Mirage Photo - Photo Blog

Guest Blogger - Jennifer Wilmes

2011-09-19T06:36:00.000-07:00

Since my time management skills have become non-existent these days I am going to invite a former bride to "guest blog" on our site. Jennifer Wilmes is an independent consultant for Thirty One Gifts (which they named in honor of me turning 31 this year).

Jennifer and her wonderful husband Kenny got married on December 8th of 2007. (Seen here in there 12/8/07 mugshot as photographed by Mirage Photo)

Give Jennifer a call and see how she can help you with the difficult task of gift giving for your wedding or host a party and get free stuff. Who doesn't like free stuff? Be sure to wish Jennifer a happy early birthday (as long as you call her before October 1st).

and now, on to the guest blogger...

Recently Engaged? Need gift ideas for your BRIDESMAIDS, Mom/Mother in Law or Flower Girl? Are you a Mom wanting a personalized gift for your daughter, the “Bride to be”?

I have the PERFECT solution for you. At Thirty-One Gifts we offer totes, purses and accessories and most of these items can be personalized for just $6. We offer a variety of prints and if you choose to personalize them, you can choose the color thread and the font style you prefer. We always have a monthly special for customers and hostesses. I offer home or catalog parties, we could even have a Girls Night Out at a restaurant or a bridal shower. My hostesses can earn 10-20% of the show sales in FREE product, up to 5 half priced items, FREE shipping with a party of $500 or more, and a FREE gift from ME. I also offer bridal registries! For more details or to view a catalog go to www.mythirtyone.com/JenniferWilmes or email me at 31Gifts.JenWilmes@gmail.com.

Jennifer Wilmes
Independent Thirty-One Consultant
314-280-4799

We are classin' this place up a bit...

2011-03-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

It is with great pride and distinct pleasure that I present this months guest blogger. Absolutely one of the best Professional Makeup Artists in the greater Saint Louis area... oh hell, I'll say it, then entire Midwest. She has worked with the likes of VH1 "Behind The Music", Money Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and Pfizer... by my account, she has the sex drugs and rock n roll scene covered in these parts. Why should would want to go slumming in a crazy photographer's blogsite is beyond me. PLEASE keep your eyes pealed for her this summer as she will be working yet another VH1 behind the scenes look at "NELLY" airing in 2011 (can I get a whoop whoop)... Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you D'Shannon (layin down the hotness) Llewellyn!!! Thank you so much for taking this time to share with our brides (and families) about your tips to winning on your big day... Nobody says Charlie Sheen is going to be the only winner left in the end. Except him.

Mirage and Makeup
By
www. dMakeupArtist.com

So you’ve chosen a phenomenal photographer. You have locked in the date, and can’t wait for the first step…engagement photos. Imagine you and your sweety just like the first time you fell in love holding hands, laughing, kissing. These are just the first of many images that you will share with generations of your future family. Yes, the cake will be devoured, the music will end, and the flowers, food and decorations will all be gone. Nothing left but the moments captured forever on film.

So what can you do to look your absolute best for photos….possibly the biggest and most important investment in your wedding day? Wow! The pressure! Dress check. Jewelry check. Shoes check. Let’s not forget that your face is the most important feature of this day, and it will be captured for all time. Here is the priority checklist for the star of the show, the princess of the day, the beautiful Bride!

1. Choose a makeup artist that will rock your world and leave you staring in the mirror. Someone who will add as much to your day personally as artistically.

2. Consider a more natural look for your engagement photos and a more formal look for the wedding. But both days make sure to be true to you!

3. Do consider false eyelashes. They add a lot to your look and don’t have to be at all obvious. For the natural beauty a few individual lashes strategically placed keeps you looking bright eyed all day.

4. Don’t over tan! Yes a slight glow is an asset to your overall appearance, but you will regret the dreaded Oompa Loompa look for certain.

5. Consider having your artist stay for the day if you are in peak season. Weather, emotions, emergencies, etc. can occur and having a beauty pro on hand all day can be a life saver.

6. Get plenty of sleep and visit your sauna as often as possible. The top two things you can do for AMAZING skin. Don’t have access to a sauna…do a bath with ONLY salt in the water. Keep the room and water hot enough to cause your forehead to sweat and keep it up for at least 20 minutes. Try this a few times a week for glowing skin and countless benefits.

7. Find an independent beauty pro to give you a skin analysis and personalized regimen. Get a daily routine down as early as possible.

8. Use Crest Strips or get professional teeth whitening. That smile is your number one accessory.

9. Exfoliate and moisturize all over… don’t forget your hands. Moisturizing at night works with your body’s natural repair process.

10. Don’t stress out. Glowing skin and bright eyes are the result of limiting stress and getting enough rest.

11. Do not wax your eyebrows the day before your wedding. This will cause a problem for makeup to adhere evenly and leave you with an uneven appearance. Do this at minimum a few days before the event or more if you can.

Bonus Tip: Consider having your makeup artist discretely conceal blemishes or dark circles on your dashing groom. After all, why look your absolute best and leave your groom looking anything less than perfect. Share these tips with him to get the absolute max out of your investment in Mirage Photo!

**Thank you D' Shannon. I could not agree with you more. In fact, I will take it one step further, by NOT having D' Shannon working with you, you are greatly increasing the odds of not looking like the dream you have envisioned since being a child (minus the blue eye shadow, of course). You owe it to your self to complete the package. Just as I don't feel comfortable telling a potential client that Uncle Joe might get some great shots during your wedding day, I cannot, in good faith, tell a bride, Aunt Bessie is going to do a great job on your makeup and I am sure she will make that big GIANT ZIT look wonderful. When I know it will turn out looking like a crusty version of the leaning tower of Pisa.

The state of hotness that D'Shannon can get you into is literally priceless. You want to be confident on your wedding day and know in your mind.... "oh yeah, I'm hot." Call D at 314-537-5813. You can see more of her portfolio at http://www.dmakeupartist.com/.

A Special, special thank you to D' Shannon for going out of her way to help us out. I personally jump at the chance to work with her whenever the situation come up, regardless of the client, I know if they are with D then their good enough for me.

D'Shannon Rae Llewellyn, Professional Commercial Makeup Artist
See D's work on VH1: Behind the Music: Nelly airing 2011!

Coming soon... To a photography blog near you.

2011-03-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

We are going to be rolling out our new monthly newsletter in the very near future which will help everyone keep up on where and when we are going to be shooting, running specials, and traveling for some kick butt senior sessions. In the meantime, we are going to start running some guest bloggers on our Mirage Photo Blog Site. Cool insights, fantastic tips, and wonderful ideas to help make your wedding day the best experience it can possibly be. We are so excited about where we are going as a company and we think you should hear from the most awesome professionals in the industry. We have several lined up already but feel free to shoot me your ideas and we can get your people hooked up with our people and we will all be better for it. Send your ideas to shawn@mirage-photo.com.

2011 - WeddingWire Announcement

2011-01-25T15:24:00.001-08:00

St. Louis, MO – January 25, 2011 - WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, is thrilled to announce that Mirage Photo has been selected to receive the prestigious annual WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 for Wedding Photographers!

Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation.

Mirage Photo stands among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire community, representing quality and service excellence within the wedding industry. Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is honored to celebrate the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire community,” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program, WeddingWire has the unique opportunity to recognize the best wedding professionals across the US and Canada. We applaud Mirage Photo for their professionalism and dedication to enhancing the wedding planning experience last year.”

We are happy to announce that Mirage Photo is among the very best Wedding Photographers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Martha Stewart Weddings, Project Wedding and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for nominating us to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011.

For more information, please visit our website at www.mirage-photo.com.

For more information on the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011, please visit WeddingWire.com.
WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire.com, the nation's leading technology company serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 local wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives local businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. Businesses that join the WeddingWire Network appear on WeddingWire.com and other leading sites, including MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), ProjectWedding.com and Weddingbee.com (both part of eHarmony), and Celebrations.com (part of the 1-800-Flowers family of brands, NASDAQ: FLWS).

Ashley and Jason - Wild Horses Engagement

2010-11-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

Check out more of our work on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/miragephoto

Lunch with LaRussa

2010-11-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

We recently had the honor of photographing a business luncheon for Woodbury Financial Services. Tony LaRussa spoke to the attendees of the conference along with invited guests. Hearing Tony speak of the past baseball seasons was so interesting, his candor and openness was unexpected. Even more impressive was his take on leadership and moving teams in the right direction. Part baseball guru, part Anthony Robbins. The cardinals are fortunate to have him in their dugout.

We were able to meet a lot of great people that day. A great big shout out to D'Shannon (one of the coolest make-up artist in the greater Saint Louis area), who kept us entertained with her barking at the A.R.F. donation station. The guests set a new record for donations to Tony's charity from previous years. I hope that money will go to a great lengths to help the Animal Rescue Foundation.

If you get a chance, check out D'Shannon's fantastic work at her website http://www.dmakeupartist.com/

Many big thank you's to Tony for hanging around afterward and signing autographs and taking pictures with everyone, inluding the photographers.

Let's make some "gourd"geous photos together.

2010-10-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

Mirage Photo is going to be at Rambach Farms Pumpkin Patch on Wednesday, October 20th, 2010 to do family photo sessions. Call us at 636-577-1074 to schedule your appointment. We only have space available for another 4 or 5 families (depending on the number of peeps in the family). It is not too early to start thinking about those family Christmas cards or giving the gift of portraits for the upcoming holidays.

Bring your little pumpkin out to our little pumpkins and we can create some unique and wonderful fall photos that your family will cherish.

The session fee is going to cost $50.00 and we are going to keep it simple on you from there. No complicated packages and no hassle ordering. You want a different pose in each print, just ask. We are offering 3 photo packages that should cover all of your gift giving needs this year,

Package 1 is $40.00 and includes, One(1) 8x10, Two(2) 5x7's and 8 wallet sized photographs.

Package 2 is $50.00 and includes, Two(2) 8x10's, Four(4) 5x7's and 16 wallet sized photographs.

Package 3 is just $60.00 and includes, One(1) 11x14, Three(3) 8x10's, Five(5) 5x7's, and 16 wallet sized photographs.

Skip all that and just purchase the CD with all images we shoot, along with a copyright release so you can make your own prints and custom holiday cards for only $150.00. That's a bargain at twice the price!!!

For directions to Rambach's in the Chesterfield Valley and to book your appointment, call Samantha at 636-577-1074.

The Grand Prize Winner Is.............

2010-08-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

OK OK, enough stalling...
The grand prize winner is, (drum roll)
Sarah Gresoski!!
I cannot believe my favorite drinking bride won!! Lucky number 22 was the magic number. Give us a call at 636-577-1074 or send me an e-mail at shawn@mirage-photo.com to collect your prizes!!

I have another contest in the works for next w...eek. I will post an announcement over the weekend with more details so if you have not won yet.... have faith, and hang on just a titch longer. We are cooking up a great contest for next week.

2010-08-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Jake and Nickie are our next winners. Congratulations. They were a really cute couple with a summer 2011 wedding scheduled. I totally remember this couple. You will be receiving $1000.00 off any of our wedding photography along with 4 rounds of golf from the Landings at Spirit Golf Course in Chesterfield. I hope you are half as excited as we are to be giving out the prizes. I am already looking at our calendar to see when the next wedding show will be held so we can do this again. Until then, we are having the grand prize drawing on Friday so please hang with us for a few more days.
Prize winners simply need to call us at 636-577-1074 or e-mail me directly at shawn@mirage-photo.com to collect your prizes.

The Name is Bonds, Chanel Bonds.

2010-08-16T20:10:00.000-07:00

Chanel is going to receive $500.00 off any of our wedding photography packages plus a fantastic Bridal Anklet Bracelet along with $50.00 off of her fiances Gold or Silver wedding band. The jewelry has been graciously donated to us by our unbelievably good friends at Indigo Jewelers in Saint Peters, MO. I highly recommend everyone stopping by or calling the owner, Michael Menger. You will NEVER get better customer services or better prices for quality than you can get at INDIGO. http://www.indigojewelers.com/

Wiiner #2 is Theresa and Lucian

2010-08-13T15:38:00.000-07:00

Congratulations. Bonus points for the enthusiasm on the jump!!! Give us a call at 636-577-1074 or e-mail me at shawn@mirage-photo.com to collect your prizes.

The next prize package will be given away on Monday so STAY TUNED!!!

Friday. Giveaway. Awesome.

2010-08-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

Friday already... can I get an amen from the congregation? Friday means a lot of things around here but today it means... "Ultimate Bridal Giveaway Super Spectacular Contest Thingy Day 2". Today's winner will receive $300 off any of our wedding services, a $25.00 gift certificate to Pio's Italian Restaurant, and one dozen Krispy Kreme donuts. ROCK ON FRIDAY!!

Today's winner will be announced at 5pm. Good Luck.

Here is a picture I ran across this morning from Tina and Mike's Engagement we took recently in Kansas City. I had forgotten how much I like this picture. The heart shaped glow is actually cast from their love for each other, not a contrived photoshop enhancement.... OK it is, but man to do they love each other.

2010-08-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

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Amanda - Winner of Prize Package Five

2010-08-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

Amanda, come on down... you are the first of five winners of our Ultimate Bridal Giveaway Contest thingy...

You've just won a FREE Engagement Session and a FREE custom designed "SaveTheDate" layout that you can use to order magnets or take the weight of the world off of your shoulders and simply have us handle the ordering for you. No obligation to buy, of course. That is not the kind of contest we are running here!!! :)

Send me a message at Shawn@mirage-photo.com or give us a call at 636-577-1074.

Announcing First Winner Today

2010-08-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday, can you believe it? Contest Winner #1 announcement day.
We will be posting our first winner today at 5pm!!! Today's winner receives a FREE engagement session. I am so jazzed about this contest that I am going to throw in a FREE custom designed Save The Date that you can use to order your own magnets or if you choose to go the easy route, we can order them for you. I know, we are amazing!!!

I will post a picture of a Save The Date we did for one of our couples recently. Thank you to Steve and Becky for letting us post their Save The Date design online.

Check back here today at 5pm to see if you are a winner.

America's Center Bridal Extravaganza

2010-08-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

It was one of those weekends when you can just look back at end of the day and be thankful for. We had the honor of sharing a beautiful ceremony and reception with a truly wonderful couple, Jessica and Aaron, as they shared their nuptials with their awesome families. You gotta love it when both families take you in as an outsider and accept you as part of the family after the course of a couple days spent together. Some of the wonders of living in the south I suppose. Good people. All of the family from Southwest Missouri were a joy to work with and the group from Louisiana was in (what I assume is the norm for them) a joyous and giving mood. I know it showed in the eyes of Jessica and Aaron as they shared their biggest day with family and friend from all over the country. Oregon was represented as well as the "I traveled the farthest award" going to Aaron's friend from Rome who made it across the big pond help with the festivities.

Then Sunday hits and we are faced with our biggest bridal show that we have ever tried to handle. It was a blast. We got to meet, literally, hundreds of brides working on preparations for the day of their life. THE BIG SHOW was held downtown at the America's Center and it was truly a bridal extravaganza. We met couples from every walk of life. The one thing I never get tired of is hearing the stories. How we met, why we are here, where we are going. Every story different, every story delivered with passion, excitement, and a ton of humor. We were blessed to meet hundreds of folks that we would love to work with, a few we might have to avoid, and some that you know you are just destined to work with. You know who you are Andrea and Larry.

Not only do we get to hang with the coolest bridses from the greater Saint Louis area, we get to keep in touch with some of the best vendors in the business. It was great to see our pals at Millennium Music, the guys over at Complete Music, Pam from Signature Studios, the girls from over at FitChix (always good for a smile), and not to forget, rubbing elbows with Sal and Taylor Cincotta who manage to always make us feel like a slightly bigger fish in a giant ocean of wedding vendors. If you ever get a chance to mingle with them, take the extra minute to say hello. They are without a doubt the most sharing couple in the biz. Absolutely cannot wait for your seminar in Chicago. After being blown away in Las Vegas by your presentation, I am patiently waiting for the other good stuff you are getting ready to roll out. Keeping it real in Saint Louis.

We tried a little something new for us this weekend. We gave each bride an opportunity to win prizes by letting me goof around with them and take their picture with our soon to be infamous "thought bubbles". People funny, sweet, often silly and occasionally and my personal favorite, downright raunchy. Starting Wednesday, the winners of our contests are going to start being announced so keep your eyes glued to this blog and our facebook site for all the latest postings!!! It is going to be super exciting. All told, I believe we are giving away about $6000.00 in prizes. From our delicious photography to spa packages, golf outings, dinners, and jewelry. I may even have to devise a new giveaway to a few special couples that went above an beyond with their thought bubble messages. Funny stuff, and it would be a shame to let them go to waste!!

That's all for now, getting late here and need to get refreshed again before another exciting week and Mirage Photo begins. I know a lot of folks get to work at jobs they love, probably more don't though and that is why I feel so incredibly blessed to be doing this for a living. I love what I do and I know Samantha does too so I hope that it shows in our work and the care that we take with each and every couple that chooses us to capture their wedding day.
Stay tuned..... the drawing starts in just over 48 hours. tick tock, tick tock.

MIRAGE PHOTO IS GOING GREEN

2010-06-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

To quote legendary rock star Rick Nielsen of "Cheap Trick"....

I WANT YOU TO WANT ME.
In an effort to end the insanity of paying magazines ridiculous sums of money for advertising that really does not work to pull in the style of brides are looking to book, I have decided to put our advertising budget to better use. Greenbacks for everyone! Who better knows us than the folks who have already worked with us?

Starting today, if you refer a bride to Mirage Photo and they are wonderful enough to sign a contract with us then you earn $100.00. Simple, you betcha. Refer 10 brides, cha-ching.... $1000.00 in your pocket.

Rules: Like everything else with us, there really aren't any. This is not a credit towards something or earning points to apply to magazine subscriptions... this is cold, hard cash. A crisp Benjamin for every bride you refer that books us to shoot their wedding. Sound easy, it is. We all know people that are getting married, just send them to our website and let them check us out. Just make sure they let us know who reffered them so we can get the money where it belongs. I would much rather give you our advertising budget than to send it to magazine publishers and newspapers.

If you are a bride that stumbled across this website then keep the money for yourself. Go with the "I referred myself to Mirage Photo and earned $100.00 cash" program. You don't even have to tell your fiance. Just pocket the cashola and go get a mani-pedi before the wedding. (please note: if you are a groom trying to pull this kinda crap it will never work, she WILL find out and you WILL be held accountable... that's a free tip from your good buddy Shawn at Mirage)

Let's do this, help us spend our advertising budget. Please.

New website is online

2010-05-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

Chances are, if you are viewing this blog post, then you are already aware of our new and hopefully improved website.

Our new site went "live" online yesterday. Still working out some bugs and issues with my horrible spelling but it is a much needed improvement over the old site. Too darn bad it will be obsolete in a week or two. Guess I better start working on a new, new website. Please check it out if you have a couple minutes to burn at work or home or from your "I-something" (pod, pad, phone). www.mirage-photo.com

Don't have a minute, no worries. At least take a second to check out Amanda and Jason's engagement photo. If you think the balloons are fun, wait until you see the session we shot at a carnival later that week. Their wedding is going to be off the chart on a coolness factor. I almost typed uber cool but stopped myself. Only 132 days to go, right Amanda? Can't wait.

Your response has been phenominal, thank you!!

2010-05-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

Memphis is filling up fast. We are going to be busy by the looks of things. We are going to consider an extra day of shooting if the numbers keep increasing. That would put us in Memphis shooting on the 12th, 13th, and 14th. We will be announcing our Chicago dates in the very near future. Check out Heather and Will from their recent Windy City Shoot.

2010-05-19T12:34:00.001-07:00

Wanna get away?

We are going to be shooting in Memphis on July 12th and 13th. If you are engaged and want some kickbutt engagement pics, a soon-to-be senior that wants completely different portraits than everyone else, or a bride that wants to break out her dress again and do some "un-bridaled" photography, let us kn...ow so we can book your session. How cool would it be to do a family portrait on the Memphis trolleys? Darn cool, check out our Memphis Engagement Video if you are wondering what is possible in Memphis.

Tennessee not your cup off tea? We are scheduling sessions in Chicago, Phoenix, and Las Vegas in the very near future. Drop us a line with your ideas and we will do our best to make it happen.

P.S. - It looks like the new website could be online as early as this weekend. Fingers crossed.

America's Loss, Japan's Gain....

2010-04-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

My friend Jaana was in town a few weeks ago and we managed to squeeze in a quick shoot while she was home. She is now back in Okinawa and I am sure she is being missed by her family still her in the states. Maybe this will help them keep her a little closer....

Can you believe she is a new mom? People with good genes suck for making the rest of us look lazy. It looks like it will be a couple years before we can work together again unless I can find me a big name corporate sponsor to send me to Japan for some work. Mirage Photo will gladly do a destination wedding in Japan if anyone is interested. (hey Jaana, if we can manage that I will be certain to schedule some time with you for your "super samurai meets sexy geisha" session so start booking me some weddings over there... jeesh, besides... it is high time that we get your husband doing some pictures too.)

On a few separate notes...

New website coming soon (very soon... no kidding... like next week), new promo coming right after the weekend that can earn everyone some cold hard cash, and some information to be released on where we are going to be so you can schedule your engagement pictures, family photos, and senior pictures in a cool destination spot. Think Vegas, New Orleans, Memphis, KC, Destin FL.... maybe even more of a tropical locale. Haven't you always wanted pictures somewhere other than the arch grounds? We are about to make that happen for you.

More to come......stay tuned.

We're Back Baby!

2010-03-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

After two months of being blog free and recovering from what feels like a whirlwind tour of the United States, technically just Las Vegas and Kansas City, we are back and right smack dab in the heart of wedding season. So what's new you ask?? Maybe you didn't quite feel comfortable asking such a personal question, well fortunately for you, I am just going to tell you what's been going on. Lots of stuff... I mean that, lot's and lot's of stuff.

Since we last talked, I bought a fancy digital scale that is apparently broken because it adds like 50 pounds to everything it weighs. Thank goodness I kept the receipt on that piece of &%*%. I think I will return it today when I get done at the gym. They must buy their weighing devices at the same popular retail outlet where I shop because their stinkin' scale is experiencing the same "glitch" as the one I am going to return. I should probably issue a strongly worded letter to that company. There is no way they are aware of the lies the products are capabable of producing. Someone is going to get their feelings hurt unless I take a stand. Whew.. lots to do today.

In addition to the never ending battle with my shrinking wardrobe (faulty dryer) I have been working on some new aspects for the business. We are going to roll out our new website and I think it looks HOT. At least everyone will get to see some new pictures that aren't 3 years old. I am almost embarrassed by our current site. It is so outdated... you know it's not good when you refer people to your website by apologizing to them. "Please don't judge us by our current work because we are SOOOO much better now." Does not really instill a sense of confidence, does it?

We have just put the finishing touches on our Bridal Show display. I will post a picture of it on one of my upcoming blogs. It was an absolute labor of love and (aside from a couple minor tweaks) I am very happy with how it looks. Thanks to some new slideshow software, a giant flat screen monitor and a kickass neon sign, we are ready to set up for any shows that come our way. Now that I think of it, we could even set up at a reception and run a show of engagement pictures for guests... damn, that is a great idea... I am glad this will be down in writing so I can look back on it a few months from now and think "why the hell didn't I ever do that". Brilliant, I am going to have to start leaving messages to myself in future posts. The new blog title, MIRAGE PHOTO's place to remind themselves of crap they should be doing to improve their business but decided to just leave it out here so other photographers can borrow their brilliant ideas and put them in place before we get a chance to implement them and be extremely successful. Too wordy??

After years of being a complete slacker when posting new images to the website and blog I am really (sincerely) (I mean it) (no kidding) going to start posting images that we like from the sessions we shoot. In fact, I am going to start today. Are you ready??

These are some of the shots we got over the weekend at Andrea and Craig's wedding. After two days of near 70degree weather, they got handed a 35degree wedding day with a slight chance of snow and a 100% chance of having an uncomfortable bridal party. Everyone made up for the weather by being rockstars and letting us do whatever we wanted to do with them. They rocked it so much it was nearly impossible to select just a few pictures to post. I wanted to post the entire wedding but Samantha said "absolutely not".... party-pooper. Thanks to Andrea and Craig for allowing us into their biggest day and a special thanks to everyone that braved the wind, drizzle, and near freezing temperatures to allow us to capture some amazing photos.

Don't ya just love it when a groom tears up after seeing his beautiful bride?

Surviving the elements.....

Usually the "cool groomsman shots" require placement and prompting, not these guys.

Marines... they just love having their picture taken. Does the military train you to have that stare and the "I could end your life with my pinky finger" smirk??

Hotness.

More Hotness.

Bride down...

Still down... (keeping in mind... it's 35degrees)

We promise not to force any bride to hang out in alleys unless they really really want to do it. Andrea made us do it. Seriously, are you gonna anger a Marine that can kill you with his little finger on his wedding day?? I thought not.

Do you know what's better than roses on a piano? (my second most favorite old joke of all time, my apologies. Someday I will tell you my favorite)

Good Lord, I am exhausted. It's no wonder photographers only blog once a year.
More to come, hang in there.

Vote till it hurts....

2010-01-28T06:31:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends, Family, Enemies, Strangers, Friends of Friends, Family of Complete Strangers, even the Strange Friends of Enemies of Mirage Photo,

We could really use your help. We are currently competing to be St. Louis’ favorite wedding photographer on the Fox2 News Hot List of area businesses. What does that mean for us?? Probably the fame and fortune that we have not really worked to earn but so richly deserve. Something for nothing, that’s what we are asking for. This is your opportunity to give, give and give some more so don’t pass up this once in a lifetime chance to assist us.

So, right about now, you are probably asking, what’s in this for me??? NOTHING, absolutely nothing. Hmm… to good to be true you say? Absolutely not. I personally guarantee that there is zero benefit to helping us… WHAT, too hard to believe?!? Vote today and we will throw the possibility of additional unwanted e-mails and potential SPAM. Someone stop me, we cannot keep giving like this. You need more, fine… you will also receive our undying and eternal gratitude. How could you say no? Not only do you get to waste a few minutes at work (priceless) you will also have the knowledge that once we are rich and famous throughout the land (possibly the world) we can leave our current lifestyles behind and never, ever bother you again with such trivial things.

To capitalize on this once in a lifetime offer, simply go to http://fox2now.com/hotlist, more than likely go through some horrible and laborious registration process, find Mirage Photo by either using the search area or finding us under the list of wedding vendors, then vote. It is just that simple. You can only vote once. Feel free to forward this to absolutely everyone you know. There is nothing like the satisfaction of helping a complete stranger become successful so please don’t deprive your friends and family from that opportunity.

Sincerely Tongue in Cheek,
Your friends at Mirage Photo

www.mirage-photo.com
Shawn Traman
Mirage Photo, L.L.C.

And now for a brief message from our sponsor "Cartoon Network"

2009-11-03T20:55:00.000-08:00

DON'T MAKE ME LOOK FAT DAMMIT...

So often thought, so seldom said... unless you are a wedding photographer. We are supposed to take our magical photoshop wands and put on the "skinny" lens to accomplish the impossible. Thanks for putting that kind of pressure on our careers when you could have simply put down the damn ding dong (ho-ho, Twinkies, snicker ice cream bar) and made yourself look thinner. In an effort to sound much less of a douche, I am on your side of the buffet table... I too am fat. And I have decided to take a stand. I am going to loose weight and become a better person..... or at least a smaller person. So if you see me at a wedding, snapping pictures with one hand and sampling your cake icing with the other, slap me... I mean it. Remove the two cheeseburgers that I have hidden in my camera bag and throw them at me. I will probably parry with the large order of fries that is stealthily placed behind my chocolate milkshake but by God, give it your best shot.

I had the privilege of dining with some lovely folks at a dinner gala the other evening and lovely Amanda doodled me a wonderful drawing of me taking photos. All I asked was "don't make me look fat" and somewhere inside my fat swollen head I was thinking... "too late chubby" so I calmly put down my neighbor's desert and got back to work. Here is the artist rendering of the event and as you can see, she was nice enough to not make me look fat. (and gave me good hair, which was my other vane request) By now you're thinking, dude's got some issues. Well, maybe I do but I am going to do something about it.... My appointment with Sy Sperling and the hair club for men is next week. The next time you see me, it's long locks of hair around a hallow sunken face of a starving man.... Thank you VANITY for all you have given me.

Who is this "Ozzie Smith" character?????

2009-07-02T08:16:00.000-07:00

So we are trying to take Allyson and Jake's wedding portraits and this guy just comes up and tries to get in the picture. We keep trying to get away from him and there he is again. Finally, we just give in, "fine, mr. whoever you think you are... will you please just let us work if we let you in a picture" So "Mr. Smith" (how original) gets in our shot before we send him on his way. I get the feeling I have seen this guy somewhere so I am quite certain this is not his first time getting in other people's shots. If anyone out there recognizes this guy, please drop me a line and be on the lookout... he may even be some sort of professional wedding crasher.

Hanging with Jerome, a.k.a. a formal apology to Jerome Bettis.

2009-06-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

For those of you that have not heard (translation - anyone left on earth that we have not managed to brag to), Mirage Photo just had the pleasure of shooting a destination wedding for Kelly and Stuart in Saint Thomas (US Virgin Islands). It was everything you would have hoped it would be... Beautiful couple, wonderful families, gorgeous setting, and on and on and on. I will get some photos posted very soon. Still trying to recover from a "slight" sunburn and sleep deprivation on the journey home. Speaking of the journey home, I thought it might be fun to share with you a little excerpt from an e-mail I sent to my buddy Devin (who happens to live in Charlotte, NC and is a fantastic up-and-coming photographer whom I cannot wait to work with if we ever get the opportunity)

"By the time we made Charlotte last night, I was exhausted and quite sunburned and running late after sitting on the runway while they tried to move a plane at the gate. Just wanted to let you know why I did not call. Then... as we are getting off the plane and headed to our other gate, I end up standing next to Jerome Bettis at the counter in the LIDS store. He is buying a Detroit hat while I am trying on sunglasses. I looked up and just about fell over. I know he could see the surprise on my face, and I am like,,, "hey…what’s up". At the same moment I am looking up to the NFL hats and considering buying a Steelers hat to have him sign it, when the guy behind the counter is like,,, "holy *##@)& (rhymes with fit)... I just sold “the Bus” a *&%#&##@ (rhymes with mucking) hat…. And I am like,,, wow.. that was awkward.. so I did not say anything else. Then low and behold he is sitting at the gate across from us so Samantha went up to him and asked if I could get my picture with him because I am too big of a #$%#&%$#@@ (sounds like, uh.... virginia, sort of) to ask him, and sure enough, HE DOES IT. Is that weird?? I really don’t get many brushes with greatness but I thought that was pretty damn cool. And then he is like,,, "thanks for keeping it real in STL, we should hang out sometime because you take really cool pictures",,,, actually he did not say that at all but that is what I am going to tell everybody."

So that is my Jerome Bettis story.... In all honesty, it was very cool and Mr. Bettis was a real gentleman to accommodate us. I felt horrible because after we interrupted him at the gate, he was swamped by other folks wanting pictures and autographs so if by some freakish chance he should read this, then I would like to formally apologize for inconveniencing him. He truly went out of his way to be nice to us and I am quite certain the majority of famous people in the world would be not so polite. Thank you!!! (in case he does end up reading this) I was a big fan when he played here is St. Louis (and L.A.) and he was always a class act in Pittsburgh, not to mention one of the greatest running backs in NFL history, 6 time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl Champion. No offense Sweetness.

Use Mirage Photo, become famous....

2009-06-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

KASSY ROCKS!!!!
How lucky is this girl? She has a great photographer shooting her wedding and got to go head to head with Tim Ezell on FOX2 this morning. What more could a bride want? I don't know that we can actually make you famous, in fact, we really did not have a thing to do with Kassy getting on TV but I am a firm believer in riding the coattails of those that are more fortunate and famous than me.

Check out our super fun bride whoopin some booty on FOX2.

We love Kassy (and her fiance Jon). They thoroughly entertained us during their engagement shoot and we cannot wait to shoot their big day in November.

If you want to meet us in person (and possibly the world famous "Cake Dive Kassy") we will be photographing the cake dive this weekend for Saint Louis Best Bridal, signing autographs (not), in addition to showing off our work at our booth at the show. Stop by and say Hello. In case you can't view the video, we are going to be at the Chesterfield Mall at the Saint Louis Best Bridal Show from 11am until 4pm on Sunday.

Jenna, party of one, your blog is now ready.

2009-06-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

Another whole month has passed since I have posted a single comment or update. Can it really be that hard... log in, type a password, start typing. It is the kind of thing my 5 year old could be doing. Truth be known, I have never been accused of being as smart or gifted as most 5 year olds seem to be.

Congratulations to our Blog Contest Winner - Jenna. She is the really cute girl with white dress in the attached photo, along with her supporting cast of characters from the recently released short film called "101 Things To Not Do In Your Wedding Dress".

She opted to go with a local portrait session instead of running off to Europe like we had hoped. Jenna got married June 28th of last year and still follows our blog.... I think that is very cool. I honestly thought that I just typed this blog as a means of self motivation and decompression. I had never really considered the reality that folks might be out there reading it. I thought we would have to come up with some imaginary bride to win the contest because I just didn't think anyone would go out of the way to read a photography blog site. (Don't you think someone should have come up with a better name than blog anyway... seriously.. it is just not the most attractive thing to say. It sounds like something that belongs in the garage... "hey son, run out to the garage and grab the blog for me, it's hanging on the wall between the handsaw and the weedeater". I am sure there is some truly meaningful reason behind it but I can probably live without knowing it. Maybe I should just punch it into Wikipedia and find out, but then I will spend the rest of the day searching the internet for more worthless trivia that I will never have any use for. I mean, really.. how often does it come up in conversation... "I wonder where the word BLOG came from?" It would be kinda cool to be able to throw out the answer.... Oh hell, here I go... if I do not get back to this before next month, my apologies.) I am off to research...

That wasn't so bad... OK, check this out....

A blog (a contraction of the term weblog) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketches (sketchblog), videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Micro-blogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

Back to reason that I brought you all here today. Congratulations Jenna. Jenna called the day after the last post was entered, mentioned the contest and WON!! With her permission I will post a picture or two from the portrait session once it is completed. Speaking of posting....

I have some other great ideas for contests that I totally plan on putting together in the future, so please check back in like... oh.. say 2012. At my current pace I should be running another contest by then.

Class Dismissed.

2009-04-15T19:38:00.000-07:00

A quick thank you and a huge shout out to all of our brides from last year. Your wonderful reviews and kind words have earned us a spot in "the Knot" as a "Best of Weddings" wedding photographer in the Midwest for the second year in a row. We cannot thank you enough but we sure would like to try so.... for the first 2008 bride (or groom) that calls us and mentions they saw this offer on our blog site, we will do a free portrait shoot at the location of your choice. Preferably somewhere like Europe but if it is just your backyard, we completely understand. I know this goes without saying but please call Samantha at 636-577-1074 as I will be cleaning this post tax season office for the next two days. On your mark, get set..... GO.

Now back to more of us braggin' about our bad selves. If you are a soon-to-be bride that is trying to narrow down your vendor search, then pick up a copy of this edition of "the Knot", it is on newsstands now (did I mention that we are in it) and it really is a great resource for all things wedding. Some of my favorite vendors are mentioned in this years selections.

I am really disappointed in myself, I truly wanted to blog more and here it is, April 15th already. We have some great photos that we need to drop on here in the days ahead... I think I will finish up closing out the books from last year and finally be on top of everything (wait for it)(wait for it....) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA. Man, that's funny!

More to come...

I love my mom.....

2009-02-24T10:06:00.000-08:00

With Mother's Day right around the corner I thought I would post this in honor of mothers all around the world. I bet this would translate into any language and be just as funny.

I think everyone should call their mom's right now and tell them thanks for everything they do, have done, and will do.

I don't think folks visit blog sites to hear about business but just in case you do.... thanks to everyone that came by our booth this weekend. Thanks to Jodie over at the Ameristar Casino for putting on a great bridal show in conjunction with Saint Louis Best Bridal. They really make you feel welcome, well... except for the security guard that confiscates every one's drivers license when you arrive. Not such a bid deal when you get there but when you have 100 or so vendors leaving at the same time... giant pain in the keaster. I am always impressed with the staff at Best Bridal. They truly go the extra mile for both the brides and the vendors.
If you need a really elegant ballroom with fantastic food and great service for your reception, or any event really... call Jodie Parker. She is the Event Meeting Manager and can be reached at 636-940-4384. I highly recommend them.

We are really looking forward to meeting with
those of you that book a consultation with us
during the show. For any of you that are still
looking, give us a call so we can talk about how
we can help you have a remarkable wedding day. I hope that we hear from you soon. We are on the verge of booking that last remaining open dates that we have in 2009 but at least call to see if we have your date available. It will only hurt a little bit, I promise.

For any of you blushing brides that wanted to attend and couldn't, please come visit us at the 4th Annual St. Louis' Best Bridal Cake Dive on June 7th at Chesterfield Mall. It should be a really messy time. There is nothing better than seeing brides have a giant throw down in the middle of 50 pounds of cake icing... but enough about my plans for this weekend. Seriously, come by and say hello even if you already have your photographer, heck... even if you are already married. We just like to visit with people and talk weddings.

2009-02-17T20:40:00.000-08:00

MIRAGE PHOTO is doing our own stimulus package..... ONE STINKING PENNY AT A TIME!! In a desperate attempt to rid the office of unwanted supplies, we managed to track down some very attractive yet quite obsolete stamps. Realizing that folks would not catch our blatant attempt at mail fraud, we decided to pre-stamp our return envelopes with these relics. Low and behold, our first bride we attempt this little scheme on catches us red handed and was forced to lay down the law. It seemed only fair that we allowed them to short their wedding deposit check by a penny in an attempt to hide our shame. Those of us at Mirage Photo hope that you will put that copper coin to good use. Tip a DJ, make a wish in a passing well, lay it on a railroad track and see what cool shape it becomes after a thousand tons of American Metal run it over. Use it to penny a door shut and lock a roommate in a dorm room for hours until maintenance can come and free them. Or do like I do, toss it onto the center console of your car where it can turn green and sticky from sitting in the sludge from spilled beverages. I am truly glad that we could do our part to turn this economy back around. You can't tax us for $798 Billion without first stealing a penny.

Not quite sure what will happen when postage goes up to 44 cents later this year. I suppose there will be a lot of $399.96 deposit checks sitting around because heaven knows, I won't be smart enough to get to the post office in time.

2009 Bride's Choice Award Recipient

2009-02-03T11:23:00.000-08:00

Look at us being all famous and wonderful. We have sweet AND delicious photography!!! Special thanks to Wedding Wire for selecting us and all of our wonderful brides (and grooms) that voted for us. You all rock. Thank you, thank you, thank you.....

Estes is the Bestest!!

2009-01-27T13:19:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year and all that jazz. Now that it is nearly February, I suppose it is time to start a New Years resolution of blogging weekly. Yes, I have already broken that resolution but so be it.... add it to the list of resolutions that went down the drain on January 2nd.

So we had the privilege of doing the St. Louis Best Bridal show on January 4th (also my sister's birthday, Happy Birthday Theresa). It was a very busy show with tons of fresh faced brides, recently engaged after the holidays. Near the end of a very busy day we got to meet Zach and Rachel. They were looking to book a fantastically fun photographer to cover their wedding reception in the fall and we immediately hit it off (they are cool, we're cool... match made in heaven.. Actually, they are way more cool than we could ever hope to be but I am hoping to resolve to be cooler this year...... damn... another resolution shot in the foot, no offense to Plaxico Burress of course, in the event he is keeping up on my blogging).

We had to ask them "why just the reception coverage" and they mentioned that they would be running off to Colorado to get married in a couple of weeks then having a reception this fall. After some tough interrogation -arm twisting and bright light in the face is my favorite- we discovered they were getting married in Estes Park. After rattling off a couple worthless facts about Estes Park (one of my favorite places in the world) Sam told them they should pack us up and drag us along. We laughed, joked and set up a consultation. Low and behold we were able to work out a deal to get us to Colorado and for Zach and Rachel to get a kick ass package that included Colorado and their reception back here in the fall. I am fairly certain that it was the other 1001 worthless facts about Estes Park that I knew that convinced them they would just have to have us in the mountains with them. Did I mention that Zach and Rachel are both REALLY good looking and we were practically begging them to stuff us in their luggage so we could work with them? Oh, I forgot that part? Resolution number 18- inform the public of the whole story, strike-through that one on the old New Years list as well.

To make a long story now terminally long, Zach and Rachel got married at the Black Canyon Inn near the base of the Rocky Mountain National Park (under the shadow of Longs’ Peak, the highest point in RMNP at an elevation of 14,259 ft., depending on who you ask, and yes, I am a dork for knowing that) It was breathtaking. It had long been a dream of mine to shoot a mountain wedding and I finally got that opportunity so many thanks to Rachel, Zach and both of their families for putting up with my Estes trivia. The weather in Estes, as the locals put it, had been "sucky" for a month straight. Clouds, cold, grey, and gross. But the day we arrived the sun came out, the Hallelujah chorus wafted down from the mountains as if being sung by angels, and the thermometer settled in at a glorious 50 degrees during the entire wedding weekend. This was made all that sweeter by the fact that it was 4 degrees when we left Saint Louis. The weather afforded them the luxury of having their ceremony on the deck overlooking the mountains. Stunning, that is about all you can say. It leaves you kind of speechless when you see it.

The morning of the wedding set the bar pretty high for the rest of the day. Our groom decided to go snowshoeing up in the mountains while the girls did hair and makeup at the historic (and very haunted) Stanley Hotel, . This is the same place where Stephen King had the inspiration for and began writing "The Shining" while staying in room #217. Samantha jumped at the opportunity to go shoot with the guys while they adventured into the great unknown (or a well marked and highly traveled hiking trail in this case), and I was more than happy to hang out with the girls for hair and makeup at the Parlour Spa in the Stanley. Fortunately for the girls, I would be brave and strong and able to protect them. Fortunately for me, the spa was nowhere near room 217 or the haunted area of the hotel.

Sam kept up with the guys during the entire hike. I guess all of those years of backpacking the Swiss Alps finally paid off. (Cross off #8, stop making up stories about other people) Sam called it one of the best experiences of her life. She took some amazing photos of the guys up in the mountains. Very hard and exhausting work, but the benefits are going to be well worth it. We cannot wait for our next bridal show in February so we can display some of our favorite shots from this destination wedding. You should stop by and see us. Even if you are not getting married, the shots are that cool. We are going to be at the Coronodo Ballroom on February 8th for the Saint Louis Best Bridal's Best of the Best Show (is it me or is that a lot of BESTs'?). It should be a great time and I'm sure we will be in rare form that day. Probably giving away the farm like we tend to do at bridal shows. So please, come up, say hello, and talk us out of some free photography stuff for your wedding. If that event is not your "cup of tea" then try to visit us at some other upcoming shows this year. I will be blogging about additional upcoming dates in the near future.

All that being said, the wedding was great, the dinner/reception afterwards was awesome, and the entire trip was a huge success. I am not sure how to thank Zach and Rachel other than providing them with some of their best memories captured in pictures. I am not even sure if that is a fair trade but we truly tried our best to give them everything we could. I know I will have memories that I will never forget. I hope you enjoy some of our favorite pics from the weekend and check back often because I am going to be a bloggin' SOB this year. Oh wait, I already broke that resolution... Maybe I will start with monthly and try to improve from there.

Keep Smiling...

Zach, his father and father-in-law (about 5 hours later) snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Bear Lake, one of the stops along the snowshoe hiking trail.

Longs Peak as viewed from the trail. Nice work Sam!

Our bride, Rachel on the deck where the wedding ceremony was held.

Rachel and Zach, up in the mountains of RMNP.

Looking gorgeous as we trespassed on the porch of a cabin in Glacier Basin.

Welcome to the Gateway of Rocky Mountain National Park (per their website, not just some title that I decided to bestow upon the town).

The road was closed about 100 yards behind us due to the snow in the upper elevations. This was about as high as we could get without getting arrested by Park Rangers.

Once the sun went down the temp dropped quickly. It was probably only 25 degrees in this shot but you could not tell it from Zach and Rachel. They were real troopers..... speaking of Troopers, remind me some day to tell you about Rachel's dad. HaHa, lol, Maybe I should keep that one to myself.

Breaking and Exiting

2008-10-22T10:57:00.000-07:00

I am no police officer, and I probably don't want to know the answer to this question, but... is it illegal to exit a stadium after being locked in? I am pretty sure if you have to ask, it is.

After a couple hours of waiting for the Mizzou Tigers to finish up their practice, before being shellacked by Texas, we managed to enter the stadium and get onto the field for some amazingly cool shots of Jesse and Justin. I will drop a couple of them below so you can see what I am talking about. It is kind of a weird feeling being in an empty stadium like that. You can, surprisingly, hear a pin drop when all the sound is funnelled down to you at the 50 yard line. We started losing light pretty quickly so all you hear is click, click, click, CLANK... We stopped taking pictures long enough to laugh and comment on how that sounded exactly like a gate slamming shut. "Ha, Ha, Ha... surely not". A few more shots and we were out of there. Not so much. Trapped!! Trapped like caged animals. The damn security guards had locked us inside. I feel safer already about attending a Mizzou game in the future. Oh, yeah, right... caged animals... Instead of doing the sensible thing, like flagging someone down, calling the cops, or trying to reach campus security we decided the best thing to do would be to bust out by climbing around the gate along the wall with a 15 foot drop below us. Being the ever courageous gentlemen that we are, Justin and I decided it would be best for the girls to go first. They scaled up and out which left the most agile photographer in Missouri and his client in slick dress shoes hanging out behind the wall. We finally decided to bite the bullet instead of suffering the humiliation of sending the ladies to find help and save us. I opted to go first since it would be easier to find a replacement photographer than a replacement groom. While I am fairly certain I was slightly over the "weight to dangling photographer" ratio that was designed for that particular fence, I made it out alive and even went so far as to donate my shoes to the groom so he could make it out as well. I could not resist the temptation to stretch out his dress shoes as I waited for him to exit.

I hope this is the first of many adventures we have with J and J. They were very good sports and a lot of fun to work with. Maybe someday they will forgive us for turning them into common criminals and hoodlums.

We've captured Big Foot.........

2008-10-15T08:36:00.000-07:00

Real or fake??? You tell me. I saw it with my own eyes and let me tell you, BIGFOOT IS REAL.

There I was, oblivious to the rest of the world, as I prepared our ring shot. Lens change, focus, click. It wasn't until after the event that we realized we had history in the making. Bigfoot had wandered into frame and in the blink of an eye, it was finally, truly captured on film (or CF Card, in this case). It is my hope that this blog will make it out to the world before the government tries to silence me.

I really wish I was half as funny as I think I am......

Thank you to Heather and Chris for providing us with such an outstanding day. Chris works for the Bigfoot (www.bigfoot4x4.com) organization as their chief fabricator (and not the kind of fabricating that I do on a regular basis) and we were fortunate enough to be allowed to have the truck as part of their big day. Talk about fun (and dirty, and loud, and did I mention dirty), it is days like this that make me wish I would have never gotten rid of my old Jeep.

We got to spend the morning muddin with the groomsman. Did I mention that it was really dirty? Fun and Filth... I think that should have been the company catch phrase for the day. Granted, it might give people a really negative perspective on our company.

All of the pictures from the wedding will be posted on our website for the next 90 days if you want to look at just how messy the day started. I am adding a few more at the bottom of this post for those of you that don't really feel like browsing through hundreds of pictures. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Heather and Chris for including us in everything that day.

Oh man, I almost forgot.... they also had the best catering for a reception. Bandanas BBQ (http://www.bandanasbbq.com/). Sometimes brides and grooms can overlook the simple things that actually turn out to be the best parts of the day. Nothing hits the spot quite like a BBQ and cole slaw after a long day of shooting.

Partner Gone BAD!! A slasher story....

2008-10-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

I should probably take a second to warn all of you of the dangers of being a wedding photographer... A midst the numerous other deadly hazards that must be avoided on a daily basis (such as blood blisters, paper cuts, hang nails, and a list of horrors to long to detail here) you have to be on a constant look out for the psychotic breakdowns of partners. After one too many "will you grab that battery bag for me" requests.... a partner that you think you know and trust can go and grab the nearest sharp instrument of death and come after you.

I have no idea if this not-so-rare phenomenon has ever been captured on film before now (cover your eyes if you must). As you can probably tell I am recovering from this brutal attack but I can assure you that there was much blood shed and unspeakable brutality. All of this during what I thought was a beautiful outdoor wedding reception.

PHOTOGRAPHERS BEWARE..... this too can happen to you.

October, are you kidding me?

2008-10-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

As many times as you tell yourself you are going to blog on a consistent basis, there seems to be about 1000 more things that become more prudent on a daily basis. So... I have decided to try the middle of the night blogging approach.

We have been blessed by being able to shoot some of the most wonderful people this year. Our calendar just keeps filling up with great events and spectacular weddings. There have been so many unique moments since our last post that I don't even know where to begin so I will do my best to start adding some of them over the next few blog posts.

For all of our hundreds of fans who religously look to this blog for wit, wisdom and inspiration, my apologies. Fortunately the true number is somewhere around two fans but I refuse to use that as an excuse and I will do my best to provide the both of you with clever words that should keep you spellbound for days.

Welcome Home!

2008-04-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

I know I planned on entering more updates than this......

Then, when I finally do an update, low and behold, it is simply to toot our own horn. Is that fantastic or what??

So the story goes something like this.....

Upon returning from two fabulous destination weddings in the Bahamas, I started to weed through the hundreds of Spam that accumulated during the trip when I came across a message from "The Knot" saying we had been selected as one of there "best of" for 2008. So at this point I am totally thinking it is a fake e-mail or a desperate attempt to gain advertising dollars with the magazine. But after some quick investigating I discovered that the e-mail was legitimate and we truly were selected in the "best of" issue. I really don't like to brag about what we do because it is way too easy to do more harm than good but I just can't help myself. Samantha and I are truly honored to be associated with some of the biggest names in St. Louis wedding photography. I feel completely overwhelmed by the entire thing and while I am not sure that we could get any busier these days... I hope that it leads us to many more wonderful events in the months ahead.

I would like to tell you that I am going to be a much more diligent blogger but I have a feeling that might be a bold face lie.

Happy New Year

2008-01-07T14:48:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all of our current customers, future customers, and anyone else who just happens to wander across this blog site.

I am having a horrible time updating this blog, not so much due to the time or my horrible, horrible typing skills. It has much more to do with the incredible pain caused by yet another ridiculous New Years resolution. Diet, get in shape... there is no way those two things should be so hard to do. I think I will sign off of here while I can still lift my arms.

Have a glorious and wonderful 2008. I hope our paths cross on many occasions.

Holy Crap, we have a blog site

2007-12-30T13:47:00.000-08:00

This is a test of the emergency blog system..... this is only a test. beeeeeep

Our first official blog entry:

We are BOUND and determined to make your day the best it can be.

Shawn and Samantha (Sammi)