Lydia & Pat's Wedding

Lydia and Pat had the most gorgeous day last weekend. They were married at the Pearl S. Buck House, it was my first time there and I love it. Wonderful grounds and such diversity. Lydia's mother provided all the flowers, she did an amazing job. Open Air affairs provided the amazing tent, Festivities delivered amazing food as usual, and Schaffer Sounds kept all the guest on the dance floor. Doughmain Baked goods provided their cake, it looked oh so yummy! Lydia wore a Melissa Sweet Gown from Priscilla of Boston, I love that shop and any bride who has used them just loves them. Miss Linette was out second shooting for me, we work so well together and I am so happy we will be working together on many more weddings to come this year. Ok now on to the the photos and slideshow!

I loved how all the girls helped each other, and Lydia was even doing one of her bridesmaids makeup.

Pat, relaxed and waiting for the show to begin.

Lydia, waiting patiently before she and Pat saw each other for the first time.

Classic, relaxed, Pat and LydiaHere are few more favorite portraits of the two of them.

Something I like about how the light hit each of them as they made their way down the isle.

Lydia wiping the tears away Pat's vowes were so good, so true and touching.

Having fun with the rings

Lydia can seriously turn it on for the camera.

She constantly surprises me and she looked amazing in her Chinese dress, I love this image.

Linette and I had such a great time with you and your families. Thank you so much for having us out to document the day. I hope you are having a wonderful time in Hawaii. See you when you get back.

There are a lot of images in this slideshow, it will take a minute or two to load. Get some tissues ready too, warning you now. I even get teary eyed as I watch it. It is a very complimentary mix of images from me and Linette.

Slideshow

Baby Zayd

I love this family. Michelle and Mike are just two of the sweetest people. I covered her baby shower and we did a belly shoot so the next obvious step was a moodybaby shoot. Well things have been crazy and they recently found out they were moving. We kept scrambling with our schedules trying to make this work and I was afraid it wouldn't when they found out they would be moving to Miami on Monday, yeah two days ago! After everything it would be a shame for them to go with out a baby shoot. Plus I had not met little Zayd yet! So we did everything we could and made it work! It was really important to Michelle to be able to do this shoot in the home they began Zayds life in and I am in total agreement. I spent Friday morning with them and had a blast. Little Zayd is so adorable and just a happy content little baby. I think the 5-6 month age is my favorite for babies. Their dear friend stopped by for a few shots as well, if you are wondering who the other woman in the slideshow is.

Without further ado!

First we must go back to the baby shower

The Belly ShootMeet Zayd and all the fingers he can get in his mouth at one time.
The adorable family.
Typical time spent with Daddy.
One of my favorites with Mommy.
What did I tell ya? He is a happy little guy.
Lots of laughter
You can't go away with out some baby feet.
I am very glad you guys made it safely to Miami.
I hope the wind brings you back to Philadelphia. I had a great time with you all on Friday.

Slideshow

Lydia & Pat Wedding Teaser

Saturday was a gorgeous day! We had such a great time with Lydia and Pat. I am just starting to go through their images but wanted to give you one teaser. Towards the end of the night Lydia and Pat disappeared to put on outfits traditional to each of their cultures. Lydia wore a traditional Chinese dress and Pat the traditional Korean outfit. I love that each of them embrace their cultures and the combination of the two together is beautiful.
Everybody had a great time, the day was beautiful and Lydia and Pat were just glowing all day. Check back later this week for a full review of their day.

Have fun in Hawaii you guys!

Baby Abigail Session 1

Last week I had the pleasure of spending time with Ross, Margo and baby Abigail. Abigail was two weeks old last week and oh so adorable. She was very sleepy as most newborns are but we did have some good awake time with her. Mom and Dad are so excited to have her around, its so nice to watch the bonding of baby and new parents.

Tiny hands

Tiny head

Tiny feet

She is so adorable. I love her expression here.

The new family

Wondering what this lady is doing with that big camera.

As new parents I think this is what they do the majority of the time, look in wonder and amazement at Abigail. I don't blame them.

We can not forget the other children.
The cats were very curious and took quite the liking to me and the camera.

This was our first of three sessions to document Abigail's first year. I am so excited to watch her grow and watch this family grow. Looking forward to our next visit. Until then.

Slideshow

Alicia & Dave E-Session

Last Sunday amidst all the thunderstorms rolling through the area I met up with Alicia and Dave for their engagement session at Chadds Ford Winery. This was my first time meeting them in person (they live in D.C.) and I couldn't be more excited to put a name to the face and even more excited that they are totally adorable. We readied ourselves for the shoot by starting off with a wine tasting. It was perfect to get to know each other and calm some nerves. I highly recommend going to Chadds Ford, not only do they have some really good wine but their tasting was extremely generous. We could have hung out a lot longer but since we actually needed to take some pictures we steadied ourselves, sorta, I think we tried 13 wines? It was the perfect getting to know you time.

Now on to picture time!
I have a lot of favorites from the session but this one is at the top of the list.

Awesome stainless holding tanks.

Dave brought along a little surprise for Alicia, their football jerseys! She is an Eagles fan, he is a Patriots fan so he thought it would be fun to stir things up a bit. I would love to be a fly on the wall when their teams play each other. There are more fun shots in the slideshow.

Another top contender for favorite of the day.

The management at Chadds Ford was very gracious to take us down to the cellar for some photos. I even gained an assistant to hold some lights for me.

Love this one by the barrels.
Continuing some moody lighting.

I have been lovin these engagement sessions. I come away from each one with a big smile on my face, so happy to have so many awesome couples to work with.

Alicia and Dave you guys are adorable, make sure to let me know when you are in town again.

Slideshow

Ashley & Matt E-Session

Last Saturday after a fun session with Crystal and Chris we headed over to the east side to meet up with Ashley & Matt. We met them at Frank restaurant which is where they first met. Matt used to work there and Ashely lived right around the corner. We had some drinks and hung out a little at their table. Ashley even wore the shirt she had on when they first met. It is a cute place and the food that was coming out of the kitchen smelled divine!

I wanted to put a little something together to get the all around feel of Frank's

They did a quick wardrobe change and we headed to the park around the corner from their apartment.

I just love this one, Ashley has beautiful brown eyes.

Matt is a total goof ball but he is super handsome and has a great smile

mmm buttery flare

Matt is in the process of opening a new restaurant in Brooklyn so we thought it would be perfect to incorporate that into the shoot. Its going to be so cool for them to look back at these when everything is finished. As of last Saturday they still didn't have a name nailed down but once I find out the name I will be sure to update this post. I had a lot of fun playing with some different lighting techniques and mixing things up a bit. Its one of my goals this year to be a little more experimental with artificial light, get some moody into it ya know.

**up date! The restaurants name is No. 7**

We could not forget the smittens! Ashley's mom got the smittens for them and when Matt proposed during a hike he put the ring in the shared smitten hand for Ashley to find.

Too freaking cute.

Again, such a fun day. We also had amazing meals with both couples from Saturday, it was a tasty day. I am so glad we were able to travel to NYC and capture important things for each couple. Matt cracks me up, you will see some of his character come out in the slideshow. They are getting married in October at the Appleford estate in Philadelphia. Can't wait to see you guys again, hopefully I will see you before the wedding if we can get up for the restaurant opening.
Thanks again to Don for second shooting and assisting me throughout the day. Some of the shots in the slideshow are from him. Isn't he a great well rounded boyfriend?

Slideshow

Crystal & Chris E-Session

Last Saturday Don and I headed up to NYC for two awesome engagement sessions. We met Crystal and Chris first in Times Square. They really wanted to incorporate the city into the shoot and we had a fantastic time. At the very start of the shoot we had a bit of a shoe malfunction as they were running across the street Crystals shoe strap broke! But luckily Don had a safety pin on him and Chris ran to the drug store for some tape. Go figure, these things happen but we made the best of it.

Crystal and Chris will be getting married in Philadelphia at the Academy of Fine Arts in September. I am really looking forward to seeing them again, we had a great time on Saturday.

Now on to some photos!

I love the motion in this image, one of my favorites from the day.

Nothing could be more New York than hailing a cab.
OK, so maybe the Naked Cowboy is becoming part of the NYC culture. He was a little upset when we didn't actually want to pose with him, we just wanted him in the background. But we did take some of the traditional tourist shots with him, you will see in the slideshow.
$2.00 well spent.
From Times Square we headed over to the Brooklyn Pominade. Crystal went to Law School in Brooklyn and so this was familiar territory. Everything about Saturday was perfect, beautiful people, perfect temperature and white puffy clouds.
Love all the elements in this image, the sky, the couple and the shadows.
SexyJazz hands!
Ha ha, Chris has this thing with jazz hands. I really enjoy their playfulness in this image.

We had so much fun, and I can't wait to see them again. Don did a little second shooting and some assisting for me, the only reason I was able to get some awesome shots of them with the sky behind them. A few of his images made it into the slideshow as well! I am so happy he was able to go up with me. He had a great time and really enjoyed meeting everyone.

Enjoy the Slideshow

Sura & John E-Session

Thursday evening I spent some time with Sura and John. Their wedding is in September and after hanging out with them again on Thursday I am even more excited for it now. They are such a fun and cute couple, lots of personality. Not to mention they followed directions well and took some chances for the sake of the image. Love that.

We started off at CHOP, they both work in emergency there and its also where they met. So it was a no brainer to take some photos there. We then went to Elfreth's Alley for some essential old city Philly photos and they were excited to go to Logan fountain at the end. The fountain was very fun, check in the slideshow for more images. We all got a tad wet but it was worth it.

I think I made them run across the street five times to get this particular shot. One of those things when you get it in your head you must have it. I have always loved that National sign and I pictured them just like this in mid air. cool.

I love this little series.
Shows a lot of their personalities.

I think one of my favorites from the day.Fun with feet.
Cool alley way, somehow the fire escapes reminded me of Italy.

Slideshow
(Sorry if it stalls a bit in the middle, not sure why its doing that.)

Over the Rainbow

So last night Mr. PhotoJoe hosted another pizza night, mmmm. After about a month of figuring out dates that were good for everyone we finally got together. Storms were crazy yesterday but they also brought a nice present. I think Joe's kids ran around the neighborhood looking for the pot of gold. I don't think they struck it rich though.

So here was our crew, the Kielinski's Carver, Kyle and Linette, then me, Ryan in the green, Joe and his lady and my Donald. Joe's other lady friend is trying to peek through and I am sorry I don't remember their names. I am horrible. Thanks again for a lovely evening.

I am taking the day off today. I just got back from a lovely, yet hard, yoga class and am going to run out the door to hang with Linette and Carver today. It has been a whirl wind over the last couple of days and I have 4 really fun engagement shoots to share this week. So even though I have a mound of editing to do I need a bit of down time. I hope everyone had a lovely weekend, it was absolutely gorgeous! Could not have asked for better weather.

Have a great day.

Blooming Wax Plant

My wax plant is blooming and it is so unusual that I thought I would share. My mom gave me a clipping of her plant years ago and it took forever for mine to produce a bloom. My mom's still out blooms mine.

Its very interesting though, it sends off these shoots and they look like little wax beads or something.
This is what it looks like before it blooms

Here it is in full bloom, spectacular isn't it?

I think the underside is just as interesting, I love the star shape.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I just wanted to send some birthday wishes out to my Mom today! She hits a milestone at 65 today!

Here is a recent photo I swiped from her blog with Geoff when she was in Hawaii a few weeks ago.

Happy Birthday Mom, I hope you had a fun filled day. Love you.

Melissa & Mike

A few weeks ago Melissa, Mike and I headed out to do another engagement session with just them this time. Last time we did a family style shoot but we wanted to concentrate on just the two of them a little more this time around. Not to mention it was awesome to hang out with them for a few hours and get caught up with just the grown ups.

Of course we picked a hot and humid day, but what can ya do? They braved the weather wonderfully and a quick stop at Starbucks helped revitalize us.

Here are some of my favorites.

We were out in Yardley and I just love these old houses.

I wanted to get a head shot for each of them. Man love Melissa's eyes. I have some ideas brewing for her wedding day and those eyes!

A little behind the scenes action here courtesy of Mike while he was holding my camera.

Not only am I a photographer but I can also fix broken necklaces, bustle dresses, fix make-up, tie bows, design invitations, menus and much much more!

Melissa and Mike will be tying the knot this September and I can hardly wait. I will be doing double duty at the wedding, wedding photographer for the first part of the day and guest at the reception. Melissa has been a very good friend for years and really wanted me to be a part of her big day in both ways. It will be fun and I am so excited for her.

Love you guys! Enjoy your slideshow

Jumble of stuff

Ok, I have a few tid bits of info to throw out there. So this post is just a mish mosh of thoughts.

First, Jilly had her baby boy today, 8.6 lbs! Woohoo! He has no name as of this very moment and I can not wait to see what it will be. There are a handful in consideration. Her film will be ready on Wednesday so can't wait to see what we got from the belly shoot, man the timing on that could not have been any closer.

Love ya Willy!Today we got to hang out with the RRSC for Dylan and Calebs first birthday party! These guys are getting so big and being twins they could not be any different. They have surely grown, a few days old and six months old! Yes we are a tad late celebrating the birthday but everybody has been super busy. Here are the birthday boys, I will be posting more later.
I had to snag this just because from Ryan's blog. Not too often I am in a photo these days. We had a good Philly PUG BBQ on Thursday and it was great to see so many people make it out. I never even had the chance to eat anything because I was talking too much. He has more photos from the evening at his blog as well.
PhotoJoe, me and Miss Jackie Bayne

I will be out of the office all day tomorrow attending the AltF workshop out in Lancaster. Looking forward to it. I promise to have Melissa & Mike's slideshow up this week, I know I know its been two weeks, I will be caught up after I get that posted.

A lot of you have asked and sent your good thoughts about our house, I just wanted to say thank you so much! There has only been one day since it has been on the market that we have not had a showing. Hopefully we will soon hear good news. Keep thinking good thoughts!

OK, thats it for now! Have a great week.

2nd shooting with Jackie Bayne for Pam & Chris Wedding

On July 12 I had the honor of second shooting for the awesome Miss Jackie Bayne on Pam & Chris's wedding. It was such a fun day and Pam & Chris were at the top of their game. I really enjoyed shooting with Jackie. Its always good to work with other photographers, you learn something new every time. Not to mention its just really awesome to see how other people work. You absolutely have to go to Jackies blog and check out her post on this wedding.

Pam wore a gorgeous Vera Wang gown.
Seriously stunning.

Some mighty fine looking groomsmen.

Pam is a photographers dream. Black hair, blue eyes and a whole lot of spunk.
She knew how to work the camera like I have never seen before.

I love her touch of black nail polish.

Funny thing about this yellow VW is that I know the guy who owns it.
Its a small world and the car played a key part in the day.

They are such a great looking couple

Last one, check out Jackies site to see more from their day. They are going to have a devil of a time choosing images for their album. I love this one of her walking. Timeless.

Thanks again Jackie for inviting me out to shoot with you. It was a blast, you rock! I look forward to shooting with you again.