Simon McConico | Valo Photography

Hey Mister! Thats my sister!

I was in Minneapolis this weekend and my sisters fiance was in from North Carolina.  They are getting married later this year and we went out to take a few photos while I was up there.  I will be shooting their wedding and it should be crazylotsoffun.

This was the first time I met Alex and… well… I am glad that I approve. He is a lil crazy and different, but who am I to speak? I am a lot crazy and different. These two fit well together and that makes me a happy brother. Here are just a few images that I shot.

1 Comment | In: E-Sessions | tags: milwaukee wedding photographers, milwaukee wisconsin photographers, minneapolis minnesota, minneapolis photographers, minnesota, minnesota wedding, simonmcconico, Valo, Valo Photography. | #

I love it when I get asked by someone that I know to be a part of their wedding. If it is being in the wedding, or shooting the wedding, I love it. Marquel and Nicholene knew that they wanted me to shoot their wedding even before they were engaged. Well… I KNOW Nic did because she told me every time she saw me.

I went to college with both of these folks and had a great time creating music with them. Marquel can pretty much sing any part in a choir and play anything on drums, keys, and probably lots of other instruments and Nic would bring down the house with her singing. Creating music is amazing, but creating amazing music is even better, which made it quite appropriate that they got married at Orchestra Hall.

I arrived in Minneapolis with my friend Paul Sparks to shoot their wedding and was super excited. The wedding was outside and in the morning it looked like the weather was not going to cooperate with us. Gladly, a few hours passed and the clouds moved along, taking their raindrops with them. The weather, other than being crazy windy, was perfect. Great light and a lovely location at Orchestra Hall made for some fantastic photos.

Marquell is from Milwaukee and Nicolene is from Jamacia, but they met and now live in Minneapolis. It was great seeing their family come together and have a great time at the wedding. Sooo… enough of me babbling… here are the photos:

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I love culture. I love when two cultures mix and create a melting pot of traditions, clothes, and food. I had the honor of photographing a Nigerian/American wedding for Tope and Ebony. There was so much to photograph! From the amazing Nigerian food to the colorful dress and ethnic dances, everything was beautiful.

Jake and I were able to photograph Tope and Ebony a little while back for their engagement session. It was fun to get to know them a bit before the wedding and hear all about their love for each other over a burger and fries. It was very easy to see how much they loved each other before the wedding, so that day it was great to share in their excitement.

Ebony had a beautiful dress for the wedding.  It was stunning by itself and looked perfect on her.

Tope was smiling all day… I can’t blame him.

The traditional Nigerian dress was fantastic.  I loved the bright colors and the intricate details.  The Sculpture Garden provided a great background for the photos.

She was too cute!

The toasts.

I was in love with the cake… both inside and out

After dinner the wedding party got changed into traditional Nigerian dress and were throwing down on the dance floor.

They were posing for the camera all night long.

In some American weddings there is the dollar dance, where people pay money to dance with the bride or groom.  The best man and maid of honor normally collect the cash and it is a fun way to give money to the new couple.  At this wedding though, the dollar dance was awesome.  As Tope and Ebony danced to traditional music, people came up from the crowd and would place money on their heads and it would fall to the ground where the bridal party and others would pick it up for the couple.  This dance went on for quite a while.  It was a lot of fun to be a part of the dance and be able to capture the emotion and energy that was in the room.

At the end of the night we said good bye and left tired from shooting all day and dancing all night.  Thanks again Tope and Ebony for asking Valo to shoot your wedding!

1 Comment | In: Weddings | tags: canon 5d mark 2, midwest wedding, milwaukee wedding photographer, minneapolis, minneapolis wedding photography, minnesota, nigerian wedding, sculpture gardens, simonmcconico, Valo, Valo Photography, wedding photography, Weddings, wisconsin, wisconsin photography. | #

Jake and I had a crazy weekend a few weeks ago. We went up to Minneapolis and crammed in 5 shoots over two days and one night. We left after work on Friday night and got to the cities around 11:30 p.m. and started to shoot just a little after that. Shooting in the dark is no easy task, but we made it happen.

Tryenyse (pronounced tra neice) is an artist in Minneapolis who describes her music as Soul, Blues, and R&B all mixed up. Her and her husband have been a friend of my family for quite some time and it was great to be able to get some awesome shots for the album that she is putting out this summer. Here are a few of the photographs that we took that night running around Minneapolis.

2 Comments | In: Branding Photography | tags: canon 5d mark 2, downtown, milwaukee wisconsin, minneapolis, minnesota, music artist, simonmcconico. | #

Hellllllllllllllllo folks!  Finally got around to posting Brandon and Bibi’s wedding photos.  I met Brandon quite a while ago and ran into him when I was in Minneapolis for some reason or another.  We chatted and he told me that he was getting married and that he would like me to document Bibi and his day.  Sahweet! So we chatted about it and they told me it was on Valentine’s day.  I had the day open, so I was able to have the privilege to shoot their wedding.

Jake and I hopped in the car late Friday and cruised up to Minneapolis.  Grabbed some tea from the Tea Garden and then walked around the city for a while.  It was cold.  Nasty Minneapolis cold.  Granted in Milwaukee it is about 3 degrees warmer, but I wanted those 3 degrees! …but I digress.

We met everyone at the Sculpture Gardens right next to the old Guthrie Theater.  We shot all of the formals and the couple portraits there before hand since we wouldn’t have much time after the wedding.

Brandon was imparting deep knowledge to the ring bearers

After everyone left, we got a few minutes with the both of them before the crazyness began.

From there, we went to the church and it was time to get hitched!

The kiss… everyone does it (unless the pastor forgets), but not everyone does it like Brandon and Bibi… I think it was the longest kiss I have ever seen. Ever.

I was diggin the Nigerian outfits that they changed into for the reception.

The paperatzzi!

They had some great spoken word and singing during dinner

Thanks Brandon and Bibi for letting Valo be a part of your day!<–>

2 Comments | In: Weddings | tags: canon 5d mark 2, milwaukee, milwaukee wisconsin, minneapolis, minnesota, Photography, sculpture gardens, valentines day, wedding, wedding photography, wisconsin. | #

A little while ago Jake and I went up to Minneapolis to shoot a wedding.  The day after the wedding we stuck around and shot some promo material for Christ Church Internantional’s new website that is in the works.  After we shot that we hung out with Jamey who is one of my mentors and a good friend.  Some people just have a cool, down to earth vibe and that is very Jamey.  He is the pastor of Leadership and Development at CCI and does his job well.

One of the things that I really admire about him is that he is good at reading people and encouraging people.  We went to the Tea Garden (whish they had one in MKE), and chatted for a while about Valo and the big ideas we have for our company.  He gave some great feedback to our thoughts and encouraged us to keep going after our passions.  Here are a few photos that we took when we were walking around in South Minneapolis.

1 Comment | In: Branding Photography | tags: canon 5d mark 2, milwaukee, minneapolis, minneapolis minnesota, minnesota, outside, Personal Branding, Photography, Valo Photography. | #

Jake and I went to Minneapolis this weekend to shoot a wedding and shoot a few other jobs. We had a blast and got a chance to brain storm all the way back on how to make Valo Photography better. There are a few really fun things that will be rolling out in the next few weeks that we would love to hear your feedback on, so keep checking the site or just subscribe to our RSS feeds.

I haven’t had a lot of time to edit, but here is a shot of the beautiful bride that made my job easy this weekend. We shot Bibi and Brandon on V-day in Minneapolis at the Sculpture Gardens. She was a lot of fun and we had a great time making amazing photos. Here is one quick one I edited before I ran off to my day job.

No Comments | In: Weddings | tags: bride, milwaukee, milwaukee wedding photographer, minneapolis, minneapolis wedding photography, minnesota, sculpture gardens, simon mcconico, Valo Photography, wisconsin. | #