Sneak Peek: Ryan & Jennifer

One of the reasons I was so pumped to get this blog going was the very thing I am about to show you: SNEAK PEEK!!!! I've finished the first round of edits for Ryan and Jennifer's wedding (happy 8-day-iversary, guys!) and would like to post some highlights from their amazing, beautiful (if slightly rainy) day.

Gorgeous location - Culver, IN

Suave groom and his men!

What is a wedding if the bridesmaids aren't worried about falling into a lake?

Jennifer's dress = absolute rock star!

LOVE that long veil

Happy accident - flash didn't fire :)

The big moment - husband and wife

Using the rain to our photographic advantage!

    

ADORABLE.

Next to "love" in the dictionary

Announcing the new Mr. and Mrs.!

Seriously awesome wedding cake

Enjoying their first dance

Dancing with her dad

Dancing with his mom

All in all, I had an amazing time shooting this wedding. Ryan and Jennifer are high school sweethearts, and even after six years, their love still shines through in the way they look at each other and the way they kiss (which they certainly didn't have to be told twice to do!) It was a joy and a privilege to photograph them, and their family and friends.

One (maybe two) more weeks, and these photos + another 900 or so will all be posted on my website. Stay tuned! Love you guys :)

Kickoff (of photo season)

Unfortunately, my starting of this blog did not entirely coincide with my first photo shoots of the year, but I'm sure this is a forgivable offense. Here's what I've been up to so far this year (photographically speaking):

My first photo shoot was with the Ship of Fools, which is like the ultra-elite members of Purdue University's Improv Club. So you can just image that a photo shoot with these guys and girls was more fun than half-off sirloin day at the butcher's. I had a few ideas for them, but mostly they just let their own imaginations run wild with possibilities, and I was just there to capture the photomagnificence!

A very cool crowd

Remarkably, no one was injured!!

....but then I killed them.

The Ship of Fools have become great customers of mine this year, having me design their fliers for shows and also create a new, awesome banner for them! Lastly, I need also need to make them a flag. Talk about multimedia work!

The day before Easter, I had a great time doing senior pictures for Jessica at Highland Park. Incredibly enough, with several days before and after being cloudy, cold, and rainy, THIS day was absolutely perfect!

So the year has had a mellow but steady start, and now wedding season is SERIOUSLY upon us, with 3 of the next 4 weekends booked. Yay! Some people are intimidated by shooting weddings, but I highly enjoy them. Not only do you get to hang out with (and document!) a couple who is crazy-happy-in-love, but the entire day is pretty much a photographic playground. Onward!

The first treat

Real quick-like, because I need to go to bed, but I also need to post - here is the first coolthing posted on my blog! The art of Greg "Craola" Simkins: http://www.imscared.com/gallery/

He has a very unique style, one that I'm attempting to emulate in my design of a laptop cover (in collaboration with my boyfriend, Devin). Will post finished product for sure!

State of the Union

Welcome to my brand spankin' new art and photo blog! This will mostly be a chronicle of all my ongoing work, and in the meantime I'll be sharing awesome art stuff that I find all over the internet.
For those who don't know me well, or haven't known me very long, I'd like to use this post to give a background on how I got to be where I am today (Indianapolis, photographer and artist...five foot two...etc). My education in photography began in the summer of 2008, when I inherited my dad's Nikon D40, 18-55mm and 70-300mm Nikkor lenses, and a dinosaur Sunpak speedlight (circa 1972).

Summer 2008

My first photography class was that fall, with the great Ryan Musch. He learned of my interest in photography and saw how much I had already done on my own, and hired me to assist him at weddings (even now, I still work with him, I'll be leading his second team on June 11). Between a class that taught me the technical aspects of photography, and my own extremely photoshopped self-portraits for the 365 Days project, I learned and improved very quickly.

Sitting on my butt was never so productive...

My first paid photo shoot was with my friends' band Up the Cathedral, now known as The Brave Day, in January 2009. Good lookin' guys:

Their music is awesome, too!

Soon after, I was hired by a former coworker to shoot his engagement and wedding photos (May and August 2009), and I upgraded to the Nikon D90 and ditched the Sunpak for the SB-600 speedlight. Photos looked like this:

 

These freelance gigs have been sporadic since then, what with finishing college and moving to Indianapolis, but this year, I finally have a fairly steady lineup of assignments, and will be making enough that I bought some great new photo equipment. The better to shoot you with, my dears! The lineup for this wedding season is as follows:
Nikon D90
Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 (kit lens)
Nikkor 70-300mm f/3.5-5.6
Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
SB-600 speedlight + diffuser + softbox w/gels
SB-700 speedlight + softbox w/gels

Needless to say, I'm pumped! I'm also happy that I finally got this blog started and am also making a lot of improvements to my website, www.kathleengrady.zenfolio.com. So I think it's about time to start this wonderful adventure of art, photography, and life!