For Andi and Nick...

Many of our clients ask us about the little pocket camera we often carry around with us on wedding day. If you've followed our blog for awhile, you often see a little "behind the scenes" video or two. I think it's a lot of fun to see what the bride was up to right before she walked down the aisle, or how we created some of our favorite photos. In this case, I wanted to something extra special together for Andi and Nick. Thank you both again for helping us create some amazing photography! We were (and still are) truly honored. :)

-Steve

 

Michel and Aaron. A Shoot to Remember...

When I first met up with Michel and Aaron, they told me that they wanted to switch it up a bit for locations. In Mansfield Ohio, that can be a bit tricky since they aren't as many locations available as you would find in a big city. Aaron suggested the Mansfield Reformatory. I thought, oh... this is going to be one to remember!

For those of you that have never been to the Mansfield Reformatory, it's basically the old prison that they left standing after it closed in 1990. There have been many famous films shot there, most notably, The Shawshank Redemption. Scenes from Air Force One and Tango and Cash have also been shot there. So, if you're a geek like me, the idea of shooting an engagement session in a place like this is AWESOME.

We had 1 hour to go through almost the entire prison (before they closed for the night) so it was definitely a shoot and go type of day. Despite the time contraint, I think the results turned out great! Enjoy!

P.S. Special thanks to Jeremy Kester from Kester Imagery for helping out on the shoot!

-Steve

Strolling though campus... Vanessa and Andy

Yay for sunshine! We've been having so much rain lately that some of our engagement sessions have literally been watching the weather channel down to the hour. I've been looking forward to Vanessa and Andy's shoot for quite some time. These two have been so much fun to work with. They met at Otterbein University (it's a University now (for all you Westervillians out there) and so this shoot meant so much more for the two of them.

I know how nostalgic I get when I walk around Bowling Green, and I could definitely see the excitement in their eyes walking around their alma mater. A beautiful day, with a fun and loving couple. What more could we ask for?

-Steve

Breanne and Tyler

I always love it when couples choose fun engagement session locations. Breanne and Tyler knew exactly what they wanted. "We are going to get some shots inside the Horseshoe..." Let's do it!

For those of you that have never been to / shot at the Horseshoe, it can be a bit tricky to get in if you don't show up at the right times. During the weekday, you can typically get in for no charge between the hours of 1PM and 5PM. During the weekend, you have to call for a reservation, and it'll cost you a small fee. In our case, we were able to "sneak" in around 4:45PM on a weekday afternoon. It actually worked out great because the stadium was literally ghost quiet. We had the whole place to ourselves to just run around, have fun, and shoot some great photography.

Breanne and Tyler were amazing to work with. Relaxed, up-for-anything, and just loved to be around each other. I know that wedding day will be awesome. Can't wait!

-Steve


Mary and Ben

We've been catching up on some posts here at Kaufman Kramer and one that we've been looking forward to sharing is our shoot with Mary and Ben. When I met these two during our consultation, I knew from that moment that we would have a great relationship. They were excited to work with us, and we love it when clients really get where we're coming from creatively. It was the perfect match.

Our engagement session took us all over Downtown Columbus and we got a chance to find quite a few hidden treasures along the way. Enjoy the pics and vids, and we can't wait to post about them again after their wedding!

-Steve

A Funny Thing Happened...on the way to the concert.

I'm trying to catch up on some blog posts here but sometimes life just gets crazy! So, I wanted to share some cool photos that I took in Chicago a month or so ago and tell a (what is now a funny story). One of the things I enjoy most is walking around a city and just exploring to see what I can find. Often, taking a taxi to wherever I'm trying to get to is much easier, but I've never been disappointed when I decide to grab the camera and walk a few miles.

Rebecca and I were in town during one of the rainiest weekends I can remember. We were going to go see B.B. King as apart of our anniversary and I ordered the tickets online way in advance. I figured, we're both blues fans, and B.B. King is a legend, how many chances are we going to have left to see him? We had been walking around Chicago all afternoon shooting pictures, window shopping, etc... We were out the previous night during a rainstorm shooting pictures... It was going to be nice to stay inside and enjoy a concert.

We're getting ready in the hotel room and I grab the tickets from my bag and as I'm double checking the time for the concert I noticed the date. It said "Concert Sunday, Doors open at 7PM". I thought I had bought Saturday night tickets. Of course, we couldn't stay in Chicago an extra night because we had to get back, and we called the venue to see if there was anything we could do, and low and behold...nothing. Sorry. I was bummed beyond belief. Here I am, trying to be Mr. Details-Smooth-Guy and I completely botched it. I was sulking, and annoyed at myself for letting this happen. Rebecca stepped in and said, don't worry about it, we're in Chicago, we can't change things, so why be upset? Let's go have fun!

It turns out, we had an incredible evening together. We found a fantastic jazz club called Andy's Jazz and had got a chance to see some local musicians blow us away. We never would have found it had we not missed out on the concert. It was very cool. A lesson learned.

I mention this to all of you because I see people planning the most important day of their lives, and there's so much detail and precision riding on that day that the stress just piles up. I'm here to tell you, roll with the punches and let things ride... It doesn't always go according to plan, but sometimes, those little bumps you encounter make some of the best stories. Make the best of it, and have fun!

In the end, my solace was I got a chance to create some cool photos and spend an amazing weekend with someone I love very much. Enjoy the pics!

A Trip to Bowling Green...

We got a hold of our photography professor, Jeff Hall, from Bowling Green State University the other day and he thought it would be a cool idea to come back and lecture to a group of up and coming Visual Communication students. Chris and I being alumni, we jumped at the chance to talk about what we love to do. I think this was also a great opportunity for Brad to talk about his creative side. (We usually keep his head buried in the everyday business stuff...)

Our presentation was focused primarily on what it takes to start a creative business, finding your inspiration / creative style, and lessons we've learned along the way. It was very humbling and a fantastic experience for us, and one that I don't think any of us will forget. I think it's through sharing ideas, insights, and inspiration (ha... alliteration!) that you gain a sense of where you've come from... and the experiences you've had.

Chris, Brad and I really enjoyed presenting at BGSU, and I hope that we get a chance to do it again. It was also very flattering that so many people stayed to chat with us afterward. I think we'll be doing some photo-walks soon so hopefully we'll get a chance to work with some of the great students we met.

I wanted to share a couple videos that we showed during the presentation, as well as some video clips of our lecture. (Thank you Rebecca for snagging those for us!)

This video is of an old Kodak Commercial that we LOVE. It's so well done, and its fun to watch! If you need some inspiration to shoot photography, this is a must see.

This video has the reel that we showed as well as clips from our presentation. Enjoy, and thanks again to all the VCT majors who came out to see us!

-Steve

Jessica and Kevin...the speeches

Hello everyone.

I wanted to post up a much-desired video of the speeches from Jessica and Kevin's wedding a few months back. We don't typically shoot too much video during wedding day, but we always have a blog cam on us just in case we want to grab a quick vid here or there.

I love listening to speeches... and we've heard some really great ones over the years. Jessica and Kevin are very fortunate to have wonderful friends and family and we wanted to post this just so they have an extra-cool memory from their special day. Congratulations once again you two! Enjoy!