Archive for the ‘Couples’ Category
Hey, Donnally here! I’m a new intern for Erika Dotson Photography, find out more about me here.
Meet Elizabeth and Andrew, a ridiculously cute couple! Erika threw me a camera, and I started snapping pictures… a great way to learn the ropes! Erika gave me a ideas for themes, I chose a first date theme for the couple because I thought it would be perfect for them. It was a fun shoot, complete with cupcakes from Bliss Cupcake Cafe, balloons, and lots of laughter. We shot the mini-session with them in downtown Fayetteville. Elizabeth and Andrew, recently engaged, were great to work with!

Bliss was a cute place to begin the shoot, owner Shelley Cassar, was happy to have Bliss as the set for the first date theme.

To set up the first date theme, Elizabeth and Andrew picked out their cupcakes. Their taste of choice was chocolate milkshake and carrot cake. Yum!!!

*Erika here – It was such a treat to be able to teach Donnally what I knew about photography this day. I’m super excited to have her on board as an intern here! Can’t wait for what is to come! Be sure to check out her about page.

Yes, old fashion Coca-Cola was a must for the shoot!

I’ve got nothing for you… but meet the cupcakes.

Andrew kept blowing bubbles in the Coca-Cola, making Elizabeth all smiles.

*We thought it may be a bit awkward if Donnally wrote about herself, so here I am again. I loved how she just jumped onto this table to shoot! She’s learning already one of the most important factors on a shoot…..not worrying about your surroundings and how silly you look propped up on the table! I love it! :)

Gorgeous lighting.

I love the way Andrew looks at her. So sweet.

And forehead kisses… bonus!!!

This picture sums up the couple. Perfect.
Enjoy!
-Donnally
Tags: 479-871-8932, Andrew Even, arkansas wedding photography, Arkansas Wedding Videography, bella vista wedding photography, Bliss Cupcake Cafe, Campbell, Cupcake Cafe, Cupcakes, Cute cupcakes, Donnally, Donnally Campbell, dotson, Elizabeth Doster, erica dotson, ericka dodson, erika, erika dotson, erika dotson photography, Fayetteville Portrait Photography, fayetteville square, fayetteville wedding photography, First Date, little rock wedding photography, northwest arkansas wedding photography, NW Arkansas Photographer, NW Engagements, NWA Engagement Photography, nwa engagements, NWA PHOTOGRAPHY, simple wedding photography, Speciality Cupcakes, springdale wedding photography, unique wedding photography, vintage engagements, Wedding Cupcakes, wedding ideas, wedding vendors
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Hey there everyone! Several of you ladies contacted me at the beginning of the week regarding your wedding CD’s and I mentioned that I would be sending them out that day……then you all received an email shortly afterwards that said nevermind bc I have a little surprise for you!!! Well guess what I’m a horrible secret keeper (at least when it involves something so awesome like this!) and I’m just going to share it with you here, then you can be surprised when you actually get them in the mail!!! :)
I recently ran out of my traditional old labeled CD’s that I give to clients……you know the ones with my logo and name plastered all over them, which gave me an excuse to go order more……. Well that’s when it hit me! I’m going to make custom CD’s for all my clients!!! Yea be excited! :)
And without making you wait any longer for a picture……….

I’m so excited to get these out to you guys tomorrow!
Enjoy!
-erika
Tags: all images on disc, arkansas wedding photographer, arkansas wedding photographs, arkansas wedding photography, arkansas weddings, erika and liz, erika dorie dotson, erika dotson, erika dotson arkansas wedding photographer, erika dotson photography, erika liz photography, eureka springs photographers, fayetteville photographers, fort smith photographers, huntsville photographers, images on CD, joplin wedding photographer, little rock photographer, little rock wedding photographer, mena photographer, mena wedding photography, oklahoma city wedding photographer, package includes cd, portrait photographers, rogers photographers, springdale photographers, springfield wedding photographer, tulsa wedding photographer, wedding cd, wedding photography, wedding products
Posted in Couples, Products, Weddings |
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Tanja and David, where in the world do I start? Well right here in my backyard in fact! Tanja has been out to my house many times and knew this was the area she wanted to have her engagements done. David is such a sport and does pretty much whatever Tanja musters around in her head! I love it! David adores her and I think it’s beautiful. I was actually there the day that he proposed to her hiding behind a rock ledge trying to capture some photos of the whole thing!
Tanja wanted a vintage style to her engagements and I just love these travel inspired ones we started out with! It was a BIG deal to keep track of David’s passport (as he’s visiting from England)!!!!

I have wanted to photograph someone on this bridge for a very long time! I’m so glad that Tanja was able to see the same thing I did as she drove over it for the first time to my house!!!


We then headed to another place that I’ve been dying to shoot at!!! Every weekend when we go to visit TW’s parents we pass this vineyard and I always put in a mental note: I’ve got to take someone out here!!!! Now I can put that note aside thanks to Tanja! She’s so stinkin beautiful……doesn’t she just look famous with that beautiful hair?!?!?!!?

This next set has a bit of a funny background story to it. We first tried to set up our picnic in the middle of the dirt road. But between getting the blanket down, the typewriter, the soda, and not to mention the couple a car would come then we’d do it all over again and another car would come!!! We got a bit frustrated but headed to a beautiful field instead. But the story doesn’t stop there, while we were taking these Tanja noticed some cows getting closer and closer…….well apparently we were in the middle of two fields of cows that were headed towards one another as if they were going to battle! Needless to say we got our stuff quickly and hopped over on the other side of the fence into the “safe” zone!!! :) Then afterwards they followed us to the gate and we tried to touch them. I didn’t realize they hadn’t ever seen a cow that close before! If I would have known that I would have stuck them out in our field and let our little cow come say hi!!!


Tanja and David I can’t wait to fly out to Europe next summer for your wedding day!!! You two are such a beautiful couple! It’s been such a blast being able to work alongside you two and see you grow!
Much Love
-erika
Tags: arkansas engagement photographer, arkansas engagement photography, arkansas engagement portraits, arkansas engagements, arkansas photographer, engagement portraits, engagements, esession, fayetteville arkansas engagements, fayetteville portraits, huntsville ar portrait photographer, huntsville ar wedding photographer, huntsville arkansas engagement photographer, huntsville portraits, kansas city wedding photography, little rock wedding photography, nw arakansas engagements, nw arkansas, nw arkansas engagement photographer, nw arkansas engagement photography, nw arkansas engagement portraits, oklahoma wedding photography, springfield wedding photography, texas wedding photography, tulsa wedding photography
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Danielle and Justin are such a sweet and in love couple! I have known Danielle for a few years, we attended the U of A together and graduated from the Dietetics program together in 2008. A few years back I offered to shoot Danielle and her friend McKinzie just for fun, and we did just that, had lots of fun! We came out with some great shots of the both of them. Since then we were able to shoot McKinzie’s wedding last summer at the Botanical Gardens and are super excited that she’s having a baby boy too!!! :) But we’re more excited that we’re lucky enough to have the opportunity to shoot Danielle’s wedding in Conway this October!!! I can’t wait. She is so beautiful! This girl is truly amazing! She works with kids on a daily basis and loves every second of it. And thank you Justin for supporting her in life, because we all know she probably comes home sometimes wiped out and completely exhausted from sharing that love all day! We need more people in the world just like them! Oh and a big congrats to Justin who just graduated from UCA in Kinesiology!
We shot these lovely engagements out at the Botanical Gardens on Friday!

Are they not just the most adorable couple ever?

I just love the way she looks at him!

This is just too lovely!

Love love love love it!

She’s gorgeous…….I told ya so!

I just love this yummy light!

Love.

Thanks you guys you were wonderful!
Enjoy!
-erika
Tags: arkansas engagement photography, arkansas wedding photographer, botanical garden engagement pics, botanical garden images, Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, botanical gardends, danielle long, engagement photos, erika and liz, erika dotson, erika dotson photography, erika liz photography, justin adkisson, nwa engagement pictures, wedding in arkansas, wedding photography in arkansas
Posted in Couples |
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Hey there I just realized I posted Erika and Johnny’s pictures on Facebook but I failed to ever blog them!!!! Silly me. So anyways Erika and Johnny. I met Erika while working at Forever 21. She was a pretty quiet girl and I didn’t talk much with her at first, but then I started working in the mornings with her and every Thursday we would have a nice long chat while I cleaned up the jewelry room and she changed the mannequins in the windows. Johnny proposed to her on Christmas by leaving the box in the Christmas tree in their home. So adorable. She was glowing when I got to work the next day! It was so much fun to watch her get so excited and giggly about all the plans and her dress! :) They moved to El Dorado Texas, quite a trek back to Northwest Arkansas so I decided I would meet her halfway in Dallas for something different and fun to shoot. Well as luck would have it, it was extremely cold that day for some odd reason!?!?!?!? That actually turned out to the be weekend we got that 11 inches of snow, yep and we drove back home in it making a five hour trip from Dallas into an eleven hour trip!!!! Lot’s of good memories! Erika and Johnny were really great troopers, they were up for anything as well as putting up with me constantly changing my mind about where to shoot. There is so much to shoot in Dallas it’s a bit overwhelming for a photographer! Here’s some beautiful shots of Erika and Johnny.







Ending with my favorite shot of the day!
Enjoy!
-erika
Tags: arkansas engagement photos, arkansas wedding photography, big city engagement photos, classic engagement photos, dallas engagement photos, dallas wedding photography, erica dotson, erika and johnny, erika dotson, erika dotson photography, erika haddock engagement photos, nwa engagement portraits, nwa wedding photography, pigeon kissing photos, pigeon photos, texas enagagement photos, vintage wedding photography, wedding photography in arkansas, wedding photography in dallas
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Amber and Alan. They will be getting married September 18th this year! I’m super excited since now as of this weekend wedding season has officially kicked off for me! I’m ready for nights upon nights of editing as well as sore feet from shooting all weekend……..not really but I am ready to spend the day with my couples and their most important day as a newly married pair! I just love weddings and being surrounded by such happy loving families. I am grateful for all my loving clients, they keep my business thriving as well as welcome me in to document the most beautiful day of their lives together!
Amber and Alan mentioned to me that they wanted to shoot their engagements on the square in Fayetteville. It wasn’t until a little later that I learned Alan had this really sweet special proposal planned in December for Amber. He planned on taking her to the square to ride in the horse carriages, check out the beautiful light display, and have a nice dinner afterwards only to walk into their apartment and Amber was in her PJ’s!!! Obviously the night Alan had planned still went spectacular but they didn’t ride carriages or stroll around the square, rather they enjoyed their new life together in PJ’s in their apartment. I love it! Sometimes it’s funny how we realize these perfectly planned engagements turn out to be even better when they don’t go exactly as planned!
Amber and Alan met in Accounting class at the U of A. Apparently Alan facebooked her after class asking for help with the homework. Well Amber kept acting like she didn’t know how to do it and little did she know Alan really didn’t need her help at all (he already had his work done and totally understood it!) How cute. Their first date was the movies followed by dinner at Denny’s!
I told Alan I would put this on the blog…….. As I first met with them I asked how many more days until the wedding. Immediately Amber told me she didn’t know days just months. No problem just wondering right? Sometimes my couples know exactly to the day how much longer! Well Alan promptly stated there were 142 days left! He had to double check to make sure he was right, I mentioned that he had studied before their shoot since he knew his photographer would ask a question like that! ;) I’m impressed Alan and I’m granting bragging rights to you! It’s was so sweet to watch Amber and Alan together and how much Alan adores her. She really is a lucky girl and I’m sure he’ll take good care of her through their life together.
Ok enough about them let’s see their pictures!!!!!

Meet Amber. She’s getting married September 18th to……

Alan. Amber’s future husband!

Isn’t she just beautiful. I can’t tell Alan thinks so! :)

I love the way Alan looks at Amber! He’s too adorable. I know he’ll take good care of her!

I love the expression on Alan’s face here, he looks so happy and in love!

Amber told Alan she wanted a princess cut diamond and he designed the rest at a local jewelry shop! That’s a gorgeous ring!




There’s a tradition for all U of A graduates here in Arkansas. They imprint years on the sidewalks and your name is etched into the cement according to the year you graduated along with your degree for everyone to admire forever!


And my favorite shot of the day comes from a quick random idea. I love how those ideas always turn out to be your best shots, which just so you know I’m pretty sure this idea of the lawn shot was Ambers!!! Way to go!
Congratulations to you two! It was great to go about town shooting and getting to know you! I look forward to September!
Enjoy!
-erika
Tags: alan nichols, amber and alan engagement photos, amber and alan engagements, amber kinnard, engagement photographers, engagement photos, erika dotson photography, fayetteville engagement photography, fayetteville engagements, fayetteville square, north west arkansas wedding photographers, northwest arkansas engagement photography, nwa engagement photos, railroad track engagement photos, railroad tracks, u of a engagement photos, u of a photos, university of arkansas, wedding photographers
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Ashley and Jim drove up to Fayetteville for the weekend. They are such a fun and laid back couple! I enjoyed walking all over Springdale and through all the briars with them today! They will be getting married in Little Rock on July 17th this year. I’m pretty excited!!!!

I just love how happy they are in this one! Of and I love the wind blowing her hair!!!

Jim’s a lucky guy! Isn’t she just gorgeous, look at those eyes!

Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love. This may just be my favorite image of the day.

Cute shot in downtown Springdale.

Don’t they look so happy to be together! I just love shooting engagement pictures!

This was Ashley’s one request……field shots! I am in love with sunflare and fields!

Love the warmth and closeness!

Oh wait I forgot about this one…….totally hands down my favorite for the day!
Enjoy!
-erika
Tags: arkansas engagements, arkansas engagments, arkansas wedding photography, bella vista wedding photography, blog.erikadotsonphotography.com, clean wedding photography, creative wedding photography, dallas wedding photography, dodson photography, dotson, dotson photography, engagements in arkansas, engagment portraits, erica dodson, erica dotson, erika, erika and liz, erika dorie dotson, erika dotson, erika dotson photography, erika liz photography, erikadotsonphotography.com, eureka springs wedding photography, fayetteville engagements, fayetteville wedding photography, fort smith wedding photography, little rock wedding photography, mena wedding photography, modern wedding photography, northwest arkansas wedding photography, nwa wedding photography, outdoors wedding photography, rogers arkansas, rogers arkansas wedding photography, simple wedding photography, springdale arkansas, springdale wedding photography, tulsa wedding photography, unique wedding photography, wedding chapel, wedding ideas, wedding photographers, wedding photography, wedding photography in fayetteville, wedding photos, wedding vendors
Posted in Couples |
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I know you all remember the images I posted a few days ago of Tanja and David’s engagement….. they haven’t even been engaged a week yet (technically they will tomorrow) and we’re already shot some engagement pictures!!! I have a feeling knowing Tanja that there will be some more! I told her no matter what if it snows while he’s here we’re shooting! Sure enough it snowed like the very next day! I love Tanja to death, she’s one of those girls that can brighten a room just with her presence! Honestly there have been moments at work where everyone there was like “where’s Tanja?, I can’t wait till she gets here”. That should speak volumes about how amazing this girl truly is. I am fortunate enough that she actually wants to hang out with me at weddings all day! And of course we can’t forget about that boy….. David. He’s pretty cool too. Actually anyone from Europe that’s hanging around here is cool, I think it’s the accent. But in all seriousness, David really genuinely cares and loves my dear Tanja so he’s got to be an amazing man himself. He always can make you laugh too! Oh and I love to learn all the new words I’ve never heard before when I’m around him!!!
Congratulations you two! I am so excited and honored to share all these special memories with you guys! Best wishes and good luck.


This ring is a beauty! David told me he could be a jeweler with as many rings as he had to look through to find the perfect one!!!






I seriously thought this one was adorable! Like a magazine ad!!!
Tags: arkansas wedding photography, bentonville wedding photography, dallas wedding photography, eureka springs wedding photography, fayetteville wedding photography, fort smith wedding photography, little rock wedding photography, northwest arkansas wedding photography, rogers wedding photography, siloam springs wedding photography, snow engagement pictures, springdale wedding photography, tulsa wedding photography, wedding photography, winter engagements
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And like I promised…………something BIG happened last night!!!!!!!

He set everything up prior and went all out with flower petals, tons of candles, and a cabin at Devil’s Den!!!

Then blindfolded her the entire way there!!! Perfect!

SHE SAID YES!!!!!!! SHE SAID YES!!!!!! (She also said “Oh my G, Oh my G, Oh my G about 20 times!!!) Well she said the full word but I’m editing it for my blog post! :) Congratulations you two!!!!
TANJA IS ENGAGED!!!! TO AN ENGLISH BOY!!!! (if you didn’t know Tanja is our associate photographer!!!!)
I’m super excited for them!!!! I hid with a friend who was video taping and I was shooting. It was super super super dark and not the best conditions but I’m sure she’ll be excited to have something!
Tags: arkansas wedding photography, engaged, engagements, erika dorie dotson, erika dorie photography, erika dorie simmons, erika dotson, erika dotson photography, fayetteville wedding photography, little rock wedding photography, tanja heffner, wedding photography
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I am about to go hit the showers but just before I do I want to share this image from Jamie and Miller’s New Years Eve Wedding!
Absolutely gorgeous if you ask me!!!

They were married at the First Christian Church in Fayetteville.
Enjoy
-erika
Tags: arkansas wedding photography, dallas wedding photography, dotson wedding photography, erica dodson, erica dotson, erica wedding photographer, erika dodson, erika dotosn, erika dotson, erika dotson photography, erika wedding photographer, eureka springs wedding photography, fayetteville arkansas, fayetteville wedding photography, First Christian Church, fort smith wedding photography, joplin wedding photography, kansas city wedding photography, little rock wedding photography, mena wedding photography, northwest arkansas wedding photography, oklahoma city wedding photography, tulsa wedding photography, wedding photography
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