World Impact St. Louis Benefit Concert

We've been doing some work with World Impact this fall and they have recently had $200,000 in property damage. Thieves stole critical parts to their air conditioning system, and a major part of their ministry takes part during the summer months.  Would you consider marking December 10th on your calendar and taking part of their benefit concert and silent auction?  You can come enjoy some music, get a quick photo taken, and get some great finds at the auction.

See you there!

Baby Bug

This is Baby Bug.

This is Baby Bug and his daddy. It's his daddy's birthday today! Happy Birthday, Bug's Dad!

 

To celebrate, here's a few more pictures of Baby Bug, his dad, and his mom!

Heather & Jeremy

I don't shoot many ordinary, run of the mill weddings. In fact, I am not sure that Purple Lemon Photography ever has. There is always something special.  Heather and Jeremy's wedding was no exception, and for that reason, I am having a hard time knowing where to begin.

Shocking, I know.

Without ever having met me, this stunning and generous bride was set on using my wedding photography services because of the way we give back to the local and international community.  She wanted to make sure that each and every vendor and aspect of their wedding was one that gave back.  I think that not only did they choose to give a donation to Make-A-Wish for their favors, but they chose to donate flowers, extra food, and choose vendors with a track record for integrity in giving. How awesome is that?  What an honor to be a part of such an intentionally designed wedding.

This wedding was also extraordinarily beautiful!  I kept telling them that it was one of the most beautiful weddings I've seen- so classy, simple, yet so lovely! The bride's mom told me endearingly of her daughter's vision for a simple day. Less is more, right?  Part of what made this day so gorgeous were the flowers!  Each bridesmaid had a different flower (all eight of them), plus a handful of other small white and green flowers were incorporated in their day.  Great job, Stems, for making their wedding look like it came right out of Martha Stewart Magazine!

From the moment I arrived at the hotel, I was loving my job! Chase and I gave each other so many excited high fives during the day, because it was all so great!

Chase's modern version of a traditional shot of the bride at a window. Excellent job!

Since they did not see each other before the wedding, we did not have much light after the ceremony, so we had the chance to do some creative night photography around New Town.  This is one of my favorite places to shoot at night because of the great lights and architecture.

Faces of Thanksgiving

 She just stole my heart.  Yours?

Yesterday, I had the honor of photographing some incredible people. Men, women, and children who have been through more than I can imagine. Families who have moved to America, less to fill a dream, and more out of necessity.  I photographed people who are taking English classes at Oasis International, a ministry for refugees in St. Louis.  There are children smiling, like this precious little girl, who smile because their families moved here so they could leave fear, danger, war, persecution, or other trials that fill their home countries. Tough choices until you see their smiles.

It was no ordinary class picture day- but rather a Thanksgiving feast! I was reminded of the true thankfulness that many of them have, even with seemingly difficult lives here, in poverty, with little or no family, and language barriers.  Through a seemingly silly skit about the first thanksgiving, a room full of people erupted in elation.  Many celebrated and cheered when hearing the story of the pilgrims who, like themselves, came to America from every corner of the earth to find freedom.

A few fun tidbits:
1. If my ability to understand foreign languages mixed with accents and English are correct, the couple on the bottom row just got married and he finds her SO beautiful!
2. Outside of Bosnia, St. Louis has the highest Bosnian population in the world. Crazy, right?
3. I met several of these families back in August when I celebrated my anniversary with them, and I was so happy to see them again!

Nathan & Lauren

Nathan and Lauren are a couple on the go- so when we tried to squeeze them in for a fall session, I thought perhaps I would have to glue some leaves back onto some trees for them.  However, God was gracious and has given St. Louis a delightfully long fall, extending the color and warmth far longer than I would have expected.  So to Nathan and Lauren's pleasant surprise, we not only had warm enough weather for them to get hot in their sweaters, but we had gorgeous color on the leaves!

We started with some classic, yet relaxed pictures near the Zoo at Forest Park.  Both of their charming smiles geared me up from the start.

But then I saw their compelling "serious face."  It is always exciting when people can pull of dramatic looks and deliriously happy ones (just wait for some upcoming wedding posts!! I had some bridal couples rockin' it!). Nice job!

Like I said before, they are a couple on the go.  It was time to step things up a notch and bring out the night life.  We were aiming for vivid color, excitement, entertainment, all while being natural.  How'd we do?

Rusty & Marian

One of the things that I do when I meet with couples to plan their engagement sessions is ask about their relationship- get to know them and their fun quirks. Then I try to come up with locations and images that will really reflect who they are. 

Rusty works in theater, so we'll tell their tale as a play.  Kind of.

Act I: Rusty and Marian describe their engagement in the most romantic of terms.  Imagine Maid Marian from Robin Hood walking through the woods, discovering roses and scripture along a stream, and at the end stands her love awaiting to propose.  How gallant and sweet!  Not only did I want a woodsy feel to represent their proposal, but Marian lovingly described how much she feels safe and and comfortable with Rusty.  I also wanted to show this heroic aspect of Rusty to Marian.  So to Fort Bellefontaine we went to find some abandoned military buildings and lovely texture for their tender, sweet moments.

ACT II: If Rusty was the hero in act one, it's Marian's time to shine.  She brings out the fun in both of them and is full of spontaneity.  Cue the spinning of a merry-go-round, complete with chipping paint.

 Add balloons. And then add some bubbles.

Time to take my bow... :)