Archive for June, 2008

Bethany & John’s Wedding

June 30th, 2008 by John under Weddings

Athough a bit later than I had hoped, I finally have some images from Sunday’s Wedding on the East side of the state.  Bethany and John were such a great couple, and it was great to finally meet them in person and spend their incredible day with them.

I haven’t gone through all the images yet, but here are a few quick favorites from the day.  I’ll definitely post a lot more in a slideshow very soon.

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Bethany’s jewelry was gorgeous!

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Bethany’s parent’s house was right on Lake St. Clair and made for a great backdrop for some detail shots.

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I normally only shoot one “solo dress shot”, but I found a few places to shoot the dress and liked them both.

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And here are some shots of Bethany IN the dress. : )

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This next shot was a special request from Bethany’s father.  While the girls were getting ready, he brought be an older photograph that had a classic European look to it.  It reminded me of something you’d see from a family that immigrated over to America in the early 1900’s, and he wanted to try and duplicate it.  The photo below is the result!

Make sure you click on the image below to see a larger version of it.  And yes this is all Bethany’s immediate family… she has 8 brothers and 1 sister.

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After the family photoshoot, we drove over to the church.

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By far one of my favorite shots (and moments) of the day happened just after I put my fish eye lens on to take some wide shots from the back of the church.  You can’t plan shots like this. : )

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After the ceremony we headed over the Oakland Hills Country Club for the reception, and some fun portraits.067.jpg

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Thanks again for choosing Coastline Studios to capture and be a part of your special day John and Bethany! 

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A Birthday to Remember

June 25th, 2008 by John under Events

On Saturday last weekend, I was privileged to have been able to photograph an amazing evening honoring an amazing woman here in Grand Rapids.  This brithday celebration was different from most in that this lady was adamant that the evening be about her guests, and not her.  After interacting with (and photographing) her children, I can see instantly how well she has done as a mother… which is very impressive considering her packed schedule.  God being first in her life, with family next… and then friends who are as close as family to her… its easy to see why so many people were in attendance.

The event was was decorated in great detail by the unmatched Jodi Bos of In Any Event.  If you want the best event possible… you simply need to call Jodi.  Hands down, her events outshine any other events I’ve ever been to… be it a wedding, birthday or any occasion worthy of celebration.  Every detail is covered, so many in fact that is near impossible to capture each detail in photographs alone.  But I’ll try… at least with a few images below as a small sampling of the amazing spectacle.

I should first point out that some of these amazing images were captured by my good friend Ryan Prins of Ryan Prins Photogarphy who worked as my 2nd shooter under the Coastline Studios name.  Thank you Ryan for your talents and skills.  We make a great team, and I always enjoy shooting with you.

Here are some great detail shots to tell the story.

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A creative presentation of some Hors d’oeuvres.  Another small detail courtesy of Jodi Bos.

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After a cocktail reception, all the guests moved into the main dining area.  Here are some details shots taken before the guests arrived.

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Everyone had shrimp tail salads to start the meal.

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One of the highlights of the evening was a private concert from John Ondrasik who is the lead singer from Five for Fighting.  He sounds amazing live… just as if I was listening to the CD.  Simply outstanding.

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A view of the guests enjoying the concert.

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After the concert the doors were opened to reveal a beautiful dance floor with numerous details and decorations… again Jodi shows us why she is the best. 

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And what would dinner be without dessert?  How good does all this look!  Wow! 

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It was am amazing experience.  And I can’t thank my Coastline Studios team enough for their mad skills.  Thanks Jay Irwin, Adam Kring and Greg Ohlman for doing the video, and of course Ryan Prins for photography.  And one last shout out to Jodi… amazing job.

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Christine & Nate’s Rehearsal

June 24th, 2008 by John under Weddings

As promised in my previous blog post here are some highlights from Christine and Nate’s Rehearsal / Dinner.  Most of these images are straight out of my new Nikon D3 camera… simply amazing what this camera can do.  I should also point out that I never used flash for any of these shots.  It’s all natural light… and fairly dark for a church.  The Nikon D3 rocks my world.

Below, Christine and Nate go over some last minute details before things get started. 

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Nate with his parents… 

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The mother of the bride… 

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And the Bridesmaids…

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Yes this one (below) has been touched up.  Just goes to show that a lot of the artistry is done in photoshop as well as at the moment the photograph was taken.  I LOVE this shot! 

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Christine gives Nate a cute little “look”. : ) 

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Another photo that I “worked with” in photoshop.  I love this one too. : ) 

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Grandpa was taking it all in. 

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After a very smooth rehearsal, we left the church to go to Christine’s parent’s cottage on Lake Macatawa.  The first thing that caught my eye when I arrived was this swing.

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A few detail shots.  These next few images are straight out of the camera.

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The food was to die for.  The Gilmore Collection did an outstanding job, and their staff was incredible.  Highly recommend them! 

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Even the Beer ”dressed up” for the evening. : ) 

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So these next few photo’s are for my daughter.  Being a father of a little girl, I’ve found a new found appreciation for fathers and daughters.  This was the flower girl in the wedding.

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And my FAVORITE SHOT (maybe of the whole evening)… the flower girl running down the dock to meet her father with open arms for her.  Priceless.

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Here’s a quick peak at dinner.  I’m not much of a seafood person, but I tried and LIKED everything.  Especially the shrimp. 

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I think Christine looks like a rock star in this photo.  Even if she’s just getting some corn… she looks like a rock star while doing it. :)  

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Leesa – The beautiful mother of the bride.  Here Leesa gives some memories of Christine and a toast… 

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Christine takes it all in. 

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A lot of friends and family shared many great memories and special blessings with Nate and Christine.  Here Nate’s groomsmen shares some words for Nate. 

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Just after dinner… the sky was amazing.  (that black spec in the sky is an “ultra light” aircraft)

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And to close the day… a shot of the ring bearer with his mom. : ) (mind you this photograph was taken at 10pm… about 40 minutes after sunset – gotta love that Nikon D3 camera… wow)

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Can all rehearsal’s be like this?!  Wow!  I was so glad to have had the opportunity to get to know the family the day before the wedding, and capture this elegant and yet relaxed event. Thank you for having me Christine and Nate!

Stay tuned for more pictures tomorrow! 

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Weekend Review

June 23rd, 2008 by John under Events, Weddings

Wow what a weekend I just had!  I had a rehearsal dinner Thursday, a wedding Friday, a high-end birthday event on Saturday, and a Wedding in the Detriot area on Sunday.  I did photography for all of them, and also video for the birthday event as well as the Detroit wedding… Whew!  Much thanks to my 2nd shooters Holly Henderson on Friday, and Ryan Prins on Saturday and Sunday.  And thanks to Jay Irwin, Adam Kring, Greg Ohlman, John Balyo and my intern Brandon Damon for your excellent video skills this weekend!  I couldn’t have done it without all of your help!

In all I personally took over 7500 pictures in this past weekend!  If you add in my 2nd shooter’s pictures on all these events, that number is well over 11,000 images!  Thats a lot of post processing and editing to do!!!

So here’s the plan… with so many pictures to work through, I’m going to blog each event separately over the next few days… so lots of pictures are coming soon!  So keep checking back.  Today however (Monday) I took the day off… but tomorrow its back to work… and hopefully I’ll get some images up here soon!

Knowing my weekend was going to be packed, my wife Amy (along with my daughter Alexa) took advantage of a good last minute plane fair to Iowa to visit her parents.  This is the first time I’ve not seen my daughter within a 24 hour period, so needless to say I miss seeing her cute little smile and happy noises and dance motions.  So in honor of her 10 month birthday (which was Sunday), here’s a picture I took not long ago.  A bunch of you have been bugging me for more pictures of Alexa, so here’s a quick fix for ya’ll… more will come soon, I promise.

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I miss you Amy and Alexa! 

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Christine & Nathan’s Wedding (a sneak preview)

June 21st, 2008 by John under Weddings

Yesterday I had the honor and privileged to share in Christine and Nathan’s wedding by capturing the day through photography.  It was simply an amazing day full of great people, places, decorations, flowers and even a ride on a yacht! It’s impossible to try and tell the story in a few quick pictures in this post… so be sure to check back for more soon!  In the meantime, here are a few favorites.

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Supermodel Christine…  

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GQ Nathan… 

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Check out this runner!   Great find Jodi!

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A few fun candid shots of the ring bearer and flower girl during the ceremony…

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This trolly took us to the yacht. 

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The wedding party arriving at the reception site.

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My good friend Jodi from ”In Any Event” outdid herself with the reception.  Check out some of these incredible details! 

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Gotta love the sweet lighting and fog!   

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It was seriously one of the most amazing wedding’s I’ve ever been to… and I promise to post more pictures (or a slideshow) sometime soon.  Congratulations Christine and Nathan!  Thanks so much for allowing me to be one of the family on your special day.  Have fun in Italy!

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