brockit inc. - blog » weddings

larry & alison

Adam — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:44:20 +0000

A very beautiful wedding at Castle Farms in Charlevoix, MI. Larry and Alison did great at their engagement session, so we had no worries that they’d be a very photogenic couple. Add a location like Castle Farms, and pretty much all we had to do was point the camera in their general direction and hold the release down. Thanks so much to Kristi Bauer from Rogers City for assisting in Charlevoix. This part of the state is great – sand dunes, breakfast diners, cherries, and a nice breeze off of Lake Michigan.

Castle Farms has an interesting history: it was constructed in 1918 by Albert Loeb, who was the President of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and it was designed by Arthur Heun. Loeb built Castle Farms as a model farm to showcase livestock in addition to new farm equipment that was sold by his company^.in 1927, the farm was closed and rented out for storage until 1965. It was then turned into an art studio by John Van Haver. In 1969, it was sold to Arthur and Erwina Reibel and was mainly used for rock concerts^. If you were around at this time, you might vaguely remember acts like Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, or The Beach Boys. Its a crazy place for sure.

Many congrats to Larry and Alison – you guys had a beautiful day!

Check out their slideshow, or view some highlights below…

west virginia wedding with rebecca

Adam — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:44:26 +0000

— UPDATE —

Rebecca’s slideshow here! Nice…

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I had the great pleasure of shooting all weekend with Rebecca Kiger at a beautiful wedding in West Virginia recently. The below is Rebecca’s blog entry in entirety, and in twitter speak, I’ve RT’d it to share the story. I echo much of the below; our hosts were amazing, the atmosphere, service, and events were all beyond top-notch. Just look at the photos! You should visit both Rebecca’s blog and website, and if you are ever in West Virginia, stay at the Blennerhassett! A special thanks to Rebecca’s assistant, Amanda, my assistant Megan Kahoa, and my chauffer brother, Aaron Poot.

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Melissa McCormick and Tres Ross were married on Saturday, May 30, 2009 in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Guests flew in from all over the country and were warmly welcomed at the Blennerhassett Hotel, which provided accommodations and award-winning wining and dining. The Ross Family owns the historic hotel in downtown Parkersburg.

The wedding day began with a morning sternwheeler boat cruise along the river. Guests were entertained with live music and more wining and dining, as the family and hotel are renowned for their hospitality. Below, photographs from the voyage, including one of Tres sampling an oyster shooter.

Below, Sasha, one of the chefs at The Blennerhassett, begins early preparing for an elaborate dinner. In the following image, wine from the Bremer Family Winery in St. Helena, one of the featured wines of the weekend. The winery customized wine boxes with Tres and Melissa’s names and their wedding date. Next to the wine, orchids that were found throughout the wedding floral design at the hotel. Pam Shirley of Aletha’s in Marietta, Ohio created the magnificent arrangements.

Connie Miller, who is out of Cincinnati, Ohio, custom-designed Melissa’s dress. Below, a look at some of the detailed beading on the bodice. On the heel of her Manolo Blahniks, which were inspired from an episode of Sex in the City (the one where Carrie loses her shoes at a party), are two of Melissa’s beautiful rings, her something blue and her engagement ring.

Emotions ran high on the wedding day for both Melissa and Tres. Joy was expressed through laughter, smiles, and tears. Above, Melissa twirls in delight as she begins to dress for the wedding and then tries to hold back tears when she sees how her wedding dreams have been realized. ”I really feel like a princess,” she said. Below, Melissa and her bridal party depart The Blennerhassett for the church by horse and carriage.

The ceremony was held at undoubtedly one of the most beautiful churches in Parkersburg, Trinity Episcopal, located just blocks from the hotel. Below, Melissa arrives to the church courtyard. Alongside that photo, a detail of her bouquet.

The wedding was officiated by Father Jackson of Trinity Episcopal and Bishop Price from Columbus, Ohio. When Tres was hit by a car at the age of six and endured months of hospitalization and recovery, Bishop Price, who at that time was at Trinity, walked alongside the family in prayer and support. While the family was honored that he returned to deliver the ceremonial vows, Bishop Price indicated in his blessing later that night, what an honor and blessing it was for him and and all those present to witness Tres and Melissa’s wedding, for thirty years earlier, prayers had been focused on just keeping him alive.

In the second, and fourth photos below, images from the beginning and the end of the ceremony at Trinity. In the fifth image below, Tres and his mother embrace following the wedding.

The couple returned to The Blennerhassett by horse and carriage and sat down for an elaborate dinner in the Charleston Ballroom. Below, enormous urns of orchids and roses donned the tables, which were topped with red and platinum table clothes. The tables were set with a myriad of wine glasses and fleur de lis wine stopper favors, symbolic of the couples love of wine and their quickly approaching honeymoon through the champagne vineyards in France. In the image below the table setting, champagne is poured for a toast. Alongside that photo, the waitstaff wait ready to serve wine to the guests. In front is Cindy, who after working hours cheerfully preparing for the reception, still had time to sincerely ask me how I was doing. She exemplified the spirit of hospitality at the hotel.

The toasts were both humorous and heartfelt. Below, Brandi delivers her roast/toast, while Melissa, Tres, and his brother Spencer laugh along.

Following dinner, Melissa and Tres moved from the ballroom to Spat’s Lounge to cut their seven-tiered cake prepared by Tere Clegg. Below, a shot of the cake in Spat’s Lounge and below that, Melissa and Tres finish licking their finger tips of one of the several flavored cakes prepared by Tere.

Even though rain dances had been performed at the beginning of the day, right before dinner concluded an unbelievable storm passed through Parkersburg. This wouldn’t have dampened the evening had the dancing had not been planned outside in the courtyard of the hotel. After days of celebrating, Melissa expressed some relief that instead of dancing the night away she could kick off her shoes and rest before departing the next morning for France. Before the couple slipped away for the night, the ten piece band moved inside and played two songs so the night could conclude with dance. Melissa and Tres danced to “Could It Be Magic” by Barry Manilow. Tres couldn’t help but sing his heart out to Melissa as they danced (third photo below), and this is where the tears filled up in my heart as well. In the final photo below, a shot of the dance floor and a view from the Blennerhassett courtyard prior to the rain.

When Melissa and Tres return from their honeymoon, besides continuing their phenomenal work at the hotel, Tres will carry forward the work of the Ross Foundation, a family foundation based in Parkersburg with a primary focus on supporting causes within local communities throughout West Virginia. The couple will reside in Parkersburg. Congratulations to a couple who inspires through their love, strength, and unbelievable graciousness.

Thanks go to Adam Johnson for serving as my second photographer the day of the wedding!

satish and vani

Adam — Mon, 18 May 2009 00:53:48 +0000

Anyone following Brockit on Twitter or Facebook knew that this was a fun project for our studio. It had all the right ingredients: incredible people, photogenic location, high energy, and some unique challenges. I finished a week of work in the Detroit & Ann Arbor area and headed to San Francisco to meet awesome Brockit assistant Emma at SFO. Though we made the assistant call-out on the Brockit Facebook group, the stars aligned and Emma, who worked most of our Lake Superior weddings last year, was in the area and served as chauffeur and assistant for a couple days. Satish and Vani were a great couple to work with! Let me back up – not only were they great, their family was incredible. We were so well received, accommodated, and pampered with Indian food and drinks, that we felt completely at home. I think Vani’s family was surprised at our ability to eat hot food though – everyone kept on saying, ‘be careful, you know that is very spicy, even we don’t eat those peppers!’

We started in the morning with some traditional ceremonies inside the house, then moved to a traditional ‘American’ setting and attire for the early afternoon. Beautiful locations and not a cloud in the sky! After a long lunch we watched the transformation of Vani as she was adorned and clothed in traditional and ceremonial markings, jewelry, and clothing. I’ve captured many a bride’s transformation, but there was certainly something magical about Vani’s. The flowers sewn into her hair, the gold thread in her sarong, the henna on her hands… beautiful, beautiful.

Going long on these preparations, small caravan raced at a disturbing (even for me) pace out to the temple through California rush hour traffic. Unlike an ‘American’ wedding, there is no slipping the time in a Hindu wedding. Stars and planets do not care about traffic… On to the temple and the non-stop ceremony. If you haven’t been to a Hindu wedding, woah…. incense and rice in the air, along with the smells of insanely good food, kids running everywhere, and non-stop ritual on stage. Thanks so much to Gowtham aka: @sgowtham in Houghton who for the price of a couple beers at the KBC gave me all the tips on Kanya Daan, Panigrahana Hathlewa, Saptapadi, etc… I don’t think I missed a thing! Emma switched lenses like a pro for me as the scenes changed quickly, and Vani’s family guided my barefoot self around the stage like I was a sibling.

Technically I shot most of the day with natural light. I added a strobe for the outdoor, afternoon scenes, but kept the aperture open and focal length as long as possible for the intense ceremonial action on the stage. I was surprised to fill 24GB pretty quickly, so thanks again to Emma for fast CF card swapping, and thank goodness the D3 has dual slots.

I couldn’t help but spend a few extra days out in CA. While my friends in Northern Michigan had snow, I had 74 degrees, sunshine, and not a cloud in sight for days… ahhh…

— GALLERY —

Highlight and storefront galleries here, and some selections below.

wedding galleries – summer & fall 08 highlights

Adam — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:05:46 +0000

With the new blog up, there are some gaps to fill, but I thought I’d post some summer & fall 2008 wedding highlights. While it was hard to choose, they were a blast to shoot, and each has its own crazy story, they all have beautiful brides and beautiful locations in common!

Check them out -

krista werner

laura merz

paula rechner

megan becker

jessie dux

meghan mcgee

jessica kerr

alycia o'parka

dux wedding

Adam — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 06:37:18 +0000

My, my, my. Jess was our wedding client for an incredible wedding on Presque Isle. Our standard wedding work is typically for 10-12 hours and we started with Jess and noon and packed up the gear about 12 hours and 1400 RAW shots later. With my immobile leg, we took a full crew on the road which included driver and heavy gear hauler Evan, intern & second shooter Emily, and massage therapist & artist Emma as an extra assistant. Actually, what is the Dude’s line in the Big Lebowski ‘you don’t expect me to be handling the money, driving the car and talking on the phone…’ Well, we did abide, and we rocked this out for Jess. Trophy winning, long distance horses just out of town at the family’s ranch, then Presque Isle with a beautiful, concise ceremony, then we took two limos around to a variety of scenic locations and local bars before hitting the reception. Nice shots, guys. Some of my favorites are below. How often do you get the chance to shoot a beautiful bride in amidst free-running horses?! And thanks to the groomsmen for literally carrying me up from some of the more difficult locations. Note the Old Milwaukee beer in his hand (though it is his, not mine) and Emma carrying crutches, cameras, and Crumpler bag. Nice!

blechinger wedding

Adam — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 06:14:17 +0000

Amy got married on the 28th and we captured her moments from noon until midnight. Red carpet is always challenging to match with flash, so I elected to leave it in the bag and just crank the ISO on the D3 a bit. Oh yeah, and it looks like I finally fried one of the SB-800 strobes and I didn’t feel like programming one of the other slaves to act as master. We’d have time for this later anyway… I’m not big on formal group shots, and tend to do these in a relaxed and artistic style vs. stuffy and ‘look at the camera and smile’. Its just not my style. My preference for a setup and shot is below with the mine ruin, sunburst, and casual poses. I admit that I did throw some strobe into this to carefully fill shadows without creating more. Nice job, Amy. You had a beautiful day!

jessica kerr engagement shots

Adam — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:33:02 +0000

Jessica is a Brockit Bride for October. She and her fiancee took advantage of their engagement shots on a breezy, slightly overcast spring afternoon in Hancock before heading hundreds of miles back home. You guys are both naturally photogenic and will do great! The shots were all done with the 70-200 in natural light – my favorite formula… Nice smile below, Jessica.

A follow-up quote from Jessica to Meghan:

I love them! Adam is fantastic, I can’t wait to see what he does with the wedding photos!

Thanks – I’m blushing…

polzin wedding

Adam — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:56:59 +0000

Ah, this was lovely. Lori Polzin was our bride for the 6th of June, and we shot a beautiful, private wedding on the top of Brockway Mountain in Copper Harbor; shot in some local scenes, then moved southwest along the shoreline to Fitzgerald’s (Eagle River Inn) along Lake Superior’s shore. A wonderful, in-love couple, for whom Brockit intern Emily and I signed the witness lines on the marriage license. Excellent day you two, and congratulations!

wayne’s wedding

Adam — Sun, 11 May 2008 01:55:21 +0000

I actually got to participate in a wedding from the bridal party point of view instead of from behind the camera. My good buddy Wayne got married in the lovely West Virginia to the even lovelier Teresa. I had the honor of being in the party, supporting Wayne and hooking up with my Detroit buddies. Woo hooo! Nice job Wayne. Glad we cleaned up the Cadillac and always nice to see you. Still can’t believe you are married! I also got to connect with my new photography friend Rebecca Kiger who was kind enough to feature me on her blog. Rebecca, thanks for letting me play, and I look forward to working with you. Wayne, even though you’re married, I’m hoping you still have a guest room for me…

donna & rob

Adam — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:01:16 +0000

We had the pleasure of seeing Adam again at Alaina’s wedding in October. The pictures were beautiful, but we would expect nothing less. It was a pleasure to have Adam as our photographer and his pictures will be cherished.

- Janet Pauciulo

amy rockwell – engagement shots

Adam — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 02:02:52 +0000

You might recognize Amy as a photogenic bride from Brockit’s 2007 wedding season. One of her shots made it into the ‘Reflections Gallery’ show in Hancock and is featured on the main website. We couldn’t schedule Amy’s engagement shots before her wedding, so she cashed in her raincheck this weekend. She rocked again. We shot using natural light and took advantage of the falling snow. Nice job, Amy!