• studio3z photography {the blog}

    If you have landed here...bless your soul.  Welcome to our little tiny corner of the cyber world, based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. Below you will see favorites from our sessions we do professionally, and also loads of personal nonsense that we hope at least will entertain you.  If nothing less, you can keep up on our adorable children.  Really, they are worth the trip back here time and time again in and of itself.

    My name is Jess.  My hubby is Brett.  We are crazy about each other, our 4 babies, and our art.  Welcome to our world.

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Monthly Archives: July 2011

my favorite moment.

So many moments on a wedding day can be special, unique, and often incredibly intimate. We each have our favorites. Some people love the look on the groom as he sees his bride walking down the isle, others love the first kiss.

Without a doubt, my absolute favorite part of a wedding is when the bride and groom exit after the ceremony, typically sharing a warm embrace once outside of everyone’s view. They are able to finally drown out the world and everything around them, squeeze tightly- all inhibitions lost. All the planning, thought, and the many details are set aside.

The weight of the day is lifted. Because now……you are married to your love.

Drew and Molly are pictured above. This was captured moments before they knew we were there. To me, it was the most magical moment of the day.

{Many more from this wedding to come…..}

July 26, 2011 - 2:33 pm

Gabe - love this frame. a moment that they will look back on for years and years. a frame that they will show their kids kids. amazing image guys.

July 26, 2011 - 3:36 pm

amanda - This is amazing – wonderful image.

July 26, 2011 - 4:09 pm

Jeff Schaefer - Great moment.
Is that St. Ann Lindenwald / Hamilton. Hope it wasn’t too hot that day.
Jeff

July 26, 2011 - 9:00 pm

Alyson Gawrych - Wow, Jess! Great Job. I was filled with emotion reading that they didn’t know you were there. LOVE is GRAND! Beautiful work, as always.

Much Love,
Alyson

July 27, 2011 - 2:59 pm

Jennifer Nichols - What a beautiful moment you have captured! You two have such amazing talent!!

July 27, 2011 - 5:13 pm

Keaton - Love the little things in the room, especially the “Please Leave Cell Phones Here” box. ;-) You two have such great talent to catch these awe inspiring moments. Love it!!

July 28, 2011 - 6:52 am

Mary Marantz - LOVE it!! M:)

July 29, 2011 - 12:39 pm

Cathy Nichols - you really captured a lot beautifully here and your preface is so true! happy happy love can’t wait to see the rest!
(mother of the groom)

July 31, 2011 - 10:08 am

Molly - Wow! Jess this is amazing! First off- you are right- we didnt know you were there. Second- I had completely forgotten about this moment – but you captured it and it brought back so much happiness/emotion when I saw this- It was the best hug in the world! I can’t wait to see the rest of the pictures! I am so excited!!!

July 31, 2011 - 11:36 am

Therese Kugler - Thank you so much for such a sweet glimpse of a poignant moment.(Molly’s mom and now happily,Drew’s mother-in-law)

July 31, 2011 - 8:16 pm

Bernadette Zimmerman - This picture brought tears to my eyes. There is nothing more precious than the hope in a shared future. This picture illustrates hope, thankfulness, and support.

August 3, 2011 - 4:42 pm

Shari Callahan - Beautiful, brings tears to my eyes. Sweet Love!!

August 3, 2011 - 5:34 pm

patty - beautiful….
love to visit here in this space and absorb all this beautiful goodness!!

December 12, 2013 - 1:28 pm

Max - Great capture and I love negative space composition.

baby Elijah {newborn}

While we were photographing in NYC, one of my bestest friends, along with her wonderful hubster Trey, welcomed sweet baby Elijah into this world. I was sad to not be there to photograph his birth, but going to the hospital and holding the precious guy when I returned, made my sadness melt away pretty quickly. :)

Brett and I went over one morning when he was about a week old for a sweet little family session. I’ve been anticipating the day that these two would be parents, because I just know they will be so wonderful for this job….which is one of the best jobs to have I might add.;)

I told Trey, “Real men change diapers.” Is it not true mamas?

My friend Jess did Elijah’s nursery up so cute. He also is STOCKED on some adorable boy clothes….some I can’t wait to see him in since they were his buddy Gabe’s. :)

Love you Jess, Trey, and Elijah! Can’t wait to watch your little guy grow in strength and love.

July 22, 2011 - 12:41 pm

Jessica G. - I love these! Jess and Trey look like naturals! And Elijah…I just wanna kiss his little scrunchy feet.
Can’t wait to meet him.

xoxoxo Jess

July 22, 2011 - 1:03 pm

Sue Bollmann - Absolutely beautiful!

July 22, 2011 - 7:56 pm

angela jackson - amazing & precious! and mama is absolutely gorgeous. :) Nice work!

July 23, 2011 - 12:02 am

lucy - awww these pics are so precious. what a beautiful baby boy….what a beautiful family. sweet last pic…i want to hold him : )

July 25, 2011 - 9:52 pm

tracie - I have followed your blog for quite some time now and I love the way you capture people. Just wondering if you ever do tutorials on how you edit your pictures? I would love to learn from you. Thanks.

August 3, 2011 - 12:48 pm

Myriam - love love love! very perfect moment!

Marianne & Ryan, NYC {day-in-the life}

When Marianne and Ryan asked if they could fly us out to New York City and photograph them for their engagement session, we were thrilled! We ended up shooting a “day in the life” for them, and spent the day walking around and exploring the city through their eyes. I must say, their eyes are quite similar to ours, as the majority of what drew them places, was food. ;)They knew the best places to go, being big ol’ foodies themselves. From breakfast at a Euro-inspired cafe, visiting a couple farmers’ markets, time hanging in the park with their loveable dog Bruno, to a night cruise down the Hudson- we had a day packed with some amazingness that can only be found in the beautiful and unique NYC.

Marianne and Ryan, you two were such wonderful hosts, and just all around amazing people to hang with!! We can’t wait until November 5th!

jess & brett

July 20, 2011 - 11:31 am

Jenny M - That shot of the Statue of Liberty is probably one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.

July 20, 2011 - 11:39 am

Gabe - every scroll down all i was saying was….yes…yes….yes….yes. these are beautiful guys. incredible job!! and yeah that Statue of Liberty image….ummm…WOW.

July 20, 2011 - 11:45 am

Betsy - Super beautiful!!!!

July 20, 2011 - 12:11 pm

Mike Olbinski - Wow, these are just amazing…what awesome fun to fly out, meet people and just follow them around all day shooting. So.Much.Fun.

July 20, 2011 - 12:13 pm

Brock - Amazing! Makes me want to go back to NYC! I miss our family vacas there

July 20, 2011 - 12:23 pm

ag - awesome shots!

July 20, 2011 - 1:25 pm

Gail - FAVORITE.ENGAGEMENT.SESSION.OF.YOURS.EVERRRRRRRRRRR.

SO so perfect!

PS – Those park shots? YOU GUYS ARE KILLING ME!

July 20, 2011 - 1:39 pm

Amy - Absolutely GORGEOUS! You are so incredibly talented! I agree- favorite engagement session ever! Happy Summer!

July 20, 2011 - 3:17 pm

melanie - jealous. i would have traded the wedding for a free trip to nyc.;)
the shot looking down on them on the blanket under the tree. perfection. and of course the subway shots, awesome. i’ve always wanted to do something like that. buuuut we live in cincy. shoot. lol

July 20, 2011 - 6:43 pm

Fran - Your talent is unbelievable! These are amazing images!

July 20, 2011 - 11:36 pm

G’pa and G’ma Carroll - Awesome photos. Our favorite is the black and white strolling, both laughing.

July 21, 2011 - 10:47 am

Brad - Incredible shots guys! It makes me want to move to NYC. I especially love the color and the dog running shot is almost like 3D.

July 21, 2011 - 11:08 am

Jess W. - LOVE these!! Especially the ones of them on the blanket in the park. Such a cool opportunity!

July 21, 2011 - 11:57 am

Casey - lovely.

July 22, 2011 - 12:12 pm

Keaton - LOVE this! Genius idea guys, keep it uuuppp!

July 22, 2011 - 12:16 pm

Stacy - you guys are brilliant! we would love to vacation in your city and do such a photoshoot for our family someday. (when we’re 3 instead of just 2!) ;)
beautiful, beautiful work.

July 22, 2011 - 1:46 pm

Lauren - The colors in this photo-shoot are absolutely gorgeous!! I also LOVE the “day in the life” story! Great job guys!

July 22, 2011 - 2:23 pm

Janica - Best ever. That’s all.

July 24, 2011 - 11:59 am

gina - i have to agree with gail…my absolute fav engagement session so far…all the must have’s in here! fantastic!!!

August 10, 2011 - 9:49 pm

meg duerksen - WOWWWWWWW!
i want you to come do that for me!!
and i am an old married lady. :)
you are so good at what you do.
SO GOOD!!

August 26, 2011 - 3:10 pm

Erica M - Amazing shoot! Love it!

First floor redo {week one}

I am going to do my best to keep this post concise, but I find my heart and emotions are stirred with each step as we rip out laminate flooring, scrape off popcorn ceilings, and hear the constant sound of the nail gun. You see, prior to moving into our interestingly laid-out 1982 home in suburbia Ohio, Brett and I sort of lived like gypsies. Well, that may sound extreme, but in a matter of 7 years we did live in 5 different places, and subsequently added a child on at every other stop. We journeyed from apartment to apartment, and somewhere in between even lived with Brett’s mom for a while. Towards the end of our gypsy era we lived in a townhouse for a couple years and settled. Having three kids and knowing we wanted another, we knew we had outgrown the townhouse. So, our house hunt began. After 10 months of constant searching, we found our unique home and purchased our first house! We stepped in the front door and our realtor said, “You could have 10 kids here!” Brett’s eyes lit up.;)It was SO evident it was constructed in the early 80′s (bless it’s little red cedar heart). From the red & black splash paint in the basement, to the kitchen wallpaper featuring cabins with smoke coming out of the chimney in heart shapes (seriously), we I insisted on spending the first 3 months doing a bit of “clean-up” before moving in. We knew down the road we would embark on the bigger stuff.

This kitchen redo is such a labor of love for us. My Brett is very good about handling finances (thank you Jesus for sending him into my life), and buying our home meant we had to be extremely frugal with our spending. Buying paint for rooms was about as far as our “home decorating” budget went. Interior design is something I LOVE, so this was something I just had to stifle for the time. I had major dreams of knocking out walls, evening up all the random flooring running around this crazy house, and just adding our own personal touches. One of my absolute biggest dreams was to have a nice kitchen for my hunky-chef-of-a-husband.

Surprisingly, soon after we bought this house something unexpected happened….I started a little photography business.:)  In my mind I thought, “I can make $50 here and there, and eventually buy a couple things for the house.” I was beyond thrilled. Things started going well with the biz, and the rest they say…..is history.

About 2 years ago I proposed the kitchen idea to Brett. He loved it, but the practical side of him gave me a budget to following a “mark” to reach before we ever took action. One day I called him over and showed him how I had surpassed “the mark” and I think I shocked the boy. We immediately began looking into all things kitchens. We also decided to redo the flooring on our first floor except for the carpeted living room. Would you believe our first floor had *5* different types of floors??? What was it with homes in the 80′s having tiny compartmentalized rooms that each had their own flooring? We spend so much time together as a family and really wanted a more open, flowing system here.

A little over a week ago, our project began!!

Brett believed in me and my crazy dream of starting a business….he supported me, and I am so proud to be able to take some of our earning to now reinvest into something that he is so passionate about. Cooking. Who knows….perhaps his dream will come true and he can cook for a living someday!

Our friends Lee and Wes of Allen Construction are handling the job. They are so kind and patient with my kids who want to “help.” I cracked up when the first day they began, I walked in the room to see my boys all working!

Goodbye orange tile! Goodbye parquet! Goodbye brown linoleum!

Hellooooo beautiful distressed Hickory!!

Gail (safety girl), it is splintery free. Promise.;)

Here is a before shot of the divider wall. Behind it is a little office turned storage-pile room….

Wall being deconstructed on left…..on  the right is the little odd room I mentioned that unfortunately became an easy “catch-all.”

Annnnd, it’s gone! The kitchen is SO much more open!!

On that wall we had been recording all of our heights over the years, and the guys sawed the wall to SAVE it for us!!!:)

“Priya! What do you think of our wall being gone?”

Next wall to go…..quite the famous wall on this blog.

Time to say goodbye!

The other side of the wall was our kids junk closet.

Wall down. It was freaky how open it looked at first, but also so junky in our living room that I will make you wait for the final shot. ;)

The neighborhood kids came in to see the progress. Their little jaws dropped! It’s so cute seeing and hearing all their perspectives. Most of them have spent the majority of their lives here, so the changes are HUGE!

Thanks for following along with us. Expect more updates to come. This week our kitchen is being gutted and the flooring will be completed!

Here’s to sanity in the midst of living under drywall dust with 4 kids! Cheers. ;)

July 18, 2011 - 12:43 pm

Betsy - So exciting!!! Congratulations to you for following your heart and making dreams come true for you!!! Love ya!!!

July 18, 2011 - 12:51 pm

Gail - Oh my goodness—SPLINTER-FREE AND GORGEOUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Cannot wait to see the rest! Love to see how much you two have saved for those, wanted it for so long. I know it’s going to live up to your dreams!

July 18, 2011 - 1:12 pm

Maggie - Now I am excited to visit for two reasons….to see all your beautiful faces AND to see your new house!!!! YAY

July 18, 2011 - 7:58 pm

Alyson Gawrych - I LOVE THE HICKORY FLOORS!!!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!! GREAT PICK!!!!!!!!!

July 19, 2011 - 4:52 am

nelly - I love your new floor ! So existed to see the rest.

July 20, 2011 - 7:38 am

Amber - This is great!! Can’t wait to see the finished product!!

July 20, 2011 - 3:15 pm

melanie - dude i cant even wait to see the finished result. oh, and adam wants to marry your floor.

July 22, 2011 - 1:49 pm

Lauren - Loved that you saved the height section of the wall! Perfect home decor for a different room!

July 28, 2011 - 3:10 pm

Uncle J - can’t wait to see the finished product in person.
what are you going to do with the wall height section? i’m sure you’ll think of something i’ll think is rad.

August 12, 2011 - 4:47 pm

Donna - Love those floors…can’t wait to see the rest!!!

September 15, 2011 - 10:35 am

first floor redo {week nine!} | studio3z photography :: Cincinnati Wedding Photographers :: Destination Wedding Photographers - [...] It’s been a couple months since I’ve updated about our kitchen and first floor home redo. If you follow my twitter or facebook, then you have seen pictures from my phone along the way. If you missed part one, click here to get caught up!  [...]