Elisabeth & Chet | Charlottesville Engagement Photographer

This was one of the most fun engagement shoots I’ve ever done!  When I first spoke to Elisabeth and Chet, we talked about doing their photos on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall since they had their first date at Yearbook Taco, and because Elisabeth used to work at a boutique on the mall.  Also since their wedding was going to be on Chet’s family’s farm, with reception at historic Ash-Lawn Highland, I knew they’d end up with nice Virginia countryside and mountain view portraits, so the downtown mall seemed like a chance to get some fun downtown photos of this stylish couple.  

I sensed that they might be up for something a little more adventurous too…so I threw out there “I’ve always wanted to do an engagement shoot where the couple goes all the way into some body of water and gets soaking wet!”   They immediately said, Yeah- that would be fun!  And Elisabeth quickly dreamed up an appropriate wardrobe change for the water scene photos.  Now when I suggested this…I was thinking summer or early fall….I did not foresee that our engagement photos date would end up being in November!  Did we scrap the water scene photos in 40 degree weather?  Nope!  They were still game, and I was still eager to see what photos we could create, so we forged ahead, and here you can see the results!   

Gabriel's Bar Mitzvah | Washington, D.C. Bar Mitzvah Photographer

Gabriel had his Bar Mitzvah at Temple Sinai in Washington, D.C, with family photos before the ceremony.  There is something that just shines through a boy on the morning of his Bar Mitzvah.  I really do get the feeling that this boy is becoming a man.  Gabriel had a calm confidence about him, which sometimes surprises me, because I know if I had to get up on the bimah in front of the congregation and chant the Torah and even give a speech, I know I would appear very nervous in the hour before the ceremony!!  

     The party was held at a super hip place nearby called Comet Ping Pong.  The kids had so much fun playing ping pong, fussball, and dressing up for the photo booth.  There was food for days...wings, pizza, all sorts of delicious things.  I just LOVED the light in this restaurant.  There were skylights all along the front of the building which allowed for gorgeous natural light photos, and the lighting by the ping pong tables was quite dramatic with hanging farmhouse pendant lights.  All of the balloons, and hanging beads for decor, with an industrial-hip backdrop made for some really cool party pictures!  

     I just love photographing kids this age.  They love a good party, and are not overly self conscious, so it is so easy to get great candid photos of the fun/mayhem!  I just love to see them having the time of their lives with all their friends around them.  I hope I get the chance to shoot many more Bar and Bat Mitzvahs in the future!!

Rachel & Austin | Charlottesville Engagement Photographer

Rachel and Austin wanted something natural and outdoorsy for their engagement photos, so we chose the Ivy Creek Natural Area in Charlottesville, which has fields of long grass and flowers, forests with hiking trails, creeks and reservoir.  Austin has just moved to Charlottesville to attend UVA School of Law, and Rachel moves here as soon as they are married here next month!  We shot in the hour before sunset, first in the fields, and then down by the creek deep in the woods.  We were having so much fun, we lost track of time and barely made it out of the woods before dark!  I'm so excited for these two to explore all that this town has to offer as part of their first few years of marriage!  Welcome to Charlottesville, you two!  

Isabel | Charlottesville Newborn Photographer

I went over to shoot traditional "newborn" photos of this beautiful baby girl Isabel, but in the end, the shots I ended up loving the most were the in-between moments where the first-time mom and dad were rocking their baby and trying to soothe her when she would wake up and cry.  It was so sweet watching them take turns comforting her, still a little unsure of the right way to hold her, or the best way to calm her, and it brought me right back to my first days and my husband's first days with our baby.  I do love those cute newborn photos where they are in adorable little poses on fuzzy blankets in a vintage wooden box and all that sort of stuff, and I have those props, but I love more to catch these real moments in a family's life.  Some call this "lifestyle" photography.  I think of it more as documentary photography.  Or just pure love.

Kari & Chris | Engagement Photographer

I met up with Kari and Chris at Four Winds at North Mountain Outfitter in Swoope, VA to capture their engagement photos at the same venue where they will be married in 2016.  These two were clearly madly in love and just smitten with each other.  He's an avid baseball player and she is a web developer in Waynesboro, VA, and where she is a little "high-strung" as she puts it, Chris is totally laid back and carefree, but in this, they balance each other perfectly.  Kari says "we love trying new things, so every season we make a bucket list of fun things we want to do such as hiking, zip lining, or tubing down the James for this summer."  Not a bad way to go about life- I think I'll start a seasonal bucket list!  And I already know the top thing on my list for this summer: when I found out this beautiful rustic wedding venue just west of Staunton is also a ranch that hosts packages including 3-6 hours of adventurous horse trail riding in the mountains, coupled with an overnight stay in a bunkhouse with open fire "cowboy cookin'," I immediately started planning a weekend getaway for my family!  Check them out at www.northmtnoutfitter.com.  Enjoy your engagement, Kari and Chris, and have fun with your wedding planning!

Brandon & Marlena | Charlottesville Wedding Photographer

Brandon and Marlena were married in April at Keswick Hall (which was named a Forbes Five-Star resort this year!)  Since Brandon happened to be the activities director at Keswick, he knew all of the most picturesque views of the property.  A week before the wedding, Brandon took Marlena and I on a tour of the large property which boasts a golf course, a creek, a willow tree, woodsy areas, manicured gardens, a pool, a little garden house, as well as the beautiful estate building itself which makes an epic backdrop for wedding day portraits.  As we toured around, we planned out all of the spots where we would do portraits after their late morning ceremony.  When the morning of the wedding arrived, it was overcast, and eventually a steady rain set in over the chairs set up on the patio for the ceremony.  I have to admit, I was a little disappointed that our grand views of the property we had planned as our portraits backdrop would have to be moved…until Brandon turned this notion on its head for me…  Just before the ceremony, Brandon and Marlena met up in a quiet hallway, separated by a folding screen.  They held hands around the barrier, taking turns praying out loud.  The wedding coordinator had just informed us that it was raining too hard and that the ceremony would be moved inside.  I’ll never forget when, while holding hands with his bride around the screen, Brandon said, with his voice confident and filled with joy, “Thank you, God, for the rain!  Let it help things grow, and let it help our love also grow.”   Not “Despite the rain….” but “Thank you for the rain!”  At that moment, Brandon totally flipped the script for me, and I saw everything in a different light.  The rain was beautiful.  Everything about this day was perfect.  This was their wedding day, and they were thankful for everything, even the rain itself.  I felt very privileged to be right next to them in the hallway in that moment, taking photos.  Sometimes as a wedding photographer, I get to witness such powerful, private moments between people, it is overwhelming.  I try to disappear in these moments and observe and document, in a way that is not distracting.  After a beautiful ceremony, where everyone sang together, we found a cozy, covered porch to do family photos.  Then we headed over to a lovely arbor by the pool house, the latticework dripping with purple wisteria, to do our portraits of the bride and groom.  It was outside, yet covered.  That’s not to say we didn’t experience a few raindrops on our heads, but none of us cared a bit!  Everything turned out beautiful, and once we got back to the reception inside, their friends and family proved to be more than ready to light up the dance floor at the early hour of noon.  Brandon and Marlena walked into the room to “Uptown Funk” and it was pretty much a nonstop dance party from there on out.   It’s a landmark year for Brandon and Marlena.  Not only were they married in 2015, but Marlena has also just graduated from UVA School of Medicine.  I know these two have a very bright future ahead…I’m so excited for them!

Isaiah | Bar Mitzvah Photographer

I had the great honor to shoot an amazing young man's bar mitzvah last weekend at Temple Sinai in Washington, DC.  It was a beautiful day.  I could feel so much love from all of Isaiah's family and friends, supporting him, and so proud of him, as he came into his own as a contributing and accountable member of his faith.  The speech he gave, thanking his dads, was enough to bring a tear to anyone's eye, mine definitely not excluded!  Of course, it made me think of my own two-year-old son, imagining how I would feel as his parent on that day, as he stood in front of the congregation, realizing that he is becoming a man.  I couldn't say enough good things about Isaiah - his heart showed through from the start that day.  He was humble, sweet and funny, with an easy confidence about him.

We took a bunch of family photos before the service, in the sanctuary, but Isaiah's dads were even more interested in capturing the day in a documentary / photojournalistic style, which I loved.  Some of the best photos are always those in-between moments.  

No photos were allowed during the service, so I was able to sit and really take in the ceremony in a non-distracted way, which was neat for me, as I haven't sat in on a bar or bat mitzvah service since I was twelve or thirteen myself, at a friend's bat mitzvah.  I have been a bar mitzvah photographer before, but haven't had the chance to sit and observe the service, so I appreciated the opportunity.  I can see why photos are not allowed, and I think that is appropriate, so everyone can concentrate fully and be in the moment.  As long as you get to do photos before the service, you get all the photos you need at that point!

As I sat through the service, listening to the Rabbi and the Cantor, as well as to Isaiah, singing and reading from the Torah, there were a few texts the congregation read aloud together, that really spoke to me.  I want to record them here.  Need I say that people of all faiths and even non-faiths can appreciate these words?

O God, Inspiration and Guide for all,
You have spoken in a thousand tongues for us to hear.
In every land and every age,
Your children have heard You and imagined You in separate ways.
And yet, O God, You are One, Unifier of humanity.

SOURCE OF ALL BEING, we turn to You as did our people in ancient days.
They beheld you in the heavens, they felt You in their hearts,
they sought You in their lives.  Their quest is ours.
Help us to see the wonder of being.
Give us the courage to search for truth.
Teach us the path to a better life.
So shall we, by our lives and our labors,
bring nearer the world we envision,
one of justice, freedom and peace.

...I found my questions:
waiting to be posed,
they filled me with wonder.
Sit with me, Eternal Teacher,
encourage my seeking:
as I fill my hours with Your mitzvot,
so shall I be filled.
Send me through Your door
stretching up to honor Your Name,
sharing out this wonder,
enriching myself in the giving.