Cody & Laura's wedding

From our first consultation I knew that I was going to enjoy working with Cody and Laura on their wedding day.  They are just fun, easy going and very much in love!  We had a great time with their engagement shoot last fall and their wedding on Saturday was just as fun! 
Planning on a wedding at the end of March can be stressful not only for the wedding couple but for the photographer as well.  With the winter and spring that we had been having there was probably a better chance of needing to wear a warm winter coat than not but on Saturday we were blessed with very pleasant temps and little to no wind.  Without a cloud in the sky the scene at the Church of the Land, part of the Living History Farms, was absolutely beautiful.  The location matched Cody & Laura's vintage style perfectly and the touches of yellow daffodils gave hope that spring was indeed on it's way. 
There was a lovely service performed by the "Marrying Judge" Judge Joel Novak.  He blended humor, advice and kindness to make it a very unique wedding for Cody and Laura.  He also told me to swing from the rafters if it meant that I would get a good shot for the couple!  This was quite refreshing as it seems there are more and more rules being implemented on photographers (because of a few that were disrespectful). 
Following the wedding we were able to again take advantage of the nice weather and get a few more outdoor photos with Cody, Laura and their friends.  I had a great time getting to know all of them, and plan to work with many of them again soon!
Here are a few shots from Cody and Laura's wedding.  I want to thank them again for inviting me to be a part of their special day.



Do you know someone who is getting married, a senior in high school or a family looking an experienced photographer that will give amazing results but is also affordable?  Inspired Images is your photographer!

-Erik Inspired Images

 

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Christina and Tim

On Saturday we the pleasure of taking the wedding pictures for Tim & Christina. The weather was absolutely perfect for an October wedding. The ceremony was held at New Hope United Methodist Church in Des Moines, and the reception followed at the beautiful Hyperion Field Club. We had some time in between the ceremony and reception to hit a couple of parks and then head downtown to get a few shots there as well. We had a great time and Christina and Tim are a fantastic couple with wonderful and fun friends. Here are a few of the pictures from the day.

Thanks again guys, we had such a great time. I hope that you have fun on your honeymoon, we'll talk to you soon!

Erik - Inspired Images

Gavins

I just got home tonight from a family shoot with some good friends of mine from back in Maquoketa. We headed up to Saylorville but the first park that we wanted to go to was closed (possibly still due to the flooding from this summer) so we headed up near the dam and were able to sneak around up there and get some great shots. We started with a few group shots to loosen things up and eventually that paid off with Avery warming up more and more as time went on. She's such a cutie and a really sweet little girl. Here are a few shots from the session.

Thanks again guys, it was really great to see you again. We'll be in touch soon.

Erik - Inspired Images

Jared

So my weekend got even crazier as I had another senior session scheduled for Saturday as well. Jared is the son of one of my old friends from a previous job back in the Quad Cities. He's a wonderful young man, and one heck of an athlete. We got things started on Saturday late afternoon when we headed over to Bettendorf high school and got some pictures of him with his Jeep and Harley. I was so freakin jealous that I could hardly shoot the pics! ;) We got that finished up and headed down to the waterfront to get some sweet shots with the I-74 bridge as a backdrop as well as the Mississippi with the sun setting over the water. It was a beautiful night, though it went a lot faster than we thought it would. I had scheduled a wedding workshop for the next day, but had time in the morning to hook up some shots that we wanted to get in the night before. Of course with Jared being the running back for Bettendorf we had to head over to the high school again but this time to the football field to get some of him in his football gear. The lighting wasn't perfect by the time we made it out there but we made it work as I hauled some lights in, and it actually turned out really cool. Here are a few from our marathon session.

Thanks again guys, Jared you did a great job especially with all of the outfit changes that you had to put up with! Hopefully the next time we see you it won't be as long as this last time has. Good luck the rest of the season Jared, hope you guys can repeat!

Erik - Inspired Images

David

Last night I had a great time taking David's senior pictures. David is a senior at Urbandale high school, he was a lot of fun and a really interesting guy. We walked around and got some urban shots, and then hit a park and got some there too. The light was great when we started but by the time we finished it was really cloudy and looking like rain. We were fortunate to get it in when we did. Here are a few of the pictures from last night.

Thanks David, hope to see you soon!

Erik - Inspired Images

Alli

You just never know what you're going to get when you have to schedule outdoor sessions months ahead of time. The weather channel had been calling for showers and thunderstorms all day and when the 90+ degree heat gave way to the much cooler 70's just hours later you had an idea that the weather man might be right. Fortunately for us the skies just clouded up a little and even offered a few peaks of sun here and there, and it was just about perfect. We headed to a small horse farm near Norwalk to take Alli's senior pictures. She has a love of horses and wanted to get some with a horse named Khadillac. We had a great time taking pictures both with and without Khadillac in them. Here are a few from Alli's outdoor session.

You knew I had to add this one!Thanks again guys, can't wait for the indoor session. We'll talk to you soon!

Erik - Inspired Images

Jon & Eliza's wedding

On Saturday we photographed the wedding of Jon and Eliza Lower. It was a very nice day with overcast skies during the wedding and some nice sunshine following. The wedding was very pretty and took place in the newly renovated Christian Church in Runnells. Following the ceremony we headed back into Des Moines to get some fun shots near the capitol building. It's a little bit of a drive from Runnells to Des Moines, so the wedding party had plenty of time to get themselves ready for the pictures! They were a fun group and we took advantage by getting some fun shots. Besides Jon nailing me with the cork from his champaign bottle (I've got a picture to prove it) it went very well and everyone came out unscathed. We ran out of time downtown and had to head to the reception, which was also fun and I could tell that it only got better throughout the night. Here are a few pictures from the day.

This guy kept hounding me the whole night at the reception "Hey photographer, take my picture"...so I did. You guys have some weird friends! Just kidding Jason!

Thanks again guys, I wish you both the best. Talk to you soon.

Erik - Inspired Images

Dusty & Shauna Engagement

Holy mosquitoes Batman! Dusty, Shauna and I were planning to take their engagement pictures in a beautiful park near our studio but upon our arrival we quickly discovered that it wasn't going to be possible. We beat a hasty retreat back to my vehicle and decided that we would head downtown for the shoot. After killing the 20-30 mosquitoes that hitchhiked with us we arrived at our destination and got busy getting some great shots. Shauna and Dusty have a love of architecture and they taught me quite a bit about some of the unique buildings downtown. Here are a few of the pictures from our session.

Thanks again for being so flexible guys; my already badly bitten arms appreciate it!

Erik - Inspired Images

Matt & Ashley's Engagement

Well we weren't sure how things were going to go tonight, with the way Des Moines has been fighting back the water lately. Ashley, Matt & I wanted to get some pictures downtown but didn't know if it was going to be possible but luckily the water receded enough that we had plenty of space to work.

I got the warning right up front from Ashley that neither her nor Matt were very photogenic and that I was going to have a challenge on my hands...I think you will see by the results that Ashley may have been overstating that just a bit!

We had a nice time just walking around downtown even though they both were unsure of the alley that I took them to right off the bat! It was nice to chat with Ashley's mom Connie again and I even put her to work a few times! We had wonderful weather for once and some great pictures as well. Here are a few.

Thanks again guys, we'll talk to you soon!

Erik - Inspired Images

Jordan & Amanda's Engagement

What a fun couple and a fun evening for pictures. We again were near the Des Moines river near the Saylorville Dam this weekend and got some wonderful shots of Jordan and Amanda. It was a beautiful evening and the company was even better. Talking about our hobbies and our love of the outdoors made this session fly by. I'm hoping that Jordan and I can get out and do a little bit of fishing this summer and possibly catch a walleye close to the size of the one we saw on a stringer that some lucky angler had caught. Here are just a few shots from the session.

Thanks again guys, I look forward to seeing you both soon!

Erik - Inspired Images

Alex & Annalise

Alex & Annalise got engaged at the Saylorville Dam so we thought it would be appropriate to take some pictures there and in the parks surrounding it. We chose Memorial Day weekend to shoot the pictures, and even though it was busy with families camping we were able to find some locations with some privacy. We had such a great time walking around and chatting in between locations, they are both wonderful people and very in love. Here are a few pictures from the evening.

Thanks guys, and I'm really glad that the date worked out. I hope that you enjoy your summers off and your trip to Kentucky is fun! We'll talk to you soon.

Erik - Inspired Images

Bruce & Sherry

On Saturday I took the wedding pictures for two of my close friends Bruce & Sherry. Bruce is also photographer at Keepsake Portraits in Maquoketa, IA, and he actually took Tara’s and my wedding pictures over 5 years ago. He’s been a great friend and mentor to me as I have built up Inspired Images
They planned a mid-December wedding with a Christmas theme and the weather couldn’t have cooperated better. It started snowing early in the morning and continued all day, it put a small damper on the amount of outdoor pictures that we were able to try to get but the ones that we did manage were beautiful.
Their amazing children stood up for them at the wedding making it an even more special and beautiful event. The reception that followed the wedding was such a fun time and decorated following the Christmas theme, and there was even a surprise visit by the big man himself, Santa Clause.
Bruce and Sherry, thank you so much for having Inspired Images at your wedding, we had such a wonderful time and we wouldn’t have missed it for the world. We’re both so happy for you guys! We’ll talk to you soon.

Of course I can't resist all of the adorable children at the reception!

Thanks again!

Erik - Inspired Images

Matt & Becky

I had another fun engagement shoot tonight and amazingly enough some more perfect weather! Matt & Becky were really great and we had a lot of fun walking around the park kicking through the freshly fallen leaves. The colors are still really great on the oak trees and we took advatage of the beautiful backdrop. Here are a few pictures from their shoot. Thanks guys, I'll talk to you soon. I hope you have fun at The Bee Movie tomorrow!

Erik - Inspired Images

Jon & Kelly

I've said it before and I'll say it again, we have the best couples! Jon and Kelly are a couple of the most fun and down to earth people we have met. Their wedding was really beautiful and everyone in their wedding was just great. We had a blast taking all of the pictures, riding the party bus, and hanging out at the reception. I'll be in touch with you guys soon. Jon, we need to go riding sometime before the weather turns cold this fall!

Erik - Inspired Images