When we met Betsy and Brandon at a Starbucks in Chicago, I knew instantly they were a couple for us! They are so fun and simply adorable... all the details of their wedding, candy dishes and yummy food. I was so excited when they said they wanted us to photograph their wedding. Look at how beautifully adorable they are!!!

Can't wait for your wedding day!!!

xoxoxox

~ Dawn & Bob

I love this post! I don't think I've ever opened a blog post with those words but this one is so special. I was on the phone with Kim Reilly, our beautiful bride from this summer! We were talking about her wedding and she mentioned she had a party to go to over the weekend. One of her best friends was getting engaged. It was a surprise and Kim was going to the party after the proposal. I immediately offered up Bob's services because I've always wanted to have a proposal in our portfolio. Kim was so amazing and graciously referred Pete to us.

When I spoke to Pete on the phone, he seems so nervous! He was so cute. He wanted everything to be perfect. Bob worked out the details with Pete and everything was.............. perfect!

Thank you Pete for allowing Bob to tag along as you ask the love of your life to marry you! We wish you and Tanya a lifetime of happiness...

~ Dawn and Bob

Back in mid August, I was contacted by Davina Fear (pictured below) to be part of her Woman & Business series. At first, I thought she was emailing the wrong Dawn Davis and even asked her if she meant me. Hilarious... why would SHE want to do an interview on me? She is the one I should be interviewing and blogging about. She is amazing!

This is how Davina described her series when she asked if I would participate...

"The series features mostly women who are being moms and entrepreneurs. I have guest bloggers that share their hints, tips, and/or thoughts for business, business and life, motherhood, photography, or something that you specialize in. Typically, I try to have one guest each week.

I would like for women in general to be inspired, motivated, moved, and connected by the series. However, my main interest is to have women who are trying to balance motherhood and business come away feeling that other women share their struggles as well as give them ideas for how to juggle all of the different aspects of their lives."

Well, after my disbelief, I went to town on a series of questions she had prepared for me. And here is what came from the interview...

Davina Fear + Dawn Davis = Women & Business (click here)

It seems these last couple of months have been a whirlwind. I mean they are always crazy around here but whoa... just unusually busy lately. Bob shot some amazing weddings, we did a workshop in St. Simons Island where 15 wonderful photographers photographed Sarah & Brent's wedding with Bob. I can't wait to blog that...! We've been to New York for the PhotoPlus expo and now Bob is hitting it hard in Italy with Gene Higa & Jose Villa at their workshop. Rough life, I know. Me, I get to hunker down with the kids, run the business, help with homework, and taxi the kids back and forth to Sylvan, Soccer and Taekwondo.

Tonight, I'd like to invite everyone out to a CD Release party. I know, I know... way late notice but better late than never. We had a fantastic opportunity to photograph a new up and coming band, JAMROSE. Nicole Jamrose and Mark Soljacich just released their first CD, called U-Turn. Bob took the photos and I designed the CD.

You may have heard me talk about Mark Soljacich, he wrote and recorded a song called "Follow Your Dreams" for us to include in a book we designed for Forest Whitaker when he won the Oscar for the movie, The Last King of Scotland. Mark and Nicole wrote some incredible songs for their new CD. Check out their new Showit website JAMROSE and preview their song "Fall Out of Love".

Hope to see you at the CD Release Party tonight! This Must Be The Place, 206 Main Street, Lemont, IL. Show starts at 9pm.

Isn't the way they look at each other just so sweet? Meet Lynn + Adam. They were referred to us by the most amazing event planner on earth... Reva Nathan. We can't thank Reva enough for her recommending her clients to us. We look forward to a beautiful year full of weddings, mitzvahs and many other fun events.

Lynn + Adam, thank you for choosing us! You have such an incredible family and it's our honor to be part of your wedding day. Bob had a blast with your engagement session and we're so looking forward to working with you again! The Westin River North Chicago is such a beautiful place to have a wedding. It's going to be a perfect day! We can't wait...!!!

xoxoxox

~ Dawn & Bob

When Crystal & Ron called us about photographing their wedding at the Westin Maui Resort & Spa in Hawaii, I was excited. But when I met them at their engagement session is when I knew their wedding was going to be fun! They are so in love, a little crazy, and über cool to be around.

This being my first time in Hawaii, I wanted to soak up every minute of my island adventure. Crystal & Ron celebrated their love with a small intimate destination wedding with their family and close friends. The sun was beginning to set just as I arrived at the Westin Maui. Before I unpacked, I wanted to capture the light that was gracing our eyes. I saw Crystal & Ron walking hand in hand along the waters edge. Crystal's soul is filled with warmth and Ron's smile puts everyone at ease, they welcomed me to Hawaii with a lei of flowers. The next three days I felt like I part of their family while capturing the beauty of their wedding celebration. Their 4 children are precious and they united their families together beautifully. I hope they treasure these pictures as much as I will the memories I have from my first trip to Maui.

Thank you Crystal and Ron for allowing me to be part of your day. Thank you to the Westin Maui in Hawaii for all the joy you brought their family this trip. I plan to be back with my family one day soon.

Bob

To see a lot more images from their wedding, please check out their album on Facebook by clicking here.

Meet the Quinn family, and their newest addition... baby Graham! He's so beautiful and his little brother, Zach, thinks so too! Jill Quinn is the Assistant Director of Catering for the Standard Club hotel in Chicago. Bob was thrilled to be able to photograph her sweet family.

Thank you for inviting us into your lives and into your home!!!

xoxoxo

~ Dawn and Bob

09/21/09 UPDATE: ONLY 2 SEATS AVAILABLE!!!

Yes, we are at it again... this time at the BEAUTIFUL Ocean Lodge hotel in St. Simons Island, GA. Sarah Skow is marrying Dr. Brent DeShaw and we are inviting 15 photographers to photograph the wedding right alongside their lead photographer, Bob Davis. They couldn't have chosen a more beautiful place than the Ocean Lodge hotel. It's filled with southern hospitality & charm. I'm so happy for Sarah & Brent that they will be having their dream wedding in St. Simons Island, GA.

Their story begins like this, Sarah was a Vegas Love Story workshop attendee of ours. She was just starting out as a photographer when she attended our workshop a year and a half ago. I'll never forget how nervous she was. Truly! She is adorable. Since attending our workshop, she has become a full time successful photographer who loves her life and her career choice. She even met her future husband at a wedding she was photographing. How cool is that?

I invite you to read Sarah's Story, it's very inspiring. She also wants you to know that you can contact her anytime if you have questions about her upcoming wedding and why it's important for her to make her wedding a workshop. Sarah's email is sarah@sarahdeshaw.com and of course you can contact us anytime as well at dawn@davisworkshops.com. This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. We don't know too many couples who would want 15 photographers learning at their wedding.

GraphiStudio will be providing an amazing discount to all attendees to make a fine art Italian book with the images from this wedding, which will include a suitcase, and fifty 4x5 mini books! This is a great way to showcase a beautiful destination wedding to your potential clients. Gotta love that! And we absolutely love GraphiStudio!

To register for our 3 day intimate wedding workshop, click here. You don't want to miss this one! Open to 15 attendees and 6 seats have already been spoken for! Sign up fast as it's selling out quick! We look forward to meeting each and everyone of you!!!!!

xoxox

~ Dawn & Bob

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Where:
Ocean Lodge
935 Beachwood Drive,
St. Simons Island, GA

When:
October 09-11, 2009

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Today I want to share a story about an amazing family... Maryfran & Mike Klein. Bob photographed their son, Maxx's Bar Mitzvah, almost a year ago and I'm just now finishing up their book design. Wow... is an understatment..! The service and celebration were beyond amazing. But that is not the really amazing part.

The amazing part is the unbelievable kindness this family has for others. I've been so busy and wanted to get Maxx's book done a month ago and just haven't had the time to finish it until this week. Maryfran called me asking where it was and I thought of a million excuses of what to say to her. But truth be told, life just got busy, really busy. And that's what I shared with her along with my apologies. Maryfran is so accepting and so beautiful inside and out, she graciously accepted my apologies, even unnecessarily shared in the responsibility for my tardiness. Needless to say, she and her husband, Mike, loved the book... which makes my heart sing!

We couldn't be blessed with more amazing clients! Thank you Maryfran and Mike for allowing us the opportunity to photograph Maxx's special day. We look forward to Jack's Bar Mitzvah in November!!!

A special thank you to YazyJo and Jen Kroll for photographing this event with Bob!

With love, ~ Dawn and Bob

Bob and I subscribe to Rick Warren's daily email blast called PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE. Thanks to Roxie at Pixel2Canvas for introducing me to him. If you want to subscribe, click here. There are days when I receive the email and I read it and not truly connect with it. Then there are emails like today that make my heart skip a beat as if it was written with "Dear Dawn and Bob" in mind.

Today's email was about "Start With The Faith You Have" and it reads:

Is it possible to be filled with faith and doubt at the same time? Yes! You can have faith that God wants you to do something and still be scared to death. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is going ahead and doing what you're called to do in spite of your fear. You have to begin with the faith you already have; it may be just a little, but you start there. A beautiful example of this is the story of the man who brought his sick son to Jesus in Mark 9. Jesus looked at the man and said, "I can heal your son. If you will believe, I will heal him." The father then makes a classic statement: "Lord, I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief." Have you ever felt like that? "Lord, I have some faith. But I also have some doubts." This man was filled with faith and doubt, yet despite his honest doubts, he went ahead and asked Jesus for a miracle. And he got his miracle - Jesus healed his son. Mustard seed faith moves mountains. No matter how weak or how frail you think your faith is, it's enough to get you through what you're facing because your "little faith" is in a big God. Matthew 17:20 says, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed . . . Nothing will be impossible for you." That's not a lot of faith; in fact, it's just a little faith. But what else does that verse teach? "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move,' and it will move" (NIV). Mustard seed faith moves mountains. Don't get this reversed; we tend to read this verse backward; we want it to say, "If you have faith like a mountain, you can move a mustard seed" - as if it takes enormous faith to do a very little task. Everybody has faith. You had faith this morning when you ate your cereal - faith that your spouse didn't put poison in your granola! You had faith when you sat down in your computer chair - faith that it wouldn't collapse. Everybody has faith; the difference is what you put your faith in. Sometimes people will tell me they don't want to surrender to Jesus until all their questions are answered; they don't want to make a commitment until everything is understood. God wants you start with the faith you have, and based on the example of the mustard seed, you don't need a whole lot of faith to do great things for God. You just need a little. So here's a trustworthy equation: Little Faith + Big God = Huge Results! - You take your little faith; "Lord, I believe! Help me with my unbelief!" - And you place your faith in our big God. And then he'll show you how he works out huge results.

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I feel like there are many times in our lives our faith is tested. Some kind of kick in the gut brings us much worry and doubt. I want every day to give that all to God and let Him deal with it. And for the most part, I can do that but it's not always easy. I thank God for those days, for reminding me what is really important... and that is our faith in Him.

A few years back, five to be exact. Bob and I had a motto and it was "If was easy, it wasn't meant for us". Once we truly realized that our minds were powerful tools and we learn to stop thinking negatively, our entire world changed. Everything. Almost instantly. It is a process, a beautiful one. Our new motto is "What if............. it all works out". Think about it... doesn't it always?

Well, I leave you with a sneak peek of a wedding Bob photographed in Hawaii, the wedding of beautiful Crystal and Ron. We are so blessed with amazing clients!

Bob and I wish you all a glorious Labor Day weekend...!