BEHIND THE SCENES IN 2015

This year has been a whirlwind! 

My new friend and aspiring photographer Elena Ogle joined me this year to second shoot for me. She went from aspiring photographer to finding her groove pretty quick! Together we bonded over lattes, nerdy camera talk and love for our husbands. 

During weddings and while shooting, here and there we would grab shots of each other for the sake of this blog post. The weddings have come and gone and now it is almost 2016. Today I'm reflecting on our time together and with the beautiful couples who blessed us with the opportunity to use our gifts. 

Shot of Elena from her very first wedding.

The photo making kneel. 

Curtains always come in handy.

She's great at grabbing details.

Getting groups to think you are hilarious, funny and just entertaining in general isn't always as easy as it looks. ;)

With downtime, we grab details.

St. John's Church on Creighton's campus. Boop. Grabbing the bride's momma walking down the aisle.

I instructed Elena to be my test subject. This was the only spot for a nice "backdrop" in the small town. 

Things got a little out of hand.

Here I am composing ingenious posing ideas for formals. Okay, not really.

My giant arm vain and I following the bride and groom.

Every wedding we photograph the bride's lovely dress.

The Joslyn Castle in Omaha + lovely Elena.

Photo making squat. 

My sweet hubby grabbed this shot of me when we went to Mexico for Nate and Kelsey's wedding!

RECEPTION

Get it Elena!

You know it is a good shot when she's smiling behind her camera. :)

This is what I would call the photo hunch. No the most comfortable photo making position. 

Here I am, attempting to look like fun to these kids. 

I was hesitant to post this one. But we just get a good laugh every time!  I think Elena needs to work on the SQUAT! ;) (As in bending the knees, legs together kind of squat.)

"Elena, go stand over there casually so I can grab a test shot for lighting."

She was told this over 20 times during the year. Pretty Elena!

The Living Room in Omaha is a fav!

Grabbing another test shot.

And yet another wedding reception, another test shot.

Another test shot. At this point in the year we were having way too much fun with our test shots.

Elena's turn to grab a test shot.

Here I am creepily bee boppin' behind the bride.

What a pleasure and joy it has been having Elena second shoot for me all year!!

Also, this is what happens when the wedding singer takes your camera on a whim to grab YOUR photo. We both look a bit caught off guard. But I'm thankful for this shot with Elena! <3

Rachel Wakefield