And what about the weddings?

Ohhhh the weddings... my friends, it has been one busy, wonderful year with many, many weddings to share.  I loved them all. I have so many favorite images, such lovely couples, it's daunting to consider selecting from them, but I will, I will!  The editorial shoots are just so much easier to blog because the image selection has been done for me.

2012 has introduced me to the most fabulous brides, grooms and families, as have the past years.  For all the time-sucking evils of Facebook I am thankful that I get to keep in touch with many of them and see where their journey takes them, and even watch some of their families grow.  Amy and Jack's precious twins, Lindsay and John's adorable son, the Trivette's growing crew... I love it, love it, love it.  I'm now waiting for two new baby announcements this month.  Squee!  New families!

This year's wedding journey started on a pretty January day in Charlotte, NC, then moseyed on through Charlottesville, Richmond,  Henderson, NC, then up through Warrenton, VA.  Came back through central Virginia, across the Atlantic to a timeless magical town in a tiny 1400's hillside church in Switzerland, back to a beautiful farm in Virginia then down to the sunny fun Bahamas.  Richmond and Charlottesville round out the rest of this fantastic year then... 2013. Can you believe it?

2013 brings more wonderful weddings and travel which at the moment include Kiawah Island, SC, Washington, DC, Easthampton, NY, Montclair, NJ, Rehoboth Beach, DE, Warrenton, NC, to name a few, and one state I have yet to ever visit, Wisconsin.  Lake Geneva here we come!  And of course some Charlottesville and Richmond in the good old VA.  Love that place.  I can't wait to see what else develops.

Stay with me, the photos are indeed coming.  These couples and their celebrations are too amazing not to share.

(above, my bridefriend Davita as we ran to catch the fading light in the vineyard in Cressier, NE, Switzerland. I've been practicing running and shooting simultaneously... ha)

A Gem

This summer, on the hottest and possibly most humid day of the year, I headed up to the Shenandoah Valley to photograph Elizabeth Locke's estate for Garden&Gun, one of my favorite magazines ever. Needless to say, it was divine and even her chickens were quite photogenic.  The house had been featured in Architectural Digest so my focus (ha) was on the gardens and the gardener extraordinaire.  Elizabeth and her husband John had the gardens and home looking perfect (which I suspect they always do) and graciously extended an invitation to stay overnight in their guest cottage (yes, please!).  We enjoyed dinner on the veranda, where I enjoyed hearing their stories and all about how Elizabeth started her jewelry business over delicious foods from her garden. Perfection.

Photographers typically prefer to shoot exteriors and landscapes in the morning or evening light, so I try to schedule these so that we can shoot, sleep, then shoot again in the pretty morning light.  Everything looks completely different when the sun is coming from the opposite side, so it's nice to be able to see the options and shoot things the way they look best. One of the greatest payoffs was coming up to the house at 5:45 am or so and catching the sun rise over the greenhouse.  The pinks and yellows were so dramatic, I knew we had our shot! 

Elizabeth herself was a treat.  A very cool lady, even in the torturous heat, who managed to look like a million bucks while my hair was pasted to the left side of my face and I continually wiped the um, humidity from the camera screen.  I loved her green sneakers which matched her stunning peridot necklace! And being the perfect hostess, she sent me home with two large bags of delicious vegetables, and flowers from her cutting garden.

Elizabeth, thank you for a lovely shoot and I do hope our paths cross again (in a cooler climate perhaps) soon!