Although we weren’t doing her wedding photography, we were elated when Jessical called us to do her bridal portraits. Her fiancee, our dear friend and hot DJ Greg Sanchez has sent a lot of business our way and we didn’t think twice about hosting Jessica and her mother for these portraits.
Greg: Don’t look!
The Clarion in Hagerstown has a huge ballroom and facility. But that’s not where this wedding was held. Instead, it was in the Atrium at the Clarion… same site, but closer to the indoor pool. Now you might say something like “near the pool? How weird is that?” But it’s nicer than you think.
The Atrium is laid out so that there are gardens on both sides. Many hotel rooms face this pool area and while there is that pool “smell” in the air, you quickly adapt and realize that with the skylights all around, this is a pretty neat place for a wedding. The staff was super and very supportive to everything going on… despite having another event down at the ballroom right after the wedding.
The one disadvantage which was harder to overcome was that because there was a big pool with lots of heated water, there was considerable humidity. As a result, there was little dancing. But everything else went super and Jenny and Andrew had a great time seeing family, friends and others who made it to the wedding.
This is from the ceremony, where the rings were being exchanged.
One of the most precious moments of the day, and which got rousing cheers from the guests, was when the ring bearer and flower girl were underneath the floral arch and taking pictures of themselves. This is one of several photos of that moment.
The lobby of the hotel was a nice place to take some formals. While the bride and groom weren’t big on formal photos, they were into getting some good ones. This special moment preceeded some additional fun on a balcony and back into the reception for dancing and cake.
The bouquet toss is one of those things that is unpredictable at every wedding. In many cases, some ladies won’t participate. In others, they hold their hands behind their back. And in most cases they just won’t try for the bouquet. Despite the tradition that catching the floral collection means that you are next to get married, most don’t realize that it also means you get a free flower arrangement.
At THIS wedding, there was a lot more effort than I’ve seen before. In this case, two people caught the bouquet, and BOTH of them dropped it in favor of the other. I shook my head and wondered why people give up on free flowers. I’ve put many a fallen flower into my lapel. 🙂 Here’s a shot from that big moment.
Jenny and Andrew are just great folks, and they’ve already passed along how much they loved the photos. A very nice note from Jenny’s mom did the same thing. It’s not often that you get a thank you in the mail for doing your job. 🙂
Best wishes to the happy couple.
Lynn and her mother had a few more ideas than the standard senior portraits. Lynn lives on a fair-sized farm and has a horse. She was insistent upon having photos with her horse. We were happy to oblige, but knew the horse would not fit in the front door of our studio.
So, after some studio photos…
… we headed out to their farm and took some photos with the horse, her sister, and by herself.
The great thing about these sessions is that people are more comfortable in their own surroundings and so appear more relaxed.
Thanks to Lynn and her whole family for their hospitality and the laughter (mostly at Lynn’s expense). ;-o
It’s not unusual to get a call from an author from time to time who needs a picture for their book jacket or cover. Herman Fischer wrote a book about how to budget and handle your finances in today’s credit-crazy world. You’ll see this photo on the book’s cover.
We were also able to send a copy of the image directly to his publisher to save him time and expense of sending a disk through the mail. We do this kind of work for many of our clients. Mr. Fischer was gracious enough to have a conversation with me about today’s economy and how young people’s financials are handled.
We have long been supporters of the United Way. Starting many years ago, we gave time and photos to the United Way of Jefferson County. Now that the United Way has joined the eastern panhandle’s three counties, we continue to take brochure and publicity photos as needed. To date we have never charged for this service… it’s our part in community service.
Below is the staff for the Martinsburg office.
Please do your community a favor and contribute to your United Way. The Day of Caring will take place in the second week of September. Contact your local United Way for more information.
I wasn’t there, but Diana photographed a beautiful ceremony and formals at the Quality Inn in Martinsburg. I wanted to share Diana’s work because you need to know that we can do a great job even if I’m not there. Jill assisted, but you won’t see her in any of the photos. 🙂
A beautiful window shot of the bride.
The shade and tree provided a great place for many of the formals.
An emotional moment between friends.
One of the most wonderful things about being a wedding photographer is “feeling” how close the couple, their families, and their friends are throughout the day. This is one of those weddings where my feelings were very much with the couple as they started early in the day and finished late in the evening. And I was with them for most of it.
Starting at the bride’s home in Martinsburg, and weathering a near ear-shattering attack by their watch-hund, we got started with a ride over to the church by their stretch Expedition limo.
After the preparations were done, and a ham sandwich was downed just prior to the ceremony, the bride was ever-lovely as she strolled down the very narrow aisle at Otterbein United Methodist Church near downtown Martinsburg. Her father was quite adept at maneuvering the aisles, but the dress she wore would have benefited from a wider aisle. Nevertheless, she managed her way down – I doubt much could have stopped her from getting to her groom. 🙂
The ceremony was just as lovely as the day itself, since the weather was just about perfect for a July wedding. After the rites and service were done, it was time to take some of the posed pictures, and a few classic portraits. This one has been enhanced with our Impressions service.
On the way out, we took a few more photos before they were whisked off to the reception.
The entrance was a grand one, and there was nothing but fun for the rest of the evening.
You had to be there for the key drop, but some of the best moments were how well everyone just laughed and had a good time.
Late in the day, well after everyone had gone home, I met Desarie and David at a hotel in Hagerstown. They loved the lobby there and wanted a final portrait done there before heading off to their honeymoon. With Diana’s help, we made quite an impression on the staff, the limo driver and the couple themselves.
We want to wish them the best of all good things and peace throughout.
As long as I’ve been photographing children, it seems like we always spend at least 45 minutes or more in the studio taking pictures. Much of that is taken up with acclimation to the new surroundings, cajoling and having fun with the child and in general just getting them comfortable with their surroundings. Nate was different.
While he did cling to his mom as most children do, he was anxious to get up on our blocks and try them out as a launching pad for “catch me mom” episodes. It was more like using mom as a landing pad than a catching glove, though. She didn’t mind as it made him smile and that’s really all she wanted in the first place.
We spent less than 30 minutes in the studio. Nate had a bunch of shots that mom liked. Here are a couple of those that we liked.
We hope to see Nate again in the future! 🙂
So I’m compelled to pass along my childhood memory of falling UP the stairs. My sister was the high achiever in that department as we grew up. It was especially prevalant as her legs grew longer and her body had not yet caught up to them and she would misjudge the steps and trip over the next one up and fall forward as a result. She never fell down the stairs, always up them.
I only relate this because in the last couple of months I have fallen DOWN the stairs twice, both with bruising results. The first time I landed on my tailbone, but was more or less buffered by a handrail that we had installed some years ago when our studio was in the lower floor of our home. Had it not been there, I may have bruised more than my tailbone and ego.
This morning, I fell down the stairs again. This time I wasn’t holding the handrail and fell at an angle that threw me onto my left shoulder, which jolted my head just far enough toward the steps that I cracked my left eye socket on the stair. I guess carpeting made enough of a difference in the fall that my eyeball wasn’t damaged.
But now I have quite a shiner. Quite. Diana said I could blame it on her, because most people who see it are going to believe that she slugged me anyway. 🙂
I also got quite a scraping on the left side of the outer portion of my upper leg… owie.
I think I’ll call my sister tonight and see if she has any tips on falling UP the stairs – I think I would be able to handle that better than this falling down I’ve been doing.
Today was a special day at the studio. Several months ago, we were fortunate enough to take maternity photos with Heather and her husband Andy. At almost eight months pregnant, Heather was a beautiful mommy-to-be and her supportive and fun-loving husband Andy were a great couple to work with.
Today we got to meet the little bundle who was last in our studio while still in Heather’s belly.
We have come to really enjoy Heather and Andy in our studio. Heather is very at ease and friendly with a great smile. Andy is very laid back and likes himself a lot (snicker), and adores Heather and Andrew. After the session was over, little Andrew sat patiently in his car seat on the floor of the studio while mom and dad spent some 45 minutes reviewing and selecting their favorite photos.
Choosing “favorite photos” means first deleting the ones that you just don’t like at all. Heather and Andy disagreed on a few, but relented on the better ones to even everything out. The next step is to compare like images and select the preferred one. Lastly, a final look through to make sure we haven’t forgotten anything. Getting rid of 90 images from this session was a task nobody should have to face.
Heather and Andy are already planning to bring little Andrew back at six months. We’re looking forward to that as well. We’ll probably plant the idea of an album for the little guy. 🙂
