So, when you think about weddings you are likely thinking the young couple in love and having a big party with all the celebrations, and drinking and dancing and carrying on. Right?
That’s just about the usual, but not always. Harriet and Bill are quite the perfect couple. But both are in their later years, and it didn’t seem to matter one bit to how much happiness they had on their wedding day. Interestingly, Harriet actually seemed a little nervous, while Bill met with family and reviewed photos from an earlier reunion.
So this little guy became something of a treat for me during the wedding and reception. He repeatedly asked if he could take my picture. I obliged a couple of times, and the second time with my camera. This was our first encounter.
In case I had to tell you, he was the official ring bearer.
Following the service, Harriet and Bill offered up over 100 balloons to their guests to be released all at once. After taking a picture of everyone holding balloons, they counted down (1, 2, 3) and everyone released their balloons.
It was quite a site to see 100+ balloons headed skyward. With almost no breeze, the balloons stayed a steady course upward. Eventually, they started to move northwest, but not much. It was great to watch them. Harriet and Bill watched them for awhile, too.
After this release, and some family photos, I took the newlyweds down to a site I had scouted out earlier for a few photos of just them. It just screamed “PICTURE PLACE” to me. Diana added enough flair to make it a really stand-out image.
The wedding celebration wrapped up just after sundown.
Funny side story. The next day we met some friends at Three Onions restaurant in Shepherdstown for brunch. Not long after we were seated and enjoying catching up on things, Harriet and Bill and about ten more relatives came in to sit at a long table just across from our table. We accused them of stalking us at first, but quickly realized that they really liked good food, too. They were headed out the next day for a honeymoon.
Best wishes to Harriet and Bill for a great marriage!
Wow, have we been busy. When we’re not capturing images, we’re processing them back at the studio. While I don’t really keep a record of how many images I take over a given time period, for portraits and weddings alone in the months of June and July, I know we did at least 4,000 images.
Bear in mind that taking the picture is only the beginning. EVERY image we take is reviewed and edited. After editing, images are adjusted for light and color balance, basic cropping, and minor issues such as skin tones and the like. Following that, the images are output for preview. Often times if a client wants to see the previews right away, we don’t have time to “clean them up,” so they see the original capture. Most of what I post here is original capture photos. All that means is that we haven’t added or taken anything away from them through Photoshop.
Here are a few we’ve done recently and comments for them.
Miranda epitomized “girls just want to have fun” when her mom pulled out a bubble blowing set and began taking advantage of clear weather for some fun. Miranda also was completely unwilling to release the balloons to play with the bubbles. This image was altered to enhance the bubbles some.
Sarah B (as she’s come to be called by many who know her) is about to start her senior year of high school, and has been dancing in local and national competitions for many years. We took this image as part of her portfolio. A dance wear company took great interest in Sarah recently and may be making her their spokes model. Go Sarah!!
Meredith and John had a nice big wedding, which began with a ceremony at St. Leo Catholic Church in Inwood. A fantastic venue for weddings (photographically), I decided that capturing the somber moments was just as important as the laughing and lighter moments.
Here, Meredith and John share their first dance at Purple Iris in Martinsburg. The Purple Iris is one of our favorite venues. It’s impecable styling and beautiful lawn make for great photos, and the staff and service are perfect every time. We will be placing a coffee table-style album there soon!
Josh was one of three seniors done in a very short period of time. Quite possibly one of the most photogenic boys we’ve photographed this year, Josh was willing to try just about anything that didn’t involve wading in water or eating bugs. This image is from Morgan’s Grove Park in Shepherdstown, where the bridge there in the afternoon is such a great place for many a pose.
Speaking of the bridge. This was a fun shot that Diana helped set up. I’m just glad that there weren’t more people in the wedding party. “The fan” was a lot of fun to set up for Megan and Justin.
At the church, Megan and her bridesmaids were quite willing to follow along with anything for the best photo. They are stationed in the balcony at St. Leo Catholic Church in Inwood for this shot, while I’m on the floor below encouraging them not to fall.
Now here’s a story for you. Krystle was getting married in August. Until her best friend, who is also her maid of honor, was told that she was going to be put on bedrest until she delivers her TWIN babies later in August. Of course, this meant that Krystle would be without her maid of honor. “Not so fast,” says she, and postpones the wedding to make sure that her maid of honor can not only attend and participate, but that her babies can be delivered safe and sound! Krystle’s wedding is in November now.
Ashley and Larry are getting married next June, and so we did some engagement pictures for them. This became a favorite pose when Ashley exclaimed she enjoyed the bear hug.
On a beautiful day in July, Christy and Brian were married at Camp Hill UMC in Harpers Ferry. This is a very nice church with lots of wood, and you can hear everything that goes on, which is why I walked tippy-toed around everywhere. Funny part of this is the next day Diana and I were going out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Martinsburg and Christy and Brian were there with relatives. I told them that this was a fine way to spend their honeymoon, to which they laughingly replied they were leaving the next day for that little adventure.
There’s just nothing quite like the smile of a little girl in a pretty flower girl dress. Am I right?
From little girls to a big girl! We had some great fun with Jillian, who was accompanied by a friend and her mother – who mostly stayed out of the way. Laughs and photos were plentiful, as it was just hard to get a bad picture of Jillian. This is at Morgan’s Grove Park next to the Spring House.
The part I hate most about summer is when it’s over. I love warm weather. Mind you, I’m not a fan of HOT weather – just warm. But fall brings us a lot more to do. We have a bunch of fall weddings, sports, portraits and more.
Have a great rest of your summer!
Wow, it’s been a really long time since I updated my blog. I’m embarrased. But I vow to do better. Suffice it to say that it has been insanely busy in the studio, and seems like you never have enough down time to catch up on those projects that you need to finish, too.
Instead of continuing to lament my time woes, I’ll post some photos of things we’ve been doing in the last few months. I’ll have more to post a little later.
Meredith and John are getting married in May. Because John is still in school (working toward his doctorate at the University of Colorado) studying music, Meredith and John are living apart. It was good to see them together.
One of the hardest things to do with people in their engagement session is getting them to just relax and enjoy being together. It wasn’t until the last few minutes that we got the shot that I liked the most.
Most of the weddings we do are for people who aren’t married.
Teresa and Kenny have both been married for 40 years – to each other. But because they did not have the kind of wedding they wanted to have, they wanted to have a nice ceremony and reception to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.
We were involved early on with this wedding. They first asked us to make mintbooks for them… these things are pretty cute since they are shaped like a matchbook but have a large Life Savers mint inside. The outside printing is customized, this time with their names and wedding and anniversary date, along with a Bible verse they both live by.
We took a portrait for the mint books, which they also used as the picture to go inside their signature mat. The signature mat was at their reception and was signed by most of their guests and family members.
The wedding was wonderful. Three beautiful songs (one by the couple’s grandson), some Bible readings and a lovely service made the ceremony perfect.
We took some formal pictures after that, and they headed off for the reception. They didn’t want any coverage at the reception, so we left them after they were in the limo.
We will continue to work with Teresa and Kenny for their album and photo selections. They are a terrific couple, and I have enjoyed every moment with them.
Yes, a Thanksgiving wedding.
They had not planned to get married at Thanksgiving. Instead, all their family was going to be in town for the holiday, and they wanted to get married. They just figured on killing two birds with one stone – as long as everyone was going to be in town anyway.
The ceremony and brief reception was held in a suite on the Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown. The suite overlooked the Potomac River and was just big enough for the 15 people in attendance.
A nice ceremony was followed by a champagne reception and some photos.
The couple and their family then went to the dining room for a nice wedding dinner, which probably included turkey and dressing.
Having the opportunity to work with Diana at a wedding is always a plus. Having the opportunity for Diana to photograph most of the wedding is just another testament to her extensive skills and the flexibility we have.
A Friday wedding is usually a plus, since most weddings are on Saturdays. This one took place at the Dulles Marriott near Dulles International Airport. I drove down separately from Diana, since I had to leave early to announce a football game.
I got things started by visiting the room where the ladies were getting ready. On the way, I ran across the flower girl on the way to join the rest of the bride’s party.
We proceeded from there to an interior courtyard at the hotel where the light was quite nearly perfect. One advantage we had with this wedding party was that an old friend and former employee was a very good friend of the bride’s and was in the wedding party. Brandy is on the right in this photo.
We only had about 15 minutes worth of good light. I tried to make good use of it.
On the way out to the lobby, we stopped in a hallway that was laden with south-facing windows and took a few shots with Colyn looking out.
From this point, Diana pretty much took over. The ceremony went along without incident, but with lots of happy people.
Afterward, Diana took the wedding party to a rather picture-perfect corner to do some additional photos. Capturing the special shots means all the difference to wedding photography.
During the reception, Diana got even more creative.
After the wedding, Diana had a quick meal with her assistant and headed home.
When we got a call from Maria, it was accompanied by a note from Ray that made me wonder just how far in the past I’d been pulled. Ray, the groom was someone with whom I worked for quite awhile. We got to know each other pretty well, and it was great to see him again. It was an even bigger honor to be photographing his wedding.
Of course, Ray is a Georgia boy. The smile and personality fit him perfectly. Ray has a way with words, and a tendency to explain things – sometimes in great detail. But I could listen to him forever. :o)
Having the time and opportunity to take a few fill-in shots also gives Diana an opportunity to add a little more art to the pictures I take. This one is a favorite of mine from the wedding…
Maria has this smile that is really infectious. You can help yourself. This was just after she got to the altar and the minister (a good family friend) began speaking.
The ceremony was very light-hearted, and as a result there were some very amusing moments. In this one, the bride’s family was asked if they supported the marriage and would keep it going. The either misunderstood the question, or they didn’t want to commit, because they all went silent. Diana added a little something to this picture as well, which was originally blown out (on purpose) and it gave Diana a good opportunity to work on some new ideas.
Sometimes it doesn’t take post-processing to get a good image. I really like this one… candles on the water is always an iffy proposition.
Needless to say, they had a lovely cake.
And when it was time to move the ceremony decorations indoors, the able staff at the Purple Iris was more than willing to haul things around. These guys were a lot of fun.
Sometimes you don’t need to know who a person is to make a nice picture of them. This little one was watching other kids out playing in the yard. I’m not sure why she didn’t go outside.
The grand entrance for the happy couple. Ray and Maria now reside in Winchester, Virginia. There’s was a wedding that we won’t soon forget. 🙂
This wonderful couple came to us about three weeks prior to their wedding. They are a cute couple, since Brandy is petite and DW is tall and broad. But they’ve known each other for a very long time and just seem to fit together so very well.
So the groom, DW was all in white. He said that Brandy insisted. I think it was kind of cute.
So, DW has a daughter and Brandy and she just happened to bond early on. Brandy was pretty nervous, but DW’s little girl took care of that. 🙂
After the wedding, it was all smiles and relaxation.
While I never got the whole story (none of my business really), Brandy’s father wasn’t there to either give her away or for a father-daughter dance. I got the impression that he was deceased, but her uncle stepped in to dance with her and she got pretty emotional. Those who know me will know that I got emotional, too.
The reception was full of life and fun. Greg was the DJ (we see him a lot lately), so things moved along at a good pace and there was very little time to just sit around.
We want to wish Brandy and DW a long and happy marriage. A new family right from the start is a great way to begin a new life together.
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.
