Today on the blog is a fantastic wedding that I photographed a few months ago. Todays warm weather (Warm weather to me is anytime the sun is out) here in Milwaukee made me think about it and thought it was about time that it was blogged.

If you might remember I had the pleasure of photographing Anne & Scott for their engagement session (Click here to check them out).

So I must start off by saying these two are pretty damn awesome. Tons of fun to photograph, comfortable in front of the camera, and fans of the Milwaukee Brewers. What more could I ask for?

They had their wedding at an aunt’s house in River Hills. I must say it was most likely the most awesome house I have ever been too. No Doubt. We had lucked out with having such a beautiful day for their wedding. Earlier in the week it had been raining and had a forecast for rain for the big day. There was debate weather or not to have a tent outside since the ceremony was to be held outside. A day prior they made the decision to take a chance and see what happens sans tent. It was an awesome decision. No rain! All sun!

Have a look at the photos and enjoy. Though I must warn you there are a lot!

For those of you reading this blog that are not from Milwaukee or have never been to Milwaukee, do it. Come here. Come visit. Just do it. You can even stay with me if you would like ( Maybe, as long as you shower).

This city really does have some wonderful sites and the shore line up Lake Michigan is definitely one of them.

Enjoy some photos and wish you were here in this amazing 45 degree weather on January 11th!

This session was one I was particularly looking forward to for a few reasons. First of all, Mindy and Patrick are pretty awesome folks. No joke. I do not say that a lot, but I mean it. These two have to be one of the most fun, laid back couples I have had the pleasure to photograph. Second: they have a Scottish terrier just like the two that we have ( Any one under 85 years old and who knows what or owns a Scottish terrier is good people in my book).

We did this session on Memorial day which was an awesome day. So awesome that I felt the need to embark on a 61 mile bike ride with a friend of mine prior to doing the session. If you have ever embarked on a 61 mile ride you know that it takes a little time to do, and a little time in the burning hot mid day sun with out sun screen means that I pretty much looked like a lobster while we did it. I maybe even looked like a McLobster… wait.. has anyone even encountered one of these?

We ran around downtown, thirdward and fifthwardand these are what we came up with. Enjoy some awesome photos and leave some Facebook “Like” love or some comment love. If you do, I just may love you back…..

Val and Josh contacted me through a mutual friend of ours looking to have some engagement photos taken. And I thought, Hey! I do that! Why not? Well thats not really what I said but you get the drift.

Val and Josh are huge Brewers fans, so am I. So I was quite pleased when they mentioned that they would love to shoot some photos at Miller Park and the surrounding area. I was definitely excited! We hopped on down to Miller Park, and boy was it warm. And when I say warm I mean it. It had to be about 90 degrees and crudtastic on the humidity scale.

We made our way around the park, and some of the awesome area around it. Miller Park and amazing light = Awesomeness! Check’ em out and let me know what you think!

Enjoy

Its been a while since I have taken the time to write a blog. Life is crazy right now. But time to get back to it!

I thought there would be no better way to get a rockin set of blogs started out with some rock, well metal to be exact.   Mmmmmmm metal……..

A few weeks ago I had the please of photographing “Kittie” at the Rave in Milwaukee for the third time in the past 2 years. And I must say, it does NOT get old! Not one bit!

This time around I have the pleasure of helping fellow photog John Schultze with some lighting for an interview and quick photo shoot supporting Kittie’s tour for their new album “I’ve Failed You”. This was a total quick shoot in the dressing room in the basement of the Rave. It was nice and cramped quarters (Imagine me moving a futon out of the way to setup a studio light in a 10×10 room, while half of the band was there).  After the interview we had to hit for the stage to claim a spot. Tonight concert will be on one of the smaller side stages at the Rave which mean; no pit,  not much room to move to vary the shot locations, horrid and I mean horrid lighting, also the possibility of getting destroyed by the mosh pit. All these things are things that I enjoy doing ( insert sarcasm here).

Here are some of many shots I took during Kittie’s set. Enjoy!

Buy their album so I can have the please of doing this more! I mean this.

Leave some comments below and let me know what you think

Have you ever become complacent in an area, situation, trade, craft, skill? I am sure we all have done so or at sometimes in our lives, will do so.

I have recently had a that feeling here in the Milwaukee area. I feel as if I am to comfortable here. So what am I going to do about it you ask? Well, let me tell you.  I took a little jot down across the border to see our friends to the south, in the Windy City. I know I just heard you grunt and groan “Ohhhh no Rob! Why on earth would you do that? I mean heck, its the land of the Bulls, BEARS, CUBS!, Capone, To much wind and a once too big fire. And not to mention apparently no one from Chicago knows how to drive!” .  Well I saw it as a new adventure for myself and its under 2 hours away thats why!

I have always been drawn to large cities. I love the hustle and the bustle that it brings. All the energy, people, commotion, noise, honking cabs, and obscenities being yelled from windows on the 10th floor.  Chicago really is not that bad of a place. I’d love to live there and roam the streets with my camera and doing nothing but take photos the way that Vivian Maier did.

This past week I made my new adventure happen. I took myself from my comfort zone and shot in downtown Chicago. It was a blast! Being able to turn around every other step and see some thing new, something that didn’t fit in with the last scene I was looking at. From the “L” trains shooting around over head while you walk down the street, Subway stations, the Chicago theater, the “Bean” and so on. Just so much to see.

I made my rounds around the area of the Chicago Public library and Chicago theater with two different models.  Below will be some images of Jessicca and on the next blog will be some images of Elena. Both were a pleasure to work with.  I would also like to throw a big thanks out there to Andy Stenz for allowing me to borrow and test out his Sigma 85mm 1.4f for the Nikon mount. I believe I may be picking one up.

Take a look, enjoy, and feel free to leave some comments encouraging me to buy that lens. I need the push……

If you feel so inclined give the facebook “Like” button a push!

Blog 2 from Chicago coming tomorrow………

Ok so the title sounds like I am giving away crummy family photos, not the case!

I am doing a photo session/print package give-a-way to a selected person/family who submits the best “Crummy” family photo of them or taken by them, a submission as to why I should choose them (Either written or video – extra points for video!)

So how many of you have seen a family photo that made you say “Good God!” , “Holy Geez” , “Why?”, “Can I go now?”, “Awkward!” , “What the ****!” ?  Yeah, we have all seen them.  Your body building uncle Jim wearing nothing more than 70′s short shorts while holding your cousin Mable in a pink furry bunny outfit, all because they thought it was cute? Yeah that one.

I mean heck! they even have entire websites dedicated to this http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com

So here is what I need from you to win -

1) An amazingly bad family photo.

2)An email or video submission on why I should choose you to have a free photo session and print package (Video submissions get bonus points!)

3) Email Photo and submission to myself at  Giveaways@RobGustafsonPhotography.com

Here is what you get if you win -

- 2 hour photo session for you and your family

- 10 –  5x7in prints

-  5 – 8 x10in prints

-  1 – 11 x14in print

Sounds like a deal huh? Well it is! So go dig out all of those family photos, scan one, pull one off of facebook or any other place you might have one. Send it over and see what happens!  If you don’t have any I know you know someone who does so pass this along! Make sure to hit the Facebook “Like” Button on the top or bottom of this page

And of course there are some rules to this give-a-way. The photo must be of you, your immediate family, or taken by you. All entries must be received by April 16th 2011. By entering your photos and  stories you are agreeing to be featured on my blog for the world to see. This give-a-way has no cash value and is non transferable. Session must be with in the greater Milwaukee area, Subject to availability, session must be booked by  July 5th 2011.

A week or so prior to leaving for Las Vegas to attend WPPI I received my long awaited Verizon iPhone 4 (Insert Gasp, and surprised sounds). I had been one of the lucky ones to get in my preorder the night that they had opened up the flood gates at 2am, and I was pretty darn stoked. I have had an iPhone prior to this beauty but had not had one since switching my wonderful service over to Verizon about a year prior.

As an early adopter to the iPhone ( got one the very day they came out) I didn’t have the luxury of the app store and a decent camera. Fast forward to 2011 and 6 phones later I have fallen in love with my iPhone and the Hipstmatic camera app all over again. I know, I know. I can hear you saying “The hipstamatic app has been out for ever now”. Yeah well that might be the case for you but leave me in my glory! For those of you that might not be familiar with the Hipstamatic camera app, it is a camera app that produces images that mimic old vintage cameras from years past. Fun stuff really.

I got to Las Vegas a day or so early so I had a bit of free time on my hands before WPPI started, So I found myself wandering the strip checking things out and seeing what had changed from last year. In my random wandering I decided that the strip would be an awesome location to shoot a little street photography. I mean heck, I was in Vegas, on the strip, and someone taking photos of other people where the least of most folks concerns, so why not?

While I was on my stroll of walking the entire strip from the MGM area to the Stratosphere (Approx 14.5 miles around trip) I happened upon some awesome photo ops. Celine Dion on the red carpet at Caesar’s Palace where I wound up about 10 feet from here, to marriages happening on the strip, to a man losing his way in Vegas so bad that he had to jump in a fountain and snatch up coins from it to fill his pockets.

So here are some of those photos, enjoy!

You might even see some of Simon and Jake from over at Valo.

Make sure to hit the “Like” Button on the top of the page or after the photos, it would make me happy

Yesterday I had the pleasure of taking a few clicks of the camera with little Danika.

Little people make me smile, and she was definitely no exception to that statement at all. She is at the age when wobbling turns into crawling EVERYWHERE, Climbing out of the crib, reading dad’s text books on the floor, Banging on the sliding glass patio window to tell the world she is here and ready for action, realizing that she has a voice and is figuring out how to use it. Next thing you know she will be driving……. Right Eric?

Well anywho, enjoy some photos of a awesome little child and leave her some comments to see when she gets all growed up

I have great confidence that you will enjoy these photos and the wait will definitely be worth it.

Recently I was in Las Vegas for WPPI (The wedding and portrait photographers mecca for a week). During this time I had a fantastic chance to take a trip into the desert with 25 other photographers from all over the U.S. Along with 5 models, 2 make up artists, and a few high end designer dresses. It was amazing.

I had a few thoughts about that I was going to get from this trip in the days leading up to it. I was thinking it would be a great chance to take some wonderful new portfolio images for my blog, website, etc. It was a lot more than that though.

I met some wonderful people from all over, and also had the pleasure of shooting with them. This allowed me to observe other people in the same craft that I am pursuing and seeing their take on the  art. It was Truly refreshing.  Sometimes you fall into a funk, rut, comfort zone when working with the same people over and over again. This forced me to shoot outside my comfort zone of shooting in Milwaukee where I know how the light it going to look at any given time in any given area.

I must say that I instantly fell in love with the muted tones of the desert. Just simply amazing and is nothing like what I have seen in Wisconsin. The Pastel sky, earth tones of the red mountains in the distance with a slight haze, and wonderful warm light. Just yummy!

Here are some of the shots that I had picked out as my favs so far. Feel free to leave some comments and let me know what you think.

Enjoy

And a wonderful thanks to :

Event Organizer- Emma and Josh Smith  www.emmajanephotos.com

Bridal Gowns- La Belle Elaines- Seattle  www.labelleelaines.com

Accessories- Renee Pawele  www.reneepawelebride.com

Hair/Makeup- Liz www.hairbylizz.com