Angie & Jay

Jay and Angie held their wedding at the beautiful Heidel House Resort in Green Lake. It was a perfect day too - sunny and not too warm. Jay and Angie are about the nicest people you will ever run into - very easy going and relaxed. They were a total pleasure to work with for the day.

One of the nice things about weddings at the Heidel House is that you're always just a short walk from the lake. The sun was pretty harsh in the afternoon, so the lighting for photos wasn't ideal. We snuck out of the reception and spent a few minutes on a peir shooting the last little bit of the sunset and it made for some fantastic shots - some of my favorites so far this year.

Congratulations Angie and Jay!

So tired of paint

One of the really cool things about moving into our new place is the gallery/meeting/office space here. Val and I have been making plans for the gallery ever since we moved in. Last week we got to the point of choosing colors, which was really hard. We had test patches of like 7 different colors on the wall, but we gained a bit of inspiration from a rug and finally settled on a color. Now we're into the nitty gritty of painting the gallery. It's really cool to see it coming together, but I can't wait for it to be finished. Once it's painted I can work on the lighting and getting photos on the wall. No, we're not painting it grey - until it's finished though the color is a secret. Any guesses?

Wisconsin Bride Best of 2007

For the second year in a row Dave Watkins Photography has been nominated for Wisconsin Bride Magazine's Best of 2007 Awards! Woo Hoo! Val and I went to Milwaukee last night for the awards ceremony at the Eisner Museum and has some great food and drinks. We also had a great time chatting with all the other top wedding vendors in the state. It's so amazing to see all the different people who put their time and talents to work making wedding days great for brides and grooms. We all have different skills and gifts, but we all share a passion for what we do, and that's so cool to see.

I didn't win, but it's an immense honor for me to be nominated, especially since it's the readers who do the voting. I feel so blessed that I'm able to both do something that I love and do something that matters so much to others. To all of you who voted, thank you so much for showing your appreciation. You have no idea how special that is to me.

Kenny & Sara

I'm still playing a bit of catch up with the wedding photos - I've finally finished Kenny and Sara's pictures from their June 23rd wedding. They chose a Hollywood theme for their day, which meant that I got to play the part of the Paparazzi, and I did my best to play out my role. I even hung out the side of the car shooting photos of them as they rode in the limo down University Ave!
Most grooms aren't very lively on the dance floor, but Kenny is definitely one of a kind when the music starts up. He led a conga line out of the reception ballroom through the lobby and bar of the hotel! Crazy! It was a very fun day for everyone - enjoy the photos!

Renee & Jason's Wedding

I'll admit I've gotten a bit behind on my projects lately, so I'm really happy to finally have photos finished from Renee and Jason's wedding two weeks ago. Renee and Jason were great to work with - super friendly and all smiles! They're wedding was cool because between the ceremony and reception we stopped by Devils Lake State Park to shoot some photos. I don't normally get to take wedding parties into wilderness type areas, so this was a cool, unique opportunity for me. They were all real toopers for taking the short hike up that hill with the hot, humid weather and mosquitoes swirling around. I like the juxtaposition of the formally dressed wedding party with the natural landscape ... and the picnicers and swimmers in shorts and t-shirts. We drew a lot of attention when we strolled down through the beach area!