Simon McConico | Valo Photography

Oh my my my my… I love shooting weddings. Rob and Christina’s wedding just continued to keep me on my toes.  Tons of home made things, small details, and lots of fantastic vendors to work with.

Rob and Christina contacted me from New York where they live and work.  Both of them have been involved in theater and the arts and it was evident at their wedding.  Christinas dress was handmade and so were all of the flowers.  The flowers were paper and crafted by St. Jude’s Creations and looked fantastic.  The wedding was at the beautiful Villa Terrace, which is an awesome location overlooking like Michigan.

I love to see the different emotions that people go through at a wedding… from the nervous first steps to the first kiss.

They had an adaptation of one of my favorite author/illustrator, Shel Silverstein’s work “The Missing Piece Meets The Big O”

We had some fantastic light for photos after the ceremony.

Of all the great personal touches, this one takes the cake. Rob is a big Back to the Future fan and Christina surprised him with renting a Delorean (from TimeMachineRental.com) to go from the Villa Terrace to the reception site, Cuvee.  Pretty much the most fantastic thing ever.

Heck… I even got in on the action.

The cake was from Eat Cake and was not only gorgeous, but was the best smelling cake ever. I could smell the berries before the cake was even cut.

Later that night we went out to the car and took more photos and had a great time quoting lines from Back to the Future and attempting to go 88mph. Didn’t work…

A big thanks to Dynamic Events for helping pull everything together and make this a great night for Rob and Christina.  There are more photos coming from the Crazy Booth… I’ll post those in just a bit… too crazy for my computer to handle.

7 Comments | In: Weddings | tags: @jakedavidrohde, back to the future, canon 5d mark 2, cuvee, delorean, dynamic events, eat cake, midwest wedding, midwest wedding photography, milwaukee, milwaukee wedding photos, milwaukee wisconsin, paper flowers, simonmcconico, st. jude's creations, villa terrace, wedding, wedding photography, wedding photos, Weddings, wisconsin wedding photography. | #

So why don’t you make like a tree… and get outta here!

More awesomeness later…

No Comments | In: Weddings | tags: @jakedavidrohde, canon 5d mark 2, delorean, milwaukee, milwaukee photography, milwaukee wedding photographer, milwaukee wisconsin, Photography, simonmcconico, Valo, Valo Photography, villa terrace, wedding, wedding photography, wisconsin wedding photography. | #

OMG. Amazing light. Amazing people. Aaaaaaand, I am pretty sure these two are fantastic.  Can’t wait to shoot their wedding next year.

3 Comments | In: E-Sessions | tags: canon 5d mark 2, e-session, engagement session, milwaukee, milwaukee photography, milwaukee thirdward, milwaukee wedding photographer, milwaukee wisconsin, Photography, simon mcconico, simonmcconico, third ward, Valo, Valo Photography, wedding, wedding photography, wisconsin, wisconsin photography. | #

I love the couples I get a chance to photograph. (Hopefully they love me too!) The thing about wedding photography is that I get a chance to tell the story and capture reactions of people on one of the most important days of their lives.

Chad and Holly booked me quite a while ago before Jake and I started Valo, but they have been one of our biggest supporters since Valo started.  They are a wonderful couple and we were very privileged to be invited to tell the story of their day.

Check out the shots Jake took HERE.

2 Comments | In: Weddings | tags: @jakedavidrohde, Brookfield Wisconsin, milwaukee, milwaukee wisconsin, simonmcconico, Valo, Valo Photography, wedding, wedding photography, wisconsin photography, wisconsin wedding photography. | #

Weddings. Love. Those two things are pretty great separate, but when you put them together, it makes the day so much better.  Joey and Mehgan are a fantastic couple.  Joey is a very kind, gentle person and Mehgan is a person you talk to and know that she is 100% genuine.  It was such a privilege to be invited to shoot their wedding day.

Their day was perfect (other than some crazy wind).  They got married at the Wilson Center for the Arts, which is a fantastic place.  As a photographer, it was awesome due to the fact that one wall was full of windows.  Light is key to photos and this place had some of the best light I could have asked for.  Check out the photos below:

Vote for us on WI A-List: http://bit.ly/nydRR

4 Comments | In: Weddings | tags: brookfield, Brookfield Wisconsin, canon 5d mark 2, midwest wedding, midwest wedding photography, milwaukee, milwaukee photography, milwaukee wedding photographer, milwaukee wisconsin, Photography, simonmcconico, Valo, Valo Photography, wedding, wedding photography, Wilson Center for the Arts, wisconsin. | #

Okay… so this is a dual purpose post.  In all of our packages with Valo Weddings we offer a DVD with the proofs for you to keep.  If you want to print them, put them on Facebook, or store them for your kids, you can do that.  Sometimes I get asked what the difference is between a proof and a retouched photo.  A proof photo is not a bad photo by any means, it is just a photo that hasn’t realized its full potential.

All of the proofs are color corrected and have a little contrast and saturation added to them, but they don’t have the special Valo touch that we put on all of the prints that are ordered from us or in your album.  Post processing doesn’t make a good shot, but it does make a good shot better.

Chad and Holly were a great couple to shoot because they were up for anything and were both looking fantastic.  It is amazing what type of art we can make when the couple trusts your eye and judgment.  I had so many good shots from this wedding I didn’t know which to post, so I just took two.  Hope you enjoy it.

Proof:

Retouched:

Proof:

Retouched:

3 Comments | In: Before and After, Weddings | tags: @jakedavidrohde, Before and After, brookfield, canon 5d mark 2, lakefront, milwaukee, milwaukee photography, milwaukee wedding photographer, milwaukee wisconsin, Photography, simonmcconico, Valo, Valo Photography, valo photogrpahy, wedding, wedding photography, wiscon, wisconsin, wisconsin wedding photography. | #

Here is a sneak peek of a Vow Renewal that I shot on Friday.  It was great to see a husband and wife still very much in love after being married for 25 years.  In a day and age where love seems to be fleeting it is fantastic to see two people breaking that idea.  Love it.

No Comments | In: Weddings | tags: 25 year anniversary, brookfield, canon 5d mark 2, char house, mike and deb, pano, pano's char house, renewal of vows, simonmcconico, Valo, Valo Photography, wedding, wedding photography. | #

Well… there is a super long story behind this shoot, which I will get to in a post later this week, but until then, check out this photo.

Model – Amber
MUA – Kristin
Hair – Amy
Nonsense – Jake
General Mehem – Simon

No Comments | In: Weddings | tags: canon 5d mark 2, fringe salon, milwaukee, Photography, simonmcconico, trash the dress, Valo Photography, wedding, wedding photography. | #

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. | #