Pride is a tricky thing for an artist.
There's that little thing called perfectionism, first of all.

 

Then there's the to-do list a mile long, that always makes one feel slightly incomplete. A bit undone.
Pride never is an emotion that swells to the top of the food chain. It's always chomped on by doubt, ambition, exhaustion, and distraction.

But when I work for a client who can achieve their goals, wipe something major off of their to-do list as a result of my help, well, that does make me feel proud.

One of the areas in which I've been working this year has been in corporate branding. I've done all the photography for Metrocurean.com, mirasadesign.com, American Association of University Women, and many more awesome clients. The most recent was Allan Woods Flowers. We are still building their portfolio of images, but just a second ago I flipped to their website, just to see their progress, and voila! found a gorgeous new site, featuring their amazing arrangements and enveloping, fragrant shop featured full frame. To see my photography accurately depict their artistry...ah. It's the feeling of great satisfaction.

And to have my photography support the liveliehood of an amazing team of professionals supporting our local neigborhood, even better.

But the best of all is shooting a room full of gorgeous flower arrangements. Can you say delicious?

Now if someone could just help me get my new website done.
Sheesh.

What a wedding! Heidi and Myles had a picture perfect ceremony and reception, 

filled with personal details and lots of love.

  

 The Girls:

The Boys:

The Ring Bearer:
Get a load of his tux! He did a great job walking down the aisle and delivering the rings to the best man.  Myles and Heidi told me that they dress up their pooch at every opportunity :)

The Mansion at Strathmore, as always, provided a spectacular venue for the reception. I love the gardens, outdoor patios, and historical interior. So picturesque.
And not to mention that the staff is top notch.

The bride and groom, announced as husband and wife, entering their reception....

The toasts had me cracking up - hilarious - and so heartfelt.

Check out this adorable cake with two doggie cake toppers!

 
The First Dance.
Myles and Heidi were SO prepped! They coordinated a really great first dance that they rocked!

 

Many congratulations you two! 

The Vendor Team: 

Ceremony: Hermon Presbyterian church

Reception: The Mansion at Strathmore

Florist: Tierra Floral Designs- Juan Carlos

Makeup and Hair: Belle Soeur Styles

Dress: Allure from Ellie's Bridal Boutique

Shoes: Badgley Mischka

A gorgeous weekend at the Tremont Grand in Baltimore. Marni and David had the most spirited wedding on May 7, full of tons of love and joy. Not to mention that a serious party was getting started just and we were leaving. Congratulations Marni and David! It has been so much fun getting to know you over this past year.

I love the look on Marni's face as she's being walked down the aisle by her parents...

The Tremont Grand is a spectacular space. Historically, it was a Freemason's lodge, now converted into a series of floor after floor of grand ballrooms. Here is the ceremony space

And the reception hall  - so distinctly different but just as dramatic

 

 The Hora! So fun...

The beautiful couple's first dance

I should also mention that the events staff at the Tremont is among the best I've worked with in the business. Thanks, Marni and David, for allowing me to be a part of your amazing wedding day.
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This past weekend, I had the joy of photographing the wedding of Meg and Marc, two very good friends of my sister.

I was first contacted by Meg after she saw one of my weddings featured on the great blog District Weddings. She was interested in my work and style as a photographer, but it was only after the first contact that we put two and two together that I was the sister of her good friend. DC seems to get smaller by the day.

Marc and Meg pulled together an amazing day, full of heirloom details and tradition.

The bride and her attendants got ready at the DC Hotel Monaco, just around the corner from the couple's home.

The wedding was at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. The parish was established in 1794, primarily to meet the needs of Irish immigrants at work on the White House and the Capitol building, and is widely thought to be the oldest parish in the district.

The crown worn by Meg was also worn by her mother and both of her sisters on their wedding day. Although her mom came across the crown while in Germany, before her own wedding, she was told that the master silversmith that created it was from her, and my, home town of Rochester, NY. So she returned stateside and commissioned it from him.

One of their favorite spots is the Einstein Sculpture, little known even by DC residents. Love the forethought of bringing a boutonniere for Einstein!

Endless color

The most adorable nieces, who so PATIENTLY waited through all of the pictures....

The reception was at the incomparable Halcyon House, in Georgetown. It must have been said 100 times throughout the night "look at all the colors in this wedding!", to which someone inevitably responded "would you expect anything less from Meg and Marc?".

Meg's dress was (unbelievably) hand sewn by her mother. Each and every rosette on the dress was hand made. Needless to say, the mother of the bride was asked by every unmarried woman in the room if she would be willing to make theirs, to which she politely responded "this was a labor of love. and a one time deal". Wise, indeed, unless she wanted to be hand-sewing rosettes off into the sunset for the rest of time.

The wedding was created by seemingly everyone in attendance. The 63 balloons adorning the reception hall were blown up by her brother and relatives, as well as hung from the 30 foot cement ceiling by them. Not an easy task, I am told.

The flowers, some of the food, the streamers used throughout the party, the table decorations, all hand crafted. What a lovely day - infused with such heart (and manual labor), and yet still able to come off seamlessly. And all with an uber-relaxed bride, groom, and bridal party. Many congratulations Meg and Marc! It was a true joy to work with you both.

The dance party was rocked by the always awesome Bryan George - who also helped us coordinate this group shot at the end of the night...and THEN got everyone right back on the dance floor!

Vendors:
DJ Bryan George
Caterering by 42 degrees
Event Planning by Jackie Ludden
Lighting by Frost Lighting
Venue by Halcyon House, Hotel Monaco DC, and St. Patrick's Parish

One of my favorite bridal blogs in this area is called District Weddings. They have a great series on etiquette tips right now, and the piece from this morning struck my interest. The question was: Are wedding favors something to leave out when considering budget?

The response was that favors really remind your friends and family how happy you were that they came to celebrate with you on your wedding day, and they should be infused with love and thoughtfulness, not necessarily expense. I couldn't agree more!

It brought to mind the wedding of Sam and Rachel from this past fall, in which Rachel created so many personal touches to their wedding day, that the entire event was just infused with their personalities. I know their guests felt the same way. Here are a few of the items that they made:

Home-brewed beer (called Nuptial Bliss!)

And lovely and delicious truffles as wedding favors, handmade and wrapped in these adorable little boxes.

All of my couples LoVE to hear ideas ... what did you do for your wedding favors or personal wedding touches?!

I love maternity shoots. Oriana and her husband are having a little girl, and are so, so excited!
When I asked Oriana about how she was feeling, with near tears in her eyes, she held onto her stomach and said "this baby girl is VERY wanted". I'm so happy for you guys, and can't wait to meet her!

I've blogged before about light (and if you're a client of mine, you've definitely heard me talk about it). This weekends' wedding was a great example of how a photograph is truly just capturing light, its mood, its intensity. The subject of the photograph shapes, bends and reflects the light in different ways. If you can think about photography in this way, your images will become more interesting, more unique, and definitely more creative. I actually am going to make this blog a little photography lesson, so read all the way through. First, in a prelude to the the pretty photographs, a little about this wonderful couple. The light, the spark that is between Meghan and Mike is so palatable,  it's remarkable. Although I have only known them for a short time, it feels like these two have been partners forever. The story of how they met (can you say love at first sight?) and their desire to just get married already! and plan their wedding in three short months...well it's a testament to how some things are just meant to be.

Here are a few favorite images from Saturday, a few of which I'll discuss in detail at the end.

It was such an amazing day - congratulations Mike and Meghan!!

So here's a little play by play on capturing some of these images. In this image of Meghan siting in the church after her ceremony, I wanted to capture the essence, the feel, of her wedding day, without overtly shooting a 'wedding image', at the alter, bride and groom smiling, etc. So I positioned Meghan in a swath of light coming in from the window, and loved the shape of her in her dress breaking up the translucence of her veil. The subject, in this case, Meghan, shapes the light by blocking it from flooding into the scene. If she weren't in this frame, the flowers would be the subject, and the light from the window would come pouring in, uninterrupted. But in this picture, her head, shoulders, legs, arm, and hand are so solid, that they fully block light from entering the space, it has to wrap right around her. The veil is semi solid, and white, so shapes the light differently, less overtly.

Here's another example of the same window light, with a different treatment.  In the above image, I allowed the frame to be over exposed. I wanted a light, airy feeling, an outline of my subject, and a very daytime look. I wanted my viewer to think "serene" when they saw it.  In the image below, I wanted a moodier feeling, think "calm after the storm". So I used the exact same location, where the bride and groom could have a few minutes to just be, right after their ceremony. By exposing for the couple, I allowed the rest of the church not bathed in direct light to go dark. This gives the image a certain drama by focusing your eye directly on the subject. Additionally, I loved the symmetry of the three windows, their very linear window panes, and the pews, all leading lines that bring your eye right to the top 2/3rds of the frame, where the subject (the couple, in this case) interrupts your viewpoint and draws it in.

Similarly, this image uses geometric shapes to draw your eye right to the bride and her mom, getting ready before the ceremony. See how different the feel is when I stepped back 20 feet and framed in my subject:

as opposed to shooting them close up?

If you have any questions on the other images and how I got them, hit me up in the comments section.  As well, if this was useful, let me know and I'll post more mini-lessons through the regular blog posts. More soon,
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