Oh My Goodness! What a wonderful, fun time I had shooting the wedding of Matt and Sara with Adam and Lynn Squier this weekend!

When Adam told me it was going to be a low budget wedding with the reception at a farm supply store, he was WAY underselling the whole deal, which I now see is typical of Adam in general.

"It's a little wedding" means HUGE wedding in a humongous beautiful Catholic church and "outdoor reception at a farm supply store" translates into "Massive affair with endless buffet and lighting effects designed by God".

So, on with the pictures!

















I had a totally amazing time, and I really hope Adam and Lynn will let me come back to shoot with them sometime!

Current Mood: bouncy

On Saturday September 16th, I had the opportunity to photograph the wedding of Amanda and John with K.C. Ferrill in Indianapois' Mavris Cultural Center.

The rich, dark interior of the Mavris Center made for some lovely, warm and atmospheric images -- just look and see!















Best Wishes to you, Amanda and John, as you fly off to Hawaii on your honeymoon!

Let me start by saying that Michelle and Ryan are just the sweetest couple imaginable.

They were referred to me by another photographer who was already booked for their wedding date, and although today was our first time meeting with them, I feel like we've known them for years. They're just so easy going, and friendly -- a complete joy to be around.

Ryan is a Med student, and is doing rotations at hospitals in Indianapolis, so we were very fortunate to be able to schedule their engagement session today. Since Ryan lives in Indy, and Michelle lives in LaPorte, we met near the Canal Walk for their session.

We started with some cute pictures for their parents, and then moved on to the fun stuff -- here are a few!








Oh Look! A fountain!!



I couldn't see any signs that said we couldn't jump right in, so Ryan and Michelle did!






We all had such a great time, it was just fantastic! I totally can't wait for their wedding day!

Leann Wrightsman, LifeSpring Photography at the Canal Walk in Indianapolis with Michelle and Ryan for engagement photographs

Current Mood: excited

It's no secret that my children are my most frequent models. It's also no big secret that I love to shoot in camera RAW format.

However, I've recently been challenged to try getting outside of my comfort zone and try living on the edge by shooting in .jpg instead.

So today I set my beloved Canon 20D to .jpg mode and tweaked out the parameters so that the output in .jpg format would match what I generally achieve with Adobe camera RAW and Bridge.

With much trepidation, I shot off a few frames on the way back into the house after lunch out with my kids and friend Leslie.



Frankly, I was amazed. Just a few tweaks to the camera made all the difference in saturation and sharpness!

So I guess I'll be shooting .jpg more often.

I'm definately going to use RAW when the occasion demands it, but now I feel like I can rely on the output from my camera in jpg as well.

Current Mood: cheerful

Well, those of you from the Midwest know that right now is the prime season for severe storms.

So today during my main work time (nap time for the kids) all of a sudden the sky got dark, the hair stood up on my arms and it felt like *something* was sucking the air out of my house! I looked out the front window and debris was flying horizontally in front of my house... including siding from the neighbor's house.

I couldn't acutually get any decent pictures during the storm due to the fact that the wind was blowing up too much dust into my face, but I did go out after things had died down to shoot some of the damage.

Here are a few of the highlights:



That big metal thing laying in a crumpled heap? It used to be the courthouse roof.



Some pedestrians almost got hit by these transformers as they fell to the ground.



Luckily, the carnival workers had taken the decorative bits down from their Elephant Ear stands, or they'd likely have lost those to the wind.

Such Fun!

I shot a bunch of random stuff on Thursday afternoon/evening before going downtown Holland...



















I had fun, but it's so much more fun to have people in *all* my pictures!

This afternoon, I was messing around with my lighting equipment and decided to take a quick picture of myself -- for once, without the camera in front of my face.

So for those of you who have not met me, and for my clients who usually see me with the camera blocking my face, here's me!

Current Mood: silly

Tuesday and Wednesday this week, I had the incredible pleasure of going to Zionsville to take part in the Open Source Photo workshop led by Kevin Swan and KC Ferrill.

On Tuesday, we trashed a bridal gown (pictures to follow later) and Wednesday we shot a model in the studio.


Here are some of the shots I took in the studio on Wednesday:







And this is what happens when you just turn on the camera and try to shoot without metering the scene:




If I'd been in control of the lighting fully, I really would be more happy with the results... I shot these in between phone conversations with Matt from Picture Infinity Studios

Wow, what a friendly family!

I drove to Gas City this afternoon to photograph Dean and Michelle Lochner and their lovely family.



This shot of the Lochners as a family is just a taste of the great shots we got during their session. I'll have the rest finished and ready to view soon.

Current Mood: cheerful

Aah, summer time! We had a cookout Friday night at my Inlaws house. After dinner, everyone played out in the yard:









Such fun!

I'm off to a photoshoot for a family in Gas City in a little bit here -- the oldest son just graduated from College and is heading off for bootcamp so they want a family picture before they all go their separate ways for a while.

Current Mood: bouncy

It's a lovely day -- the sun is shining, the weather is beautiful and I've just finished up editing the slideshow for Jaci's senior session from Saturday.

Here's a link to the slideshow: http://www.wrightsmanphoto.com/slideshows/JaciA/

Part of the session was held in the living-room studio and after getting some nice studio images, we went to Matter Park, near the Mississinewa river to continue shooting. We were able to capture some looks that were both romantic and fun, because Jaci brought her prom dress with her!

The session was a great success and I hope to be able to have another session with Jaci again this summer.

Current Mood: cheerful

I love Seniors!

Today's shoot was so much fun. Jaci and her Mom came to have indoor shots done, and after doing pictures of one outfit in the studio setting, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful spring weather and go to the park.

I've got only a fraction of the great images we captured finished, but I couldn't wait to share them with you!

Here's Jaci:

Current Mood: chipper

This morning, I went to the hospital and photographed a beautiful little girl -- the daughter of Jacob and Carrie Bragg.

Johanna Mae is a little sweetie -- and it was such an honor to be allowed to make her first portraits.



I'm working on editing the rest of the photos from the session, and should have a slideshow ready by the end of the week.

Current Mood: cheerful

On Saturday afternoon, I got a call announcing the arrival of a beautiful baby girl, Avery Nicole.

So Sunday afternoon I drove to Huntington to be a part of capturing Avery's first portraits, right at the hospital.

Here are my favorites:











It was such a delight to be asked to share in capturing this special time as James and Kelly welcomed their precious daughter into the world.

Current Mood: peaceful

On Saturday, 5/6/06 I had the incredible delight of participating in Pure Fashion at the Grand Wayne center in Fort Wayne Indiana.

The former Miss Virginia USA (2002) Julie Laipply was the keynote speaker, and young women from the area who had been part of the Pure Fashion model formation program showed fashions for all occasions including casual, business wear and formal attire.

The slide show is found here: http://www.wrightsmanphoto.com/slideshows/PureFashion1/

Here are a few shots from the show:

Current Mood: cheerful

The Bixler's family portraits are all edited now, and the "cream of the crop" are in the gallery: http://www.wrightsmanphoto.com/portfolio/BixlerPortraits/

I hope the Bixlers enjoy their portraits as much as I enjoyed making them!

Current Mood: happy

This evening I spent time in the home of the Bixler family -- probably the cutest family ever!

Kelly works with my husband and Kyle is the youth director at Hanfield United Methodist church in Marion, IN.

The whole family:



And the two kids by themselves:



I'll be working on editing the rest of the shoot over the next few days and I'll post the final slideshow at the end of the week.

Current Mood: cheerful

On Friday evening, we went to visit John's parents in Kokomo, and the kids spent some play time in the back yard.



I did different post processing on both of these, and I'm not sure which one I prefer -- Ian's face doesn't have green grass reflected up onto it, but the lack of tint makes him look a bit "cold". Emily looks nice and warm, but the grass reflects up onto her face.

Current Mood: amused

Well, it's April in Indiana, and that means the Tulips are out in full force.

I've been photographing them all week, and they're just wonderful!



Here are some red ones I found in Kokomo in the backyard of my Inlaws' house, and some lovely yellow ones that were behind my husband's office:



In front of his office, the driveway is also planted with tulips:



If we had more tulips, we'd have to have a festival!

Current Mood: cheerful