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thanks for visiting the blog of STUDIO6.23 , a.k.a. ben and mindy peterson.

this is our wall for posting favorite pics from recent weddings or kid sessions. but somehow, a bunch of other randomness finds its way here as well.

we got married in 2000. makes it simple math to remember how long we’ve been married. and we’re crazy about our three kids.

i guess that’s why we shoot weddings and kids. it’s what we know — and love!

to keep up with our work or a bit of the peterson craziness, enter your email below or click the little squares that look familiar to you.

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there’s something magical about the first wedding of a new season. it just feels right having all the gear out again. and even though we’ve shot tons of weddings, it feels so new and exciting, making us all the more stoked for our weddings this year. we can honestly say that tim and megan’s wedding was the PERFECT way to kick things off!

to start…megan is simply the sweetest girl ever. we met for the first time just a handful of weeks ago in the studio. and the whole meeting, mindy and i kept steeling glances of agreement with each other about how excited we were to be shooting this wedding. megan’s love of all things purple, cute feet, rain boots and umbrella’s kept us on our toes, getting more and more excited about every detail.

then came the wedding day. and we met tim who defines cool. he seriously looks like a page out of a magazine. and he’s good at sports. and he’s really nice. my goal of the day was to find something wrong with this guy :) i came up empty handed for sure.

now if you live, anywhere in pretty much the continental U.S., you know that weather men across the country were busy forecasting all the rain, wind, tornadoes and hail this last weekend. but it turned out perfect! it rained a bit when we were inside. then stopped when we needed to go out. kudos to you, dear clouds…you did it just right! ok…there was a bit of wind and the rain was definitely taunting us, so we took it “inside” for the bridesmaids. but we’ll take it! and they nailed it.

megan, we’re holding you to your invitation to hang out sometime soon! we loved meeting your family and friends, and you two are simply amazing. congratulations on a beautiful wedding….and an even more beautiful marriage!! we couldn’t wait to share all of your pics, so we pulled some of our favorites. enjoy :)

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9 Comments on this Post

  • Amanda said:

    Wow…your photos are amazing!! You have captured their love for eachother perfectly in every picture!! Truly amazing and beautiful!!

  • Rosemary said:

    Oh! And I forgot to mention the pic(#25) of the groom & groomsmen. They look like they should be on an album cover (that IS a compliment). O.K. I’m done.

    Rosemary

  • Rosemary said:

    I looked very keenly at these photos and could not find one that I didn’t like.
    The ceremony collage…..wonderful.
    The rain boots and umbrellas. Megan walking to the trolley. sigh.
    And the photos of the reception where great, I especially love the “glow” the photos had.

    Rosemary

  • Randy Warner said:

    It was an absolutely gorgeous wedding and the photographers were awesome to work with! Oh! This si the Father of the Bride! Great job everyone! This day I gained a “Son in Law”! Welcome Tim! Love ya, Dad

  • Kyle said:

    Hello, love your work! I just found your blog recently. I’m a wedding photographer in Chile, but I’m originally from Grand Rapids.

    Anyway, aside from saying YAY, great images! I MUST know where Megan got those gorgeous purple shoes! Pleeeeease tell me!

  • Erin said:

    These are gorgeous!

    P.S. – That’s my dress, too!!
    Megan, you totally rocked it, and I can’t wait to do the same!

  • Allison said:

    Oh I love what you do! These are beautiful!

  • kristen ~ k. holly said:

    This is a GORGEOUS wedding!! Love all the purple, the textures, details, everything. Beautiful!

  • Don Stowe said:

    What was that train in the background of one of the photos? Where does it run from and to?
    Great pictures!


photo credit: Jose Villa

6.23 hearts ben + laura harrison big time!! so we wanted you to meet them. we first got to know them by stalking their amazing photography at HARRISON STUDIO. and we also know them because of their tremendous resources for creative professionals through H2O CREATIVE. but we’re most proud to know them as incredible friends. heck, our kids even ask when we’re going to see uncle ben and aunt laura again!!

we’ve been using tools from H2O creative now for a couple years and specifically their indesign album templates. they literally transformed they way we designed our wedding albums. [appreciative tear welling up in eye] and on that note, we’ll be sharing more in the coming weeks about their sets of designer albums that we’re crazy honored to be a part of. but more on that later…

also, back in february, H2O creative also came out with a resource to help creative professionals with their SEO strategies. in other words, they help artsy folk get some loving on google. for us, SEO had been like speaking a foreign language while riding a roller coaster. one day we were on the first page, the next we were on the fourth. meanwhile, we could hardly understand SEO speak so we were always just nodding our head saying, “oh, absolutely,” and “for sure…” whenever SEO came up. H2O has helped us a ton with that, so we wanted to let you know about them in case you’re on that roller coaster too.

if you didn’t already click on one of the links above, you can check them out by clicking… right here.


photo credit: Jose Villa

so now that you know the professional ben + laura, here’s a little “get to know me” fodder that will make bring out more of the ben + laura that we love:

* favorite movies….. top 3?
Laura- The entire Bourne Series, Elf, The Notebook
Ben- Ditto with the Bourne Series, anything with Miley Cyrus (wink) and/or Will Ferrell or Steve Carrell

* if you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be? what place have you already traveled to that is your favorite so far?
L- Definitely New Zealand … I almost got to spend a semester there in college and I still wish that would have worked out for me … so yes, New Zealand. As for places I’ve been that I absolutely loved … Israel was AMAZING as well as my time spent in Thailand and China. I could basically become a professional world traveler and love it … learning about other cultures and places might be one of my favorite things. I love maps.
B-Wah Wah … Laura keeps stealing mine … I would say New Zealand as well, as I would love to be bff with Frodo :) … and while I’m in that region of the world I would probably hit up the Great Barrier Reef as well!

* you are a crayola crayon…. what color are you and why?
L- Purple b/c it’s AMAZING and is the best color out there :)
B- Gray b/c I love gray and every shade of gray.

* if you both went on survivor, which one of you would last longer?
L- I would b/c I would dominate all the challenges and I would be the “sneaky” kid on camp
B- I would because I am a people pleaser … actually, come to think of it … I would probably get blind-sided and end up on the Heroes side of the Heroes vs Villans.

* who is a better dancer, your super hot friend, mindy or her husband, ben?
L- Mindy hands down … sorry Ben … love ya, but Mindy can move those hips like nobody’s biz
B- Mindy no question … anyone with a three drink minimum has a hard time letting loose … mindy on the other hand :)

* describe a setting or venue for a wedding that you would love to shoot.
L- a wedding held in a giant open field with beautiful trees surrounding during sunset … ahhh snap.
B- I would second laura’s … but maybe just one “BIg FIsh” -esque tree in a rolling field.

* why is indesign totally the way when designing albums?
L- It really is THE ONLY option out there that photographer’s should be using … InDesign in my book is the only option.
B- What, there are other design options out there??? I would rather just stick with Adobe :)

* name a band or group that you sooooo want to see in concert.
L- U2 … oh wait … we are going in just a few short months with you two crazy cats!!! woohoo!!!!!
B- owl city!

* what do you LOVE about each other…. name one of your favorite things about your spouse?
L- I love Ben’s humor … he makes me laugh all the time and laughter is the best.
B- I would say laughter as well … we have a blast together … and … not gonna lie, her organization skills definitely compliment my space-cadet tendencies.


photo credit: Jose Villa


photo credit: Jose Villa


photo credit: Jose Villa

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3 Comments on this Post

  • Ruben Kamm said:

    I just came from looking for a good site on Google and came to this site. I have to say these templates are excellent. Thank you for sharing them in your entry. I will be sure to bookmark this site and return again.

  • ben + laura said:

    thanks guys for the great post … you are the best! excited to have you guys on board with H2O .. peace.

  • JEN said:

    What a great story and the pics are fabulous. I love how Ben’s shoes match the car! Thank you for sharing.

most of you probably know by now, but just in case… we’re letting the cat out of the bag. 6.23 = our anniversary :) and in light of our 10 year anniversary this june 23, we hired justin + amelia lyon to take some pictures of us lovebirds.

we originally asked amelia if she could do a session for us when we were shooting a wedding in la jolla, california last november. as they were in hawaii, that wasn’t going to work out so well. so we scheduled the session for march when we were both going to be in vegas for WPPI.

now…the only thing that could be more fun hanging with justin + amelia for the afternoon is to hang with them in one of liberace’s vegas homes!!! booyah! we were driving around looking for one last colorful place to take a shot when we saw a cool mid-century modern home with pinkish brick. who could pass that up?! amelia hung out the window to ask the homeowner if we could shoot in front of their home. “sure,” she replied, “but wouldn’t you rather shoot in liberace’s house across the street?” as soon as we could muster up a “yes please,” justin was across the street knocking on the door. we were soooo game! we shot in front of some mirrors (not too hard to find in that house!!) and then in front of the king of bling’s bathtub and even in his bed. scary :)

we’re so excited to have some new pics of us!! thank you thank you justin and amelia. best..anniversary…present…ever!! here’s a few over our faves!!

now step inside liberace’s home with us….

and here’s a little pic we took of justin + amelia!!

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12 Comments on this Post

  • Mallory said:

    these pictures portray unique and wildly fabulous people. *love*

  • Becky and Dan McArthur said:

    Love, love these!! So full of personality and color! We had fun looking through your website. You guys are so awesome at families! Truly inspiring. We’ll be checking up on you more to see your fabulous work. :)

  • Rebecca said:

    Mindy, that hair flower is smokin! what great portraits of the two of you!

  • meghan brown said:

    amazing–you do find the best locations!! what a great way to celebrate 10 great years–fun, fun, fun!

  • Cindy said:

    I’m about to hang you on my wall – they did an amazing job with you – you guys are sooooooooooooooooo yummy! you definitely scored some amazing places – wowzers! Happy Tuesday and happy anniversary to you well on 6.23 :)

  • Bonnie Peterson said:

    Only you guys could figure out how to get into Liberace’s house for pictures. Nice pictures! Dad

  • C. Butkus said:

    Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those were amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! You lovebirds are adorable!

  • amelialyon said:

    You two are hot!!! Thanks for hiring us;)

  • Emily said:

    Oh snap… I see my fav colors!!!! You guys, these turned out great!! So fun. I am in love with the first upside down one, as well as the same pose, but right side up. So much personality, it sure was captured :) Congrats xoxo

  • Tom said:

    Wow…great shots…I think it’s always cool when the people behind the lens have to move in front of the lens. Ahhh…love…even after 10 years!

  • JEN said:

    S A W E E T!!!!… I love the collage of you guys in front of a motel?… you look like you had a blast doing that set and the snuggles on the ground are awesome!

  • Richard said:

    Well honets, those are just great.

anyone in GR remembers the weather last weekend. the winds were blowing 30-40 mph. and it was freezing. seriously -what the heck was that all about? so we call phillip and karen with our best “we’re not sure this is the best day for your shoot” speech. but after chatting for a bit, we decided to give it a whirl anyway…and we’re so glad we did!! it didn’t take too long for them to just get numb from the cold wind, and then it wasn’t so bad :)

but seriously… it was like the red sea just parted. the winds stopped (well, sometimes) and we were even able to shoot at the carnival that was in town — something we had been DYING to do!! friday turned out to be the perfect evening for a shoot.

so let us introduce you to phillip and karen. phillip is studying literature at michigan state. and karen is wrapping up law school this week (i think). yeah, that’s right. they’re smart!!!! and cool. and classy. but i’m not gonna lie, they’re good at getting goofy too :) so their engagement session turned out to be a great night of hanging with fun new friends. and oh yeah…we took pictures too! here’s some of our faves…

oh..and p.s. these two know how to kiss too. wow!! you should have seen them in that red spinning thing at the carnival. just sayin.

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4 Comments on this Post

  • Kristine Crawford said:

    Love that ferris wheel shot! Beautiful images as always!

  • JEN said:

    How stinkin cool is that! The shots in the store are A W E S O M E!!! Also LOVE the shot with the ferris wheel behind them. Too cool guys. You’d never know how cold it was either, the colors make up for it.

  • lisa kae said:

    sooo…..jealous of the striped tube….that is FANTASTIC!!! they need it huge on their wall ;)

  • Rebecca said:

    GORGEOUS. how cute are these two??

MIKE + EMILY

it’s crazy fun meeting brides and grooms for the first time. especially when it’s at an engagement session. “hello, nice to meet you. now, don’t mind these two camera lenses that we’re sticking in your face.” such was the case a weekish ago at mike and emily’s shoot.

oh…quick sidebar or ADD moment here…this is one reason why we’re HUGE fans of engagement sessions!! it’s so much better getting used to the lens in the face thing in a casual ‘let’s have fun and take some pics’ environment . this way, you’re seasoned professionals by your wedding day and we can skip past any camera shyness and jump straight to the relationships and fun!!

anyhoo…mike and emily basically rocked. literally. their outfits? perfect. style? impeccable. friends? instantly.

we had a bunch of locations picked out for their session, but when we learned that mike works in realty and LOVES “blown out old buildings,” we knew that we could get aggressive with their locations. and that we did. then, for icing on the cake, mike tells us that he will be our personal guide to amazing locations throughout the detroit area. yes please!! meanwhile, we learn that emily is teacher which sends us down memory lane since mindy was a teacher for 6 years. needless to say, there were not many quiet moments in the car. for sure.

mike. emily. we are insanely excited to shoot your wedding. we’re a bit giddy about your gallery and hope you love them like we do :) here’s a few that we’ve been dying to share….

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15 Comments on this Post

  • Mallory said:

    *sigh.. love* how do y’all manage to get the coolest people/locations/images every single time?! ha, you guys rock.

  • arenda said:

    where did those random coloured door frames come from? they are so cool! also love the shots by the round pipey things, esp. that last one! very, very cool!

  • Kathleen Amelia said:

    You find the most amazing locations! These are beautiful!

  • Jennifer Reyes-Miilu said:

    These are gorgeous:)! Beautiful work!!

  • ben + laura said:

    doors = booyah.

  • adam(3) said:

    the 3 door shot is absolutely brilliant :)
    rockin’ sesh!!

  • Olivia said:

    These are amazing pictures!
    I love them!

  • Alexia said:

    Absolutely beautiful!!!

  • judith said:

    ahhhh-mmmaaa-zzzing.
    as always!

  • Krista said:

    WOW!! Absolutely stunning! Can’t wait to see the wedding pictures.

  • M A N D I said:

    Emmy is SO hot!!!! LOVE the interior barn shot, good stuff! And the doors, amazeballs. You all rock!

  • Lisa said:

    LOVE these photos! Perfect locations! Looks like a photographers dream!

  • Amy Jo said:

    Breathtaking!! She is so beautiful and her style is jaw dropping! Love the pics.

  • JEN said:

    It is insane how good you two are! Perfection again.

  • Shelly said:

    Incredible shots, awesome locations. Love your work!