Shannon and Rodney’s Wedding

Shannon and Rodney were married on July 23rd at Magnolia Gardens in Springdale. The reception was also held there, which is the nice thing about that venue – there is plenty of room to have everything at that one location. It was a hot July afternoon and the ceremony was outside, but the reception area was nice and cool and the bride and groom brought coolers filled with water bottles for the guests. Since Shannon’s dad had recently passed away, she wanted to include the thing that reminded her most of him in her wedding – an old red Ford pickup truck. The folks at Magnolia gardens were very accommodating and let us park the truck on the front lawn in the shade for portraits. Here are some of my favorites, with more to come later:

There is a huge old magnolia tree on the grounds that is great for pictures. The rough bark and the indirect light make for nice pictures. And of course, having a pretty bride like Shannon helps too!

This sweet little flower girl is also the couple's daughter. It is a neat contrast to see how big the rings look in her tiny hand!

The first dance.

The pickup her dad drove made for some fun and unique portraits.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman

Random crazy picture from the reception. You've heard of a bouquet toss, well this is the toddler toss!

Jillian & Kevin’s engagement shoot

Last weekend I met up with Jillian and Kevin at Devil’s Den State Park to do engagement portraits. The couples who choose Devil’s Den almost always go for the stand-in-the-water shots in front of the waterfall, but usually there isn’t much water coming over this time of year. Thanks to several big rain showers, the spillway looked great! After the standard shots using the waterfall as a backdrop, they decided to get brave and go sit in the waterfall near the top of the spillway. The images were great, but I have never had a couple so completely soaked after a shoot! Oh well, at least it was warm out 🙂 They are such a fun couple and I am looking forward to their beach wedding in Miami this September!

Jillian and Kevin

We started at the overlook at the top of Yellow Rock Trail, it is so pretty there in the evenings and early morning!

I like how this image expresses more about who they are as a couple than a traditional "look at the camera and smile" picture would.

Cute couple + good evening light + waterfall = good picture.

I really like this image - the setting makes it really unique.

Well it was really hard deciding which images to put on the blog because I had so many favorites, so I am putting a few more on my Facebook page. The link is on the right side of this page towards the top. It’s the best way to keep up with what’s going on in the world of Steely Joe!

Kristi and Brad’s Devils Den Wedding

Kristi and Brad were married at Devils Den State park on June 26. They had a very unique ceremony in mind: to get married standing in the water in front of the spillway/waterfall. Unfortunately we had a very warm dry week and there was only a trickle coming over the spill way. It was still a fun idea, and even without water it made for unique images. The reception was held at the Boars Head Pub in the back of Powerhouse in Fayetteville. And while it is not uncommon for the bride to change outfits for the reception, at this wedding the groom changed his outfit instead – and what an outfit (see the last image below)!

The wedding ceremony in the pond below the spillway.

More photo-stitching. I can't seem to stop! I like this one because you see all the cheering guests as Brad carries Kristi out of the water.

I really like this picture. We moved from the dam to get a little greenery in the background.

When Kristi picked orange as her wedding color, I bet she never thought Brad would embrace it so whole-heartedly!

Stacey and Burke’s Eureka Springs Wedding

Stacey and Burke were married bright and early June 26 at Blue Springs Heritage Center in Eureka Springs. I had not been there before and it is really nice – kind of a hidden gem. It had lots of great photo locations. The folks out there even made Stacey’s bouquet from flowers blooming around the property that morning – how cool is that! The day got hot in a hurry, but the outdoor ceremony in a small garden gazebo was beautiful. We had time to do a nice session around the garden, but the bride and groom made their getaway on a motorcycle, so of course we had to get some fun motorcycle portraits in the parking lot, too. Here are some of my favorites so far:

The wedding ceremony in the garden. You can't tell from this image that its already over 90 degrees at nine in the morning!

There were so many flowers blooming in the garden, I thought I would put them center-stage in a picture or two.

Sometimes you can't tell why a place has the name it does. But this is a very beautiful blue spring at the center of the property.

I had to post this image that Ed took. He doesn't alway get to come with me for a wedding, but I like having him along. He is a great help with equipment, and usually gets a few fun candid shots as well.

I LOVE this image. I had never tried an image like this before, but I think it turned out pretty cool!