Mike and Heather
Watertown, New York
May 26, 2007
Mike and I spent the Memorial Day weekend at a military wedding in New York. The groom, also named Mike, is the brother of my cousin’s husband. My cousin and her husband were both in the wedding party, so it was a lot of fun to spend a few days with them. Although we hadn’t met Heather and Mike, they welcomed us as family into their weekend celebrations. They invited us to the rehearsal dinner and Sunday brunch, and the guys even invited Mike to the bachelor party. We always love to be treated as friends, rather than vendors, but it was especially fun to be part of the family for the weekend. By the time we went home on Sunday, we felt close to their families and friends. I hope that closeness is reflected in our photos.
Mike, the groom, is a member of the Army Cavalry, and he flies Kiowa helicopters. Shortly after he met Heather in 2005, Mike was sent to serve in Iraq. Heather waited for him to return, and he proposed shortly thereafter. They got married Saturday at St. Patrick’s Church in Heather’s hometown of Watertown, New York, and had their reception at the Carriage House Inn. Congratulations, Heather and Mike!
Heather, picking out her hair style at the salon
I love all the commotion in this photo. You can almost imagine how it feels to be a seven-year-old flower girl.
Meanwhile, Mike was getting ready in the hotel.
Mike, putting on his Cavalry spurs
Jaelyn and James Wyatt. JW is my little cousin; you might recognize him here on the blog!
A row of Cavalry hats in the doorway of the church
My cousin Christine is on the right. You might recognize her, too.
I love this one! Making Van smile was a team effort.
The resulting photo
Mike took this stunning photo. Jaelyn was a gorgeous flower girl!
Their groom’s cake was a fire truck
Here’s one of my favorites. I actually got in the middle of a ring-around-the-rosie here.
These two sisters were unbelievable dancers.
Love love love her dress!
You’re very welcome!
You’re right… there are a ton of ways to do black and white conversions. I use a variety of photoshop actions that I have purchased. My favorites are the ones by Jeff Ascough. I’m sure you can find them with a google search. Good luck!
Hi Charlotte,
I really appreciate how willing you are to share your experience & advice with me & others online.
Can I ask another question about your black & white photos? I have been frustrated lately, with trying photos in black & white, and being unhappy with them.
I know there are different ways to go about turning a photo into black & white, & I wonder if you have any advice as to a method (or methods) that will achieve good results?
Oh cool! It was fun to be there in your neck of the woods. 🙂
Re: Heather’s and Mike’s wedding
Hi Shelly! I’m so glad that you love the photos! I hope that these photos help your husband feel a little closer to home.
It was fantastic to meet you, and it’s great to hear from you!
That photo was a lot of fun to take. 🙂 I was crouching down, turning at the same speed as the little girl. Her face was sharp because I was moving the camera at the same speed as her, and also because the bounced flash helped to freeze the action. The background streaks show that we were spinning. Fun stuff!
Thanks so much!
I like to use black and white for photos that don’t need color to tell the story. Sometimes colors can distract from the intended feeling of a photo, and I think those pictures make great black and whites.
Oh cool! I had never been up there before. It was a really nice area. 🙂
I use a variety of lenses for the getting ready shots, but the closer ones were probably taken with my 85mm f1.8. I love that little lens!
Re: Amazing photos, you guys!
Hi TJ! It’s great to hear from you! Mike and I had a wonderful time with you guys, and spending time with you was one of the highlights of an all-around fantastic weekend. We’d love to come visit sometime! And you guys are welcome in Colorado anytime. 😉
Re: You and Mike are amazing!!!
Hi Heather and Mike! We’re thrilled that you love the photos! Thank you so much for asking us to be a part of your wedding weekend. We truly loved it!
Unbelieveably gorgeous photos! You & Mike did an amazing job, and Heather and Mike are going to love these.
What a beautiful church and couple! Lovely photos as always!
The one of the flower girl is stunning! Well done!
The grooms ring is really unique. Can’t say I’ve ever seen one like that before.
Re: Amazing photos, you guys!
I have to agree! I was truly impressed with how well you got to know everyone so quickly and captured them in your photos!!! I definitely recommend to everyone to have you there during the rehearsal and dinner so you get to spend more time with everyone! Christine
beautiful photos – you were about an hour away from where i am attending grad school!
Heather’s and Mike’s wedding
Charlotte and Mike–the pictures are so amazing to look at. I keep going back and looking at them again. I already forwarded the link to all of my family and friends and to my husband in Iraq to see. I’m so glad Heather and Mike had you there to take the pictures for their wedding. Thanks for doing such a great job. –Shelly, sister of the bride
Oh, I have one other question, if you don’t mind,- in the ring around the rosie shot, the background looks like it’s spinning, but the little girl is in focus- how did you make that happen?
(I’m still learning a lot)
I love the flowergirl & ringbearer shots & the ring around the rosie shot, and the one with the bride & groom at the gate.
But they are all truly great 🙂
I admire your work so much!
I’ve always wondered- how do you decide which pictures to show in black & white? (I suppose it depends on the case, but I just wondered if you had any particular reason other than that you just thought it seemed like it’d look nice, you know?)
I love your work!
So many great pics, as always. I love her colors, especially on her dress. And yes, the emotion was very well captured. I think the photo of them dancing is my favorite from that respect.
Nice, that’s up in my hometown area!
awww i love this one. What lens do u prefer to use on the closer, getting ready shots in the beginning?
Amazing photos, you guys!
Mike and Charlotte, your photos are fantastic but your way of working with everyone and “telling the story” is a thing of beauty. I’ll go broke buying these pictures and love every minute of it. In addition to solving all of the world’s problems with Mike, I’d like to think we made some great friends in the process! Thanks again for some great memories! – T.J., Father of the Flower Girl
i can’t find new words when you post new photos charlotte! wonderful, as Always! 😀
Great photos! They’re all so nice, I’m not sure whether I can pick a favourite!
that little flower girl is going to grow up to be a TOTAL heartbreaker.
this looks like it was a fun wedding to shoot. 🙂
You and Mike are amazing!!!
Charlotte and Mike –
We cannot thank you enough for being such an integral part of our wedding weekend. There certainly are no words adequate enough to thank you for everything and to express how impressed we all are with your pics. You truly capture the magic of each moment. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the pictures. Let us know if you’re ever in NY again!
THANK YOU!!!
Love,
Heather and Mike JONES 🙂
Wow
Your pictures are just plain awesome!
And kudos to Mike on the perfect timing and composition… That image of Jaelyn is VERY well done and absolutely beautiful. Nothing like getting a great capture of a subject with such deep eyes.
Once again just plain awesome work from both of you!
It looked like so much fun! I liked all of them and I will stop forcing myself to pick a favourite 😉