Happy Couple Duo Kickstarter

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Last night I had the pleasure of tagging along with Katy and Zachary of The Happy Couple Duo while they made outdoor art.  They are planning a huge move across the country later this year. They want to stop along the way creating temporary light based art installations.  I think it is a brilliant idea.  The couple is from Cincinnati so before they embark on their journey they decided to begin the project here.  They started a Kickstarter called Traveling At the Speed of Light to help fund some of the equipment they need to be mobile and weather proof while creating these installations.

I met Katy and Zachary at one of my favorite parks, International Friendship Park, where they planned on lighting the 'Castle of Air' sculpture.  I was utterly inspired watching these two interact with each other and the environment on this project.  They are an artistic force.  They work very hard to make these ideas come to life.  If you decide to help fund their efforts, I can say you will honestly be supporting two very dedicated artists.

I fed off of their creative energy and managed to create some very cool images of them using their lights.  I am excited to push this even more when we  collaborate on some future projects.

 Please visit their Kickstarter page to read more about their story and offer a donation if you can.  Every single donation comes with a generous gift.  If you are looking for wedding or event entertainment/lighting they are offering string music, DJ, and lighting  as one of the donation gifts.  Check it out here.

For me, one of the greatest things about this project was seeing how people reacted to it.  Every single person who walked by stopped to chat with the couple about what they were doing.  And every single person was memorized by how beautiful it was.   The sculpture during the day. 

Cincinnati Maternity Photos

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  I first got to know Casey when we worked on this 70's inspired shoot  a couple of years ago.  We became instant friends.  She is someone I consider to be a muse.  Whenever we get together, ideas start flowing naturally.  She is such a beautiful woman both inside and out.  I am very lucky to have her in my life.  She is going to be a wonderful, loving moma.

When Casey said she wanted me to shoot her maternity session I was very excited.  We had been talking about doing a darker shoot for awhile.  We used this as our opportunity to push ourselves in that direction.   We came up with sexy, dark, powerful, images that I absolutely love.  Casey is a goddess! I can't wait to meet her little peanut.

MUA: Christine Rice, Location: Mainstay Rock Bar,  Shoes:  Jeffrey Campbell, Hat: Miller Hats

iPhone Self Portraits

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Self portraits are a form of therapy for me.  I usually feel the urge to create them when I am going through some kind of change or when I am feeling lost from my life path.  The process of creating self portraits allows me to release whatever it is in me that is holding me back from being fulfilled.  It also allows me to get away from the part of me that is connected to stress and reconnect with my muse.  At the time I made these everything in my life had changed in a very short amount of time.  This was my way of getting through it.  I had just got an underwater case for my iPhone which was perfectly timed with the way that I was feeling.           

The Happy Couple Duo

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I met this talented couple, Katy and Zachary,  last month at the Northside Bridal Show at Mayday.  They were showcasing their event entertainment business, The Happy Couple Duo.  I contacted them about setting up a shoot because I was so intrigued with them and wanted to know more about them.

I asked Katy to tell me a little more about how they got started and what they do and this is what she had to say...

"Zachary and I are high school sweet hearts and we met each other while attending The Governors School For the Arts in Virginia, a performing arts high school similar to the one here in downtown Cincinnati. We fell in love in a famous castle in Germany while on an orchestra tour at the puny age of 17.  We've been playing music, collaborating, and creating together ever since, almost 12 years later.

We began playing weddings and private events as a quartet at 17 through our performing arts school connections. We enjoyed the energy at events and decided to grow it into a business. We love to perform together!

We offer string duo and trio, DJ, music arrangement, LED spot and up-lighting, as well as custom artistic light displays. We can arrange any song (pop, jazz, classical, etc.) for violin/viola duet or for violin/viola/bassoon trio. Our string duo and trio music library is the most eclectic and offers the most variety of any other group in the tri-state. Our DJ library is extensive and covers every genre from top 40s to under ground and indie. We are the only music services in the tri-state area to offer DJ, lighting, and Live instrumental music."

Katy does most of the arranging and is working on a book.  They also just got funded through Kickstarter and will have a full length album containing their own violin/viola/bassoon arrangements of popular songs by current and past artists.

Check out their Facebook page and website to see videos of them performing.

 I was drawn to them after hearing them play some of my favorite songs by Queen and Nirvana on violin/viola and because they kept me dancing all night once they started DJing.  Their music selection was diverse and fun.  I had an absolute blast on this shoot.  It wasn't hard to get a smile out of them and their chemistry together is wonderful.