alicia + ben’s dubuque wedding

July 7, 2010 | Categories: couples, events, travel, weddings
1 Comment

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 ;-)

milwaukee, wisconsin wedding photographer: alicia + bens dubuque wedding

Vegas

March 30, 2010 | Categories: landscape, news, sunrise, travel
6 Comments

I have been horrible with blogging lately. I’ve got a few sessions and weddings to post and I plan to get those up over the next month or so. Life is flying by and it’s been a lot of fun!

A few weeks ago, my dad’s side of the family went out and celebrated what would have been my Grandpa’s birthday. Grandpa and Grandma Stenz loved Vegas and spent a lot of time there, so it was fitting to have a gathering to celebrate there. I decided before we went that there were a few shots I wanted to get. I’m happy to say that I was able to get all of them, and then some. I wanted to go out early one morning (so I headed into the desert at 4am one day), I wanted a nighttime shot of the strip (which allowed for a day shot as I was scoping out locations), and I wanted to get to Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam to get some shots.

As a bonus, when we got near Lake Mead, we decided to take a short helicopter ride (Jess, my sisters and I). I’ve been in helicopters before, yet they hadn’t, so it was great chance to get a little taste of it.

All in all, it was a great few days with the family.

milwaukee, wisconsin wedding photographer: Vegas

the ashland ore dock

August 27, 2009 | Categories: travel
3 Comments

It has been a very fun August! Besides the weddings I shot this month (loved ‘em!), Jess and I actually had a week of vacation (and celebrated my birthday on that trip)! We spent our week in the Ashland/Bayfield area and it was great. I’ve got a lot of photos to process and get up yet I didn’t want to wait until they were all completed. I wanted to get something up sooner, so here’s the first set.

These photos are from the Soo Line ore dock in Ashland. Built in 1915, it became the largest ore dock in the country, at one point having a capacity 110,000 TONS of ore – that’s a heavy load (insert groan here…). Anyway – the rail cars would bring the iron ore out to the dock where it would be shoveled onto huge boats to be shipped off to Chicago and the like. It’s falling down now and they’ve decided to take it down. Luckily for us, some endangered birds nested there and kept it around long enough for us to see it before they start dismantling it. They fenced off more sections while were there, in prep for demolition, which they estimate will take about 1.5 years.

milwaukee, wisconsin wedding photographer: the ashland ore dock

new glarus and paoli

April 20, 2009 | Categories: strobist, travel
4 Comments

Jess and I took a road trip Saturday to New Glarus, which is southwest of Madison. We wanted to have a beer at the New Glarus Brewery and get out and about on a beautiful spring day.

On the way out to New Glarus, there is a small town called Paoli (Pay-ol-e). It’s a one street downtown from the turn of the 20th century that houses a lot of art galleries, antique shops, and the famous Paoli Cheese house.

Here are some shots from the antique shop that is house in the old mill on the Sugar River: