Mr. February

This year I did personalized gifts for all my family members - what a hit! These cute 4x6 custom designed calendars are now available and great gift ideas. You can have them designed with your engagement photos, wedding photos, high school senior photos... the ideas are endless.

Each month is printed as a 4x6 and can be displayed in a traditional frame, an acryllic frame. We have ours in a magnetic frame on our fridge!

Contact us at the studio for more information!

Whoa baby!!!

Life with baby Emmarie has been a bit rough these first few weeks. We battled a case of thrush, constant crying for 3.5+hours a day and acid reflux. We think we finally have the pretty little thing figured out - it makes me feel so good to know that a little bit of medicine can really ease the pain that she was feeling in her belly.

So now with a sleeping baby and a well-behaved 3.5 year old I am able to finally update my blog!

I am so excited to start my shooting season with Crystal and Greg's May 1st wedding tomorrow. The reception will host over 400 guests - the largest event I've ever been to!

Earlier this week I became an accomplished speaker with the Professional Photographers of Michigan. I presented a boudoir program and hands-on demonstration to a group of 50. I had a great time speaking and think I may have found a new niche for me! I'll blog more about the event with more details and photos over on the boudoir blog at www.unveiledportraits.com

And, just a reminder to become a 'fan' or 'like' both Ardent Photography and Unveiled Portraits on Facebook... I will soon release the dates and availability for High School Seniors as well as specials and a BIG announcement!

Happy Friday!

Drew 3.5yrs Emmarie 7 weeks - snapshot with a mommy-cam

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...

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

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

License to Cruise...

Erica and Eric's wedding party stopped for drinks at Anduzzi's before their wedding reception on Friday night. College Ave. was just revving up for it's annual "License to Cruise" car show the night before the famous Octoberfest.

There was a staff photographer from the Post Crescent taking shots... he saw me setting up the wedding party and took a few shots. I am actually surprised the image was published in the paper... I wish I could have sent them the kick butt shot I took!

Enjoy!

Amy Gaerthofner of Ardent Photography photographs a wedding party in front of a vintage Chevy Impala along College Avenue in downtown Appleton during License to Cruise on Friday, September 25, 2009. Post-Crescent photo by Kirk Wagner Kirk Wagner

Image Source

New... slideshows

Trying out a slideshow featuring photos from Naomi and Ryan's wedding day! Enjoy!

We're expecting...

Our second baby! I'm excited to make this exciting news public! I am currently 15 weeks, and I am due on March 3, 2010, which happens to also be my husband's birth date. So far I'm doing great and have not been feeling any morning sickness.

We are really excited to be using a midwife again. If any of you are prego or thinking of becoming prego soon you should look into alternatives to OBGYN's. Our experience with a midwife is a bit more personal and they less likely to use drugs or any interventions. Another thing I am excited about is using my Hypnobirthing Techniques for a drug free delivery. Now I know what to expect and I know I can do it again.

Enough of the baby talk... what does this mean to you? Well, fortunately I don't have any weddings booked for 2010 until May. I am still booking weddings but I am taking a new approach... I will be able to share this exciting news very soon.

I am excited to continue to offer Unveiled Portraits on a monthly basis and up to 20 Senior sessions.

I hope to post a photo of me and my baby bump soon. Thank you all for your well wishes!

What a great email!

I got this email from a fellow photographer this morning:

"I just wanted to drop you a note to tell you how beautiful your images are. I love the fact you were able to follow your heart and express your creativity through your photography. Your website is very beautiful also. My dream it to be able someday to work with a photographer that has the eye and the passion you do. I share your deep appreciation for seeing the beauty in all people and bringing it to life through your lens. What a gift.

R. Corrigan"


Thanks so much for the kind words!

Wonderfully Wicked!

I have the great honor to photograph the special fund raising event featuring the Broadway show Wicked. Wonderfully Wicked will be held Friday, February 6 at the Performing Arts Center in Appleton, Wisconsin. The event is held to benefit the Fox Cities PAC mission-based performances and activities.

The event will feature Oz-inspired décor, specialty drinks and delicious hors d'oeuvres and desserts, raffle games for wonderfully wicked prizes and a post-show opportunity to mingle with “Wicked” cast members.

Here is a list of the prizes being raffled off:
2008 smart car for two passion coupe (value: $15,610)
Sponsored by Bergstrom Automotive and Community First Credit Union

Fuel for any gas vehicle at Renew stations (value: $2,500)
Sponsored by Renew fuel stations

2 premium Broadway season tickets for 2009/10 season
at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center (value: $800)

Proceeds from the sale of the OZMazing Raffle will support the Center’s subsidized mission-based programs including the Fox Cities P.A.C.’s education series, cultural programming, community engagement activities and community use of the Center.

The Fox Cities PAC is a great place to photograph. I love shooting wedding receptions in the Kimberly Clark Theatre, the Founders Room and in the main lobby. This is going to be another fabulous event!

Images selected for website re-design!

I just love my proofing website. Instaproofs was introduced to me by Dave Jackson last spring. This proofing site is just amazing and has worked so well for me this season. I have tried numerous proofing websites.... but this one has everything I could possibly need and they do it well!

Last week they emailed all of their clients a "call for entry" for the redesign of their corporate website. Each photographer was able to submit 5 images. Only 15 images would be selected overall. My philosophy with contests is "if you don't enter, you can't win". So I submitted 5 shots that I happened to have on my computer. I was in Key West at the time and didn't have access to all of 2008's wedding files.

I checked my email during a break at the wedding I was shooting in Key West. I got confirmation from Instaproofs that they were using not one of my images, but two!

Here is the email that I received:
Congratulations! After a couple of very long image viewing sessions, a couple of your images have been selected as images that we will be using on our re-designed corporate website!

There were 15 images in total that were selected, and the images will be displayed in a rotating basis throughout the site. Since there are only 5 image slots open, each of your images will be displayed somewhere on the site on roughly 1 out of every 3 visits.

We appreciate your participation, and again, we congratulate you on having your images selected!

I am so very honored to have my images appear on the new website! Here are the selected images...

Explored....

I found out yesterday that one of my engagement shots from last week made the front cover of Flickr's Explore page! Flickr's Explore are a collection of images that are deemed "interesting"... I've had about 67 images make it to the Explore pages... but never on the front page.

Flickr's finest images are selected for their clickthroughs and where they are coming from; who comments on it and when; who marks it as a favorite; its tags and many more things which are constantly changing.

Having this photo on the front page of Explore has landed it over 2,100 views in less than two days, 120 comments and 314 people call it a favorite. This is a huge honor for me... and I am so excited to have finally made the front page!!!

View original image with comments on Flickr...

Thanks to Tracy and Tim for taking me up on the idea of spinning on the merry-go-round and for giving me a few shots to get it just right. We were all pretty dizzy after this shot! The rest of their engagement photographs are just as awesome!!!

Every Little Moment....

My friends Aubrey and Samantha of Every Little Moment Photography from Salt Lake City, Utah were in town last week as my guest shooters. We had lots of shoot on the calendar including 2 weddings, one engagement session and a couple of "just for fun" shoot outs.

The girls flew into O'Hare airport and rented an HHR to drive to Neenah. On the way into town they met up with me and local photographers in Hartford, WI for our monthly meeting. The girls were able to have a glimpse of the new project we are working on for our brides...

The next day we traveled to Oshkosh for a shoot-out between Ardent Photography and Every Little Moment. Included in this session was my assistant Natalie.

On Friday it was down to the Madison area to shoot a wedding for Lizzie and Mike. They had their reception at the Lake Windsor Golf Club... voted Best of 2008 by Wisconsin Bride Magazine for best reception venue!!! It was fab!

On Saturday we shot a local outdoor wedding at Smith Park in Menasha... This wedding was a BLAST to shoot. It was a military wedding with 4 members of the wedding party in their full dress military uniforms.

Sunday was time to get down to business with some relaxation time... we got makeovers at the MAC counter and pedicures to soothe our achy feet. Then we did another photo session and capped the night off with dinner and tiramisu at Victoria's.

It was such a blast hanging out with these girls! I can't wait until I can travel to Salt Lake and shoot with them!

Engagements and Christmas...

Make sure to schedule your engagement session soon!!! If you are getting married next spring or summer I suggest to have your engagement session done this fall.

Please call me at 920 858 9827 or email me at info@ardentphoto.com to set up your time slot.

*** Christmas Deadline ***
All sessions must be shot by October 27th and ordered by November 15th in order for Christmas delivery. I will be closing the studio mid November to prepare for my business retreat in Hawaii.

Items available for Christmas:

• Custom Fine Art Christmas Cards
• Gallery Wrap Canvas
• Wall Portraits
• "Santa Baby" Boudoir (www.unveiledportraits.com)

Metallic slim Christmas card.

Busy, busy, busy...

Hey Readers! I've been really busy here shooting, traveling and processing files. I would have to say I'm at the height of my busy season... so my blog has been slacking a little.

I'm looking forward to a weekend off from shooting a wedding... it is my sister-in-law's wedding this weekend and my photography pal Craig Stodola of CS Photography in Milwaukee will be shooting it.

This week and next week I look forward to getting a little caught up with my processing, proofing and orders...and of course my blog. Thanks for being patient!

A time to reflect...

September 11th has it's place in my heart first off because it is my birthday. And it is because of this connection I feel drawn even more to the tragedy that struck 7 years ago.

I was fortunate to have visited the site of the attacks last Sunday. As we emerged from the subway stairs and saw the construction site to the left I was instantly taken. It took all I could to keep walking and looking... trying to suppress the images in my head from that very day. This is where is all went down.

We spent a lot of time at St. Paul's Chapel directly across the street from Ground Zero. I was not only amazed that the church suffered no damage from the attack, but I was in awe of the generosity and refuge that this establishment supplied in the months after 9/11.

I felt compelled to photograph the things in and around the chapel. Here is a small collection of some of my images.

Start spreading the news...

I'm leaving for NYC and Boston on Thursday... I can't wait to shoot and vacation a bit!!! We were lucky enough to get tickets to see Wicked on Broadway - really good seats too!

While in Boston I will be shooting with and for Rachel Hadiashar of MERGEweddings.com some of you may remember reading about Rachel when she shot for me in June.

Thanks for being patient with me as I travel... I hope to check email often and get back to you as soon as I can.

Thanks!
Amy

I've been published.... again!!!!!

Front page at www.wedfog.com!!!

I have some great news to share with you!!! I have some recent publications featuring my work and my advice.

Here are some links to some articles I wrote for WedFog a wonderful online resource for brides and grooms...

What is a proof? What are the advantages to online proofing?

What are some of the latest trends emerging in wedding photography?



I was also recently featured in Luxury Living magazine, the Appleton Post Crescent, the Green Bay Press Gazette and in the latest edition of Wisconsin Bride Magazine!

In good company...

Last night I attended the Wisconsin Bride Magazine Best of 2008 awards event in Milwaukee. It was held at the beautiful and historic Ambassador Hotel downtown. I was lucky to run into a bunch of Fox Cities vendors when I first arrived. It was very nice to see some familiar faces and to hear that many of them were nominated!

I also had the opportunity to hang out with some photographers that I have become friends with this past year. Especially Molly from MThree Studios, Michael Krakora, and Craig Stodola from CS Photography.

Molly introduced me to Monica (The White Box of Wedding Design) a fabulous wedding consultant in Milwaukee. These girls are so cool and fun to be around!

The evening ended quite late... I made it home around 12:45am. It was so worth the trip to Milwaukee to hang out with other wedding professionals who have the same passions (and funny stories) as I do.

Local Vendors who where nominated for WI Bride Magazine Best of 2008:
Marshall Florist - Kaukauna
Lenz Studio (Videography) - Appleton
Artistic Cakes and Cookies - Kimberly
Elegant by Design - Appleton
Paine Art Center and Gardens - Oshkosh
Heidel House Resort - Green Lake
Copperleaf Boutique Hotel and Spa - Appleton


Look for the Fall/Winter issue of Wisconsin Bride Magazine on newstands in a few weeks!

Coming Soon....

I am excited to introduce my latest project. Unveiled Portraits by Ardent Photography. Unveiled Portraits are boudoir photos that are sexy, sweet and sophisticated. Do something fun for yourself and create the perfect gift for your husband-to-be or the perfect anniversary gift.

I believe that every woman is beautiful and deserves to express that beauty in professional photographs.

Sessions include a 1.5 hour session, up to two looks/outfits, private online proofing, a 5x5 peek-a-boo album, and retouching of all images. Additional photographs can be purchased a la carte starting $10. A stylist is also available for an additional fee.

Please email me at info@ardentphoto.com to book your session. I have 7 spots available for the July marathon session. Mention this blog post and receive $50 off the session fee!

Upcoming dates:
July 11 and July 12

If you are interested in reading more about Boudoir check out this article: What is Boudoir?