Light Reading

Winter Wonderland

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:42:00 +0000

Sometimes I question my decision to close up shop in the wintertime. When a bride-to-be calls or e-mails with her plans for a lovely winter wedding, I hate to say no. But there's so much more to photography than simply capturing the moment -- I need this time to design albums from last summer's weddings, meet with next summer's brides, fulfill print orders in time for holiday gift-giving, and think about scheduling and pricing for the coming year.

But more importantly, I also need to take a break from the hectic photo season and make time for family fun... here's a video my husband and I took during the massive "snow day" we had yesterday :-)

We hope you're enjoying your own winter wonderland!

Kristin and Camden

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:48:00 +0000

What a fantastic session today... Kristin and Camden are so in love and so excited about their wedding next summer -- we had a great time and we lucked out with the gorgeous weather! Here are a few faves...

We met in downtown Fort Atkinson and went for a walk along the river (and my daughter just looked over my shoulder and said this is one of her favorite photos ever)...

Then we went to the covered bridge on the bike trail south of town.

Here's one of my favorite shots from inside the covered bridge:

Then we went to Lake Koshkonong...

And we found a bit of fall color for their "formal" engagement picture.

Kristin and Camden, I really enjoyed our session and I can't wait for your wedding next summer! Keep in touch :-)

Thank yous!

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:54:00 +0000

We've been on a family vacation in Washington, DC, so I'm catching up -- but I wanted to quickly pass along this sweet note I received last week from Claire, a bride whose wedding I photographed last month.

You'll see some references to orange juice in the note below -- that's because orange juice got spilled all over Claire's dress while she was getting dressed! It came out with club soda -- so from now on club soda is in my "wedding emergency kit!" And you'll also see references to the cold -- we could see our breath in the chapel! But it was a beautiful wedding, as you can see from Claire and Sam's slideshow/video here. (Please note that some people find the first few bars of their chosen song a little jarring -- sorry about that but it calms down after a few photos and it's really a lovely song!)

So now I yield the floor to Claire...

"Hi Lori,

I know you are on your way to a fun (and educational :) family vacation...but I just had to tell you again how truly grateful we are for your beautiful work. As artists, we are just floored by your and Eric's combined attention to detail and your ability to capture what we believe no other photographer would have been able to: us.

We will never be able to thank you for giving us the ability to remember our wedding day just like it was. I knew from the moment we met you that we were on the same wavelength and it really showed in your work...so thanks for being yourself! It was so wonderful that in the midst of coordinating an out of town wedding, cleaning orange juice, frigid temperatures, and overwhelming emotion we never once worried that something would be missed.

Side note: I love how you found our first dance song and somehow managed to get 86 pictures into it!!! That video really is the perfect example of why we got married. It is warm, fun, quirky, and beautiful.

So, LATE last night (after we watched it about 900 times) Sam and I emailed it to 6 people (Moms and sisters) and I have somehow received 20 something responses to that email this morning. I just wanted to share with you some of the things other people who are not us have said about your work:

My mother called me crying at 7am : "That woman was seriously a blessing Claire. She has given you two the greatest gift you could ever have been given and she helped us get the orange juice out!"

Karen (Sam's Mom): OMG .... CLAIRE, I absolutely LOVE the video. The photos all turned out so awesome, and with the music, it totally captured the beauty and joy of the event. I can hardly wait to see the rest.

Annie (Maid of Honor): I was not expecting this at all. I haven't ever seen wedding pictures that look like this. They look like magazine pictures. How did they do that? ....I am so glad there are pictures of the orange juice drama!!! The whole thing is just perfect!

Joe (our "Rev"): SISTER!!!!!! OMG OMG OMG Those pictures are AMAZING!!! I cried a little lot! My favorite one is...ok that is a lie. I have watched this thing 30 times and I keep switching my favorite. Damn it!! They are just too wonderful!

Nora (my sister): That woman is a magician like she belongs in Hogwarts. OH AND I totally love how I don't look completely wasted in these!!! WHOOT! But seriously I have watched this thing on repeat like 400 times. Is that creepy?

Maggie (my close friend who missed it): I feel like I was there. Can you please thank this photographer for me, please?! I can't get over how Claire and Sam that video was! Oh, I am so glad these aren't cheesy wedding pictures like I usually see...that would have been more depressing than the fact I missed it.

Taylor (the teenage junior bridesmaid): It doesn't even really look that cold. How did she do that?

Safe travels to you and your family,
Claire and Sam"

Maureen and David: Engaged!

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:54:00 +0000

What a delightful engagement session with Maureen and Dave this morning! After days of rain and cold (or is it weeks? I'm losing track) we finally had a "normal" autumn day with sunshine and cool weather. The leaves are gorgeous this weekend -- I think the yellow maples must be at their peak -- so we took advantage of the fall color. Here are just a few favorites....

Maureen and Dave, thanks for letting me share in your joy today!

Shawn

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:54:00 +0000

Had a wonderful day with my daughter, Anna -- did some location scouting in Cambridge for an engagement session tomorrow, went for a walk, raked leaves, and baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies... I love this time of year!

And now I'm catching up on some blogging... Shawn stopped by last week for a yearbook-only session because he "hates having his picture taken." Give me a break! This guy should be a model!

Grandma's House!

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:42:00 +0000

Saturday's dreary weather didn't put a damper on this family's session at the grandparents' home near Helenville. There is so much I'd like to say about this family... so much love in this home... but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

We decided to create portraits of the grandkids indoors while we waited out the rain :-)

And Kathleen has a conservatory off the kitchen! It is truly beautiful, and soon she'll bring her orchids inside for the winter. Since it's obviously one of her favorite rooms in the house, I wanted to make a portrait of her there, with a hint of her stained glass and beautiful banana tree, but not so much that it would be distracting...

Kennedy's favorite thing to do at Grandma's house? Watching movies!

And another favorite activity: Story time :-)

The sun came out for approximately 3.5 minutes, when we got this photo of the grown-ups...

And another of my favorites from the session, Kathleen and her son.

Many more to come on the online proofing site... This session was truly a celebration of life, and of family, and of love. Kathleen, I'm so honored to have been part of your day.

Ashley and Chris

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:08:00 +0000

Ashley and Chris came all the way out from Minneapolis for their engagement session this morning! We've had a lot of dark clouds lately, but at least it wasn't raining... so we took advantage of the break in the rain and headed out to the country. Here are a few of my favorites!

Ashley shows horses, so this rural setting seemed a perfect match.

I love how he makes her laugh...

And this is one of my new favorites.

We went downtown for a walk along the river...

And Ashley told me, "If we fight about anything, it's this..." and she pointed to her Wisconsin sweatshirt and his Minnesota one. Not a bad thing to fight about ;-)

Thanks so much for a great session, Ashley and Chris! Can't wait for your wedding in Green Bay next summer :-)

Theresa and Allen

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:28:00 +0000

So much love and so much joy at Theresa and Allen's wedding last night!

Take a look at their slideshow, or you can scroll down for a few of our favorites.

The rings were gorgeous (thanks to my husband, Eric, for this shot)... he's been practicing with our brand-new macro lens and it shows!

The girls watching Theresa get dressed...

Theresa's father was remembered in so many touching ways throughout the day. Her dress revealed part of her tattoo, created in memory of him...

We went outside for some portraits before the ceremony. These girls were adorable!

And of course, if you have a swirly dress you have to take it for a twirl!

Allen during the ceremony. I love the expression on his face here.

Theresa during the ceremony...

Outside afterward...

And I just love this shot that Eric got of the groomsmen laughing. Another good reason to have two photographers is evident here: one of us always gets the formal, posed shot and the other gets everyone laughing right afterward :-)

Look at the look on his face! So in love...

And a formal portrait. These are so important! I like to think that this one will be handed down to the grandkids...

And this one is a stand-out, too -- it's an unusual pose, perhaps because it wasn't posed! We had walked over to some big trees to do a few portraits and something about the way Theresa was standing here caught my eye -- she seems like a really strong, independent woman and this image reflects that... and it looks like a fashion shot out of a magazine, don't you think?

One of the grandest "grand entrances" ever :-)

First dance.

The DJ (Travis at Madison Mobile DJ) got everyone dancing...

Do you want to know what's in the pretty box?

Good fortune :-)

Thanks so much, Theresa and Allen, for inviting us to share in your happiness. We wish you all the best ~ and of course there are lots more photos to come.

Candice and Josh

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 05:41:00 +0000

"One of the problems with eloping," Candice wrote to me in her first e-mail, "is no pictures."

Later, at our first meeting, she and Josh explained that they had eloped just prior to his deployment with the Marines, and a friend of Josh's had taken some pictures of their civil ceremony with their digital camera. That camera was stolen the next day (!!!) so they were left with no photographs at all of their wedding.

This time around they wanted lots of candids of family, friends, and the ceremony; posed shots with relatives; and creative photos of just the two of them. Candice had found me through my membership in the Wedding Photojournalist Association, and she said that photography was *really* important to her.

So today we met again -- and we had a truly lovely time. The air was cool, the sun was bright, and all in all it was a great day for Candice to marry the man of her dreams... again :-)

And here's their slideshow!

Crazy busy

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 03:17:00 +0000

OK so we're back and I've had some really fun shoots this past week. And also -- get this -- we got back from Colorado at 1 am and *six hours later* Eric and I were ripping out our kitchen ceiling.

I don't know what came over us. I woke up at 6 am and I took one look at our kitchen -- which I have never liked -- and decided something had to be done. Immediately. I decided I'd paint the cabinets, and I went upstairs to wake Eric up and tell him so. He came downstairs, looked over the situation, and said it would be a wasted effort to work on the cabinets before doing something about the ceiling, which looked kind of saggy and weird. A few hours later we were knee deep in plaster and lath, literally shoveling out our kitchen with a snow shovel!

So I've been doing photo sessions this week but we've been so busy dealing with the mess in the kitchen that I haven't had a chance to even *look* at many of the pictures yet, let alone start editing. But here are a few from a session in Milwaukee on Wednesday. This guy is Danny Litz, an aspiring model from Kenosha. I think he's got the look!

Off to Grandma's house!

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:39:00 +0000

I'll be in Colorado and away from e-mail until August 10. If you have an urgent request, please call my Google Voice number (local call in Fort Atkinson: 920-397-9749) and it'll record you -- or someone at my grandma's house will take the message :-) I might even pick up if I'm somewhere with cell service!

Jenny and Kevin

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:49:00 +0000

Jenny and Kevin were high school sweethearts, and this past Friday afternoon they got married! Eric and I were honored to be part of their wedding day.

The flowers were gorgeous...

...as were the church's stained-glass windows.

Kevin and Jenny's officiant was a friend of Jenny's from church -- he took classes for a year so he would be qualified to give their ceremony! Now that's friendship...

After the ceremony we had planned to go to Palmer Park for photos -- Jenny and her mom and I had met about a month ago to walk around and pick out the best locations. We ended up having to do the wedding party portraits inside the church, and they turned out just fine anyway :-)

We went to the park to at least attempt a portrait of the happy couple. Now, I have to say this is one of the most challenging storms I've ever worked in -- and I was a newspaper photographer in Montana! Drizzle, I can deal with. Rain I can deal with. Even snow is ok. But this was high winds and lashing rain -- the storm was really unbelievable! I consider it a sheer miracle that the photos turned out as well as they did -- and that my camera and lenses stayed dry. Wish I could say the same thing for Eric and the limo driver, who were holding my lights and umbrella ;-)

We had a blast in the party bus...

And Jenny and Kevin made a grand "grand entrance" at the reception.

There were kisses...

There were toasts...

and lots of adoring looks :-)

And you know what? During the reception I was looking at Kevin and Jenny, and I was admiring them for handling all the craziness with the weather so calmly and in such good spirits, and I thought, "It isn't their fault that it rained!" They had wanted photos in Palmer Park so badly, and Janesville isn't too far from our hometown... so I decided to offer to meet them there the next day for the outdoor portraits they had dreamed of. They gratefully accepted, and I'm so glad they did!

Even though I generally like high-energy shots with lots of motion and action, I think this is one of my favorite wedding pictures ever because it so perfectly captures Jenny and Kevin's happiness -- but also the deep reverence they have for their relationship and each other. They just settled into this pose -- I didn't direct them -- and I think it's so sweet.

If you want to see more pictures set to the song from their first dance, you can see their slideshow here.

Thanks, Kevin and Jenny, for inviting us to share in your joy! Best wishes!

Family sessions

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:09:00 +0000

I *love* it when I hear from a mom like Millie. Millie is artistic and creative and a really devoted mom -- and along with some posed shots of her mother, grandmother, and her children, she also encouraged me to hang out with the kids to get some candid photos.

So after the formal pictures I asked the kids to take me to their favorite place in their great-grandma's yard.

Luke chose the riverside...

Carly showed me a flower...

And Emry climbed a tree :-)

Then we decided to do individual photos of each of the kids with their mother. Carly didn't want to cooperate, but that actually resulted in one of my favorite images from the entire session:

Thanks for getting in touch, Millie, and thanks for a great morning -- I hope these photos bring you and your kids lots of happy memories of your time at grandma's house!

Alyssa

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:47:00 +0000

Here are a few of my favorites from a fashion shoot in Madison today. Hair and makeup by Rosalee Eichstedt, assisted by Mallory Schinker. Stephanie Johnson was my assistant today.

These first two are my favorites, but that's just because i'm such a nature girl ;-)

loved rosalee's work with alyssa's hair!

this was a great location, too... (thanks rosalee)

wow, what a great day! and now i'm tired... going to sleep ;-)

Sneak peek: Sarah's bridal session

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 23:31:00 +0000

Here are a few details from Sarah's bridal session this morning -- but I don't want to spoil the surprise of showing her dress before the wedding, so the rest will have to wait!

Sarah beaded this bag herself...

and she made her own veil, comb, and earrings:

Needless to say, I'm sure her wedding will be full of heartfelt details. This girl has a real sense of style!

Bridal sessions are included with some of our packages and they can always be added to others. Since they're done well ahead of the wedding day, there's no stress, no hurry, and it's a great way to make sure your dress and accessories look just as you want them to. I'd love to do more of these sessions, so give me a call if you're interested!

Jess

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:20:00 +0000

Jess lives in a beautiful house out in the country, so we had some fantastic settings to choose from for her senior session this afternoon. We had a great time -- here are a few of our favorites :-)

For more information about senior sessions, please see our
"seniors" page on the main website. Thanks!

Krista and Kaylie

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:32:00 +0000

I met the sweetest seniors today -- Krista and Kaylie. Here are a few faves -- more on Facebook :-)

County Fair

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:36:00 +0000

I feel like we finally arrived home from a long vacation -- but Anna and I have just been a few miles away at the Jefferson County Fair! Anna had the time of her life. Here are some photos (bear with me if you're looking for weddings, seniors, or family photography -- this blog sometimes doubles as a way to share pictures with far-flung family and friends).

So, here we go. All the 4H clubs decorate their stalls according to a theme. This year's theme was "Going Green," so they used recycled materials as much as possible. The dads made large wooden horseshoe-shaped frames that the club can use year after year from now on.

In line with the "green" theme, the kids covered their stalls with old feed bags turned inside-out...

...and they decorated old horseshoes to make picture frames.

Anna loved getting to take care of Comanche full-time.

She didn't have to show until Saturday, but she had to care for Comanche several times a day. One day we went around to see the other animals and she took pictures of just about every goat, rabbit, sheep, and chicken at the fair. This is one of my favorites :-)

Saturday morning: The horses had to look their best for the showmanship classes.

Their hooves had to be blacked...

And Anna got all dressed up to go in the ring. I asked her if she was nervous and she said, "I don't get nervous when I'm on a team with an animal."

She looked so proud out there!

She and Comanche got a red ribbon! This was the first time Anna had ever shown a horse so we were really proud that she did so well!

Later that afternoon, waiting to watch the drill team perform.

Yesterday morning, second show day. i think Eric took this one, but I'm not sure...

She got another red ribbon for equitation, and I had to take one picture at the "official" photo place. Comanche even smiled for the camera :-)

Back at the stall, Comanche showed Anna that he loved having his neck brushed. This is what it's all about...

Anna loves the new friends she has made in 4H.

And finally, a quick portrait at the end of a long day...

It's good to be home -- and I promise to get to that backlog of e-mails today. We're already looking forward to next year's fair!

Head, Heart, Hands, Health

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:02:00 +0000

Our daughter, Anna, has been really active in 4H this year. She's showing our dog, Sadie, at the fair/dog show next week and she'll show Commanche the following week. I'm new to the whole 4H thing so this is a big education for me, too! Apparently the kids are supposed to decorate the horses' stalls, and part of the decorations are pictures of the kids and horses working together. So I've been taking photos like crazy the past two nights, trying to get enough pictures together before we leave for vacation tomorrow.

Should I be packing right now? Yes. But these are too cute to leave neglected in the computer!

Anna has learned so much at 4H, from how to feed and groom a horse...

To how to ride...

And most of all, she has developed such a sweet relationship with Commanche...

And I'm re-discovering why I loved horses so much as a kid :-)

Off to pack, and then off on a roadtrip tomorrow morning! More when we get back home!

Kids session

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Wow, we've had a busy summer! I can't believe July is almost here.

Here are a couple of pics from a recent family session in Lake Mills -- these sisters were adorable!

I'm looking for studio space here in Fort Atkinson but I still think that nothing beats meeting kids at their own home, where they feel comfortable, and just letting them play and laugh....

Kelly and Dale

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Mon, 18 May 2009 02:01:00 +0000

Here's a sneak peek from Kelly and Dale's wedding on Saturday :-)

Update: .... and here's Kelly and Dale's wedding slideshow! Eric and I had a great time, and as usual Eric's help was invaluable -- if it looks like we were in two places at once, that's because we were! Many of the shots in here are his, and he also helped me carry gear, scout locations, and get the lighting just right. And then he took me out to dinner afterward :-)

What a beautiful day! Congratulations, Kelly and Dale!

(If you can't see the slideshow above, click here to watch it)

Spring!

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:25:00 +0000

I love this time of year -- the flowers are blooming, the birds are singing... and my phone is ringing like crazy! Our first wedding of the season will be on May 16 at Olbrich, and I can't wait! I'm also planning a portrait fund-raiser for my daughter's 4H group in a couple of weeks, discussing some fun family reunions this summer, and taking calls from last-minute brides.

I'm catching up on work since we took two weeks off to go to Utah -- seems like an entire month's worth of work was waiting for me when we got home. We have lots of trip photos up on Facebook so friend me if you want to see them!

Enjoy the season while it lasts....

Off to Utah!

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:16:00 +0000

We'll be back sometime around April 20 with lots of photos to share :-)

St. Louis

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:40:00 +0000

My mom and my little niece Sophie celebrated their birthdays last Friday, so we went to Missouri for a visit. We spent most of the long weekend at my parents' home in the country, but we also went to St. Louis to see my brother's new house. He and his wife are buying (today!) a house near Forest Park. While everyone else was inspecting the house, Anna and I played outside with Sophie and met some of the neighbor kids...

Casting call: Spring warm-up

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Compas) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:26:00 +0000

As you might already know, I generally don't do winter weddings or portrait sessions. The weather here is too unpredictable and I need the winter months to fulfill print orders, work on wedding albums, and prepare for the coming year.

I have lots of great ideas to try out, but of course I don't want to experiment around on someone's wedding day -- so I decided to offer a free bridal session to help me get warmed up and ready to go!

Here's the deal: Help me find a bride-to-be or a recent bride who's willing to pose for about an hour in her wedding dress. We'll go to at least two different locations but this will not be a "trash the dress" session unless she wants it to be.

She will get a proof CD of some gorgeous photos in her dress, as well as 2 free 8x10s. You'll get a gift certificate for a portrait session!

UPDATE: And we have a bride! I'll be photographing our winning bride in mid July. Stay tuned for the pics!