Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Danielle & Daniel - Chesapeake Beach Engagement Photography

When Danielle emailed me to ask about doing her engagement photos at SUNRISE, my first thought was, "Yeah! Great idea! It will be totally different and unique!" and the following one was, "In December? At what time?"

And if I'm being completely honest, they may not have been in that order. Ha!

If you know me at all, you know I'm not a morning person. As in, I have serious trouble stringing words together to form a coherent sentence before 8 a.m. Not to mention it's been years since I've watched the sun rise.

But I really did love the idea, and I'm ALWAYS up for trying something new or different so I said, "Sure!" and next thing you know we were on the beach at 6:45 a.m. And it was pretty awesome! Yes, we were cold, and yes, it was early, but Danielle and Daniel's great attitudes and total cuteness together made everything worthwhile.

Also, Danielle brought me a mug of hot tea! How sweet is that??




















Monday, February 27, 2012

How I Survived Vegas (or how Vegas survived me!)


I spent five days last week in Las Vegas at WPPI, the convention for wedding and portrait photographers. All of the nerdy photo people out there probably know that this is where 16,000 photographers from all over the world gather to learn, network, talk shop, and party. Everyone else has probably never heard of it.

Attending had been a long-time goal of mine, and I decided 2012 would be the year!

I came back (as most WPPIers do) exhausted, but filled with motivating ideas and a better vision for where I want to see my business go. Not going to expound upon them all right now, but you can expect to see some changes this year!

Last but not least, it wasn't all work and no play while I was there. I crossed these things off my Vegas bucket list!

• watching the light show at the Fremont Street Experience (best free thing in Vegas!)
• winning money (doubled my money and won $10 in roulette - booya!)
• going up in the Paris Eiffel Tower (which is sadly not nearly as good as the real one)
• shooting some long exposures at night
• visiting the Pawn Stars' pawn shop
• eating a truly delicious buffet



My friend John shooting the Strip:

Fremont Street Lights: 
 

Saw plenty of this:

My friend Louise and me on Fremont Street:

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Letting Go and Being Me!

Before the title makes you think I'm turning into a hippie or something, I'm only talking about my engagement photos. (Yes, I mean the ones I took with my fiance!)

It was a few months ago (okay, like five) but I still want to blog about it.

My friend Kate (of Kate Fine Art) volunteered to take them for us, and I could not be happier! Our styles are quite similar, which made the transition from photographer to subject a little easier for me. I knew I could trust her to execute a vision that would be similar enough to mine that I would be happy, but still very much her own. Because let me just say, it's pretty stinkin' weird to go to an awesome location like ours for a photo shoot and not pick up a camera. So I of course had all these ideas about how I would shoot us, and how I would pose me, but I took a deep breath and let it go.

Or at least I tried. You'll have to ask Kate how well I succeeded. Haha.

No, in all seriousness, being on the other side of the camera is a strange and unfamiliar experience (as I think it probably is for most people, unless you're a professional model.) I can sum up the biggest take-away for me in one word: trust. I realized firsthand how important it is to trust your photographer. Only then can you begin to establish a connection and feel comfortable.

Relationships are personal. Trust me, I get it. It's hard to let someone you may not know (and add in a big camera!) see the dorky, laughable, lovable you. But it gets easier when you stop worrying about how the photographer is framing the photo, or what your expression looks like, or if your hair is out of place, etc. Just stop, take a breath, and let it go.
































Monday, February 13, 2012

2012 Books I've Read

And just for fun, here begins the list of books I've read this year. I'll update this regularly (assuming I get any reading done! Should be a busy year!) :)

12. One Second After - William Forstchen 7/10
11. The Drop - Michael Connelly 6.5/10
10. The Lincoln Lawyer - Michael Connelly 9/10
9. WordFreak - Stephen Fatsis 7.5/10
8. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins 8/10
7. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins 8/10
6. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins 9/10
5. Saving Fish from Drowning - Amy Tan 5/10
4. Love and Respect for a Lifetime - Emerson Eggerichs 8/10
3. Fine Art Wedding Photography - Jose Villa 8/10
2. A Clash of Kings - George R. R. Martin 8/10
1. A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin 8.5/10

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Jessica & Chris - Westin Annapolis NYE Wedding!

What better way to wrap up a great year than to shoot a fabulously fun New Year's Eve wedding at the Westin Annapolis? It was the perfect conclusion to my 2011. Jessica and Chris are insanely cute together, and their wedding was such a touching reflection of their vibrant, fun-loving personalities. From Chris vowing to pledge his love from the highest mountaintop (Facebook) to the dance they did down the aisle after the ceremony, this wedding was full of moments I'll never forget!

Special thanks to Stephen Elliot (of Mud Productions) for helping me out! A few of these photos are his.