Marty and Spencer

Marty and Spencer's wedding was a-MAZING! They were adorable, funny, sweet and kind. She works for the Vans shoe company and had custom Vans made for the 14 groomsmen. Love the wedding date on the heel!

I'll try to get more photos up pronto, but am a wee bit swamped. Three weddings back to back is hard enough to keep up with, especially if you overshoot like I do. But throw in every end-of-year school party, fieldtrip, baseball playoff, dance recital, soccer wrap up and you're glad just to get the images on your computer!

The few photos I peeked at looked so great. A testament to the great couple and their super-cool families. I can't wait to work on them! Come back to see!

Dorothy and Darth

Up until about six years of age, kids are nutty. They say what they think, don't edit anything, and certainly don't care what you think of them. They just do what comes naturally, and it looks so fun and liberating! After six, they start to lose that 'lack of censorship' so I am savoring every moment...

Dylan saw the Wizard of Oz last week and decided she IS Dorothy. We don't have actual Dorothy clothes or a black Toto, so she made do with pink sparkly shoes, a white toto, braids, the closest thing to a blue dress....and (washable) magic marker freckles.

She went to school in full Dorothy costume, and when told she really couldn't wear that every day, she decided Mondays would be Dorothy days. Freckles and all. This is her interpretation of the witch coming... Oscar, please....
When Spencer was five he had serious Star Wars fever. Even sent a Valentine to George Lucas, no lie. But he made his own costume, just came down to breakfast one day in it. Unfortunately he used permanent sharpie markers to make his face like Darth (under the mask). He looked like that for DAYS.
We're never at a loss for photo ops here....

Beth and Jimmy's Wedding

I had the honor of shooting Beth and Jimmy's gorgeous wedding last week at beautiful Keswick Hall in Charlottesville, Virignia. The amazing folks at Easton Events performed their usual magic and entire evening was perfect!

Here is Beth and Jimmy's Slideshow.

Kids, Kids, Kids

I love kids. I love taking photographs of kids. They keep it real in every sense. Their expressions are honest, they quickly forget I am there, they do their thing, and I just go along. And I shoot a lot. That helps!

My kids are a bit camera savvy so the honest photo takes a little work... sometimes they'll just ignore me. Other times they'll let me take photos but know I can go on and on, so they'll just tell me when they are 'done'. Hmph! But I admit I can be a pain...like the time my daughter got stitches and I (slightly) tortured her trying to get a macro shot of the wound.

Here's a little Kids Slideshow I put together that hopefully shows what I mean....don't worry, it doesn't include photos of the stitches...

Jamaica

(click on images to view larger)

If someone had told me 10 years ago I'd have a photo assignment in the Carribbean, at one of the most luxurious locations in Jamaica, I would have asked them what they were smokin'.

In March I was asked (no giggling, please) to spend several days capturing beautiful Bluefields Bay. Along the bay are 5 villas, owned by a family in Alexandria, VA, which are rented out much of the year. These are fantastic houses, and their best features aside from their cliffside perches, open air architecture, gorgeous beaches, infinity pools and freezing cold Red Stripe Lights (I swear, Red Stripe Light!) were the amazing staff who magically reappeared when you even thought you might want something.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the owner, Debra. She showed us around, our eyes big as saucers, astounded by our good fortune. She returned us to our rooms, where our clothes had been carefully unpacked and hung, suitcases stored. Yep. Great start. And the laundry was scooped away each night and rediscovered in the closets the next morning clean and pressed. A tired mother's dream! Huge canopied antique beds, large doors that swung completely open to let in the sea air while you slept. And a view to die for.

Every meal was cooked with fresh ingredients and served on china and silver, on beautiful antique linens. Lobster, fish, mango sorbet, key lime pie. All were deftly served with a smile and drinks were replenished before you could ask.

I know you're thinking, "What a cake job!", and yes, in some ways.... yes. But it is daunting, trying to capture that fourth dimension of amazingness, where the smells, the views, the textures, the lightness of being and being pampered, are all relayed in a two dimensional photograph.

But I'm not getting any sympathy here, am I.