Judd Sather Photography Blog

Click here to view Jon and Megan’s Italian Album – the shopping cart icon will work once Jon and Megan have had a chance to view all the pictures. Their YouTube highlight video will be online in a few weeks.
Here’s their highlight video!

Wedding #5 in a 9-day stretch… here I come, Wisconsin! Hopefully they sell Mountain Dew along the way somewhere. 🙂 As the Studio J Tuscon bulleted through the early morning mist and rain, I was reminded that Joe the video guy set my GPS last night to a pleasant British accent that now said “Turn left in 447 miles” and “Recalculating” about 12 times in the McDonald’s drive through – so I shut her off.

5 hours later… To lower my blood sugar from my Snickers/Egg McMuffin/Mountain Dew/crappy coffee breakfast, I stopped just outside Elkhorn, Wisconsin at a quaint little ice cream shop and ordered a cholesterol cheeseburger and strawberry slush since I was still yawning at noon. Around the corner was the isolated country church when Jon and Megan were getting married. There were these really cool, tall windows in the older church for pictures of Megan and Jon and the bridesmaids (see shot above). A funny moment at Lake Geneva after the ceremony was when Megan was paged by her friends to “report to the office” during the dock picture above.

The reception was at the gorgeous Hawk’s Nest golf course – I saw a picture of Tiger Woods golfing there in 1999 with glasses on! Ever wonder why Wisconsin and Minnesota have such a high number of golf courses per capita when we are inside for so much of the year? Me too. Anyway, a great and fun wedding that wins the “best man speech of the year award” for Peter’s amusing ramblings “amongst the people” while he walked around the tables thanking his parents for raising “moderately responsible” young men – good stuff. Thier video on YouTube will be posted here in about 4 weeks. -Judd

Click here to view Aaron and Ellie’s Italian Album design!
Highlight Video Part 1!

Part 2…reception fun!

“Most animated dinner” award goes to Aaron and Ellie’s wedding – it will probably go down as the dinner with the most entertainment in my career – ever. Russ the DJ had people dressing up as hula dancers, Mexican hat dancers, the Rockettes, and WWE champions – and that was just during DINNER!

What a beautiful day, I actually felt comfortable wearing a long sleeved shirt; and the bridal party was exceptionally fun. We got the best outdoor shots ever for a rainy day! Special thanks to Allison and Alyssa for playing videographer and umbrella carrier for those shots. 🙂

A couple interesting parts of the day: 1) My childhood dentist, Dr. Phelps, was there from Spencer, Iowa (I still have 7 of his fillings in my mouth) and 2) We got Aaron the ringbearer to finally smile by all saying the name of his dog “Charlie.” So, when I wanted Ellie’s mom to smile bigger I asked her the name of her dog and unfortunately, they had just put their family dog to sleep a few days before… Oops. Foot-in-mouth syndrome. -Judd, Joe, Josh, and Amanda

Richie and Jessica’s highlight video on YouTube – part 1.

Part 2…

Click here to watch Scott and Heidi’s online Italian Coffee Table Album – the shopping cart icon (for proofing and/or ordering all prints) will work once Scott and Heidi have had a chance to look at all the pictures.

< Here's their holiday greeting card from last year! :)
I love the shot of Heidi spinning in her dress above! Scott and Heidi’s wedding gets the “Best Limo Party” award despite the fact Father Time was a little touchy on the brakes and the karaoke machine was off limits. What a fun bunch! First time I have ever been peer-pressured into tasting “Swamp Water” out of a Gatorade jug. Did you get a shot of that one, Becky?

The humidity had broken for Scott and Heidi and it turned out to be a really fun day – with a full moon as well! I loved the color of Heidi’s dress and the vertical jump she got in it at the park stop near their house (see picture above).

From the beauty of St. Ambrose to the fun at the reception, we got some really unique and energetic shots, including a couple of the Groomsmen getting up and faking a kiss when the table bells went off. And Danielle grabbing our video guy Josh for a spin around the dance floor; I’m sure the dance is still going strong as I type this at 10:30! -Judd, Chris, Joe, and Josh

I’ll also put their highlight video on YouTube here as well once it is complete.

Click here to view Eric and Amber’s Italian Coffee Table Album – the shopping cart icon will work once they have had a chance to review all of the pictures.
Here is their highlight video!

Eric and Amber’s wedding wins the “earliest bride ready to go” award. Usually we show up and shoot some creative “getting ready” pictures for 30 minutes or so and then have couples see each other. But today, we took some pictures of the outside of the building and walked up to the third floor of the University Club and there was Amber dressed and ready to see Eric 35 minutes early. So, we unpacked everything quickly and got some great photos and video right off the bat.

A brisk walk in the summer sun to the Hill Library and Rice Park yielded some great outdoor pictures as well. You guys are a fun couple – witty and laid back enough to roll with the DJ playing the wrong first song. 🙂 My favorite moments were a groomsmen roasting Eric for faking a broken leg one time to get out of work and Eric saying at the end of the night video interview that this was one of the “Top 10” weddings he had ever been to. Enjoy your honeymoon and we’ll have your album designed and up in a week or two. -Judd, Amanda, Joe, and Josh

Funny side story tonight for you blog followers is I found my hotel key from the Chanute, Kansas wedding (see June 30 (Craig and Tara) and July 14 (Ben and Kate) to get caught up on the story) in my photo bag tonight and dropped them in the mailbox. Hope they hadn’t changed the locks yet…

Digital Coffee Table Album link – click on the shopping cart once Kedar and Lindsay have released all the pictures – free doubles until August 26!
So my day starts off at 12:15 in the early morning at the Seattle Airport. This guy in front of me at the Northwest ticket counter couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t check into the computer for his flight. The lady at the desk was trying to explain to him that the day changed from the 20th to the 21st 15 minutes ago and that his flight was at 12:55 the previous morning. The guy was confused (as he drove to the airport on the 20th), so keep that in mind next time you book a close-to-midnight flight. Good thing my wife is my travel agent. Did you know that exit row seats don’t always lean back? Put that in your memory bank also as it is miserable trying to sleep in an upright position even though you have plenty of leg room.

So, I get back to my house at 8am, grab about 3 hours of sleep and head to Burnsville for Kedar and Lindsay’s wedding. It wasn’t too hot and there was a nice breeze as well. I am kind of tall but felt small around the bridesmaids as they are all like All-American athletes in hockey, field hockey, volleyball and basketball so this wedding wins the “tallest, most athletic bridesmaids” award.

Some unique shots were Lindsay dipping & kissing Kedar (above) and Lindsay flexing her formidable biceps. My favorite part of the day (besides Kedar’s brother’s wife Martha trying to talk me into having a 4th child) was seeing the potato in various shots of Kedar in the Growing Up video at the reception – what was up with that? Somebody leave a comment, I know it’s a long story.

Due to lack of sleep, I forgot the table cards with our website on it so go to www.studiojphoto.com and… …wait, you’re already here! -Judd and Jessi

Click here to see the rest of the pictures (some taken by my 3-year old after arranging everyone how he wanted).
Check out the size of that fish! I had to hike 3 hours uphill to get to Holden Lake in the Wenatchee Wilderness of Washington State but the views (and pictures) were well worth it – we were surrounded by glaciers, mountains, and waterfalls in 70 degree weather. I think I caught 7 fish on my first 10 casts. Photo tip: hold the fish with your arm extended towards the camera to make it look bigger (demonstrated in the picture). DO NOT put your fingers around the fish as then you give away its real puny size (also demonstrated above).

My extended family decided to spend a week in remote Holden Village without cell phones, TV, red meat, and pretty much every modern convenience including automatic pin setting machines in the bowling alley. Hikes, fishing, time with kids, pottery, reading, conversation, hot tubs, pool, and bowling filled the days instead.

It was a great break but funny timing since it was in an “10 weddings in 4 weeks” time frame. Do you know like 50% of Americans don’t take the vacation they are entitled to? Probably since you don’t want your employers to find out their company runs just fine while you were gone; probably because you spend most of your day online reading other people’s blogs. 🙂 So, I have a solution: drag your feet on work for two weeks before your scheduled vacation, then have a bunch of friends call your “if this matter needs immediate attention” colleague over and over so the perception is that you are invaluable to the company and therefore need more vacation time. Try it and let me know what happens. -Judd