Erika Dotson Photography » Couples

Fayetteville Engagements // Grace and Brady

Erika — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:10:14 +0000

Here’s part two of their engagements! See part one here! We changed outfits halfway through the session, well they did I remained in my original attire! Since they met in the Razorback Marching Band I think their red outfits are quite fitting for the finishing touches on their engagements! I just love when there’s a bit of a personal aspect to your photos! I’ll admit we have a bit of Hog Fever ourselves and wore Razorback t-shirts in our maternity photos, so glad we did because now those images grace the walls of Titan’s Razorback room!!!!

Enjoy!

-erika

U of A Campus Engagements // Grace and Brady

Erika — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:36:12 +0000

I met up with Grace and Brady yesterday on the University of Arkansas campus yesterday for some chilly windy engagements. We are already booked for their September wedding in Texas but we shot their engagements with them anyways!!!! We had a lot of fun battling the wind, walking all over campus, making memories and chatting with them! The two met while both being in the Razorback Marching Band. Grace is working on her Masters for business and Brady graduated from the U of A with an Electrical Engineering degree. They plan on getting married in Texas, where she’s from, and heading back home (here!!!!) :) after all the celebrations.

Congratulations you two! We wish you many many happy years together! Here’s part 1 of their engagements!

Slowly but Surely…..

Erika — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:23:14 +0000

Originally I just planned on posting a quick image up on Facebook of a quick edit I did on a recent engagement shoot and call it a day for my social media efforts. Just then I changed my mind and decided to give all my lovely clients an update.

I just finished up editing Kara and Nathan’s wedding images and they are currently loading into their online gallery (that will take about 6 hours to complete). YAY!!!!

Followed by:

Crystal and Greg

Ivory and Matt

Liz and Jacky

Audra and Jeff

Jordan and Jordan

Sean and Jessica

My goal is to work on one wedding a week and hopefully knock them all out a few weeks before Christmas.

Now if you are wondering where you fit in with your sessions please don’t be alarmed my goal is to have every family session finished up by the end of November to give you plenty of time for ordering gifts for family!

Now I’ll leave you with that lovely image I planned on posting to Facebook today! :)

Enjoy!

-erika

Busy Busy Busy!

Erika — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:44:19 +0000

Just a quick post to tell you we’re super busy! I’ve been working hard trying to keep up with everyone’s emails and focusing intently on getting sessions edited and uploaded for all my lovely clients! I really do love you guys!

Let’s just think about where I would be without you………since there’s certain bills I pay vs. what the hubby pays for:

Car less (or driving my old white 1993 Toyota Camry ) , pretty hungry since I do most of our grocery shopping , no one could ever call or text me! , I wouldn’t have internet to post gorgeous pictures and keep you updated! , my baby wouldn’t have his daily meds or be seen by any doctors , I would still be shooting with my Minolta film camera …….. oh my goodness I’m just going to stop that list right there!!!!!

SOOOOOO big big big hugs to all my awesome and patient clients! I love you!

Here’s a few things we’ve been working on!

Adrienne will be graduating in 2012!

Jennifer and Ryan are now happily married

Todd and Ashleigh have welcomed this sweet boy into the world!

Enjoy!

-erika

We are SWAMPED! // Northwest Arkansas Wedding Photographers

Erika — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:36:33 +0000

Hey everyone! I have some images uploading right now so I thought I would take a quick second to post some recent work just to keep you updated! We’ve been crazy busy around here! I guess it doesn’t help with all the traveling we’ve been doing either! Right now all the shoots we do are taking about 2 months to get back to our clients. Typically I like to have a wedding finished within 2 to 3 weeks so that can give you a bit of an idea about how swamped we really are! We’ve had power outages like mad as well making it a bit challenging to edit….. but making our family quite happy with lots of time to play! I want to take a second to thank all our beautiful lovely clients for making this year such a success! Without you we would be just the opposite….very very slow and not busy!

I have the best clients in the world! Really I have met some wonderful people this summer and it’s made my photography so much better! I love my clients! Thank you!

This is just a few of the recent work we’ve been up to! Many many blog posts to come as soon as I take care of all my clients!

Enjoy!

-erika

Kate and Patrick // Rogers Arkansas Engagement Photography

Erika — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:39:08 +0000

Kate and Patrick met at the University of Maine and have been together for 7 years. They will be getting married back in Maine next year. They moved to our good old state to follow Patrick’s job while he works for a WalMart vendor. Either way we are glad you are here! I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to capture their beautiful engagements for them! I know they already have a photographer but maybe they’ll consider sending me to Maine? I’ve never been past Philadelphia so wouldn’t that be nice?!?!?! :) Ok I’m done dreaming but just keep that in mind if you are reading this Kate and Patrick! ;) We met up at Prairie Creek Marina for some fun nautical inspired shots. The weather was very beautiful as was the sun! Their outfits were perfect…..*small tip: sending what you plan on wearing to your photographer really helps them get an idea of where to shoot or what your style is and makes your images so much more! Kate is so beautiful…… I’m pretty sure I could photograph her all day long and never get tired of it! Congratulations you two and thanks for the opportunity to capture some beautiful shots and enjoy your engagement!

These were so much fun! I love to shoot “styled” shoots!

Enjoy!

-erika

Sean and Brittany // Salt Lake City Wedding Photographers

Erika — Wed, 25 May 2011 15:00:42 +0000

My favorite cousin got married at the end of April and I was fortunate enough to be able to fly out and attend their temple sealing at the Salt Lake City Temple! Sean and Brittany are totally adorable together! I’m super excited to have her join our family! She fits right in I promise you that, she’s a great sport and I’m pretty sure that’s a requirement! :) Sean has always been seeking love. He’s totally a romantic at heart so I know he’ll treat Brittany with all the respect and love she deserves! I’m proud that I can say that about him. He’s really a great catch! Here’s my take from their special day!

I’m pretty sure in Utah seeing each other before the wedding is pretty common. We actually met up the day before their sealing to take couple pictures around temple square. What a great idea because I’m pretty sure the weather the next day wasn’t nearly as good…..it was FREEZING!

While we are here I’m going to put in my little plug for a “FIRST LOOK”…..I can’t stress enough how smoother these make your day! They can be just as special and intimate as the ceremony and you can still get ready all day without seeing each other! When we set up a first look we have control of the background, we have control of where we can move to take our shots (which means we will be able to capture his real first expression close up!), you have your nerves calmed down, you can be more intimate and hug, talk, kiss and we can capture those raw emotions that you won’t have at the altar! Other reasons include less time taking pictures after the ceremony to allow you time to get to your guests more quickly before they depart, more time for the most important pictures of the day…..COUPLE PICTURES!!!! :) All in all time after time when our couples choose to do a first look the day is much smoother which result in better photos and you being more relaxed! Let’s top this all off with the tradition behind not seeing each other beforehand…..back in the days when your parents arranged who you would marry there was cause for concern that the groom would see the bride and not find her attractive and therefor run off before the ceremony. Well I don’t know about you but I’m pretty sure I was attracted to my husband before I met him!!!! So just ask yourself if you really want to hang on to that tradition?

Aren’t they just too cute together!

Couldn’t go without the classic temple shot!

Here’s my take on the hand shot with the temple door knobs.

These are my favorites! I just loved those pink blooms!!! I may just have to plant some of those in my yard!!!!

I’ll leave you with the portraits for now…..stay tuned for some more details and party shots!

Enjoy!

-erika

Megan and Benton // Fayetteville Wedding Photographers

Erika — Mon, 23 May 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Megan and Benton decided to meet up with us again and shoot some more engagement photos since we didn’t really have the beautiful sunlight we had hoped for the first time. I really enjoyed hanging out with them again and laughing again at how funny Benton is. These two are really such sweet people and I’m super excited to get to work with them on their special special day!!!

Enjoy!

-erika

Amanda and Steven // Arkansas Engagement Photographers

Erika — Fri, 20 May 2011 11:04:30 +0000

Amanda and Steven are getting married today! We teamed up last week to shoot some great engagement photos just pretty much for fun since they already had another photographer take some for them. I’m so glad we did because these turned out so wonderfully! I’m super stoked about the cool vinyl records and the neat little music shop I never knew existed until now! So I hope today goes smoothly for you and that you enjoy every minute of being united together!!!

Enjoy some engagements while you wait for their wedding photos!

Enjoy!

-erika

Megan and Benton // Rogers Engagement Photographers

Erika — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 06:50:56 +0000

It was a cloudy day and we were curious if the sun was ever going to come out. Thankfully during the day it peaked out a bit and allowed us to squeeze in a couple beautifully lit shots. We started shooting in downtown Rogers and then shortly ended up on the highway heading toward Beaver Lake, which ironically was just across from their wedding location!

Megan and Benton are both school teachers and it’s funny but neither of them really planned on teaching back when they were in college. They both joined an AWESOME program called Teach for America, where they commit two years of their life to teaching in low-income communities and helping their student achieve. I mean really I have the greatest couples EVER!

I can’t wait for their wedding this June at Creekwood Gardens!

Megan is all smiles because Benton is such a naturally funny guy! I seriously love this couple, not only are they beautiful people but they have good style too!

I just love this little series!

Getting a shot with the Harris building was Megan’s only special request. Her dad worked here for many many years and she basically grew up in this building. She told us a story of how her dad would push her on these carts like a race car. I just love personal touches like this in photographs. It really makes your photography increasingly special to you.

Meet Abby, she’s adorable! I just love how she smiles for the camera!

Not sure why but I just really wanted a picture like this!?!?!

Apparently this pup Abby gets a little jealous when Benton and Megan are loving up on one another! Too cute! Once again I swear this doggie is a poser!

Of course she said yes! Great job Benton!

This is my favorite shot from our shoot!

We caught a little bit of pretty light at the end of our shoot! Lovely!

Enjoy!

-erika