Kristen & John - Overhills Mansion Wedding Photography

I think it was last November or December when Kristen and her mom contacted me about shooting Kristen's May wedding. I remember it quite clearly because it was one of the first meetings I had after deciding to actually put some money into advertising and marketing my business. Up until that point, I was relying on word of mouth (a great technique, but not so effective when you have just moved to a new city). They commented repeatedly about the impression my photos left, saying how striking and different they were from everyone else's. I can't tell you how encouraging that was! As a photographer, I constantly struggle with questioning my own abilities as they stack up against others. And it's always been my goal to strive for a little uniqueness in my photos, so it was definitely a well-placed comment at a much-needed time for me. Kristen and her mother earned a special place in my heart after that meeting, so by the time the wedding rolled around, I was pretty excited!

Also, a big thanks to Odil Ruzaliev for helping me out as a second photographer. He was so generous with his time and I'm super impressed with the images he got!

It's hard to tell the story of a wedding day in ten photos, but here ya go:

Monica and Marcus - Engagement

I met Monica and Marcus in Baltimore's Inner Harbor for their engagement session on what was probably the windiest day of the year! Fortunately, they were both great sports and didn't complain at all. It often took waiting a few minutes for the wind to die down before I could grab the shot I wanted, but all in all, I think things worked out pretty well!

I especially enjoyed this session because Monica and Marcus are fellow Texans! (I don't know that's proper terminology for me anymore since I haven't lived there in five years, but I think I'll always feel a kinship with Texas.) They are both from Dallas, and even brought along their Cowboys jerseys for a few photos.

To see more photos from the session, visit my flickr page.

Anna & David - Brookside Gardens Wedding Photography

I absolutely loved this session! Anna and David were so great to work with, and totally up for whatever I suggested. I was introduced to them back in January, when I met David's brother and fiance to talk about their upcoming May wedding. Although the brother and fiance didn't end up booking me, Anna and David did. The unique part? They're already married! The biggest regret from their wedding day three years ago was not paying a professional photographer to take pictures. So we picked a date, they put their wedding clothes back on, and we went to Brookside Gardens for some nice post-wedding wedding photos. Anna even bought flowers and re-created a bouquet for herself and a boutonniere for David. Pretty impressive!

  

Lisa & Nate - Wrightsville Beach Wedding Photography

Beach wedding!! I love photographing at the beach - especially when it's for an awesome couple like Lisa and Nate. Lisa's family and my family go way back, although I haven't seen them in probably over a decade. After reconnecting on Facebook, I was super excited when they hired me to photograph their wedding in Wrightsville Beach, NC. I flew down the day before the wedding, which was great because that extra day gave me the opportunity to get reacquainted and snap some awesome candids that really captured Lisa and Nate's personalities. Instead of just showing up the day of the event, I was able to be a part of all the weekend's festivities AND enjoy a little sun and sand. :)

I love this photo -  it's my desktop background right now!
 

Check out the awesome flowers at this wedding - they were all so fresh and colorful. Beautiful flowers by June did a great job, and she was so sweet to work with too!

To see a different selection of photos, visit my Flickr page.

Custom Wedding Invitations? Yes, please!

So if you've got all these beautiful engagement photos and you're not too sure what to do with them, consider letting me design your custom wedding invitations. You can have something completely unique and original for a very affordable price! I'm a big fan of incorporating photographs into all parts of your wedding, so I'm more than happy to help you make this happen. Even if you don't know where to start, talk to me and we'll work up a rough draft you can make changes to.

Prices:
5x7 size, set of 50 (includes envelopes): $125
5x7 size, set of 100 (includes envelopes): $175
5x7 size, set of 150 (includes envelopes): $220

Jamie & Jonathan - D.C. Engagement Photography

Well this is one post I've been putting off for quite a long time... didn't want to cry writing it! (Not that I'm not happy... it's just that, well, girls cry about engagements.)

Yes, even me.

On occasion.

Jamie has been one of my very best friends ever since we were two aimless freshmen thrown together for ACU's Welcome Week. We instantly bonded (was this a product of the rest of our classmates being weirdos? most likely) and have been friends throughout the nine years since. When I think about Jamie dancing around in the halls of our dorms with underwear on her head, it's hard to believe she's now all grown-up and ENGAGED!

Jonathan is Jamie's perfect compliment in pretty much every way (as far as I can tell.) I've had the opportunity to get to know him over the past couple of years, and one thing I've never doubted is how much he truly cares about her.

I feel honored to have had the opportunity to shoot their engagement photos and I'm really looking forward to being a part of their upcoming August wedding (in Maine, no less!). It's going to seem weird attending as a bridesmaid and not a photographer!

I'm Published!

So I've have a few different opportunities through Flickr (see my previous blog post) to get published random places, which is awesome, but it's always so much cooler when those places take the form of tangible materials that get sent to my mailbox. A magazine - that's what I'm trying to say. I have a half-page color photo in Msafiri, the in-flight travel magazine for Kenya Airways. Sweet! And, even better, I got paid for it.


Check out these photos of the magazine - my published photo is the one on the left. (And try not to be distracted by the much more interesting photo on the right-hand side of the page. Haha.) Anyway, the photograph is from 2006 when I went on a mission trip to Gaborone, Botswana, and took an aerial tour of the city in a small prop plane. 

Vacation Time!

If vacations are not a regular part of your life, they should be! I think taking time off of work to relax, regroup, and realign your priorities is essential to the mental health of all of us! And my mental health was definitely needing a boost. Ha. This month I was fortunate enough to be able to go with my boyfriend to the Dominican Republic on an all-inclusive vacation to a beautiful 4-star resort in Punta Cana. Looking at my packed schedule for the next 8 months of wedding season is an incentive to enjoy all the free time I have while I can!

I can't tell you how nice it was to lay out by the pool or the beach all day with absolutely nothing that I had to do. The weather was great (only one really rainy day), the people were friendly, and I loved the chance to be bored for a change!

The best news? My half of the trip cost under $900 - that included airfare, 3 meals a day, AND 6 nights of lodging. That's less than $150/day! People seem to have a misconception that vacationing is a super-expensive ordeal, but it doesn't have to be. With all the travel sites out there now like Expedia and Orbitz, travel is cheaper and more affordable than ever. In fact, our Expedia "travel agent" knocked an extra $100 off the trip price just because we called and asked about any discounts.

So, brides, before you put off that honeymoon for another year, make sure you do your homework. If you go in the off-season (usually January - March) things are usually cheaper. If you bundle it all together and book your airfare and hotel at the same time from the same place, it's gonna be cheaper. The beauty of an all-inclusive trip (in my opinion) was that I really could have gone and not spent a penny more than what I already paid. And that's hard to beat!

Here are a few photos to get you in the vacationing mood:

Dance Offbeat

As a professional in the wedding industry, I've seen a LOT of first dances! While most couples choose traditional and timeless songs, I know there are plenty of brides out there who are looking for something a little more unconventional. From a personal standpoint, I'd be fine if I never had to hear Lonestar's Amazed or Etta James' "At Last" at a wedding reception again. (Not that they are bad songs, just overplayed.) Here is my own personal list of the best alternate/indie love songs (in no particular order):

Bright Eyes - "First Day of my Life" Such a sweet, simple tune with amazing lyrics. (And different from the average Bright Eyes song, if you're not a Conor Oberst fan.) Love is a new birth, a new beginning.
"Yours was the first face that I saw / I think I was blind before I met you / I don't know where I am, I don't know where I've been / But I know where I want to go"

The Weakerthans - "The Reasons" This has been my favorite love song ever since I was introduced to it a few years ago. It's not mushy-gushy, or even very sentimental at all - it's a love song for the practical couple.
"I know you might roll your eyes at this / But I'm so glad that you exist"

Athlete - "Half Light" Make the most of your love! There's a lot of honest emotion in this song without being too cheesy or cliché.
"So when I see you next we'll make the most of it / Tell the sun to start moving again / The taste of your kiss I've still got on my lips / And I'll take you there with me"

Postal Service - "Such Great Heights" This song has gained quite a bit of popularity over the last few years, but I don't think it's diminished the value at all. Very upbeat, it describes the awe in finding that one person who is your perfect complement, and missing her when she's not around.
"I am thinking it's a sign/ That the freckles in our eyes / Are mirror images and when we kiss / They're perfectly aligned"

Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Hard to Concentrate" I loved this song from the second I first heard it. The beat is great and the lyrics deliver. One of my personal favorites from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Not only does this song scream love, it moves even deeper into the theme of marriage.
"All I want is for you to be happy / And, take this woman and make you my family / And, finally you have found someone perfect"

Death Cab for Cutie - "I will Follow You Into the Dark" This song speaks of death so it seems like a weird choice for a wedding perhaps, but what says true love more than dying with your partner? Haha. No, in reality I think it's about growing old with each other, and staying together through the most uncertain times, even into the greatest uncertainty (death).
"Love of mine / Someday you will die / But I'll be close behind / I'll follow you into the dark"

Old 97's - "Question" A cute song about a marriage proposal. How can you say no to that?
"Some day somebody's gonna ask you / A question that you should say yes to / Once in your life / Maybe tonight I've got a question for you"

Coldplay - "Fix You" This one's about being there for someone who has gone through a lot. Love enduring trials - what more could you want from a wedding song? It's too overplayed to really be considered indie/alternative, but I love it anyway.
"Lights will guide you home / And ignite your bones / And I will try to fix you"

The Afters - "Beautiful Love" This song sounds and reads a bit more like a mainstream top 40 song (pretty catchy, rather cheesy) but it's hard not to like.
"Maybe a greater thing will happen / Maybe all will see / Maybe our love will catch like fire / As it burns through me"

Aqualung - "Brighter Than Sunshine" A bright and happy song about recovering from heartbreak and being willing to risk it all again for love.
"Love will remain a mystery, / But give me your hand and you will see, / Your heart is keeping time with me"

Snow Patrol - "Chasing Cars" I'm a sucker for any tune that starts off slow but has a nice build to the chorus. This song captures that feeling of being lost in a perfect moment with the one you love.
"I don't quite know how to say how I feel / Those three words, are said too much, they're not enough"

Ben Folds - "The Luckiest" The piano and strings add a haunting element to the beginning of this song, but don't let that fool you! Sweeter and more earnest songs are hard to find.
"And where was I before the day / That I first saw your lovely face? / Now I see it every day / And I know / That I am, I am / I am the luckiest"

Iron & Wine - "Love and Some Verses" Lots of beautiful acoustic guitar and a soft voice make this a tender choice. People are always changing, but he wants to be a part of her life forever.
"Love is a dress that you made long / To hide your knees / Love to say this to your face / I'll love you only"

I ♥ Flickr

I've had a Flickr account for almost five years now, and aside from providing me with a surprising number of cool contacts and friends, it's also given me a wealth of resources to better my craft. Not only are there incredible forums and discussions about anything and everything under the photography sun, it's a venue for feedback, encouragement and constructive criticism.

From Flickr alone, I've had some crazy opportunities I'd never have gotten otherwise, including having select photos published in one book, two magazines, countless blogs, websites, and my personal favorite - an album cover. Pretty sweet! For $25/year, I'd say that's a bargain!

Just this week I was approached by the marketing manager at Easy Stand to have a photo used in their blog about healthcare reform. It's especially neat when I can be a part of something bigger than my own little photo world and help to visually support someone else's cause. (In this case, I was just glad the blog argued a position I agree with!)

Anyway, if you're a photo buff but not a Flickr member, take a second look and consider joining (membership is free for up to 200 photos!). I'm just sayin'.