Wendi Riggens Riggens Photography

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!

Just a quick hello and Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!

He is growing up so, so fast!

I just wanted to share a little personal project I did a couple of weeks ago.  I won an assignment on a photography forum I frequent, and in turn chose the next assignment.  I chose “Oxymoron”, and there were some great entries!  This is one I did, even though I couldn’t enter my own assignment.

I had a couple concepts in mind, but this one came together the best.  This was shot in the middle of the afternoon on a bright, sunny day.  I had a Speedlite in a softbox just to the left of the subject, and set my camera to completely darken the scene before adding the light.

“Defeaning Silence”

A special thanks to Annie for modeling for me, and Jenna for holding my light!

Every August, we travel back home for our Annual Scott-Riggens-Clark family reunion. We always have a great time! Last year, I was huge and pregnant and uncomfortable, and this year I was chasing a 1 year old around. He loves his Papa Lonnie, who loves giving all of his grandsons rides in my grandma’s little red wagon. My sister and I grew up playing with this wagon, and it holds a lot of special meaning to me. I had to take a few minutes to shoot the boys with their Papa.

I’ll update soon with some recent weddings and sessions.  It’s been a ridiculously busy summer, and I’ve been slacking! :)

One of these days when I have a moment to breath, I will update with all that has been going on the last month!  I have several weddings to post, an amazing engagement session, and in a couple more weeks, very special images from a very special 1 year old’s birthday party!  I just can’t wrap my head around this walking, clapping, jabbering, almost-1-year-old that is my son!  It seems like just yesterday we found out we were pregnant, and then that I was posting his newborn images on here.  He’s sure an amazing little thing, and I love him to death!

This year has been quite busy in comparison to last summer.  I have no idea how I managed to do what I do while pregnant!  Devan, who has been shooting with me for the third summer in a row, reminds me often how massive my preggo belly was, and how different I am not pregnant.  My wedding parties never know what to expect.  :)  I’ve had a lot of fun getting really creative with everyone these last few weeks, stepping a little out of my comfort zone to create some truly unique and beautiful images for my clients.  I never want to shoot the same wedding twice, meaning I want each set of images to be different and unique.  Having Devan alongside takes a little of the stress off of having to capture every single thing myself, and she really enjoys not having the stress of the whole wedding on her shoulders.  We balance each other very well, and I am pretty sure she knows how to read my mind!

Tomorrow is Crhis & Alana’s wedding here in Burlington, and I’m looking forward to it!  I’m off now to charge some batteries, format some memory cards, and pack my bags!  Oh, and to go eat Mexican with Kristen to talk about her wedding next summer.  I love me some Mexican!

Ten years. We were 17, and a couple months earlier had been set up on a blind date by my cousin. I really liked the guy, but he lived over an hour away and he was so not my type. He was athletic and loved hard rock, while I was a klutzy cheerleader and preferred the Backstreet Boys. Something clicked, though, and we met up almost every night that week at Steamboat Days, riding rides, playing games, going to the concerts. On that first night, my friend Crista told us that we were going to get married, and I just laughed her off. A couple nights later, Travis asked if I would go out with him, and on June 18, 1999, we officially became a couple.

Those first few years were not easy. We were in a long-distance relationship for three years, and faced all of the challenges of young adolescents entering the real world head-on. We were in love, though, and perservered!  Travis proposed to me on Valentine’s Day 2003, and we were married on our 5 year anniversary, June 18, 2004.

Some may think it is silly to count our anniversaries from when we started dating, but we say that those first few years were what really defined us as a couple. The wedding was just a step along the way.

To Travis, I love you more every day, and it is hard for me to put into words just how much that really is, so, as they have for the last ten years, I’ll let Firehouse say it best:

I see forever when I look in your eyes
You’re all I ever wanted, I always want you to be mine
Let’s make a promise ’till the end of time
We’ll always be together, and our love will never die

So here we are face to face and heart to heart
I want you to know we will never be apart
Now I believe that wishes can come true
‘Cause I see my whole world
I see only you

When I look into you eyes
I can see how much I love you
And it makes me realize
When I look into your eyes
I see all my dreams come true
When I look into your eyes

Don’t tell him I posted this one, but I had to grab a quick snapshot of us this morning with my Blackberry!  He was still in bed and not too coherent yet!  We are having pro shots done tonight down at Steamboat Days, so keep an eye out for those, either here or on Devan’s blog at devanwhitsonphotography.com/blog.

I love you, Trav!