Robin & Justin :: Ever After Punta Cana

Ever After Session my term for the celebratory portrait session after your wedding. More popularily known as Trash the Dress.

Robin and Justing had enough energy to get back into their wedding clothes for beach Ever After session just one day after their amazing Punta Cana wedding. I was able to experiment with some new lighting techniques as well as shooting in the ocean for the very first time. It was a blast!

Here are my favorites...

Robin & Justin :: Destination Punta Cana

Robin and Justin Schumacher :: May 9, 2009
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic


Love, warmth, beauty. Three words that can describe so many things at Robin and Justin's Caribbean wedding celebration. These two are truly blessed with the love of their family, friends and each other. Their intimate ceremony in Punta Cana was the perfect setting for their vows. They were married by their family pastor who flew in all the way from Wisconsin while their closest family and friends witnessed the ceremony.

The warmth of the oceanside location was enough for everyone to forget all of their worries and the brisk cold of our typical Wisconsin spring. But what was even warmer was the affection that Robin and Justin had for each other. They were so meaningful to photograph and even more heartfelt to sort and process the images post wedding. Their love is so easy. It just shows in their body language and the way they look at each other.

The utter beauty of everything just made my eyes smile at every glance. From the color of the water to the fullness of the moon. The Bavaro Princess Resort had over 90 acres for us to roam and photograph. We were able to shoot at the beach, in a forest, in a peacock reserve, on a bridge and even in the resort spa. And to top it off, Robin chose a perfect beach wedding gown and coordinating bridesmaids dresses as wells as linen shirts and pants for the guys. Everything was just so beautiful and relaxing.

There are so many images from this wedding that are incredible. It was hard for me to just select a few. Here are my favorites...














Wedding Gown: The Bridal Event
Resort: Bavaro Princess
Travel Agent: Heart of the Valley Travel - Apple Vacations
Dinner Reception: Café del Mar
Hair: Metamorphesis Spa
Rings: Avenue Jewelers
Groom's Attire: Men's Warehouse

Special thanks to Miranda Zynda-Kneeland of Reminisce Photography and Design for flying to Punta Cana with me to second shoot this wedding. Her insight and creativity rounded out the coverage for the weekend. Thanks so much Miranda!

Postcards from Florida

The day before we shot the destination wedding in Key West Florida, Rachel and I drove out to Bahia Honda State Park.

Here are some photos from our day at the beach...

All of these images were shot with my new 24mm 1.4L lens. I am so happy with this lens I feel like I could shoot an entire wedding with it!

New respect for the Aviation industry...

This week I am in Key West shooting a wedding... part of my journey to the Key's included a trip on a very small plane. With the incident that happened today with the US Airlines flight that made an emergency landing in water I feel thankful that God has put his hand in the hands that fly us.

On January 13, my third and final flight of the day and after 15 hours into my trip, I found out we were to be flying a "very small aircraft". Hmmm... They asked us for our weight and weighed our bags. The gate agent mentioned that no carry-ons were allowed - period. I begged her that my camera gear needed to stay with me at all times. She was able to make an exception for me to store my bag in the back of the 10 seat plane. Whew!

The plane arrived and boy it was tiny!!! The controller asked "who wants to sit in the front?" - I quickly raised my hand! I can't believe I did that!!! Last year at this time I was deathly afraid of flying. My imagination gets the best of me... luckily my husband Andy is reassuring in telling me that things are going to be ok. I've flown a lot this past year... although I am still a bit nervous during take-off (and I say a little prayer during lift-off) I am a much better flying passenger.

During the take off of this flight I couldn't help but to smile from ear to ear! It was like taking to the air in a Buick! But what a blast! Luckily they allowed me to take my camera and keep it on my lap. It took every ounce of resistance I had to not move or look around too much. I was too afraid of distracting the captain (who was sitting about 8" away from me to the left) or causing unnecessary movement within the plane.

I am so glad I had the opportunity to fly in the co-pilot seat! And I want to send a big thank you to all of the people who call an aircraft their "office". We as passengers have a tendency to not listen to the safety instructions or look behind us for the nearest exit. Today has been a testimony to the dedication of safety of these workers.