Don and Tiffany: Engagment

Technically, it was a recon mission. In just 2 days, Tiffany and Don will be married! So we met up at Dickenson College's admissions building to check out the spots we would be shooting the newlyweds on May 7th. I brought my camera along to take some shots that we most definitely wouldn't be getting (sitting, laying down, etc.) with Tiffany's most awesome red cocktail dress that she'll be wearing Thursday. Now with the rain that's been never ending, Tiffany and Don have chosen to take picture somewhere with porches and gazebos where they can stay dry in case of inclement weather- Carlisle Barracks. Now I'm especially excited that I took photos of them the day we went out on the campus since we won't be shooting there. The photos on Thursday will be something completely new and different.

Don has a daughter, Erika, from a previous marriage. She's full of spunk, so my son had a blast playing with her the day we went out.I got a big kick out of a story Tiffany told me about how Erika was brainstorming photo posing ideas for the shoot. We tried two of her poses. I love to encourage creativity!

Here are two of her suggestions:

And here was a pose I had seen the week before that I wanted to emulate. I tried several poses during this photo shoot for the first time ever. I also like to encourage my own creativity :)

Thursday, Carlisle Barracks, porches, red dress, rainy weather, knot tying- I'm on it.

What do you mean I missed Easter?!

Floating through the air and space with no real sense of time, month, day, season. That's sometimes how I feel. Especially when the days are long and busy, where it becomes a struggle just to find time to take a shower- and laundry- well forget it!
Somewhere between an engagement session I have yet to work on and post, my trip to Disney, and two weddings, I've totally missed Easter.

The bunny did find us in Florida, but the day was very nontraditional. We spent our day at a Disney theme park. No fresh buttery mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole with pecans and brown sugar, asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, buns, cranberry sauce and stuffing balls with a Honey Baked "Easter" Ham. Just a sugar high and a all day walking routine that would rival a work out video by "The Biggest Loser's" Jillian.

Here are a few shots I took at the Easter Egg Hunt in Hershey.

This is AJ's, "stop taking pictures of me" face. The date always falls on the most miserable day of the spring. This time it was cold, but even MORE windy.

AJ got 2 eggs. Poor guy.

Somehow we were lucky enough to win 2 prizes from eggs though. (Maya's eggs.)

Happy belated Easter everyone!

They Gray's St. Petersburg Vow Renewal

Talk about being at the right place at the right time. This location is a bit different than any other wedding you've seen on my blog. I can't help but get the feeling that "I have arrived". On April 10th I had the most amazing opportunity to photograph the vow renewal of Leela and Tony Gray. As you can tell from the first photo, we weren't in Pennsylvania! I traveled to St. Petersburg Florida. I was already going to be down that way for our trip to Disney so shooting this event for the Grays worked out perfectly. They were celebrating ten amazing years together. And from what I heard during the toasts later in the evening, those ten years were truly AMAZING.I had all the excitement and adrenaline of doing a real destination wedding where I had to travel a great distance for the first time, but it was totally relaxed since I know the Grays and it was less pressure than a bride's first wedding. I'll admit- I was totally nervous on my way there!The night before, they saw carriages riding by the hotel, so they secured a ride to the ceremony site.Waiting for his stunning bride.They have so much fun together.Does this family look familiar at all to you?It should :)Daddy's girlEach wedding gives me a different feel from the couple. From the Grays I feel a lot of passion for one another.See what I mean?They are such a GORGEOUS couple!The whole group. Close family and friends who made the day even more special.This was the view looking out the other side of where the ceremony took place.Probably my favorite photo of the day- they rocked this pose- I just knew they would.They hosted a dinner at the Vinoy afterwards in a private room. Very classy.

Thank you Leela and Tony for such an awesome opportunity and experience. I had so much fun and would love to do it again in another ten years!!

**Addition: These photos were taken on both my new Nikon D700 and my Nikon D2X

The Carver Family and baby Tessa

I'm now back from Disney and my trip was AMAZING- and a bit tiring at well. I planned on blogging my adventures each day, but my plan was spoiled by the poor internet connection. I have so much to share and life is about to go into hyperdrive!
For now, let's get back to the beautiful baby girl I photographed back in March. Here is Tessa Carver, and her family.

Here is the cacoon I bought the other day. The second cacoon I bought didn't arrive in time for the shoot. Nothin' like a baby in a salad bowl!

Tessa's brother, Dylan, was hard to hold down, but I love the photos with him playing in the background.

It was quite chilly outside so Tessa didn't want to get out of this blanket.

I can't wait to watch her as she grows!