Life on Earth

I’m falling way behind– with everything. Isn’t summer nice?

Wedding receptions can be a blast, and other times they are more subdued–either way, I appreciate when they are sincere and heartfelt. It always shows through in the images. So far, so good for the 2008 season. Great people every weekend.

Here, the bride kicks off her shoes on the dance floor. Next, a maid of honor tears up during her toast. And, further below we see the friendships shining through between buddies on the dance floor. Then, Amber takes charge with her newly wedded husband. And, Treva and Brian steal a quiet moment during the July 4th fireworks in Petoskey.

And, finally, one of those strange shots that I like to put out there to see who shares my taste for odd images.

Images by Gary L Howe

From the top, the flower girl quickly took a nap shortly after walking down the aisle on July 4, at the same wedding you could see the pride in the best man as he watched the groom finally get married and a family member is given a gift just before the bride made her entrance. Further down, Lauren was glowing on the steps of the church after being presented with James as a married couple in Suttons Bay, Michigan in June. Although Mareesa and Jason were making lots of jokes during their wedding day, her father still was moved to tears during the ceremony.

 FYI: Lauren’s bouquet made by Christine Sleeman at Fischer Design. She’s my girlfriend.

Next post: Portrait Opportunities.

Images  Gary L Howe

It has been a busy season with many freelance assignments ranging from the New York Times to Massey Ferguson Today (they make tractors, and publish a magazine, go figure). I’ve shot a few weddings as well. Last year, I posted images from each wedding, but this year I will post from several weddings at once under themes of the wedding day. Today’s theme–getting ready. Some funny, some emotional and some classic beauty.

(Above) From the most recent wedding, the bride, Amber, took time to complete a friend’s makeup before unveiling her own gorgeous hair style .  Below, Jason anticipates his wedding with Mareesa on June 14th.

And below, an elegant image of Treva just before her July 4th wedding and her bridesmaids and flower girl making their way to the ceremony.

I’ll have more images up soon, but it is hard to be on the computer when the weather is so nice!

Images © Gary L Howe

The last wedding assignment of the 2007 season was in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Ben & Sherry took a chance that it wouldn’t snow in mid-October and threw a great party. Here are a few images focusing on the details, the humor and friendships.

For each wedding, I choose a selection to proof as black & white. B & W allows the viewer to focus on the subject of the images. The colors were amazing in October, but so were the relationships.

Images by Gary L Howe

Jason & Erika were married back in late September in St. Joseph, Michigan, with the reception at the Blue Dress Barn. They are a beautiful couple, both with lots of character. It was difficult to choose what images to display here, so I focused on showing their personalities when together.

I have a few more weddings from 2007 to BLOG (soon), but previous entries can be viewed here: 2007 Weddings

Images by Gary L Howe

Fall–simply, it is just a beautiful time of the year. On September 15th, Andrea & Brian chose a fantastic place to get married in the Snowmoon Ranch. The farm overlooks rolling hills, Glen Lake and comes complete with a population of Llamas. It was a full participatory wedding with several friends lending their musical talents to accompany the sounds of local fav New Third Coast. Unfortunately, we all can’t make it on the new couples’ mega-moon that is taking them across the globe for 8 months.

It’s not often that I get to shoot a couple’s wedding where I was present when they first met! Kate & Abe met at a party a couple of year’s ago and were married August 4th at their country home in West Michigan. Kate is the owner of Zany Consignment Boutique in Traverse City.

The farm was beautiful, Kate was gorgeous, Abe was a little silly and Kate’s cousin, on leave from the military, was ready to get his groove on.

All photography by Gary L Howe.

Sara and Ryan’s Northern Michigan Wedding had glamour, lots of emotion, plenty of humor and good ol’ excitement. Strangely enough, a lot of weddings skip past the big moment–The Kiss. If you blink, you miss it. Sara and Ryan seemed to forget that there were other people present–and then remembered, making for a pretty funny expression.

Ryan was thrilled that his uncle brought his Model A Ford Truck for the newlyweds to take a spin around Crystal Mountain’s campus.

It can sometimes be a sad state of affairs when the bouquet is tossed out. Many women flee as far as they can from the floral toss. Sara’s friends put on a good show for the cause, although the enthusiasm seemed to wane once the bouquet was airborne.

I shoot, maybe, one or two Mackinac Island Weddings every summer. It is a nice change from the weddings on the mainland. I do need to book Mackinac Island Weddings well in advance, however, because of the additional logistics in a very busy summertime place.

On June 23rd, I had fun capturing many tight details, a very deliberate flower girl named Chloe and an expressive bride at Jessie and Eric’s wedding in Leelanau County and in Traverse City.

Here are a few of the images that stuck out for me, beginning with some detail shots.

Emily and Louis weren’t very happy with the rain earlier in the day, but they changed their mind once the rainbows began to appear on June 2 at the Vineyard Inn in Suttons Bay, Michigan .

It was little tense just before the ceremony due to a hook problem, but that’s what a bride’s ladies are for.

Typical, it’s always the women leading the way on the dance floor.

Life is beginning to get back to normal since my father’s passing, and then the purchasing, improving, and moving into a new house. I’m still under boxes, but wanted to get something new on this BLOG….

What better than images from the first wedding of the 2007 season. Melissa and John were married on May 12 at Black Star Farms. It was casual, emotional and, simply, beautiful. Here are a few of the images of the day’s story that began at the Leelanau county vineyard, and ended at their family cottage on Lake Michigan. Melissa’s two children were an important focus for the event that brought two long time friends together in marriage.