andystenz | photography » events

lauren + peter’s waukesha wedding

andystenz — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 12:14:26 +0000

Lauren + Peter’s wedding was one of those days where everything just fell into place. Everything just flowed right along nicely from one event to the next, people and places where ready on time, the sky was a perfectly cloudy (giving beautiful soft light everywhere) and everyone was having a great time! It’s day like this that I absolutely love my job! These two are a pretty laid back couple and a pleasure to be around. I really enjoyed hanging out with them and their friends all day.

The ceremony and reception where both held at the Waukesha Rotunda, which not only is a lovely venue, the food prepared by Chef Jack’s is always amazingly delicious. Because they held everything in one place, we had the luxury of enjoying the party more as we didn’t have to drive around to different locations for photos. In fact, because they saw each other before hand for photos together (which I think makes for great photos and memories!) they were able to hang out with their guest more after the wedding.

Thanks to you both for having me out to enjoy your day with you. I had a blast!

alicia + ben’s dubuque wedding

andystenz — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:02:56 +0000

Well, the wedding season is in full gear (which explains my delay in updating the blog!) It started this year in Dubuque, Iowa with Alicia+Ben’s wedding. It was going to be an outdoor wedding, but thanks to some rain (and boy did it rain) we headed inside for the main event. Everyone adjusted well and the day went beautifully. Alicia+Ben had opted to see each other beforehand for photos (which I recommend for many reasons!) and we were able to beat the rain for some wonderful portraits outside – including some with their dog Riley (you might remember him from their engagement session).

The wedding and reception were held at the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium which was a wonderfully unique and fun location for their celebration. I didn’t get to tour the whole place, but there is something about eating dinner a few feet from a huge catfish swimming by you that does make for an enjoyable evening.

Anyway, here’s a smattering of the photos from the day. I’m working on five other weddings and hope to have those up soon too ;-)

melissa + doug’s waukesha wedding photography

andystenz — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:45:45 +0000

When Melissa, Doug and I sat down to chat about their wedding photography, we connected over a very important item: Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.” That’s right, we connected over a song. We’ll, I think we connected on a lot of levels, that’s just one thing that I will remember about these guys – the joy of Queen. The song is a pure party song and that’s what their wedding day was like – a fun ride from start to finish. The last song played before I left the reception? That’s right, you guess it. I ended my time with them that day photographing them dancing and singing with Freddy (and I wasn’t too shy with singing myself…)

Thanks for letting me be part of your day guys! Many blessings you in your marriage!

gma at your house

andystenz — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:48:17 +0000

A few weeks ago, Mike and Kelly Schmitt, a couple from here in Waukesha, were surprised when the crew from Good Morning America showed up to host from their house! They had been picked to help showcase what life is like on “Main Street” throughout America. I thought it a good reason to go and take some photos ;-)

The filming started at about 5:30am and it wasn’t quite warm yet…

The whole morning crew was there: Chris, Diane, Robin and Sam.

The local ABC affiliate was on hand to interview the GMA anchors.

And they brought along Rodney Atkins and his band. The bassist got a kick out of the Racing Sausages which showed up to promote the Brewers.

If you are interested, you can check out http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/YourHouse/ for the video segments from that mornings shows.

jessica’s 30th

andystenz — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:26:55 +0000

We celebrated my wife’s 30th birthday last weekend with a wine and cake reception. Jess wanted a fancy, black tie optional event. So I broke out my tux (as did a variety of other good looking chaps) and the ladies had an opportunity to dig into their closest for the dresses that only get worn every so often. Jess and I even had a chance to put our dance lessons to the test in front of everyone!

Happy Birthday my beautiful wife. I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you!

The cakes came from Le Cakery in Elm Grove (website). Hakan, the owner, delivered them and help set them up nicely. If you need a cake for a special occasion, I would recommend you check out Le Cakery!

Our friends here are looking at a guest book I designed, which has pictures of Jess since birth. These guest books are a wonderful idea for any party, reception, or wedding. Feel free to contact me for more details.

It was great to get family together again that haven’t seen each other since our wedding (six years ago next month!).

homes for our troops

andystenz — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:25:32 +0000

I am going to be volunteering some time over the next few months with a nation-wide organization called Homes for Our Troops. They are a non-profit organization that builds houses for Servicemen and women who return home severely injured. Think Extreme Home Makeover for disabled veterans. I’m honored to be the photographer on a local project they are working on.

They are preparing to build a house here in Waukesha for Army SPC Jason Schulz. Jason’s truck was struck by an IED in Mosul, Iraq and he lost both of his legs. The house they will be building with be handicap accessible and help meet his specialized needs.

If you are interested, they are looking for a variety of volunteers and donations – from skilled tradesmen, people helping with meals, community communication teams, materials and monetary donations, etc. The house will be built over a 3 day weekend a few months from now (why take 7 days when you can do it in 3? Take that Extreme Home Makeover!) Anyway, if you are inclined to help or donate in anyway, you can visit their site for more info (link).

They just finished building a house in Sun Prairie for another injured vet. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote a nice article about it which can be read here.

Here are some photos from the registration/information meeting they held this week.

valentine’s day tasting

andystenz — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 13:57:57 +0000

This Valentine’s Day we had some friends over for a wine tasting party. 14 people on the 14th. We had a blast! Here are some shots from the delicious food and drink we shared. I tried not to take too many photos but of course I had to take a few!

hey mom, i’m on klh

andystenz — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:42:07 +0000

My step brother’s Christmas gift was a guest DJ spot on WHKL’s “Hey Mom, I’m on KLH!” where he got to DJ for an hour. I was lucky enough to be able to join him in the studio to document his experience. Our host was WKLH’s Ed Becker. We had a great time chatting a learning from him.

Ed gave us a tour of the station, which includes 102.9 The Hog. Our first stop was Bob & Brian’s studio.

Kyle preparing his final set:

And some shots of the studio:

new years eve photobooth

andystenz — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:42:54 +0000

I set up a little photobooth in my sister’s apartment last night during the New Year’s Eve festivities. Here are some of my favorite shots from the night.

(Strobist info: 2 SB-600 @ 1/16 pointed at wall and flagged. 1 Sunpak 383 @ 1/8 shot through Ezybox camera left.)

christmas eve

andystenz — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 19:26:31 +0000

We spent Christmas Eve this year with my step-dad’s family in Oshkosh. An Italian family where the food and laughs never run out. It was cold and snowy outside but inside we had a great time. We finished the night playing the annual game of Tombola (Italian Bingo). This Tombola set has been used every year for eighty some years or so.

lambeau field

andystenz — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:05:39 +0000

Last night, I took my dad to Lambeau Field to see the Packers take on the Bengals in their first preseason game of the year. We had a great time. We stopped at the Hall of Fame, walked around the outside of Lambeau, and enjoyed the game. Oh, and a Packer game in 70 degree weather is the best Packer game there is!

robbie seay band

andystenz — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:56:24 +0000

The Robbie Seay Band was in town the other night for a benefit concert for little Zoe, who was diagnosed with Trisomy 18. Trisomy 18 normally takes the life of infants before 8 days yet Zoe’s been alive for over 100 now (108 the day of the concert). Robbie Seay’s newest CD is entitled “Give Yourself Away.” Not only does he live that motto out, I also think it is their best CD to date!

Some links:
Info about Zoe zoemeanslifefor.us and the family’s blog batiansila.blogspot.com

And the talented Robbie Seay Band

Love Wins!

dialogue of two faiths

andystenz — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:30:32 +0000

This past weekend I was in Toronto. One of the reasons for my trip was to see a dialogue/debate between leading scholars from both Christianity and Islam on the topic of peace. Jay Smith represented the Christian view, and Shabir Ally represented Islam. Both are top notch debaters and scholars as well as good friends. It was an amazing dialogue and a great chance to learn from both men.

The video of the dialogue can be found at this website.