Another new thing on the blog! As I said in a previous blog post, I have been feeling drawn to offering different types of sessions, and senior sessions are included! I’ve done them before, but never shown them. I am of the camp, if you dont want to shoot it, dont show it. I had a really hilarious time walking around with Arianna, her sister and her mom during this session. Im pretty sure my sides hurt the next day from all the laughing. We were trying to get Arianna to laugh and her sister ended up finding a comedy routine and following us around while playing it loudly on her phone. :-) It was so great. Arianna is headed to Liberty in the fall to study photography! Enjoy some of my favorites…
Something new on the blog today! For the past few years, I have only shown wedding photography here on the blog. I did that because that is what I wanted to be shooting and I think showing other work on your blog that you DON’T want to shoot is just asking for a flood of emails from prospective clients that you are going to turn down. I have done family photography and senior photography, but I haven’t really shown anything on the blog because I wanted to focus on weddings. That is changing though! Lately I have been super interested in broadening my reach, and would love to start shooting other kinds of portraits! Maternity, Senior, Family, Newborn, etc… There are a lot of rules out there that you have to shoot one thing, become an expert in that area, and then only shoot that. Well, I agree with that for the most part, but I also know that following my instinct will always be my best bet. A lot of my couples actually say to me after their wedding, what am I going to do when we have kids? I need you to be our photographer! I am so thankful that Andrew and Catherine trusted me to capture this special time in their life! They are expecting a baby boy in June! Andrew is the older brother of one of Jared and I’s closest friends. We couldn’t be more excited for their family!! Enjoy some of my favorites!
Congratulations Sledd’s!!
Back in December I participated in an event called Help Portrait. Have you heard of it? Probably not unless you are a photographer, but essentially it is this:
1. Find a Group of People in Need. (People who would not have the opportunity to pay for pictures of themselves and their family members.)
2. Take their picture and make them feel awesome and valuable. (The most important part.)
3. Print their picture(s).
4. Give them to them, for free. (2nd most important part.)
Well, we did this, and it was so great. It really reminded me that pictures are so special to people. And that having your picture made makes you feel worth something. And having a picture of someone important to you is irreplaceable. Our day was incredible.
Our amazing friend James put together a video… Check it out!
http://vimeo.com/lovestories/helpportraitrva
So! Here are the Highs and Lows for the week!
Highs:
- Seeing the Help Portrait video! I love it so much!!
- Playing with my planner.
- Hanging with the Hubs today!
Lows:
- The silly temperature for this weekend. What. The. Heck.
- Jared started taking some night classes this week and I am beyond bored/lonely at home while he is gone. Boo.
What about you?? Are you happy about the weather? Do you like having the house all to yourself?
Anna and I did a little swaparoo for portraits this year! She shot my head shots, and I did some portraits for her and her hubbie for their Christmas card! I really have loved getting to know Anna this past year and I am so grateful for her sweet friendship. She is kind, funny, and generous. I also happen to wish I had her hair. I feel no shame in this envy. Its just so full and pretty! Mine is fine and thin, and I really have to WORK to get it to look full in the littlest way. I also love talking about the Lord with Anna. Her heart for God is inspiring. I love that I can learn from her and that we can share that part of our lives together! I have only met Ryan a few times, but I am certain he is an amazing man. Anna loves him wholeheartedly, so how could he not be? We had a great time walking around the VA Center for Architecture shooting these portraits! Minus the squirrel incident of course…
Enjoy some of my favorites!
Love you guys!!
Oh goodness. I am so happy to share this session with everyone! Its a type of session that the wedding industry has titled, The Day After. Basically, its a portrait session, in your wedding clothes, anytime after your wedding! Its great for brides who were not able to work out their wedding day schedule to allow for LOADS of portraits, or were maybe a little unhappy with their wedding day experience. OR, they just want portraits in a different season! The list of good reasons to do a Day After goes on and on.
Jessica first emailed me over a year ago looking to do one of these sessions. We have literally been trying to connect/meet since then! We were finally able to meet, and shoot their session, a couple weeks ago! And, I have to say, Jessica and Chris are some of the sweetest people I have met! I had the best time walking around an old vacant manor in Lynchburg with them. Jessica is also a photographer, and her work is so lovely! Its always really intimidating to photograph a fellow photog because everyone works differently and you dont want them thinking you are terrible at your job! Thankfully Jessica put her faith and trust in me, and I was able to be myself and be at ease. Enjoy some of my favorites!!
AH! Jessica!
Dont hate me for posting these Jessica, I just love them!!
Arent they adorable?! I loved everything about them and this session. The colors, the light, their clothes! It was all so perfect. Thank you Jess and Chris for allowing me to photograph you guys!! You both are so kind. Also huge thanks to Petal Flower Company for the beautiful bouquet!!
So. I turned 25 and DMV demanded me to renew my license and retake my picture. Jared said he thinks I look pretty. I think I look like a deer in headlights. Please excuse me while I pretend to lose it and need to retake my picture…
I have this friend, Stepha. She is one of my favorite people ever and she gave me the honor of photographing her portraits the other day for the launch of her new bridal gown business! Its going to be so great, Ill be sure to share the info with you when its all up and ready! Now, I want to tell you how awesome this girl is…she would probably blush and tell me to stop, but I really think she is one of the best people I have in my life, and I am surrounded by wonderful human beings. I wont get too sappy, but Stepha’s faith in the Lord and loyalty to her friends and family is inspiring and heart warming. She is amazingly understanding, patient, compassionate, funny, and lovely. She is just a great friend and I love her! Enjoy some of my favorites… we may have goofed around a little…just a little.
It was windy…
She’s funny…
And SO PRETTY!!
Love her laugh! These are favorites…
I cant wait to share all of her website stuff with you! Stepha is incredibly talented, as seen here and here. Yeah, she MADE those gowns! She loves doing too, which makes her that much more fun to work with. If you know what you want, and you want something COMPLETELY custom to your body… contact her. She rocks!
I don’t actually do that many senior sessions, but when I do I love them! Lauren is such a sweet and gorgeous girl, (isn’t she so pretty?!) that walking around downtown richmond, with her and her mom, in the heat was a breeze. her mom is one of the sweetest women I have every met…must be where lauren gets it from! Congratulations on your senior year lauren! make it count!!
Meet Hillside Missions! A few weeks ago we did a staff shoot, and I have to tell you…these are some funny people. Good, and funny. Hillside is the international mission component of our church, Commonwealth Chapel. I remember when their organization was first introduced one Sunday morning, being so excited about getting to meet these people. I really don’t know why, but I just had this joy in my heart about Hillside! Over time Jared and I have gotten to know most of them and they are all awesome. During the entire shoot I was laughing. I think I have just as many blurry pictures as I have focused pictures from all the teasing and hilarity. Sometimes its hard to control the camera when you are shaking from laughter!
Be sure to check out their brand new site, its looking good! Thanks Hillside!
You saw Ryan’s head shots a couple days ago, and now you get to see Maggie’s! I walked around with the both of them for about 2 hours and did them at the same time. So, you might see some of the same backgrounds!
Maggie is another one of my friends from high school, who also did theatre. I told you one thing I loved about Ryan, so I will tell you one thing I love about Maggie. She is loyal. To the core. She is there for you whenever you need her, no questions asked. She moved out to California last year to show off her comedic talent and her charming looks. Isnt she soooo pretty? I love it.
I had a great time listening to Maggie tell me what California and west coast people are like. Im from rural VA, and Ive never been to CA so I was pretty interested. Im not ashamed!
Gosh, I can’t get over how gorgeous she is! Mags, I love you so much and I know youre going to great things on the west coast! Break a leg!
