My husband told me late last night that it was National Black Dog Day and that he was surprised I didn’t post about it. AYKM??!! IF I HAD KNOWN, I WOULD HAVE DEFINITELY POSTED ABOUT IT!

My big ol’ buddy, my sunshine butt, my MeePeeMee, my love bug, and at one time in my life… my everything. I’m crying. Ugh. I’m going to attempt to make this short and sweet because I’m just not in the mood to cry.

MurphyMoMoMoMo, you were my first true love. You will always and forever be my favorite dog. No other dog can compete. You are not only a good boy, you are the very best boy.

I canNOT believe you are 11.5 years old. You seem to be the dog who never slows down, who never ages, who can still do all of the things he’s always done.  Let it be known, I will never be ready to not have you in my life. Eff, I’m a mess; stopping with that talk immediately!

It seems that I’ve not taken many photos of him throughout the years with my big camera; I promise to be better about that. Also today seems like the appropriate day to talk about how difficult it is to photograph a black dog… which is one of the reasons black dogs have a holiday all to themselves; they are the least adopted pups in dog shelters mostly because they are hard to take photos of.

I’ve also noticed I have quite a few photography clients with black dogs who hire me to photograph them with their beloved pups (two in the last month!). It may be a niche? Maybe it’s because people have seen photos of my MurphyMo? It’s likely just a fluke but even if so, I’m thanking Murphy regardless. 😀

These were taken at my old home in Indianapolis soon after he came into my life nearly seven years ago to the day (October, 2012).

I used to always say that MurphyMo got me through the most difficult times of my last five years and Ruth got me happy again; she came into the picture three years after Murphy did in November 2015. She’s not his favorite friend but she definitely keeps him young!

….I mean, it’s only natural! (I took these goofy wedding photos for the launch of my new website back in 2016)

Your ability to adapt and roll with all of the changes that you’ve been through in your life never ceases to amaze me. On top of that, you are SO amazing with the kids! When I ask them (which I often do because I’m weird), “who’s your favorite dog this week?” Their answer is almost always, “Murphy.” Welllll…. Andrew (the oldest) usually says it’s Murphy’s best friend Jackie Bower (photos of her at the end). But I think you get the idea.

I’m incredibly disappointed in myself that I don’t have ONE big camera photo of you taken with the kids. Mark my words, we are GOING to make that happen!

Those brown eyes?! I can’t. I JUST CAN’T!

iPhone pics

Like I said earlier, I’ve not been great about taking photos of my love bug with the big camera but I AM great at taking quickie pics with my iPhone. I HAD to include a few photos of him with his best friend Jackie Bower (she’s the white dog who was a Ghostbuster; top row, second from the right).

MurphyMo, thank you for letting me be your momma and for teaching me what unconditional love looks like.

Happy National Dog Day Big Buddy! Also, quick question… do you have big plans today? 😀

Love,

Yo Momma

Ohhhhhh how I adore Katie’s freckles!

Elliot is from Australia and just moved to the United States recently. His family all flew in for the occasion. Below, his brother and dad are helping him with his suit.

Elliot had been working for months on writing Katie a book of their story. He had originally planned to have it professionally binded; but you know… moving 10,000 miles across the Pacific took a bit of his time and energy leading up to their wedding. I’d never seen a gift like this before and I’ve gotta tell you, it may be my favorite ever. That was the moment I knew I would love Elliot (and I hadn’t even met him yet!).

Katie’s brother and nephew.

First look. These two had already married in Australia in 2018. They wanted to hold another wedding in Katie’s hometown so she could celebrate with her family stateside. She wore the same dress both times. The only difference was the addition of the veil.

These two have such genuine smiles all of the time!

GUYS! It was RECORD LEVEL HEAT that day! We’re talking 103° heat index. WHAAAAA??!?! Needless to say all of these portraits, both bride/groom and wedding party were taken in record timing!

I actually started my professional photography career in Ft Wayne. In 2005, two years after I married my then husband Mike; we moved across the state from Terre Haute, Indiana and into his parents’ basement in Ft Wayne. We moved there because I was hating my current life as a graphic designer and knew I needed change.  He was a private pilot at the nearby local airport while I built my photography business (Bobbi Studio) from the basement.  We only lived there for 6 months before my business had become successful enough to move out and to a small apartment on the south side of Indianapolis (and changed this biz name to Photography by Bobbi) while Mike started working for the Greenwood Airport as a private pilot instructor.

Allllll of that to say that I’ll never forget the first fancy wedding I ever booked was at The Embassy in downtown Ft Wayne. It was then I knew that I had made it in the world of wedding photography. 🙂

See that window on the right in the photo above? We had the cutest audience as we shot these!

Riiiight before walking down the aisle with dad.

Announcing…!

Last time I shot here, this little rooftop courtyard was non-existent.

Have I mentioned how much I love Katie’s freckles? Because I do. Though, I may be partial.

I think this was an Aussie thing? As soon as whatever song was playing started, all of the Australian men rushed to the dance floor and dropped their pants. The American men were all, “um, when in Rome…” and joined in. 😀

behind the scenes

Bobbi Brides! I shot Rachel’s wedding 11 years ago. ELEVEN YEARS AGO?! Wow. WOW!

Much love friends,

Bobbi

Back in 2018, soon after announcing my upcoming photography workshop, I received an email that read:

Hi Bobbi, yay for workshops! Recently, I sent you an Instagram message because I was just so excited about your fun, family-filled wedding, but basically, I told you about my one-way relationship with you, where I’ve been following your blog since the website had a black background. Maybe it was middle school when I fell in love with your photography, and I have laughed and cried through the many glimpses of your life, and I told myself BOBBI IS GOING TO PHOTOGRAPH MY WEDDING. Years and years later, I’m finally in my first and only relationship with the boy who loves me (and me him), and we are going to get married next year! Unfortunately, we’re really rather poor (classically trained musicians just out of grad school, he’s a bassoonist, I’m a cellist, what can you do), so we wouldn’t ever be able to afford you and Meg Money’s amazing skills for our wedding, but seeing this workshop, I know you sometimes call for workshop models. I wanted to know if we could put our name in the hat!

At that point I had already had a workshop couple so it wasn’t a possibility. But nonetheless it started a conversation. 🙂

About a month later I received another email, but this time from Ann’s sister:

Hi there! My name is Teresa, and I – along with my two sisters Ann and Grace – have been following your blog for a very long time. We love your candor and fun and spunk, as well as your flair for life and love and capturing precious moments in a camera lens. Ann was super excited around Thanksgiving because she had written to you about her interest in workshop modeling… and can I tell you? She was blown away when you responded! (because it was a long shot – and a shot in the dark!) She’s been wedding planning for a while, and because she and her boyfriend are both musicians by training and fresh out from grad school and therefore are strapped in the finances department, thought it would be a pipe dream to ask you and Meg Money to be their wedding photographers – especially since you’d need to travel a bit to get to Ohio! Anyhow, I am emailing to see what you would think about me (and possibly my other sister Grace and some of Ann’s college friends) covering your booking fee… as a surprise wedding present to Ann! Would that be okay? 🙂

Ummm, I don’t even know what to say from here other than HOLY WOW! How incredible is this family?!!?!

Fast forward to the following year where MegMoney and I found ourselves in Cleveland, Ohio photographing the one and only Ann with her fiancé (and later in the day – husband) JW. It all felt like quite the dream!

That’s Ann’s mom Lily trying to be sneaky in the background.

I asked Ann how many guests she was expecting that afternoon and she said something along the lines of, “I lost count but I think I invited more than can fit in the reception but maybe some won’t come? Bobbi, I just couldn’t quit inviting everyone I know, I love all the people!”

A talented Etsy artist made Ann’s dress.

One of my favorites: waiting in the wings with dad.

Ohhhhh Ann, you were just full of ALLLLL the heart eyes!

Because I knew that Ann had been following me for quite a while (the black background website and blog that she mentioned is at least ten years old!), I busted out some of my old school BB@& style… that suuuuper contrasty crushed blacks B&W.

Such sweet bridesmaids!

HA!

Their afternoon reception was at the church immediately following the family and wedding party photos. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more beautiful reception hall in a church!

Instead of cake they had ice cream.

All of the floral table centerpieces had a note attached that read, “Celebrate with Flower Power – Pick the petals from your centerpiece after the party and shower the newlyweds as they exit!”

After they exited their reception, we then went around town where they had their own little private session with Megan and me.

Sometimes when I’m photographing couples I ask them to do an impression of me; which results in THIS exact reaction 100% of the time.

Ohhhhh how I love this duo! Ann, your laugh and smile is contagious!

That light though?! YUM-TOWN!

Much love friends,

Bobbi