Pure Fun

February 17, 2014 Steve Vansak

Have you had enough of the cold temperatures and never ending snow here in Northwest Indiana and Chicago?!! I sure have. It's downright depressing at times. I feel for all of you who are recently engaged who are now planning their wedding in all of this muck. This post is for you. I have no rhyme or reason for it other than to say Spring is coming and fun is on the way.

So I give to you some random image that I hope will put a smile on your face. These are going to be mostly fun, crazy, lighthearted moments today. We'll save the tender romantic ones or teary eyed moms for another time. I love to look at my images from past weddings as it brings out so many fun memories for me. Really looking forward to the upcoming wedding season that is just around the corner. My forecast for 2014 says - pure fun!!

I'll never forget the stunning, energy filled entrance of Greg and Kristen at their reception or the most boogieing Dad of 2013. From crowd surfing children to giggling girls during cocktail hour, the night time hours were certainly fun. The football bridesmaid get my vote for MVP's from last season.

First look at Fernwood Botanical Garden in Niles, Michigan.

Mike and Jenn's first look is borderline sentimental I admit, but the sheer joy on their faces makes the cut for our fun theme today.

Groomsmen hold the bride aloft at Centennial Park in Munster, Indiana.

If you hold the bride aloft and don't drop her and she looks like she is enjoying yourself, congratulations - you have helped create another fun wedding photo.

In the collage below you will find a first for me, a bride who performed for her guests solo on piano. It was awesome!!

A little guy wearing shades with wavy blonde hair took over the dance floor at the Halls of St. George during Amanda and Josh's reception there last summer. At the same venue, Stephanie raised her bouquet in celebration as the DJ played Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Evan and Stephanie did not see each other, but it was a joy to photograph their almost peek-a-boo shot just before they married.

Bride attempts to crush the groomsmen with her blue wedding shoes.

You wouldn't try to crush the groomsmen on your wedding day would you? Okay, don't answer that.

Now, I've ranted about cold and snow here, I feel bad for my winter clients. Truth is, winter weddings can be fun too. I'm just tired of shoveling snow and getting cranky. However, to be fair I will leave you with a fun winter wedding photo. This is an older one that I still adore. It was taken in front of the old courthouse in downtown Crown Point. Stay warm out there. Hope you enjoyed this post.

Winter wedding photo in downtown Crown Point.

Wedding Album Designs

January 13, 2013 Steve Vansak

As I get ready to showcase my wedding photography at the many Northwest Indiana bridal shows this winter, I thought it was a good time to revisit some of the custom wedding album designs I did for clients this year. I plan on ordering some duplicate copies so I can show them off at the shows and also give new clients a chance to see an entire wedding from me. This can be helpful for newly engaged couples looking to hire a photographer for their wedding.

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First and foremost, I'm purely a local wedding photographer, serving Northwest Indiana, Chicago and Michigan. However, I'm very proud of the designs that I do for my client's albums. I like to wear that hat as well and nothing is outsourced. After the wedding is complete and all of the images are edited, I notify my couples and we have a Premiere Night. First we watch their highlight video of images captured from getting ready all the way to the reception. We then look at images one by one. After all of this is complete, we decide together what would be the best images for the front and back covers of the wedding album.

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The above walking away shot made for a fitting end to Dustin and Jenny's album. We took many great shots on the spectacular bridge that overlooks Centennial Park in Munster, but something about the happy couple making their way into the sunset, resonated with the newlyweds as well as me.

For Nathan and Nichole's outdoor military wedding at Wicker Park, classic white was featured throughout the book. I added many flourshes with brushes in photoshop to give them a unique, yet classic design for their album.

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Adding quotes is also very effective and when laced throughout the album. Chris and Candy's summer wedding at Avalon Manor seemed to call out for many philisophical words of love.

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Stacey and Steve's wedding reception at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts in Munster was a grand old time. For their reception pages, some champagne decor seemed to compliment the happy mood of the bride's father spinning her around on the dance floor as well as the other key events at the reception.

One of their favorite wedding images of the day is this photo of them strolling through the garden at the Shrine of Christ's Passion in St. John, Indiana. The off white rose added a nice soft touch to the decorated album page.

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I encourage you to fill out the contact form and schedule a meeting to take a look at sample albums in person. I love cusomizing them for my wedding clients and I'd love to show them to you as well. See you at those bridal shows this winter!! :)

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Vote For Your Favorite Wedding Collage of 2012

January 3, 2013 Steve Vansak

I love to create custom collages for my clients. I usually combine a few images of the couple with interesting decor I photographed at the wedding. I do this with ring shots quite often. While taking a look back at the incredible season of wedding I just finished - from wedding venues like Dewey Cannon Winery in Michigan, The Allure in Laporte, Indiana to incredible churches like St. Ann's in Lansing and St. Stanislaus Kostka in Michigan City - I came across 5 of my favorite collages.

This poll will close on January 31st. The collage with the most votes gains the happy couple a free print of the image.

Please vote and tell me which one is your favorite!! Click on the images to see them larger. Happy voting!!!

Update on 2013-02-02 16:18 by Steve Vansak

UPDATE: Voting is now closed and the pick for Favorite Wedding Collage of 2012 is Nathan and Nichole's Military Wedding. A complimentary print will be sent out shortly. Here is the image:

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The Shrine of Christ's Passion Wedding Photos

May 23, 2012 Steve Vansak

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For Stacey and Steve's Spring wedding we took our formal wedding photos at The Shrine of Christ's Passion in St. John, Indiana. This internationally known tourist attraction sits just in front of the new St. John the Evangelist Church. It's a unique location for wedding photos and we were able to give the appearance of a mountainous area as seen in the photo of our bride facing the large duplicate of Jesus' cross.

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One of the couple's favorite wedding photos was this casual stroll amongst the greenery of The Shrine of Christ's Passion walkway.

I knew that Stacey was a big fan of selective color shots from their engagement session the previous year. The groom instinctively helped his bride hold onto the bouquet of flowers while they embraced closely together.

The wedding party patiently waited for our couple's session to end and we gathered them all around the circular drive of the spectacular new church.

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Here is another one of my favorites with the bride and groom at the bottom of the hilltop with the church illuminated in the background.

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Below is one of my designed wedding images. This is one I call the Love Story Canvas Wrap. It's 20x24 sized wall print that wraps around wood and comes with a saw tooth hanger for immediate hanging. All of our packages are digital, but still nothing beats a spectacular looking wall print.

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Finally we have the wonderful couple waving to all of their family and friends in this vintage looking wedding photo. To see more of Stacey and Steve's Catholic wedding ceremony, visit this post from a couple of weeks ago.