Kelly and Graham

Kelly and Graham had such a fantastic wedding weekend! From the casual BBQ at the Hunt Club featuring delicious country fare, competitive rounds of UVA cornhole*, really cold beers, and orange and blue m&ms, to the refined and elegant evening at Farmington (once again planned by the amazing team at Easton Events), everyone was happy, happy, happy. Though I have to confess I might have had a tear or two in my eyes when Kelly's father saw her for the first time. And during his toast. Oh, and during their father daughter dance. OK, and as he watched them drive off at the end of the night.

Kelly had the most contagious smile that warmed everyone around her, and Graham most of all. The brief walk at sunset with the two of them was, as always, such a great opportunity to catch them relaxed and deliriously happy alone (I don't count) for a moment while revelers danced inside.

* cornhole is like a bean bag toss, but really devoted UVA alums might utilize wooden platforms painted orange and blue with a huge UVA logo on them and blue and orange bean bags. Maybe. They might also have the groomsmen meet at the famed "White Spot" before the ceremony to pay homage.

You can watch Kelly and Graham's Slideshow here.

Ronda and Brian

Ronda and Brian lucked out with the weather in a huge way. I mean, it was pouring rain, tornado warnings, all kinds of Mother Nature craziness as we drove up to Woodberry Forest for the ceremony. Once there, everyone was sporting umbrellas, ducking the rains and running into the church.

About 20 minutes before the ceremony the sun came out, and not just peeking out, it was out for good. I don't think a little rain would have changed how excited Ronda and Brian were to be getting married though. His expression when she walked down the aisle was priceless and had absolutely nothing to do with meteorology.

Ronda's Dad provided the coolest green vintage car that made for some great photo opps, and Easton Events did the rest. They created a monogram theme with Ronda that was carried out all the way through, and it was beautiful! From the cake, down to the little flags in the drinks...even the water bottles.

You can watch Ronda and Brian's Slideshow here.

R Home

I had a blast shooting this piece for R Home with my good friend and super stylist, Sarah. We spent a long day at Katie's beautiful house and had so much fun collaborating. Katie makes a great cover girl, doesn't she? She makes rockin' jewelry too, check it out at Lucky Me Jewelry.

The kids and I went to Barnes & Noble yesterday to find some things for school, and I have to confess I might have let out a little squeal when I saw the crowded magazine racks holding two magazines with my photographs on their covers. I stopped, smiled, had a huge moment of gratitude for everyone who gave me the opportunity for this to happen, maybe even took a photo with my cell phone. Who knows. I was quickly brought back to earth by my oldest going "Come ON Mom, we have stuff to do". Buzz-kill. PPphpphht.

Lizzie and Joe

I am so behind on blogging so bear with me as I attempt to get halfway caught up today!

Lizzie and Joe had such a great wedding. They were so happy to be surrounded by family and friends on this summer day, their three beautiful blonde nieces making the trip in from Belgium with their Mom and Dad to take part. (side note: multi-lingual children always amaze me. There are days I wonder if mine have even mastered one language!)

As with most weddings, everyone was anxious to get to the reception so I am always thrilled when the couple is willing to step out of their party later on for some Bride and Groom pictures. Once the party is underway and the couple has had a chance to talk to a few people and hug their families, and maybe have a dance or two, they emerge from the building or tent excited to have a few minutes to look at each other, talk to each other, and just generally go "oh my gosh, we're married!!" without the weight of the day's logistics on their shoulders (and without an audience which is helpful!). It shows in the photos, doesn't it? In this case we were downtown which made for a fun backdrop. It's one of my favorite parts of every wedding.

Thank you Lizzie and Joe for having me, and best wishes to you both!

You can view Lizzie and Joe's Slideshow here.

Oystahs....

Last month I was offered the opportunity to spend a day with Virginia oystermen, mostly on the boat, shooting them doing their thing for a feature in Virginia Living magazine. Being a huge believer in the 'life is short' philosophy, it always excites me to do something cool I might never have done or seen otherwise. It opens my mind, reminds me that my life is just one little part of the huge puzzle and that not everybody spends the majority of their workday in front of a monitor. Oh, and I love taking photographs, so that worked out well.

The Art Director picked me up at a few minutes to 5 (yeah, a.m.) and we drove the 2 plus hours to an inlet near Virginia Beach, home of the quite famous Lynnhaven Oyster which is staging a huge comeback after many challenging years. In my mind I had this shoot figured out. Uh huh. Which when you are shooting outdoors and in unknown territory, typically means it will look nothing like you naively planned.

Here I thought we'd be shooting weathered, craggly oystermen at sunrise with vibrant blue skies throughout the day (don't forget that polarizing filter!) and abundant sunshine (grab the sunsreen!). Not. As we drove toward the beach, the cloudy skies darkened. And when we arrived the crew turned out to be, um, younger than me. Dang, I'm old! But they had killer orange waders and huge smiles that welcomed us and our interest in sharing their story. The light was beautiful, diffused and we were spared the pesky humidity. Best of all, the guys love what they do, and you could tell.

Here is the next issue which should be available next week. My shot made the cover which is always an honor, and so fun (and not just because the kids holler out in the grocery line, "Hey Mom there's your picture!"...hee). While it looks like we might have shot it in the fancy high-end studio I don't have, we actually rigged it on the spot, literally on the dock, as the light was gorgeous and the oysters were as fresh as they could be.







and a few more:



On another day we visited Falls Church for a separate article which will also appear in the next issue. Yes, that burger was amazing, and the fries... mmmm. Eating the props is a huge perk. Then we shot all afternoon and wrapped the day with some amazing Thai food at Bangkok Blues, packing up the equipment whilst listening to some great live music. And I don't know what happened to that martini...