I haven’t posted much of my sports work this year, but I got some pretty good shots at last night’s Illinois-Vanderbilt game, so I thought I’d share a few.
Demetri McCamey finished with 23 points and 5 assists.

Mike Tisdale had 14 points and 5 rebounds.

Mike Davis had just 4 points, but added 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Bill Cole has been putting in a lot of quality minutes coming off the bench.

McCamey attempts to take a charge, but the foul gets called on him.

I got to visit my friend Stephani and Joel a couple weekends ago, just about 8 days after their new baby Walker was born. Good thing we moved my visit from the weekend before like we originally planned! Walker was welcomed home by big sisters Miriam and Cora. You may remember them from their session last winter.
Daddy’s hands with Walker’s tiny little feet:

I was the first person to say that he looks more like Cora and Miriam. Time will tell, I suppose!


I did not Photoshop her eyes in this photo. They are just that gorgeous. I just wish she wasn’t giving me that goofy grin!

She seems so pensive here. I wonder what she’s thinking about…

They’re going to have so much fun growing up together–all three of them.

And a personal update… I am now at 20 weeks in my pregnancy! A reminder to those looking to schedule sessions next spring, I will be on photography maternity leave from March 28 through May 7 (and some days after that too, but will be working part-time).

I first met Kinnerly and Matt at the wedding expo I did in September. I was already booked on their day, but after a cancellation, I contacted Kinnerly again (thank goodness for gmail’s search function!) and they hadn’t yet booked a photographer, so it worked out perfectly! I was pleasantly surprised that they brought along 3 musical instruments with them. To quote Matt, “She got a ring, and I got a banjo.”

I can’t believe that little Max is already 6 months old! He was born on April 30 and you can see his newborn session back in this post. His big sister Lydia is soon to be 3, so we also snapped a few pictures of her. She was cracking me up with all the faces, so of course I had to make a little storyboard!



He wasn’t too crazy about the tub at first but they we let him chew on the rubber ducky for a bit and he was content once again.

A little different color treatment here:





While Max was getting changed, Lydia and I took advantage of the nice weather for a few minutes to get a few more shots of her.

Max’s mom wasn’t really needing any Christmas pictures per se, but I asked if I could use Max as a test subject for a couple shots. This supposed baby Santa hat fits NO baby’s head, so I’m in the market for a new one!

BRIDES!

Don’t miss this great event TOMORROW EVENING, Wednesday, November 4 from 4:30-7:30 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Champaign. Your Perfect Wedding Showcase will feature tons of local vendors, including Holly Birch Photography, and a fashion show. Parking is free in downtown Champaign with a free shuttle service to and from the Hilton. The fashion show will follow the expo at the Virginia Theater in downtown Champaign. The event is sponsored by the Illini Radio Group (Mix 94.5, WIXY, etc) and Star Talent Events.

Current & future brides, please be sure to stop by and say hi to Holly Birch Photography! We’ll be located in the lower level of the expo.

*Dialup warning! This post contains tons of photos!*
Jessica & Steve were married on Oct. 24 at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center on the UI campus. It was nice having both the ceremony and reception in one location! That doesn’t happen very often. The ceremony was beautiful (and we had great light to work with!), and the couple carved out an hour and a half of time for us to shoot portraits of them and their wedding party in between the ceremony and reception while the guests were enjoying cocktails. It worked out perfectly as we had a chance to walk to the Quad and were not rushed as we took lots of relaxed and creative portraits. My assistant for the day was my friend Rob from Still Life Photography and two of my absolute favorite shots of the day are his and I’ll point those out in the post.

I was so excited about the fall colors, and we definitely had a fantastic palette to work with around campus!



And Rob’s view… those red bushes and bokeh (background blury-ness for my non-photog readers!) just make the photo!

They both went to the School of Social Work at UI. “Learning and Labor” is right! And now Steve’s going for another master’s degree!

This one’s mine:

But I like Rob’s version better.

A big thank you goes out to the student who left a piece of chalk on the Quad!


My shot, but Rob’s pose:


Rob’s view from the back (before he instructed Steve on how to dip his bride!):

I love this one Rob captured just before Jess’ walk down the aisle with her dad. It’s moments like this when it’s great to have an assistant photographer shooting with me!

They had one of the best first kisses I had ever seen. Steve, FTW!





Isn’t this groom’s cake sweet?! I couldn’t wait to get home to show my husband. It even had an autographed puck on it!

Vendors:
Ceremony & Reception: Alice Campbell Alumni Center
DJ: Bugbee’s DJ Plus (Greg)
Florist: University of Illinois
Catering: University of Illinois Catering
Cake: Round Barn IGA
Hair: Ruth’s Salon

On Oct. 17 I headed back to my hometown of Mason City (Easton) to photograph the wedding of Ashley and Scott. You can see their engagement session again HERE. I’ve known Scott’s family forever so I was excited to see who all would turn up at the wedding that I hadn’t seen in a long time. Scott and Ashley are also fantastic at the “serious” pose, which you’ll see below. Ashley was all about the candid and non-churchy type photos and I gladly obliged! Here are a few more of my favorites:







FAVORITE:



She’s so happy.

Who needs American Gothic?!





Gorgeous sunset light!

There are a bunch of first dance photos, but this one is just cool looking to me:

Congrats, guys!

Finally, after about a year of planning, several revisions, 3 photo shoots, and tons of phone calls and emails, Oskee in Illini Land is in print! This book is definitely a labor of love, especially for Joanne, who gets to take care of this adorable pooch.

Copies and more information on “Oskee in Illini Land: Memoirs of a Small Canine on a Large College Campus” are available at www.oskeesbook.com.

Up until their engagement session, I hadn’t met Melissa or Kyle and only Melissa’s parents who were big fans of my work. It was great working with both Melissa and Kyle (and her dad who served as chaffeur!) and I love doing engagement sessions prior to weddings because it really gives me a chance to know the couple and their personalities and quirks. Kyle kept reminding me that I’d have to remind him to smile and look at the camera so I am so after lots of practice during the e-session, I am so ready for their wedding!

They took instruction well.

Kyle is one lucky guy!

On Sunday I got to take a short country drive to rural Lovington, Illinois, to do some family portraits for my friend Sarah and her husband Kyle’s family. I actually showed cattle with Kyle and his brother Joel (they showed Shorthorns and I showed Herefords) too. And I was so excited that Kyle knew what my license plate (named after one of my favorite steers) meant! I was also excited to get to shoot pictures with corn, straw bales and a CaseIH combine. Everyone knows that red is the way to go, whether it’s tractors or cattle.

Here are my favorite images from the session:

The three farmers of the bunch:



So adorable! Gotta love those blonde curls and blue eyes!