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Wendi Riggens Photography

I love couples in love, sweet little newborns, and slobbery playful pooches.  I eat Mexican way to often, and don't take life to seriously.  I blog to show you the things I love, the things I pour my heart into while I am shooting.

-Wendi

Photographers, Join us for the 2nd Annual Southeast Iowa Workshop!

Dates announced for the 2nd Annual SE IA Workshop!

Photographers, visit the page link above for more information.

Contact Wendi to register!

Kristen & Nathan – Engaged! – Wendi Riggens Photography, Burlington Iowa Wedding Photographer

Monday, March 1, 2010 Engagements

As a kick-off for 2010, I am starting a new special.  When a post gets 25 unique comments, the client featured earns a free 8×10 from their session.  If the post gets 50 unique comments, they get a beautiful piece of wall art!  So comment away, help Kristen & Nathan earn free prints from their session, and call today to book your session for your opportunity to earn free prints, too!

A couple years ago, when I was in Mexico, my roommate and I were sharing our portfolios. Erin flipped through mine and commented “you like to put your subjects in really interesting places.” She wasn’t lying. I’ve shot in old warehouses and pretty parks, been kicked out of malls, explored dirty alley ways, and hung off ledges precariously to get the right angle. I’ve asked brides to lay in creeks of freezing cold water and climb trees, and asked couples to climb on John Deere tractors, dance under the St. Louis Gateway Arch, play on the ice at the Nashville Predator’s stadium, make out in elevators, romp through Principal Park (home of the Iowa Cubs in Des Moines), and splash around in fountains.

Sometimes I get an idea for a shoot, and I have to wait for the perfect subject to come along to make it happen. Last weekend when Kristen and Nathan came down for their engagement session, and we started talking, I knew that one of my ideas was going to come to life that very day. We ventured out and about and played in the snow, and then headed downtown to warm up. Guess where we went?



When I ask a couple to go make out in the stacks at the library and they get excited about it, it makes me smile! Some people are too shy for that kind of stuff, but not my awesome clients!

We also played in the snow. I was apparently in a very B&W mood when I picked favs for the blog tonight!

These two are so beautiful together!


I think this is just about my favorite image. I can’t really say why, but I think it is the body language. It just screams “love!” to me!

Kristen & Nathan, thank you for being such great sports!

by Wendi Riggens, Photographer

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The end of my favorite month!

Sunday, February 28, 2010 Musings

I did it! I posted at least twice a week for the last two weeks. In fact, I posted more than that! Go me!

February is my favorite month for two reasons: Valentine’s Day and my birthday. I was nearly born on V-day, but my mom was sent home from the hospital, only to return a couple days later. Two weeks early, I entered this world on 2/17/82, a birthdate I share with one of my favorite athletes of all time, Michael Jordan. I am not a sports person, but he is one of the few that I will always look up to!

My husband and I spent Valentine’s Day at home, only sneaking out for a bit with our son to go to my favorite Mexican place around, Casa Fiesta, for dinner. It wasn’t anything special, but it was quiet, and “us”. He gave me a card for Valentine’s Day, and some Reese’s peanut butter hearts. That’s it. Sure, it doesn’t seem like much, but here’s the deal: my hubby does not like writing, and he has a really hard time putting words together to express how he feels. So, when he gave me a card that was not only cute and funny, but included quite possibly the sweetest hand-written note he’s ever given me in our 11 years together, I laid in bed with our son in my arms and cried. He was a little shocked when he brought me breakfast in bed and saw me crying, but it was one of the sweetest things he has ever given me. It was better than any jewelry, flowers, or candy he could have bought.

March and April are looking to be fun months. March is officially my last month “off” from weddings, and I am going to enjoy it photographing some little ones, babies and toddlers. In April, things start to kick back up, and I will be on the road quite a bit. I have a fun engagement session in Galesburg, a couple more locally, and then will be headed to Kansas to teach a couple classes on wedding photography for my lab at our annual meetup. The week after we are taking a family and photography trip to Panama City Beach, where I’ll be shooting Annie & Shane’s destination wedding! The dogs will miss us, but they will have the house-sitter to keep them company!

Keep an eye on the blog and website for a long-promised new look, coming very soon. We will be announcing new workshop dates soon, too. We are planning at least one or two all-around photography workshops, but will also be hosting smaller, more focused workshops for wedding and my “new life” photography, focusing more intensely on shooting and marketing these. I’ll also be posting casting calls on Facebook for models for some creative projects I have in mind.

Well, folks, that’s it for February. My goal in March is to show off some of my favorite wedding images from last year. It was definitely an incredible summer, and I am excited to share some absolutely incredible moments with you all!

by Wendi Riggens, Photographer

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Fun Family Photo Session – Wendi Riggens Photography – Burlington, Iowa

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 IIBW News

Shelly came over to model for me so I would have great examples to show our workshop attendees the principles of photography. We had some fun with her and the kids afterwards as a thank you!



by Wendi Riggens, Photographer

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The Best Christmas Present Ever! Wendi Riggens Photography

Saturday, February 20, 2010 Lifestyle Portraits

I was contacted by Shelby last November about shooting a secret session with her brother and sister.  Why was it secret?  They were doing it as a Christmas present for their parents! We had a great time playing in Crapo, and I had a hard time picking my favorites. These three really show their beautiful personalities!



by Wendi Riggens, Photographer

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A Workshop, #2 – Wendi Riggens Photography

Thursday, February 18, 2010 Lifestyle Portraits, Workshops and Mentoring

Yesterday I posted about the workshop.  Today, I talk about the models.  I didn’t shoot much in the morning session, instead leading the others and talking about lighting and posing. My wonderful clients Annie and Shane modeled for us, and they were so much fun!

I want to dedicate this post, however, to a woman who is more than just my client.  I consider her a friend, and one of the strongest women I know.  I met Heidi back in 2006, and her wedding was one of the first weddings I ever photographed on my own.  She was a beautiful bride, and has such an amazing spirit.  Heidi suffers from fibromyalgia, and is in pain almost constantly.  She has had a rough year physically, and had to close the doors on her fitness studio to take care of herself.  When I started thinking about models for the workshop, I knew I wanted someone that was more than just a pretty face.  I wanted someone that truly deserved something special.  Heidi and her family came to mind almost immediately.  Each photographer, as part of the workshop requirements, must provide 5 images of the models at the end of the weekend, and these images are then given to the models as a thank you for their time.

Here are a few of my images of Heidi and her family.  They had so much fun modeling for us, and we had such a great time “shooting” them!

This is an idea I borrowed from my friend, Bing, an amazing photographer from Memphis. I had them each write one word on their palm that they thought described their family. They were not allowed to look at each others hands until after I took this shot.

Moments like this make me cry!

These kids are so beautiful!


Playing with OCF

We couldn’t resist doing a group shot with them!

by Wendi Riggens, Photographer

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A Photography Workshop with Wendi Riggens and Devan Whitson

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 Workshops and Mentoring

In November, I co-hosted a weekend photography workshop with my friend and photographer Devan Whitson.  It was a fun weekend of teaching and learning, and I met a lot of wonderful people that share my passion for photography!  This is post 1 of 2, tomorrow I will share some of the model shots that I took.  Today, though, I focus on the workshop and the photographers that came.

I talked a lot about my own history in photography that weekend, and my inspiration and “ah ha” moments.  I went to a workshop myself two and a half years ago in Mexico with Jose Villa, Jesh DeRox, and Dennis Orchard.  Those 5 days changed my life, not just as a photographer, but also as a person. I came home and completely changed my business.  I learned that shooting what I love is more important than anything else, and I spent the next year focusing primarily on weddings.  I’ve taken risks and learned a lot of new things, and hope to be able to inspire other photographers to find what they love and make things happen.

On Friday, we all met for the first time, and spent the evening going over the technical side of photography – aperture, shutter speed, exposing, etc.  Saturday was hands-on experience, letting the participants work with models in a stress-free environment, where they didn’t have to worry about clients and paying customers.  We were all able to share and help each other, and everyone could get their questions answered as they shot.  That afternoon, we split into two groups.  Devan led a group on Photoshop, and I led a second shooting session with a family in a loft in downtown Burlington.  We played around with OCF, or off-camera flash, and took some awesome group shots!

On Sunday, we had a wrap-up session, and all of the participants had the opportunity to have professional headshots taken by Devan and me.  We ended the weekend with a delicious lunch at Great River Grille (big thanks to Geno for the wonderful accommodations all weekend for the workshop) and a slideshow of the different iamges taken by the photographers.  It’s always interesting how so many different people can see the same situation so many different ways!

Here are a few shots from the weekend.

Annie being an awesome model!

A few of the photographers in attendance
Stephanie Standard


Tina Starnes, Reflected Memories Photography


Kelly Comstock-Stevens, Forever Photography


Wendy Kayser


Amy Tobias

A huge thank you to all the wonderful people that came and made this weekend so great! I had a great time meeting all of you, and look forward to seeing your work in the future!

by Wendi Riggens, Photographer

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