Fav from a recent DePere engagement session...

This session was shot in October. We snuck into one of the dorms at St. Norbert College to warm up and make use of this amazing window light! Crystal and Greg will be my first wedding of the 2010 season. Their wedding is going to be jam packed with amazing things!

Wisconsin Wedding Photography - The autumn light

I just had to post this remarkable image from Leah and John's September wedding in Little Chute, WI. This is the image they chose for their wall portrait and I couldn't be happier with their selection!

The Collection - our TV debut!

This week was wedding week at TMJ4 and NBC26 on the Morning Blend. Members of the Collection were interviewed to present ideas and tips on choosing the right photographer for your wedding.

I was fortunate to participate on Tuesday's show... where we talked mainly about the importance of hiring a professional wedding photographer and how the Collection benefits brides planning weddings in Wisconsin. I was really nervous being on live tv! I don't know what came over me... but all-in-all it was a terrific experience.

Visit the Morning Blend website to view clips from the show...
January 5, 2010
January 8, 2010

If you are on a Mac you'll need to download the latest Windows Media Player

That's me! The cute 8 months pregnant girl on the right...

Album sneak peak - Appleton Wedding Photography

Here are some shots from one of the wedding albums that I designed and delivered for Christmas 2009. It is so important for a bride and groom to have a finished professional representation from their wedding photographer. Whether you receive professional prints, canvas or an album - a finished piece of art is an important part of wedding coverage.

Today too many brides are only focused on the disk. Believe it or not, many brides never print images from their disks. They get caught up in life, family and their jobs... leaving them with nothing. Don't let this happen to you! Make sure your wedding photographer offers more than just a disk of your wedding images as part of your wedding photography package. I feel a long blog post coming on...

Back to the album.

This album is one of my Fine Art leather albums. Heidi and Dave opted to add a couple of features to make their album a bit more personalized... Their cover features top grain leather, silver imprinting and a cameo image. They also added their names to the spine...





This wedding album lays flat. The pages are hand mounted flush to the thick page. I have all of my albums with a split gutter ensuring the longevity of the book. This split page design ensures your book will not crack or peel in the gutter over the years.




We needed to squeeze in a bunch of images onto this spread. I usually recommend 2-3 images per page. When you are planning your album you will want to choose between 90 and 100 images for a 30 page album.


Each book is blind embossed with my logo on the back cover...

This Fine Art album is my mid-range album. I also offer an heirloom album that is just exquisite! Contact me for more information on album choices...

2009 :: A look back

I'm sooo excited for this new year... before the clock strikes 12:00 I want to recap the wonderful adventures of 2009...

An Ardent Photography Photobooth

2009 was a terrific year for Ardent Photography... I started out the year shooting a wedding with Rachel of www.mergeweddings.com in Key West Florida. I flew to the island in a ridiculously small 8-seater airplane - in the co-pilot seat! I knew from that moment it was going to be a fantastic year!

In March I returned for my second straight year at the WPPI conference in Las Vegas, NV. I had a blast rooming with Molly Michel of m three studio and participating in classes and shootouts all week long. I bought my first "real" purse and necklace at Tiffany's... thank Molly for introducing me to nice things.


That Easter Andy and I took off to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for some along adult time. It was so very relaxing to have nothing to do besides sit and soak up the sun.

Shortly after our trip to Mexico I was hired to shoot my first destination wedding in the Dominican Republic. I brought along friend and photographer Miranda Zynda-Kneeland of Reminisce Photography to be my second shooter. It was a true honor and privilege to photograph Robin and Justin's wedding in Punta Cana.

My busy wedding schedule only allowed me to take a limited number of High School Seniors. This year I shot 10 sessions and had a blast photographing seniors from Xavier, Appleton East, North and West as well as a senior from Winneconne High Schools.

The summer's weddings brought lots of joyful moments in couples lives - and I loved shooting at many new locations. I especially loved shooting for Tracy and Tim in Pembine at the Four Season Resort and in Door County for Kirsten and Andrew at the family's private residence. Thank you to all of my wedding couples for making 2009 such a fantastic season!!!


The most joyful news of the summer had to be finding out I was pregnant with our second child - a GIRL!!! Drew will finally be a big brother - our due date is March 1, 2010. He wants to name her "Cook"... it's actually quite cute, we are calling her that for now... but we do have several cute girl names on our list!

In other business 2009 news... Unveiled Portraits - my boutique boudoir photography venture has been such a dream come true. I've shot more than 75 boudoir sessions total and in the month of October I raised $900 for my first ever Boudoir for Breast Cancer fund raiser with the help of matching funds from Invitation Consultants.

I was also featured in Wisconsin Bride Magazine as an expert in boudoir photography. I am beyond excited to continue photographing boudoir session in 2010 and continue to make Unveiled Portraits the best boudoir photography studio in the state of Wisconsin. Thank you to all of my wonderful ladies!!! Here's to a new year of loving your sexy-self just the way you are!!!

This year was also a great year for my family. We took our very first family vacation in December to Disney World. Seeing Disney through the eyes of a 3 year old was definitely magical.

Drew had the most fun on the Triceratops ride at Animal Kingdom and getting his face painted up like a dragon. For Andy and I, our favorite part of the trip was getting selected to see the fireworks show as VIP's at Epcot. We were the only people in the entire park that got to sit alongside the people who designed the show and just yards away from where the fireworks are shot off.

To help make way for lil' sister "Cook" Drew said goodbye to his toddler bed and hello to a big boy bed. He is doing great in the bed and hasn't fallen out yet... He also was bumped up in his swimming class at Swimtastic Swim School. He can swim all independently for 3 feet, he is also jumping into the pool and swims to the side - all by himself!

Andy caught the biggest fish at my brother Nic's bachelor party in Pickerel Lake, WI - the thing was a HUGE 42" and very very tasty ;-) He has also been very busy playing in his softball and pool leagues. We are very fortunate his company has been so successful this year and are looking forward to what the future holds. We are both so lucky to have careers we love and a family that we adore!


Have a very happy and prosperous 2010!!!!

xoxo Amy

Class of 2010

I have been a bad blogger over the last month or so! But I've been a very good photographer and order-filler!!! Boy am I busy this time of year.

I recently prepared Beth's images and really wanted to share them all with you. I had a blast photographing all the high school seniors from Xavier, Appleton East/West/North and Winneconne last summer.

Here are just a few of my favorites from Beth's session...







To see more from Beth's session and more of my 2010 Fox Cities High School Senior Pictures become a fan of Ardent Photography on Facebook!

Tiffani & Scott :: Green Bay Wedding

September 12, 2009
St. John's Catholic Church - Little Chute
Reception - Oneida Casino, Green Bay

Tiffani and Scott planned a gorgeous wedding fit for a prince and a princess. Which is exactly the theme of their day. Tiffani chose a gown with a fitted bodice and long train, they had a castle cake and a fairytale book on every table at the reception.

It was an honor to document the wedding of two awesome people. Here are my favorites from the day...








Tiffani and her dad have a very special bond. They took dancing lessons and swirled around on the dance floor! It was so heartwarming to watch...

How cool is this?

I just found out that I've been selected for the Bride's Choice Award 2009 through WeddingWire! WeddingWire.com is a great place for online wedding planning... you can see lots of information on local vendors... make sure to check it out!

If you are a past bride of Ardent Photography or of Unveiled Portraits please take a minute or two to leave a review on www.weddingwire.com! It's easy and fast... thanks so much!

Leave a review for Ardent Photography
Leave a review for Unveiled Portraits

Dana & Tim :: Neenah Outdoor Wedding

Sunday, September 6, 2009
Ceremony and Reception: Bridgewood Resort and Conference Center, Neenah, WI


Dana and Tim had a fabulous Sunday wedding. The day started getting ready at their home on Doty Island. The couple had their first look in Doty Park and several photos at the Whiting Boathouse.

The day was perfect. Warm, sunny and gorgeous. The grounds at the Bridgewood were perfect for a wedding.

I had a ton of favorites from this wedding...

This darling little kitty kept it's eye on us while we were photographing the dress.

I love photographing the parents at every wedding. They are so proud of their children and are beaming with joy. Having parents this great deserves it's own photo!

Exciting news for Ardent Photography!

I am excited to announce that I am an Associate Photographer with m three studio in Milwaukee!
(photo by Spottswood Photography)

I am so excited that Molly and I have come together in this business venture! Molly and I clicked the first time we met (no photography pun intended) and our photographic styles and backgrounds are incredibly similar. Since our first shoot out together in in the Spring of 2008 we have not only shot weddings together and traveled together but we have relied on each other in many aspects of our lives and our businesses.

What does all of this mean for you? Well, I've already booked a limited number of weddings for 2010 for Ardent Photography. But because I want to keep up with a higher level of shooting and not the high level of administration work (that goes along with all of those weddings) I will be shooting the remainder of my open 2010 dates with weddings through m three studio. Molly will be handling all of the communication with clients, the editing of your images (so you get that signature m three studio look), albums and prints, and I will be the one shooting your engagement session and wedding day.

At this time we have booked several weddings for 2010 under m three studio...

Important note: Ardent Photography will continue to book it's own weddings for 2011 and the future. I am currently accepting 2011 inquiries for Ardent Photography.

See an example of my work with that m three studio touch...

See Molly's blog for more if you would like to book us for your 2010 wedding!

Edited to add:
I am not closing Ardent Photography. I am not selling or merging Ardent Photography. I am still accepting wedding clients and still shooting weddings and boudoir.

For 2010 I decided to lower my work load a bit by not taking on 28+ weddings. My personal wedding goal for 2010 was to shoot 10 weddings. I felt like this is a great number to service my clients with exceptional quality and service. I've now booked my goal for 2010.

Since I will be spending the summer of 2010 shooting those 10 weddings and caring for and loving my new little baby girl (and 3 year old son...) I decided more time would be needed. This means less time during the week in meetings and less time editing lots and lots of images. This way I can still do what I love, which is shooting. I've decided to partner with m three studio for 2010 wedding season as an associate shooter in addition to the 10 weddings for Ardent Photogaraphy. This means I'm taking on a select number of weddings with m three studio... which I'm super excited about because I get to do all the creative fun stuff - shooting weddings!

I am currently accepting 2011 wedding inquiries and plan to accept up to 20 weddings commissions - so if you are newly engaged contact me soon! These open dates will go quickly!

I am excited to continue to shoot boutique boudoir sessions as Unveiled Portraits by Ardent Photography. Because this venture has been soooo successful for me I also want to keep a few open weekends during the summer months to host sessions.

Business has never been so great! I love all my clients and am excited to shoot their weddings and boudoir sessions in 2010.