Laura and Trevor - October 11, 2008

Here we go with 8 weddings in 3 weekends! Down to Rochester Joe and I go for Laura and Trevor's wedding. Here's a fun shot during their engagement session on our zip line at the outdoor studio - Trevor you played a little football right? Click here to view their virtual album! The event key is Laura's maiden name and the shopping cart icon will be available once Trevor and Laura have seen them first!

Going into this one I was a bit beat from fighting off a nasty week-long sore throat and pinkeye I got from kissing my 2-year-old goodnight (thanks Gunnar but it was worth it!) It was fun to arrive in Stewartville to an immaculately organized, happy, and young wedding (Laura has to drink sparkling cider at the champagne toast!). Some of my favorite shots are below: the 10-man pyramid, the eerily cool blue sky in the jumping shot, the tag since Laura's mom made her dress, and the cute little pants on the place card clothesline. Laura wanted a shot of the rings in the bible and we needed a really thick one to cast the "heart shadows." We couldn't find a bible thick enough but we found a bible dictionary. Unfortunately, I picked out a page near the middle where the definition of "Manslayer" reads just to the left of the rings - you'll see that shot when Laura and Trevor release all the images when they're back from they're long honeymoon! -Judd and Joe

Heidi and Josh's Wedding - October 11, 2008

Click here to register to be notified when Heidi and Josh's Wedding is online and receive the $10 gift certificate! The event key is Heidi's maiden name and the pictures will be available once Josh and Heidi have seen them first!

Wedding Fair Time!

It's that time of year again - we're getting a ton of inquiries for 2009 and 14 weddings booked already. If you are thinking about going to the wedding fair on Sunday, we are offering a $500 coupon off our Platinum and Diamond collections - good if you would book before Valentine's Day. We'll also be giving away THREE 8-day / 7-night vacations you could use for your honeymoon or as a gift. Our booth is to the right at the end of the aisle (#741 maybe) if you were to walk into the runway show - maybe we'll see you there? -Judd

Cyndi and Eddie - October 3, 2008

Here are a few of my favorite images from Eddie and Cyndi's wedding: the "throwing of the rose petals" was Cyndi's idea, some great backlighting on the holding hands shot, Cyndi's dad surprising her by changing into a kilt for the ceremony (it had a little trouble staying cinched up during the toasts!), and a kiss of her good friend Terri's daughter Jada. This was a super fun and challenging wedding with the strong light at Mississippi Dunes and Eddie's tux being 45 minutes late, but we pulled it all together and it was a fabulous fall wedding day! -Judd and Mallory
Click here to view Cyndi and Eddie's virtual album! The shopping cart icon will work to view all images once Eddie and Cyndi have seen them first and released them!

Julie and Dustin - September 27, 2008

Click here to see Julie and Dustin's virtual album - the shopping cart icon will work once they have released the pictures!
I think I knew about half of the guests at this wedding - another rewarding experience. Thanks to Joe and Kate, we pulled off our first ever fully edited "Growing Up" video complete with photos and video from the wedding day - the response was great so we'll continue to offer this when we can. Some of my favorite shots below: Thanks Dawn for recommending bigger pictures! (I agree). -Judd, Chad, Joe, Troy and Kate
Whisper...
Kyler had a little "tie length" issue.
Hoff has always had ups - notice how perfectly level the Silver Bullet is; what an athlete.
Timeless Stillwater shot!
Love the weeping willows in the background at Dellwood.
Here is their highlight video!

Amanda and Andy - September 27, 2008

Click here to view Andy and Amanda's virtual album! The shopping cart will work once they have seen and released the rest of the pictures.
Jessi and Amanda got to shoot Andy and Amanda's wedding - too bad Amanda didn't get to wear my 5-year-old's frog boots like she did at the engagement session! I love the pictures in front of the red doors of the church and the shots at the sculpture garden - here are a few samples! -Judd (for Jessi and Amanda)

Gone inevitably Green

Awesome to see the gas prices dropping... I turned our limo-following Tuscon in on its lease the other day - it was great for us and followed about 150 limos these last few years, but we opted now for the 48mpg + Prius instead of the 19 mpg Tuscon to lesson our carbon footprint. We also conserve resources here at Studio J by having a residential studio and gallery so rest assured your kids will have clean air to breathe... as long as we're not the only ones doing our part?

Jenae and Tony - September 20, 2008

Click here to see Jenae and Tony's pictures once they release them for viewing! To see the shots, the event key is Jenae's last name.
Joe and Kate traveled up to Brainerd on an immaculate weather weekend and got some great outdoor shots around Cragun's resort - check out those weeping willows! And who doesn't like a little pontoon ride with the wedding party afterward - good times.

Lindsay and Melanie - September 20, 2008

Click here to view their album!
Bride loses shoe = bridesmaid goes in the water to retrieve it - I'm pretty sure her hair got wet in this shot - thoughts? What a fun wedding party Amanda and Mallory got to shoot - lots of energy and rumor has it that a guest got hit on by at least 4 people that night - true?

Floest and Devin - September 12, 2008

Click here to see Floest and Devin's pre-designed album! All the pictures will be available once Floest and Devin see them all and release them - enjoy!
I love Friday weddings; I went in a bit tired but was instantly energized by Devin, Floest, and their friends and family. Great to see (sister) Frances and Jay whose wedding we did in 2005 - it's so rewarding doing family referral weddings.
I found myself lying on the ground at St. Kate's to get that shot in the lower left of the collage - Mallory and Troy were nice enough to dust me off - black shirts and dust don't mix very well. I was excited to hear Bob and Dawn Davis (celebrity photographers from Chicago) talk Wednesday so I was trying out some new camera settings that yielded some great color saturation - like the sky in the lower right shot. The rings picture was on the railing facing downtown Minneapolis so the lights in the background got huge when I zoomed in. Devin and Floest doing the high five in the jump at the Stone Arch Bridge is sweet, but doesn't it look like Devin has 4 legs? Weird. -Judd, Mallory, Troy, Allie
Their highlight video!

Chris and Mike - September 6, 2008

Click here to see Chris and Mike's Wedding Album! The shopping cart icon will work once Chris & Mike have released all the photos.

In a word this wedding was... WILD. What a crew of energetic, fun people! It was very challenging, fun, crazy and rewarding for us to capture Chris and Mike's wedding. Highlights: the crazy cool modern lights at Graves 601 (red wall above), the crazy dance for the garter removal, taking urban shots in traffic (with the help from the Police above), kidnapping of the bride and groom (does that really still happen?), and dancing until the wee hours of the morning. Outside Bellanote there is this cool fire pit where we got many fun pictures with the bridal party. -Judd, Chad, Troy and Joe
And their highlight video:

Stone Arch Bridge

The Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis was where I shot the picture that pretty much launched my career in 2003. I went back there just the other day for Sarah and Caleb's engagement session; the sun was totally different and difficult but we got some great shots with this cool, strong back lighting. We also did a "Love Story" we're going to encorporate in their Growing Up video of how they got engaged; Sarah pretty much blew Caleb off for a year after they first met - funny, but true and surprisingly candid to share at their wedding. I love that "behind the scenes" stuff! :) -Judd

Charlsie and Ben - August 30, 2008

Click here to see Charlsie and Ben's wedding album! We turned this wedding around in 5 days again - maybe you guys can see it from Cabo!
What a simple and elegant wedding; 4 months of planning, everything at the White Bear Yacht Club, and great weather gave us the chance to grab some great creative images. Chad got the main picture above by lying on the ground; the shot on the middle right of Charlsie's ring needs a "bling" sound effect when you look at it. To look at her ring directly, I had to make one of those "pinhole" sheets of paper you made in grade school for looking at solar eclipses. :)
Ben is a huge Fletch fan so the bottom shot is a tribute to the "Stanwyk shot" when he is super pumped and his bride is clearly not - good sport Charlsie! Dilly Bars for dessert topped the whole thing off, but my favorite moment was brother John's toast when he revealed that Ben and Charlsie were making a gingerbread house one evening and he and other brother Nate were taking bets on if they were going to put a heart and their initials on one of the gables. A direct quote from Ben: "The odds makers took a beating when I landed Charlsie!" Great stuff. -Judd and Chad

The Hughes Family

We're expanding our services to do more portrait sessions! The Hughes Family will be the first family of ours to get a custom family album, the same Italian handmade album we do for weddings.Click here to watch the digital version.

Ashley and Derek - August 16, 2008

Click here to see Derek and Ashley's album! Event key for the shopping cart is Ashley's maiden name...
What a wedding! This "job" of ours seems like less and less of a job each time we shoot. We probably had 10 wedding and portrait clients at Derek and Ashley's wedding; it was like a big reunion. Great moments off the top of my head: John's poem to his daughter, Mark's "hockey hair" best man toast (pictured above), Jesse's attempt to rob the bouquet toss (where's the vertical?), the unreal creativity on the bridal party entrances to the reception, and a great sunset and full moon made for a fantastic evening. If I hadn't just poured a concrete driveway the day before (see blog entry below) I might have stayed to close the place down with all the fun people there! -Judd, Amanda, Joe, and Allie
Here is their highlight video!

O Canada

I had the pleasure of documenting a fishing trip in Ontario, Canada this last week - and fishing a little bit or course, like 8 hours a day. Thom spent 13 hours in the boat one day, Shawn hooked Dan in the head with a muskie lure, and there was generally a lot of snoring, good fun, and fishing. I had never seen the Northern lights before and about 2 innings into our midnight whiffle ball game last Saturday night these images came to pass. Bottom line is that there are some super cool places in this world - especially if you're willing to travel 12 hours and pay $30 for a cheap case of Lucky Lager Canadian beer... -Judd

Ouch

Backbreaking work on the new Studio J client / employee parking - that's video/photo guy Joe in the green shirt and me in the yellow, shortly after nailing my head across the cage in the Bobcat I was attempting to use to move some dirt. I'm sure all of you at Derek and Ashley's wedding tomorrow will comment on it... and you thought Joe and I only did photo and video work!

Karen and Michael - August 8, 2008

The magic day 8-8-08! Karen and Michael are getting married on a boat in Excelsior Friday - Chad and Josh captured this wedding. Click here to register for the $10 gift certificate!

Sarah and Scott - August 2, 2008

Josh filmed Sarah and Scott's wedding in Annandale - here it is!

Sara and John - July 26, 2008

Click here to view their Storybook Album! The shopping cart will work once Sara and John have viewed all the pictures first and then released them for viewing.
Just when I think a bridal party couldn't be more fun, along comes another one - the groomsmen built this man-pyramid and ran an authentic football play: 36 belly dive off tackle left to John. Scott's choreographed dance to "We Built This City" at the reception had people slapping their knees in laughter, including myself. Great use of color accents as well throughout the wedding from bridal party accents to the cake which made me feel like I was on the Alice in Wonderland set - have fun at Disneyworld John and Sara! -Judd, Jessi, Josh and Joe.

At least we didn't pay $5/gallon for Diesel!

My #1 piece of advice: TRAVEL. If you have some vacation days, use them - go somewhere. We all get caught up in our own little rat races (sometimes self-inflicted) and whether or not our lawn is mowed as nice as the neighbor's. Traveling is a great way to put it all in perspective. We had a rare two weekends without weddings in a row so our family jumped into my dad's RV (to put hotel $ toward gas) and traveled to Colorado, California, Utah, Montana and South Dakota seeing some incredible American landscape along the way. At the risk of being "that guy who shows vacation pictures while we're stuck at work", here are some of the pics:

Gunnison, Colorado: stars outside our Adventure Experiences (AE) weatherport where brother-in-law Paul works. I was in a sleeping bag for 30 minutes to get this shot in 30 degree weather mostly b/c I couldn't see to focus and change the exposure. Have you ever seen stars like this in the city?

My 2-year old playing with the "stoking" paddle for the fire-stoked hot tub at Adeventure Experiences camp.

Los Angeles, CA (Big Bear Lake): new nephew Garret Daniel's baptism, the main reason for the trip.

The only place in California that sold diesel for under $5!

Santa Monica, California sunset over the beach - shot taken from the pier.

Finding my "inner happy place" in Salt Lake City, Utah. The salt concentration of the lake is so high it is impossible to sink! Check it out.

Collage above is (clockwise) brown bear in South Dakota, Martha and Paul on a sunrise summit ascent in Colorado (They got up at 3:30am; I was sleeping b/c I stayed up late taking the star picture above and had to watch the kids of course :)), cheesy Mt. Rushmore re-creation, the Airstream "RV" in Swan Lake, Utah, and a double decker outhouse...

With three little boys under the age of 6, traveling 4200+ miles over 17 days was quite a trick; the RV bathroom and DVD player proved invaluable. I'm ready to get back to weddings now (once I plant some trees to erase that gas consumption carbon footprint)! -Judd

Jung hee and Bernie - July 6, 2008

Click here to see their album!
You're not going to believe this but I met with these two on Monday and they booked me for their Sunday wedding - yep, 6 days lead time. We deal with all types here including 2 years+ engagements but these guys are rare and simple - just wanted to get married so here we go down to Lake Harriet. The Rose Gardens down there are very picturesque. I try some really unique shots at each wedding and I thought we'd try this slow shutter bicycle shot when I saw all the bike traffic. I had to lay in the 95 degree burning brown grass and use my backpack as a tripod for the shot on the right - worth it! We tried to coax a couple of bicyclers to ride by choreographed but this random one with the real folks going by looked the best. Album design ready by Aug 1! Click here to register for the free pictures from Jung hee and Bernie's wedding.

Lindsay and Jeremy - June 28

Click here to see Lindsay and Jeremy's album - the shopping cart icon will work once they have had a chance to look at all the pictures first and release them for family and friends. We busted this wedding out in 5 days since we all need a little 4th of July vacation here at the Studio after this latest stretch of weddings - tons of fun, though! Oscar, Lindsay and Jeremy's dog, makes the blog fresh off his air conditioning shave. There aren't many things funnier than a small dog with short hair; add jumping near a wedding dress and well, that makes for some good photos. Lindsay and Jeremy's wedding came complete with the above tractor shot and the best country band of the year at the reception. We lucked out with outdoor pictures as we were in between rain both at the gardens before and at the farm afterward. The picture of the kiss is in the windshield reflection of an old model T truck on Jeremy's family farm - it has a crank start and windows that you have to prop open to get some fresh air. This was a great way to end a "9 weddings in 27 days" stretch for Studio J. On the way back home at 11pm I got a text from my good friend who also got married today that they were still out so we closed down Brit's Pub wondering if the country band was still playing in St. Cloud at 2:30am... -Judd, Josh, Joe and Allie