Fitz and Family! Family Session, Indianapolis, Indiana
The fundamental job of a toddler is to rule the universe. Lawrence Kutner
A few months ago, at the YMCA pool, I struck up a conversation with Steve who was there with his kiddo Fitz [the baby pool is where you get to have random half conversations in between chasing tiny humans between the zero-entry pool and the splash pad, but I’ll take it!] [Also, yay for dad’s who take their tiny humans out into the world and give momma’s a break!]
And a few weeks ago, we made these magical images happen! Magical, because Fitz is almost one and a half, and if you have ever tried to take photos of a one and a half year old, YOU KNOW! Luckily, I’m pretty good at my job ;), and I have excellent experience photographing Z to keep things entertaining, and work fast to get those awesome family portraits.
Speaking of Fitz and Z, Z was SO much like Fitz at his age. Some kiddos are shy, and timid around new people, or new place. Fitz and Z: nope. They’re going 100 miles an hour, to explore everything, and say hi to everyone, and pick up all sorts of goodies they find along the way [at some point in our session, Fitz had collected every stick he’d come across and attempted to pull up a few roots to bring with too], he’d waved to neighbors out walking their dogs [we did their session starting at their house, and then wandering along a walkway by the water], and found a cat to pet and smile at.
Cindy and Steve, your kiddo is awesome. As are you two [I mean, he obviously get’s it from somebody :)]. Thanks for inviting me to photograph your beautiful family!
Cheers!
~Maike
PS: Stay tuned for part two from this family, which features Ducks and Doughnuts.
Matt & KT! Iowa City, Iowa Baby Bump Session
Friends! Meet some of MY friends! I’ve known Matt [or as I lovingly refer to as “Matty”], for over a decade now. As crazy as that seems. When I was trying to figure out life after college, I found myself somewhat roommate-less, and our mutual friend Megan [THIS awesome Megan], set us up as roomies [with two other folks]. I didn’t even meet Matt until he was moving his stuff into our rental house.
Matty was probably my favorite of the roommates, and was often dreaming up crazy ideas, which I was ALWAYS a fan of [he had giant jars of alcohol he was fermenting (or something; I drank it, it was good) on our mantel for a while, he assisted in bringing our couches to the drive in movie theater, and was part of throwing awesome house parties with themes like: “bounce house party!” (it was just as rad as you might imagine), and “zombie party!” (I felt a little uncomfortable when the zombies left our house to stagger home; can you imagine how terrifying to come across a zombie person, NOT in the month of October?!]
5 years ago, he married his love KT [ahem… in a COSTUME WEDDING! R and I dressed up as Buttercup and Dread Pirate Roberts], and NOW… these two amazing humans are having a tiny human of their own!!!
And with Matty’s awesome shenanigans, and KT’s amazing theater whims [she’s like, legit ya’all… a playwright who will have a show next fall at the Phoenix Theater here in Indy, that you should ALL plan on going to see, because it is going to be spectacular [it’s called “Love Bird’s”]…. between the two of them though… this kiddo is going to grow up in such an awesome atmosphere. Obviously I’m excited to see their halloween costumes, but also, I’m just really really excited for them to be parents to this sweet new baby.
Enough about my nostalgic ramblings and gushing about how rad these two humans are, HERE’S THEIR MATERNITY SESSION!
R, Z and I drove over for a fun weekend, and we squeezed this shoot in on a delightfully chilly Sunday morning in Iowa City. And Iowa City did not disappoint me one bit. It’s full of beautiful murals, and cool random allies, and during our trip we saw Greta Thunberg at a climate strike, took a delightful hike, ate pizza at a barn with live music.
Loved it all.
And super in love with these photos too.
You guys are great! You’re going to be amazing parents.
Cheers!
~Maike
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.
