Callie's Corner

Dan and Stephanie October 10, 2009

2010-03-26T19:49:00.001-07:00

Dan and Stephanie were married on October10, 2009 at Stan Hywett Hall and Gardens on one of the most beautiful days of the year. They are such sweet people and I really enjoyed spending the day with them!

Some of my favorite pictures from their wedding.......

Thank you Dan and Stephanie, I had an amazing time at your wedding, you guys are wonderful!

Mike and Amanda September 19, 2009

2010-03-23T18:05:00.001-07:00

I had so much fun at Mike and Amanda's Wedding! I met them at another wedding that they were both in, so I knew they would be great to work with! They did so many fun, crazy things, it was awesome! There were pirates, a ball and chain, princess Leia, and the groom in a tree! Just to name a few of the crazy, fun things they did, I wished I did video at this wedding :)

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from there day....

Thank you Mike and Amanda for making me feel like one of the gang, you really know how to have a good time!

Rick and Lindsay September 5, 2009

2010-03-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

When I did Rick and Lindsay's engagement session in June I was so amazed at how much love you could see between them, It was almost palpable, an energy in the air. Going back through the images from the shoot I felt the same way. Here are a few of my favorites, it was very hard to choose!

The Wedding was the same way, love in the air! They were married on September 5, 2009 at The First Congregational Church of Akron, and had their reception at The Cuyahoga Falls Natatorium. In between the wedding and the reception we did some fun formals down at the river front in Cuyahoga Falls, they turned out to be really fun! I could have done an entire blog on that alone.

Some of my favorites pictures from the wedding.....

Thank you Rick and Lindsay, I am honored to have been able to photograph your beautiful wedding.

Bambi and Sean August 29, 2009

2010-03-20T13:28:00.001-07:00

Bambi and Sean had their engagement session this past June and we decided to do the session at Stan Hywett Hall and Gardens. It was a beautiful day and Bambi and Sean were wonderful. Sean was a little reluctant at first but he warmed up to the camera pretty quickly and I think Bambi was born to be photographed! I did hear later that Sean was ruthlessly teased by his friend for some of the more romantic shots, sorry Sean! :)

Some of my favorites from Bambi and Sean's Engagement Session.....

After getting to know Bambi and Sean at the engagement session I was really looking forward to shooting their wedding August 29, 2009, and I just want to say it did not disappoint. Bambi and Sean put a lot of thought and a lot of themselves into their wedding, making it very unique and beautiful! Their colors were fun and vibrant and the feathers were a really cool touch, and I loved the parasols!

Some of my favorites from Bambi and Sean's Wedding.....

Thank you, Bambi and Sean, for including us in your beautiful day! I cant say enough how wonderful it was to get to know you and to be able to capture some beautiful memories for you.

Jeff and Dawn August 1, 2009

2009-12-12T13:15:00.001-08:00

Dave and Alexis June 27, 2009

2009-12-12T10:49:00.001-08:00

Greg and Lisa June 20, 2009

2009-12-12T09:43:00.001-08:00

Jeff and Dawn

2009-10-07T19:09:00.001-07:00

I had so much fun with Jeff and Dawn at their engagement session! We walked all over Downtown Akron on one of the hottest days this summer but you cant tell it by looking at them, they look like super models!

Some of my favorites!

Nick and Anitha's Wedding

2009-10-07T18:02:00.001-07:00

Nick and Anitha were married June 6, 2009 at the Marriott Key Center in down town Cleveland. The ceremony was a beautiful combination of Nick's Catholic and Anitha's Hindu beliefs. I was able to spend some time with Nick and Anitha at their engagement session and also the Mehndi Ceremony and I really enjoyed working with them so I was really excited to shoot their wedding!

It was a wonderful day and it went so fast!! We were there from 7:30am until midnight and it felt like we were only there for just a few hours. I loved It!

Here are some of my favorite images of the day.

Well, as hard as it is, I better stop there! I just loved this wedding!

Anitha's Mehndi Ceremony

2009-10-07T13:27:00.001-07:00

Anitha had a traditional Mehndi ceremony, two days before her wedding to Nick, June 4, 2009

The ceremony was held in her family home and was decorated to the hilt with garlands of flowers. There was a wonderful henna artist on hand (no pun intended lol) to do the traditional henna designs for Anitha's family and friends. It was a very elaborate affair, with singing, dancing, fantastic food, gorgeous jewelry and music! It was a fantastic day, I am so thankful I was able to play a small part in it and I really enjoyed spending time with Nick, Anitha and their wonder families!

Nick and Anitha's Engagement Session!

2009-05-28T20:14:00.001-07:00

I had the great pleasure of taking Nick and Anitha's engagement pictures! We went to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, its such a beautiful place and the weather could not have been better! It was really nice to get to know Nick and Anitha, they are so sweet, Nick didn't even mind when I called him Matt (my sons name:)).

I have so many pictures that I really love from this session and here are just a few of my favorites!

I will be photographing Anitha and Nick at the Mehndi Ceremony next week and their Wedding the following Saturday, so I'm sure I'll have tons more pictures soon! Check back and please leave me a comment, I'd love to know what you think.:)

Joel is 9 months old!

2009-05-27T17:48:00.001-07:00

J.J. and Lenore

2009-05-27T16:55:00.001-07:00

Last week I met J.J. and Lenore for a

session at Rockefeller Greenhouse in

Cleveland. It was a

beautiful place and J.J. and Lenore

were really fun, I think J.J. was a

little nervous, but he warmed up quick enough. Here are a few of my

favorite shots.

More from Kauai

2009-05-16T21:29:00.001-07:00

Matt and Michelle's Engagement Session!

2009-05-16T21:11:00.001-07:00

I did a really fun engagement session recently with Matt and Michelle and I wanted to put up some of my favorite pictures. The session was at Legacy Village in Lyndhurst, Ohio. I've never been there before and it was a really a cool place!

I called Michelle to go over what she was looking for in their session and she told me she just couldn't see herself in the "wilderness" but she likes to shop so we went shopping! Matt and Michelle are so much fun and I cant wait to shoot the wedding in July, 2010!

After Matt proposed, they went to The Cheesecake Factory.

Doug and Mandy's Wedding! Aloha!

2009-05-06T19:53:00.001-07:00

Doug and Mandy were married on April 24, 2009 in beautiful Kauai Hawaii! The Ceremony was at the Grand Hyatt Resort and Spa, in a beautiful garden overlooking the Pacific Ocean! After the ceremony they had a very nice reception complete with authentic Polynesian dancers! and a fire eater!

I went with Chris Baldwin of Graham River Productions and we spent several days with Doug and Mandy, just hangin' by the pool, climbing rocks and playing in the ocean! It was great getting to know them, they are truly wonderful people! I wish them much love and happiness! And I am so excited to share some of my favorite shots! I may be putting them up for a few days because, well really, how do you choose? :))

Mahalo Doug and Mandy for the incredible experience!

The Difference Between Brides And Grooms

Mandy spent the morning of the wedding at the spa and Doug spent the morning with the guys paying golf.

The view at the golf coarse was unbelievable! Look to the left and see the mountains, look the the right and there is the ocean!

Look at all the FLOWERS!!

There are so many more, but that will have to wait until tomorrow!

Welcome Baby Colwyn!

2009-01-14T19:45:00.001-08:00

On January 12, 2009 at 8:06 am Mike and Kira welcomed Colwyn Arthur into their family. Colwyn weighed in at 5lbs 11oz and was 19 and 1/2 inches long! He was very alert , just looking around at everything and he looks just like his Dad! I'm happy to say both Mom and Baby are doing very well and I cant wait to do more pictures of little Colwyn when he comes home!

Tristen and his cousins waiting to meet the new baby.

Kira's Maternity Session

2009-01-14T18:59:00.001-08:00

Mike, Kira and Tristen are getting ready to welcome their new baby! Tristen is eleven years old and everyone was a little surprised to find out they were about to be a family of four! I cant wait to meet the newest member of the family!

Here are some of my favorite pictures.

Downtown Akron in the Winter

2009-01-14T18:33:00.001-08:00

Jessica and I went downtown to take some pictures just for the fun of it. We parked the car near The Akron Civic Theater and walked around the block. We must have looked hilarious because it was raining, well, more like misting and I had my camera in a plastic bag with the lens sticking out of a hole in the bottom. It was a lot of fun spending time with Jess, just doing whatever. I hope we can do it again soon. Here are a few of my pictures, I'll have to see if she will let me put some of hers up too, she has a great eye and its cool to see how different pictures of the same things can be.

Joel is 4 Months Old!

2009-01-14T17:45:00.001-08:00

In November Joel turned 4 months old and I was able to do some Christmas pictures with him and his Mom and Dad. I can't believe how big he has gotten! The black and white pictures are my favorite!

Trash The Dress!

2009-01-14T17:19:00.001-08:00

I took these pictures last year at The M-Pix conference and just so you know, its not really a wedding, these are models and we were learning some new techniques. I wasn't really planning on putting these pictures up but I was talking about doing a TTD session with one of my brides and she asked if I would put them up. Don't worry, no dresses were harmed during this photo shoot (LOL) Hope you like them!

Some Halloween Fun!

2009-01-14T16:25:00.001-08:00

Last Halloween we took Ricky and Brady to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins and then we went to my mom's to make candy and Carmel apples with the kids. The candies turned out pretty good but we did have some trouble with the apples, oh well, they still taste great!

Eric and Jennifer

2009-01-14T14:59:00.001-08:00

Last fall I did an engagement session with Eric and Jennifer in Cleveland. They were so sweet and cute and they are so loving towards each other it just made me want to hug my husband!

Olivia is One!!

2009-01-14T13:30:00.001-08:00

Olivia turned one in October and with that comes our final session. I have really enjoyed watching Olivia grow during her first year and I'm so amazed at how much she has changed! It was great to get to know Olivia's family as well and I wish them much love and happiness.

Here is a little look Back!

New born

3 Months

6 Months

9 Months

Some of my favorite pictures from our 12 month session.

Congratulations Pete and Brooke!

2009-01-14T12:24:00.001-08:00

Peter and Brooke were married on October 25, 2008! I had such a great time with Brooke and Pete on their wedding day. I don't think I ever saw Brooke without a huge smile on her face the entire day!

I was a little worried about the weather because, well you just never know in October, but it was a BEAUTIFUL day, a little cold, but beautiful!

The reception was at The Bertram Inn and as always, it was fantastic! Pete is a fireman and they were able to have an old fashion fire engine at the reception for the formal pictures. That was fun and different! Here are some of my favorites from the day.

Congratulations Mark and Angela!

2009-01-09T10:27:00.001-08:00

Mark and Angela were married on September 20, 2008 at St. Paul United Methodist Church. Angela was a wonderful bride and one of the nicest people I have ever know, Mark is pretty great too!

After the ceremony, Angela didn't want to do a ton of the formal pictures, just a few to make Mom and Dad happy. So after we got that all wrapped up we went to The Wing Warehouse bar and grill for a beer and a race in the Nascar simulators. Then off to Guy's Party Center for a fantastic reception!

Baby Ellie!

2009-01-09T08:15:00.001-08:00

Baby Ellie was born on September 14, 2008 and she was a perfect little 6lb 10oz angle! The plan was for me to take the delivery pictures and as soon as Sarah and Pete were on the way to the hospital, they called to let me know. Sarah had a very long labor with Noah so she wanted to wait until things were well underway before I came to the hospital, she didn't want me to have to wait all day in the hospital. Ellie had her own plan, however, and surprised everyone with a very quick delivery, so quick in fact that by the time Sarah asked Pete to call me it was too late! I did get to go and take some pictures after everything settled down and they were in their room. Here are a few of my favorites.

Pete and Sarah's Maternity Session!

2009-01-09T07:25:00.001-08:00

Pete, Sarah and Noah are getting ready to welcome a new baby girl into their home! I had a really great time with them, they are so sweet! I can't wait to meet little Ellie!

Olivia is 9 months old!

2009-01-09T06:51:00.001-08:00

For Olivia's nine month session we went to Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens. Its one of my favorite places to take senior and and engagement pictures so why not take a baby. I'm so glad we did, the pictures are so cute, here are some of my favorites.

Dan and Katie's Family Pictures

2009-01-08T20:51:00.001-08:00

I had the pleasure of shooting Dan and Katie's wedding about four years ago and I was so excited when Katie called to tell me that she and Dan have a new baby girl! Since the wedding, they have move out of state but they came home for a short visit and we were able to squeeze in a family photo session. It was great to see them all again and little Mia is just as beautiful as her mommy:).

Congratulations Josh and Jennifer!

2009-01-08T20:07:00.001-08:00

Josh and Jennifer were married on September 6, 2008. They were wonderful to work with and Jennifer was up for anything, she even did the limbo under a guardrail at the park. My favorite picture of the day has to be the one with everyone popping out from behind the trees.

Congratulations Melissa and Ryan!

2009-01-08T17:53:00.001-08:00

Melissa and Ryan were married August 23, 2008 in Willougby Ohio. I did their engagement session last year and I was so excited to shoot their wedding. After the ceremony we went to Mullarke's Irish Pub, and had a toast to the bride and groom before we went to the reception. We had a great time with Ryan and Melissa, they were so much fun!

Baby Joel!

2008-10-04T07:29:00.001-07:00

Natalee and Aaron have a new baby! His name is Joel and he is so adorable. I got to go to their home recently and take some newborn pictures of Joel, he wasn't his usual sweet self and we were a little worried that all the pictures would be of him crying. We decided to try an old trick that always seemed to work with my kids and Aaron went to get the sweeper. It was like magic, as soon as Aaron switched it on, little baby Joel fell right to sleep and was completely content the rest of the shoot! I'm going back sometime near Christmas for his 4 month pictures, I cant wait to see how much he has grown!

Edie's House

2008-10-03T21:14:00.001-07:00

My friend Edie and her husband recently adopted five horses from an animal rescue and are working to nurse them back to health. She invited us to come over and get to know them, I love horses so I couldn't wait to go over.

These are some of my favorite pictures from the day.

Edie's daughter Sarah, trying to get the bunny out of the cage.

Brady, trying to get the bunny out.

Congratulations Jon and Laura Johnson

2008-10-03T20:28:00.001-07:00

Jon and Laura were married at Lake Forest Country Club in Hudson OH on August 9 2008. The wedding was so beautiful! It was an outdoor wedding in front of the lake and the reception was held inside. Laura was lovely, she exuded old fashioned elegance and Jon couldn't have looked happier! They had a live band that had everybody dancing all night. It was a definitely a night to remember

The Great Lakes Medieval Faire

2008-10-03T19:16:00.001-07:00

For the past two years I have been going to the Great Lakes Medieval Faire in Geneva OH. Its so much fun, its set up in the woods with real buildings, everyone dresses up in medieval costumes (well, almost everyone) and talks with an English accent. There is a Rickshaw driver (runner) and a gypsy fortune teller, lots of Shakespearian plays and jugglers who eat fire. This year they even had a fire walker. Everyone was more than happy to have their picture take so I got some really cool shots of some total strangers.

My Mom and my brother Rick got to go this year and they both had a blast! I had my daughter Jessie with me and Rick brought his son Brady. The joust was definitely Brady's favorite part but I think my mom and Jessie liked the Washer Wenches the most. Tom had to work so I took home some roasted turkey legs for him so he didn't feel left out.

This was taken at the main gate, you would have thought I asked for blood when I asked them to pose for this picture.

A squire getting his knights horse ready for the joust.

The Fellowship! (for all the Lord of the Rings fans)

Mom and Jessie

Rick

Brady watching the joust! He LOVED it!

Getting ready for the joust.

Rick and Brady

I think this guy was selling drums or something, too cool!

Brady having fun!

I cant wait until next year, maybe we will even dress up!

White Water Rafting 2008

2008-10-03T17:37:00.001-07:00

Every year my family and friends go on a white water rafting trip to Ohiopyle PA State Park. I haven't been able to go in the past four years because I usually have a wedding the weekend that they go but when Tony died I decided that life is to short and you need to make all the memories you can, while you can! So this year I made a point to be able to go!

Usually I would only camp, but again, after Tony died I decided to enjoy my life more, step out of my comfort zone and do what scares me. Let me tell you, this scares me, but I did it!!!

When you go to the outfitters you sign a form saying you are aware you could die, then they give you your life jacket and a paddle and they suggest you take one of the helmets (most people didn't). After you have your gear, a guy gives you a crash coarse on rafting, how to sit on the raft and what to do if you get knocked out of the raft and last but not least, summer teeth! Summer teeth is what you end up with when you play around with the paddles, somebody whacks you in the mouth and sum-er your teeth are in your mouth, sum-er in your hand and sum-er at the bottom of the river! I was most afraid of the summer teeth!

You have to carry your raft and all your stuff to the launch site, I was with my husband Tom, my brother Rick and my brother Johnny and they are all a foot or more taller than me (Tom is 6'5''!!!). Rick and Johnny said its easier to carry the raft up on your shoulder, O.K...., they put it up on their shoulders and it sat right on top of my head! Not really that comfortable!

Anyway, we get to the launch site and off we go on this great big adventure! Rick and John have been rafting every year for 12 years and they were full of stories about the rapids at dimple rock and the hydraulics which are the big rapids, we hit the first rapid and it was a blast!!!! I loved it!!! I couldn't wait for the next.

After the rapids you just kind of float around and squirt people with squirt gun and swim, then you make your way to the next rapid. All the guys that go every year have this "gang" called The Regulators, not everyone gets to be a regulator, its really quite an honor. All The Regulator make it their job to take all the newbees out of the raft at one point or another. Now Tom is a big guy, like I said he'd 6'5" and he weighs about 250, but he was no exception and Rick took him by surprise and tossed him out of the raft. After several minutes of struggling to get Tom back in the raft a new rule was set down in the rule book - Anyone who knocks Tom out of the raft gets Tom back in the raft! Tom never needs to worry about getting knocked out again!

Rick wanted to make sure that when we get to the rapid at dimple rock we remember to lean into the rock, even though everything in you says lean away!! you must lean into it so the water goes under the raft and not into it, filling it up and flipping it over. So we finally get to dimple rock and Rick is yelling " lean into it, lean into it!" so I'm leaning in and thinking "well this is the end of me, I'm going to get smashed on this huge rock!", the next thing I know, Rick is falling forward on to me and knocked me into the water. It was so crazy, I could see the rock, the raft and my arms and legs trying to hold on, then water, lots of water!! All I could think of was how the heck am I gonna get back in the raft? I could hear Johnny and Tom yelling "put your feet up", this is what your supposed to do so you don't get your foot jammed in between the rocks and have a lovely view of the bottom of the river when the white water pushes you under. Let me be the first to tell you that is not an easy thing to do!

It seemed like I was in water forever and I kept trying to tell myself it would be over soon. At one point I caught a glimpse of Johnny's blond hair in the sun and then the next thing I knew Tom had me by the back of my life jacket and plucked me right out of the water just like it was nothing! MY HERO!!!

After I calmed down, I realized Rick was not in the raft! Then I was really sacred! Johnny and Tom pulled me out about halfway through the rapid but Rick had to ride the whole rapid on his back (and knees)! He was so siked when he got back in the raft, he's an adrenalin junkie, me, not so much!

But this was not the end of our adventure on the river, we still had the hydraulics to contend with, and you guessed it, I was ejected right out of the raft! This time I road it out to the end and then was rescued by Charlie and Liz, Thanks guys!!!

So if that wasn't enough, after you exit the river and go to the pick up point I find out you have to carry the raft about a quarter of a mile up the side of the mountain, thank God for Johnny, he not only carried his part of the raft, he reached back and helped me with mine! Thank you Johnny!!!

It was the most terrifying, most fun thing I have ever done!! I am so proud of myself and so much in love with my husband, my brothers and my friends! It was a wonderful experience and I wouldn't have missed it for the world! I can't wait until next year!

Oh yeah, because I am such a hard core rafter that I do the rapids without a raft, I was given the great honor of being the first and only female Regulator!!!!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

REGULATORS RULE !

Tom, My Hero!

The big guns!!!

This is Rick, I wish I did video because he's so crazy!

Wendy, Kira and Debbie just hanging out.

This is Frank, he make a killer roast pork, ON A CAMP FIRE!!!!

Tom hanging out by our tent, we were very comfortable here!

Boys and their toys!

My beautiful sister-in-law Lauralee.

My favorite picture of Johnny, when Lauralee saw this picture she said she fell in love with Johnny all over again!

Charlie and Liz, they're getting married next year, guess who their wedding photographer is :) (TeeHee)

Mike is definitely the king of the fire.

Do they ever stop kissing?

OMG!

This is Kira, Mikes long time girlfriend, she is like the mother of us all! She was always cooking something or cleaning something, taking care of something. When we got back from rafting we found out she was visited by a bear, I wish I could have seen it, I would have taken a picture (from the inside of my car!).

Tom and Rick getting the big guns ready.

Lots of kissing going on!

Congratulations Jake and Cindy Sladkey!

2008-10-03T14:23:00.001-07:00

Jake and Cindy Sladkey were married at the Hiram Inn in Hiram OH on August 2, 2008. The reception was right across the street at Hiram College. We took a little trip to Jake's family farm for a few quick pictures. The reception was a ton of fun, everyone had a great time and I even met my first real life wedding crasher during the reception. He was a student that just wandered in, nobody seemed to mind and they made him feel right at home.

Congratulations Allan and Lindsay!

2008-10-03T11:44:00.001-07:00

Allan and Lindsay were married on June 28, 2008 at The Chapel in Akron OH. The ceremony was very sweet, Lindsay's Mom and Dad walked her down the isle where her handsome groom was waiting for her. After the ceremony we went to Kent State University for the bridal party pictures and we made sure to get a few in front of The Robin Hood Pub, the place that started it all!