It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged.

2 months to be exact.

Wow.

So I’m dusting things off & getting things started again.

During the buys season it gets quite difficult to keep up with workflow & posting sneak peeks on Facebook, so often the BLOG takes a back seat.

My goal for 2012 is for that to change, to be a better blogger.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be catching up on some BLOG posts both portrait & wedding, stay tuned.

Also wanted to let you know over the next couple weeks/months I’m excited to roll out Natale Photography’s brand new website & BLOG that I’m hard at work with right now.

For the most up to date images in my portfolio please swing by Facebook or shoot me an email, I’d be happy to email you a current slideshow!

In the meantime watch for some new BLOG posts coming out this week, one today in fact.

We are into full swing Wedding booking season for both 2012-2013.  We are a little over half booked for 2012 & anticipating that we’ll be fully booked by the start of Wedding Season in May.  If you are still looking for a photographer call the studio to set up your personal Bridal Consultation.

Speaking of Weddings, here is a small iPhone pic of my booth this past weekend @ the EngagedMilwaukee Bridal Show

Chris & Crystal

Friday August 19 2011

Venue | Veteran’s Terrace, Burlington Wisconsin

Entertainment | Live band : Kind of a Big Deal

To view Chris & Crystal’s Chicago Engagement Session, click here.

One of my favorite places I’ve shot at this year has got to be the Veteran’s Terrace in Burlington Wisconsin.

C & C had thee absolute perfect day for an outside ceremony.

I can’t really put into words how cute these two are together.  Simply put, they make my job look easy.

C & C opted to have a first look which was just lovely & allowed us ample shooting time that afternoon before the ceremony & even a bit afterwards to head downtown Burlington to find a oh so fabulous BLUE wall.

The reception, was laid back, fun & was led by the boys from “Kind of a Big Deal” band out of Janesville.

WOW, they were amazing & it was a blast watching everyone enjoy themselves!

Chris & Crystal : best wishes to you as you start your life together, it was such an honor to be a part of your big day {stephanie}

The next two images were shot by my second shooter Michelle B.  {thanks again, you’re the best!}

This wonderful image was captured by my absolutely fabulous second shooter, Michelle B.  {thanks!}

This one too

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Karen & Will

July 30, 2011

Lake Mills, Wisconsin

I’ve known Karen now for at least 5 years & it was such a pleasure to work with her & Will on their wedding day.

Karen : you were just simply stunning, the dress, the details, everything.  Fabulous job friend.

Will : your smile is just so dang contagious & I couldn’t help but smile every time you would look over @ your new wife

Lake Mills Golf Course gives way to many different opportunities for portraits & thanks to a few fabulous Golf Card drivers we were able to take advantage of them all!

K & W had a late afternoon/early evening wedding under a big flowing tree with the wind blowing from behind.

The day was full of laughter & special special moments, shared with friends & family.

Thanks for having me apart of your day K & W, enjoy all of your  images!

{s.natale}

A few moments before their first look.

The rings featured in the “Wedding Drink” of the evening, Martini.

Perfect photo bomb

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Francine & Kyle

July 16, 2011

Ceremony | Rock Prairie United Presbyterian Church

Venue | Pontiac Convention Center

Catering & Decorations | Best Events

Hair | Robin’s Nest Salon

Video | Frogman Productions

Engagement Session | Kyle & Francine E-session {BLOG}

Francine & Kyle were married on a fabulous summer day, which I was so thankful for considering our E-session was a wee bit chilly that day.

They both come from farming families & so in planning for the portraits that day it was very important to both of them that we were outside.

We wanted the images to reflect them, who they were & what their relationship is about.

Luckily the ceremony was located at a Rock Prairie which is out in the country & surrounded by plenty of farm land, it was so perfect for F & K.

F & K are surrounded by large families & a great group of friends that care for them both & love them, which made our job that day, much easier.

We started out @ Robin’s Nest Salon in Milton for the girls’ hair & headed to Francine’s house to get ready.

We soon met Kyle @ the church where they had their first look prior to the ceremony.

I love it when couples choose this option because it allows us so much extra time for portraits.  We were able to do all Family & Bridal party portraits prior to the ceremony.

The reception was at the Pontiac Convention center in Janesville & looked so elegant decorated in the Black & White color theme they had chosen for their wedding.

So classic, so beautiful.

We had a blast documenting your day Francine & Kyle!

{s.natale}

Moments before their “First Look”

Perfect ring shot for a Bride & Groom that come from a long line of Farmers

F & K had a 50/50 raffle @ their wedding.

Girls sold the pink tickets & Boys sold the blue tickets

This little buddy, cracked. me. up.

The ever fabulous Traveling Photo Booth

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Wendy & Vinny

Saturday June 19 2011

Venue : The Paper Valley {Appleton Wisconsin}

W & V had an amazing day for a wedding.  It was beautiful & clear for portraits & the wedding in the afternoon.

The day was all about being laid back & celebrating W & V  and laughing along the way.  One of my favorite things about this couple & their families is that they love to laugh.

The love, the relationships & the bonds just shine through & well make my job, so much easier!  Thanks W & V for being beautiful peeps.

Thanks for having us apart of your day.  Thanks for e-mailing me back in the day & thanks for trusting your gut that I was a long lost sister.

Your family & friends were fabulous & a joy to photograph from begin to end.

I had along with me Second Shooting, the fabulous Michelle Martin, with Michelle Martin Photography.  Thanks so much, you were wonderful!

Even though W & V have seen their entire gallery of wedding images, I still wanted to {better late than never} do a BLOG post with some of my favorite images.

This summer has turned out to be much much busier than expected & I appreciate everyone’s patience as I take the appropriate time for each client to make sure their final galleries are a beautiful reflection of their day.

Enjoy the not so ’sneaky’ peeks

{s. natale}

W & V’s first look :

What a fabulous bridesmaid.  She wears Cat earrings in honor of the bride & her love for cats.  Way to step up your duties “Rita”.

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I had the pleasure this summer to attend a fabulous workshop in Chicago with the amazing photographer

Scott Robert Lim

This was the view from our room @ the Allerton Hotel in Chicago

I traveled with a few very talented  photographer friends of mine from the Madison area.

Michelle from Michelle Martin Photography

&
Mandie from Red Gecko Studio

This was Mandie & I on our “romantic” carriage ride the night before the workshop {image from my iPhone}

{Ok enough of the name dropping}

All in all we had a wonderful trip & learned a lot from Scott.  He is just full of knowledge, advice & gives so much of himself back to our community.

It was my first workshop with SRL & I look forward to more in the future!

Not to mention Chicago as a city is just lovely!

Necessary to credit these fabulous people who helped make the day happen

Dresses & Hair Accessories | Rebekah Jacobs Couture

Makeup | Barb Zanzig of BZ Artistry

Hair | Tony, owner of Hybrid Salon

These are a sample of the images taken that day, enjoy!

Thanks again Scott, it was a pleasure to spend the day with you!

A few pullbacks from how we were shooting

Love the Trolley @ Navy Pier

We ended our 12+ hour day with watching the fireworks from Navy Pier

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Heidi & Bobby

Friday June, 17th, 2011

We had a beautiful day for H & B’s intimate & elegant wedding in Kenosha/Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin.

I had the pleasure of meeting Heidi & Bobby a few years ago & have been looking forward to their wedding for sometime.

Heidi had all the details planned down to the smallest decoration.

The day went very smoothly & we had ample time between the ceremony & reception for fun & relaxed portraits of the Bride & Groom and their Bridal Party.

Heidi you looked amazing that day & Bobby you cleaned up very nice yourself!

The love you two share was such a pleasure to photograph & document that day.

Your smile, laugh & love is contagious.

I wish you both all the best & I truly enjoyed working with you & your families!

Enjoy the sneak peek!

{s. Natale}

| Vendors |

Ceremony : St. Mary’s Catholic Church {Kenosha}

Reception Venue : The Radisson Ballroom {Pleasant Prairie}

Wedding Consultant : Brittney Power, Power Wedding Planning

DJ : The Music Master, Jay Fernandez

Florist : Flowers with Love

Wedding Cake : Bridal Cakes Custom Design by Ann

I believe this was when Bobby said, “WOW” right after he saw his Bride for the very first time!

Love these special moments & this energy right after the ceremony.

I think this was when I said smile & say “Banana Hammock”, I’ll do anything for a good laugh!

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Lynzee & Jason {Engaged}
Wedding Date | September 17th, 2011

I met Lynzee last year through one of my 2010 Bride & Grooms.

We hit it off right away & I loved how upbeat & bubbly her personality was, I was so excited to hear from her when they got engaged last year!

Lynzee & Jason are perfect for each other, always laughing, always smiling & they are the type of couple you just can’t help but be happy when you are around them!

We had a blast during their E-session & I loved getting to know them better!

I can’t wait to be apart of your big day this September, coming up so SOON!

Enjoy the sneak peeks!

{S. Natale}

Who said a few random little props can’t be fun?

When we were planning out their session we knew that one of our stops would HAVE to be Rivers Edge Bowl in Janesville.

That is where they first met & they share a lot of memories from this place!

Thank-you SO much to the owners of Rivers Edge Bowl for allowing us to come in & kind of take over for a few hours.

They were very very accommodating!

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Andrea & Josh

{wedding | 05.21.11}

Good thing the world didn’t end that day, we had a wedding to celebrate!

If mother nature really existed I would have given her one big HUGE giant hug that day.

We were so fortunate to have a beautiful day to celebrate A & J’s wedding day in Madison.

Going into the weekend there was an 80% chance of rain/thunderstorms.  Thankfully that forecast was wrong!

We started off at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Madison.

Both Andrea & Josh agreed early on that they wanted to see other prior to the ceremony.

I love these moments, those first few seconds when the couple sees each other for the first time on their wedding day.

After the ceremony we headed straight to the Capitol.  We saw many Bridal Parties there that day but easily got a spot on the steps & spent some time doing Bridal portraits.

The Capitol is especially meaningful to A & J as this was where he proposed, only it was inside & the Christmas Tree was up.

After we photographed outside we attempted to get into the Capitol {we had gotten a permit prior to the day} but the doors were locked & closed.

Luckily we met a very nice security man who let us in, with less than 5 minutes to shoot.  It was very important to A & J that we get inside on their wedding day & get some images where he proposed, I was very thankful to that security guard.

After that we headed quickly to Olin Park & found some lovely trees that coordinated with the bridal party colors. #winning

We arrived at the Coliseum Bar for the reception shortly after that & got the party going!

Andrea & Josh had a great wedding party, a lot of fun & very easy going.

Every time I turned around people were laughing & enjoying the day.

It was our pleasure to be apart of the day!

Andrea & Josh :

You are such a lovely couple & we wish you the best!

{s. Natale}

Waiting to see her groom for the first time

Love this angle, from Michelle’s perspective during this moment

Moments before the ceremony, with Dad

Grams & Gramps after the wedding.

{notice the adorable coordination?}

This is where Josh asked Andrea to marry him.

Hearts.

In order to get the Bride & Groom to kiss guests had to hula hoop.

One of the bridesmaids due with her first baby in a few weeks.  That is her husband cheering her on.

The amazing card box hand made by one of the groomsmen, man that was heavy.

First Dance

The couple from the longest married dance = TOO adorable for words.

This is how you learn to pose in a picture when you go to UW-Stout

Andrea & Josh’s Wedding Vendors

Ceremony  | Holy Cross, Madison Wisconsin

Reception Venue | Coliseum Bar, Madison Wisconsin

Photographer | Natale Photography

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Laura & Ben

{married 05.20.11}

Sweet family. Close relationships. Family traditions. Beautiful couple.

Beautiful day.

I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Laura & Ben over the past year as well as their family & what a sweet sweet family they are.

As a mother myself I could appreciate how close they are as a family & that shows in everything that they do & that they prepared for in this wedding day.

I love documenting events like that, the love that they all shared was just so evident in the everything they did, the people that were there & in Laura & Ben.

They had a late afternoon/early evening ceremony @ St. William Catholic Church, which BTW photographers if you are looking for a beautiful {read well-lit} Catholic Church, St. William is the place to be.

We had a short time for portraits in between but we rocked it out & so did the weather.

We made it to the reception shortly after for Laura & Ben to kick off their celebration.

Only one word describes the reception room : WOWzers.

It was a photographers dream.

Thanks for allowing us to share in your special day L & B and enjoy your sneak peek!

{s. natale}

| be sure to scroll to the bottom for the vendor list & links to their websites |

The girls were practicing “Teach me how to Bucky” for the reception

Getting all “glitterfied” before the wedding {is that a word?}

Lauras dress was a surprise to everyone, even the Bridesmaids.

This image was part of the reaction the first time they saw Laura, all dressed up on her wedding day.

The absolutely stunning bride, Laura.  Yes honey, you were having a wonderful “lash day”

Look @ these fabulous shoes?

I believe they were in the middle of making their “fancy” face

Sisters, a few moments before the ceremony

There are no words to describe how much I love the next few images

{note : Ben & Laura did not see other prior to the wedding, these were their first few moments}

A moment during the ceremony

Rings on their getaway car {thanks Michelle b. for this lovely shot}

The AMAZING cake table

The BEAUTIFUL head table

L & B’s first dance

Images from their 3D slideshow

Mother & Father of the Bride

The beautiful Mother of the Groom

Laura & Ben’s Wedding Vendors

Ceremony  | St. William Catholic Church, Janesville Wisconsin

Reception Venue | Holiday Inn Express, Janesville Wisconsin

Flowers/Decorations | Brad @ Floral Expressions

DJ | Austin with Jukebox Bandstand

Videographer | Frogman Productions

Photographer | Natale Photography

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