i can’t even begin tell you all how proud i am of the KJAD crew… both out front and behind their lenses. they always roll up their sleeves and help out in any way they can for our clients, their family and friends. in addition, they take some pretty amazing photos and video. a super huge thank you from bridget and me to… amanda, eric, mj, ashley, greg, lauren, amanda b., and lyssa… we couldn’t have had such a great year without you all!

we had the opportunity to shoot a lot this year… like a lot a lot. like over 300,000 photos a lot… like thank you all for having us be a part of everything, a lot. and with that being said, we pushed ourselves to try new ideas, use new gear, limit our variables, try styles outside of our comfort zone, and like amanda says… take the best photo we can at each wedding and event. (amanda is lovingly competitive… unless of course, i win.)

here are ten shots that i am so proud to call my own, but i’m even more proud to have been able to shoot them along side of my amazing team. #KJADforthewin.

nikki and mike took us out to coney island for their engagement session this past year, so when it came to their wedding day, we needed to continue the excitement at their stunning radisson lackawanna station hotel wedding. the day was sunny and beautiful and i was so excited to capture an idea that we came up the day prior. their cocktail hour began, the lighting was perfect, and they got to sneaking a kiss while no one was looking. thanks you two!

i love that this shot is unlike most of the photos that i shoot. i typically tend to lean towards vibrant color… not softer, subtle hints of color. with nicole and peter’s wedding, i tried to shoot brighter and lighter. giving the photos a fresh and romantic spring feeling… without all of the allergies!

speaking of allergies… when i hopped down from the tree i was perched so beautifully in, i noticed my arms and camera were completely covered in pollen. so much pollen that i developed one of the worst chest/sinus infections / allergy comas i have ever had. buuuut… i got the chance to photograph dave and susan in a sea of flowers and color. maternity sessions are so much more fun when we aren’t making silly heart hands on mommy’s belly <3

maria and jim’s rustic farm wedding gave us the opportunity to shoot their outdoor ceremony from so many angles. i decided that my spot needed to be behind their officiant and bridal party, next to these two beautiful vintage doors in which i could peek through to get a perfect clear shot of maria and jim. to make this an even better opportunity, i decided to use my 24mm tilt shift lens to create a few artsy fartsy photos. my new tilt shift toy has been so great to shoot with, as it enables me to change the direction and angle of my focal plane, which helps me draw even more attention to specific parts of the photo that would normally be blurry. with this shot, i was able to capture the detail of the door, their killer first kiss (atta-boy jim), a few happy guests and a bit of the farmland all in one shot. way too cool. like i said earlier, adding limitations and having new toys to play with this year helped us capture more unique photos for our great clients, grow our style, and make us even more excited to shoot.

props to miranda and ricky for making their very own teepee tent for their engagement session! we drove all over capturing them in all of these woodsy, scenic and beautiful hidden gems in northeastern pennsylvania. but my favorite part of their engagement shoot was when they built their adorable teepee. they crawled in, got super cozy and laughed and smiled and laughed a bunch more. no posing, no planning, just them having a honestly great time with each other… and of course us too. : )

there are definitely times throughout a wedding day where you may hear one of us express some sort of excitement on how awesome we think we just did. silly, but we really do get excited for great shots of you all. one in particular from allyson and matt’s wedding day was when allyson and her dad posed by this slick classic car. i knew i wanted to try for something different than just shooting a photo of them posed by the car. so with that in mind i started off by having him help her into the car… which instantly resulted in the photo i wanted – a super proud papa reflecting all of his happiness along side of his beautiful daughter – in an awesome classic car.

it was so great getting to capture this precious part of jacinta and sean’s wedding day. they each wrote each other a special note that they would read just before they headed to their ceremony. i think sean wrote more, (so jacinta said) but i can only image how excited they were reading their sentimental notes, knowing that they would be married to each other in just a short time. it’s really is exciting to be able to capture these events for such great people.

so yeah… there is this blog i have always loved called dear photograph. it is a collection of people holding older prints up in place where they originally were taken years and years ago. some are lined up so well and are so ridiculously funny that they have stuck with me for a long time now. (p.s. this will be a personal project that i will do some day… when i’m board… which might not be for a while… but at least it’s on my to do list.) so anyway, colleen and jeremy asked if i would be able to capture a photo of them holding shots of their parents on their wedding days. so i did… but in my way. this was the same church and steps where colleen’s parents kissed just after they said their i do’s. photos are super important, and family is even more important… go take a selfie with your parents now… you’ll love it.

i usually get to hang with the ladies during the prep part of the day. and one part of the day that i love getting to be a bit more creative is during hair and makeup. i get it that not many brides like their photos without makeup… shush, you all look great… not just saying that. but being mindful of that allows me to focus on unique compositions and lighting. i love this shot of dana from her wedding day because it looks like it’s a multiple exposure photography, but actually it’s just shot through a bunch of glass doors. i’m tricky like that.

in addition to weddings, engagement sessions, corporate work, and a whole bunch of other photo stuff, we spend a lot of time taking family portraits. even though we have a studio in downtown wilkes-barre, we shoot all of our portrait session out at a location of your choosing. it adds so much to the photos, and gives the kiddos the opportunity to explore and play. we shoot our sessions with that very thing in mind… let the kids be themselves and run around like little crazy people. we set them up in locations and situations that will work to shoot in, and just let them at it. one special time for me this year was during one of our family holiday photo shoots. we just finished up get all of the “card” shots and we decided to do a few quick shots at the dike in wyoming. i’m a sucker for a great silhouette shot, and this ended up being one of my most favorite ones i have ever taken. pretty sure it needs to be a book cover. hint hint.

kk luv you bye!! -steve