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“jump for joy” – i heart faces

This week’s photo challenge theme at www.iheartfaces.com has to do with getting major air, and this was the one image that came immediately to mind! Sure, sure, we have a ton of jumping pictures, but this particular engagement session involved karate kicking on the beach at sunset…just for the fun of it. Who could ask for anything more? Seriously. Karate-kicking couples rule; they make us L-O-V-E our job like crazy!

www.iheartfaces.com

Brianna - love it! His face is awesome!

Ayres Photography - Thanks so, SO much, everyone! We’re so glad that you all stopped by to visit and comment! :)

kathy - I absolutely LOVE this shot!! Everything about it rocks!!! I love when people are not intimidated and just be themselves in photoshoots. This is one of my favs!

Liese4 - I love the grainy feel of the shot and the fishbowl effect. Great photo!

Leanna - Ha ha! This one is great…I dig the whole shot. Wonderful job.

Sacha - Very fun mood – love their expressions!

Kristen Johnson - Love the expressions on their faces and the energy in this one! Great, great shot!

tangie - woa — terrific shot! it is full of energy and fun! love everything about it!!

Wendy Freeman - Oh wow! I L-O-V-E this one! Truly a great shot! I love the look on his face!

“hilarious outtakes” – i heart faces

Somewhere in my internet travels, I stumbled upon the “I Heart Faces” blog-site, and was instantly smitten with the idea of weekly photo contests! This week’s contest theme is “Hilarious Outtakes.” Over the years, we have had so many hilarious moments, that it was incredibly difficult to choose; but, we decided on these five in the hope that someone would get a good laugh out of them. Enjoy!

It took a few tries for Mike to get the jump shot right…
Japanese Gardens Buffalo NY
Wedding day family portraits gone wild…

A groom acting silly between poses, caught on camera!

Check out the groom’s sister in the background…this one is classic!

I couldn’t resist including this one…it takes a while for little ones to realize exactly which part of their face blows the bubbles!! Adorable! :)

www.iheartfaces.com

Kristen - I love the piano picture also! Remarkable how you caught the brides reflection in the piano and the wonderful expression in the grooms face!!! Priceless!

Ayres Photography - Thanks so much, Alison!

Alison - These are great! Nice job! Love the piano one!

Ayres Photography - Thanks M and Tangie! We’re so glad you stopped by to take a look! :)

tangie - the piano one is adorable… but that first one made me laugh the most! i bet he loved that one! thanks for sharing!!

M - these are all amazing pictures! i especially love the one of the piano playing and singing! priceless!

kristen + brian

Last weekend, we met up with Kristen and Brian for their engagement session at the Utica Train Station. We were both really looking forward to this shoot, but I was particularly excited, due to the fact that good ol’ Utica, NY is my hometown, and no matter what people have to say about the city of Utica, I will always love it. It has stunning architecture, amazingly delicious food, and most importantly, it is overflowing with kind, generous, warm people. Kristen and Brian are a perfect example of the type of people that make Utica such a great city; and, the Utica Train Station is a location that would make any photographer swoon with delight. It’s very similar to the Buffalo Central Terminal in its design and splendor, except for the minor detail of it still being a well-maintained, fully functional train station. It is an architectural gem; the kind of place that makes me proud to say that Utica, NY is my hometown.

So, needless to say, we had a great shoot with Kristen and Brian; and, we’re super psyched to be shooting their wedding this coming July! Can’t wait!! :)

It was bitterly cold that day (no big surprise there), so we did the majority of their session inside the station, which is quite obviously an AWESOME place for engagement photography.  Ben grabbed this shot at the entrance to the train platform…LOVE it!
utica ny train stationEverything inside the station is covered with marble: floors, walls, SWEET wooden benches…
utica train station engagement photos
train station engagement session
kristen and brian - engagement photosVintage-y ticket counter?  CHECK!
utica wedding photographersThen, we popped outside for a few quick shots on the platform.  I could not have been more thrilled about the big, fluffy snowflakes that lightly drifted down into our shots…LOVE!


utica ny wedding photography
Beautiful couple + perfect snowflakes = 2 very happy photographers




Kristen and Brian’s ridiculously adorable daughter, Abby, arrived at the train station just in time to pose for some photos!Part of our goal for this session was to take some shots that would resemble “old-time photo booth” pictures for Kristen and Brian’s “Save the Date” cards.  We found the most perfect curtains EVER to use as a backdrop, pretended it was actually a photo booth, and took a whole bunch of great shots!  This is a rough draft of the “photo booth strip” that we’ll be using in the design of the card…looks pretty authentic, no?  :)

Kristen and Brian, we can’t thank you enough for being so much fun and so easy to work with. We’re so, so excited about your upcoming wedding, and feel incredibly honored to get to be a part of it! See you soon!

Jess - I love the pics!!! They’re beautiful, you got some great shots!

Jamie - What a beautiful couple. What an artistic way to capture them. I love the one where she is posing on the marble window sill and where you are looking thrugh the metal hoops at the couple. They are both extremely photogenic.

Ayres Photography - Thanks, Maggie! :)

Maggie - Hard to pick a favorite…. Bri and Kristen look great in all the pictures and I agree the “magic” is captured here as well.
Very well done!

Ayres Photography - Thanks, Mary! If there were a magical supermodel lens out there, we would definitely own it…lol!! Kristen is just ridiculously stunning! ;)

Mary Collea Manna - Wow…. very nice. I think the one with the snowflakes is my favorite too. Is there a lens out there that could make us all look as great as KJ????

Lou P - Nice job guys!! I like to color one of you two under the tracks with the suitcase in front. Of corse, your princess’ one is the BEST!

Raul Valdez, Jr. - Hey…she’s purrrrty! I like him too!

Michelle Warner - Amazing location and gorgeous photos that really capture the love and beauty of the couple. I have many favorites of the session!!!!!! Fun, playful, candid-a really nice variety of poses and shots!!!

Lea - Gorgeous pics! I love the setting & the happy couple looks amazing (ofcourse!) The ticket counter & platform pics are my fave!

Ayres Photography - Thanks so much for your support! We’re looking forward to the wedding! :)

Marilyn - What a great bunch of pictures and an equally great place to take them. Pretty hard to pick the best, they are all so good.

Great photography. Can’t wait to see your ideas at the wedding.

Sheila Tracy - Awesome pictures! you captured Brian and Kristen perfectly (and Abby too!) love them!!

Ayres Photography - Awww, Kristen, we are SO happy that you love them! You guys are such an awesome couple, and truly a pleasure to work with. :)

Kristen - Love, Love, LOVE ‘em!!! We had so much fun! Your artistic creative eye is Amazing!

Ayres Photography - Thanks, Val! We totally got lucky with the snow! :)

Valarie - These look beautiful! The unexpected snowflakes were a great touch!!

milk + cookies

Last weekend we had the opportunity to do a product shoot for one of the most talented cookie artisans in upstate New York, Valarie Diviccaro, owner of Milk and Cookies. She started cranking out her amazing cookies for various holidays, birthday parties, baby showers, and craft fairs; but, now that the wedding industry in her hometown (which is also my hometown, by the way…) has gotten wind of what she has to offer, her personalized wedding favor services are in high demand! She is going to be launching a new website just to showcase her wedding themed cookies. We knew her cookies were adorable, but until we saw them in person, we couldn’t fully appreciate just how talented she really is. My favorites were the wedding dress cookies, complete with bows and iridescent glitter, and my second favorites would probably be the monogrammed cookies, because the possibilities for personalization are endless! In addition to being super-talented, she is also extremely accommodating to her clients, and will work with them to create anything they can dream up! The best reasons of all to consider these beautifully decorated cookies as possible wedding favors? They are very reasonably priced, taste delicious (she uses a secret recipe that she absolutely will not reveal), and they’re so not your run-of-the-mill, boring old wedding favors! Can you tell yet that I’m in love with the idea of cookies as wedding favors? Contact Milk and Cookies at valariedivi@yahoo.com, or give Valarie a call directly at 315-525-9856.

Check out how fabulous these are!

sherry + geoff

Last weekend, we headed over to the gorgeous Avanti Mansion for Sherry and Geoff’s intimate winter wedding.  Since we had never shot a wedding at the Avanti in the winter, we weren’t sure what to expect; but, we knew that the Avanti staff definitely does amazing weddings in the summer and fall, so we were sure that whatever they had planned for our fabulous couple would be picture perfect.  As soon as we walked in the door, we were immediately excited!  The mansion had been transformed into a winter-wedding-wonderland!

I started out in the bridal suite with the calm, cool, and collected bride and her girls, and Ben hung around with the guys on the first floor of the mansion.




Our gorgeous bride, Sherry, gettin’ prettied up…

A little pre-ceremony speech-writing…

I couldn’t decide between these two shots of Sherry’s mom and her bridesmaids getting her dressed, so I had to include them both!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!


Geoff and his guys hangin’ out pre-ceremony…
…and some amazing detail shots by Ben!



The ceremony was absolutely beautiful.  The officiant who married them, Sandy Hustead, writes all of her ceremonies from scratch, so every couple she marries has a unique and touching ceremony written just for them. We are lucky enough to get to work with her, and listen to her ceremonies all year round.  Sherry and Geoff’s was no exception; it was truly moving.  :)




Cake-cutting time!

The first dances…
Sherry and her dad…
…and Geoff and his mom!
Even though it was like 14 degrees out, we still managed to convince Sherry and Geoff to brave the elements for a couple of pictures; and, I’m so SO glad they did.  It was snowing lightly on and off, which was perfect for magical winter wedding photos!  I really wanted there to be a bit more snow than there was, though; so, I just, um…. added some in.  ;)



The party begins with a little cha-cha slide action!
Geoff and his son gettin’ low!
They were a non-stop father-son dancing team!
I really loved this moment between Sherry and Geoff’s daughter, Tori…beautiful!
Love this one of Geoff and his son, too!
Jack, the dancing machine…
A sweet moment between Sherry and her mom :)
Ben snuck outside to grab some different angles…completely awesome!
sherry and geoff get married at the avanti mansion
hamburg ny wedding photographyThere were so, so many amazing reception shots to choose from; we had a really tough time narrowing down our blog choices, but we both agreed on ending with this one because there’s so much going on in it!
wedding at the avanti mansion
Sherry and Geoff, we had such an amazing time at your wedding! Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day! You guys are such a great couple, and we wish you all the best. :)

Larissa - These pictures are so cute. Wow!! girl!!!! MMh MMH MMH!@

Matt & Judy - OMG! What beautiful photos! The ones outside in the snow with the fur remind me of my mom and dad when they got married! Soooo beautiful! Congratulations glowing bride and proud groom!

Ayres Photography - Thanks for your kind words, Leanne! We appreciate it so much! ;)

Leanne - Love the pics….great job, very unique photography…..I don’t have a boyfriend but now I want to get married just to have these awesome pics!

Ayres Photography - Thanks so much for your support, Patti! We can’t wait either! You are going to be a STUNNING October bride! :)

Patti Murphy - You are both so talented, so truly amazing! I love all of your pictures. You put so much thought into every detail. Can’t wait to have you capture all the moments of our wedding in October!

Kathy - Great pictures ! Loved the unique shots as well as the touching ones between Sherry and her Mom and Dad.

Peggy Falsone - My beautiful niece!!!!!!!!!! Handsome groom!!!!!!!!! Wonderful start to a new family !!!!!!!! Happiness Always and forever
Love Aunt Peg xoxoxoxo

Rain Herniak - The pictures are phenomenal. I LOVE the special effects. Sherry, you are beautiful inside and out. I wish you and Geoff all the happiness you deserve. mwwwaahh!

Ayres Photography - Thanks so much for your comment, Debbie! We truly appreciate it! :)

Debbie Spatz - I work with Sherry……I am a closet photographer & these pictures are AMAZING……..can’t wait to see the rest when Sherry brings in the proofs to work……
Debbie

Ayres Photography - Thanks, Sherry! We’re so, so happy you love them! Yay! :)

Sherry Laettner Schwimmer - omg, these are awesome!!! I love love love them!