Collier Studios | Michigan Wedding Photographer blog

Nicki + Zack | Great Hall Midland Wedding Photography

Ryan Collier — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:39:45 +0000

Nicki & Zack had a wonderful spring wedding ceremony at the Great Hall convention center in Midland, MI. I had photographed Nicki for one of her class projects about 2 years ago and since then had the opportunity to get to know her and Zack on a couple of occasions. It was a real pleasure to have the opportunity to photograph their wedding.

Nicki planned a very unique vintage themed wedding in that they did many of the decorating themselves which added a really nice personal touch to the day. A home made photo booth complete with vintage props, plus homemade centerpieces completed the exceptional decor.

Dress Shot

The Great Hall has some beautiful natural window light which we used for the various group portraits.

Nicki who was an absolutely stunning bride.

I just love this moment between dad and daughter

I don’t often get the chance to photograph a first look but did on this wedding. I love these moments!

Between the ceremony and reception we traveled as a group to the Bradley House in Downtown Midland to photograph the groups. The texture of this building added a nice highlight to their more vintage theme.

Meghan + Pete | Saginaw Temple Theater Wedding Photography

Ryan Collier — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 01:53:44 +0000

Even though I photographed a couple of wedding early in the year (January and February), this I really consider this the first wedding of the 2012 wedding photography season. This was a really great wedding with good people, and awesome locations. St. Anne’s church in Linwood has become a frequent visit for me and I also had a chance to finally photograph at the Temple Theater in Saginaw again.

Meghan and Pete are from the same hometown as I, so it was really great to see them get married. Meghan is a good friend of my sister so my family was even there to share the day.

As I mentioned, I’m really excited for the summer wedding photography season to begin. Looks like its going to be another great summer!

Alternative Midland Engagement Photography

Ryan Collier — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:22:05 +0000

So first off, huge congratulations to my sister Renee who will be marrying her fiancé Eddie in September (a Las Vegas wedding at that). Her arrangements at the Venetian in Vegas offer her a photographer with their package which both bums me out and excites me at the same time. I really want to be able to sit back and enjoy her wedding but at the same time I can’t imaging sitting back and enjoying it without shooting some pics!

So when Renee and Eddie asked me to shoot their engagement photos it was a no-brainer. Of course! Now their style is a little different than my normal approach to engagement/couple photography. Theydefinitely have more of an alternative style, and loved shots with more grit, grunge, and mood.

I spent some time picking two locations here in Midland, the first being an overpass near the Tridge downtown. The second is a well worn garage door at a local repair shop in town. In the end we came away with some great shots. This was a total blast from the perspective that A.) it was my sister and super fun to shoot with her and Eddie, and B.) their style forced me to think outside of the box a little and I know I’ve grown from it and learned a few techniques that I’ll use elsewhere in my shooting.

Enjoy the preview!

A Studio Engagement Session

Ryan Collier — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:30:40 +0000

Today may have been an unusually warm day for March but that was not the case a week ago. Unfortunately then it was cold. Very cold. Which meant that for my engagement shoot with Scott & Lindsey we would be forced to do what we could inside. I decided to go with a very simple black backdrop for these photos which gave us the option of doing both color and very classical black and white.

Overall I think these turned out great. Cant wait to shoot their wedding in May!

Industrial & Commercial Photography

Ryan Collier — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 00:16:03 +0000

Here is another little peek into a shoot I conducted a few weeks ago here in Midland. I know I’ve said this before, but its just awesome to get out and shoot for a variety of differnet corporate clients. This particular project presented new logistical challenge that I don’t typically see when shooting commercial head shots: Capturing photos of various employees actually doing what they specialize in on a daily basis. In the end I think we captured them in a fun and unique way.

A Newborn Photography Session

Ryan Collier — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 23:22:10 +0000

Welcome to the world baby Grayson.

I don’t often get the chance to photograph newborns but since my wife and I had a child of our own 9 months ago its been an opportunity that keeps presenting itself. This time I was photographing for Kimberly & Ken who live here in the Great Lakes Bay region. Baby Grayson did not exactly want to sleep for us but regardless we still came away with some very cute pics.

Of course while we were photographing baby we also had to take a few moments to capture images of the whole family. Thank you Kimberly & Ken for allowing me to capture photos of your precious newborn. Can’t wait till the next session!

My new parent album option is here!

Ryan Collier — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:02:45 +0000

I’m pleased to announce the official replacement of my parent book option. Previously I have been offering a traditional 20-page matted book, but this off season have transitioned to a an 8-inch photo book. This beautiful book is a little brother to my 10-inch wedding and engagement books.

It features a standard 20 pages in your choice of paper. Satin (mimics real photo paper), matte (pebble-like surface texture and non-laminated finish), or gloss. These books give the option of a black linen cover (shown below), or a full image wrap-around cover that is gloss laminated.

These books allow easy viewing with lay-flat pages and are the highest quality lay-flat, non-warping photo book in the industry. I’m sure that it will make a great add-on for any family looking to preserve the memories of their wedding day and I can’t wait to get these into the hands of my clients!

Alysa + Lee | wedding preview

Ryan Collier — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 23:50:22 +0000

A quick preview of Alysa & Lee’s Linwood Michigan wedding this past Saturday. It may have been cold and cloudy but we found a way to bring out at least a little of that blue sky hidden behind the clouds. We bounced around to a couple of locations for their photographs but ultimately the beach access at the end of Linwood Rd. proved to be the winning spot.

Look for a more in depth sampling of their photos soon as soon as I can get them edited.

Midland Basketball Portraits

Ryan Collier — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:05:33 +0000

This past Saturday I was fortunate enough to be able to reserve gym space for two hours at the Midland Community Center to use for a photo shoot. The session was for no particular reason other than to bring in some lighting and do something different with it. I photograph a lot of weddings throughout the year and its always refreshing to have the opportunity to do something out of the norm.

I was very fortunate to have Becca Wiles model for me. She was just awesome and I can’t thank her enough for taking time out of her Saturday to help me. I have lots of photos to go through and hopefully a few more will make the fan page. For the time being this one in particular is one of my early favorites. Enjoy!

Toni + Jake | Midland, MI Wedding Photographer

Ryan Collier — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:02:32 +0000

I’ve been off the grid. Thats the bad news, the good news is that I’m back

I’ve ben waiting for this wedding for a while. I photographed Toni and Jake’s engagement photos this past summer and had a great time with them. They are so easy going and fun that I knew their wedding would be a blast to photograph. The fact that that their ceremony was at St. Brigid in Midland (the location my wife and I got married) also had me excited. Its such a fantastic venue that I knew we would be able to capture some really great shots for them.

To start off I met the bridal party at the Valley Plaza hotel in Midland for some getting ready shots…

After arriving at the church I took the gentlemen outdoors for a few shots in front of this beautiful door leading into the church.

I was really excited when looking at my watch that morning and realizing we had extra time to photograph. I definitely took a few more shots of toni than I would have normally, trying out a few different shots in front of these windows.

We finished the day downtown in front of the H Hotel where we were able to play around with the setting daylight some.