Emily and Devin! Indianapolis, Indiana Engagement Photography
“Love is the expansion of two natures in such fashion that each include the other, each is enriched by the other.” – Felix Adler
Emily and Devin are no longer local hoosiers, so their engagement session was officially the first time we met [hooray!] And guys, they are AWESOME. Not only did we wander around making beautiful photographs, but we chatted about their upcoming wedding at The Ambassador House of Fishers, and their life in California and now Colorado. And basically, they both seem just really rad. And they have this sweet, energetic, bouncy dog, who is great!
I’m glad they were up for my Broad Ripple suggestion. It’s been a minute since I photographed a couple in Broad Ripple, and I’ve stumbled across a few new murals, and some generally just awesome cool spots that I was dying to take someone to. Then we met up with their cute puppy and brought him to the park, where, much like a toddler, he controlled the show, and we tried different tricks and games to get him to pose for photos [ha!]
Emily and Devin! So excited about your October wedding [yay!] I’m sure you can’t believe it’s only weeks away! Best of luck with all the loose wedding ends that need to be taken care of, and I’ll see you soon for your marriage party!
Cheers!
~Maike
Jaxon! Rio Rancho, New Mexico Newborn Session
“Your fingerprints are on my heart.” – Tom Krause
And he’s here! The much awaited birth of Jaxon! Since the full family had been back to New Mexico just this summer for a cousins wedding, I knew I’d be flying solo for this quick weekend trip back to meet and photograph my sisters baby, the newest nephew. And he didn’t disappoint. He did all the things a baby is supposed to do ;).
Bonus, since I didn’t have a kiddo of my own to take care of, I was able to come hang out and hold baby Jaxon every day I was there, and hopefully was some help to my sister [I helped purge clothes and took 3 bags to goodwill; sort of random, but I totally enjoyed it]. [Also, in case you didn’t know, sometimes new momma’s don’t actually know how you can come and help. Feel free to come with food, or swing by to hold baby while she showers, or go ahead and help yourself to the kitchen to clean some dishes for the family. New babies are hard! Also, just random calls to check in and see how things are going are super good].
Obviously being states away, I had to make plans ahead of time for his arrival, which means this wasn’t my typical shoot [under 10 days old], Jax was right at 20 days old for his session. Which means, we got a few more open eyes photos, but he was still happy to be swaddled, and towards the end of the session, I got him to close those sleepy eyes for some adorably sweet napping photos.
Babies are awesome. I think before birthing Z, I knew that, but then having my own I have felt it much more deeply. It’s the coolest most magical thing I’ve experienced being his mommy.
Rika, Rusty, Joshua, that baby is so beautiful, and you are so lucky to get to love him and teach him, and guide him in this life. I’m so glad I was able to come photograph him.
Love you guys!
~Maike
Ruby, Roxanna and Brad’s Family Session! Zionsville, Indiana
You guys remember the baby with the bird, right? SHE’S BACK! And fantastic as ever. I mean, her parents are swell too, but RUBY! Oh man. She’s awesome.
We met up in Zionsville, downtown [which is a crazy hotspot for photographers, woah!!!], and wandered around to find beautiful flowers, awesome downtown door colors, some crazy flying bug, and the bright yellow flower that Ruby’s daddy picked for her and she held onto for the entire session [I mean, how sweet are her squishy little hands holding that flower so delicately?!? If we took it away, she automatically had both hands up and was reaching for it. At one point we set it on a lamppost, and all she did was stare at it and reach for it. Girl knew what she wanted!]
Roxanna, Brad and Ruby, if we were neighbors, I’m 100% sure you would be the ones I ran to in order to borrow a cup of sugar, and then later share my chocolate chip cookies with.
You guys are fun. I so love how your beautiful session with your one year old kiddo turned out! Thanks for trusting me with these family memories!
Cheers!
~Maike
*Ruby’s favorite expression is one of shock! Ha! Brad totally taught her that. How delightfully awesome.
“Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.” -Alex Haley
I photographed Gina and Eric’s wedding back in the day, and then Scarlett’s 1 year old session last year, and NOW, they’ve added baby Rowen to the mix! All the grandparents were in town for his christening, so Gina scheduled a special grandparent session with the kiddos. What a beautiful gift idea, right? When my parents are in town, I make sure to have them sit down with Z and take photos of the three of them together. Grandparents are so special, I love that Gina is gifting these photos to them.
To work around nap schedules and possible weather intrusions, we scheduled the session at the studio, and all of us are so thankful we did, because boy was it HOT HOT HOT outside when we took these photos.
So grandparents, you all are lovely! It was so great to see you again [last time we were all dancing up a storm at their wedding!] It’s so fun to see how much you all love those grandbabies! I hope you visit was delightful!
Cheers!
~Maike
PS: Once again, I’d like to apologize for calling Scarlett ‘Rowen’ the entire session [sheesh]… BUT, I did figure out why: my photographer friend Ashley has a niece named Rowyn! [And she looks actually very similar to Scarlett]… so there WAS a reason my brain kept doing that.
PPS: Also, remember my goldfish trick of throwing gold fish at kiddos… Scarlett totally THREW THEM BACK AT US! Hahahahahahahaha!!! She’s awesome.
“I will be bringing you someone whole
and you will be bringing me someone whole
and we be twice as strong
and we be twice as true
and we will have twice as much
of love
and everything.”
-Mari Evans, Celebration
These two!!! You guys. I haven’t known Christina and Dan for very long, but they are SOOOO great! As was their wedding [duh!]
Weather report said rain in the afternoon and heat all day, but miraculously, the rain stayed away from us…. not so much the heat, but we all sweat together so it was a-okay! After their first look I had them wander nearby a wooded area around a little pond, and on the way up to it, Christina had Dan shoo away a giant long leg spider off her dress, with a: “Don’t kill it, just brush it off”, and then remarked that they knew having an outdoor wedding in July would come with some random woodland creatures [ha: on the way back we were picking out a few freeloaders from the tulle of her dress and I found a tick, which then proceeded to JUMP at me! (Eeeekkkk! guys, I am a city girl. I visit the country every so often, and can handle spiders, and whatnots, but jumping ticks, make my skin crawl)…. (I feel like I need to go take a shower just typing out that story)].
So no rain [yay!], heat [meh], amazing bridal party [holla!], random clouds [thank you!], tacos for dinner [yum!], some of the best speeches I’ve heard [awe!], and a beautiful sparkler exit [swoon!]
Shout out to Ashley for swatting gnats away and sweating it out second shooting with me!
Christina and Dan, I loved your wedding. Your vows were wonderful, and I love that you included beautiful elements to reflect your passions and how you promise to not only love and take care of each other, but also love and take care of people in this world.
You guys are rad.
Cheers!
~Maike
*this pillow and the rings were passed around so everyone could say a blessing or well wishes over the rings. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!!!I wish I had thought of it for my own wedding. What a beautiful way to include your guests in your love promises.
Hair : Studio M Salon [Erin Gammon]
Make Up : Christina’s Sister
Flowers : Lily Lane [Becky]
Ceremony/Reception Venue : The Old Barn at Brown County
Music : Indy Sound Rentals [rental equipment]; DJ and acoustic guitar by friends
Cake : Cousin made the cake
Catering : Holy Smokes BBQ
Dress : The Wedding Studio [Brand: Essence of Australia]
Brides Shoes : Betsey Johnson at Macy’s
MUSIC:
bride & groom first dance : Beyond, Leon Bridges
father & daughter dance : What a Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong
mother & son dance : Wildflowers, Tom petty
BRIDE & GROOM Q&A:
Most memorable moment?
C : Reading our vows to each other
D : I’ll never forget reading and hearing vows as well as our officiant’s words. Entering the reception to signed, sealed, delivered and seeing the venue decorated with everyone was pretty breathtaking.
Advice for future brides/grooms?
C : Write your own vows! It’s worth it.
D : Doing the first look was so worth it to us. We are both emotional people and it took the edge off of a stressful day and allowed us to really enjoy the ceremony . Also, people LOVE to help if you let them. We felt so loved during our wedding because we had so many family members and friends step up to be a part of the wedding. We had family help us with the bar and the cake. Friends helped us with the flowers. We had friends spray the whole ceremony area for bugs during the afternoon. We had friends handle our music. We had a friend do our photography (tha’ts right, you are our friend now!) . [<-Uhm, obviously Dan is one of my favorite grooms! Cheers to new friends!]
Funniest memory?
C : The power went out the night before our wedding at the venue and in the whole surrounding area including our cabin. We were too tired to even care, so we just went to bed and assumed the problem would be solved in the morning, which it was! We do not typically believe in “hope” as a solutions oriented strategy.
D : While having a quiet moment after taking a bunch of photos and getting ready to enter the venue. My mother and cousin BURST into the house in a panic over napkins! We had a taco bar with no napkins for the first a 5-6 tables through the buffet. Luckily, my cousin Brad sped off to the closest store and solved the problem.
If you could do it all over would you change anything?
C : No, it was perfect.
D : We probably could’ve used a day of planner especially because had so much flexibility with our venue that we had to control everything. So it was hard not to worry about things like the food and all of that because there really wasn’t anyone in charge other than the two of us.
Honeymoon?
Yes! We just got back from Cancun. We stayed at an all inclusive resort called Excellence Playa Mujeres. It was a perfect way to unwind for a week.
Any others vendors you want to give a shout out to?
The Old Barn at Brown County was a beautiful venue. and we were thrilled with how it worked out.
Quinn Newborn Session! Indianapolis, Indiana
“The moment I see my daughter’s face, I am instantly happier, my stress just disappears, and I forget everything else.” – S. Sreesanth
8 day old Quinn joined me in the studio for her session a couple weeks ago! Oh, and her parents Paige and Micah were there too [not every day I get to hang out with another Micah ya’all!]
And guys, I think I’ve said it before, and if you come into the studio with a newborn, I’ll say it again: newborn sessions are ALL about them. And I know that’s obvious [duh, that’s why you’re paying me to take photos of you anyway!], but what I mean is, they call the shots. If they’re hungry, we take a break and get that baby some milk! [And if you want, I’ll totally photograph you nursing or giving her a bottle]. If they go through 8 diapers while we’re hanging out, no big deal! If they’re crabby and not feeling it, we rock, we snuggle, we turn up the heat and we wait it out.
Okay, so all that to say though, I didn’t really have to pull out many tricks with Quinn. I think she cried for maybe a few seconds at one point during an outfit change, and after her first little nap where we got beautiful sleepy baby photos of her, she kind of kept one eye open the rest of the session [ha!] but she was so charming and cuddly and sweet.
Paige, I know I kept calling you Quinn [oops], but I’m so glad you found me, and that we were able to create these beautiful images of your sweet family of three! Momming is hard work, but you seem to be embracing all the nuances of it so far! Micah, high fives for being an awesome dad [guys, rumor has it, he’s purchased baseball themed headbands for his daughter already!] Rad that we have the same name :).
Cheers!
~Maike
“Out of difficulties grow miracles.” – Jean De La Bruyere
If you know me, you probably know I’m a middle child [shout out to all the other middle children of the world!!!] My sister and brother have appeared on the blog here and there [like the last time these guys were on the blog, was for a family session a few years back; I also featured my brothers wedding (which was more like an elopement really), a few years before back as well].
This feature though, is all about that sweet bump of my sisters! She’s growing a baby due in the middle of August, and we all are so excited and happy for her! They don’t know if it’s a baby girl or a baby boy yet [eeekkk!! Yay for surprises!!!], but Joshua is hoping for a baby brother [if this happens, it will continue the trend of my parents only being grandparents to boys ;)].
I’m so glad we were able to squeeze so many fun things into our trip out to New Mexico a couple weeks ago [yay for cousin weddings, and being able to host a baby shower for my sister while all the family was in town!]
Rika and Rusty, I’m so excited for that little baby coming soon. Joshua, I know that baby will be loved either way, but I’m hoping against you and have my fingers crossed for a baby girl.
Love you all!
~Maike
PS: Are you in New Mexico and love my work? I love shooting in other cities, so shoot me an e-mail if you want me to get in touch next time I’m in town and have some availability!
