as many of you might know, mindy’s mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last christmas. the news was devastating. but she beat breast cancer 25 years ago, and if cancer wanted to pick another fight, dede was ready to fight it. and fight she has!!! this christmas may have been the most meaningful of all as mindy’s whole side of the family got together on the 23rd, and then we all spent christmas day with dede and papa at their house.

time together has been…and always will be…the best gift of all!!

and speaking of gifts, this year, we DIDN’T do a photo shoot for christmas! we went to the dark side and made a video!! (haha, just kidding. we love video and have a crush on cool videographers!!) we brought in ben mahoney (and crew), one of our favorite videographers in the whole world, to spend a day shooting pape, dede and the grandkids, and we couldn’t be more happy…the kind of happy discovered in boxes of kleenex and giggling kids who’ve been watching the video over and over. this gift was for papa and dede. but it was also for the kids who will have this forever.

sometimes, tears make smiles even bigger. such was the case for christmas this year!

so if you haven’t seen our video yet…and especially if you’ve never met DEDE…

PLEASE CLICK HERE

keegan, carter, and langley agree…this was our best family day EVER!!!
better than busch gardens, great america, saturday morning cartoons…and even seeing “winter” the dolphin from the movie dolphin tale…SKILLET ROCKS OUR FACES OFF!!!

we have some great friends who put on the “Big Ticket Festival” every year (june 14-16 next year in allegan, michigan) and they asked if we’d bring our cameras with us as we spent the day there with our family. (actually…this year, we were there on june 23, our 11th anniversary. nothing says romance like headbanging!!) being in june, it’s smack dab in the middle of one the busiest months of our wedding season and we were worried if we had the time to go. but after going, we realized that while we probably didn’t have the time, we needed to make the time…every year. we worshipped with our kids! we ran around and did nothing (which is one of the most fun things you can do as a family!!) and we watched our favorite artists on stage (with skillet at the top of that list!). we made memories that will last forever and we walked away closer as a family.

if you’re looking for a great way to spend time with your family next summer…check out the “Big Ticket Festival”. and speaking of things to check out…watch the first 15 seconds of the video below. peterson family…front row at the skillet concert…right in front of the security guy banging his head. awesome!

we were floored when we were contacted by PDN (one of our favorite photography magazines) a couple months back. but when they told us they had selected us as one of twenty “rising stars of wedding photography” along with some of our absolute favorite wedding photographers…we were flush in the cheeks humbled and honored. and speechless.

the december issue is hitting the stands now (yes, we’re buying bunches of them!), but the feature is also online where there’s an overview of each of the photographers, including slideshows of their work, and we wanted to share it with you.

so if you have a sec…click on the link below and check it out. congrats to all of the amazing photographers on the list who have inspired us in so many ways. and thanks to you for celebrating with us!!

PDN’s Rising Stars of Wedding Photography

anyhoo…there’s a few photog groups that we’re in and recently there’s been a lot of chatter about software for designing albums. i know. i know. sounds like a party!!!

confession #2. we LOVE InDesign. and we use it for all of our albums.

which brings me to my main point…

“H20 Creative sells great InDesign album templates with designer sets by nate + jaclyn kaiser at “the image is found,” sarah + chris rhoads, and mark + candice brooke, and yours truly, “STUDIO 6.23.

and they’re on sale this week!!! 20% off any designer set. click HERE to check it out!! and of course check out our 6.23 DIRTY SET while you’re there. with every spread you have the option of keeping it clean or getting dirty with grunge layers or vintage backgrounds.

here’s a couple preview spreads from our set…

they may be crazy, but Color Inc. is giving mindy and i microphones and letting us stand in front of a room of people. to teach! woo and hoo!!!

and we are CRAZY excited. bring it. we LOVE color inc and order an insane amount of pictures from them every week!! we couldn’t be happier with them so we think you should give them a whirl if you haven’t used them yet

in case you’re nervous…mindy used to be a teacher for 6 years. maybe we’ll have her wear one of those old teacher sweaters with an apple on it. or one of those crazy christmas sweaters that only teachers would dare to wear. you know the ones i’m talking about!

and as for me, i taught a few classes in college. and have 1 1/2 graduate degrees. but mindy likes to remind me that going to school longer doesn’t make me a better teacher or smarter for that matter. we’ll see

anyhoo…we would LOVE to have you come. if not for the quote/unquote “teaching,” then for the food, beverage and bunches of other photogs that will be there!!!

click here to RSVP

GOOD MORNING TO YOU ALL!!!!!! i have some SUPER fun news to share and no, i am NOT pregnant. in lieu of my recent OBSESSION with the CB2 contest we are contenders in, we have decided to do a giveaway ourselves! that’s right, i am not above bribery. true story. but first, let me tell you a little diddy of how we got to this place (the short version, i promise!)

about 2 weeks ago, i saw an ad for a creative space national contest held by CB2 and todd selby a super fab photographer! so i thought to myself, we just completely designed and renovated over our space in our house for our studio, so why not, i’m going to enter!! and i did. to my surprise, we moved up quickly with votes from friends and strangers to #37, then to #16, then to #6 and now we are staying steady at #12, but not for long!!!! there are only 3 days left to vote and the short story is that if we make top 10, we will not only go to the final round to be a contender for the grand prize, but also have a head start of 20 points for ending up in the top 10 places! did i mention that the final round is judged based on creativity and the feel of the room. oh, and i should tell you that the GRAND PRIZE is a $10,000 gift card to CB2 and a swanky photo shoot with the SUPERFLY todd selby!!! and if you know me at all, i do love the camera…. on both sides!

what can you do to help? thanks SOOOOO MUCH for asking! it’s simple and quick.

* click on this link: click here!!!

* click “vote for this place” (make sure it’s our space, though!)

* fill out your first and last name, email address, and make a password ( you are NOT signing up for anything…. they want to make sure you have a valid email and are only voting once!)

* then go to your email account and DOUBLE CLICK on the link!

* VOILA!!! it should then say….. you have voted!

* then come back to this post and paste your message in the comments to be entered into the drawing.

if we place in first, second or third place, anyone who has already voted for us or does vote for us from here on out will be placed in a drawing for a free photo session with myself and my super HOT husband, ben! if we do not win at all….. BOOOO……. then we will still have a drawing for a $50 gift card to outback steakhouse….. because that’s how we roll.

details about FREE PHOTO SESSION:

* it must take place in grand rapids, michigan (if you can’t swing it, we love you lots, but we’ll have to draw another name)

* in order to enter the drawing, you must copy/paste the message from CB2 saying ‘you have voted’ as a comment on this blog post. then we’ll add you to our list!! if you have already voted, go try and vote again so you’ll get a message saying you have already voted and you can copy/paste that!

* the photo session is for one individual family (max of 5 people), an engagement session, newborn or kid session.

* you will be waived the $300 session fee as well as the $750 for the disk and will get that also for FREE!!!! $1,050.00 value just for voting…… i sound like a used car salesman…. many apologies!!

* one more thing….. you will have TONS of fun. we shoot at some crazy locations, hang out for a couple of hours and create some art. yep, super fun. wanna come?!! GO VOTE then!!!!!

ONE LAST THING………. we know that we would not even be in the running if it weren’t for our FANTABULOUS family, friends and clients, so ROCK ON WITH YOUR BAD SELVES!!!!! LOVE TO YOU ALL!!!!!!!!

p.s….. please go vote now. go team.

WPPI 2010. and the junebug girls stole the show!
we first met them at a killer party they threw in the junebug suite at the MGM. the suite of suites. one suite to rule them all
then we roamed the tradeshow floor with them for awhile.
and then the chat on twitter. of course.

so we’re excited about junebug weddings. not just because they’re cool. but because they’re doing exciting things!
first, there’s the infamous “what junebug loves” section on their blog.
and then of course is the photobug blog and real weddings sections to satisfy your eye candy cravings.

and then…[drumroll]…came along their new “world’s best wedding photographers” section and “image gallery.”
click “world’s best wedding photographers” to see their top ten picks from major markets around the world (literally!). and then click on “image gallery” to browse some of the world’s best images by category (fashion, flowers, invitations, locations, etc…).

awesome. simply awesome.

and then, we’re not gonna lie…we’ve had kiddish grins stuck on our faces ever since junebug listed us in their “world’s best wedding photographers” for the chicago market check it out

thank you junebug for thinking of us. but thank you most for your amazingness!

so here they are. the one and only. junebug.

besides being so incredibly fabulous, what is something else about the junebug girls that we’d all love to know?

Every business decision we make is made to match our brand, and our brand is built on kindness. We committed to being kind, (which is different than being nice), in everything we do. Niceness can be saying you love something or support it when you don’t really mean it. Kindness is telling the truth, providing value and caring about the way you represent and treat other people in all your actions. We focus on the best in everything and everyone, and stay away from gossip and negative critiques. I guess you could say we live by the golden rule and the old adage,” if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all.”

give us the skinny on how you work together as a team:  who are the creative geniuses?  who keeps everyone organized and on task?  who steals the show at parties and loves social media?

Christy Weber, Kim Bamberg, and I own Junebug Weddings but I think of every woman on our team is a smarty-pants. Christy is behind the success of What Junebug Loves and so much more, she’s leveled headed, organized, and brilliant with the tech related aspects of our business. Kim is a gifted photographer who has shared her talent with Junebug all along the way. She has an amazing eye for beauty and detail and she’s been instrumental in making Junebug a visual treat. My sister, Sydnor, has played an integral part in our success over the last few years. She keeps everything running smoothly, from our bookkeeping to our marketing strategies and it’s really hard to imagine what we would do without her. We also have several new members of our team who are bringing new and brilliant ideas to the table everyday.
As far the parties go, just tell us when and where. We all love parties!

how excited are you all about launching your worldwide hotlist?!!!  how and when did you decide to take the plunge to go beyond seattle and southern california?

On a scale of 1 to 10, about a 90! Our new Photobug blog, image gallery, and World’s Best Photographers Hotlist are really an organic extension of what we’ve always done and what we really love. As formally trained photographers, we’re fanatics about gorgeous imagery and we truly adore the photographers that we are blessed to promote. I think if anyone would have told me in art school that we would be able to work with and have the support of photographers like yourself, Elizabeth Messina, Jim Garner and Jerry Ghionis we wouldn’t have believed it, but now we’re living a dream.

if you could do your wedding over, what is one thing you would change?

Seriously, I would hire a really good photographer. I got married almost 20 years ago and I didn’t even know there were great photographers like we promote on Junebug. I wish I had photos of that day that I could call art.

name one piece of advice that you feel is super-duper important for a couple to know when planning their wedding?

We suggest that couples take the time to really listen to each other about their hopes and expectations before they let a lot of people in on their plans. If they can agree on a style and up to five priorities each that really matter to them, it will help them stay connected and focused on the important things when outside advice and ideas come their way. Then, we suggest they take a light-hearted attitude about all the small things in the wedding planning process. After all, getting married and celebrating being in love is at the heart of every wedding and the rest is just icing on the cake.

let’s get to know your individual design style’s a bit more.  name your top 2 to 4 stores that you love to shop at!  (home decor and/or clothing)

Uh-oh! Let’s go to Christy our resident fashionista on this one. Okay, Christy says she loves A-Mano (http://shopamano.com/), a gem of a shoe and jewelry boutique in downtown Seattle, Gilt.com (http://www.gilt.com), the brilliant online sample-sale site for great designer deals, and Net-a-Porter.com (http://www.net-a-porter.com) for to-die-for splurges. For the everyday Ts and tanks that she lives in, she heads to American Apparel.

if you were a crayola crayon, which color would you be?

I love that you asked this question! I often refer to the feeling I get when I pick up my camera to the feeling I had as a kid when I got a new box of Crayolas. My favorite color changes all the time but today I think its sparkly magenta.

name something or someone that inspires you right now in life.

Honestly, the Junebug team inspires me every day, and I am always inspired by people who follow their passion, work hard, and stay grateful. My son’s tennis coach says “to be successful you have to stay hungry and humble”. I couldn’t agree more.

you girls have been friends for a long time and have very endearing relationships to each other, which is beautiful.  :)  describe one thing that you love about each other.

Blair – I love Christy and Kim like family, so I truly love everything about them, even on the days when they frustrate me, which are few and far between.

Christy – I love Blair’s huge heart. She has incredible amounts of compassion and empathy, and I’ve learned endless amounts about being a better person from her. I love Kim’s enthusiasm for life and for people. She is quick to give love and support and to show her gratitude in abundance. I’m so very lucky!

Kim – I love the way Blair and Christy know me so well. They can always tell if I need a hug, a laugh, or a shoulder to cry on.

you have just been informed that you and your family are being whisked away to anywhere in the world you want for 9 days…… all expenses paid!  where would you choose to go?

I would go to the Istanbul, then Budapest, and on to the Romantic Road in Germany. If the Junebug team was traveling together, Paris would be a no-brainier. We all love France and Kim and Christy speak enough French to get us everywhere we would want to go.

there have been many incredible additions to junebug recently….. is there anything else we should be waiting in anticipation for?

We’ve spent the last fours years expanding, so we’re turning our attention to improving what we’ve already created. Our business is built on relationships, and taking the time listen to our readers and members to see what more we can provide them is the number one priority for us in the months ahead. We’re super excited for the future, and can’t wait to see what hard work and luck will bring.

10 years ago, today (6.23), a girl, mindy and a boy, ben got hitched. we have the privilege of being a part of weddings and helping to celebrate other couples and their love and committment to each other. today….. we wanted to share and celebrate ours!

MINDY SAYS:

how do i love my ben?
let me tell you………..
he’s loyal and committed to not only myself, our kids, but most importantly God.
his energy surpasses me on most days and he is one of the hardest workers i’ve ever know (hence his nickname “taskmaster”).
have you seen his hotness?!!!! there are times when i get a little flutter just checking him out….. true story.
the way he is such a loving father to our kiddos….. nurturing, yet consistent. playful, yet authoritative.
he would help anyone on a moment’s notice…. joyfully.
his light-hearted attitude on life is contagious and he is CRAZY amounts of fun!!
integrity surrounds his heart and he lives to serve God….. and others, before himself.
every day, he makes me a better person and encourages me to stretch where i need stretching.
we share a bond deeper than just love, we are closer than best friends and we get to keep going on a journey that is amazing, challenging and joyful all wrapped into one.
thanks for loving me every day.

i’m yours.

BEN SAYS:

mindy is a good writer! haha…try and follow that! gulp.
so i’m going to go with random memories over the past 10 years.
the kind of memories that add up to the simply amazing marriage that we have today.

travel back with me 11 years to the first time we met…at a church super bowl party (neither of us watch football…ever!)
i can still remember the first time i saw her walking down the stairs (with her friend), wearing a baseball cap…
i remember her smile. and i remember her eyes.
and remember that she was kinda flirting with the guy i was with. so i was flirting with the girl she was with.
haha…quite the start.

fast forward 6 months to a friend’s wedding. i saw mindy again, but called her the wrong name. oops…
i’ve never been too slick

but we hung out all night and it was a done deal.
we went on our first date the next night…played tennis (wearing my favorite blue sweater vest!)
went out every night that week, had our first kiss on thursday night before i left for a week of vacation.
told her i loved her in a few weeks.
engaged in four months.
married almost exactly a year after the wedding where i called her the wrong name.

pregnant after just one year, right after we moved to florida and decided it probably wasn’t the best time to get pregnant.
pregnant again just two years later after starting our first business and deciding it probably wasn’t the best time to get pregnant.
and then pregnant again during the move back to michigan and building our new house.

timing has never been our strength

i think my favorite thing about mindy is that she makes everything fun.
i like to work. she loves to play. so together we have fun at work!
we never do things by the book…so we never know what’s going to happen next.
we rarely do things at the right time…which means everything happens on our time!

and you should see mindy with the kids…who wouldn’t want mindy as their mom??!!
our kids are almost as lucky as me.

and then there’s the whole hot thing… ummm…yup.
let’s just say that my first nickname for mindy (when we were dating) was “evil temptress!”
nuff said.

they launched!

we are soooooooo excited to partner with H2O CREATIVE to release the STUDIO 6.23 designer set of indesign album templates. we’ve been using H2O’s album templates for just about forever. so be rest assured it was a good day when we heard they were coming out with designer sets from nate + jaclyn kaiser at “the image is found,” sarah + chris rhoads, mark + candice brooke and justin + amelia lyon. we have a profound respect for all of their work and even had our pics taken by justin + amelia in vegas (see above!). and the day only got better when ben + laura at H2O asked if we’d submit a design as well. we were humbled. honored. a bit giddy. and we’ve been bustin a move on our design ever since.

and now, a shoutout for indesign album templates… drag and drop the images baby. cropping is so 1990′s

so if you’ve got a sec, jump on over to H2O and see what they got going on. and of course check out the 6.23 DIRTY SET while you’re there. with every spread you have the option of keeping it clean or getting dirty with grunge layers or vintage backgrounds.

so here’s a couple preview spreads from our set, but totally link to H2O to check out all the sets. love ‘em!

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