The day after the wedding the bride, groom and myself headed down to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden to get a little crazy. It was a roaring good time! I am loving dress trashing sessions more and more. No worries about dirt, grass, or a little stinky wading pond with a giant cherry perched over it. (And she wore a posh|rebel veil!)

L.O.V.E. these!

I had a really fantastic wedding this past weekend, tons of fun and shooting. We started at the rehearsal dinner on Friday and ended with a Trash the Dress shoot on Sunday. As I was downloading and backing up images, this one stuck out and begged to be blogged…

These types of shoots may be my most favorite part of the wedding…the part where we get down and dirty and shake our proverbial middle finger at the structure and tradition that an average wedding can be. We started the shoot on the beach looking for a specific stretch of sand that seemed mythical, full of wild cows and parrots. We never found that beach but we did find a whole lot of ass-kicking photos. Enjoy!

Call it a trash the dress. Or day after session. Or whatever you like. But no matter what label you give it, it is too much fun to get out that dress again and take some relaxed and interesting images in your wedding garb.

Last fall, when I was planning my EyeSpy promo video, we wanted to film me in action, doin’ my thang. I called up Jill and Craig who had already been married for a few years and asked if they wanted to get together and do some funky stuff. They were totally down and we got some MEGA-sweet stuff!! I totally forgot to blog some of the pics from the shoot. Duh! So, yes, I know spring is right around the corner, but let’s take a stroll back in to fall and reminisce.

And hells yeah, that is a posh|rebel veil and flowers by the super La Petite Fleur.

I didn’t forget about my favorite wedding images of 2009, silly! Here they are, and really, looking back on the past year made me realize how much I dig my gig. Honestly. I have been shooting professionally now for 6 years and I can’t image doing anything else. I am a lucky girl!

OK, ok. I know I owe you my “best of ‘09 wedding images” post, but things have been MEGA exciting here at EyeSpy.

This past fall I have been working with a fantastic photographer (video) and story teller, Nick Kesler. We actually go way back…we went to high school together, and I shot his wedding a few years ago. From all of the work I have seen from him, I had been trying to convince him to get into shooting weddings because what he does is so unique and amazing, so different than what anyone else is doing here in Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

I had seen a few photographer’s promo videos up on random blogs and thought, “hmmm…that could be cool”. I ran the idea past Nick and he was pumped to help me do it. He came with me to a wedding this past summer, then to a Trash the Dress session I had this fall, and then we finished up with a little Get-To-Know-Me interview session, cut out some swear words, kept some bits of me acting nerdy, sprinkled in some HAWT wedding images and edited it into a work of art.

It is an amazing video, a little peek into my life, my business and my head. You might even say that I get a little excited when I am shooting. HA!

EyeSpy Weddings from ClamLakeFilms on Vimeo.

Nick has taken my advice and will be shooting more weddings and turning them into mini-motion pictures. We have 2 weddings together for 2010, and maybe more!! He is currently putting together a super new website, so if you want his contact info, let me know!

If you are planning a wedding and looking for some funky ideas and inspiration, check out the Wedding Chicks. They have some super sassy taste and always find some cool weddings to share with the masses.

My Trash the Dress with Lauren and Andrew was featured on their blog a week ago and I forgot to tell you! So check out the Chicks and leave them some love!

I have been wanting to shoot a Trash the Dress session like this for a long time. Years. The giant slide, mini doughnuts, a ferris wheel, pronto pups, were all part of my inspiration. I LOVE the Minnesota State Fair. The best variety of foods, interesting exhibits, and of course, the people watching. (You should have seen the mullet I saw this year!!)

Lauren and Andrew were 100% behind me when I asked them if they wanted to get dressed up in some wedding attire again and take some pictures at the Fair. Lauren said she was possibly more excited to trash her dress at the Fair then for the actual wedding. SWEET! So much planning went into the preparing for the big shoot. Outfits, shoes, flowers, hair and make-up, and birdcage veils. It was like planning another wedding!

Thanks so much to Lauren and Andrew for being totally open to my ideas and being such great models! And thank you to my wonderful hair and makeup artist, Kelly, who double as my assistant at the shoot. And thank you Minnesota State Fair for being the most unique backdrop and for providing those delicious pronto pups that I love with extra mustard.

Hair & Make Up: Kelly Walters, 651.206.9933
Birdcage Veils: Stephany Wieland, 651.307.3570
Flowers: Buds N’ Blooms, 612.750.3858

So the day after the wonderful wedding in Puerto Vallarta, EyeSpy’s work wasn’t done just yet. Tara and Joe had planned on trashing the dress the day after the ceremony. Now its very simple. After you are married, you put on your dress and get a little dirty. And wet. And the lining may rip out. But its all cool cuz it was planned. So a few days prior to the dress trashing appointment, Matt and I did a little recon mission in the city of Puerto Vallarta. We found some good little streets, the city’s cathedral and figured we would work our way to the ocean. And that is exactly what we did. And it was a blast. Someone videotaped us as we were all frolicking in the ocean, so if you see us on YouTube, let me know!

So there really is no more explaining, Matt and I along with a bride and a groom getting dirty in PV. AMAZING.

Love this one

These 2 are Matty’s

My view

Matt’s view

Awesome.

Matt’s

Matt’s