Nancy & John's Album (a dry run)

Below is an initial proof of John & Nancy's wedding album. Make sure to leave some comments so they know what to add and take out! I'll post the final version when it's ready. Enjoy!

Back from the Super Pet Expo

If you didn't come to the pet expo last weekend... SHAME ON YOU! Fabulous time. But you know me... any excuse to play on the floor with puppies and kitties is a good time.

For those of you who didn't come to my booth (or might not remember what it looked like) here are a few pictures:







Also, we were giving out over $1000 worth of portraits! Congratulations Sujono Setiawati on winning the drawing. Can't wait to start working with you!

Here are a few more photos from the show...

This is Hailey actually playing with another dog for once. This is a 4 month old sheltie puppy (and yes, I'm biased towards shelties) who took a liking to her tie-bone. This is a big deal, since my dog doesn't play well with others normally.





And this is Elwood - named "The World's Ugliest Dog" by Animal Planet (but he's so cute!)...



And here we have a pig wearing sunglasses and a hairless cat on a leash...





Thank you all for coming to our booth and making the show a fabulous success!

Pet Video!

Dakota & Silver Moon

Would you look at these gorgeous dogs? Meet Silver Moon and Dakota. Does Dakota look familiar? Well, because she's famous - she was on the Discovery Channel! (It's not every day I get to photograph a TV star.) And Silver doesn't seem in the least bit jealous. I'm jealous - I totally want Hailey on a show. :)

These two are both rescue dogs. Their mom, Lisa, works over at the Arlington Humane Society. Hopefully we'll be photographing all the animals at the Humane Society to use on their website - get some more adoptions going!

In the mean time, look at these two beauties.

More Sexy Suzy

What happens when a photographer, make up artist, and hair dresser get together? Pin-up art of course! This is Suzy... she's our favorite victim (er... model) for "Seriously Sexy Portrait Parties." And yes, the flight suit and Navy cover are Dave's. And yes, I was yelled at by him for doing this. ("My flight suit isn't a costume!"... yeah, not to you.)

Yesterday's Engagement: Abby & Art

Yesterday, I had the privilege of photographing two very nice - and very creative - people. Abby and Art are getting married next month in Annapolis. Wish them congratulations!

Abby contacted me earlier this month about doing something "different" for an engagement session. She suggested we go photograph around Union Station. Very cool! I'd like to take credit for coming up with such a neat location, but alas, I have to attribute credit where credit is due.

These are just a couple of images from in and around Union Station in D.C.

More Dogs!

Hooray for rescue dogs! These are just the funniest twosome. So much personality it's hysterical. This is Sierra and Timber - two mixed-breeds here in Alexandria.

(sorry, this image hasn't been retouched yet - the background will have to be fixed still.) It was a near miracle that we got both in the picture together!

Look at that face!Happy Doggy!

Playing Favorites with Pets

Ok, I know I shouldn't play favorites. But I LOVE this cat! Shoshoni's brought her to me twice now. This time, we were chihuahua-less, but there was a new cat and husky.

At some point I'll have to post some of the black-on-black stuff we did with Madge and Peanut last time around. They'll both be prints at my booth next weekend. (Oh yeah, did I mention I'm exhibiting in the Pet Expo in Dulles yet?)

This is Madge (I just adore her. But from the expression, I can't say the feeling is mutual.)

And this is Diogee. She's ten. Such a sweetie!


And this is Salem. I'm pretty sure he's still a kitten. He preferred to hide upstairs. For the record, cats aren't fun to pull out of a DVD rack. Look at those eyes!

Radical Riley

Since I went to Boston University, I hold a special place in my heart for Boston Terriers. They are, of course, a relatively lame school mascot. And I used to play with the mascot's puppies during photo shoots at B.U. Photo Services in college.

...But Riley here takes the cake!

This little guy had me in stitches. He's a riot. Yes, he's wearing sunglasses. No, he didn't fight me on it. It's like he had modeling lessons.

Meet Maggie

Sorry I'm a little behind in posting these! I was in Connecticut and New Jersey this past week. I'm going to be posting a LOT tonight though, so I hope you're all in the mood for reading.

These pictures are of Maggie - an incredibly energetic Labradoodle puppy. She's just the sweetest dog - and I can forgive her for drinking out of my toilets. I mean, how can you hold a grudge on a face like this?


My mom said if Cynthia (Maggie's "mom") ever wants a break, she'll dogsit. My mother is in L-O-V-E with this dog.


And I tried something a little different here. Used Painter on this image...

She's Zigg-alicious!

Well, this is Miss Ziggy Stardust. Still kind of a puppy. Very energetic. And energetic is a gross understatement! Ain't she sweet?

Seriously Sexy!

Not sure if I shared this with everyone yet. New idea: Portrait Parties! So far they've gotten off to a great start. I work with Melvinia Williams, a kick-butt makeup artist (and wedding planner, girls!) and we go to people's houses and do some Old Fashioned Hollywood-style portraits. They're a ton of fun (and a lot of work - phew!) If you're interested in joining one, go to the Meetup: www.women.meetup.com/803

Here are a few portraits from Monday night...

Meet Roxy!

I had the pleasure of photographing this sweet little girl today. This is Roxy, an 8-week old American Bulldog pup. Is she not the cutest lil' thing ever? I was actually pretty impressed - she's so well behaved! Can you believe she's only 2 months old and already housebroken!? I guess that's because her "mom", Alicia, is a dog trainer in Fairfax. Now if only I could convince her to work on Hailey's barking... ;-)

Nancy & John's Wedding - March 1st

Sher and I spent March 1st celebrating the wedding of Nancy & John at the Morrison House in Alexandria. Such a lovely wedding! The day started at around 1:00 - after we fought for a parking spot due to the parade in town. (Note: St. Patrick's Day is apparently a month-long event in Alexandria.) Nancy and John took a horse-drawn carriage ride through Old Town as Sher and I photographed their hilariously funny families - and super-cute grandkids! The couple married in the beautiful library of Morrison House in a very intimate ceremony. Not a dry eye in the house! (I have proof.) Later that evening, we went to a great bar for the family to celebrate the new marriage. Talk about letting loose, ya'll. (And I know you're reading this - you're blushing, aren't you?) I taught Sher some neat lens tricks to do in low-light including spinning the camera. I think I speak for us both when I say we were EXHAUSTED by the end of the day! But well worth it. I love photographing weddings! Check out this collage of Nancy and John. Don't they look so happy together? :)

Don't Look at Me!

Often, brides and grooms don't want to see each other before their ceremony. It's viewed as "unromantic" or "bad luck" or "untraditional" to do so.

Well... as it turns out, the tradition isn't so romantic at all! It comes from a few different ideas - including the ever romantic bride buying and not letting her see the groom was a way to ensure she wouldn't run away! In fact, the tradition of the veil comes from the groom not being able to see the bride first and try to trade her in. Not very romantic after all, hunh?

So please please PLEASE consider seeing each other before the ceremony. It's so important, for the photographs as well as for the couple.

Changing the Tradition
Often, clients want to keep the tradition but due to time constraints it becomes difficult to get enough "formals" between the ceremony and reception. Also, the groom is usually so nervous by the time of the ceremony that the whole bridal gown - first look thing makes for photos that look like a deer-in-headlights. Really, why would you want to waste that $3000 dress on a lost moment!? You could be wearing a burlap sack for all he'll care!

Our solution? The "First Look" Ceremony. Dave and the maid of honor take the groom out to private location, where the groom is blindfolded. Then Dave steals the groom's wallet. I mean, sorry - that's a different plan.

Then the bride comes out with me - the groom's blindfold is removed and the couple sees each other for the very first time.

It's private, special, and very memorable!

Most of our clients thank us for "talking them into" a First Look Ceremony. The moment is so special to our couples and we're so happy to be a part of that. Bonus: These are hands down the best pictures of the day! ...And you'll want that extra half-hour to decompress, un-nerve and steal a private moment for just the two of you before the crazy wedding-day fun begins!

Back from VPPA!

Fabulous news everyone...

6 Award Winning Prints!
Assuming most of you haven't sat through a print competition before. But let me tell you... TIME STANDS STILL! Liz and I drove 4 hours to the annual State convention and print competition this year. Unfortunately for us, comp started at 8 am so we woke up at around 4 am to ... arrive fashionably late. This was my first state competition (I've always been a wuss before) so I really wanted to watch every print as they came around. Little did I know there were over 500 prints entered! Since there's always so much fabulous work entered by big name photographers, my only goal was to not get laughed at. Really, it's a higher standard than you'd think My first print came up around noon on Friday. "The Green Flash." But here's the cool thing: The audience gasped! Which is awesome, because even if the judges didn't like it, at least I felt like I didn't waste my time. But they did like it! It scored a red ribbon at a 79.

Then I fell asleep for about an hour... (hey, I was up late.) I wake up to Liz poking me in my arm and whispering "Empty Vessels is up!" Again, my heart stopped. One of the judges actually got up to get a better view. It took them a long time to enter in a score. Also a red ribbon, this time at a 78.

The next day of judging, I waited FOREVER for these prints to come up! The first one was "Coming Home" - another audience pleaser! Red ribbon at a 78. Then "Triumphant Tulip" came up. It was my case filler this year and didn't think it would go above a 68 really. It got a red ribbon at a 77.

Next up was "Sicilian Sunrise"... which is actually a Sicilian sunset but I typed the name wrong and it was too late to change it. I hoped I wouldn't get dinged for it. The judges call out 79. And then...

"CHALLENGE!"

The print was called back up. Time stopped. And one judge says "Now wait a second guys... I think we missed something here" {Oh please, oh please, oh please say you missed something good}

..."This is a beautiful print! I think it's deserving of merit." {Woohoo!} The judges panel discussed the print pointing out it's merits and flaws. I was praying that they wouldn't get up and look closer. (So was Liz.) Then they rescored...

"80." and a blue ribbon!

Then Snowdog came up. It was probably one of the last 15 prints to score. At the print critique in July, it got an overwhelming "AWWW!!!" from the audience - plus it's my dog so if there's anything that I wanted to do well, it was this one! Scored a 78 and another red ribbon. Well, in my opinion, my dog deserves a 100 and a best in show ribbon - which is the first time 78 was a bad score. This must be why photographers don't enter prints of their own kids. The critique is way too personal!

At the awards banquet, there was a slideshow of all the blue ribbon prints. Out of all of them, mine was the only one left out! :(

Want to see my prints? (It wasn't an option.) Here they are:

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