Here are a couple of my favorite photos from yesterday followed by a quick video I put together (LOVE the song by Ryan Huston).

Here is the video – I still cry when I see all three of my girls together – enjoy!

I was actually on assignment for State Farm covering their response to the catastrophe and arrived in Joplin the day after the tornado hit. This is an image that I took which will always be with me, this family was searching for a 15 month old baby…

So when I got the information to get involved with Joplin Smile! I had to do it. There are so many times in your life when tragedy strikes and you WISH you could do something and to me this was the perfect opportunity to actually DO something for those affected.

The first family I got to photograph was a perfect start to a great trip to Joplin. I can remember during the 4 hour drive that it rained off and on and I just kept hoping that it would clear up in time for the sessions, and it did!

Sarah, Ryan and little Adelie are an adorable young family – love this image of them together.

Hard to believe that they were actually home when the tornado hit – luckily they were able to get the cellar and remain safe but they lost everything they had. But even in the 5 months after the event they were still all smiles for the camera – Adelie is TOO CUTE!

The Cameron Family – Karen is a music teacher in Joplin. Her parents drove over an hour to meet us so we could create a new family portrait for them. Too cool.

Day 1 ended with another fun family – Ella is 5 and Kennady is 2 and they were so much fun.

Love outtakes – I was photographing Mom and Dad when Kennady had to be close by

Ella is too precious.

Sisters.

As a dad, images like this one are what it is all about…

The next day I got the chance to meet Atticus and his mom before I left town. What a cute little man!

What you looking at giraffe?

Big thanks to the families that signed up for sessions while I was in Joplin. So very glad to help out in any way that I can.

I would highly encourage anyone out there reading this – Joplin still needs help. Progress is being made but still a long way to go. Visit REBUILD JOPLIN and learn more – consider giving if you can.

All the best,

Johnny

Big thanks to Nichole Manner, the second photographer – as always, couldn’t have done it without you!

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Well October has come and gone – flown by in my opinion! I had the pleasure of starting the month of October by photographing Stephenie and Jason’s wonderful wedding. I had the opportunity to really get to know these two at the engagement session which I was so happy that we were able to squeeze it in prior to the wedding day. What a fun couple who were up for anything fun and exciting!

I had the opportunity to photograph the rehearsal dinner which took place at Churchill’s – located in the Holiday Inn Executive Center – if you haven’t eaten there, do it and do it soon! The food was so very good and as a photographer I was able to create images like this one. Bananas Foster – Yummy!

Many fun images captured during the rehearsal dinner (Stay tuned for the slideshow at the very end of the post and see all my favs!) and the very next morning I caught up with all the guys from the wedding party to capture them playing paintball! Yep, you read that right, paintball. I have often tagged along to many golf outings but never paintball, I was pumped to get some great images. For those that dont know, those paintballs come out of the gun at a very high rate of speed – check this one out!

Here is poor Jason who was just ambushed by all his “friends”

I didnt have a paintball gun but the guys told me my long lens looked like a gun so I managed to get hit a couple (read that to mean A LOT) of times. I can vouch for you Jason – getting hit doesnt feel the best but at least you got to shoot back

From there I caught back up with the gals who were getting ready for the big day.

Stephenie looking absolutely stunning!

The First Moment – those that follow my work know that there are two events during the wedding day that I absolutely love; the first moment (where the bride and groom see each other for the first time) and the first dance. Both events always produce such real emotion – Stephenie and Jason were no exception.

Stephenie + Jason each had gifts for each other. Love these moments as well.

Before we headed out around downtown Columbia, I spotted this mirror in the elevator and it had to be photographed. So cool.

Favs from downtown…

Stephenie + Jason with their ginormous wedding party – lots of people who were lots of fun!

Caught this moment during the formals – too cute!

The ceremony provided so many moments – plugging the slideshow at the end of the post – keep reading, it’s worth it – but this was my favorite. Jason drops the ring and everyone is laughing. If you look close you can actually see the ring as he is trying to catch it.

The ballroom at the Executive Center looked immaculate thanks to Tronda Wathen at Floral Arts – amazing!

Fav first dance image

Stephenie and her dad…

I thought this was cool – dad shortened his time during the father/daughter dance and Stephenie and her grandfather danced – so cool!

Jason and his mom

Remember that big wedding party? Well they sure like to party – had a blast capturing images of everyone having a good time!

As promised here is the slideshow of all my favorites from the day…

Can’t view the embedded show? View the webpage here.

Stephenie and Jason, thank you so much for allowing us to capture your special day! Really had a blast and we were able to get so many great moments!

-Johnny

This year Portraits in the Park was at Nifong Park and it really was so much fun!

Rather than go one by one with each family and share my favs, here is a sildeshow of some of my favorite images from the day.

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed the images!

- Johnny

For the engagement session we got to hang out on a property owned by Rachel’s family which is just outside of Columbia. It offered all kinds of cool opportunities – here are some of my favs from the session.

So much of what I do is about expression and not so much the pose – love the happiness here. (don’t worry Mark, I  wont tell them how Rachel was making fun of you – secret is safe)

Turned the corner and saw this cool, old fence – love these next two.

A little sun, a little love = pretty cool image.

Really like the colors here.

Sun bursting through, you guys are making this field look pretty good (and thanks for putting up with the bugs! )

Normally I am not a fan of “look at the camera and smile” photos – I do get these photos during a session and on the wedding day, strictly for Mom and/or grandma but I had to post the next two because of the story behind them. This one, notice Mark’s hand in his pocket. Every time I put these two some where, the first thing Mark would do is put his hand in his pocket and rock the J Crew pose – I kept giving him a hard time about it which made for many laughs during the session. So Mark – this photo is for you bud!

Now this photo I had to post because Rachel and Mark are St Louis Cardinals fans and so am I. The Cards just won the National League pennant last night and are on their way to the World Series after an amazing baseball season. I thought is was only fitting to post this photo. Go Cards!

Rachel and Mark – SO looking forward to the upcoming wedding! Rachel, thanks for being a great inspiration to my little girl – she still talks about you and your class. Mark, you were not an inspiration to my little girl but I still think you are a pretty cool guy. Keep practicing the J Crew pose for the wedding

All the best,

Johnny

I met Ashley a year ago when she was a bridesmaid in Mallory + Lane’s wedding. Dug up a photo from the bridal prep… (Ashley is in the black)

I was so happy that Ashley called me when she got engaged. I knew it was going to be such a fun day, little did I know how right I would be.

I arrived at Municipal Auditorium in Moberly, Missouri where everyone was getting ready. I arrived just in time to capture this moment between Ashley and Mom.

I have lots of favorites from the wedding day but if I had to pick one, it would be this one. To me this defines what I do as a wedding photographer. Images that tell a story long after the event. This is the first moment that Ashley’s dad got to see his daughter. Unscripted and real. Doesn’t get much better than this.

Ashley’s mom’s reaction to the moment you just saw above.

I know how you ladies love the details, here are a couple favs.

We can’t leave our groom out of the story, here is Kurt seeing Ashley for the first time.

This is a 1910 Rail Car which is in the center of downtown Moberly. Luck for us, the guy who has the key to the inside just happened to be walking around the square and offered to let us in – SWEET! Love the light and contrast in this image.

Heading over to the ceremony, which was held on the property of Kurt’s family, I was taking some pics of the guys and gals. I look over my shoulder and I see this. To me the caption of this image should be “So you wanna get married?”. Too cute.

Caught this as these two are getting ready to come down the aisle. You sure you wanna hold her hand dude, LOL!

Kurt sees Ashley coming down the aisle.

Wicked cool clouds + Fisheye lens = a pretty awesome image if I do say so myself

The lighting of the auditorium at the reception was pretty cool.

Decided to shoot the entrance of Kurt and Ashley a bit differently. 2 off camera flashes are what create the light for this shot.

Finally, a fav from the first dance.

BUT WAIT – THERE’S MORE (insert infomerical voice) – Here is a video slideshow of all my favorites from the wedding day. Can’t view the embedded slideshow? Click here for a webpage version.

Ashley and Kurt – all I can say is THANK YOU for choosing me to be a part of your day. There were so many wonderful moments and I am so happy I was there to capture them.

All the best,

Johnny

Down by the dock – love the expression!

Then when I saw the rusted out farm wagon – I thought these would be cool.

Walking into the barn we saw this burned up tractor – I thought it was cool. Image says “urban farm” to me

This image is of Stephenie and her Dad. Her mom told me a story of how she has a photo of stephenie walking along the feed trough with her dad when stephenie was really little – so dad happened to be where we were photographing and we recreated it. Kinda cool.

Love this image.

We headed back towards Stephenie’s parents house where I fell in love with their long driveway covered with trees.

The farm has these beautiful rolling hills so we ventured out to capture them (and dodge lots of cow poop in the process!)

Driving by Stephenie’s parents’ house I saw a neighbor with an interesting “lawn ornament” – I thought it was hilarious and couldnt pass up this photo op!

Stephenie + Jason – I had a blast hanging out with you guys and I cannot wait for the wedding!!

And here are all my favs from the session in a slideshow:

Portraits In the Park Event Details:

When: Saturday, October 8th

Where: Nifong Park – Columbia, Missouri

What time: email me or send me a message on facebook to reserve your time!

Session cost and session details:

Sessions are 45 minutes and the session fee is $49 and must be paid in advance. Message me for your desired time and then come back to this post and pay for your session via PayPal. Or if you don’t have a preference on morning or afternoon, then you can pay now if you like. Pay the session fee using the PayPal “Buy Now” Button below.

Print Pricing:

You will receive a link to your online gallery in 3-4 weeks after the session. You can buy a disc of images for $249. The following print packages are available:

Disc of all images (30-50) – $249
(copyright release given to you, you may print where you like)

4×6 – $12
5×7 – $20
8×10 – $25
11×14 – $60

Any (4) 4×6 package – $40
Any (4) 5×7 – $90

Hope to hear from you soon and looking forward to a fantastic day!

Thought I would post a pic of the booth – taken with my iphone so dont judge the quality

Also, here is the slideshow that was playing on the TV – so if you didnt catch all of it, here it is!

(yeah its totally the same song as the Bob + Whitney slideshow – gotta fess up, I was in a hurry:) )

Thanks again for all those who stopped by the booth – contact me with any questions!

- Johnny

Enjoy the show!