For those of you who live in Indianapolis… remember two weeks-ish ago when we had tornado sirens going off in the midst of a pretty major thunderstorm and a torrential down pour?!? Yeah, THAT was the day we photo’d this session. mmmhmmmm… wow to that, right!? You see, alllll day long they had been calling for a 30% chance of thunderstorms, which to us also means a 70% chance of NOT thunderstorms… or so we hoped! These two were driving in from 2.5 hours away. So, by the time we realized that there was a 100% chance of ridiculous weather… they were already halfway here. HMMMM… WHAT TO DO?!!? Me, the ever-optimist KNEW we could make something work 🙂
As you’re about to see, they, wanting to use Jess’ dads ’68 Impala, decided to drive it here, OH! I was SO excited!!!!! WELLLLLLLL…. little did they know that the car has seen better days… and the usual 2.5 hour trip took… FOUR HOURS! Can you imagine!? OH YES! FOUR HOURS! That means, due to this amazing car… they were 1.5 hours late. For any of you who’ve ever been photo’d by us… you know that we usually set up our sessions a few hours before sunset… so, do the math 🙂 Combine that with some awesome thick overcast and BADABOOM BADABING… we were shooting this session with almost zero sunlight. As in, they were here for 45 minutes before the sun had gone completely behind the horizon… oh, and don’t forget… the TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR! 🙂 My ever-so-optimist self was starting to have a panic attack 🙂 THAT was when Jess turned to me and said, “Bobbi, we only need 3 photos… and we’re not worried about it…” WHA??!?! You just drove 4 hours in a car that can barely start and YOU’RE NOT WORRIED ABOUT IT??!?! OHHHH how awesome are you Miss Jess??!!? So, I gathered my bearings, put my creative hat on and we made it work! Oh, and this one is my favorite ❗
Mike, for a good portion of this session, is literally holding two umbrellas… one for me and one for them. Jess’ best friend and makeup artist Amanda came down for the session also. I REALLY don’t know what I would have done without her there… she was a HUGE help! When Mike couldn’t reach us both, Amanda was leaning over them with an umbrella while Mike had one over me. Are you getting that mental picture? Yeah, it’s funny. Laugh. 😀
Luckily for all of us, I like to shoot with wide angle lenses pretty tight… made umbrella logistics just a weeeeee bit easier 🙂
Told you it was raining 😉 BOOOOM SHAKALAKA!!!! You see, we had a rendezvous point for meeting… a point that they were to meet us and then they’d follow us out to our pre-determined shooting spot. WELLLL… due to unforeseen circumstances… that rendezvous point was now our photo location. And WHERE would that be?! Oh… THE PARKING LOT OF A STRIP MALL!!!!! Yeah, creative hat on 😉
THEN… MIRACULOUSLY… for the lasssst ten minutes before the sun completely left us…. it quit raining. OHHHH THANK YOU MOTHER NATURE!!!! THANK YOUUUUUU!!!!!!!! We owe you, BIG time! 🙂 
How did I do that?! It’s very Wayne’s World, eh? 
You’d be amazed at what you can find behind random strip malls. 😉
This kind of situation could NOT have happened to two more laid back people. Genuinely, from the bottom of my little heart, we can NOT thank you enough. I think I may have had a mental break down if you two hadn’t been so low maintenance and willing to do whatever… so, thank you thank you THANK YOU! Mikey’s favorite ❓
Love this 🙂 Don’t you!? OH YESSS YOU DOOO!!!! 😀 Wacky Bobbi strikes again! 😉
……………………………
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.
wedding: June 19, 2010 • valparaiso, ind.
together | 2.5 years
engaged | december 2008
jess | insurance • hometown | wheatfiled, ind.
brad | information technology • hometown | franklin, pa.
……………………………
~bobbi+mike ❗ + ❓
My rain attire. 🙂 That hat is SO Army Bobbi. I literally felt like I should start doing push ups. Took me RIGHT on back to those days.
How did I get so lucky?! OHHH how I love him!!!!!
See the towel? Yeah… that was for drying off our soaked equipment. mmmHMMM! This session was on a Monday. At the end of the session Mike put all of our cameras in their case and didn’t think much more about it. On Friday, as we were gathering things for our wedding the next day, he opened the case to SOAKED camera straps. Oh, and let me tell you… they smelled AMAZING! 😉
OH! THAT’S how I did it! 🙂 Yeah… we’re pretty hard core. That’s our FJ on the right 😀
For those of you who’ve known me for a long time… you may have heard me refer to myself as “Rats Nest Sheridan.” WELLLL… as you can see, I have some ridiculously thick hair and when I was in the Army, it was REEEEEALLY long. When I don’t blow dry/flat iron it… it’s pretty frizzy… okay, it’s really frizzy. While in basic training/advanced training… the VERY least of my concerns was flat ironing my hair. I’d always put it into a low bun to fit with the hat. I was ALWAYS getting in trouble for having unruly hair. But SERIOUSLY, what the hell else was I supposed to do?! CUT IT!
Hellllll nooooo! Thus, “Rats Nest Sheridan” 😀 Because I was wearing a pseudo army hat that evening… Mike captured the famous rats nest 😉 Just imagine a foot more of awesome thick frizzy hair in that bun 😉
WACKY BOBBI IN ACTION!!!!! 😀
❗ + ❓
MAN! You guys give us so much hope… that if this should ever happen to us, it can actually succeed!
You continue to amaze and awe us. 🙂
I Would have PANICKED! seriously!. GOOD JOB!!! I just love after a good rain how everything looks so saturated 😉
The Wayne’s World reference was MUCH MUCH appreciated 😉
“Did you ever find Bugs Bunny attractive when he put on a dress and played girl bunny?” ..”No..” “Neither did I, I was just asking”
HOLY…WOW!! This just takes your amazingness to a whole new level!!!
LOVE all of these! The black and white in the rain in front of that sweet ride, my fave! Come hell or high water, you will always rock it out!
yeah, all in all you two never cease to amaze 😀
Looooove them!! Jess you look beautiful, Brad not so bad:) Good job Bobbi and Mike!
love,
Amanda the umbrella girl:)
Very impressive! These pictures turned out amazing. You’re very creative Bobbi and it’s awesome to see your ideas put into action and the final results are always amazing.
So great you guys!!!! Way to work it OUT! What a cute couple! They will have an amazing marriage with their happy go lucky “roll with it” attitude.
LOVE that photo of Mike through the window!
PS Bobbi, we need to have a Rats Nest competition. I think I’ve got some competition for you!
Betsy, I accept your challenge. Give me a few more inches of growth and it’s on 😀
You guys are incredible. Definitely the most creative photographers I know! Your couples are super lucky to have you.
Beautiful shots, awesome clients and a hubby takign care of you- what more do you need!?! Love the headlight shot!
Oh you guys and that wonderful thing you do when the pressure is on 🙂
These are truly fab. I love the emotion of the shot of them UNDER the umbrella on the car. Yup, I think it’s my fave 🙂
PS – She’s a trooper for being cool with getting wet like that!!! I agree with Bets, their marriage should be A-OK with that kind of attitude 🙂
Wow to these photos! I’m impressed (but you guys always do that to me)! 🙂 What an awesome couple!
I’m so glad you walked us through this session. Sometimes I think we photogs think that if only we shot in better locations or light that our sessions would be SO much better. You totally showed us that location and light can be worked around. The pull back shot of the parking lot with you on the ladder just gives me so much reassurance that VISION makes up most of a session! Way to work it out! 🙂
Gail, I could NOT agree more! I’d be flipppping my shiz thinking about the condition of my hair/clothes/makeup…
genius. pure genius. not that it’s ever not, but wow! So much creativity & inspiration!!
also, rats nest is my hair on a good day. Pale skin, green eyes, freckles and a full blow afro is more like it!
You are an inspiration – you worked.it.out. Wow!
bobbi + mike- this is my first time commenting on the blog..but i had to say that… under those circumstances, these look amazing! you guys totally rocked the situation 🙂
That first shot and the one on the car are so awesome! So are the rest…but those are my favorite! You rock!
WOW! Y’all totally rocked this! #2 is my favorite, and this entire shoot is an inspiration to get a little more creative/wacky. Rock on!
Jess and Brad those are amazing!!!!! Bobbi and Mike are so creative!
This is why I love you guys! YES- kick ass!
RRRRRIIIIIDDDIIIC!! Only you guys could work that shiz out. I mean….WORK IT OUT! Those two are so lucky they had two BAD ASS photographers on their side. I *heart* both of you. WeLL DONE.
Jess made sure you two were available before she picked the date. She said you were amazing …”must have”. This shoot is sure proof of that!
This is really great Bobbi, the rain didn’t rain on your parade at all! Still lookin awesome. 🙂 And, what a twist on the average shoot!
70% chance of rain = 100% chance of AWESOME. LOVE these!
Bobbi + Mike – Thank you Thank you Thank you! You guys are rock stars. Thank you for making the very best out of a very dreary and drizzly situation! I can’t wait for the wedding!!!! ps- my favorite is the rear-view mirror shot. Hands down. I want to wallpaper my house with it. 🙂 haha
HOLY POOP, Rats Nest Sheridan!!!!!! Seriously, you couldn’t have rocked this any more than you did! Although everything that could go wrong did go wrong, these guys will have the most memorable stories to tell from this day, and they’ll be the clients who sing your praises loudest when they compare their experiences with other couples whose photographers just took them to a park or behind a studio. Dude, THIS is what makes you amazing. No SoCal smog backlighting. Wacky Bobbi does a rain dance before your session just so she can kick the crap out of the thunderstorm AND your engagement pics. Only problem now is you’ll have to have actual tornado for the wedding to top this!
Kelly, you’re one of my favorite commenters 🙂 You make me smile 😀 Thank you friend…
WOW! Thanks for sharing!
This December I took family portraits amidst a crazy snow storm in the forest…balancing umbrellas and ducking under trees..lol…so I definitely feel ya 🙂 Amazing photos!!
Amazing!! It looks like Jess got more than the 3 photos that she needed. These are absolutely amazing!
WOW! Talk about amazing! Way to make something amazing out of nothing. I love that you share the behind the scenes of your shoots – makes me think more creatively about how I take pictures.
Only Bobbi+Mike could turn a photographers nightmare into some pretty fa-reakin’ awesome e-sesh photos. You guys rocked it once again!
Suuuh awesome!! Love them! Have fun in Valparaiso, my home town!! 🙂 (Pssst, you spelled Wheatfield wrong…no biggie just thought I’d let you know.) xo xo!
You can, literally, do ANYTHING. Beat ass, guys.
Love em!
you guys are the best and obviously have the best clients/friends ever 🙂
FREAKING ROCKED IT OUT!!!!! (like I knew you would!) 🙂 you guys gave it 200% and it SHOWS!
Just throwing out some props to the AMAZING BBMK! You two can rock even the worst conditions. I love the headlight shot especially. So much atmosphere!
I just had to comment because I got really excited: I’m from Wheatfield, IN too! (A friend actually showed me this link just because she knew. Wheatfield is a TINY town.)
Anyways, these pictures are amazing. It’s so great what can happen in the midst of what we may see as a nightmare. Congrats to the both of you, you look stunning!
LURVE that last photo, with the headlights on! So neat!
May have been raining but this is one of my favorite sessions ever! Love you guys so much! Makes me wish we had ANOTHER wedding coming up so I could see both of you! LOVE!
you guys rock. ROCK! 🙂 beautful photos they will trasure forever.
so amazingly awesome, I can’t even stand it.
LOL “rats nest sheridan” – my hair is so thick that my husband says it’s my secret assassin’s tool: i could choke someone with my strands! 🙂 ahhahaaaaa. and um, bobbi, you are standing dangerously close to the very TOP of that ladder – DANNNNNGER!!! LOVE this session. shows your dedication in the rain!! 🙂
Love your new dye job, made me smile.
I love how you two can take a cruddy rainy evening and make it into this!!! Beautiful images!!! You had to want a super warm shower after this session! 🙂
you rocked this!! I love them all!!
These are amazing and great on the fly creativity!!! Nice job guys!
All that talent and your served our country too! You are amazing.
You guys never cease to amaze me. Way to make it work:-)
aw, great photos! love the one shot in the rearview mirror – creative girl!
Ummm…you weren’t kidding! Crazy!! Way to go!!! These are amaaaazing! So good to see you today! xoxo
Love this 🙂
Hey Bobster and Mikester,
What a story. You two go over the top for every photo shoot, but this is truly a story to remember. Jess and Brad are such a cute couple. My favorite photo is the artsy picture that Bobbi selected. I’m sure Jess’s Dad would agree with his 68 Impala’s dashboard featured with Jess and Brad.
Great job you two.
Momba loves you….
Such creative photos … I’m sure it was stressful with the weather. I love the pics of them with the car, the one on the blanket, and the one of them in front with the headlights … awesome!!
[…] from whatever life throws at you. Stuck in a car in a thunderstorm in a strip mall parking lot? We can work with that. Anyone can make gorgeous fields of lovely light and sunsets look awesome, these guys regularly […]