Sam came down a staircase lined end to end with candles while Matt stood at the bottom with his back turned, hands in his pockets, waiting. That is the whole day in one frame: everything carefully set, and then something completely unguarded happening inside it.
<figure><img src="/images/projects/matt-sam-02.jpg" alt="The bride and groom laughing together during portraits" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/matt-sam-03.jpg" alt="Wedding party portrait before the ceremony" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/matt-sam-04.jpg" alt="Detail of the bride getting ready" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/matt-sam-05.jpg" alt="The couple during their ceremony" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/matt-sam-06.jpg" alt="Guests celebrating at the reception" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/matt-sam-07.jpg" alt="The couple during their first dance" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/matt-sam-08.jpg" alt="Late in the evening on the dance floor" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/matt-sam-09.jpg" alt="The bride and groom at the end of the night" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>

A candlelit staircase, a first look, and a night that never quite settled down.

Matt + Sam

Tess wore long sleeves and a veil that went on for days, and the two of them found a quiet corner of the building before anyone else had arrived. Most of my favourite frames from this wedding were made in the ten minutes nobody had scheduled.
<figure><img src="/images/projects/pat-tess-02.jpg" alt="The bride getting ready before the ceremony" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/pat-tess-03.jpg" alt="The couple during their ceremony" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/pat-tess-04.jpg" alt="Portrait of the bride and groom" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/pat-tess-05.jpg" alt="Wedding day details" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/pat-tess-06.jpg" alt="Guests at the reception" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/pat-tess-07.jpg" alt="The couple on the dance floor" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/film-01.jpg" alt="A film frame from the wedding day" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>

Long sleeves, a cathedral veil, and a first look with nobody else in the room.

Pat + Tess

Her dad lost it before the doors even opened. I stayed back against the wall for this one and let it happen, because the only thing that could have ruined it was somebody asking them to do it again.
<figure><img src="/images/projects/leo-ballroom-02.jpg" alt="The ceremony inside The Leo Ballroom" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/leo-ballroom-03.jpg" alt="The reception at The Leo Ballroom in Omaha" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>

A father, a handkerchief, and the moment just before the doors opened.

The Leo Ballroom

Shot from above, looking straight down the aisle, with every guest on their feet and her veil trailing halfway back across the lawn. Worth the climb.
<figure><img src="/images/projects/holland-center-01.jpg" alt="The reception at The Holland Event Center in Omaha" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>

An outdoor ceremony from above, and an aisle everyone had been waiting on.

The Holland Event Center

The Cottonwood gives you brass, marble and a lobby that already looks like a photograph before anyone walks into it. On a day this well put together my job is mostly to stay out of the way and keep the light honest.

Downtown Omaha, old brass and warm light.

The Cottonwood Hotel

Kansas City gave us wind, which is usually a problem and occasionally a gift. He leaned in, she closed her eyes, and her hair went everywhere. I kept the frame.
<figure><img src="/images/projects/film-02.jpg" alt="A film frame made the same afternoon" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>

Kansas City, wind in her hair, and a kiss that was not for the camera.

The Glasshouse at River Oaks

Sarah put a hand over her face the second she turned around, which is how you know a first look worked. The Surety has a black iron staircase and old mosaic tile that did most of the composing for me.

The River Center and the Surety Hotel, and a first look on the tile.

Corbin + Sarah

Some couples treat the reception as the part that happens after the photographs. These two treated it as the point, which meant I spent most of the night on the floor with them rather than pulling them off it.
<figure><img src="/images/projects/ben-melanie-02.jpg" alt="The couple during their wedding celebration" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>
<figure><img src="/images/projects/ben-melanie-03.jpg" alt="A quiet moment between the bride and groom" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>

A long reception and a couple who danced through all of it.

Ben + Melanie

We stole twenty minutes at the end of the day, which is almost always the twenty minutes the album opens with.
<figure><img src="/images/projects/joel-sara-02.jpg" alt="Portrait of the couple on their wedding day" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>

Portraits made in the last good hour of light.

Joel + Sara

A day with a lot of people in it and a lot of moving parts, which is exactly the kind of day a prepared timeline earns its keep. Nobody had to be found, and nothing had to be staged twice.

Two families, one very long and very good day.

Ashwin + Kristina

I put an engagement session in front of almost every wedding, and this is why. By the time the wedding came around, Matt and Sam already knew what I sound like, what I ask for, and how little of it there is. That is worth more on the day than any shot list.

The session before the wedding, which is really a rehearsal for being photographed.

Matt + Sam, Engaged

The Joslyn gives you pink marble, enormous doors and a flight of steps wide enough to make one person look very small in the best way. We waited for the wind and it turned up on cue.

Bridal portraits on the marble steps, veil in the wind.

Joslyn Art Museum

The welcome party is the most underrated coverage I offer. Everyone is in town, nobody is on a schedule yet, and the photographs are looser than anything you will get the next day.
<figure><img src="/images/projects/welcome-party-02.jpg" alt="Guests at the rehearsal dinner on the patio" loading="lazy" decoding="async"></figure>

The night before, on a patio, with everyone finally in one place.