So instead, I’ll just post this one I took of them snuggling. You don’t get to see Lambeau Field (sorry, friends) but you can see how in love they are, and that’s the important part. Can’t wait for their wedding there this coming January.

Getting married? Hire us to capture the story of your wedding day with beautiful images. Contact us now for more information.

This was by far the rowdy-est wedding I’ve been to. Even the dinner was loud and full of joy and celebration. I’ll admit, I love a good rockin’ party, so I was pretty excited.

The wedding was held at First Presbyterian Church and was officiated by a good friend of ours, Pastor Brian Hastings. We took portraits out at Little Farmer, and then we headed back into town for a beautiful reception at Ramada’s Crystal Ballroom. The decorations were stunning, and many of the flowers even included flowers grown in Kirstie’s parents’ garden. It was just gorgeous. I love peonies, and these did not disappoint. Truly beautiful colors and flowers to compliment all the joy that the day held.

I’ve started doing more slideshows as I think they are one of the best ways to share the story of the day here online, so before you look through all the photos below, take a moment to watch the video and enjoy their wedding. Here’s a link if you’d like to download “All I want” by Curtis Peoples.

Are you getting married soon? We’d love to hear more about your wedding and work with you to capture the story of your wedding day with beautiful images. Click to contact us now as 2012 is beginning to fill up. Limited 2011 dates are still available.

Wedding Portfolio ~ Contact & Pricing ~ Recent Weddings ~ Facebook

We’ve been waiting for this for over a year and a half.

When I first started this business back in 2008, I never dreamed it would grow into what it is now. I started it to be able to charge people for my ‘hobby’ and to keep it all legal.

I never intended to do photography full-time.

But that’s where I find myself now. About a year and a half ago we made the decision to move to doing this full-time, and on June 17th I said goodbye to my colleagues at the insurance company I worked at and left my cushy well-paying day job and benefits to do photography full-time with my husband Brandon.

It’s an exciting time. Somewhat scary, but such a thrill as well.

The best part is that I’m no longer working all day and then coming home and working evenings and weekends too, so I get to spend lots more time with my beautiful family and have some time off. Not only that, but I have more time to really focus on the business and get things exactly where we want them to be.

Where we’re headed:

Over the next few months you’ll see a lot of changes around here. We’ll be changing our name as my husband is just as much a part of the business as I am (although it didn’t start out that way).

We’ll be building our new website and launching that as soon as we can, hopefully by the end of summer. I’m so excited to get that off the ground! I can’t wait to have the new look, and a much more functional site that’s easier to navigate and looks far more amazing than this site. SO excited!

We’ll be adding portfolios for Weddings and Portraits. Right now there’s just recent blog posts, but I have a number of portrait sessions that have never been blogged that I can’t wait to share. We’ll be doing more portraits this year and look forward to sharing more of them with you.

Join us!

We are sincerely grateful for all of you who have made this dream possible. We could never have done it without you.

Thank you. Truly. It means so much to us and our family.

We’d love to keep in touch and would be honored to have you sign up to be a part of our growing business family. We’ll be sending out a newsletter at most once a month to anyone who signs up with all sorts of goodies inside.

Our newsletter will contain

We’d love it if you’d join us now. All you need to do is enter your first name and email address into the form below. You’ll then get an email in your inbox asking you to click an link and confirm that you actually signed up and that you’re not some crazy robot who wants to spam us or something. It’s that quick and easy:

2011 Wedding Photography Special!

Now that we have a bit of extra time on our hands, we’d like to take on a few extra weddings this fall. We currently have a few Saturdays in August and October that are still open, so if you’re planning a wedding for later this year we have a special deal for you.

We’d like to offer you $500 off any remaining 2011 wedding dates. Contact us now for full pricing and availability.

And what post is complete without a few photos? The photos in this post are from a wedding in Oshkosh that I’m currently editing that hasn’t hit the blog yet.

See more of the story of their wedding day in this slideshow:

Buy “God Gave Me You” by David Barnes

Like this post? Leave a comment below and tell us what your favorite image is!

The Gear

First things first. I would not buy the “kit” lens that is often packaged with the camera body itself. Instead, I’d buy the 50mm f/1.8 lens for Canon or the 35mm f/1.8 for Nikon instead (the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 does not auto focus on the Nikon D40, D3000, or D5000). This will cost you about the same or a bit more as the lens that would come with the camera, but it’s a much higher quality lens that allows you to take photos in lower light and create images with the subject in focus and the background all blurry. It’s only downfall is that it doesn’t zoom – so if you want to zoom in or out you’ll have to get on your feet and move around. But it’s well worth it! You’ll need to stick with one brand in this stuff – so if you’re buying a Canon camera, then buy the Canon lens as the Nikon lens won’t fit.

Buy the Canon 50mm f/1.8 Lens Buy the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens

As for camera bodies, either the Canon Rebel T1i or the Nikon D5000 would be fabulous cameras that you shouldn’t “grow out of” anytime soon. These cameras offer photos and video, have more megapixels than you’ll ever need, and do a fabulous job in low-light situations. Either of these cameras would be enough to use in a portrait business where you have more control over your lighting and environment, but aren’t as suited for wedding work where you have to shoot in lots of poorly lit locations and venues.

Buy the Canon Rebel T1i Camera Body Buy the Nikon D5000 Camera

If you’re looking for something professional that you could use to shoot a wedding, I’d highly suggest the Nikon D700. This is what we shoot with, and it’s amazing in low-light situations, it’s rugged and weather-resistant so you can shoot in the rain with it, and it’s just plain awesome (there’s a technical review for you!) If you’re going to have such an amazing camera, I’d actually suggest getting the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens to go with it. It’s a zoom lens, it’s sharp, it focuses amazingly fast, and it’s perhaps the most versatile lens I’ve seen for shooting in both well-lit and in dark locations. If I could only have one lens, this would be it (although I’d cry while giving up my other lenses!)

Buy the Nikon D700 Camera Buy the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens

If you’ve been REALLY good this year, ask Santa for this!

If you want one of the best cameras on the market (or if you want to buy us an amazing Christmas gift!), I’d pick up the Nikon D3s in a heartbeat! This camera has night vision. Seriously, it’s amazing. It will “see” more light than your eyes can, and it’s quality is astounding. It takes awesome HD video. It can take 8 pictures in one second! If I was even mildly good with words, I’d write it a love poem of longing and desire…but I’m not, so I’ll just link to it and hope that maybe someone out there really, REALLY loves me and will send me one for Christmas. A girl can dream, right? While we’re at it, I’d like a Nikon 45mm Tilt-Shift lens as well, but that’s more of a guilty pleasure gift than anything, and it is NOT something I’d suggest buying until you’ve mastered your camera as it’s hard to use. Unless of course you’re buying it for me, then buying is highly encouraged.

Buy the Nikon D3s Camera Buy the Nikon 45mm Tilt-Shift Lens

Suggested Places to Buy your Camera

Personally, I’ve bought the majority of our camera gear at the following three sites: Amazon, Adorama, and B&H.

They are all super-trustworthy, easy to work with, have competitive pricing, and have never caused me any problems. You may also have luck finding them at a local electronics store if you live in a larger metro area, but even the Best Buy in our town doesn’t carry most of these items so I do almost everything online. If you do purchase from one of the three stores I mentioned, we get a small referral fee when you enter the site by clicking our link and then making your purchase. It’s not a lot, but it is always appreciated. It wouldn’t make up for the fact that you didn’t buy us the Nikon D3s for Christmas, but we’d definitely be thankful.

Learn How to Work It…your Camera, that is!

Brandon and I have decided to offer a limited number of one-hour, one-on-one training sessions to help you learn how to work your new camera. What good is an amazing new camera if you only ever shoot in auto? Spend an hour with one of us talking about what settings to use for different situations, such as photos of your kids inside around the house, sports photos, portraits, and any other situations you may shoot in regularly. The photos will only be as good as the photographer behind the lens, so don’t let that fabulous gift go to waste. We’ll only be offering 10 sessions (during January and February only), so contact us now to reserve your session. The cost is just $75.

On a personal note, we’d love to know what you’d love to have for Christmas (think big, like the Nikon D3s or the new Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 lens…sigh.) Leave a comment and let us know!

Wedding Portfolio ~ Contact & Pricing ~ Recent Weddings ~ Facebook

These cards come in sets of 25 (including envelopes) for $69. Buy four or more sets for only $59 per set, saving you at least $40. This price includes the set up fee and the addition of your name to the card if you so choose.

To order, simply send an email to photos@jamiemswanson.com with your favorite card from below and how many sets of cards you’ll need. And now back to enjoying this beautiful fall weather while it lasts….

Wedding Portfolio ~ Contact & Pricing ~ Recent Weddings ~ Facebook

Wedding Portfolio ~ Contact & Pricing ~ Recent Weddings

Why are you doing this?

We love photographing weddings and count it a blessing to participate in so many wedding day celebrations. We want to be able to give back some of that blessing by lending our time and talents to a lucky couple.

What does the couple get?

A full day of wedding coverage from the two of us. We’ll be with you in the morning when you get ready right through to the reception where everyone lets loose. We’ll then edit the photos and get them to you on disk, ready for printing. We’ll also upload the files to an online gallery that you can share with family and friends.

How will this work?

The couple, a family member or their friends submit the couple’s story via email to freewedding@andystenz.com. The stories will be read by us and our spouses. Among the four of us, we will choose a couple and announce the lucky couple on February 14th. If you aren’t the couple, please confirm with them that they don’t already have a photographer before you send in the entry. Submissions are due by January 31st, 2010 at midnight CST.

Are there any rules?

• The couple must be getting married in 2010. The date must be open on our calendars. If there is a conflict in dates (if we both aren’t available for your wedding), we’ll let you know right away.
• The wedding has to be in Wisconsin within approximately 75 miles of West Bend. Think mainly Madison to Green Bay to Milwaukee. If you’re not sure, submit it anyway, that’s just a rough guideline as we are based out of different cities ourselves.
• We can’t already know you (we don’t want to show favorites). And we can’t have already been in contact with you for a wedding next year.

What do I need to include in my submission?

• The bride and groom’s first and last names and their contact information.
• The couple’s story (how they met, got engaged, and why they should be chosen for free wedding coverage, anything fun you want us to know about them – creativity is encouraged!).
• The wedding date and locations (of the ceremony, reception, etc – whatever may be known).
• A digital picture of the couple. This will be used when we announce the final couple.

Where do I send my Submission?

 Email entry submissions and any questions you may have to freewedding@andystenz.com. And remember, submissions are due by January 31st, 2010 at midnight CST.

Wedding Portfolio ~ Contact & Pricing ~ Recent Weddings

Ceremony & Reception: South Hills Country Club
Makeup: Angela with Mary Kay
Videography: Pink Lizard Productions
DJ: Record Entertainment

For more images from this wedding, become a fan of my work on my Facebook Page. To see my photography portfolio, click here.

Wedding Portfolio ~ Contact & Pricing ~ Recent Weddings ~ Facebook

Wedding Portfolio ~ Contact & Pricing ~ Recent Weddings ~ Facebook

To see more photos from this wedding, become a fan of my photography on facebook! Click here.

Wedding Portfolio ~ Contact & Pricing ~ Recent Weddings ~ Facebook
Lighting of event provided by Sharp Edge Lighting.