Artisan Photos

Artisan Photography wins Wedding Wire Award 2 years in a row

2012-01-24T11:46:00.000-08:00

{Ballwin,MO} – January 24, 2012 – WeddingWire, the nation's leading wedding Marketplace, is excited to announce Artisan Photography has been selected to receive the prestigious WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2012 for Photography!

The esteemed annual awards program recognizes the top local wedding vendors from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism within the wedding industry. While many industry awards are selected by the organization, Artisan Photography was selected based on its stellar reviews from past newlywed clients.

Artisan Photography is recognized as part of the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire local vendor community, comprised of over 200,000 wedding professionals throughout the United States and Canada. The Bride’s Choice Award recognizes the best local wedding vendors across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on their overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is thrilled to honor the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community,” said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire. “Since the launch of the Bride’s Choice Awards™ program four years ago, thousands of outstanding wedding professionals have been recognized by the bridal community for their supreme service and dedication to the wedding industry. It is with great pleasure that we congratulate Artisan Photography for their continued professionalism and commitment to enriching the wedding planning experience for engaged couples.”

We are happy to announce that Artisan Photography is one of the very best Photographers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Project Wedding, Brides.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for taking the time to review our business on WeddingWire. Thanks to their positive feedback we were able to receive the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ for 2012.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/artisan-photography-ballwin/9f5358679e0900a0.html.

To learn more about the Bride's Choice Awards™, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire™, the nation's leading marketplace serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 reviewed wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers. WeddingWire also offers a comprehensive suite of online planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire is the only all-in-one marketing platform for businesses online and on-the-go. WeddingWire offers one simple solution to build a professional network, improve search visibility, manage social media and reach mobile consumers. Businesses that advertise with WeddingWire appear on WeddingWire.com, ProjectWedding.com and other leading sites, including MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), Brides.com and Weddingbee.com.
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Calling All Vendors!

2011-07-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hey guys and gals

I'm starting a new vendor page with my favorite vendors on there. Please remind me of yourself if you are reading this.

Also, my brides and grooms, of past, present and future - do you have some other vendors you LOVED!? Please let me know so I can talk with them and consider adding them in.

Whew! It has been a busy spring!

2011-07-07T15:47:00.000-07:00

Seems like every time I sit down to write a blog entry I remember something else that needs to be done! I didn't want to let it go much longer, though so here's a short recap to let you know what we have been up to.

If you haven't heard, we have lots of new and exciting props and products we are offering! I blogged about our new "antique" wooden floor prop - it's been getting A LOT of attention- seems everyone likes it as much as we do! It's great for baby sessions - set a wooden bowl on it, fluff a soft cozy blanket inside and baby gets to relax comfortably while getting his/her picture taken. These make great sepia toned images as well as natural color - the skin tones contrasts beautifully with the brown tones. Here are a few examples of our favorites:

Recently, I had asked Melissa and Heather to come up with some ideas for session props and while the collection keeps growing (they are shop-a-holics!) some of our new props include adorable baby cocoons, hammocks and slings for newborns, knit caps, angel wings, baskets, and fabric backgrounds. We are working on getting more cute hats and clothing props for older kids. Melissa and Heather have some great ideas and are thoroughly enjoying the task of giving the studio a more "womanly" touch!

One of our new favorite products is Metal Prints - I have to admit these are REALLY neat! You can have your image printed on brushed aluminum in either matte or glossy finish. We offer them in all our standard print sizes from 4x6 to 24x30, as well as circles, squares and decorative shapes. We used circle metals to create a wall display in our studio:

The standard metal prints come mounted and ready to hang. They stand about 1" off the wall. Specialty shapes come as is, or you can have holes drilled and a ribbon laced through to hang it on the wall or use it as an ornament or gift decoration. To get the full effect of how cool they are, you really need to see them in person - the pictures just don't do them justice!

We will be having a new promotion starting in late July or August. To be one of the first to know, sign up for our newsletter using the form below.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer so far and I look forward to sharing more exciting studio news with you in the coming weeks.

Easter Cousins

2011-04-29T12:59:00.000-07:00

It doesn't get any cuter than four little cousins all prettied up in spring dresses and posing for the camera! Madalynn, Morgan, Skylar and Jenna certainly were not shy for their Easter portrait session! Their brightly colored dresses were a nice contrast to our new wood floor prop, and they had fun playing, laughing and getting their pictures taken.

New Hardwood Floor Photo Prop!

2011-04-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

Being inspired by his friend and colleague, Steve Seebeck’s hardwood floor prop, Tim decided he needed one of these gorgeous floors for the Artisan studio.

You can buy these floors specifically made for photography, but seeing as Tim is an artist in many regards, he couldn’t help but build his own! Growing up having a father gifted in carpentry as well as fine arts obviously rubbed off on Tim – the floor looks fantastic and it’s not even finished yet! While he had fun constructing his new prop, it was a lot of hard work – he spent hours cutting, scoring, scraping, adding raised pieces and sanding it down again to give the floor character and it’s one of kind antique feel.

Of course, I thought it was only appropriate that I sneak out to snap a few surprise pictures of the craftsman hard at work!

The floor is almost finished and when it is, Tim is going to be giving away a few sample sessions – if you would like to be one of the lucky few to receive a free sample session on the new hardwood floor prop, give us a call. We will only be doing 2-3 sample sessions, so don’t wait!

Clients get creative with our work!

2011-03-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

Julie and Andy came in for a newborn session with their adorable baby girl, Claire. They were a fantastic family to work with, and we were impressed with their creative display of their final images! They sent us a picture of how they used alternating black and white mats to make a more interesting composition of the frames. We would love to see more examples of how our client's display their photos, so send them in to us and we may feature it on our blog. Thanks Julie and Andy! We love it!

Senior Session - photographed by Melissa

2011-03-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

We have finally gotten around to posting some samples of Melissa's photography! These are from recent sessions, and as she does more for Artisan we will update the blog and facebook so you can get to know her style. If you like what you see, call us to schedule a session and take advantage of our introductory pricing for Melissa!

Meet our New Associate Photographer!

2011-02-18T09:22:00.000-08:00

We are excited to introduce Melissa, our new associate photographer! Melissa has interned with Artisan since August of 2009, helping process orders, design albums and artwork images. She has an extensive background in the creative arts and over 5 years of professional experience in portrait and wedding photography, working on her own as well as with several St. Louis area photographers.

Melissa enjoys photographing kids and families, and especially loves senior sessions. “Seniors are always so into the session - they really enjoy the process which makes it fun for me too. Being young at heart, I tend to connect with and become fast friends with my young clients, chatting about popular music, movies and of course, clothes!”

Melissa has been taking pictures since the age of 14, and has studied in the areas of art, graphic design and photography. Being a mother of four, it wasn’t until just recently that she’s been able to transform her passion for the arts into more than just a part time endeavor. We are pleased to be able to offer her services to you, and know you will be thrilled with her work!

We are now offering an introductory pricing structure for portrait sessions with Melissa. In addition to the lower session fees, we will be offering special discounts on prints as well. Please call the studio today to schedule your session with Melissa! I promise you will love your images!

Special Introductory Pricing

1 hour studio session - $75

1 hour location session - $100/$200*

All sessions include online slideshow and proofing.

CALL TO SCHEDULE A SESSION BEFORE FEBRARY 28, 2011 AND RECIEVE A FREE 8x10 PRINT WITH YOUR PORTRAIT SESSION!

*within 10 miles of Ballwin, MO/outside 10 miles of Ballwin, MO

Madden - January, 2011

2011-01-31T09:40:00.000-08:00

Is YOUR child North America's Cutest Kid?

2011-01-28T11:24:00.000-08:00

Artisan Photography is participating in the International Charity Model Search to select North America’s Cutest Kid and to raise funds for the non-profit Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation. (NILMDTS.org)

Is YOUR child North America’s Cutest Kid? We’ll give you the opportunity to prove it! The grand prizewinner will win a $2500 savings bond, a $2500 travel package, and a $100 Target gift card. The second and third place runners up each will win a $500 savings bond and a $100 Target gift card.

Model Search Portriat Specials:

Finalists will be determined by online votes. Each vote is $1 (no limit on the amount of votes you can cast), and all proceeds from votes benefit Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS.org). Every family member who registers their information on the Charity Model Search Website will also receive 1 complimentary vote. The top 5 paid votes, and the top 5 complimentary votes in each region will move on to the final judging round for a total of 50 finalists.

Grand prize international winner and runners up will be determined from the 50 regional finalists. The winner and runners up are selected by photography experts.

Call 636-207-7883 now to enter your “Cutest Kid” in this exciting contest.

*Contest open to residents of the US and Canada ages birth to 18 years. Contest ends March 31st, 2011. For more information, visit http://www.charitymodelsearch.org.

Artisan Chosen as WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011!

2011-01-26T08:32:00.000-08:00

I am truly thankful for all my current and past clients who obviously think so highly of my work! This came as a complete surprise to me (I had no idea they even DID awards!) Thanks to everyone who gave me such great reviews! I am flattered, honored and blessed!

Saint Louis, MO – January 27, 2011 - WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, is thrilled to announce Timothy Pastor of Artisan Photography has been selected to receive the prestigious annual WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 for Wedding Photography.Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation. Artisan Photography stands among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire community, representing quality and service excellence within the wedding industry. Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year. “WeddingWire is honored to celebrate the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire community,” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program, WeddingWire has the unique opportunity to recognize the best wedding professionals across the US and Canada. We applaud Artisan Photography for their professionalism and dedication to enhancing the wedding planning experience last year.” We are happy to announce that Artisan Photography is among the very best photographers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Martha Stewart Weddings, Project Wedding and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for nominating us to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011. For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/artisan-photography-ballwin/9f5358679e0900a0.html For more information on the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011, please visit www.WeddingWire.com

Rhode Island - Lauren and Mike

2010-10-13T11:22:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a LONG while since I've been able to post. It's been a busy year for Heather, Madalynn, Jennavieve and myself. But I would love to be showing more, so here goes.

Lauren and Mike's wedding was beautiful - in a secluded little spot at Whispering Pines in West Greenwich, Rhode Island. I photographed Mike's sister's wedding, in the West Hamptons, a couple of years ago. They loved my work so much their family called me back a second time.

I really wanted to capture the feel of the natural/woodsy environment. It had an feel that transcended time. Whispering Pines is a part of the University of Rhode Island, and was where President Eisenhower would come to hunt. The King of Nepal was once a guest there as well. I shot with a lot of wide open primes to create a more vintage look and treated many of them with post processing that extended that mood as well.

Everyone from their family has been giving me glowing compliments. I hope you enjoy them too. Here's a few. But if you want to see their whole slideshow, visit www.stlphotography.com/laurenmike

Josh and Chrissy - Santa Barbara, California

2010-07-23T21:26:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone - Just got back on Thursday from Santa Barbara, CA. BEAUTIFUL! A lady on the plane ride home said how horrible and hot the weather was (I guess she was saying how it was cloudy in the morning and got up to a BLISTERING 82/83 for an hour or 2 in the afternoon). I just had to laugh to myself.

So chilly at night jeans and a sweatshirt and you'd still be shivering while hanging out outside. gorgeous blue skies.

Josh and Chrissy had their ceremony outside on the beach. Great looking couple and fun to work with to boot. Josh is insane and hilarious. Very emotive and you can see in the photos! Chrissy was just beautiful. I know she was a bit worried about getting in the sand before the ceremony, but she did and we got some great shots.

Josh works in LA as a sound engineer for the Crystal Method. Definitly fits his charecter. Ken and Scott (The Crystal Method) were at the wedding - very nice and I was surprised at how normal, ha! I don't know - I guess with the style of music they play I expected something off the wall.

This is a quick raw preview. I'll maybe post more later if I can. Here's a couple landscapes I took while there as well. Some at the peir in Santa Barbara, and I also drove up to Montana De Oro state park, but got kinda skunked after a 2.5hr drive. Clouds moved in and I only had a few moments to work with, but I did get this dramatic shot. Not sure how big that island is, but it seemed HUGE. Honestly, the photos can't describe how breathtaking it was from they view up there. The ocean was SO far away from the vista I was at, but STILL is so huge. As the clouds rolled in, I felt so small and that the power of nature could consume me with less than a whisk of it's finger. I could not imagine being out at sea for an extended period of time with nothing but water around.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the shots

Beauty and the Beast get married!!! Artisan Photography CAPTURES IT!!

2010-07-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

www.GORILLA76.com

Ok, that sounds mean, but when you see this photo you'll get it! The wedding is actually that of Joe and Julie. Joe is part owner of Gorilla76, a design studio that is only a few years into it's inception but is already showing it's strength. I guess you could say it's proving to be a "BEAST" of a design house! And I just LOVE this portrait of them in gorilla suits.

And I have to say, getting such a beautiful compliment as this from another talented creative professional really feels good! Pulled directly from him email in reply to seeing the slideshow for the first time

Wow.
These are absolutely beautiful. Not that I expected anything less, but these are just amazing. You have such an incredible talent for capturing real emotion in people. Many of the photographers we looked at did good work, but didn't have that same knack for bringing real moments to life.

Additionally, we were so impressed throughout the entire day with the way you managed to be behind the scenes, but somehow seemed to pick up on every important moment. Everyone loved working with you. You were never pushy, and let us just live out the day as we wanted. And then you stayed for that extra time at the end, which was so awesome.

We just couldn't be more thankful. You've helped us preserve memories of this day perfectly.

Joe is not actually a beast, but quite photogenic - I think he looks a bit like Jack on Lost, ha! And as you can see in the photos Julie is a beauty. We got some great shots - again I'll let the photos speak for themselves. Julie was hesitant to go into this beautiful field of grasses, but I knew we could get some great shots here. The wedding was at St. Clement in Des Peres and the reception was at Moulin on Chouteau in the Lafayette area.

If you want to see the full slideshow just email me and I can send you a link.

Enjoy

Amanda and Ian - Khorassan Ballroom - Chase Park Plaza

2010-06-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Hey guys - I just updated my main Website with Amanda and Ian's. There's a dozen or so here and about 30+ if you want to see more.

Beautiful day - I love the room - I added the names to the Marquee, as the Chase did not do this for them and Amanda was bummed. She was excited to see that I had added it for them! :) Looks real enough you probably weren't sure if I got the ladder out :) But no, I did it in PS (photoshop) later.

Guys, thank you for a great day! Awww, I forgot a close up of Ian - it struck me that his celebrity doppledinger is John Travolta! :) At least a little bit.

Flowers by Frankie at Festive Atmosphere's. He does beautiful work, ALWAYS!

You gotta give props to Mike (Amanda's Dad) for bringing "props" to use in his speech! And LOOK at those notes baby! It was actually surprisingly quick, consider I wasn't sure if he had a transcript of the last health bill in his hands, ha!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll shut up, and here's 18,000 more words for you!

Katie and Tom at Busch Stadium

2010-06-17T12:32:00.001-07:00

So, I'm going to try to post more often with less composistion and more photos. After all, I'm no author (or should I say, I ain't no author), and the photos speak for themselves after all.

Especially a session like this. Very fun, exciting session - I'm not sure what it costs to reserve it for an hour, but it's a pretty cool thing.

Tom has some good ups too, as you can see by his against the wall catch!

Weddings Are HARD Work!!!

2010-06-12T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well, there is no denying it. 11hrs on your feet 95% of the time. Rarely getting a chance to eat drink or use the restroom.

Carrying around a 20lb bag on your shoulder all day as your toes and heels dig into the ground till it feels like your feet had been pounded with a hammer. Eyes strained, from squeezing your sight through a keyhole; mind exhausted from organizing shots and running around non-stop, trying to be creative.

I just got back from Amanda and Ian's wedding tonight, and one of the guests took a portrait of me to show the physical and mental exhaustion to be displayed for all. See below. But know that it is an emotionally moving photo.

(tounge in cheek).

It has become a tradition that I take a shot with all the girls that I've done the weddings for and have gotten to know at these weddings. It truly is a lot of hard work, but it's the people and fun times that make it worth it.

I'll have many great shots of Amanda and Ian posted soon. Thank you Gail, Mike, Ben, Emily, Amanda, Ian, Dannielle, the list goes on and on. I really enjoy working with your family and friends and even though this is the last of the kids to get married, hopefully I get to work with your family/friends again soon.

Thanks!
Tim

Random "Trek" Leads Me to Groom :)

2010-06-08T07:36:00.000-07:00

Just a quick personal post. I don't know about you, but I love this time of year for biking. I like to sweat through it and burn some fat.
I of course love the spring and fall too. Treking down the Katy Trail about 10 or 12 miles to August, with the leaves changing. Stopping to grab a brew and food, just enough to offset the calories you burned, ha!

Anyway, I happened to be out, looking to get Heather's Bike tuned up, and possibly get her a new bike. I've always loved Trek Bikes, and while in the store, I spoke to a guy in back, George, who was very helpful. . I thought he looked familiar, but just from being in the store last year.

I continued to talk to Pete in the repair area, who was also extremely nice. I came back to the front to ask George one more question, and then he said I also looked familiar. "Are you a photographer?" He asked, and when I informed him I was he replied "You're shooting my wedding!" Sure enough! Then it hit me as well. George and Nicole in October of 2010. Small world!

Everyone looks different when you meet them once in a different environment. Thought I felt bad that I didn't recognize him from the start I told him "well, I'm your only photographer this year, and I DO have 30 wedding couples this year, and you didn't recognize me either :)"

Anway - we continued on with the Bike talk and he continued to give me all the info I needed. So if you are in the market swing down to Trek Bike's on Manchester in West County. Here's a map . Heather had a cheaper Schwin that we had gotten from whatever store, and I spent hours trying to get the gearing to go smoothly, and for another $100, I could have gotten a Trek bike of better quality and a lot better service. It would have been shifting correctly out of the gate, and if I had issues, they take care of you for 3 years.

Even if you have another bike, they do a maintainence deal for $60 where they calibrate the gearing, and brakes etc. For the time I spent trying to get it to operate perfectly, I spent 3 times that in time. and still didn't get it as good as they probably could have.

Tell George I sent ya! :)

Artisan Photography Featured in Seasons Magazine - TWICE in one issue!

2010-05-02T15:57:00.001-07:00

Well, I have 2 great wedding featured in Seasons this issue. One was for Jana and Brian's wedding back in Oct of last year and the other was for Amy and Nikhil's wedding in December of last year.

It's a great magazine to be a part of, and once again I have to thank Josie for doing the legwork of getting the weddings featured! Her website again is www.cosmopolitanevents.com

Click the photos to see the images bigger and read more about the weddings - or just look for it when you see the magazine in person.

Jennavieve Photos - and a little fun with backgrounds and props

2010-05-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

So, It was time to do a few more photos of Jennavieve, and I had a couple things I was messing around with. I love the look of the background in these. I have a few new backgrounds I've been working on for baby sessions that add a bit of warmth and character. I like solids for backgrounds as it can add a striking look, but sometimes it's nice to add a touch of interest that may look for like a traditional wall paper.

Here's a few -

Artisan Photography Featured in a Book!

2010-05-02T15:37:00.001-07:00

Well, I always have plenty of stuff to blog about, but it's rare that I get a chance to do it - but I wanted to send this off before I forgot.

I got a call a few weeks ago from the publisher of a book letting me know I was being featured in it. It's a planning book, written by 2 sisters here in St. Louis, with a friend to friend type of referall system. It's not paid advertisments, but instead it's just them doing a lot of digging around on finding good vendors, by interviewing friends and family and networks.

Much in the same way you would pick your own vendors (by asking friends and then checking them out yourself) this is how they have written it. SO! If you DON'T have a personal referall for part of your wedding, this book can be your "buddy".

I have some of the books in stock if you want to grab one. they sell for $15.99 if you buy it at Borders, etc, but if you get it from me I have them for $12.

I LOVE the illustration on the cover! They hired a well known commercial artist from New York to create it for them after having seen some work they liked.

I'm often featured in Magazine's but I think this is one of the few books I've been in.

Sugaree Bakery -

2010-04-30T18:46:00.000-07:00

Just a quick credit ...I have been informed it was Pat at the Sugaree that made the cake. I should have known! They make amazing cakes. Sugaree Homepage

Christine and Paul - April 24th 2010 - Top of the Met - Shrine of St Joe's

2010-04-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

While the weather did not cooperate with us this past saturday, Chris and Paul were a complete joy to work with! We got some beautiful shots anyway (IN YOUR FACE WEATHER! :) and they and their families had a great time.

Chris gave Paul a super cool gift! A new dog - A Sheltie I belive - named either Conner or Murphy whichever they decide first. She gave him the dog collar with the naem and a breeder picked out.

Exclusive Events did a great Job with decorating the Top of the Met. AND - thank you, thank you, thank you guys for going with the set up I've always suggested to people - and had the dancefloor at one end. It made for a much smoother flow to the reception

Elisabeth and Josie at Cosmo Events did the planning and organization, and did a wonderful job as usual. the cake and flowers were stunning. Which I'm sure Josie can give you the info on who did those.

The whole family and wedding party were great to work with. Michael - glad those saltines and gatorade hit the spot! But I have to say, Grandma Lucy was just adorable.

Oh, and I SWEAR! I'm going to start posting more often :) Been a busy winter

now some pics ....

Kara and Lucky - February 20th 2010 at Andre's West

2010-03-10T17:20:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful February day! It was the first breakout warm day we had all winter it seems and happened to fall on Kara and Lucky's day. Lucky indeed! Sorry Lucky, I couldn't resist.

Absolutely CUTE couple - just loved to have fun and in love with each other. I particularly liked Lucky's celebratory gesture after the first kiss in the church... but actually, now that I think about it, I think I remember him sneaking in about TWO other kisses prior to the "official kiss" ha!

It worked out for me to ride on the bus with the party on this one, which often can be a lot of fun. Figured I'd go in and get a shot of them in Deirberg's making the beer run :)

And when whe FINALLLY, KARA!!! (just kidding) got downtown and to Forest Park to get some shots in, we got some beautiful stuff.

OH YEAH, I almost forgot to add my favorite shot of the day. Ok, not really favorite, but it is funny. Grandma with her InBev Bud Select :)

Hope you enjoy!

thanks again to both of you for having me at your wedding celebration!

Jennavieve is getting so big!

2010-02-18T15:18:00.000-08:00

Here she is at 7 months. She's actually 8mo now, so I'm a little slow on the draw.

She started saying "HI DADA" Shortly before these photos. Heather came in one morning with her, as I was waking up and was telling Jennavieve, "say hi da da", and sure enough to her own surprise she started making the sound.

Once she realized she had this super power she couldn't get enough and started saying, "hi da dada da da da dadaaaaa. Hi DADADADA! HIII DADADAD DADADADAA DADA ADAADADA!" You get the idea :)

She now definitly knjows what she is saying and says it when I come in the room a lot of times. And now she's started to say Mama, but she's still working on it. Needless to say, I think DaDa is simply an easier sound to make :)

She's doing great, about 8 teeth in now. Had a little bit of a cold last week, hit 104.3 for a moment which was scary, but is fine now and usually pretty happy!

Hope you enjoy the photos!
Tim

OH! PS, the photos that were taken of all 3 of us were taken by my sister Melissa. I had everything set up and she was nice enough to get a few of us together. And then Heather and Melissa took some of me and Jennavieve. Madalynn is not in them since she was at school at the time of the session, but that's what I will be posting next is a few of the 2 girls together!

Molly and Jason - The Conservatory in St. Charles

2010-02-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, It's been far too long once again. But I wanted to post a quick one just to be sure I show off Molly and Jason's day. It was COLD once again. Not as much so as Jan 2nd, but nonetheless we got some wonderful images.

I pride myself on getting unique images every wedding. So while my style may be signature, most of the images are pretty unique day to day.

I loved the red wall we found. And the shot with the flag is cool, since they are BOTH military! They even brought me some MREs (Meal Ready to Eat)... see photo :) My daughter Madalynn is pretty excited about trying them, though we still haven't. Maybe we'll do that tonight! :)

I love the shots of Dad seeing his little girl as a bride for the first time. They aren't artistically the most amazing but they sure capture the mood. This is one event of a wedding that never gets old to see. I can only think of Madalynn and Jennavieve when I witness it.

And the shot that we traveled ALL the way downtown for. They wanted to get a few shots there since they have a family brick down there (and as you can read on the brick, Cardinals baseball IS a Dieckhaus family tradition!! :), so I did the abstract of the rings/feet/brick you see below. Came out pretty cool!

Thank you both again for a great day of shooting and being more like friends. This seems to ring true for most of my couples!

Randy and Jessica Shrine of St Joe's, and Crowne Plaza Clayton

2010-01-25T11:05:00.000-08:00

January 2nd 2009 Jumpin ahead here, but I'll go back.

In love and commited. That is how I would describe Randy and Jessica. They are so happy together, and were both such a part of the planning and designing of the day that it was obvious through the details. The beautiful ceremony location you see is the The Shrine of St Joe's. Their concern for their guests enjoyment of the wedding was obvious, and they consideration for that showed up in the details as well, even in the cake that had EVERY wedding guests name written in icing on it!

Cold! That was another word that comes to mind. My hands were sooo frozen after our first 10 minutes or so out of the bus they hurt. I ended up borrowing Randy's gloves. I usually don't shoot with them as it's hard to change the setting on the camera but i had to. It won't show up in the images though, as they both were such troopers they got out there and got some beautiful shots with me.

I want to send a quick thank you to Gail Mohrmann (and the whole Mohrmann family, whom I've photographed most of :), who referred Randy and Jessica to me, and was a big help for the couple in planning the day. As well as some other familiar faces that day, whom you see in the photo with me, ha! The photobooth studio was courtesy Darby at Laughing Penguins/. The party was at Crowne Plaza in Clayton Crowne Plaza in Clayton

Randy and Jessica have both already personally called and thanked me for the job I did, and I cannot do their words justice in terms of their flattery. But I wanted to get this post up to you to be sure and thank you for having me be there and letting me know how appreciative you are of my work. Thank YOU both! ~ Tim

and - of course - images...

Lyndsay and Kevin at the Shrine of St Joeseph and the Crystal Ballroom Renaissance Grand

2010-01-16T08:26:00.000-08:00

November 14th 2009

I'm working on getting back to current here. I've had several people ask me when I was going to update my blog again, so I'm going to work hard to show you what i've been up to.

Lyndsay and Kevin were all smiles all day long. From what I gathered, their engagement had been long overdue, so I guess they had something to smile about! We got some beautiful shots thorughout the day, as you can see below, but I think their favorite part of the day may have been the reception.

Lyndsay's brother, Michael, did a STIRRING rendition of Journey's song, "Don't Stop Believin", made famous again by the Sopranos final episode. And the Ohio State Snoopy song wasn't bad either.

I loved how Lyndsay went from her elegant curls in her veil, to a cute side ponytail for the reception. And Kevin's Dad, Bill, I want to personally thank for coming up to be and so sincerely telling me how wonderful of a job I was doing.

The flowers were done by Keith, at Botanicals Designs http://www.botanicalsdesignstudio.com/. The colors were perfect for the outdoor foliage that day.

Crysatl Ballroom Renaissance Grand St Louis

Enjoy the visuals! ...

Annie and James, Fischer's in Belleville IL - November 7th

2009-12-08T19:15:00.000-08:00

Annie and James, what can I say?! Great couple to work with. Crazy Friends. Pudding shots. Dancing on Bar tops. Well, I guess that's what I can say - LOL! I had a blast.

First, thank you guys for being such a fun group to work with, and insisting that i try at least a couple differnt kinds of pudding shots. Butterscotch was delightful. Christy - Thanks for making me "one of the girls" ha!

Who says you can't have fun when you're working? Just look at these shots. They are beautiful and we had fun.

James, don't ever stop smiling. you're brother hit the nail on the head when he said you have the same smile you had when you were 8 (at least I would guess he's right)! I really enjoyed my day with you both.

And, here's a great shot of me and the girls, and one taken in the photobooth. This is becoming a theme as you will see in my next post (whenever I actually get around to it!)
Sorry, this was Oct, but Nov and Dec were VERY VERY VERY (very, very very) busy

HERE I GO AGAIN!!!! Melissa and Darin at the 3rd Degree Glass Factory in Delmar

2009-12-08T18:44:00.000-08:00

Going down the only road I've every known. For those of you who caught the whitesnake sake reference. for those who didn't look up Whitesnake, here I go again. Great song from the 80's. Or at least that's how I remembered it.

ANYWHOOOO......

October 24th, 2009 Wedding - Melissa and Darin

So Darin and Melissa had a really fun day. She had some freakin hilarious wedding day sneakers custom made for her by an aunt I believe. I'm guessing she loves the peanuts cartoons.

We got some really great shots, and the reception was at the really cool and interesting, 3rd degree glass factory. I've never been there, but it was really impressive. They had artists blowing glass during the reception and Melissa and Darin, and their bridal party got to make their own glass art! How cool is that.

I bought my wife (Heather for those of you who don't know her name) a really cool vase for her birthday there. That's the first time I've shot a wedding and got some birthday shopping done.

Anyway guys, thanks for the wonderful day! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post about it.

Coming soon, my November weddings!!! Stay tuned :)

Gretchyn and Sam, Assumption Greek Orthadox Church, St. Louis, MO and Triple A Golf Club, Forest Park

2009-11-18T19:06:00.001-08:00

AHHHHHHHHHH! It has been busy. And I chose now to rip open my computers and build new machines and update, etc and so on! I'm not too smart sometimes. Why didn't I wait till January??

Anyway, I ever did get a chance to put up a post about Gretchyn and Sam's day. It was the first time I photographed at Assumption Greek Orthadox. I've been there for the Greek food before though! I love me some Baklava, Gyros, and just about everything at those feasts.

The Church is BEAUTIFUL. It is so intricate, I thought it would be busy, but it rendered so well in images, I was impressed.

The shot of the dress, I really worked for. It's not just a simple find a spot in the room and shoot. The Hilton Frontenac is a beautiful hotel, so I went out of my way to create a still life incorporating details of the location.

Sam, I KNOW you're probably upset that I didn't post one of you actually WEARING the crown, durning the ceremony. Sorry about that :) I loved sharing the day with them. They seemed to really balance each other. Sam was a constant joker, and Gretchyn was always trying to keep him in line, ha! We had a beautiful day, and got some beautiful images.

As always here's a few favs. Wish I could post more, but it would just get to be too much.

Thank you, to Megan and Mike, for sending another fun couple my way!

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY

2009-11-06T19:14:00.001-08:00

Well, it has finally stopped raining. But not before causing a small leak in our house, coming down the chimney, keeping most of us in a depressed mood for a solid week, and knocking down all the colorful leaves, or keeping me from easily shooting outside while most of them were still on the trees.

I had to cancel or postpone so many sessions, this had to be the worst October I remember, in 8 years of shooting. Well, one of my families was not so easily discouraged, and nor was I. Casey, Greg and Jacob came out for a session last week, even though the rain was really coming down pretty good at times.

I ran to a couple stores, and ended up finding some cute little rain boots, that fit Jacob pretty well, and a red umbrella that matched them.

I grabbed a few from the session to show, but it just goes to show, where there's a will, there's a way. We got some really cute shots, and there was still some color on the trees too!

Jennavieve

2009-11-06T19:11:00.001-08:00

I have had a quite a few people asking to see photos of our new girl Jennavieve. Yes, we spell our Daughter's names weird. Madalynn, and Jennavieve. there's a reason for the J though... my dad's initial Rebecca is her middle name, my sister's name, and the JR are my grandpas first initials and Heather's grandpa's first initials etc etc.

So anyway, there it is. Plus we liked the flexibility of Jenna.

She is a crazy little thing! Gets excited and just starts talking/screaming. letting out these grunts that sound a little like a baby lion's first attempts are roars. Jumps like mad in her little jumper thing, and is just a fun little thing to watch. Already 4 months. She was born June 20th this year.

Here's the most recent photos, taken around 4 months old. Notice I'm not in them! :) Someone's gotta take them. Actually, my colleage and friend Steve Seebeck took a few of us all when she was newborn. I guess he owed me a little though, after I did fly down to mexico to photograph his wedding in 07!! Just kidding Steve, if you're reading this, but seriously thank you

without further ado, here you go -

Falling Behind!

2009-10-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

October is always a busy month and this one is not exception. I want to be sure to post about my weddings, but I find myself not having time. Well, I go through A LOT of effort to create really cool slideshows for my couples. I spend a lot more time color correcting and artworking, syncing music etc, than almost any other photographer in the STL, so I might as well show them off a bit.

Here is Jana and Brian's show. They were such a sweet couple, so obviously in love, from the moment you met them. But it's only reiterated over and over again when you meeet their familes and hear them sharing stories about how they met and the romantic gestures Brian showed. Truly a gentleman!

Allow pop ups to see... click image to see show

Enjoy!

Featured Artist in Season's Magazine

2009-10-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to let you all know my work has been featured in Seasons Magazine this issue. Check out the link to see the bigger view.

Danielle and Ben just picked up their beautiful album recently and they loved it! I'm looking forward to getting some great shots with Ben's sister, Amanda, and her fiance, Ian, next year.

Thanks to Frankie at Festive atmospheres for submitting the article.

	Timothy Pastor

Artisan Photography

South Carolina PART 2

2009-10-22T20:41:00.001-07:00

Heather, Madalynn, Jennavieve and I had a great time on Hilton Head. I already told you how cool Mindy and Dustin were, and about their day a bit (see below). Now for a little about our trip

I was blown away by the nature down there. you had Savannah oaks, with Spanish moss hanging down. Alligators at every other pond. All kinds of birds. We saw dolphins jumping nearly every day. And 2 worthwhile experiences to relay.

One - while Heather and I were eating dinner, at an ocean view cafe one night, just before dusk the dolphins started jumping. Probably a dozen, here and there. I had a feeling they were going to get more energetic and get their last hurrahs in, before the sun retired for the night. Just as we were watching them, one (with 2 others close by) jumped clear out the water, and then ended up doing a back flip! Very cool to see. I've never really seen them in their natural environment acting so playful.

The second really memory etching experience, was when Madalynn and I were at the beach. The life guard had run down and whistled us all out of the water. Said he had seen sharks. I ask the early 20's blond hair, tanned bod, tough guy life guard, if he saw sharks. "Yep", was his nonchalant reply. "....Sand Sharks."

"Are they aggressive?" I ask.
"Yes.".

Ok, I could see I wasn't going to get much out of him. So, he leaves. I guess the life guards clock out at 5. He didn't post a sign, nor tell people to stay out, or stick around. So either it wasn't that big of a deal, or he just didn't care.

About a 1/2 hour later, Madalynn and I are playing at the waters edge, as I and some other beach goers, begin to witness, hundreds of fish (literally), popping out of the water like corn kernels popping, all in a confined spot. Then, you begin to see dorsal fins. Not the concave-curved friendly appearing fins of dolphins, but angular, seemingly razor sharp fins you think of sharks. 3, 4, eventually 6-10 of them. Then some thrashing at the water. It becomes clear the fish were being rounded up and now are being munched for dinner. then one jumps CLEAR out of the water. Probably 3-4' out, with a size of about 5-6ft.

The dolphins join in the fun, and for 15-20 minutes you see sharks and dolphins alike gorging themselves on this feast.

This all occurred about 300ft from the beach, and knowing that I was swimming at least 100 ft out, if not a bit further, it makes you second guess what you were swimming with.

Sorry, no pics of that, as I only had my point and shoot. That wasn't going to do much at 300 ft away, and needing the timing of a professional athlete to capture it (and the camera lag time of a pre school soccer game).

Here are some other photos around the island to enjoy. Hope you enjoyed my story :) I enjoyed witnessing it!

Oh yeah, I went parasailing with Madalynn. Had a BLAST! never done that before, but it was very cool. I'd love to try that over a clear blue ocaen sometime. The atlantic is a little murky, and nutrient rich, hence, all the wildlife.

South Carolina Wedding with Mindy and Dustin

2009-10-22T20:25:00.001-07:00

So Minday and Dustin loved my work enough to fly me down to Hilton Head, S.C. to photography their beautiful wedding. Thank you Liz and Alan for spreading the good word of my photography to them.

It was a great time. Heather, Madalynn, Jennavieve (our new 4 month old baby) and I all went down. Along with my mother in law! Not as bad as it sounds :) she's actually really cool, and helped out with Jennavieve so Heather and I could have some time together too.

The day was beautiful! Can't say enough about them, how hospitable and cute they are! We got some stunning shots. the day got cloudy, and then RIGHT at their ceremony, the sun busted through for these spectaculor colors you see. It does take a good photographer to know how to react right as the light is changing and be able to capture it with the mood that was there. And a litlte photoshop to help me show it the way I saw it.

The golf shot... Sorry Dustin! :) Had to through that in there. As you see, his 2 groomsmen swinging, as their balls are taking off, meanwhile, poor Dustins' trickled off. I quick hit the ground to get the shot you see, and his best man, tauntingly, gets down low to "check out" his shot. In all fairness I think I made him nervous sitting there with a camera.

Here's some shots from their day. I'll save part 2 for our adventures while we were down there!

Alicia and Chris at Lumen with Proposing Dreams

2009-10-12T18:48:00.000-07:00

Alicia and Chris were a very fun couple to work with. I think Chris was disappointed that I didn't get a hot shoe puppet to help make him smile (Only Chris will get that), but they seemed to have a good time in front of the camera.

Sabrina, with Proposing_Dreams was the day of coordinator, and, as usual, did a great job. She helped keep me on time, as she knows I like to shoot, and shoot, and shoot.

We got some beautiful images (see below). For the first time in about 2 years, I did a "selective coloring" of an image. It is usually hokey as hell when I see it done (I hate when everything is BW but some non relevant part of the photo, like a red shirt), but this image it just worked, AND when I put their slideshow together, I used the song ColdPlay "Green Eyes" and JUST as they sing that lyric this image pops up. Not sure if you guys noticed that Alicia and Chris? You'll have to let me know.

OH! And I almost forgot to put these last 2 images in!! Chris is a talented percussionist, and ROCKED THE (#*$% HOUSE with his skills. Nice Job.

Oh, and Lastly,
Please keep CHRIS in mind for all of your Auto, Home, Life, Health and BusinessInsurance needs.......Regards,Christopher M. Behnen, CLCSConsumers First / Innovative Financial Solutions PC. :)
Chris you have a website link?

Alison and Derek

2009-09-28T22:36:00.001-07:00

Derek was soft spoken and seemed almost shy when I first met him, but that all changed as the day went on when he ran out of the bus in his boxers for a few unexpected and impromptu shots with the bride!! In his defense, it was HOT. Extremely, shirt soaking, shoulder burning, heat stroke causingly hot! I guess he had decided to take off his pants when the guys took a break on the bus to cool off, and they urged him on to freak out Alison and take some shots with her! Well, I didn't stand down, but instead continued to document, and the hilarious frames you see below resulted.

They both were just wonderful to work with - very fun group. It felt more like hanging out with family and friends than work! We got some other, more fully dressed shots that were beautiful too :) So I'll attach a few of those.

Such a cute photo of the kids dancing! I photographed Lucas as a baby, I can't belive he's already that big! Turning into a little ladies man already it seems.

Thank you Alison and Derek, can't wait to get your album printed so you can see the finished prodcut!

I have been SLAMMED! BUT I have to share Danielle and David's day

2009-09-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted sooner. I still want to do a recap of the year, but in the meantime, I want to share some recent weddings.

Danielle and David were one of my coolest couples of the year. They trusted me to "do my thang" and we got some great shots due to that. I have WAY to many amazing shots to show here, so I'm just going to HAVE to put them in my gallery soon. Look for it! :)

They had their wedding and reception in the city museum. Very cool space. I've been there before, but I always see it in new ways.

David, you look fabulous with the parasol! For all you guys out there, that's that fluffy umbrella. I didn't know what that was either, ha! And you really have got some ups. I'm impressed.

Danielle, was absolutely stunning. She's beautiful to begin with, and the make-up artist really seemed to meld with her style.

Couldn't have asked for a better day! Thank you both (and the wedding party) for letting me share the day with you, and a beer.

Chelsea's High School Senior session

2009-09-05T18:19:00.000-07:00

I just got done printing and getting the prints ready to deliver from Chelsea's session. Chelsea was a wonderful model to work with. I think she was a little uneasy about the session at first, but I feel I was able to get her to really be herself in the photos.

She is from Arizona, but has family in town, so she decided to do the session here. one of the reasons she gave for doing the session here was that everything is brown in Arizona, so one of her requests was for flowers/greenery. I really ended up liking the image I used as a title slide, and it fit her request as well!

Though I've traveled to New York, Jamaica, Mexico (3x) etc etc for weddings, I've yet to travel for a senior session. Chelsea, if any of your friends like my work enough to ship me out, let me know! :)

St Louis Bride Real Wedding - by Artisan Photography

2009-09-03T14:46:00.001-07:00

Pretty early on in my posting and there's already a new published article to show. This was featured in St Louis Bride in the spring 09 issue (currently on sale or at vendors who advertise with them). These are selected by the magazine to feature. I actually have never advertised with them, but have been featured in STLBride 6-10 times. It's a great magazine to be a part of, and if I do decide to do a print ad, they would be my first choice in magazines.

Liz and Pat had their wedding at the new venue, Lumen. Very cool place. You can read the article if you click on the image to view the larger version.

If you wish to have your wedding featured in STLBride, just contact them and tell them why your day is unique. If you get selected I'll be happy to submit my photos to them for use.

Thanks Liz and Pat for letting me know it was published!

2009 recap coming soon!

2009-09-03T02:26:00.000-07:00

OK, so I think this is what I'm going to do. I'd love to show a ton of images from every one's weddings and portraits, but I think that would just be too much. So I think I will do a single post with a few images from each wedding I've shot this year.

After that I will pick up with Danielle and David's wedding in July. They were a really cool couple, fun to work with and we got some unique images. I'm looking forward to starting with you guys, and will do my best to stay on top of my blog from there on out.

as I said, no post without an image, so here's another. This is Ruby, the daughter of Leanne and Rob. Their newest addition, Hobbes, was photographed during this session as well. They are a very special family to me, as they were one of my first weddings back in 2003... whoa! strike that! I just checked and it was actually 2002. I can't believe that. Well, they have done several family sessions with me since then. They, unfortunately, are moving out of the St Louis area, and I will miss all of them. Especially Rob's sideways sense of humor. I laughed heartily with him at every shoot!

The Maiden Post!

2009-09-03T02:11:00.000-07:00

Well, after many requests by my couples and familes to start blogging, I finally have. I look forward to sharing exciting news, publications, awards etc with you all. If you have any particular request of what you'd like to see up here, please just let me know.

Since it is a photography blog, I feel I should post at least one photo with every post.

This is an image from Alison and Derek's wedding on August 8th. I will post more of theirs soon, but I actually would like to backtrack a little and post some others from this year, and will do so in order for you.