My favorite quote of the day was: "Whatever Brandy wants Brandy gets". Justin was the most polite and respectful person I think I have ever met. He is the type of husband that will take care of his wife. I really enjoy photographing weddings when you just know there is something different about their love for eachother- above and beyond the norm.

Brandy and Justin were high school sweet hearts and have been together for years. They have the most adorable son and another little one on the way. This day had been long awaited and the families were so happy. I thought these shoes rocked.
Here is their little man. They pulled out this mature pose for me- ham it up!
This is my favorite shot from the day.
Figured Brandy's feet had to be killing her ;)There was one shot Brandy really wanted- the guys on the rocks. She had seen this done before in my portfolio. My time was almost up so I asked if Justin wanted to make the walk to the stream. Yes. Definately!! "Whatever Brandy wants, Brandy gets". This was not said as if she is spoiled, but said as if Justin LOVES to spoil her.
A devoted loving husband. Gems like that are hard to find. Happy to see they do exist.
Brandy and Justin, if you ever need anything, a baby sitter, someone to have dinner with, just call. You guys deserve all the happiness in the world.

I've been thinking a lot lately (sounds dangerous, I know) about something that bothers me.
I recently perused a big photography company's website and I wanted to encourage perspective clients to hire a photographer you know and trust.
I don't want to point fingers, but I think we all know who they are in this area.
I have several points to make on this topic, and I tend to get a little heated about it. I take my job VERY seriously. Wedding photography especially. I'm also a perfectionist. But these points have little to do with perfectionism.
My education on these companies comes from their website, past employees, and my own recruitment expericences with them.
1. Why is it that when you book your photographer, you're never sure if that's who is actually going to show up at your wedding? With me, there is no guessing. I'll tell you who is going to be there- ME.
2. If you are shown work from this big company, understand it comes from thousands of different people. And if you are shown work from the specific photographer chosen for your wedding, what says those are really their images? They have been known to show clients someone else's work for a photographer that they cannot get booked due to their horrific portfolio. See why I get heated?
3. Why is it when I have recieved a letter trying to recruit me to work for one of these companies, it stated "No experience required". WHAT?!
4. So you end up with a college student scheduled to photograph your wedding, who says they'll even show up? Maybe something better came up. It's not their name on the line. So what if they loose their job over it, they were only making $8/hour anyway. I can't tell you how many times I've heard of a photographer from a big company not showing up. That is total crap.
5. Speaking of crap, have you seen some of these photographers' work? I found some horendous family photos, senior portraits, and destination wedding photos. If someone is going to pay you to do a destination wedding, please take at least one good photo.

This doesn't even cover the post production nightmares that take place. Albums that never get made, final prints that still have the watermark on them, photographers becoming unavailable after the wedding... and on and on. I'd love to hear about nightmare wedding photography stories in the comments for this blog- I believe that by learning what people didn't like, I can become better at serving my client.
Wedding photography isn't for everyone. It takes talent that can't be learned, patience, a knowledge of your equipment, attention to detail, an outgoing personality and much more. As a company, you can't just hire people that lack these skills to handle the most important day of people's lives.
If you want to leave a message and tell me I'm wrong- go for it- I would LOVE to be wrong about this!

Some exciting things going on for my blog followers...
I'm having a customer appreciation special until Nov. 1st, so I've been getting a lot of bookings- that means more photos for you guys to check out. Plus I think my doggy may be prego and due soon- more photos. I just got canvas to paint my own backgrounds so I can expand my studio repetoire.

I've been feeling like my studio work is not my specialty, but last week when Melissa came, I was excited about some of the shots we got.

This is another instance where I have had the pleasure of capturing a family as it grows. Melissa is my webdesigner's sister and she is the sweetest girl ever. I'm so happy that I am their photographer of choice ;) I took shots of their first baby boy, which was the second time I ever did baby photos professionally. Now, to keep tradition, the second maternity session I have ever done is of Melissa and her family in her final months of being pregnant with Caden.

Here's the big man. Okay, now I feel old thinking it was yesterdayish when I photographed him as a baby.

Melissa is such a patient person, so I wanted to try some new ideas. They didn't work out how I had planned, but the result was pretty awesome even though I stumbled upon it by accident.This is the last shot I took, and if my camera wasn't my life, I would have thrown it down and said "that's a wrap". She just nailed this look!

I hope you will be seeing more of Melissa and her family. I'm encouraging them to do outdoors photos and maybe photos of the room. Then I will sit and wait for Caden to make his appearance. Maybe they should just make a room for me in their house. Hahaha!

R.I.P. Mr. Bubbles

August 2007 - Sunday September 14th, 2008

Sam

Awe, isn't this cute, my parents are the proud new owners of a new born Golden Retriever puppy that we have since named "Sam".
We have a tradition. Our Goldens have been named Bailey's Irish Cream, then came Foster's Australian for Beer, and now it's either Sam Adams or Sambucca.
In the running was Remmy Martin, Mojito, and Cosmo. I also liked Brewster- but that would be switching to Ice Cream store chains- which my family is a much bigger fan of than brew and hard alcohol.

So here is Sam with his new fam.
Sam loves tight places and snuggled in between my mom and I on the way back from Pittsburgh where we went to pick him up from the breeder.

He also loves to climb INTO the fridge and freezer- must be hot under all that fluff.

There is one guy who loves this dog the most, and I'll give you a hint- his name rhymes with Randrew.
To capture him in his youth, I thought doing some studio portraits would be appropriet.
We are currently pet sitting while my parents are in San Francisco, so we are enjoying the contstant pinching of skin between razor sharp puppy teeth and the random placement of poop and puddles through out the house. He's relentless and nothing is safe, including Maya who's ears are one of the puppies favorite chew toys. Don't worry Maya, he'll be back with his mommy and daddy on Friday!

Didn't take long before sleep mode was turned on. I'm told puppies come with a warning that they may slip into such a deep sleep that you cannot rouse them. And this is exactly what happened- not even the kids could jolt him awake with all their wildness.
So we took advantage of him and put his Halloween costume on.

He makes a scary witch doesn't he??

Best buds.

This month I haven't been shooting anything so I'm going to go back on a few blog postings that I need to catch up on. There are two weddings, this maternity session, and a new puppy to show you guys.

I also want to put a little plug in for the Carlisle Barracks Yardsale going on this Saturday from 7-2 where I will be trying to get rid of a lot of crap. Some of it is NEW kids stuff though. I'll also be trying to pawn off my bunnies on some lucky soul.
Oh, and say a little prayer for the Jesus Fish- we got two more goldfish that died, now they seem to have gotten Mr. Bubbles sick and he's not looking so good.


Here is a maternity session I did just before vacation. Ironically enough, I think it's the first for me- I've never actually done belly shots. I met Emily at a meet and greet luncheon for The Knott. She works for a wedding planner part time. She and her husband and sister came to my studio and we had so much fun.

Everette was a little too long to put on her belly, so we stuck with Boy and Love...

This one is my favorite. Her husband is a mechanic so I loved the dirt stained hands contrasting this delicate creation of life.

She also works at Harley Davidson- we had a blast with these booties later when her husband made them dance on her belly.

I'll be back later with the weddings :)

Layman Wedding

On August 9th I had the opportunity to photograph another great couple at Alisons United Methodist Church in Carlisle. Jay and Christina are so blessed to have found one another. They are also blessed to have such a wonderful family and amazing friends who care so much about them. I heard nothing but praise throughout the day about how great Chris and Jay are. This wedding gave me a feeling that everyone was there to show genuine support for them. I saw Chris and Jay demonstrate just how much invested emotion they have in their friends as well.

You can just see kindness in Christina's eyes.

They bravely put the real rings on the pillow which made for some comic relief later in the ceremony when they couldn't untie the rings.

Christina's two children stand on the left side of this photo and Jay's are standing on the right. They were so happy and supportive. Jay's daughter even had a part in conducting the ceremony. She is in school studying religion. That must have been quite an honor.

What's up with all the precious flower girls! What a cutie pie.

This is the closest we could get the flower girl and ring bearer- a few centemeters away in the blog.
Isn't he handsome? Nice navy blue corduroy jacket buddy! Lookin' sharp. The reception was held accross the street at the Holand Union Building on Dickenson's campus.
It was beautiful inside.

I love to watch the first dance when the world seems to fade away.


It was such a heartwarming atmostphere.
This was one of those weddings that I didn't want to leave.