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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?????

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.

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....

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.

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.

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.....

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.

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

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!!

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.