Months ago I took these photos while Stefan was on leave visiting his wife Erika.

She came up with the idea for balloons and her vintage camera to personalize her

photoshoot even more. We shot on location down at the Kelso Train Station and

walked around the block to find different backgrounds. They were a fun couple

to photograph and I am glad I had been given the chance.

Soon after the shoot he got deployed to Afganistan but with technology these

days they don’t have to go long between talking to eachother.

Gotta love the internet.

Here are a few from their rockin session.

Love you guys!

Jeremy and Laura are my December wedding clients.

I was thrilled when they picked me as thier official wedding photographer!

They will be getting married in the winter and I will be praying for at least a little snow.

We did thier engagement session down by the Cowlitz river.

It wasn’t the warmest day of the year but they rocked it!

I can’t wait for your wedding day to arrive guys!

I have big plans for you.

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their fun engagement portraits we did in my studio.

Thanks for choosing me to be your photographer.

You guys are awesome.

Call or text me at 360-957-5918 to book your session today

Meet Brent and Jessica everyone.

These two lovebirds are going to get married in July.

I can’t wait for their wedding day after taking their engagement photos.

What a hoot this young couple is.

We did their session in my downtown Longview WA studio.

I love all of the natural light that I get in that place.

Then of coarse when they were leaving I shot a couple photos

outside of the studio…just for a little variety.

It was sprinkling but they were real troopers.

Thanks guys for having me as your portrait photographer.

See you in JULY!

Patty & George wanted a nice photo to announce their recent engagement.

We spent about 35 minutes out at Lake Sacajawea in Longview so they could get some of the

beautiful scenery into their photos. I think had we stayed any longer we would have all

gotten frostbite. lol. Boy was it F R E E Z I N G!! 

Congrats guys I hope your Alaskan wedding is beautiful and most memorable!

Enjoy.

Family Portraits Thank you to all of my fantastic clients Old and New.

Enjoy and feel free to comment below.

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I usually get previews posted to Facebook before the blog.

Call me at 360-957-5918 to book your session today!

I didn’t have time to blog these photography sessions earlier so I will just put them here now.

A Military Ball, Family Portraits including Linnea and her folks and Photos for Paytons Produce.

Thank you to all of my wonderful clients New and Old.

Happy New Year to you and your family!!

I am welcoming 2011 with arms wide open and eyes peeled wide.

After trying for over an hour to get my logo right on the photos…I gave up. lol

Enjoy and feel free to comment below.

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I usually get previews posted to Facebook before the blog.

Warning this post has tons of photos!!! 

Meet Dave and Stephanie folks. Stephanie was actually reffered to me through a mutual  friend she works with who was actually getting married the same day. We met up at Starbucks in the early spring and she knew then that I was just the photographer for the job.

Dave and Stephanie chose to have the ceremony at the First Christian Church over on Kessler by the lake. What a beautiful church it was and it was my first time being there too so I was pleasantly surprised. The bride was beautiful and I had never seen a dress quite like hers before and I adored it. I don’t know who the florist was but man the flowers were stunning! The ceremony went along beautifully and without a hitch and afterwards we got some goregous photographs of the two together by the lake.

They rode to the reception that was being held over at the Ballroom in the Historic Monticello Hotel in her uncles vintage Lincoln continental. It was a thing of beauty for sure. I had the pleasure of getting to work with my older brother at the reception since he is a professional DJ and owner of A Perfect Party. The dancing, cake cutting, bouquet and garter toss were all fun but the most touching moment was when the bride had a song dedicated to her parents. The got on the dancefloor and when they music started the mother of the bride was overfilled with tears of joy. A big group hug shortly followed and the overwhelming emotion was felt by the crowd. It was so sweet and I loved being there to see and capture it for them.

Congratulations again Dave and Stephanie on your beautiful and very memorable wedding day! Thanks for trusting me to photograph it for you. Best wishes in your many happy years of marriage!

Feel free to leave some comment love for the newlyweds below. Enjoy.

To book your own wedding or portrait session visit my website Schona Kessler Photography

Or feel free to e-mail me at schonakesslerphotography@yahoo.com or give me a call or text at 957-5918!

They had just gotten married and were leaving in one week to move to Kansas.

We decided to go for a more soft country feel for the photos so they chose to meet out

at Willow Grove. It was such a beautiful day we were so blessed with the warm sunshine.

Thanks guys for choosing me as your portrait photographer.

Best of luck in Kansas! Hope the roadtrip was awesome.

The reception was held at the Monticello Hotel in Longview which is a beautiful place if I must say so myself. While everyone else got settled in and mingled we went across the street to the park and got some awesome shots of just the bride and groom. These are always my favorite and the ones that always get hung up on the walls to be looked at through the years. Luckily there was shade or we probably would not have been out there very long at all because it was hot hot hot!

Afterwards we went into the ballroom where the wedding party and all of the guests were waiting. We spent the next couple of hours getting all of the important shots such as first dance, cutting the cake, garter and bouquet toss and then the guests getting their boogy on down on the dancefloor. Good times.

I even got sent home with some cake for my kids…so sweet. Thanks!

Well here is the first preview: The bridal party and the shots of the Bride and Groom at the park.

More to come soon so keep checking back.

Feel free to leave warm wishes for the happy couple below the slideshow.

Thanks for stopping by!

TIP: To watch the slideshow just click on the big photo then continue to click on it on the right side to scroll through the others.

Congrats Julie and Cory on your baby boy! You will make wonderful parents! You guys are so sweet I think the perfect match. Enjoy your preview and I look forward to doing Kaden’s newborn photo session as well any day now. lol.

Feel free to leave a sweet comment below where it says comments rock! Enjoy.

 It was neat that we had to go down a set of stairs under the city sidewalks to enter the restaurant. We had reservations luckily enough Erika had gotten them the week before or we would have been turned away at the door. We were quickly seated at a table for four near the bar at a table with a burner in the middle. The staff was very friendly and helpful throughout our stay. We all knew that we would be spending at least two hours eating and a pretty penny that evening so it wasn’t such a shock when we opened our menus to find that what we all wanted would be around $98 per couple. That price tag didn’t include our drinks at $10 and $5 each or the tip. What it did include was a four coarse meal that was very, very filling.

 We were started off with salads of our choice and then our waiter/cook came to our table and made the cheddar cheese fondue right at our table in the middle. Mmmmm it was very tasty but I prefer Swiss cheese fondue over the cheddar any day. (One con to going with others is that you have to agree on the fondue choice and the broth to cook your meat and veggies in along with the chocolate at the end.) We all did compromise but I am very picky and would have loved to have it all my way. lol. After we ate all of the bread, apples, veggies and fondue the waiter came back to find out what type of cooking style we wanted. We had no clue so he suggested the fondue Court Bouillon which is a homemade, seasoned vegetable broth. He then brought the bouillon out along with our meat trays and more vegetables. You get a pot of this bouillon on the burner in the middle of the table and you put your food on skewers and cook it in the pot. I ate steak, fillet Mignon, chicken and raviolis while my hubby ate the lobster tail, shrimp and a bratwurst. Just when you think you can’t eat anymore then comes the desert! We all agreed on the Original milk chocolate with a swirl of crunchy peanut butter. Our trays had strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, rice crispy treats, brownies, cheesecake and pound cake to dip and we were all in heaven. I think the chocolate was the messiest part…so does the white skirt I was wearing, and my arm too!

After two and a half hours we were finally through all four of the coarses. We were all stuffed and couldn’t imagine eating again until the next night.

So I give the Melting Pot two thumbs up! The quality was amazing and I wish I could afford to eat there each and every night of the week. If you have a special someone you should definitely go check out your local Melting Pot. You could go alone…but there is more fun in numbers. It has a romantic feel to it and I wouldn’t suggest taking young children. Go enjoy a night out and splurge! Take your camera too. If you go let me know what you thought of it.

So here is a little slideshow of our trip. It’s only an hour drive but it’s to the Big city you know. Enjoy!

Comments are always welcomed below.

Mr. “B” – Jason- went to school and grew up over in Clatskanie OR and wanted to have that be a part of their session so I gladly made the drive over. We got some great photographs over at the Middle/High school first and then headed down to Mayger beach. Not sure if I spelled that right. It is right across from Longviews Willow Grove and you could see and hear people across the river playing. There was an old run down building that he believed used to be a cannery but was blocked off from the public for safety reasons. Trust me it definately looked unsafe or I would have been all over it. It made for a nice backdrop in the photos anyways.

Little Thatcher didn’t want to be held much once we got to the sand….after I was happy with what I had gotten we let him down to play….he was just amazed at the sand…feeling it and eventually tasting it…which he didn’t seem to like in the end. I tried to stop him but failed….but got a great picture of his reaction afterwards and it wasn’t a happy one. I never said the Columbia River tasted good. Ha! He was great through the whole session, well as great as we can expect a 13 month old to be. His smile was so cute and warmed my heart.

We put him in the car to warm up and shot some couple shots since the last time they had any taken was in Vegas when they got married and the quality wasn’t there.

I can’t wait to show you the rest Betsy and thanks for choosing me as your Longview family photographer! Comments are welcomed below!

Thanks guys for finally giving in and getting you pics taken. lol. Hope you love your preview! Feel free to leave some blog love below so I know who came by. Plus you can share this post to facebook and other sites by pushing the correct button below the pics. See ya’ll soon!

just for fun

Mission application picture

Mission application picture

Mission Application picture

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