’t of had a more perfect wedding day. There’s a phenomenon called ‘golden hour,’ which occurs about a hour before dusk when the sun is at a perfect angle, and when the rest of the atmosphere cooperates, creating a beautiful golden light that is amazing to shoot photos in. It doesn’t happen everyday, and we often aren’t shooting photos at that time during our more summery weddings, as it occurs later in the evening when dinner and or the reception are taking place. However on Meg and Tyler’s day it seemed to last forever, allowing us to get some really ‘magical’ shots around the grounds of the club. Their outdoor ceremony went off without a hitch, and the reception was full of close family, good friends, great speeches and lots of dancing. I had a great time documenting their day and have to say this this was one of our more favorite weddings, photographically and otherwise, of the year. Below is a preview of some of their proofs.

10.3.09 Jessa & Brett are Married!

Wedding lore dictates that it’s good luck if you have rain on your wedding day. Jessa and Brett got that extra slice of luck on their day. Thankfully though, things cleared up and dried up enough to still spend plenty of time outside on photos with the two of them and their wedding party, and even when it didn’t an umbrella was close by. Not wind nor rain deterred this great couple, and between the church, the capitol, a near by alley way and the Edgewater; we were able to get plenty of great shots. Thanks again to Jessa & Brett for letting us be part of their day. Below is a preview of some of many proofs.

2 huge surprises, 1 week...

First we found out 'it' was a Boy, even though we were overwhelmingly told by family, friends and clients for the last half of a year or so that it had to be a girl (you had us almost sold on it too!).  We decided not to find out through ultra sounds this time around, there's only so many big surprises life has to offer so we decided not to cheat ourselves out of this one and it was well worth the wait.

Then we got a call, the day we got back from the hospital, that we had been voted 'Best Of' by the readers of the Knot for Photographers in Wisconsin.  This really is a huge surprise and honor for us as we did no kind of campaigning for this award and actually weren't aware that voting was taking place at this time.  So thank you, thank you, thank to everyone who voted for us!  We truly appreciate it and can't be more thrilled that you've enjoyed working with us as much as we've enjoyed working with you.  We were fortunate to receive a similar award through Wisconsin Bride Magazine a few months back, which was also a real honor, but the Knot is the premier and largest publication and website for brides ( and grooms ) planning weddings in the US.

We'll continue striving to offer the highest level of service and quality of work that we can.  And this award is definitely motivation to step it up even another notch.   Thanks again!  

A new Look

We walked behind a woman being pushed in a wheel chair on our way up to the birthing

triage center at the Hospital.  April had begun going into labor 18 days sooner than predicted.  We took our place at a curtained off hospital bed and were instructed to relax and they'd check in on us.  A few curtains over we heard a nurse tell the woman in the wheel chair she was going to see 'how far along she was.'  We heard something to the effect of 'wow you're about to have a baby.'  A few moments later we listened as  doctors and nurses filled the cramped triage area and the woman gave birth.  The curtains didn't do a great job of dampening the sounds associated with this event.  Not exactly the best environment to relax in.  Our little one wouldn't come in such an expedited manor.  It was 9pm Sunday night.  Fast forward to the middle of the next day and you'd find April still courageously progressing through the process.  She had to have a last minute cesarian with our first child which opened us up to additional risks and issues associated with having baby number two the old fashioned way.  On top of that, when April would have contractions it would cause the babies heart rate to dip.  This concerned the doctors and nurses, who were keeping a careful eye on everything and trying all kinds of different things to over come this problem.  More than once it seemed we were on the brink of being sent to the operating room to deliver in order to keep baby and mom safe, just to have the decision overturned at the last second by some small glimpse of hope that a second cesarian could be somehow safely avoided.  Finally around 4pm the doctors felt it was time to try to deliver before defaulting to plan B.  After about a half hour and some more scary drops in babies heart rate, the doctors decided to make use of a 'super vac.'  Tension was high in the now crowded room, equipment and new faces popped up everywhere.  Orders were being shouted back and forth and April bravely proceeded doing her part.  Things seemed to move quickly, yet time past slow.  Then suddenly there he was.  Kohen arrived into the world at 4:59pm, and even though he was a little over two weeks early, he was almost just as large as our first son who was 1 week late.  Both baby and Mom are healthy and doing fine.  We're proud parents, again, and happy Koeplin now has someone else to introduce to the world of monster trucks, tractors and all the other things little boys seem to be so interested in.  On a business related note we will be out of the office until further notice and will do our best to get to all of the messages and e-mails we've received in the past few days in a timely fashion.   Orders that were received on and around the Holiday deadline will be still be placed in time for the Holidays.  Please bear with us over the next few weeks as we get to know baby Kohen better.  Below are some of the many photos from the Hospital.

Alana + Matt are Engaged!

We began Alana and Matt’s shoot at the Capitol and progressed to the street and ally’s around Jenna’s, where Matt and Alana got engaged.  We had great lighting, not too much wind, and Alana and Matt made things easy on my end.  I’m sure we’ll be wishing for a touch of this cooler weather when they say “I do” next July.  Below are some of our favorites from their shoot. -Derrick