a quick little update || personal

life moves too fast—summer, especially.

which leaves me wondering how, 3 weeks from today, i'll be moving out of the house i've lived in for the past 6 years and the community i've called home for 9 before that to a brand new city. to a dorm room, where i'll share a living space for the first time in years, eat more cafeteria food than i have in my life, and do more walking than i do driving.

i'll also be writing more papers than taking photos for school project—that might be the most difficult transition of all! just keeping it real. ha.

but back to summer! there will be time to talk about new transitions later. today, i'm here to say: hi! again. i know it's been a while. but i'm still here & shooting crazy cool people & excited to share some couples in love and rad-tastic senior gals & awesome adventures that photo-ing has taken me on. but not right now.

because...
i'm detasseling. (6th time in 7 years—I AM LITERALLY THE CRAZIEST.) but that's okay, because it's a blessing to make money while walking.walking.walking and talking with old friends and praying in the cornfields and eating all the food and listening to music that i forgot was on my iPod. it's keeping me exhausted and busy but excited to have time soon to get back into photos, blogging, and hanging out with some sweeeeet upcoming senior gals!

which, by the way, if you are or know of a gal that's going into her senior year, send her my way. also, if any senior gal wants to go to the state fair in august for senior photos, i may or may not really want to talk with her;)

love you all. squeeze all the sweet summer lemonade out of the last day & a half of july you can!

xoxo,
amelia

adventuring | personal

adventuring. an exciting or very unusual experience.

maybe to you, an adventure is roadtripping across the country in a rickety old van with only your three best friends and $200 cash.

perhaps adventuring is riding your bike across town (highways! real roads! sore legs!).

it could be having a picnic, trying a new type of cuisine (pad thai...or maybe indian curry) in an authentic restaurant, skydiving, a first date, a drive-in movie, skinny dipping in the river at midnight, or a million other things.

summertime is the perfect time for adventures. i'm all about them! and i'd love to go with you. have an adventure or two, take some sweet photos to document it, and make a lot of great memories, too.

so what adventure are you planning next?

Summer Family Sessions!

I don't think for a moment that you wouldn't agree with me when I say, "Family is important!"

Am I right? Or am I right?!

I believe in the importance of family. Nothing and no-one can replace what a family is meant to be, how they mold & impact each other throughout the course of a lifetime. The tears cried on mom's shoulder over a scraped knee or broken heart, the way dad fixes broken closet doors...and knows that one spot you are the most ticklish...the way you are completely comfortable with them, the inside jokes shared, the memories of years upon years together. This is family—and this is what (and who) I love!

Life isn't perfect, it doesn't always play out...or look...like a hollywood film or Pottery Barn catalog. But life is real, and it is at its peak of realness when you are with family—those goofy, loving, sometimes embarrassing people you call home.

Life is crazy, it is not "picture perfect," and it's unexpected. I want to be there to capture that—today—for you and the ones you love. You never know what tomorrow will bring, so let us celebrate now while it is still here! You'll blink, and she'll be walking. Turn around, and he is packing up for college. Don't put off making & capturing these memories to put on the wall, in an album, and most importantly, in your heart. 

Because I believe in being genuine, in realness, in capturing real moments as well as the posed ones, I'm offering a new style of family session. I want to find out who you are! I want to build that relationship between you, the kiddos, and my camera as authentically as possible. Maybe that means going to a park and letting the kids run wild before grabbing Tropical Snow on a summer's eve. Perhaps that entails me coming over for a quiet few hours on a rainy afternoon, photographing the kids snacking, finger painting, splashing in puddles. Maybe it is a Saturday morning family outing for breakfast at the Waffle Stop and then stopping by the local farmers market for some fresh ingredients for lunch. 

Can you see it? Are you catching the vision?

Let's make memories of today for tomorrow, together. 

family sessions start at $200. book between July 15-August 5 to receive $50 off! email ameliareneephoto (at) gmail.com to schedule a session:)

Peter + Amy | married love

it's in the miles we drive, 
never having to say goodbye 
to the things we tell each other 
without saying a word.
you are the one thing that I know.
the wine we drink || drew holcomb & the neighbors



peter and amy have been friends for years. they were just a few grades ahead of me in youth group & sunday school growing up, and I know for a fact that I thought they both were really cool. 



fast forward to the college years, and suddenly, peter & amy's friendship took a romantic turn. before you know it, boom. married! attending their wedding was full of laughter, reminiscing, and sweet sweet love. 



i'm not sure how, but is has been two years (exactly, on the day we took these!) since they said "I do"...and it's just about the most fun thing to watch them two years farther into love!







these two are planning a trip to NYC later this summer...we joked about how I should start hiring myself out to couples & families on vacation. fully paid trip to the best travel spots— in trade for professional photos of the scenery, architecture, + the family, of course. ;) all bound up in an album, nice & neat. whadd'ya think? I'm definitely game for it!



pete & amy, I loved hanging out with you two! it's such a joy to capture the two of you in love now...and I look forward to doing again down the road! and hopefully some family photos someday, too. ;)



xoxo,
amelia renee

Q + Brittney | 2013 Wedding | Cedar Falls, IA Wedding Photographer

well, I'll be your rainy day lover
whenever the sunny days end
and whatever the weather
we have each other
and that's how the story will end
forever like that || ben rector

Q + Brittney's day started off with rain, but from the way they acted when I arrived, you would have though it the most gorgeous of days. Brittney was so serene—she'd been waiting for this day for so long, and now it was here, and she just quietly soaked it all in. Laughing with her mother, sisters, and girlfriends, she enjoyed watching their joy...which was them, in turn, so overjoyed for her.























we snuck into the church nursery to take a few solo photos of Brittney just a little bit before the guests started arriving, and I'm SO glad we did! i almost didn't ask, and this confirmed it—always, always ask. you just might make some magic.






let me take a moment to stop & share their love story. out of all my friends' romances—this story is one that I can't get over. a few years back, Q saw Brittney during our campus ministry's fall conference. He was intrigued. "Who is that girl? I want to know who she is!" He asked his friends—they didn't know, of course, because they were boys. Q was persistent. Finally, months later, he saw her again. They became friends. He pursued her heart, gently but firmly, and she opened up to him her life, her dreams, and over time, her heart.


he asked her last year to say yes to forever...I'll let you figure out what she said;)










this is one of my favorite moments of the day. "we did it! it's really real! we're married!" bliss.













rainy day light is my FAVORITE for weddings. these two braved the wet grass for some photos on the UNI campus, and it was absolutely perfect.

you two...I'm seriously so glad you decided to have a dance at your wedding. I had just about as much
fun as the guests did!













thank you for trusting me with this day. Brittney, you've been such a blessing to me as a friend, co-Bible study leader, and now a bride! remember how worried I was about shooting weddings? you have always believed in me...so much so, you asked me to be there for your day. it was simply perfect, and convinced me that shooting a good friend's wedding is the best job in the world. thank you thank you thank you!

xoxo,
amelia renee