We started off where the wedding story started when Jim asked Melissa to be his wife.

Melissa and Jim were into the fountain before I knew it, couldn’t blame them on such a sunny summer afternoon!

Lots of Cream and Crimson around the football stadium! We lucked out and walked right into the stadium and had live entertainment from a band camp on the field as we wrapped up the engagement session.

Congrats Melissa & Jim! We’re looking forward to joining your wedding celebration next summer!

Check out more engagement portrait sessions from Eric & Sara here – enjoy!

Proposal via Wrigley Field scoreboard? I’m as green as that scoreboard with envy!

Lots more Cubs baseball, Army memories, golf rounds, and wedding day celebration ahead!

Get a reminder when the photos are ready here – enjoy!

Waiting for the ceremony to start. Smiling at family and friends from the front of the ceremony, in front of the cameras too – really out of place for me if it wasn’t my own wedding!

Sara and her dad join us. Mushy poetic types say things like “my heart skipped a beat, she took my breath away, the moment froze time…” – all of the above happened to me when I caught sight of Sara walking toward me. After several years of telling wedding stories it was surreal that it was OUR wedding at last. Oh yeah, and she even walked in to “At Last” just to prove the point.

Sara reminding Pastor Mike not to forget the “kiss the bride part!”

Sara and the bridesmaids in Battell Park in Mishawaka, site of many walks, talks, and memories from our dating days. Just blocks from where she grew up. Great spot for a summer wedding photo stop.

Hard to believe it’s our fourth anniversary already, or where the previous 3 went! Four years down, rest of a lifetime to go!

I love you Sara

- Photos by our cohorts and mentors in photography – Matthew at Zeta-Alpha Studio, Mark at Zehring Photography

We’re looking forward to a great time celebrating with Joy & David this weekend! Keep an eye out for more photos or get a reminder HERE so you’ll know when the full gallery is ready.

Nice clear August night sky for checking out the moon! The tomato plants have certainly helped find photo inspiration this week. Rather, walking out back to check on them and water them has crossed my paths with a few ideas. Spider at sunrise the other morning and a good glimpse at the moon tonight.

I got my tripod, camera and a telephoto lens and shot a guesstimated, underexposed frame as a reference point. Turns out it was one of the favorites right away. I made a nice tight crop, not too many pixels needed for the web version. I’d love to add a teleconverter and a longer lens for my next round of shooting the moon, but enjoyed snapping something for kicks before putting the kids in bed. Adrian was already asleep or he would have wanted to watch the Moon Song with me.

Geek specs: Nikon D300 body, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 AF-S VR telephoto lens, exposed at ISO 100, 1/60th sec @ f/4. Crop in Lightroom.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’re enjoying this on Facebook, an RSS reader, or there’s no video enjoy it HERE

Keep looking up, Stargazers!

Since it was our only free August weekend we made a getaway of the road trip and celebrated our 4th anniversary a few weeks early. With the kids at their grandparents’ we hit the road!

Big brother Mikey escorting Sarah down the stairs. It hits me that I’ve known these guys since each was in Kindergarten, and they’re part of the best stories growing up. Holy smokes we all grew up; Sarah’s about to get married.

Mike and Sarah at the end of the aisle. With friends like these guys it was like a big family reunion. I saw my own friends and former classmates since early elementary through high school, long time family friends, the list goes on. Weddings have a lot of emotion and tenderness even when I don’t know half the guests or extended family, Sarah’s big day was chock full of smiles.

The Ferguson family is renown for humor. Her father had passed away unexpectedly just months after her brother John’s wedding. His funeral, to be perfectly honest, was the funniest I have ever been to. Everyone had hilarious stories and memories to share. I know his laughs were missed on Saturday and every day since his passing.

Bradd, our youth pastor growing up, shared the mic with Sarah’s oldest brother John officiating the ceremony. He stopped to dab some tears and lightened the room a little during the ceremony.

Sarah’s son Tustin watching from the back. He was done being a ring bearer.

Sarah’s smile says it all here. She was a radiant bride!

I loved being “off duty” at the wedding. It was standing room only in the packed courthouse, and I planned on sticking to the back anyway. Interesting to see what photographers look like from the guest’s perspective. I saw a spot neither photographer was near and took the previous photo. One of the photographers liked my idea and I took it as a compliment when he shot alongside me. I chuckled to myself and just stepped back when he outright stepped in front of me.

Free tip: When you’re out of the way and a (hired) photographer goes out of the way to step in front of you, look for something they’re looking past.

Request: if I do that, kick my shins. (If I can’t find a good angle and do that I’ve earned it, I’ll thank you later)

The wedding was beautiful and seeing a friend become a newlywed is always a treat. After the ceremony we mingled throughout the ornate historic courthouse rotunda while the newlyweds, bridal party and family had portraits. Feeling a bit out of place and being in a beautiful venue, my wife Sara and I decided to tour the historic Allen County Courthouse and improvise a shoot of our own.

She found a little black dress for the weekend and asked me to take photos so I wasn’t about to pass up the chance! We went to the 3rd floor and had great backdrops of the rotunda and stained glass windows.

We went back after dinner, and heard it was time to cut the cake so I peeked down. I expected to see one of the photographers up there for a great view of the cake cutting none of the guests would have but… instead they both stuck with close ups and let me have the balcony shot. Thanks!

Tustin and the Flower Girl Emma came up to get a taste of the cake as soon as it was cut – I like those kids’ style!

Great weekend getaway full of friends, fun, Fort Wayne, and celebrating 4 years as husband and wife!

When I went outside to water our tomato plants I nearly walked into this spider’s web nearby. One thread was going up to a tree branch above the deck and the others were anchored to the patio table. The morning sun and a black cloth over a patio chair were all the studio setup I needed. Here’s two favorites from the spontaneous sunrise spider session.

Geek specs: (top image) Nikon D700 with Nikon 105mm f/2.8 macro, ISO 800, 1/200 sec @ f/5.6, (bottom image) 1/80 @ f/8

We had a blast celebrating with Diana and Roger for their summer wedding at Southgate Church in South Bend, Indiana. It’s always a treat to join family friends for their wedding celebrations and see lots of familiar, smiling faces. Diana and Roger had the biggest smiles of all, what a great day for the newlyweds!

Click the photo above or click here to see a preview of the photos and get a reminder when the gallery is ready.

I met Brandi and Matt through rock concerts so it’s no surprise their customized, personalized wedding was nothing shy of ROCKING too. Elements of Alice in Wonderland, goth, punk, vintage pin-up styles, rock shows graced their celebration at the theatrical auditorium in the Scottish Rite building in downtown South Bend, Indiana.

We got special backstage passes to this rock show wedding as Sara joined the bridal party and helped plan this extraordinary celebration. (For all you newlyweds wondering what to do without wedding planning checklists or missing the rush of putting together a great ceremony… you’ll know why Sara jumped right in!)

Red and black were featured in everything from Brandi’s wedding dress, hairstyle, the gents’ tuxedos, bridesmaid dresses, and accessories.

Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” rang out and the bridal party paired up and made their way to the front. Brandi entered with her parents to join Matt.

The lush red velvet stage curtain and wooden tones fit Brandi’s ideas perfectly.

I’ve seen a variety of different shoes for weddings, and think the groom and guys should have a little fun with their tuxes too. Matt had the first pair or buckle boots I’ve seen at a wedding.

‘Til Death – Custom coffin podium by the Father of the Bride.

Handfasting Ceremony, black Unity candle with skeleton hands. Love it.

Red and black ribbons, plaid, zippers, buckles, studded, heart patches… the bridesmaids styled them all. Great snap by JR, glad he could join me since Sara was among the bride’s partners in awesome.

Easygoing snap of Matt greeting the guests, window light does the trick. Red podium uplight for a little more sinister look, devious was an easy expression.

First dance to Green Day’s “Last Night on Earth”

Personalized & painted wedding cake topper couple and blood red drip frosting. Delicious.

Groom and groomsmen headbanging to Metallica with the Father of the Bride: priceless. Rocking reception soundtrack!

Favorite quote of the day – “It reall WAS a rock show – we had mic feedback, wardrobe malfunctions fixed with gaff tape, a big stage…” – and a rocking couple, I might add. Congrats newlyweds!

Whether it’s traditional or something a little different, we’d love to tell your story – drop us a line to see how we can tell your wedding story!

(PS, if you’re a fan on Facebook we’ve got more rockin wedding photos to enjoy! Come see!)

The name game

Disclaimer, I enjoy photography and enough web design to throw my site together. I’m far from an expert at either.

Late the other night I was checking web stats and got an idea. That led me to just flat out Google “eb photography” to see what happens when someone searches for my page instead of just typing ebphotography.com like it is on all my stationary, promotional materials, sample albums, etc. (This is an oddly high way that traffic reaches us when people search for a web address isntead of just type it in the address bar.)

My business’ name is far from unique, I’m very aware of this. I was required to make a business name and logo from my name or initials for a typography class and… hated the idea. When I wrote my initials together it either looked exactly like a video game store‘s logo or a butterfly. Then I scribbled something and fired up Illustrator and made the logo I have today, it stuck immediately. And so the slanty slashy figure 8 was born. I didn’t however, want to name it after my full name and make anyone try and pronounce my last name the way I do (Americanized German pronunciation I presume).

Here’s some of the other “EB Photography” listings that came up.

ebphotography.net – Emma Barnard

Mentions Reading and British English so I’m thinking Great Britain / UK across the pond. I had to look up the website registration to find any name, which totally puzzles me. Wouldn’t you want a prospective client to know who they’re contacting? “Hi is… EB there? Ebb, are you a photographer?” Hey there’s a Nikon camera on the home page!

ebphotography.org – Emily Bitterman

Denver, Colorado is mentioned a few places on the site. I gathered her first name from the email address listed. Script fonts are pretty till you have to read a paragraph of them. Also Photoshop comps with text are completely useless to search engines if you want your info to be found. Once it’s found keep it readable. Also had to look up registration info to find a name.

ebphotographyonline.com – Elizabeth Breakey

Raleigh, North Carolina – finally, a NAME and a LOCATION on the site. Big points.

Attack of the music! I started shutting browser tabs to find out which site was creeping in on my already-playing music. At least it’s bearable. (EDIT: I left this site open the longest so the kids could enjoy the calming music.) The scribbly scripty links were a bit to read at first. Nice flash site a little scrapbook background feel. Nice work too!

http://ebphotoanddesign.com – Elissa Barela

Santa Ana, California phone number lookup. Nice clean site, the “about” page text was miniscule to read though, and I already have glasses. Love the Nikon camera again. I’m no bride but if your “wedding” gallery consists of only ONE posed photo I’d be a little leary. Blog but it hasn’t had an update since last year. Had to get name off registration again.

http://www.ebphotodesign.com – Ellen Burke

Again, the registration info. One working link, and no contact page. Looks like the site was abandoned. Still pops up in the listings so I wanted to check it out.

Tips (Freebies!)

For starters, list your name & location if you want to be found! If people don’t remember if you’re EB Photography listed under ebphotography.com, ebphotography.net or ebphotography.org they can surely remember if they see your name and location.

Make it searchable. Might have to abandon the Photoshop comps, which brings us to …

Make it readable. I’d probably skip 2 of the sites if I hadn’t really, really, wanted to see what they were about.

Keep it fresh. Good reminder to me to keep adding new photos, posts, and interesting bits.

My turn! eBphotography.com

So it’s nice to at least know there aren’t any EB Photography photographers from these sites in this area. Wouldn’t want anyone to get confused. This began as a search to see if visitors who just searched for “eb photography” would know which one to choose if they were looking for eBphotography.com and turned up some really intriguing results.

So for all things equality… rip on my site http://ebphotography.com, it’s only fair. Hit me with your best shot… of constructive criticsm. Since these other EB Photography pages aren’t direct, area competitors there’s no reason I should slack on my work and not get an earful about the good bad and ugly of my own site. Tell your friends, enemies, and your enemies’ friends: it’s open season.

Game on.

eB