When Suzanne visited the studio just a week before her wedding, she promised me that the reception would be one to remember. She was right… and I will also remember the ceremony, the visit to her house nearby, and even the trip over to the reception site.
When I arrived at her house, Suzanne wasn’t quite ready yet. But the two flower girls were happy to come down and play in the living room. Once the bride was ready, we took a few photos in the house, then moved outside for a few more. Suzanne was a little nervous, and was having a few tummy issues, but nothing that couldn’t be overcome with a little laughter and a nice back rub by one of her bridesmaids.
The funny thing was her insistence on having photos taken with one of the custom trucks that a family member does. I ended up getting her and the bridesmaids in front of one of them.
Arriving at the church gave me an opportunity to go between the lower floor where the bride was waiting and he church itself where the light was absolutely incredible. Since I was also using new equipment, I was being cautious about how things were going to go with capturing what I saw. At one point, when I first walked into the sanctuary, I saw a great beam of light striking the high altar. It took my breath away at first, but quickly taking camera in hand, I was even more in awe of the image I’d captured.
The ceremony which followed started off in a kind of awe of itself. After the usual procession of bridesmaids and flower girls, the bride rounded the corner with her mother and looked up into the sanctuary. I heard her take a deep gasp, trying to take in all the emotion of the moment. Forcing a smile on her face, she headed down the aisle toward Jeff.
The minister was very open and kept things light during the service. At one point, he even brought out a bit of laughter.
I was fortunate enough to learn this new church quickly, one I’d never photographed in before. One incredible feature was a “back hallway” behind the altar which permitted me to move from one side of the altar to the other without disrupting the service. I never used it, but my position near the groom’s side of the altar gave me an incredible view of what the ray of light had done at the altar.
Following the service, several people were comparing rings, including the wedding bands of the groom’s father and the groom. What ensued was a comparison of rings in general.
Getting outside after the ceremony was over and the guests were over at the reception site meant getting some great photos out near the bridge that lead up to the church. Here’s one of our favorites from the stream that flows under the bridge.
Once we finally arrived at the much awaited reception, I saw what they meant by a reception to remember. During introductions, each of the guests had a streamer popper. When the bride and groom came in, these poppers were going off all over the house.
The remainder of the night included lots of dancing, meeting of old friends and family, and plenty of special moments.
We want to wish Suzanne and Jeff a wonderful marriage. Based on what I saw, they’ll be together for a very long time.
For each of the past three years, we have ventured to Crownsville Maryland (just south of Annapolis) to the annual Renaissance Festival held in late summer and early fall there.
What we enjoy the most is just about everything. Many people go in costume, as we did for the first time this year, there is lots of entertainment (mostly magic and comedy shows), a theme which involves the monarchy of that period, and street actors who provide an enjoyable distraction for the kids (of all ages).
We went in costume this year, Diana as a bar wench (complete with long brown hair), and me as a bar man (with my mug for ale and other beverages). We had fun doing so, since Tara (the younger daughter) and her boyfriend Jake went along as well. Tara went in a vampy little outfit, and Jake as more of a demonic character, which suits his personality. 🙂
We saw a few of the shows, shopped in the shops (there are a LOT of vendors, and most stay true to the theme of the fair), and even watched the jousting competition. To be honest, it was a little more tame than those you may have seen in movies (such as “A Knight’s Tale”). But we had fun the whole time and left a little early to hopefully beat traffic.
That wasn’t to be the case, however. We started to leave at 5:45, and didn’t leave the parking lot until 8:20pm. I’ve never seen so much disarray and lack of coordination with traffic and parking control. But we made the best of the time, talking, making fun of the costumes and generally passing the time with whatever we could.
Despite the parking and traffic problems, I strongly recommend this festival to anyone. You can read more about this event at www.rennfest.com. Maybe we’ll see you there next year!
So Heather had only contacted us a month or so before her wedding, and seemed quite anxious and emphatic about having photos for her wedding. An easy-going bride, it didn’t seem like much of anything rattled her, and that proved to come in handy on her wedding day.
Heather has two children, a boy and a girl, who were in the wedding. Her son was the ring bearer and her daughter the flower girl. Both children seemed to understand that this was a special day, but like all children they got bored very quickly and didn’t want to keep being pretty and proper. 🙂
Heather ran late getting to the church for her 12:00 ceremony. We later learned that the reason was that there was some confusion with her reception site (Clarion Inn in Shepherdstown) and things had to be quickly rearranged to accommodate the reception, DJ and cake table.
One thing I love about weddings is flowers. Lots and lots of flowers. And this wedding was filled with roses. I love roses especially because the fragrance is so alluring and the petals are so soft. I’m sounding more manly all the time, eh? 😉
So the ceremony got a late start, but nobody seemed to care. We’ve long told brides that it doesn’t matter if they are running late – everything waits for them. She took that well in stride and walked proudly down the aisle with BOTH her parents to her waiting groom.
Once at the reception, things went smoothly. The DJ kept things going and dinner was served on time. The staff at the Clarion was, as usual, very helpful.
We want to wish Heather and Rusty a long and happy marriage.
Susan came to us for some image photos. As a nationally-recognized mediator and company event organizer, Susan needed professional images for differing levels of her business clients.
After we were done, Susan’s husband joined us for the viewing of the images. While somewhat helpful, he spent a great deal of the time explaining his theories in life and why he doesn’t have photos taken.
When Francine called us to take pictures of her dog, we were delighted. We love taking pet photos, and most animals are very cooperative.
Francine told us that Matt Matt was ill, and that he was huge. He was not just huge, but also beautiful, friendly and adorable. We took quite a few photos from different angles, but he was uncomfortable due to leg problems and wouldn’t relax the way she’d hoped.
We got a few nice images, though.
We’ve also taken a lot of photos of Francine’s children, mostly in sports. We hope to see them in the studio again.
As we’ve done in years past, taking photos for the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle is just our small part of contributing to a great cause.
Jan Callen is the gentleman in the very front and runs the office in Martinsburg.
So after about a month without any weddings, at least those where I’m the photographer, I got back in the saddle with one that was one of the most interesting I’ve done in awhile.
I started off by visiting the ceremony room, and the beauty of it all was eclipsed by some of the most interesting decorations. The theme was Venice.
The girls all got ready in a small room above the carriage house, and the oddest part about this was the chair sitting in the bathtub. The explanation was that since the mirror on the wall next to the tub was the best in the room that the chair was there so they could sit down to apply their makeup. Made sense to me.
This was an unusual wedding in that the groom had a lady as part of his party… It’s not the first time I’ve seen a female groomsperson, but the first one where her attire matched the groomsmen’s attire, only she wore a dress.
A little “side item” was a very interesting crush that was going on between the ring bearer and the older flower girl. Both were about 8 or 9, and it was cute to see the ring bearer bringing her flowers, dancing with her and everyone taking pictures of every move.
The party was pretty big… which means that there were a lot of people dancing, and I’m not sure I saw the bride leave the dance floor more than a few minutes at a time. At one point, even I was dragged on to the dance floor in a kind of “dance challenge” where each person who goes to the dance floor drags another person who is supposed to try to outdo what they did. Because I had two cameras on me, I did the only natural thing and did the cabbage patch with my primary camera. Hey, I was working, but I was also letting them know that I wasn’t a wallflower. 🙂
Here are a few more images from the wedding, a beautiful affair at the Purple Iris in Martinsburg.
We often get the opportunity to take executive portraits for local companies, realtors, insurance agents and more. When The Hoxton Agency came to us for photos for their upcoming brochure, we were glad to help.
Below is a photo of Rob, a principal in the company.
Every senior portrait comes along with a new personality and a different end result desired. In this case, we were looking to take some photos of this young lady, and got a great deal more.
First, her sister was with her, who never had senior portraits.
Second, she had to be convinced that her braces weren’t a problem. For those who care, that means we can remove your braces in pictures.
Here are a few images from Whittney’s sitting.
We haven’t known Greg Sanchez a long time. But in that time, we’ve learned some of his quirks and a few of the reasons he seems a bit of a “spaz.”
This time, we were guests at a wedding. The second time in a month. Wow. I could get used to this! To actually take my time eating a nice meal without having to worry about if I need to pick up my camera and get the kid’s cute moment or the bride belly-laughing at Uncle Bob’s latest bawdy joke. But the best part was getting to dance with my lovely wife. We don’t get to dance much… so having the chance to do so twice in a month was wonderful!
Anyway… so we get to the church and find a parking spot… who knew? In the church’s lot… great. People, you have GOT to get to a wedding 30 minutes before the service. You get better parking, people don’t stare at you for arriving just before the service, and you get a great seat. We did.
It isn’t the first time I’ve heard popular music at a wedding. There was no church organ, no piano, no wailing singers, no choir. Just popular music… it was nice. The ceremony, as expected, was even entertaining… leave it to Greg to have a fun ceremony. Jessica was beautiful as always, graceful and elegant. They always seem so mismatched – but just keep reading.
Their exit song was “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and this IS the first time I’ve ever seen the guests clap in rhythm with the exit song. And I’ve seen a LOT at a wedding. They knew they’d created quite a stir and were laughing all the way out.
So we headed to the reception. Oddly, I think we were the first ones there. I’m not really sure why. We didn’t leave first, and there was no “wait and throw bird seed or blow bubbles at them.” So, we just got there early.
The theme and colors were red and white. This meant red and white flowers (mostly roses and carnations, with some lilies thrown in), red tablecloths and white chair covers. They went slightly beyond that. The lights that surround the outside wall were alternated with red and white lights. And when Greg and Jessica were introduced, the bridal party all came in with hats and red/white boas. And don’t get all sexist here… in some cases, the girls wore the hat and the guy wore the boa. It was a cute display… obviously well choreographed.
Dinner was great… Greg is a big turkey and dressing afficianado, and so that’s what I ordered. It was very yummy. And we danced… not as much as at Zach’s wedding, but we did dance.
Oh! And I won the centerpiece! It was a really nice clear vase with red stone marbles and all those lovely flowers. Needless to say, Diana got the flowers. I kept the vase. 😉
It was very nice. There were some fun and funny moments. And yes, we watched the photographer work and made comments on his style. Greg says there are some good pictures of us from his wedding… I don’t think I’ve seen them yet. 🙁
