Sometimes you just don’t want to stop working with some people. This is so true of Kim and Todd. This pair has their book smarts being doctors and all. Todd works on the human kind and Kim is a veterinarian. This pair are University of Missouri grads, so it wasn’t hard at all for us to feel at home with them. They are super people. You can’t help but smile watching these two in one another’s arms.

Sometimes I feel for parents during all this wedding planning business. It’s not easy on them either. This is particularly true if you have three daughters who all decide to get married in a period of nine months! This was the case for Teresa and Greg, the parents of the bride.

It’s important to note that even though I have been photographing weddings for 11 years now, I am happy to say I still find ways to do it better and offer our clients something better. What did I learn from Kim and Todd’s wedding? During the getting ready portions of the wedding, Kim and her mom were battling with an uncooperative zipper on her dress. The ensuing trouble shooting was no major emergency (I felt it looked fine without any repairs) but with some quick thinking Teresa found the solution.

It was in the middle of this low-grade emergency the idea dawned on me that as many weddings as I participate in, that brides should be able to benefit from that experience beyond just photography should the need arise. A few days after this wedding, my wife and I headed to Target and loaded up on an emergency wedding day kit and packed all the items into a tackle box. For each wedding going forward we will have this tackle box loaded in our car ready to assist in the even of a bridal emergency.

We know you have thousands of choices among Kansas City photographers, but how many of photographers are going to come to your wedding with a wedding day disaster response kit? Not many.

I think there should be a blog post about that kit… hmmmm.

Anyway, Drumm Farm was a beautiful spread for Todd and Kim. Kate Rohan, a long-time friend of ours from her days at Hillcrest Country Club is the event coordinator at Drumm Farm these days. We love working with her!

Enjoy the photographs!

The father of the bride has delivered his daughter to her future husband and steps away. We love this moment at every wedding, every single time.

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Boy I’m worn out. I slept a good long time last night after coming home from this wonderful, romantic wedding that took place in Smithville, Mo., with a wedding reception at Tiffany Greens Golf Club yesterday. What a great time!

One of the best parts of this wedding was something Rhonda and I did in May with the help of the couple’s mothers, Judy and Barbara. We did a bridal portrait session at Tiffany Greens and later used the images as part of a Parents Pride for her dad. Those of you who have seen our Parents Pride know how amazing these little gifts are for a parent.

Rhonda gave the Parents Pride to her dad the night before the wedding. Dang it! I love it when I get to see a dad’s expression the first time he sees his daughter as a beautiful bride and reads the message. But I didn’t get to because Rhonda felt it was going to be too emotional for the them on the wedding day. The pair have been extremely close throughout Rhonda’s life so the Parents Pride as a gift was the perfect gift for dad.

I reminded her there is waterproof mascara on the market, but that wasn’t going to persuade her to present the gift to her dad on the wedding day. Bummer!

According to all the witnesses the tears flowed after presenting the Parents Pride to her dad at the rehearsal dinner. During the entire wedding day yesterday I never saw the father of the bride with anything other than a smile on his face. That was a happy dad!

Congrats Rhonda and Jeff!!

Rhonda arrives with her nephew at Good Sheppard Catholic Church in Smithville, Mo. So often we see brides at their most vulnerable during those hours before the ceremony. Not true for Rhonda. She smiled, laughed, joked and made sure to enjoy the experience. This easier than said than done for most brides but it makes all the difference when you can relax, breathe and live in the moment on your wedding day! Way to go Rhonda!

Taylor, Rhonda's niece, was a bundle of energy and enthusiasm throughout the wedding day. We take a lot of pride in being able to work with all the different kinds of personalities children may have. It's all about patience. Taylor and her cousin Bristol rocked the flowergirl walk during the ceremony. Great work girls!

Wasn't Bristol a cutie?

We love a simple, classic portrait like this. But one of the many ways we are different from your typical Kansas City wedding photographer studio is we deliver to our clients beautiful portraits as well as beautiful images from the genuine, un-posed moments and the unprompted expressions of emotion and love of your wedding day. Most photographers are content to create a bunch of portraits and some up-close images of your rings and shoes and a bunch of generic snapshots from the rest of the day. We do not do this. We believe in creating a complete visual story of the spontaneous emotions, tears and romance from your entire day.

Rhonda's father smiles as he watches the ceremony yesterday. Ron smiled a ton during his daughter's wedding day. I hope someday I can be father to a duaghter just to experience what I know Ron did yesterday during his daughter's wedding. Congrats Ron!

This image was made from the bottom of a hill at Tiffany Greens Golf Club. We love covering weddings at this location... what a beautiful place!

I love the elevated vistas and tall grasses of Tiffany Greens. This place is exceptional.

It was a soupy and warm day to be outside in a tux and wedding dress but these two were the portrait of contentment. We love our couples!

We always love making photography for our couples that shows how they feel for one another. The first dance is always a great time to capture the romance you share!

Let the good times roll! Thank you so much Rhonda and Jeff for such an awesome time. Couples like you remind me that I have the best job in the world!

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We just completed the first draft of Diane and Jon’s wedding album. Their wedding was April 16 and it was terrific!

We’ve all heard the horror stories about friends and family having to wait months and months, sometimes even years to see their wedding albums. Our photography studio is not one of those! Glow Imagery will have your first draft of your volume ready for viewing within two weeks of your wedding day. We are one of the only studios in Kansas City to offer such fast turnaround of wedding volumes.

Enjoy!

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This one is my all-time favorite salmon preparation for the grill. Freaking Delicious.

You can prepare this recipe without using the mesquite chips and it will be a very good dish but the mesquite gives it some kind of zing that is really, really great!

A word of caution: unlike fillets, salmon steaks are going to have pin bones in the fish so go a little bit more carefully when chewing and swallowing. If steaks don’t appeal to you, you can always use fillets for this recipe. I like being able to flip the fish midway through the grilling process, that allows for better smoke penetration and a more even grilling of the meat than is possible with fillets.

Rather than true barbecue which is done with low heat over a significant amount of time, seafood requires high, direct heat with short cooking times. I like to use tin foil packets punched with holes to encase the wood chips. I sometimes toss it under the grate or just leave it on top of the grill and the littel guys begin smoking and creating that extra delicious flavor.

Note: the photograph shows the salmon steak served with oven fries. We posted the recipe in an older post.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoons of thyme
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of ground red pepper
1 onion chopped
2 salmon steaks

Preparation:

Place the salmon steak in a glass dish and coat with the oil. Mix the spices together in a cereal-sized bowl with the onions and then rub into both sides of the salmon steaks. Place in the refrigerator for one hour.

Preheat a gas grill or charcoal fire. Take a couple of handfuls of mesquite chips (can be purchased in the grilling aisle of most grocery stores) and wrap into a aluminum foil “packet”. Take a sharp instrument and poke many, many holes in the foil packet. Place on the grill or under the grates before placing the salmon on there.

Place the steaks on another sheet of foil greased with some olive oil and place the steaks and foil on the grill. Grill the steaks for 8 to 10 minutes per side. Don’t undercook but don’t overcook. Nothing hurts my feelings more than to see a beautiful piece of salmon cooked tough.

Enjoy!!!

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Soon we will be unveiling our first year baby portraits plan. We’re calling it Giggles by Glow Imagery. Stay tuned! But until then here’s a sneak peak of a recent session we did with Lyra!

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Hmmmmmmmmm...

It’s warming up little by little out there, that means in the Cummins household it is time to uncover the grill, check the propane and start creating more meals! This month’s recipe is a heart healthy combination of grilled catfish and oven fries.

Genevieve is a huge fan of the oven fries. They are every bit as good as the fried version but without the nasty saturated fats. Here’s the recipes:

Oven Fries:

Ingredients:
1. Yukon Gold Potatoes, enough to make about 3 or 4 cups of wedges
2. Olive Oil
3. 1/4 Cup of Parmesan Cheese
4. 1 teaspoon of salt
5. 1 Tablespoon of black pepper

Preparation:
1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2) Cut about three or four cups of yukon gold potatoes into wedges. Sometimes we just make sticks out of them. Whichever you like!
3) Place the cut potatoes in a bowl and liberally coat with olive oil.
4) Pour cheese, salt and pepper onto potatoes. Stir really well to coat and combine the ingredients.
5) Spread wedges onto a large cookie sheet and place in oven for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.
6) Enjoy!

The Grilled Catfish

Ingredients:

1) 2 good size fillets
2) 1 Tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning
3) 1 teaspoon of black pepper
4) Non-stick cooking spray

Preparation:

1) Preheat gas grill or light coals for a direct heat grilling
2) Spray fillets with non-stick cooking spray. This helps keep the fillets from sticking to the grills
3) Sprinkle seasonings on fillets
4) Grill the fillets four minutes on each side over a hot fire. It sometimes helps to use a grilling basket or aluminum foil coated in olive oil otherwise the fillets can still stick to the grill.

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Engagement portraits by Glow Imagery strive to tell the story of you and your relationship.

These kids are all right, Nicole and James that is. This pair are walking the aisle this Summer in Nicole’s hometown of Wichita, Kan.

Our clients know how important it is to us to create images which say something about the couple. There’s only so many engagement portraits done in pretty parks and grungy industrial scenes before it starts to feel like the same old same old and worse… it doesn’t tell us a story of the couple.

We think it much better to take the time with our couples before hand and learn about the two of you! In the case of Nicole and James, James is an aerospace engineer and has a love of flying and planes, Nicole’s own grandfather is a pilot. In fact James proposed to Nicole aboard the very plane we used in the portrait session! How cool is that?

We worked with James and Nicole to help them think about ideas that were more unique to them. This is something we do for all of our couples. When people see your beautiful portraits at your wedding, we want them to say, “Yup! That’s them!”

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After much experimentation, planning and effort it is finally here: the Radiance Image Quilt by Glow Imagery!

Imagine having a quilt built with your wedding vows, the hanky you wept into when your mother first saw you in your dress, an image of the marriage license, the fabric from your veil and the wonderful images Glow Imagery created throughout your wedding day! How much would you adore that?

Now couples can have a completely custom designed image quilt featuring their favorite, most cherished images from their wedding day, designed into a handmade quilt. We can use all kinds of wonderful keepsakes from your wedding day to build a quilt that will make your heart sing every time you see it!

Here’s how it works: After your wedding day, you will sit down with Chris and his wife Genevieve Cummins, the quilt expert, and we will discuss some of your ideas and ours. As you discovered the first time you talked with Glow Imagery, we love to listen to your ideas and learn about the things that matter most to you! This is never more important than designing your Radiance Image Quilt because there are so many amazing things we can do to create a quilt that will be a priceless emotional statement about you, your friendships and family — all those wonderful things that are so important to your wedding day experience!

Want to learn more? Give us a call at 816-550-8830!

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Jon and Diane - like a lot of our clients - live in a another part of the country. Chicago is their home, to be exact. Diane grew up in Olathe and has most of her family in the area hence their plans to marry in mid April. (Goodness that’s coming fast!)

These two are wonderful and so freaking in love. Diane has a glowing smile and a wonderful sense of humor, not too many people are willing to laugh at all my jokes (I’m funny, but my wife will testify, I’m not that funny so it takes a very good natured person to laugh at those jokes.)

Jon and I have quite a lot in common: We’re big into Seth Godin, web analytics, spreadsheets and for all our geekosity we probably should be wearing pocket protectors. I even suggested a unique wardrobe option for Diane to wear for their engagement session.

There’s so much spark between these two. The pair carried on like teenagers in love. When a couple shows such an unchecked affection for one another the photography is easy. Three cheers for working the wintry cold you two! I figured a Chicago couple could take it and I wasn’t wrong!

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