Here’s a collection of relatively random images from another fabulous summer wedding at the Blue Dress Barn in Southwest Michigan. If you’re considering the Blue Dress Barn for your wedding reception you’ve probably read all the great reviews about
what a beautiful and unique venue the barn is for both wedding ceremonies and receptions and everyone’s right it pretty much rocks! Laura and Brian were blessed with a beautiful day, that started out at the barber shop with the guys for hot shaves and
ended with the guests partying the night away in the barn and enjoying the bonfire and s’mores out back. Aside from all of the wonderful moments and portraits we captured throughout the day one of my favorite things about this wedding in particular were
the details! The wonderfully creative and talented Mandi Buckland was in charge of the wedding planning and event design and she blew us all away with her thoughtful details, wonderful color pallet, and creativity! I love how Mandi kept so many of the
details personal and managed to make them feel right at home in the barn as if they belonged there all along! If you’re considering getting married at the Blue Dress Barn or really anywhere you should definitely consider hiring an event planner to
help you not just with day of co-ordination but bringing your vision for the perfect wedding to life!! I’ve talked to a lot of people who think hiring a coordinator is an unnecessary added expense but that couldn’t be further from the truth! Coordinators don’t
just set up time lines, coordinate vendor meetings, and help brides who are planning from a distance, they help brides maximize their budget creatively and get the most bang for your buck while personalizing your wedding day! It may sound counter-intuitive
but if you’re planning a fabulous wedding in all likely hood hiring a coordinator will not only save you time it will save you money in the long run! Anyway like I was saying the details were wonderful and complimented the barn setting beautifully, as the guests
walked in all you could hear were a constant stream of oohs and ahhs as people marveled at what an amazing space the barn is. If you’re looking for a rustic space that will charm your guests with it’s unique qualities you’ll be hard put to find a more perfectly
suited reception site! One added bonus of course is the fact that while you may feel like you’re a million miles from anywhere it’s actually quite easy to get to from the highway so if you’ve got guests coming from out of town they won’t have a problem getting
here! All things considered it was a pretty amazing wedding day and the bride and groom have the pictures to prove it! Congratulations Laura and Brian and thank you for the opportunity to work with you on your wedding day!!
Here are a few pictures from a Trash the dress session at the Round Barn Winery in Southwest Michigan this past fall…. (yes I know I am WAY behind on the blog) The shoot was put together by a friend and fellow photographer Monika Caban (Monika Caban
Photography) who organized a DWF gathering here in Southwest Michigan. It was a lot of fun working with everyone and seeing all the different ways people could approach the same picture and scene! I think aside from the gorgeous pictures the one thing that
surprised us all the most was just how patient Linzi and Brice were, they were simply amazing and put up with wind, rain, and cold to allow us to capture all sorts of pictures! While trashing the dress may sound harsh its actually a lot of fun and really there’s no
reason why you’d actually need to trash the dress. We’ve done quite a few sessions similar to this where the dress actually came out just fine, the whole idea behind the session is to be able to go take pictures you simply didn’t have the time to take on your
wedding day. Some couples book a bridal session/trash the dress shoot to celebrate an anniversary while others book them just weeks after the wedding just to have fun and have an opportunity to take pictures they never would have dared to take on the
wedding day! We can get crazy with the picture ideas or play it relatively safe and keep you clean and dry it’s up to you! The only thing we guarantee is that you’ll have fun and love your pictures! Many thanks to Linzi, Brice, and Monika for setting up such a fun opportunity for us all!
WOW, what an amazing wedding, we started out with the bride and groom preparing at the Wit Hotel in Downtown Chicago, we drove up state for a wedding ceremony at Holy Name Cathedral, and finally ended up back at the Wit to party. Words can not
describe how fun this wedding was to take pictures of! Kelly and Chris were about as laid back as any bride and groom I have ever worked with, I think everyone could tell how excited they were to get married in Chicago that day and you just new that no
matter what as long as they were married by the end of the day it didn’t matter what happened they were going to have fun! This was the first time I’d ever worked at the Wit hotel which is a brand new boutique hotel on State and Lake in the Heart of Chicago’s
Loop. While the Wit may be new to the scene you could tell the staff were not, they wowed me at every turn with their top notch service and attention to detail. The Wit also happens to be an amazing place to take pictures, it’s modern, has great spaces for
portraits and prep photography and it really just makes your job easier as a photographer when you’re working at a hotel that gives you room to move and backgrounds to work with! Once the bride and groom were done getting ready for the ceremony
we drove up State street to Holy Name Cathedral. There are 2 amazing things about this church, first and foremost it is jaw-droppingly beautiful and second, it caught on fire last year and had to be completely restored, I believe (although I could be
mistaken) that the renovations where finished just a few months prior to this wedding day… talk about a close call! Anyway as I’m sure you can tell Holy Name Cathedral is one of the most beautiful churches you could ever hope to be married in and is
definitely one of the prettiest in Chicago which is saying a lot because there are so many beautiful places to be married in the city. Once the ceremony was over we headed out to North Avenue Beach for pictures with the wedding party in front of the
Chicago Skyline. Believe it or not this is a November wedding and it was almost SIXTY degrees out… yes I said 60 degrees on the beach in CHICAGO in NOVEMBER!!! After we were done with the wedding portraits at the beach we made a quick stop on
Michigan Avenue for a few more wedding pictures before heading back to the Wit for family pictures and the reception! We did family pictures in the Library at the Wit and then all headed up to the ROOF which as the name implies is a roof top bar/lounge.
As you can tell from both the shots of the reception area as well as the lounge you’re right in the heart of Chicago with an amazing view of the city. All in all the day was incredible, the pictures speak from themselves, and as far as Kelly and Chris are
concerened… well it was just meant to be and we were SO excited to be a part of their day!! Many thanks to my good friend and fellow photographer that day Dan Terpstra for partnering up on this wedding, as soon as Dan puts pictures up on his blog from this wedding I’ll be sure to link to them because they’re equally amazing! Congratulations Kelly & Chris!
January 9, 2010 - 6:00 amEngagement Photos with Dogs | benpancoast.com - [...] to see Chris & Kellys AMAZING wedding pictures at the Wit Hotel click here!! Tags: Chicago, chicago wedding Photographer, dogs, Engagement Photos, Engagement [...]
I posted some of the pictures from Ken & Katys Notre Dame wedding a few weeks ago and I wanted to share the album design that we came up with. This is just a rough draft and we’re in the process of making changes to the book with the bride and groom
but I love how it’s turned out so far! What an amazing wedding and the locations were all phenomenal, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart is breath taking as is Tiscornia Beach and of course you can’t go wrong with the Boulevard Inn or the Heritage Center in Saint Joseph Michigan either!! Thanks to Dan Terpstra (Terpstra Photography) for teaming up with me on this amazing wedding and album design!
ps: sorry for the low-res video when I figure out how to get something sharper on here I’ll update it!
January 7, 2010 - 3:55 amPam Pancoast - I thoroughly enjoyed viewing the entire wedding in minutes. The music was great and carried me thru the day's events. The variety of picture presentations added to the overall aesthetics. I watched it twice and then watched your earlier vimeo video too.
Merry Christmas everyone, and thank you to all of the family, friends and clients who have helped make this such a great year! I can’t wait to see what sorts of adventures 2010 will bring. Here is the family Christmas card… well actually one of 2, neither of which were finished until Christmas Eve’s eve and have yet to be sent out! Yes I know that makes me a Christmas Card procrastinator but what can I do other than thank my wonderful wife for being so patient with me! As you’ve probably already guessed these are our kids, Elijah will be 6mo old on Christmas, and Ellee just turned 3. I am so blessed! I hope your Christmas holiday has been as wonderful as ours and that you have a very happy new year!
January 1, 2010 - 10:18 pmJessica | Stella Event Design - I can't believe Ellee is 3 already, that just blows my mind! It doesn't seem like it could have been that long ago when we visited you guys in Chicago when Mis was pregnant! Time flies...wishing you & the family a great 2010!
January 10, 2010 - 7:58 amDan T. - Super Cute!
Who says photographers never take photos of their families (other than me)?
February 11, 2010 - 7:21 amRobyn - I am so happy for you and your wife Ben! Your kids are gorgeous! They are growing so fast, either that or I am really getting old =(
Taking engagement photos in Chicago is always fun, because there are just so many possible locations to shoot in and around the city, except I found out, during the winter time! I met up with Chris and Erika to do a fun winter engagement shoot in Downtown Chicago a couple of weeks ago, we had planned out several great indoor portrait locations throughout the downtown area where we could stop and shoot engagement pictures and we were sure we’d get some great pictures. When we showed up to
shoot at those locations however we were politely told NO WAY at almost every indoor location we tried, The Rookery was closed and apparently they charge $1000/hr to shoot there unless you’re having your wedding in the building, The Sears Tower Sky Deck
was too busy, Pazzo’s downtown was closed, Union Station was closed for an Event (which looked like it was going to be really cool) but regardless it was disappointing not to be able to shoot out in the open, The Winter Garden in the Harold Washington Library
was closed for an Event as well! As you can tell there’s a trend here… indoor locations especially on the weekends in Chicago are not easy to come by but that’s ok, we were still able to get some great shots outside! Luckily it wasn’t as cold out as it might have
been and we were able to brave the cold in between indoor locations and get some fun pictures! The only time we really had to give up on a shot because of how cold it was were the photos out on North Avenue Beach looking back at the Chicago Skyline. I think we were all wishing we were in a Starbucks somewhere with a hot drink of any sort and I think next time I attempt a winter engagement shoot our first stop is going to be to get a hot chocolate that will hopefully keep us warm while were having fun!
Here are just a couple of wedding photos from Ken & Katys amazing wedding at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame. The Basilica is an amazing place to shoot and it’s run like a well oiled machine on the weekends so they can crank out several
weddings per day… I’ve never actually asked how many to do there each weekend but I’ve shot quite a few weddings here and every time I’ve ever photographed a wedding at Notre Dame there has almost always been a wedding ending when I arrive and
another wedding party waiting to get started as we leave. This tight schedule doesn’t leave much time for the bride and groom to get pictures with family and friends inside the Basilica but the 30minutes they do provide is typically more than enough to get the
important family photos as well as a couple of shots with your bridal party. Of course the beauty of getting married on a campus like Notre Dames is that there is simply no shortage of amazing places to go for wedding portraits once you leave the Basilica for
your photo walk with the wedding party and family. Most brides and grooms will take a few pictures around campus and some of the most popular stops include the golden dome, the lake, and of course the candles in the Grotto which is this amazing cave like
structure that is filled with hundreds upon hundreds of candles. Whether you’re looking for classic Notre Dame wedding pictures or just something beautifully artistic and creative there’s no end to the possibilities on this college campus!
There is simply no way to do this wedding justice in one short post so we’ll be posting more pictures from throughout the day along with the wedding album soon!
Many thanks to Stella Event Design for their planning and co-ordination as well as Dan Terpstra who rocked this wedding as my partner and 2nd lead photographer for the day!
December 10, 2009 - 10:22 amWashington DC: Engagement Pictures at Sunrise | benpancoast.com - [...] They’re MARRIED!! Check out a few of their amazing wedding photos at the Basilica at Notre Dame here! Tags: Engaged, Engagement Photos, Engagement Pictures, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln [...]
I love shooting lifestyle portrait sessions with families in Southwest Michigan because they’re fun, you can do them just about anywhere, and you can almost always find something new to do with the family photos! This family photo shoot took place in the
dunes in Stevensville Michigan on what turned out to be a beautiful afternoon and managed to use the setting sun to capture some really unique family photos. This was the first time I’ve done any family pictures in the dunes but after seeing how many
possibilities there are here I’m hoping I have the opportunity to work here again soon! For those of you wondering what the difference between a Lifestyle Portrait session and regular Family Portrait session is it’s actually pretty simple… The lifestyle portrait
session is centered around an activity or general location whereas the Family Portrait Session is focused more on structured poses. Each session has it’s place, for instance if you’re having a family reunion or want a formal portrait of some sort there’s no reason to
book a Lifestyle Session… on the other hand if you’re looking for something a bit more laid back with your kids then a Lifestyle Portrait session might be just the thing for you. If you have questions we’d be happy to speak with you about what it is you’re
looking for and make a recommendation about which session would be right for you!
Here are just a couple of my favorite pictures from a recent lifestyle family portrait shoot in Saint Joseph by the lighthouse at Tiscornia Beach. We tried to squeeze these family photos in before it got too cold out this fall but ended up catching a rather chilly
day. I think we were getting some great shots but by the time the girls were beginning to warm up to the idea of having their pictures taken we were all getting pretty cold and agreed it would be a great idea to just come back when the weather warmed
up a bit! We’re always happy to reschedule a shoot if the kids or weather just aren’t co-operating because we’re parents too and know sometimes that’s just how it goes!! I can’t wait to get out and have some more fun taking pictures with this wonderful family!
December 8, 2009 - 8:53 amFamily Portraits on the Beach | benpancoast.com - [...] out more family portraits by the beach here! Tags: Beach, Family Portraits, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Photographer, Sunset, Weko [...]
December 8, 2009 - 9:55 amLifestyle Portraiture | Family Photos in the Dunes | benpancoast.com - [...] you can do them just about anywhere, and you can almost always find something new to do with the family photos! This family photo shoot took place in the dunes in Stevensville Michigan on what turned out to be [...]
Fall is one of my favorite times of the year for engagement photos in Chicago, especially downtown in and around the Art Institute and Millennium Park! It never ceases to amaze me just how much fall color you can find in a city the size of Chicago but I guess
that’s a testament to Mayor Daley and his seemingly unlimited flower and garden budget for the downtown area!! If you’ve ever lived downtown you know what I mean, the city must completely re-plant every garden bed along the entire length of the
Magnificent Mile at least 5 times a year… of course I suppose if I have to pay 10% sales tax in the city I might as well be able to enjoy seeing it put to good use every time I walk down the street and as a wedding and engagement photographer I’m certainly
not complaining! But, regardless of how many new gardens are planted or old gardens are replanted there are few places in Chicago that can compare to the gardens around the Art Institute of Chicago in the Fall. The fall color surrounding the museum as
well as Millennium Park is nothing short of breathtaking, and at times when you’re shooting engagement pictures here I can almost forget that I’m in the city at all, it feels more like some nature walk in the country… of course this only lasts as long as you don’t look
up and notice the incredible skyline surrounding you! =) Needless to say we had a lot of fun shooting engagement pictures that day and I love how so many of these pictures are in the heart of the city and yet feel like they couldn’t possibly have been taken in downtown Chicago.
on his blog from this wedding I’ll be sure to link to them because they’re equally amazing! Congratulations Kelly & Chris!
by Ben
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