Ketchup

So, it has been a minute since I have blogged. A lot has been going on! Some good and some not so good. If you follow me on twitter, you probably know that a couple weeks ago a very close friend of mine passed away after a long battle with cancer. Sad. Although it broke my heart to know she won't be here physically anymore, I am also very happy that she is no longer in any pain. Since I met her at my job in the mail room  at college, Mike and I literally took a one day tour of Wisconsin. (yes...I worked in the mail room while going to college, for the record...next to photography, working in the mail room was by far the best job I have EVER had for a few reasons...1) the people I worked with were awesome and 2) I got to drive all over campus in a big red van. And when I say all over campus...I mean on the side walks and all!)

River Falls is 5 1/2 hours away from our house. 

It was totally worth the 11 hours we spent in the car.

Moving on to the good...it is graduation party season, horse show season and most importantly wedding season! In the past couple weeks we have been to a graduation party in IL for my cousin Missy, an actual graduation ceremony for my cousin Tom, we have been to 3 horse shows AND I have second shot another wedding with the lovely Kayla of Kayla Richards Photography. 

So, for your viewing pleasure...here are a few from the horse shows:

And a preview of the wedding from this past weekend:

I am also planning our wedding (ok...Mike is helping too...but I am the keeper of everything wedding haha). Which is going well...I will have some more posts on that coming up! I am so excited to start making everything for our wedding! I will however share with you a photo of our rings:

I was so excited that we finally found Mike's band :D

I also found this cool Sketchbook project while I was searching for wedding stuff. You sign up, they send you a sketchbook, you draw in it, send it back and it GOES ON TOUR!!! Sweet. So literally TONS of people get to look through these books while they are on tour. How freakin' sweet is that?! I am not much of an actual drawer...but I doodle. A LOT. I am also pumped that this tour comes to Chicago next May. I can't wait to go and see it! 

So, when you see me carrying around this little book...you now know what its for :)

Thanks for stopping by :D 

I will be posting about this past weekend's wedding soon!

xoxo

Maggie :)

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Dani & JT | Anniversary Photos

Meet Dani & JT Smith. 

They have been married for almost 2 years.

They are adorable and LOVE to laugh and have fun!

Here are some photos from the shoot:

We started off at the John Michael Kohler Art Center. There are some super cute places that are around the building...like this little garden sitting area :)

Did I mention that they have the *BEST* facial expressions?! Because...they do. SO. STINKIN'. CUTE!

After meandering around the Art Center we went over to the Mead Public Library. There is a fountain in front of the library that is really neat to get photographs in...well, ok not gonna lie...its a lot neater when there is water in the thing. But, never the less...these two rocked the camera and here is what we got:

See what I mean?! Ahhhh-dorable!

Next we stopped down by Lake Michigan.

And last but not least, my favorite-est spot :D

A little cobblestone street right by the river in Sheboygan. Love this street. Hmm...I am pretty sure that I could take photos here all day. All the long grass and vintage-y buildings and the street. Ahh...yes. :D Anyway, while I am day-dreaming of this street, here are some photos for you to look at :D

Let me just say that the light was AMAZING while we were down this street. Thumbs up for great light!

Thanks again Dani & JT!! It was a blast working with you!

~ Maggie

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The Wilson's | 5.22.10

Last week Saturday I had the pleasure of second shooting for Kayla Filip (Kayla Richards Photography), you can check out her blog here. It was a fantastic day for a wedding! Beautiful weather, beautiful venues and beautiful people...and beautiful love. Ahhh, yes. It was a fabulous day. I am so happy that I was able to tag along. Thanks Kayla!! 

Now, onto the couple. Charles and Corrine. They were so cute and in love. I absolutely love it when a couple has this look in their eyes:

Oh it makes me so happy :D

The ceremony took place in a little church in a town called Manchester. When I came the girls were just finishing up getting ready and the guys were outside hanging out and getting their flowers on.

As everyone was getting ready Kayla and I grabbed the flowers and the rings before the ceremony to get some shots. Now, I didn't think that I was obsessed with flower shots, but I guess I was that day! haha. So, be prepared...because the flowers were gorgeous! :D

I love looking at other people's rings. I think its so neat to see everyone's personalities in their rings!

This next shot is of the bride and her MOH looking at the cake

I know, I know...the flowers!

Mr& Mrs Wilson!

After the ceremony we headed back to Beaver Dam to get some shots of the wedding party. This park was pretty awesome, well aside from a couple kids asking like 903485729856 questions. And yes, they did ask A LOT of questions.

The wedding party was so fun! They just loved to laugh and have a great time!

Sisters :)

Love this!

The best men and the bride

 After the park we headed to the Country Club in Beaver Dam.

Time to cut the cake...which, was very pretty. I believe the bride's grandma made it...she did an excellent job!

Some details.

And to end the night, the garter and flower toss. 

Thanks again Kayla! And thanks to Corrine and Charles for letting me get a sneak peak into your lives!! I wish you the best!

Maggie

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Things that inspire me :)

There are a lot of things that inspire me. Music is one, art is another, and books...well they have ALWAYS inspired me. I just finished reading "Love is the Killer App" by Tim Sanders.

I first heard about the book at the MJ 2 Day. So after I got home I went online to order the book so that I could read it. When I first got it and paged through it I kind of thought...ugh, this could be boring. Maybe this was a bad idea. Let me tell you, I was WRONG! Now, granted it wasn't an action-packed-thriller book. But there are some awesome points that Tim makes in the book. The basic thought of the book is be kind to everyone. To everyone. And pay it forward. Whatever that 'It' is...pay it forward and you will reap the benefits. I loved that I can apply this to not only my personal photography business but I can also use it at my not-so-fantastic day job. It was like a 'duh' moment reading some of the book because the things that he talks about are so simple you can't help but say to yourself..."well, duh...why didn't I think of that?!" Tim really does a good job of talking about how to make yourself approachable by just being kind to others. And, yes, for the record...a simple smile can really light up and brighten up someone's day. Ahh-mazing. This book also has helped me with branding my business. Which is something that I have been up to lately :) so...changes are a-comin' :D

Maggie

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Wisconsin State 4-H Horse Bowl Competition

Last weekend (5/1/10) was rather eventful. I traveled to Wausau, WI with 2 teams of kids to compete in the annual State Horse Bowl competition. Now, I know some of you are asking "What in the world in Horse Bowl?!?!" Well, it is sorta like Jeopardy in that there is a judge that asks all sorts of horse questions and you have to buzz in to answer them. The main difference is that there are 4 players per team and you don't have to answer the question that is being asked in question form. In horse bowl there are 3 levels: beginner, junior and senior. The questions get harder with higher levels, although some of the questions that my teams had to answer were pretty hard! I had the pleasure of being the beginner coach this year. It was totally awesome to watch these kids learn! I am so proud of all of them! Now, you might also wonder why in the world I am a coach for said team. Well, back in the day (and yes, it was back in the day...like 10 years ago!) I was super involved with the horse and pony project in Sheboygan County (my home county). It is also my way of giving back to the community. Sheboygan county is one of the largest counties in the whole state for horse and pony members! It can be crazy competitive and crazy tough to place in your classes...but I have to say it is probably one of the friendliest counties! Which, in my eyes, is a HUGE plus. I love seeing the kids congratulate each other on accomplishments no matter how small or large. :)    Anyway, here are some photos from the day...enjoy! :)

 The beginner score board...my teams placed 4th and 5th, which means they both placed top 10!

Said top 10 ribbon :)

Anxiously waiting for the results!

Beginner - Sheboygan Team A

Beginner - Sheboygan Team B

Intermediate - Sheboygan Team A

Intermediate - Sheboygan Team B

I wanted a picture of all the teams...but the seniors were competing while I was snappin' photos, so the two photos on the left are the chaos that happened while trying to get the teams to look like the photo on the right :)

And, because they are kids :) I had them do a goofy pose! Not everything in life has to be serious!! :)

Congratulations again Sheboygan County!! You all did a wonderful job!!

Maggie 

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networking is awwwwwwesome :D

In an effort to continually keep up with the times, we as photographers need to network, network, network. Which means workshops, seminars, classes, pug meetings (no...not the dog, although they are pretty cute...pug really refers to Pictage User Groups), smugmug meetings, and so on. 

Most of the time the seminars and meetings are free. Most often the workshops are not. BUT sometimes...at the best of times...there are contests! I love contests. That feeling that I might possibly win (which, more often than not I don't...but that doesn't mean I can't try!) gets me all happy...like a kind in a candy store!!!

So this post is all about the possibility of winning. 

"I want a UNO DVD and a shot at the scholarship to the Love Affair Workshop! http://www.loveaffairworkshop.com" 

You might be wondering what both Uno (check out the Uno website here) and the Love Affair workshop are...well, let me give you a little 411 :D

Uno is a DVD photoshop tutorial (that is for ANYONE! not just photogs :D ) made by Lauren Clark (who is a photographer based out of Lubbock, TX). Check out her website here and her blog here. I personally do not have this DVD yet, but I have been looking into getting it (maybe I will get my chance now!).

The Love Affair workshop is a workshop for photographers that is put on by 4 fabulous photographers (Lauren Clark, Millie Holloman, Davina Fear and Kelly Moore Clark). Basically it is a jam-packed 3 day workshop of learning everything and anything you want to know about photography and the business of it. These ladies are fo' real folks! Check out what this workshop is all about here.

 So here's to winning :D

~Maggie

email me :) / check out the website :)