Saturday, April 28, 2012

Sandra & Virgil [wedding]

I did a sneak peek of this wedding a little while back, but I just realized today that I had not done the full post yet. Sandra & Virgil had an 11.11.11 wedding which also happened to be the groom's birthday. The wedding was held at Faith Landmark Ministries. Brittany asked me to come along with her to capture the day so I was shooting mostly details. Fine by me. Details are one of my favorite parts of a wedding!

Sandra's fabulous dress








A nice, relaxed portrait of the birthday boy


The reception was also held at the church and it could not have been done without the help of some amazing family and friends. 








For more from this wedding, check out Brittany's Facebook page.


Friday, April 27, 2012

Jasmine Star and creativeLIVE [fanatical friday]

I have more or less been glued to my computer for the better part of today watching Jasmine Star's course on creativeLIVE. While I am rather new to creativeLive, I have been following Jasmine for years, but I am absolutely a fan of both.

Jasmine Star is an amazing wedding photographer and has provided tons of inspiration to me and my business. She is also an amazing writer/blogger and has built a very successful brand around herself. She recently did a speaking tour [theFIX] around the US, and when I found out that Washington, DC was one of the stops, I bought tickets AS. SOON. AS. they were available. I am still trying to put a post together about that amazing day, meeting Jasmine, and hearing her talk about the business of photography. 

I have heard about creativeLIVE before but foolishly had not really checked it out until a few months ago. They have an awesome thing going on over there [they are in seattle] where they bring photographers/educators into a live studio and broadcast these courses online for FREE! You can also purchase the courses once they are over if you missed it which is awesome too. It is a great resource for photographers and I wish I would have realized that years ago. 

Jasmine is hosting a three day course today through sunday on creativeLive focusing on shooting an editorial wedding and I have already learned so much just in day one. Tomorrow there is going to be a live photo shoot and I can't wait!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Sneak Peek [April FixMix]

Here are a few of my favorite shots from last sunday's FixMix up in DC. I am still planning to do a full post on the awesome workshop I attended hosted by Paul Pruitt but I just couldn't wait to show these photos. We really lucked out with some GORGEOUS models, wouldn't you agree?





Friday, April 13, 2012

My TV line-up [fanatical friday]

Here it is! The first actual installment of [fanatical friday]. I have started this series in an effort to let you all know more about me, and I figure what better way to figure out about someone then to find out what TV shows they watch in the privacy of their own home. My TV taste really runs the gamut, and I am not ashamed to admit that there is some trashy tv found in my line-up. 

So, here they are, in no particular order, my current top 10:




=Desperate Housewives=
 I first came across this show in college when my mom turned me on to it. She has since traded it in for some of her new favorites but I am still a huge fan. There are only a few more episodes left, and I am savoring the flavor for sure.  Which brings me to my next show…




=GCB= 
Ive heard that this is ABC’s attempt to keep their desperate housewives viewers once it’s gone. And I’d say it definitely worked. This show is hilarious, if you have not seen it, you must. Set your DVR, find it on demand or watch it online and then be prepared for some serious laughs.




=16 & pregnant / Teen Mom= 
I’m not going to get into the whole argument about whether or not these shows glamorize teen pregnancy, I am entertained by these girls and their stories and I am not ashamed to admit it!





=Million Dollar Listing= 
This New York season is MUUUCCCH better than the last one out in cali. I think this show is the perfect combination of juicy dramatics for me, and real estate listings for Josh. We love these guys and their ridiculous drama!




=Modern Family=
I cant say enough good things about this show, its funny and fresh, definitely one of my favorites.




=2 Broke Girls=
 If this is an option on our DVR, its usually one of the first ones we watch. But first, we turn up the volume so we can still hear it over all the laughing.




=American Idol=
 I have a bit of a love/hate affair with this show, but at the moment its more towards the love side. Especially when you throw in some Phil Phillips, yes, definitely love him.




=How I Met Your Mother= 
I will admit, I was not a huge fan of this show at first, it was something I just kind of tolerated watching it because Josh liked it.  Love it now, and unlike other shows, I am almost looking forward to the end of this show to see how everything works out for Ted.




=Chelsea Lately=
 My first experience with Chelsea Handler was reading her book, “My Horizontal Life” in college. It was one of the first books I have ever read that literally made me laugh out loud while reading it. I have remained a huge Chelsea Handler fan, and I’ll take her any way I can get her, books or tv. [So, yes, I do also occasionally enjoy her new sitcom, but it has not yet become one of my favorites.]




=Bethenny Ever After=
 I love her view on things and hearing her openly speak her mind. I also admire her for the way she has quickly built her brand.




=Honorable Mentions=
 Whitney, Weeds, The Voice, Real Housewives [Orange County, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, and DC], The Today Show,  Battle of the Exes, or other Real World/Road Rules Challenges [I feel like I grew up with these people], Auction Hunters, Taxicab Confessions, CSI: Miami [and only Miami] and the original NCIS [not the new one], Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis [flipping out was MUCH better]


So there it is, please don't judge me!


Saturday, April 7, 2012

Delayed [fanatical friday]

I had all intentions of getting the first post in my new series [fanatical friday] up yesterday. It's a new thing I'm doing around here highlighting some of my favorite things. I got busy doing other things [watching creativelive, closet organization, dying easter eggs] and before I knew it, the boys [my nephews] were getting dropped off to spend the night. Sooo, today I give you a couple of photos from EARLY this morning, and next Friday, I will have a brand spankin new [fanatical friday] post featuring my current tv obsessions.


Tuesday, April 3, 2012

lilly [welcome party]

We had been planning the trip for weeks, a mid-February weekend back home in Bethany. I think that when we originally planned the trip, Heidi was not expected to pop until sometime in March. We planned a small get together with some family and friends to shower her [and lilly] with some love on February 19th before we headed back to Richmond. Then the doctor moved Heidi's due date to...you guessed it, February 19th. We continued with our plans for the shower, knowing that Heidi may end up having the baby that exact day. So imagine our surprise when we got the phone call on February 12th that Lilly had arrived, safe and sound, and she too would be coming to the shower the next weekend to meet everyone. 


Thats when the baby shower turned into a baby welcome party. 



Here is little miss lilly with her Granny, who some of you may know as my awesome mother-in-law.


I had to include this next photo as proof for my nephews that their Mommy really was trying to make a video for them about the weekend. See the video camera in her hand?? She used it all weekend, in hopes to make a video to take home for her two sons about what she did while she was away. After getting home [and driving through the CRAZIEST blizzard of my life, i think the only time it actually snowed in rva this winter, don't get me started] she realized that nothing had recorded. not. a. thing. So here is the proof boys, she tried!



Heidi got tons of great gifts. Below is the quilt that Lilly's Great-Grandmother made. Isn't it great? She also had a little poem that went along with the images on the quilt, I really wish I could remember it right now. I know it started with "a little birdie told me..." but a quick google search is just taking me to baby shower invitations with that saying on it. Anyone?


Here is a behind-the-scenes shot on Patsy embroidering the poem to put on the back of the quilt. 


Lilly slept through most of it. 





I'll end with a few of my favorites, baby details in black and white.











Sunday, April 1, 2012

lilly [preview]

I just finished editing the photos from Lilly's Welcome Party. It was originally planned as a baby shower, but little miss decided to come a little earlier than expected :)  I'm only going to post a few tonight, but I promise to be back sometime this week with the rest of her photos. For. Real. No more inexcusable blogging absence. No april fool's joke here.



That quilt has a very sweet story, stay tuned for the explanation and photos with the full post. 



The details are always my favorites, especially the baby details.