I am a huge fan of the different and unique. Sarah and Ben totally rocked their wedding with unique touches that really brought out their own personalities. I knew things would be different – and I mean different – when Ben mentioned that they’d be riding in a tractor after the ceremony. Tractor? You got it right! When I showed up that morning, we couldn’t resist getting a picture of the guys with the tractor:

The ladies rocked it out with the best jumping picture – ever. Yes, Sarah is wearing cowboy boots!

With all that said, the ceremony was held at the beautiful Lebanon Bible Fellowship Church:

I just love how happy Sarah and Ben look as they walk down the aisle together!

We walked out of the church, and Sarah and Ben looked up during the celebration to catch my eye – I love this shot!

Briana, my second shooter for the day, caught this picture of me with a dorky smile interacting with Sarah and Ben. Thankfully, I’m not in any other pictures with them!

Seriously – every Limo I’ve ever seen is way under powered compared to this thing.

While Sarah and Ben were out harvesting the corn (just kidding), we went to the reception and captured a few of the details. Details such as the John Deere cupcakes and the coolest thing of all…naming the tables by tractor models and not by numbers!

I love photographing weddings because of all the emotion! Here, Sarah and Ben share a moment during the toasts.

I loved the reactions during the removal of the garter – yep, that’s a John Deere garter.

We went outside in the setting sun and had a lot of fun with the cornfield bordering the church:

…and some more serious pictures.

I loved the swing set, and the picture on the right is one of my favs.

I have to end with one of my all time favorites – I really dig their expression of love! Thanks guys for a great time, and a beautiful wedding!

If you liked the pictures, leave a comment for Sarah and Ben!

What do bloody noses, power outages, dance routines, and shameless plugs at hooking still-single siblings up have in common? These things all happened at the wedding of Amber and Matthew this past Saturday. Oh yeah, they did get married too…

I have to give mega-kudos to Amber and Matt for being so flexible. Just before the ceremony started, it started raining torrentially outside. I would say raining cats and dogs, but we were in the center of Lancaster County, so to be more region specific: it was raining heifers and steers. I think I just got bonus points for using those words in a wedding blog post, and I am seriously getting off track. With that said, I’ll stop yappin’ and show you some pictures:

Amber and Matt had a great group of folks in their wedding party – I didn’t have any problem getting them to give me great expression!

Probably one of my favorite picture of the guys – I just asked for them to give me a “funny face” and this is what I got. What a spectrum of emotion in this picture! Right after this picture, we walked inside and Matt had a bloody nose, probably brought about by all of the contortions his face got into. For the benefits of everyone’s stomachs, no bloody nose pictures online!

Matt was trying… okay, I’m not sure what he was trying to do.

Matt’s brother and bestman Nate – this is the face he gave me when I asked him if he was working on the bestman’s toast speech at t-minus 7  minutes to the ceremony start. I love it!

This is Amber looking very much at peace. The power had gone out just before the ceremony started. I’m so glad it stayed on the rest of the time for them.

Two captures from my second shooter Kyle – Amber and Matt did a choreographed dance routine for their recessional.

Pictures outside the church. Notice the pouring rain in the background. Other than having to utilize the church’s carport for shelter, I was loving the light!

We jumped into our cars and headed off to the Lancaster Host Resort. It was still raining quite hard, so we scouted out some locations for indoor pictures. This was a tiny maintenance hallway deep in the bowels of the resort.

Somewhat of a tribute to Michelangelo:

I told Nate I would post this on a blog that gets lots of visits: a name tag with his number makes it really easy for the ladies…

Another picture from Kyle – these two refused to be photographed together earlier in the evening because someone had told this little girl that she had to kiss the ring bearer. No wonder she’s hiding behind bushes!

The rain finally went away and left us a near perfect sunset. We headed out onto the golf course and grabbed a few of my favorite shots of the evening. Kyle’s picture on the left, mine on the right. It’s super nice to have two photographers capturing different angles at the same time.

Again, picture from Kyle on the left, and mine on the right. I love the starburst effect Kyle got on his picture…

I really want to get this printed big just to see what it would look like! Such a beautiful area, and a gorgeous end to the day!

Off to the honeymoon suite…

Amber and Matt, it was a huge pleasure to work with you both and your families. Thanks for having Kyle and I there for the day!

This past Saturday I had the privilege to photograph the wedding of a friend I’ve known since we were both in middle school. I’ve always known DJ to be a hilarious person, and sometimes just crazy! He totally fits the definition of counter-culture, and is a rebel to the core. Notice the tie-dye undershirt. That would be DJ. When Alicen came into DJ’s life, everyone knew that she was the one. She had a clever come-back for every one of DJ’s jokes. She wasn’t turned off by his love of fishing, hunting, and big pick-up trucks.  She stood her ground, and DJ had finally met his match!

With that introduction to this couple, the wedding day was a blast! I hope you enjoy some of my favorite pictures from the day:

The guys found a box of old glasses to wear for this pic… I think everyone was a bit dizzy after that…

I love this picture for what it says about each of the guys in the wedding party. I’d love to hear your take on what each of these guys are thinking…

The picture on the left is from my second shooter – Kyle. I love it.

Curt (one of DJ’s good friends, and a friend of mine) playing guitar during the ceremony.

Emily, DJ’s sister, singing a beautiful song called Knees To The Earth. I love her expression of worship here.

I’m a huge fan of wedding photography because of the chance to capture a lot of real emotion. Pastor Steve Blayer shared an awesome message, and Alicen and DJ were both very emotional during their vows. That’s Dale, DJ’s dad and best man in the foreground to the right.

Beautiful church!

One more thing about Alicen – she’s actually a bit taller than DJ. That is saying a lot – DJ is not a short guy either!

After the ceremony, we traveled a short 3 miles to the reception at a place called Vereinigung Erzgebirge. Yes, that’s the name, and I haven’t yet successfully been able to pronounce it. Anyway, there were some beautiful locations at the reception site. Notice DJ’s camo vest. Alicen agreed to let him wear it, but only at the reception! UPDATE: DJ’s mom (Suzanne) filled me in that the vest was actually Alicen’s surprise to DJ. DJ, you are one blessed man!

I love the little details here. Dale (DJ’s father and best man) is well known for his canning expertise. I have no doubt they’ll probably be reused for storing pickled vegetables for the winter. The deer on the cake – another indication of DJ’s love of the outdoors.

Fantastic emotion conveyed during the toasts!

DJ and Alicen, thank you so much for letting me be a part of your day! You can view or purchase prints of the photos here.

This past Saturday I took a beautiful drive to Rocks State Park, located in Jarretsville, Maryland. I was there to photograph the wedding of Liz and Greg. The weather was hot and humid, but Liz and Greg were very excited to take a walk and get some great pictures in an awesome location. I hope you enjoy the pics! The first was more scary for them then for me. The cliff has a 90 foot drop on each side. Liz said she wasn’t excited about heights, but did fine with the location! Note to other photographers – be sure lens caps are safely in your camera bag or in your pocket. I lost one somewhere in a deep rock chasm. Kudos to the climber who tried to find it for me!

Speaking of climbing… for those of you into bouldering or climbing, Rocks State Park would be your place. Oh, by the way, it also makes an excellent spot for pictures! These guys were fantastic to work with (my word of the day while working with them…). I loved their expressions throughout the session.

There was a large rock in the middle of the woods (actually there were a lot of them, this one was just handy!) Liz and Greg just sat down and had a moment together.

No traditional smiling groom shots here. My exact words were: “Do you want to do the traditional arm on the tree pose?” Greg’s answer: “You mean like this???” Oh, by the way, these guys aren’t Irish or especially fond of Notre Dame. They’re just big fans of the color green.

Walking back to the car you totally could not tell that it was 90 degrees out and humid – both of them were troopers!

I love the emotion!

Before the wedding they had this personalized Rubik’s Cube out for guests. I only saw one guy attempt to solve it, and he gave up after about a minute. I can barely solve the original color-coded one. This one would seriously mess with me!

Liz’s family happens to be full of really great singers. They sang a few songs during the reception a cappella. They rocked!

Liz and Greg enjoying a song (Liz only sang for the first song).

Grandma taking a picture…

Green cake. The cake topper looks all innocent from the front but wait until you see the back of the topper – just a little bit naughty! Thanks to Liz’s mom for telling me about the back of the cake!

This little dude caught the garter and happened to have the cutest expression when I caught him coming up to the punch bowl for the 47th time. Talk about a serious sugar high!

Thanks Liz and Greg!

Kristin had a great idea – could I pull off a panorama image incorporating the Mansion and them? I’ve shot panoramas before, but only of landscapes. Here’s how it turned out:

This is a composite of about 12 separate images. Kevin and Kristin did a great job of holding still while I captured the scene. Thanks to Kristin for the idea!