St. Bernard’s Ceremony and Hilton Gardens Reception

Heather Beard and Clayton Lautenslager were married August 21, 2010 at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Middleton, Wisconsin.   I served as photographer and my associate, Paul, shot the video for their wedding.

Now from the picture below you can probably tell this was a pretty stiff crowd to work with.  No, not really.  The guys enjoyed showing a little leg.  One of the guys thought I should reduce my fee for them doing this shot.   Well, that is not going to happen, but I am glad that they were willing to give this a try.   This photo was taken using my 50 mm f1.4 lens which provides a shallow depth of field.  It puts the groom’s leg in focus while the others’ legs are gradually out of focus. 

This was a really attractive location outside the church for the formal pictures.   This is Heather with her parents. 

St. Bernard’s sanctuary is gorgeous.  This shot was taken from a fair distance back, but looks close up and sharp.  It is because I was using the 70-200 mm image stabilized lens.

After the ceremony and a few more pictures at the church, we went to the capitol.  Would you believe that about an hour before the following photo was taken it was raining?  It is true.  But gratefully, it cleared up very quickly. 

I like to get a really good kiss picture in front of the capitol.   Heather and Clay were very cooperative, so this is just one of the good ones.

A polarizing filter allows me to get those deep colors.  It provides great blue hues in the sky as well as nice warm skin tones on my subjects.  This is true even though the sun is shining its brightest in the middle of the afternoon. 

Coordinating a good bridal party jump is always fun.  It is easier when everyone makes a giant leap in the air like this group did.  The groomsman on the end was the ham in this crowd.  He added some spice to the group pictures.   Everyone did a great jump, and I appreciate their efforts! 

We also took time to get lots of great photos of just Heather and Clayton. 

The reception was at the Hilton Garden Hotel in Middleton.  It is very nice location for receptions.   There is plenty of space for a few hundred guests and there are also several nice places to shoot couples’ shots both inside and out.  

This shot was set up, but you wouldn’t know it.  It was tricky to get the right angle and distance, but it was worth it. 

Outside the Hilton Garden Hotel that night was a beautiful blue sky and the moon just overhead.  Heather noticed it first, so I will give her credit for this picture. 

This was one of the final pictures of the evening.  I took the opportunity to get the wedding party and a few other wondering souls to be part of the background and cheer while Heather and Clayton follow my instructions.  This is what came of it.