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Angie & Daniel - Engagement Portraits |
M y baby brother is getting married... THIS October 16! I still remember playing Barbies & GI-Joes with him on the stairs in our childhood home... I remember the rolly polly little (BIG) baby he was and how he would grit his teeth, scrunch his nose and pant when he got frustrated... I remember being bigger than him and being able to pin him down when he got on my nerves after HOURS of playing together... I also remember (gasp!) smoking my first (and close to my last) cigar with him on the roof of our house when we were in high school. He was easily one of my best friends growing up, and now, he has found his lifetime best friend... Angie. And, they are getting married in Asheville, NC (our hometown) in just a few months. When did we grow up and get spouses (and babies)?
I have always been super strict in my no-friends policy for weddings. Mix business and money with friends and it can (and probably will) get nasty. But, I have never had to make a policy for family... and then Daniel told me that they may not have a professional photographer since they couldn't fit a great one in their budget, and I couldn't stand for it. My side of the conversation went something like this, "Listen, if you don't hire anyone, I am going to take tons of pictures anyways and then feel like I am in the way or can't enjoy the day. Why don't we just hire a third photographer to cover the reception and the times when I just want to be your sister, and Chris and I will photograph your wedding for you?" It just felt extremely selfish of me not to offer... the thought about sitting there while NO ONE takes pictures just so that I can "enjoy the day" (as my brother told me he wanted me to do), well, it just wasn't going to work... I am passionate about what I do for a living. I think that memories get fuzzy and having quality photography to capture your most special moments in life is so important. If you don't realize that now, you will realize it in 5-10-15+ years when you are lacking them. So, fortunately, they agreed, and we are giving them photography as a gift. Hopefully, it will be their favorite gift! :-)
And the gift starts with engagement portraits in the mountains of VA (where we stayed this last weekend). Happy viewing, friends!
(the place we stayed was an old non-active vineyard) |
| this is soooo Daniel... typical goof. Always good to make any and all of us laugh. |
| "I want a sweet one," she said. :-) |
| This is one GOOD-LOOKIN couple!! |
| we went down the street for a few... cuteness. |
| love this one. they obviously make each other very happy. |
| couldn't decide between the next two... |
| Angie, you are stunning. You will make one BEAUTIFUL bride! |
| easily my favorite (well, maybe not so easily- i like a lot of these). |
| Angie looks hot, and Daniel looks like he needs to scrub his feet (sorry, the sister in me had to kick in, no pun intended). ;-) |
| I am sure the parents will like this one... |
| another sweet one i love!! |
| Congrats! Can't wait for the big day! |
T wo personal posts in a row. I know for many of you faithful readers, this doesn't bore you, but for the newbies, hang on... some fun things are coming real soon! I never thought the blog would be slow at all in late June, but so it goes moving to a new market. I will have crazy amounts of posts every few weeks and then a little lull. We are rebuilding here in an over-saturated market, so bear with me, friends. :-) Anyway, this past weekend, we had a little getaway planned with my three brothers, my sister-in-law, future sister-in-law and niece... we chose a spot we thought was right in the middle of all of us... Luray, VA. What we didn't know when we picked the house was that it was about ten miles up a dirt road and that just about all of us would get lost and add a significant amount of time to our drives. But, we learned a valuable lesson in this trip... go where you know. Anyway... now that there are two babies in the family, we have decided we need to have a mini vacation together every summer so that the cousins get to know each other. So, this was the First Annual Getaway. And, of course, I had to take some pictures for everyone, including (mostly) the grandparents. In fact, mom, dad, grandma, etc. you won't see a single print until Christmas. We are going to torture you that way. ;-) Happy viewing, friends!
My oldest brother David with his wife Katy and daughter Eloise... remember them? |
| this is hands down my favorite of the three of them. they are such good parents! |
| i could just chomp on those cheeks! but check out the sweet drool on David's arm... two streams of it, actually. |
| Eloise LOVES the camera! Good thing. Every time she sees me, I will have it, pretty much! She is 4 months old, by the way... so... I am thinking... I did her newborn... did some 4 months... will see her around 8 months... and then, I will just have to see her around her first birthday to give the baby first year! |
| Eloise LOVES Claire. She was mesmerized by her most of the time, but this time, she is cracking up at Claire trying to put on sunglasses. |
| Eloise just tried to nurse on Claire's arm (note the drool there)... Claire wasn't too excited about that. |
| Here is my middle brother (2 of 3) Hank... |
| so, one of the things we talked about while we were together was how our dad tried SOOO hard to get a good pic of us 4 together every year (for the Christmas card, I assume), and it barely and rarely ever came out ok. Some things never change... the goof on the left is my youngest brother Daniel (more pics of him and his bride Angie soon). |
| David & Katy are pretty much the opposite of me when it comes to taking pictures. I have seen a total of maybe 3 pictures of Eloise since she was born (after my own, of course). So, I took a few random ones of her to fill the void. Like bathtime! |
| Next up... in a couple days... Daniel & Angie's engagement portraits! |
Summertime with Claire & Grace |
J ust two days ago, I realized that I had not posted a personal album on Facebook (other than my niece's newborn pics) since Claire's 11 month portraits. I didn't post her Christmas pics, her first birthday pics or party, not any personal pics of us moving (uhh, there aren't any)... anyway... it hit me today that I am pretty sure my parents and grandparents JOINED Facebook just for those monthly album peeks at Claire, and I have failed miserably. So, do I become one of THOSE people that makes an album called "lately" and throw in 6 months of our crazy life in it? Probably... well, no, actually... doubtful. I don't know... we'll see how I feel after I catch up from all of the shoots in the Adirondacks from this last trip AND catch up on some album designs... then, I will let you know about those Facebook albums. Anyway, I promise I take pictures of my daughter (though not often enough these crazy days). So, for those of you who don't mind a little personal post about my (ALMOST 18 month old) daughter and her BFF Grace, happy viewing, friends!
it is dang hot in Philly. i wasn't prepared. but fortunately, Claire's aunt and grandmom bought her a pool! |
| she's either thinking about drinking from the frisbee or just did. |
| yes, friends, the water she was standing in was the FREEZING (even for me) water from the hose. she loved it! and loved the hose.... |
| Ginger thought the pool was a giant drinking bowl. Claire was not amused. |
| how did I not realize she's teething again?! yes, friends, those lovely INCISORS are coming (she already has 12 teeth). |
| Where Claire is serious and pensive, Grace is silly and playful. Having them hang out a bunch helps me balance life. :-) |
| i think Grace might be teething, too. Catch that drool! |
| This is how they play most of the time. Claire wanders off, and Grace calls her (yes, she can say Claire's name- though it sounds like CLAUR more than CLAIRE). |
| okay, this pic could have a hilarious caption... Grace eyeing Claire's bikini... but, I know what was happening here. Grace was licking the water off her hand (she deliberately would dip her hand in the pool just to suck it off her hand)... and, she's thinking her friend is crazy for going in the cold water. |
later that day....
how cute is this?! i have to hold myself back from kissing her to bits while she drinks from this cup. |
| Claire is learning to put her bows and headbands back on. Still in process... |
| this last one is for my grandma. She wanted to know if Claire had any hair and what color it is. Here you go! (also, everyone enjoy the ruffles on the butt!) |
Kelsey - Main Line Senior Portraits |
K elsey just graduated... Congrats Class of 2010! While most senior portraits take place the summer before your senior year in high school, Kelsey just found out about me (and I wasn't in the area last summer), and she was super excited to get her portraits done. I really love doing senior portraits... I almost feel like I am ten-ish years younger, playing with my friends with a fancy camera. I feel like I just laugh through the whole session. Anyway, we had a great time, and I hope you enjoy this preview! Happy viewing, friends!
I secretly jump with joy when I photograph a red-head. Just makes color pics THAT much more fun! |
| love it when pics like this come STRAIGHT out of my camera! |
| we were trying to decide... is this a blueberry tree? do blueberries really grow on trees? we were too nervous to try, but I thought the blue berries would be pretty next to Kelsey's beautiful blue eyes. |
| i love how natural this one is. i think most senior portrait photographers only take about 50 shots, if that, and then probably only deliver a couple dozen (I know that I only got 10-20 myself when I was a senior), but I shoot seniors much like I do children or families... almost constantly shooting, trying to get the most natural reactions and moments. |
| this is one of those "how the heck" shots... obviously might not go on mom's wall, but i love the motion and the colors in this one. the wind was FIERCE that day! |
| this might be my favorite. |
| i don't usually do pano type shots... nor do I usually do a silhouette for a senior portrait, but I couldn't help myself. |
| Kelsey brought these flowers with her, which I love that she brought something to add to the session. She really wanted a shot of her looking at them. LOVE this one! |
| Thanks so much, Kelsey! (And Carly, for helping with the reflector!) |
Kristin - White Pine Camp Bridal Portraits |
H ow do I begin to write a post about Kristin? First, I should start by telling you that she is getting MARRIED today!!!!!! In just a few short hours, Kristin will become Mrs. Parker, and I couldn't be more excited for her. I first met Kristin in the spring of 2008 when I was looking to hire an assistant to help manage my studio and client relations. I knew as soon as I met her that I HAD to hire her, especially since everyone who knew she was applying told me just how amazing she is. And, while I unfortunately couldn't keep her on staff for more than a year (due to down-sizing the amount of work I was doing due to the new addition to our family), she was a total lifesaver during that time, especially while I attempted a maternity leave after Claire was born. She kept things going, and I will forever be grateful for her. I so wish that we still lived right next door to her (yes, we were also neighbors- she bought the house across the street while she was working for me) and that we could just hop on a boat today to join in her wedding celebrations, but alas, Philadelphia to Saranac Lake is not an easy commute, especially since we were just up there last week and have to be up again next week. Anyway, as a wedding gift, I offered to do bridal portraits for Kristin. She helped me with a few bridal portraits (which is mostly an OLD Southern tradition of getting portraits done before the wedding day as a gift to your parents and your new husband), and she just loved the idea. So, we headed out to White Pine Camp a few weeks ago when I was up in town to do her Bridal portraits. Happy viewing, friends!!
Kristin's soon-to-be husband is a soccer coach, and she just knew he would LOVE a portrait of her surrounded by soccer balls. This was my favorite one... a good Kristin laugh! |
| this is Chris' favorite. You look so elegant, Kris! |
| this is one of my faves, especially the giant bug on her lace. We were all EATEN ALIVE that day (seriously, my entire face was swollen from black fly bites) |
| Kristin really wanted to have her wedding at White Pine Camp in Paul Smiths, NY, but they booked today before she could... so, we got special permission to do her portraits there. One of her favorite things there was this LOOOOOOOONG bridge. Unfortunately, it was under construction (mostly on the other side) and strictly prohibited from walking on it, so we settled for this... |
| a short bridge to the Tea House... love this! |
| the Tea House is one of my favorite places I have ever shot at... sure, it is rustic, but it was so quaint. |
| might be my favorite... Kristin, you are STUNNING! |
| this is a classic "i'm concentrating" face. :-) |
| Kristin has a great laugh, and she laughs often. We had such a blast working together. Anytime we got too stressed, we just would have random dance parties in the studio... mostly to "Single Ladies" (which she ain't NO MORE!) |
| i think we needed an old book in this one. love the colors! |
| this might be my favorite, too (i have too many, i know). LOVE the bright, vivid colors! |
| Kristin likes to play... she brought LOTS of props! Usually, my shoots take about an hour, sometimes an hour and a half (for newborns or larger families), but with Kristin, I knew we would play a lot... this shoot spanned over 3 hours! haha! love this next one, though... |
| and lastly.... one in their front yard (yes, across the street from our house, which is still for sale!). Adam bought Kristin these flowers that day for the shoot, but she didn't want them to wilt since it was so hot that day. So, we just grabbed one just as the sun was going down. |
| Have such a happy day with all of your friends and family!! I'm totally going to be stalking Joe Elario's site the next week to see how your day went. Can't wait! May your marriage be so truly blessed!! You are such a great couple. |
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