Engagement Session - Chesapeake Beach, MD: Dana and Jeff

On the day we had originally set up Dana and Jeff's engagement session, it was raining buckets and the forecast showed there was no end in sight. So a few weeks later when Chris and I arrived to meet up with Dana and Jeff, we were happy that the rain seemed to be holding off. When I asked Dana where she wanted to go for the engagement shoot, she had already picked this spot because it was where they first met. It is really sweet when a couple picks a place that has a special meaning to them. Chesapeake Beach was full of colors, and for a small area, we were amazed by all the cute places we found to take pictures. It got a little drizzly in the middle, but we found an overhang with these cute little benches.





For the next few, we took a stroll down by the marina.





This little cart had some fun colors and drew our attention.



By the end, Dana and Jeff had warmed up to the camera and we captured some great emotions. =)

Tagged!

We were tagged by our friend and super talented photographer, Jason Angelini and unofficially by our own wedding photographer and good friend, Armin DeFiesta. Well, without further adieu, here we go. I'm going to change the first question because yesterday was more interesting than today:

4 things I did yesterday:

1. Had dinner at a mediterranean restaurant with my mom, brother, and soon-to-be-sister-in-law Maggie near DC, before heading to the airport. My mom took a quick pic with my point and shoot.
   
   



2. Drove up the mountain with my mom and hubby to Sunny Ridge, to see the beautiful fall foliage.


3. Backed up a bunch of pictures from the e-session and wedding we shot this past weekend.


4. Had the most entertaining flight attendant on our Southwest flight back to Tampa last night. As part of our entertainment, he conducted a race between a bag of peanuts (the Rays) and a bag of pretzels (the Red Sox) to predict who would win game 7. They were placed at the starting line (the front of the center aisle of our plane), and the first bag to reach the back of the plane during takeoff won. I'm convinced he had tried this before and chose the peanuts on purpose since there was a plane full of Rays fans. Yay for the Rays! I'm not a fan, but it's cool that part of the World Series will be so close to home.

After the Rays (peanuts) won the race, we looked out the plane window and saw this. (Again, point and shoot.)



4 things on my to-do list:

1. Edit pictures from this weekend's e-session and wedding.


2. Buy a new car... I've been talking about it for over a year.


3. I need to go grocery shopping. We've been traveling a lot so we haven't been keeping fresh food around.


4. Plan our honeymoon... oh wait, we FINALLY scheduled it for February and bought plane tickets! It's official, and only a year and a half late. Better late than never. =) Southwestern US, here we come!

4 of my guiltiest pleasures:

1. I love the purple bag of skittles. You know, the berry kind? If they're around, I can't stop eating them till they're gone.


2. Soda... Dr. Pepper and Mountain Dew to be exact... and not even the diet kind. It's terrible. It's enough to make me dread the dentist. Wow, this is like an intervention.


3. Facebook. I am obsessed. Come be my friend if you aren't already!
   
   
4. Blog Stalking. Well I try to leave comments on as many as I can, so maybe it is blog browsing. But I have a list of at least 50 blogs I follow on Google Reader. It's fun to keep up with everyone and get inspiration from other great photographers.
   
   
   
   

Ok new it's time to tag 4 friends. Theresa Marie, Shem Parsons, Gina Leigh, Courtney Fries, and Mary Beth Tyson (even though I know Mary Beth won't play along), you're it!

Wedding - Bluemont, VA: Taylor and Pete

Last weekend, Chris and I flew up for my cousin, Taylor's, wedding in Northern Virginia. You could tell she had been looking forward to this day for a long time and was really excited it had finally come. Taylor and her bridesmaids were a great group to hang out with and made the day lots of fun!


Here are a few of my favorites from the beginning of the day.









The wedding was held at a vineyard which made for some great details shots.



Of course a lot of my side of the family attended the event and we had to grab a few shots of them as well.


Here they are strollin' in and this is Maggie (being her adorable self) with my brother. I'm so glad she'll be officially part of the family in May!




And my sister, Lindsay, and Maggie looking fabulous as always.



Chris and I are glad we got to be a part of your special day, Taylor. Congrats to you and Pete!

Client Information: Engagement Guest Sign-In Book

If you are looking for an alternative to the guest sign-in matted picture on the easel, this is a great option. Maybe you don't have a room or wall where you can hang that matted picture, so how about keep this right next to your wedding album on the coffee table? The engagement guest sign-in book is a more modern option for keeping your wedding guests' thoughts in your home, while saving room on your wall for that large canvas print of your favorite wedding image. =) Guests sign the book just like they would a yearbook, while pictures from the engagement shoot fill the other parts of the pages.

Here is an example of an 11"x 8.5" horizontal book with a black leather cover where we can stamp your name and wedding date in silver.





The hinged pages allow the book to lie flat for ease of signing.



In our designs, we use opacity and white space so guests have plenty of room to sign and leave their thoughts.



The pages are nice and sturdy so they'll hold up as you read and re-read all the notes your friends and family wrote on your wedding day. =)

Wedding - Orlando, FL: Sarah and Vincent

The preparations began bright and early in the morning. Sarah had a lot of family fly in from Hong Kong for the wedding, so when we arrived at her house, everyone was busy making food, getting ready, and taking care of last minute details. The smells coming out that that kitchen were amazing! It was great to see all the Asian influence that was added into every aspect of their wedding day. With Sarah's family being Chinese, and Vincent's family being Filipino, you knew that everyone was going to eat well all day long... and those are my kind of people!

Here are a couple getting ready shots. Peggy DeLeon did a fabulous job with Sarah's hair and makeup. She was so easy to work with and actually helped us climb around on the furniture and snap photos over her shoulder.



Chris captured so many great shots of Sarah getting her hair and makeup done. Here is one of my favorites.



Sarah had so many great expressions throughout the day, it really made our job easy! She must get it from her dad, because he was full of emotion himself. =)



The pure excitement was great! Here is Sarah checking out her new bling. Of course smiles like that are infectious, which made it hard for Vincent to contain his happiness.



After the ceremony, we headed over to Rollins College to take some pictures around the beautiful campus. The wedding party was an absolute blast and they were totally up for doing all sorts of fun pictures! The hot sun wasn't going to stand in the way us having fun. =)



...sorry to interrupt, but I think you have an audience, hehe...



These iron gates we found were very dramatic.





The reception was held at the Winter Park Civic Center and the park area around back had some beautiful spots for photos.







The table arrangements and details were put together perfectly to tie their colors and theme together.



In case you are curious about the cake topper like we were, it means "Double Happiness". Or at least that is what we were told by the bridesmaids =)



Sarah and Vincent arranged ample time for us to set up a slideshow during their 8-course meal. Before the dancing started and the party really came alive, we projected the slideshow with photos from earlier in the day, as well as engagement photos from their engagement session in Tampa. It was so cool to see everything projected onto the big wall! Jay with Liquid Entertainment did such a great job keeping the party going all night and was great to work with! The music was soo good that it was tough for Chris and me not to put our cameras down and hit the dance floor. Sarah and Vincent's crew all knew how to have a good time and definitely entertained with awesome dancing including a few spectacular breakers.



Thanks so much to Sarah and Vincent for inviting us to be a part of your big day. You guys were so much and we hope you're having a great time on your honeymoon in the Dominican!

New York City Trip - Part 3

After seeing so much on the first day of the trip, we had to sleep in a little before getting back on the tour bus for Day 2. The second day we decided to take the "uptown loop" which took us everywhere north of times square, including Central Park and Harlem. I know I said it before, but the architecture in New York City was just amazing. The wide variety of styles and colors put a big goofy smile on my face. I couldn't have looked any more like a tourist. Here are some examples of the architecture that caught my eye.



I was so busy taking this picture that I didn't hear the tour guide say what this building is. Anyone know?



And this was just painted right on the side of a building.



I'm a geography nut, so this globe caught my interest as we rode on the tour bus on our way to Central Park.



This is one of the bus stop signs for the tour that we were on. Obviously this was one of the stops to get off and wander through Central Park.



So we did. It was nothing like I had imaged from all the TV shows. I couldn't believe how huge Central Park really is. You walk down this little path away from the huge buildings and then it's like you are literally in a park with nothing but trees and running trails and the most adorable little buildings. I took a few pictures of these cute little buildings, then once we got past them I realized they were restrooms. After the second time, I caught on.



I guess I expected the great lawn to just be a strip of grass with huge buildings lining all sides. In reality, the skyline was actually pretty far off in the distance.



Then we stumbled upon this beautiful "pond" which turned out to be a reservoir. Right in the middle of New York City, yet so serene.



As fast as we entered the park, we walked right out the other side and we were back to the monster buildings. I was really excited to see the Guggenheim Museum, but was sad to find out that they were refinishing it just like so many other buildings in the city. This ended up being the best shot I could get, hahaha. Bucket truck, paint patches, and all.



That concludes our trip to New York City. I'm so glad we went! Now we are onto a busy fall wedding season. =)

New York City - Part 2

There are so many fun pictures from the trip! I have to start off with my goofball brother who decided to test out the size of the armoir when we got into the room our first night... yes, apparently he fit. =)



I still can't believe how much we got to see on the first day there. One other spot that that was really cool to see in person is China Town. While it was pretty much what I expected, the shops and signs went higher than I had envisioned.





One surprising thing about New York City was all the scaffolding lining the buildings. It was tough with all the scaffolding, but I had to get a picture of the McDonald's in China Town.



This might have been the coolest building that we saw, in my opinion. The Empire State Building is just so tall it's unbelievable. Ok, ok, so I haven't been to many big cities before so this was the tallest I have seen in person to date. The sky was the most beautiful shade of blue while we were there, which was a perfect backdrop for all the photos of the tall buildings.





I know I got a little carried away, but each angle was better than the last!



Later that night after dinner, we went to the top of the Empire State Building. First we waited in line for security, then we waited in line for tickets, then waited in another line to ride the elevators up to the 80th floor, then, last, but not least, waited in the final line to ride another elevator up to the 86th floor where the observatory is. I'm so glad we decided to go at night because the view was amazing!





You can see the Statue of Liberty in this one! (I pointed it out for you if you have trouble, hehe.)



Since we were up so high, we were basically in the clouds. Here is a pic looking up toward the top of the building. At first, the clouds were moving pretty fast and we all got dizzy looking up.