Wendi Riggens Riggens Photography

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!

This post was promised a long time ago, when I posted Monte, the second place winner. Well, here she is, The Hawkeye’s Pet Idol first place winner, Daisy Mae! I have a soft spot for bassets, as my parents used to raise them. Those long ears and droopy eyes are just so sweet, and this beautiful little girl was full of love!

Just a quick plug for a local business I am working with!  Murphy & Smith of Carthage, Illinois, offer web design and computer repair.  I’ve known these guys for years.  Jared and I graduated high school together, and Andy was a year below us.  You won’t meet nicer or more professional guys to work with!  We did a few headshots for them this fall for their website, and they look great!  Visit their website at MurphyandSmith.com!

Meet Jared

And Andy!

Well, I’ve done it again.  I’ve let life totally get in the way and I have completely neglected my blog.  I wish I had all happy reasons for this serious dry spell, but unfortunately, I don’t.  On October 17, I photographed my final wedding of the season (*sniffle*).  I woke up at 12:30 the next morning in terrible pain tht just kept getting worse.  After throwing up four times, my husband took me to the ER – my first trip – and I was told I was having a gallbladder attack.  Five days later, I had my first surgery of my life, and they took the silly thing out.  I was laid up for about two weeks, which were terribly boring, and now a month later, I still have some discomfort, but I feel so much better!  Yay!

What else have I done?  A couple weekends ago, I flew out to Denver to attend a training for area coordinators of NILMDTS. I met some wonderful photographers and finally met Lisa Francescon, and AC from the Quad Cities that I have been talking to on email for the last year but have never met in person.  It took us both flying all the way to Denver to finally meet!  Meeting the incredible people that run this organization and seeing how other photographers from around the world support the organization in their area was inspiring.  Lisa and I came back with some great ideas for increasing awareness in our area, and have plans to hopefully bring our services to a couple large hospitals in Iowa and Illinois.  We are actively recruiting photographers to help serve families throughout our areas.  Please, contact either of us with questions or go to the website link above to apply.

Last weekend, I hosted a photography workshop in Burlington, and we had an amazing turnout.  Ten photographers from Southeast Iowa attended, and by the end of the weekend, I felt like I had a new family!  I will be doing a blog post on the workshop soon.  Keep an eye out for future workshops as well!

The last thing I have been working on, outside of sessions and clients orders and albums, is Click! Last year, sometime in the fall of ‘08, my dear friend and awesome senior photographer Devan Whitson began tossing around the idea of forming a local photographers club.  There is an unfortunate tendancy for local photographers to shy away from each other, and to not encourage those that have an interest, and we want to overcome that.  We want to encourage a fun, creative, sharing atmosphere in the community, and after a lot of planning and excitement, Click! Burlington was formed!  Visit ClickBurlington.com for membership and meeting information.  We will be meeting the first Sunday of every month, and will have a main topic to focus on at each meeting.  This is a great way for local photographers to network, share ideas, and learn from each other.  It’s going to be great!

That’s all I have for right now.  I am making it my goal to post one blog each night this week, starting tonight.  Keep me on my toes, dear readers!

I know I have a ton of other weddings to blog about, but wanted to get this one up! I thought I would take a moment to give you all an idea of how I work. :)

When someone calls me to talk about booking, I provide package information and set a time to meet in person so that they can see several complete weddings. When choosing a wedding photographer, it is important to see more than just a few shots from one or two weddings. Seeing how a photographer covers an entire day, and many different situations, is an important factor in the quality they produce.

Once a wedding is booked with me, we schedule an engagement session, which is a great way for me to get to know my clients, and for them to get comfortable with my shooting style. I don’t like to ask my clients to post perfectly and stand up straight and smile, and by seeing Amy & Josh’s engagement session in St. Louis a few posts back, you can see this. I love shooting destination engagement sessions and traveling to where my clients live. I’ve shot several of these now, and love getting out of Burlington once in a while!

Throughout the months leading up to the wedding, I keep in touch with my clients, providing recommendations and answering questions. A month or two before the wedding, we get together again to talk about a timeline for the day, shooting ideas, and locations. This goes a long way in making the day of the wedding run smoothly, and to make the most of the photography experience!

The day of the wedding, I don’t just photograph the wedding. I have helped brides into dresses, bustled trains, cut cakes, and given the bride a ride when she forgot to arrange transportation to see her groom for the first time (on more than one occassion). I’ve pinned flowers on groomsmen, fixed bouquets for bridesmaids, fixed viels, and assured the bride that it doesn’t matter which leg the garter goes on. I know which goes on first, the engagement ring or wedding band, show people how to cut a cake (you would be surprised how often couples ask me this!), and help figure out how to transport a 12 person wedding party when the limo doesn’t show. I fluff the train before Dad walks his daughter down the aisle, and get the guests ready to blow bubbles or throw petals before the new couple makes their exit. I’ve paddled around a pond in a paddle boat (pictures to come), climbed trees, laid on the hot pavement in full sun, and braved traffic to get “the shot”. I love what I do, and do whatever I can to make the day as carefree and fun for my couples, because when it all comes down to it, they are what it is all about.

After the wedding, I take a day or two to clear my head and bask in the post-wedding love that always pours out of my clients and their family and friends. I am always so happy after weddings! Once I come down out of the clouds, I download my cards and those of my second shooter and start sorting and culling. I look at every single image I shoot and process them all myself. While I tell my clients 3 to 4 weeks, I usually have them up in just a couple. The last three weddings I photographed, I had posted in their online gallery in just about a week from the wedding, just in time to surprise the newlyweds as they return from their honeymoon.

Over the weeks following the wedding, my graphic designer posts the album pre-design, and we meet again to create a custom album that is perfect for each couple. I can go into my client’s homes and assist them in creating a beautiful portrait wall with images from their day, and once in a while we’ll do a trash the dress session or bridal session.

Once everything is all said and done, my clients often keep in touch as their lives progress, and I find myself shooting their pets, their first born, their families. It is always so amazing seeing these young couples in love grow and start families, and I love that I become a part of their new life together!

I truly love what I do, and love creating images for my couples that they will have for the rest of their lives. Here are a few from Amy & Josh’s wedding, and I hope that 20 years from now, they will see these and remember their love for each other and how it felt to be newlyweds all over again!

My business is currently going through a major rebranding and restructure, so soon the blog will be getting a new look.  My website will follow, and you will start seeing a different look for Inspired Images Photography.  I am also considering losing the name and just using my own, but just can’t decide!  Anyway, things will be changing, so keep an eye out!

It is after midnight, and I can’t sleep, so wanted to give those of you that I haven’t met yet and had the chance to shoot to get to know me a little more.

• I love chocolate chip cookies, vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, strawberry fruit rollups, and Pringles.
• I love milk more.
• I sleep with lots of pillows, and despite what my husband thinks, I do use them all!
• My favorite lens is my Canon 24-70 L 2.8 on my 5D.
• I love “Friends” and “Will & Grace” reruns, and can’t get enough of “Desperate Housewives”.
• My favorite colors are pink, blue, and lately, aqua.
• My parents are Lonnie and Bonnie, my husband’s mother was Connie, and they were all born in the same year.  My husband was born on my grandmother’s birthday, and my son, my dad, my husband, and my grandma were all born on the 6th day of the month.
• I love weddings, and am terrified of high schoolers, which is why I very rarely shoot seniors!
• I shoot film for fun with an old Pentax and my Holga. 
• My husband and I have been together for almost 9 1/2 years, married for 4 1/2.  We held our wedding reception at the same place we had our first kiss, to the same song, on the same dancefloor.
• My favorite place in the whole wide world is Paris.
• I love to fly, and have traveled to 8 foreign countries and about half of the states.
• We have a dachshund, a mini shar-pei, and a great dane who thinks he is a dachshund.
• I choose my favorite teams based on their colors.
• I can’t stand mini-blinds!
• I love shopping at Old Navy and The Gap.
• I love horseback riding, but have only riden once since my horse died 8 1/2 years ago.  I cried for most of the ride.
• Jodi Picoult is my current favorite author, though “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Neffinegger is my favorite novel.
• I am an eBay addict.
• I collect old cameras and old toys.  My most recent finds were some neat old Brownie cameras and a sock dog!
• I really ought to go to bed now!

Before I head to bed, a quick hello from Maddox!  Isn’t this smile just too sweet???

I love to watch him sleep.  Couldn’t you just eat him up?