Happy Halloween!

Thanks everyone for your vote! I have to say though, I'm highly disappointed. Not in the 40+ of you that were kind enough to vote. But in the fact that Danielle WON! What the crap? Okay, here's why that bothers me. She only carved ONE pumpkin! I did the rest. Maddie picked out the designs for her pumpkin (The Traditionalist - 0 votes :( ) and Millie's (Tigger Pooh Thing) and I did the knife work (for obvious reasons). I did the Jerry Lewis and the HopePhoto as mine. And then Danielle decides to do a cat. A cute little kitty. It's Halloween! There's nothing scary about cats (well, maybe a little). And Danielle HATES cats! And then she goes and wins.

Wow. I'm whiney.

:)

Again, thanks for voting! It was fun to see the votes roll in. And as promised here's a cute shot of KIddo #1, Maddie as a witch. We haven't forced Millie into her costume yet, so you'll have to wait until we get a few pictures taken later tonight.


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! Have a safe fun night. And send all the good chocolate my way (and send the Bit O'Honeys to Danielle *blech*).

-The Hopes

Vote for your favorite Jack O'Lantern!!

Time to rock the vote! We thought we'd take a little break tonight and post a fun little collection before Halloween. What does this have to do with photography? Nothing. We just wanted to have a little fun during a crazy month.

The Hope family went overboard carving Jack O'Lanterns this year and we ended up with FIVE! Since there is no way we could decide whose was best, we decided to let you all decide. Just a little Halloween fun. The pumpkins are below and the poll is in the column on the right. So go ahead and pick your favorite. We'll let you know who won on Halloween!

First, the group.


Number One: The Jerry Lewis


Number Two: Tigger Pooh Thing


Number Three: The Traditionalist


Number Four: KItty*

*This pumpkin was an offspring of one of our Jacks from last year. We dumped our seeds in a ditch across from our house last year and this year we noticed a pumpkin growing. We're officially gardeners, go figure. So we pulled it and sliced it up even though it wasn't quite ripe yet (hence the watermelon-like appearance).

Number Five: The HopePhoto


Vote! Do it! You don't even have to register. Who cares about the issues? No negative campaign ads here. They're pumpkins!

Remember to check back on Halloween to see who one. And you might just get to see our cuties in their costumes!

;)

-Wes

**UPDATE**
We've had a few people ask us where the poll is. (I won't out you on here). So for those of you that didn't see it, it's on the top of the column on the right. So just scroll back to the top of the post, turn your head slightly to the right, and voila! You know I love you!

Ellie Kate @ 6 months

I thought I would take a break from weddings for a few posts and show you some cuteness. This is Ellie Kate's 6-month session. We photographed her back in March when she was just six weeks old (check out that post here). She's getting cuter and cuter and more expressive. It just reminds me what we have to look forward to with Millie in the next few months.

Here are a few that I though stood out:

Check out this grin!


"Who's that behind me?"




Pretty in pink.


You know what they say, "spit happens"!




Playing in her walker.


Mmm, tasty!


Feetsies!


It sure is a pleasure getting to watch our clients' little ones grow. I hope you all enjoyed these photos. We've got more blog posts down the pipe so stay tuned!

-Wes

Paige+Greg 10-04-08

Hello everyone! I wanted to share a cool wedding we had the joy of being a part of on October 4. Paige, the bride, was a former coworker of mine from a long time ago at the Daily Times in Maryville so it was great to reconnect and be a part of her big day. It was a beautiful fall day at a really cool location, the Ramsey House. It's not everyday you have an over 200-year-old house as the backdrop for a wedding. And it researching the Ramsey House, I discovered a possible connection I may have; the builder back in 1797 was a guy named Thomas Hope! My great-great-great grandfather?? I'll have to check with the genealogists in the family.

Paige and her groom, Greg, are a great couple. And this was a great wedding. Check out some of my favorites below.

"These boots are made for walkin' " At the salon.


I know I'm not supposed to admit this, but sometimes the cool photos are the "test" shots. I grabbed this while I was checking exposure and white balance, but I love it!


I couldn't help but give quite a few of the images an old feeling in post.


Birds in hats!


The give-away.


The get-away.


The wedding party.




Check out the sunburst in their glasses!


Getting experimental with some sun flare.


Paige and Greg both love music, so they had some pretty cool sounds at their reception.


I'll let the next few speak for themselves...








The first dance.


Greg rockin' a Telecaster.




Danielle and I sneaking in for a Hail Mary with the happy couple.


Thank you Paige and Greg for choosing us! And thank you for having a beautiful wedding for us to take part in.

-Wes

Michael+Jaclyn 9-27-08 (Part 1)

Wow. We had a little black hole there for a month with no weddings (but a ton of portrait sessions) and now we're slammed! That's a good thing though since we love weddings so much. Expect a lot of posts over the next few weeks.

Today I wanted to share some images from our end of September wedding with Jaclyn and Michael. We met them way earlier in the year, but had a hard time pinning down a date due to Michael's crazy schedule. He plays minor league baseball in the Colorado Rockies system and apparently they don't like for those guys to have any time off (as I type this, I think Michael and Jaclyn are in Arizona where he's at a camp... the honeymoon will have to wait!). But we finally got to the wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and a fun reception. Fitting since they're such a beautiful and fun couple! They ceremony was at Broadway Methodist Church in Maryville and the reception was at Butterfly Gap Retreat. Fun times!

First a few from the rehearsal...

Aren't they cute?




Mmmm. Cupcakes!


During the toasts.


On to the wedding day...

Check out those flops! Bubblicious!


"Hulk mad!"




The Colorado Rockies inspired garters.


Seeing her for the first time.


Wait a minute. I though Michael played baseball? Maybe they're auditioning for "Leatherheads II".


The beautiful couple in a beautiful little side chapel at Broadway Methodist (it may be the original sanctuary... I'll have to ask around).






We had time to run over to Butterfly Gap before the ceremony to play a little.


Simply. Stunning.




A dress detail.






Let the ceremony begin.




"The family that prays together, stays together."




Michael carried Jaclyn across the threshold (to the hallway).


*beep* This ends part one. Please turn the tape over for part two. *beep*

;)

(So many fun pictures I had a hard time editing it down! I thought I would divide the post up to make it a little easier on your web browser).