Kayla and Jason - Omaha Engagement Photographer

ALRIGHT EVERYONE! 99% of my shooting is done for the year so it's time to start exploding the blog with all these folks I've been shooting lately. Let's take a peek back to Kayla and Jason... These two were a piece of cake. They're cute, photogenic, sweet, madly in love with this moppy little pup you're about to see. All that stuff that makes photographers jump for joy.

Wildest Dreams sessions are going down this weekend! | Omaha Family Photographer

Our December round of "Wildest Dreams" sessions are going down this weekend. I think we have a princesses, superheroes, a mermaid and a train conductor coming in.

I'm not booking any more sessions for Christmas/holiday return, but these are still bookable for 2013. Here's the complete info. Contact me to set one up!

Mary and Jeremiah | Omaha Wedding Photographer

Mary and Jeremiah are getting married next June in South Dakota. I was so excited to hear from these two since I shot their friends' wedding last October in Lincoln. Friend referrals are some of my favorite things (you hear that everyone?). You know it's going to be a good time when the couple has already worked with you, already seen what a total nerd you are, and still want to hire you. I could be speaking only for myself here but anyway...

This session was amazing. They ended up with one of the last epic sunsets of the Fall. Combine that with how great looking these two are, and you get this result:

Megan and Keith - Omaha Engagement Photographer

Check out these two gorgeous folks! Megan and Keith are getting married in Kansas City next year but wanted some Omaha-esque engagement photos to show off their new city.

You're beautiful. Make sure you're in those photos too.

You're beautiful. Yes, you. You reading this. You're beautiful. You should make sure your picture is taken more often.

I take a couple photos of my son every month to put in a book for him. It started out just photos of him (alone) as a newborn because I looked fat with all that baby weight. But then I lost some weight and needed to get my hair done. But then I was always wearing my pajamas and glasses after work and just didn't look cute… And after roughly three months of life with my baby, I didn't have a single photo of us together. I had hundreds of him with his dad, his grandparents, his cousins. I realized that if I wait for the perfect time to start jumping into photos with my son, he'll never have any photos of me.

So, I started getting into the photos. If Lennon was doing something cute/funny/Lennony, I would run and grab my camera. Snap a couple of him, snap a couple of him with his dad, and then hand the camera over to Matt and jump on in there, sweatpants and all. Over the 21 months that followed my revelation, I have collected countless photos of myself with Lennon, appearing in various states of sloppiness and disarray. But you know what? I have photos of us together and that's what's important. He's not going to look at those photos in 20 years and say, "Wow. My mom was such a slob." Ok, he probably will. But then the second thing he says will be, "Look how much she loved me. Look how happy I was with her. Look how young and pretty she once was." ("I was a great beauty. I was very charming." - that's a sidetracked Annie Hall quote right there.)

I'm 29 years old and I still get excited anytime I can snap a photo of me with my parents. And my dad, whose age shall remain confidential, also FREAKS OUT over any photo I take of his parents with their kids/grandkids/great-grandkids. Your loved ones want photos with you in them. Trust me. Do you have any idea how many photo-montage videos I've seen at weddings? People cherish photos of their family like gold. People cherish them so dearly that they collect them and show them to rooms of 100s of people on their wedding days.

All these little minutes that we're living - guess what? They add up to our lives. Our lives are happening all the time and we don't think it's important enough to pull out a camera and take a picture. But our kids will think it's important. And their kids will think it's important. And long after you and I are gone, these photos will still be here, showing your ancestors who you were and how much you were loved.

Once or twice (or you know, thrice) a year you should make an appointment with me - or your other favorite photographer and you should get professional family photos. Take the time to feel beautiful, buy that new outfit that makes you feel like a million bucks, attempt to give your squirmy toddlers haircuts. Those photos are equally important. Those are the photos that decorate our homes, get printed onto expensive canvases, go out as greeting cards to friends and family. But don't forget that there are 364 other days in the year and those days should be valued too. Don't think that because those days don't look beautiful now, they won't look beautiful to you a year from now.

You're beautiful. Make sure you're in those photos too.

Just so you know I'm telling the truth, he's one of my personal photos wherein I look erm... not so glamorous. But looking at it nearly two years after it was taken, I'm so in love with it.

Shannon and Jeff - Omaha Wedding Photographer

Shannon and Jeff were married on her family's farm out near Fremont, Nebraska. The homespun atmosphere at their wedding was so incredible. Everything was done by friends and family, from the homemade pies to the flowers. These two are so lucky to have such a warm circle of people surrounding - which was necessary considering it was 40 degrees the day of their wedding. :)

Shannon and Jeff's wedding was second shot by the one and only Jennie Davis. But you guys probably saw that coming. :)