Category Archives: Weddings
Culver Indiana Wedding Photographer: Kalamaras Wedding
Ginny and I just got back to Culver from one of my best friend’s weddings in Chicago. It was great to be a part of this wedding, as I’ve been a friend of Chris’s for around 25 years, and Keri, his new wife, is such a kind and sweet person. Keri and Chris smiled throughout all the events and their happiness was contagious.
I was a groomsman for the wedding, but Ginny and I still took some photographs. Chris had a wonderful photographer named Laura who is from Chicago. She did a great job of keeping everything running and organized.
Not being the photographer, I decided to leave some equipment at home. I have to admit that it was nice to enjoy the event and not be responsible for all of the photos. I hope the photos reflect what a beautiful and fun event it was. I think Chris and Keri have great friends and family and they know how to throw a classy party. I apologize that in many of the photos, it is obvious that everyone’s attention was on the hired wedding photographer. Out of professional courtesy, we tried to stay out of the photographer’s way, as we know how tough it is to get the right shots when a lot of guests are in your way and taking their own pictures. 
Culver Indiana Wedding Photographer: Practice, Practice, Practice
This week, we had a well-known nature photographer (Corey Hilz) in town who spent some time shooting areas in and around Culver with us. While we had him here, we decided to take some pictures at Culver Academy’s Memorial Chapel. We thought it would be great to shoot with Corey because it became obvious to us after a few days that Corey was an expert scene photographer. We thought it would be fun to look at the ”potential scene shots” we could take at the Chapel.
We were fortunate that Minister Joanna Wagner gave us permission to go to the chapel and take some pictures. We also decided to hire a model for the shoot. With the help of Ashley Ellinger, a bride whose wedding we shot earlier this summer, we set out to see what scenes we could get at the chapel. We also decided to take our off-camera lighting equipment to set up some portrait shots that would show off Ashley’s beauty and enhace the lighting in the chapel, which isn’t ideal for shooting portraits or scenes.
We struggled with scenes inside the chapel and outside, as we had to shoot around long shadows and fading sunlight. We managed to get some great shots that we’ve posted here. Ginny kept saying, “I think the model bride is so beautiful that it will be hard to take a bad shot of her.” We tried to use lighting to highlight our model in the scene shots, to give her warm lighting when the lighting seemed to demand it in portraits, and to capture the sky that finally decided to warm to us as the day came to a close.
We thank Corey and Ashley for providing us a great learning experience. And thanks to Joanna Wagner for allowing us some time at the chapel.
Culver Indiana Wedding Photographer: A Sunset Ceremony
Ginny and I were honored to shoot the wedding of Ty and Diana Fujimura. Ty is the son of Cheryl and Tom Fujimura. For those who went to Culver Academies in the 80s, you might know Mr. Fujimura as “Dean Fujimura.” For this wedding, we fought the rapidly descending sun, as the ceremony started around 7:30 p.m. We struggled with lighting issues all night, but we learned that you must work with what you get in this scenario, and sometimes, you get more than you hoped for. In some cases, the sun gives you warm, golden pictures that you couldn’t create superficially if you wanted to; in other cases, it created a romantic setting. In still other cases, it blew out shots and meant we had to adjust settings throughout the evening.
The bride and groom are fun people, beautiful to photograph, and showed great love and respect for their friends and family. We enjoyed catching some of the moments they shared on their special day.
Plymouth Indiana Wedding Photographer: Wedding in a Park
Ginny and I shot the wedding of Ashley and Seth Ellinger. The ceremony was held at a park in Plymouth, IN. They used a gazeebo for a more intimate ceremony, and then had the reception in the park with a larger crowd. Ginny shot from the back of the gazeebo, while I moved around it. My favorite shot is one Ginny got of the flower girls. She noticed they were getting tired of being on their feet and had begun to move toward each other. Ginny waited patiently for the right moment, and I think she captured it here. Though it was a short evening, we had a great time shooting this beautiful groom and bride. Here are a handful of shots from the evening.
