News, News, News

, I will be out of town from Wednesday, February 24th until Wednesday, March 4th.  I'll be checking email, but may not get back to you with my usual lightning-fast speed.  So please be patient, and I'll reply as soon as I can!

Exciting news!  I've applied for and been accepted to join Operation:Love ReUnited!  This is such a fantastic group of photographers that have joined together to support our military service members who are either a) deploying soon, b) currently deployed and miss their families, or c) returning home from deployment.  Basically, I will be capturing one of these events with my camera for families in the area.  

Most of you probably don't know that I spent five years in the US Navy.  :)  And my husband is in the National Guard.  So it's safe to say that I definitely can empathize with the families of our service members, and would like to be able to give something to those who have sacrificed SO much.

So if you or a family member/spouse are deploying soon, currently deployed, or if you have a service member returning home from deployment soon, please contact me for details!  As a participating member, I will be offering a free session and set of 4x6 prints for those who qualify.  You can learn more at www.oplove.org.

Updates on Availability and Gift Certificate Winners

Happy Valentine's Day!

In honor of the holiday of LOVE, I'm going to give the next person that emails me a Sassy Boudoir session or Trash the Dress for only $75!  But only one person will get this awesome price, so email right away!

UPDATE: Congratulations LINDSAY!  You are the proud owner of a shiny new boudoir session for only $75.   :)

Also, congratulations to the three winners from the McGregor Bridal show. I've drawn three names, Katie, Tabby, and Jennifer, who have each won a $50 gift certificate they can apply to any session or package of their choice.  One of the girls is getting married in May and already has her photographer, but she's excited to use her gift certificate for a Trash The Dress session!

Also, I am nearly booked for 2009.  I have one opening in July and several openings throughout November and December.  So don't wait too long to contact me!  :) I've already had about 8 requests for 2010, so I expect to start booking next year very soon.  Thanks to all of my awesome clients for making my 2009 book up so quickly! This year I'll be shooting weddings in three states and two countries.  Yay!

Did I mention I love my job?  :)

McGregor Bridal Show

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my booth in McGregor, Iowa yesterday. The bridal show was held in the McGregor Landing and Event Center- a very cool old place that has been renovated into a neat building with a "western" feel to it. It would be an awesome place to have a wedding (and dare I say photograph a wedding?) !!!

First of all if you haven't been to McGregor before, you should totally check it out. It's a couple miles from Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin, and right along the Mississippi River.

Here are a few neat pictures of the venue itself. I am such a sucker for antique and vintage locations/details!


Isn't this a neat bar? It's called Uncle Sam's Saloon, and I think every bridal show should have a bar for the grooms who get dragged along. :)


One of the many cool light fixtures in the event center.

The fashion show is always a neat way to see what styles will be popping up throughout the year. Two things that I LOVELOVELOVE are the dresses that have all the ruching, or gathering of fabric, and I also love the presence of suits and tuxes for guys that are grey or brown. I do like a nice black tux, but have to admit that a grey or brown tux/suit really sets a wedding apart, and looks really nice. And a lot less formal!

My seat for the fashion show wasn't the greatest, but I did get a couple of pictures for ya'll!


My favorite combo.  It was a grey suit with a platinum ruched dress.  Wow- it really made me look twice!
I couldn't help it... Awww!  What a cute flower girl!

Normally I like tea length bridesmaid dresses, but I'm starting to change my thinking.  This was such an unusual dress, almost with a vintage feel.  It was long and flowy with that ruching that I really like.  It kind of reminded me of a 1970's style.

I love the simplicity of this dress, and it was so flattering!  My best friend, Jen, would love this!

Cute flower girl dress... isn't the sash cute?

Group picture from the end.  I love wedding dresses!

Lastly, I'll share one final shot.  The highlight of the whole day:

Strawberries and CHOCOLATE!  Yup, I definitely wish I would have had a chocolate fountain at my wedding!  ;)

Check back soon because I'll announce the winners of the bridal show drawing for three $50 gift certificates!

More exciting news!

Yesterday I blogged about winning the Bride's Choice Award with WeddingWire.com. Well, today I received even MORE exciting news!



I'm proud to announce that I've been accepted to the Modern Photographers group! So far, there are only TWO members in Wisconsin: Ardent Photography and myself. Members are voted in by a panel of their peers- other professional photographers who are looking for several specific things in order to approve the application. 

A few requirements for membership are:

*Maintain a proper business license (pay taxes)
*Have backup equipment in case of equipment failure during an important shoot
*Maintain a good reputation in their local community, as well as within the photography industry
*Have solid technical skills (exposure, lighting, composition, post production)
*Have a creative eye that lends itself to a modern style

If you are looking for a photographer recommended by other photographers, look no further than Modern Photographers.

It's such an honor to be selected for this prestigious group, especially since many of my favorite photographers from around the country are members!    Modern Photographers + Studio Noveau = happy Rebecca.  

If you get a chance, you should check out the site!  I hope you are all having a great day- I sure am!

Come visit Studio Noveau at the bridal show this weekend!

If you are in the Prairie Du Chien or McGregor areas, please come visit me at the McGregor Landing and Event Center from 12-4. This will be my first time at this show, so please come by to say hello!

Also, more news:

I've been selected as a Wedding Wire Bride's Choice Award recipient! This award goes out to WeddingWire.com vendors, and they are chosen by their customers' ratings. :) That's pretty cool, huh?



Stay tuned for a post after the bridal show!

Jackie and Kevin:: Engagement

So you've already seen a preview of the preview... here are the rest of the preview photos!

Let me give you a little background on these two and I. We've been trying to schedule this session since November. Yes, that's right, November. It is now February. It seemed like there was always something- rain, extreme cold, or just SOMETHING that got in the way of us actually meeting to shoot their engagement photos! I think we must have scheduled them 6 or 7 times, and finally decided to wait a week or two for it to warm up before trying again.

Well, guess what? The ONE week we decided to take a break was the week it ended up being nearly 40 degrees! So we planned a last-minute session and the weather was gorgeous. They live on Kevin's family farm along the Wisconsin River near Muscoda, WI. It was most definitely beautiful, and the history was great! There some awesome buildings and fun animals like Panda the cow, Rosie the dog, and few others. When I was doing the post-processing work to these pictures, I tried to give some of them an antique feel, and others I tried to play around with the vibrance a bit. It was such a fun batch of pictures to play with!

Well, enough of me talking... what do you think?

Preview of a Preview!

Yes, that's right... two posts in one day!

As I'm uploading the pictures from Jackie and Kevin's engagement session today, I wanted to share a couple teasers... :D They are getting married this June and wanted some pictures taken on Kevin's family farm. It was such a neat place: right across the road from the Wisconsin River, great views, cool buildings, and of course, it had cows. :) Enjoy!











There will be more coming in a couple days... and they will involve this scene:



And this scene:




Super-cool, huh? Or am I the only one who gets genuinely excited to see hay bales and broken old chairs? Check back for more pictures soon!

A few more pictures...

This post has a few more of my favorite pictures from the year. In the ones above, I love the vibrant colors, and all that fabulous greenery! It was a unique wedding- it had a Celtic theme, so the groom and all his guys (including the ring bearer) wore kilts. The bride wore a crown of flowers, and the ceremony was held in Winona high up on a bluff. It was so pretty!

Stay tuned- in the next day or two I will be posting a preview of Jackie and Kevin's engagement session along the Wisconsin River!