.:sarah + travis:.

We met Sarah and Travis many months ago. We met and talked about all the people we knew in common. (I don't know what other photographers normally talk about when they meet with clients but we somehow end up on a lot of tangents on ours!) We talked a bit about the Forasteros (who are a rocking cool couple that I adore--think multi colored converse sneakers for their entire bridal party in addition to who knows how many tattoos on both of them and then add it to itinerant preachers/youth leaders and you've got the Forasteros pegged!). I went to the same campus ministry as both Amanda and JR Forasteros for awhile in addition to struggling my way through Spanish side by side with Amanda in school. But I digress! (This must be a pattern.) Not surprisingly, the Forasteros, J.R. especially, have been pivotal in Sarah & Travis' lives (seriously, if you knew them you'd instantly know why). Like many others here in Columbia, the Forasteros opened up Sarah & Travis to new life, new passion, and new love for people and Jesus in a whole new way. The Forasteros moved away from Columbia right after they got hitched a few summers ago but they've left a wave of good feeling and are (awesomely!) returning to CoMo to marry Sarah and Travis in August. We had many mutual friends and before we knew it Sarah, Travis, Brian and I had been talking for over an hour and we'd hardly gotten any photography stuff talked about! As our time progressed I suddenly had to remind myself that Sarah had told me they were looking at several area photographers and that is was possible that we wouldn't be theirs. "Bummer,' I thought, 'I really like these folks and these are the types of couples we love to shoot for." Wasn't I surprised when our meeting was drawing to a close (and we'd finally touched the photography business side that we meant to talk about in the first place!) that Sarah said we'd confirmed their suspicions that we were the right choice for them! Fireworks and Reese's Pieces! Yay!

Sarah and Travis both went to MU and grew up in the same youth group. They are that couple who figures out early on that they are a perfect match but has the patience to wait to marry until their schooling is done and careers secured. Smart cats. (Note: Brian and I were *not* that patient. We got engaged in April, booked our photographer in June, and got married in August! Though I am absolutely positively not sad or disappointed that we got married so quickly, I do wish we had at least hired a wedding planner to figure out all of our details!) Sarah got a job in KC (where we will be moving in a few months--but no worries, we'll still be shooting St. Louis/Columbia/KC weddings all of 2012) and so, since we're headed that way eventually, anyway, we all decided to do their shoot in KC.

One of the things I enjoy about Sarah is her mind. She is a thinker, and a great one at that! Along with Sarah comes her exceptional organizational qualities and her ability to get things done ahead of time. WAY ahead of time. (I'm hoping that she will rub off on me!) Regardless, Sarah polled friends on her facebook for perfect spots to shoot in KC (since she and Travis are originally from Columbia, too!) and sent me a list several weeks in advance. We ended up amidst the fantastic West Bottoms and ended across from Crown Center.

[[Having never visited the West Bottoms before, Brian and I fell madly in love and, needless to say, on our way home Brian was brainstorming finding enough capitol to purchase one of the old buildings. My questions of "And where would we get the money and then what the heck would we do with it?" hardly seemed to slow his mind down.]]

I think we may be in love with KC And, of course, Sarah & Travis. Happy Friday! We're off for a date afternoon/evening followed by a two wedding weekend!






So cute!




Optical illusion. The world turned upside down. = )




Isn't Sarah breathtaking?


They are so sweet!




It started to lightly drizzle, which was an excellent time to pull out Sarah's fun and funky umbrella.


Seriously, I felt like we were on the set for Jumanji. Anyone else remember that movie with Robin Williams?


I *love* this one!


I wish I had the vision and imagination for this kind of graffiti.






Nice message but what's wrong with this picture?


I need this in my living room.


Who turns their parking garage into a wall of books? Why Kansas City's library, of course!


Sarah picked out such great tops with pizazz and color.


When it started to drizzle a little harder our options were: 1. Quit. 2. Get creative. We chose the latter. LOVE it!




Imagined subtext: "I'll save you, Sarah!" (We were not in danger of being run over, despite being in the center of a 5 lane street in KC).


Gah! Beautiful!


This one makes me smile. If you were only there...




I LOVE that this is Travis' "serious face". We are SO using that come August.




Awwwwww...


After all that light drizzle, may I ask how Sarah's hair still stayed so perfect. Jealous. Yup, I said it.


I don't know what makes me like this shot so much!


If you want to know a little more about Sarah & Travis, you have to look at their shoes. Some of you may recognize these Tom's. Every pair you purchase Tom's will give a pair to a child in need. No joke. Check out their website here. It's totally legit and totally awesome and I am totally getting a pair.

Go out and save the world, people!

Mallory (& Brian)

.:and for your information:.

And for all those of you have been dying to see some of our normal photography here is a teaser from tonight's engagement session with my dear friend Mazvita and her fiance Ben. Told you we found new spots! (Luckily it appears the shady vines weren't poison ivy because I am not itching yet!) They'll be getting hitched in just a few weeks here. I also have some to post from another couple, Megan and Ben, who will be getting married this weekend and having their reception in what appears to be a mid-Missouri CASTLE but I wanted to save their engagement and wedding photos for all one post.

Happy Wednesday!

.:heather & nate:.

The fantastic Lauren Lapoint told Heather about us and now here we are. (By the way, Lauren & Justin are getting married THIS NEXT WEEKEND and today is Lauren's birthday so go wish her some birthday love if you know her!)

When Heather contacted us for their fall engagement photos we were booked up pretty solid so we finally settled on a weekend in mid-October. Unfortunately, we had to move it due to some ugly weather (*sigh*, October, when will you ever be predictable in Missouri?). However, when we finally got to shoot them last weekend the weather turned out to be FABULOUS and we were all very glad we'd waited. We met Heather for the first time and her dashing beau and discovered that there couldn't be two sweeter, more genuine people. We took them on our "walking game" (just you wait, when we take your picture you'll find out what it is!) and just... wow, seriously people, they are stunning together!

Nate & Heather met through friends years ago, but at first Heather was totally opposed... until she actually saw the guy. Now they're inseparable! Heather's still here at good ol' Mizzou studying animal sciences for a short while longer (she's reached the legal limit of how many pets you can have in Columbia city limits-did anyone else know there was one?) and Nate is up in Kirksville finishing up. There are always question marks when it comes to the future, especially graduating from school, but the best part about it is that they have one another to figure out the rest of their lives with. *Sigh* I'm a sucker for love.

So check out how gorgeous these two are and what *amazing* models they made. It isn't every day your photographers will demand laughter and cheesy, lovey dovey smiles and people can hit them right on the nose every single time. Okay... so we didn't demand grins and loving looks, Heather and Nate just naturally bring out the brightness and best in one another. But a girl's gotta give herself some credit, right?

Now if I could only be tall, dark, and gorgeous like everyone else that seems to be surrounding me these days... (except for the dark, Brian is a little pale)

.:justin & lauren:.

In June I posted this, a photo that took my breath away and made me go "Wow, I love being a photographer". (Brian says I have these moments with some frequency but rarely do I actually take the time to post the photo that makes me say that!)

In an effort to avoiding posting Lauren and Justin's engagement photos and wedding photos simultaneously (they get hitched in St. Louis in November), I wanted to get them posted because they are way too rocking not to show off.

Lauren and Justin contacted us over a year ago about possibly doing photography for their wedding. It was a longer process as they had more than a few photographer candidates. Apparently, in the end, we won out. We'd like to think it was our awesome personalities and charming good looks that got us the job, but no one seems to mention that when they tell us why they booked us.

I met Lauren in 2005 when she was a freshman in Excellence Hall. (Yes, that is the actual name of the dorm for all of you non-Mizzou folk. MU, or, more specifically, Frankie Minor, had the idea to name the four newest dorms after the four core values of MU: Respect, Responsibility, Excellence, and Discovery. They had found that when they gave buildings names that were meant to be temporary--like GCB which stood for General Classrooms Building--they tended to stick and they wanted to avoid blah names this time around until they got a big enough name donor to tack on the name to the dorm). I was on staff in the community she lived. She was one of the few that year that was active and generally motivated (unfortunately, often we don't hear those words in association with many of us college students any more!). She joined a sorority the first semester yet still was involved with a large volume of our community activities that year. Basically, Lauren is just a superstar. Seriously.

Apparently, it was her involvement in her sorority that caused Lauren to meet the man of her dreams, Justin. If I understand correctly, come time for Homecoming, a large portion of pomping responsibilities often fall to the freshmen in the Greek houses. It was during these oh-so-exciting times that Lauren and Justin met.

Because Mizzou is so special to them and their relationship, Lauren and Justin asked to have their engagement pictures done around the campus. Brian and I were happy to oblige. In addition, they requested they be taken during the golden hour (Lauren's dad does photography as a hobby and expertly suggested this!).

I cannot tell you how many couples warn us prior to their shoots that they get nervous at photo sessions. Lauren & Justin were no exception. We never really worry about this because Brian and I are natural nerds and it doesn't take people long to see that when we shoot. We normally make fools of ourselves naturally during our shoots which often helps alleviate some of the pressure of being cool and awesome in front of a camera when we ourselves are dorks. This time, Brian kept offering to catch the baby bunnies and little squirrels that kept appearing all over campus and give them to Lauren and Justin. He never pulled through, but it did get us all to laugh. You'll see a few of the little critters below. = )

We ended up with an a-MAZING example a tasteful traditional engagement shoot. And they were worried they weren't photogenic? I wish I looked this good when people took my pictures. You can tell just by looking through these images that Lauren & Justin are clearly meant for each other--which is what I wanted to capture. They laugh together, and when they look at one another they have that gaze of two people who are on the same page and just *know*. I can't describe it but I can tell you that it is just as it should be.

Lauren has been a huge encouragement to me as she's sent me multiple message with kind words about our photography which is always so uplifting. (She pointed out the many comments she's collected on her facebook album of their engagement photos.) Thanks for being so awesome, Lauren & Justin, and for being okay with Brian & I's dorkiness and his continual offerings to get you all a new pet. Can't wait for your wedding in November!