This wedding is dear to my heart. Kim and Mike tied the knot last June in St. Thomas. The couple had taken a trip to the Virgin Islands and joked about getting married here. On June 9, 2012 it was no joke. It was a fun filled weekend with close family and friends. I even got to have my brother Stu come with me to shoot the wedding. He has  adventure in his heart and creativity in his bones. I was so grateful he took off work to come with me. I am not sure what the best part of this trip was. The “rehearsal dinner” where the family and friends took a pirate ship cruise at sunset or the beach wedding followed by an intimate dinner and drinks.

It was common to find the gentlemen holding the ladies purses this weekend.

Next one is a fun shot by Stu Brand.

Mike had to have his island themed underwear that day.

Next four shots by Stu Brand.

Kim’s dad surprised all the boys with cuban cigars at the end of the night.

Stu and I got to spend an extra day in St. Thomas. Of course we spent it by the beach. I tried to stay out of the sun under an umbrella and  if you look hard enough you can see Stu swimming.

We had one more great meal by the ocean before we had to leave.

This past March 2nd, Geneva and Coy were married.  While we got a heavy snow earlier in the week, the roads were clear and the skies were sunny for their beautiful day.  And this couple was ready to celebrate.  Geneva even had a special dress just for the reception so she can show off her dance moves.

Geneva got ready in her childhood bedroom with her mom and bridesmaids.  I love how everyone had their hands in the mix.

Geneva’s two bridesmaids make adjustments to her veil.

As mama looks on with pride, she can’t resist kissing her daughter.

Before heading to the church, we shot these stunning portraits of Geneva.  Simple and classic beauty.

Geneva and Coy share a love for horses.  Coy grew up on a farm south of Manhattan, Kansas with horses and cattle.  Geneva loves riding horses and so they added the horseshoes into the details of their day.

Sweet moments with her parents before the ceremony.

A stop at Union Station before the reception.  A special place for the couple, since they spent time there they day they were engaged.  Then we walked over to the park for some shots in the snow.

On to the reception at the cozy Baltimore Club

A few quick rooftop shots. Love these.

And the party is on… line dancing, the cotton-eye’d Joe, a little K-State Wabash to celebrate a March madness win, bouquet and garter toss, and one sassy bride shaking her booty.  What a night.

My husband and I have had the opportunity to do life together with the Luetell’s for nearly half a year. When I met Katie she was pregnant. It’s been both a blessing, and joy to watch their family grow and to welcome baby Campbell to the world. Blake and I are looking forward to watching her grow up together. Here are just a few of my favorite newborn photos of Campbell.

One of my favorite parts of the day was this yellow box Katie found in someones trash. Talk about an awesome find.

Matt and Meryn are as fun as they come. I had a blast getting to know this couple and getting to photograph their wedding was just the icing on the cake. Oh wait there was no cake. They had a cookie cake instead. Matt and Meryn are a couple after my own heart. I can never say no to a chocolate chip cookie. And we can’t forget the James Bond white dinner jacket Matt wore. Here are some of my favorite moments from this beautiful day last October.

I also had the pleasure of shooting with the very talented Grace Davis. This is one of my favorites from the day.

Here is another shot by Grace.

After their first dance it was time for the Beatle’s cover band to step in.

I have been working for epagafoto for a while now, and I figured it was about time to take a crack at this blog thing. For my first blog attempt, I wanted to share something with you all that is a little personal. In this past year, I’ve been blessed with several opportunities to document my brother’s life through photos. It all started one day when we realized that Drew and Alicia had been married for a little over six years, and for one reason or another, they didn’t have any good pictures together. It was almost like I got to do an engagement shoot with them. As fun as that was, more fun was on the way. Shortly after their couple shoot, Drew and Alicia got pregnant. This wasn’t an ordinary pregnancy either, because they were having twins! It was only a blink of an eye before I was taking pictures of Alicia’s tummy and then their two beautiful children.

 My older brother is a big goofball. He does not always show it, but here is some proof.
Alicia was about 5 months pregnant here. Now here she is at 8 months.

This photo happened when Drew said, “You’re going to be a MOM in a few weeks.”

A boy and a girl. Please meet baby Brooks and baby Paige.

I love you guys so much and can’t wait to see what happens next!

SO. It’s time to make the official, long overdue announcement, that Allyson Cheney is joining the crew as our “everything children related” photographer.

She deserves the title as she’s the amazing mother of four wildly imaginative children (ages 2-7yrs). Ask her anything about being pregnant, shushing a baby, chasing a toddler, or teaching a valuable lessons and she’ll leave with with plenty of wisdom. She’s simply amazing at photographing expectant mothers, newborns, little kiddo’s, and growing families. Her passion for all things listed is evident in every one of her portfolio images (which I’d invite you to go check out on our website..www.epagafoto.com). Here she is…isnt’ she a doll?

Around the studio, we call her “the baby whisperer”. She’s that good. I stand in awe of it, really.

To help celebrate our new addition, Allyson is offering a fall promotion on Family or Children Quickie sessions (yes, we call them “quickies”…and then we giggle). So bring your family or littles out for a quick shoot with Allyson and see for yourself what a gem of a human being she is:)  She’ll wow you with her personality and talent.  That’s a promise.

Family/children Quickie sessions: $300

When-Friday, October 26th, 2012

9am-4pm (sessions last 30 minutes)

Where- Location- TBD (will set location as we get closer to the date, but will likely be a natural, fall-like location)

What- Cost includes session fee and 15 edited digital files on disc.

To snag a session with Allyson, email the studio at jessica@epagafoto and we’ll get you booked!

What a way to start off 2012.  Last year when I was talking to Courtney about her future March wedding, we were thinking it could be snowy or icy, or rainy…but, boy were we wrong.  Instead, we had a beautiful day with gorgeous Spring weather, a breath taking dress (and ring!)…. handsome groom, good looking bridal party, and of course…a beautiful bride.

I was lucky to have Marybeth, and her brother Stu, shooting with me. Here’s a couple of my favorites:

Courtney’s sister, Kit, was one of her maid of honors. I love this shot. It’s pure love and joy, it just makes me smile.

Courtney packing her dress and heading to the church.

Another photo from Mary Beth.

Time to get dressed- so pretty.

Courtney’s mom Lynn looks on.

Great shots by Mary Beth. Zach prepping his bow tie.

And you think this little guy is checking twitter?

The groomsmen prepping…

and playing…

While the boys played, the girls soaked up some sun…


Courtney is stunning, that’s a given. And as we were shooting she apologized for being awkward and we were joking around when she suddenly struck this pose….then she burst into laughter. Awkward? I don’t think so girlie.


Family love.

As the ceremony gets ready to start, the groomsmen gather in prayer. And Stu captures some sweet moments between Courtney and her Dad.

I asked one of the bridesmaids to help Courtney with her dress and the groom’s nephew quickly piped up and said, “I’ll help”.And then it was time to celebrate at the Sawyer Room, and PAR-TAY with band Private Stock! And a quick little sneak outside for some rooftop shots

So last October, I packed my gear and one of my favorite travel photo-buddies, Amy Guerreri, and we were off to shoot one heck of a fun wedding.  Happy surprise number one…we arrived to a tropical storm.  And I’m not talking “cute little sprinkle” sort of a tropical storm.  We’re talking torrential downpour, serious winds, ridiculous amounts of water.

Kristin could have been justifiably upset…no one would have faulted her at. all. But she was a champ and totally embraced the whole ordeal and in turn, we got some incredible images.

These first images were from the rehearsal dinner, which is when the storm arrived…

loved the modern, asian decor of the rehearsal location…shot the heck out of that space.sweet moment with the parents…all the fella’s lookin fly…Grandpa made me smile over and over…he was the officiant for Kristen and Chris’ wedding.  how sweet.a long night exposure by Amy G.funny story here..Kristen has these beautiful lip-gloss smothered lips.  Nearly every time she lays a wet one on Chris, there’s a subsequent “wipe off” move.  It’s become a signature Chris move we’ve made several jokes about:)
Here begins the wedding day…we started the day by documenting the trail of rain.  It was quite beautiful, actually.
my gosh, does it get more hollywood than this?lip gloss it, girl!  You know Chris loves it:)
happy Kristen…At one point, we had a break in the rain and went out to take some family pictures.  The clouds opened and in 2 seconds flat we were running for shelter…I love this picture because it shows the joy amidst the chaos.  This is Chris’ mom…
we found a cool covered area and rocked out some portraits while the rain took over…Kristen testing the rain pour before we bare it all..sans umbrella.these boys were about as handsome and fun as they get.  Loved hangin’ with these dapper dudes.the beauty here is unreal.
Throughout the day, Kristen transformed from a glammed hollywood star to a beautiful beach goddess…all rain-induced.  Wowsa.
details on the yacht…gorg.i adore this photo…the backstory is this…everyone was a bit bummed that the rain was forcing the ceremony to be inside the yacht instead of up on the rooftop.  Here, a groomsmen chills with a drink while people scurry to get things ready.guests greeted with champagne….yum.

Though the wedding was moved inside, the ceremony was as sweet as could be…
Again, I love gramps here…that smile warms a room.
it’s 9pm and it’s stillllllll raining.and then this happened and made the entire day’s worth of rain worth it:)another long exposure during dinner.Oh dear.  This picture will forever haunt this poor man.