Champaign and Urbana wedding photographer | Holly Birch Photography » Engagement

Julia + Mike | Champaign engagement photography

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:00:33 +0000

Julia + Mike are getting married in August, and I am so excited to be a part of their day. Mike has been a good friend of mine for many years, and I actually met Julia for the first time at my own wedding in 2009. I’m so happy that they’ve found each other, and though I don’t know Julia as well as I know Mike, I could tell just from their engagement session that they are perfect together. They are just the right mix of serious and quirky, and they compliment each other so well. Also, Julia has her own line of handbags, so be sure to check out her site!

On to the photos! We started at West Side Park & ended at the Idea Garden by the Arboretum. Thanks to my friends Stef & Sheila for tagging along with us too.

Samantha + Jacob | Mahomet Lake of the Woods engagement session

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:46:43 +0000

Fourth time’s a charm! We had to reschedule Samantha & Jacob’s engagement session 3 times due to the weather this spring! Crazy! First there was rain, then more rain, and then finally tornado warnings, so we kept having to put it off. Then finally on our fourth scheduled date, the clouds parted and we had some beautiful weather for their session. I had a great time getting to know them prior to their wedding, even though they are Packers fans.

The first shot here is actually my first successful Brenizer method shot (for the photogs out there!), and I’m happy with how it turned out, but know I have a lot more practice to do. Using Brett Maxwell’s calculator, this image is the equivalent to a 24mm f.52. Amazing!!

Lara + Mike | Champaign engagement photography session

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:17:06 +0000

Lara & Mike sought me out for an engagement session recently, and I had an assistant come along to help me so I could shoot some video while she was doing stills. I’m learning more about my HD movie capabilities the more I use my camera, and these are so fun to do and put together! I think I’m going to start offering the videos as an add-on to engagement and portrait sessions. So if you’re interested in having one of these done, definitely let me know!!

Lara + Mike from Holly Smith on Vimeo.

Like us on Facebook!

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:40:01 +0000

Hey blog readers! I know many people read my photo posts over here, and many others also ready my Facebook fan page posts, so I’m trying to close the gap a bit. If you are reading this, would you please “like” Holly Birch Photography on Facebook? As a fan, you’ll get more up-to-date announcements, sales, and just day-to-day tidbits of information (in fact, there’s a sale going on there right now!). Thanks so much!

Here’s a photo from my most recent engagement session which I will hopefully be finishing and posting in the next couple of days.

Heidi + Matt | University of Illinois campus engagement photography

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Heidi + Matt are so cute together. They were both a little nervous about having their photos taken, but they did a great job. Heidi has an exuberance about her non-stop so she didn’t quit smiling the whole time. Matt on the other hand has more of a grin, and I told him he was giving me a George Strait vibe. We started their session at the UI Arboretum Hartley Gardens, then made a trip to the outdoor steps at Krannert, followed by a quick stop at the Busey-Evans dorm which holds a special place in their hearts.

Also, a fun tidbit about Matt… He and I both used to show Herefords at the State Fair at about the same time. Small world!

Lauren + Ryan | Urbana engagement photography

admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:32:23 +0000

Lauren + Ryan’s engagement session took place at the Arboretum. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how vibrant the colors still are there still. This session took place just 5 or so days ago so this is pretty true to how it looks right now. I guess we’re still waiting on that first true frost though, so that helps. Lauren and Ryan are getting married in April, and I am so excited to have them on board as one of my 2012 wedding clients! Congratulations you two!

Lauren + Phil | University of Illinois Arboretum engagement session

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:00:25 +0000

Lauren + Phil met me on a beautiful October afternoon for their engagement session at the University of Illinois Arboretum Hartley Gardens and Idea Garden. As the clouds loomed overhead, we had near-perfect lighting for the entire session, and had just a few raindrops right at the end. We couldn’t have planned it more perfectly!

Jill + Ben | Urbana-Champaign engagement photography

admin — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:09:04 +0000

Jill + Ben’s engagement session actually took place on two different days. On the first try, we got rained out after about 20 minutes. On the second try, it was much warmer and sunnier & we got to try out a new location! Don’t you just love Ben’s hat?! I do! These two are getting married this winter far away from here, and I’m sure they’ll have a great time on vacation and on the beach. Congrats, Jill + Ben!

Also, don’t forget to head over to my Facebook fan page to get in on an exclusive session discount that ends on Friday! And now that I mention it, there’s also a session special going on over at Champaign Boudoir! Come take advantage of the new studio digs.

Now, on to Jill + Ben’s photos!

Jill + Ben | E-Session Sneak Peek

admin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:37:07 +0000

Animated gifs rule!

Lydia + Justin | Champaign + Mahomet engagement photography

admin — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 23:33:35 +0000

I met Lydia + Justin in downtown Champaign for urban images with various alleys, doorways, and walls. We just kind of wandered around and stopped when we saw something we liked, including a dumpster-filled alley that Lydia scouted out. It didn’t smell the greatest, but the light was amazing, and you’d never know the difference in the photos! We finished up the engagement session at Lake of the Woods in Mahomet as the sun was going down. Here’s fair warning that there are a lot of favorites from this session! I am very excited to photograph their wedding in September 2012!

Please leave a comment below, and after 25 comments, Lydia + Justin will receive a complimentary 5×7″ mounted print!

Meet Winnie! She is Lydia + Justin’s adorable puppy. (Special thanks to Will for coming along as puppy “trainer”)

Family pic!

An old classic.

Lydia is not crazy about the red covered bridge, even though she likes the bridge itself. For that reason, most of these next few photos were processed in black-and-white. Though, I did leave a couple just to show the difference!

Two versions of this one:

I took the opportunity to experiment with my lighting a little bit.

This idea is so cute, that I have to share a little bit about it. Lydia + Justin call themselves each other’s puzzle pieces. So Lydia brought along some puzzle pieces to incorporate into the session. As soon as she told me, my mind was buzzing with ideas!

They made for a great detail bling shot!

At the end they both wanted to wade into the water a bit. Yes, please!

I am so glad I snuck (sneaked?) this one in at the end. I love it!!

Thanks, guys, for a great session! I know Lydia is stalking my blog waiting for these, so I’ve been hustling!