Holland Michigan Photographer

Archive for May, 2010

Last night, Julie and I were photographing Doug & Kate’s engagement session downtown Holland. It was rather hot, and especially humid, so when we were done with our session we all decided to go to the New Holland Brewery for a beer.

As we were waiting to be seated I looked over to my left and noticed a guy sitting with a big group of people. He was wearing his baseball cap and not drawing any attention really. I did a double take: wait, is that Mike Rowe? Needing a second opinion not believing that Mike Rowe was in Holland, I asked Kate, “Do you know who Mike Rowe is?”

“Of course!”

“Is that him sitting over there facing us?”

“Well, if that’s not him, it’s his twin!”

After we were seated our giddy waitress confirmed that it was indeed Mike Rowe. Turns out she was a huge fan of Mike’s, and was too nervous to even talk to him. We told her we’d take her photo with him if she wanted. I think all of us wanted to get a photo! Our plan was to wait until he was finished eating and then see if he’d oblige us.

The four of us made our move. Whenever you’re in a situation like this, it really helps to have two good looking women with you! Mike was very friendly. I told him that “the Deadliest Catch was my favorite show. Dirty Jobs? Eh, not so much.” He thought that was funny. He told us that he shot a cow in the face and butchered it for a segment on an upcoming Dirty Jobs episode.

“So you slaughtered a cow and then came to the brewery for a burger?”

“Er, no, that wouldn’t be right. I think I had the Treehugger.”

“Is this your first time to Holland?”

“Yeah, I think so. Michigan’s been really good to me.”

“We did see the Mackinaw Island episode.”

“I’ve been in Detroit a lot, y’know for the Ford commercials.”

We got our photos and talked for a couple minutes before going back to our table. I can only imagine what Mike was thinking when we first walked into the brewery carrying all of that camera equipment.

“Holy crap! Is that Mike Rowe over there?”

“Aw crap! It’s the papparazzi over there.”

What a great night it was! Creating engagement photos, great company, great conversation, and we get to meet a really cool celebrity.

I love my “job!”

Mike Rowe, Julie, & Shawn

Doug & Kate

Paul & Kelly were married today in a teeny tiny yet beautiful little chapel in the middle of an apple orchard. The trees were in full bloom and the sun was shining and it was all simply magical! We had a great time today with them and their families, and getting to know this awesome couple. Now the lucky bums are off to Hawaii (no, we’re not jealous. Ok, yeah, we’re jealous!!) Congrats Paul & Kelly!

Paul & Kelly

Grant and Sara had a wonderful wedding celebration! The weather was perfect and the ceremony and reception were meaningful and beautiful. We are honored to have witnessed their celebration of love and to also hear the cool story of how God brought them together. Congratulations, Grant and Sara!

Grant & Sara

Last month a few friends and I went downtown Chicago to get a few night shots of the city.  It was actually quite peaceful down by the water as we quietly photographed the skyline sharing two tripods between the four of us.  The only disturbance was from a police spotlight shining down on us to see what we were up to.  Other than the light, they left us alone.  Well, they left most of us alone.

Each of us is from a small town and not quite used to the big city ways.  Come to find out, it was actually a park that we were in (by the planetarium), and the park closes at 11pm.  That’s 11pm sharp!  By 11:15pm when we were leaving they had given us a $50 parking ticket for being there after the park closed.   They don’t mess around in Chicago!

So here’s a couple of photos from that night.  The first one is obviously the beautiful Chicago skyline.  The second one is our “ghost” photo that we took.  No Photoshop trickery here!  This was done with the camera on a self timer.

Chicago skyline at night.

The ghost photo

My buddy Jon Lundstrom of Junebug Photography was officially engaged last night to his girlfriend Nicole.  Julie and I were honored to be a part of the shindig along with Jon’s kids and Nicole’s family and many other friends.  Jon asked if I would take a few photos with his camera of the moment (this photo I stole off his facebook page).  We had a wonderful time enjoying steaks and shrimp on the grill and a few adult beverages with everyone.  Good times!

Guess who’s going to photograph the wedding?

the proposal