You’ll see these two again next year when they get married in September at Cameron Estate.

In this photo where the grass is shaded in the background, you can tell that there’s frost on the ground.  Yeah, it was cold…and they decided to do the shoot without a coat.

Love how happy Erynne looks here.  George said that he was totally frozen at this point.

Lovely sunflare while under the tree (yup, more shaded areas where we were all freezing!)

And finally back out into the sun to thaw a bit.

There wasn’t as much fall color as we hoped, but we found a few areas that had some nice leaves and we used those areas.  This image needs to be printed HUGE - the small size here just doesn’t do it justice at all. 

When Jessica contacted me, she said that she wanted the coverage that her friends, Jill and Adam had and asked what dates was I available so that they could plan around that - it’s always such a pleasure being referred by one of my previous couples and of course, a big “Thank you” goes out to Jill and Adam.

For their engagement photos, they both decided to wear dressier outfits…I really liked the dressy look.

This area looked great in both color and black and white, but in the black ad white version, I really like how the texture of the tree bark came out and the blurred branches in background seem to curve around to embrace the two of them.

From “technical” photography standpoints, this image is imperfect….but I loved the moment…capturing slices of relationships is exactly why I love my job so much - while I’m only showing one of the images, I captured a sequence of the two of them just relaxing with each other, looking happy, and enjoying hanging out. 

Same location as above, quieter moments.

Just love this.

This was a location that Jessica specifically requested, and I can see why - it’s the driveway into the country club and we had a really fun time dodging cars going in and out along with trying to avoid having cars going past on the frontage road…in one of the out-takes, there was a big yellow bus going past!

Jessica and John - it was great hanging out with you!  Can’t wait to start working on your guestbook and I’m really looking forward to seeing you again on your wedding day!

The bracelet that Maia wore belonged to her grandmother.

Loved the way that the lighting was softening on the image on the left - photos taken toward sunset provides really beautiful lighting.

What a fun group of people!  The dance floor was pretty much packed the entire evening - almost everyone was up dancing and having a great time.

Congratulations you two!

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Location: Casa di Fiori, Stephanie Lambert, Leola, PA
Caterer: Restaurant Mazzi, Leola, PA
Entertainment: Complete Music, Jason Williams
Floral Designer: Royer’s Flowers and Gifts, Tara Bunteman, Lancaster, PA
Bakery: Byers Butterflake Bakery
Videographer: Big City Video, Joey Randazzo, Manheim, PA
Hair Stylist: Sheri Cargas
Makeup Artist: Destinations Spa, Leola, PA
Flowers used: roses, hypericum berries
Colors: cranberry, gold, peach, cream

Kristy and Steve were that special couple - both have opted to serve their community through volunteer fire fighting.  And, Steve has been fortunate enough to fulfill his dream of becoming a full time firefighter.  In times when it’s easy to think that people are uncaring, it’s wonderful to see a couple who is working together to help ensure that at least their little corner of the world is a safer place.  It’s been a privilege to get to know and work with them.

The wedding took place at Appleford Estate, located just outside of Philadelphia, in Villanova.  What a beautiful location!  The photographic possibilities are just endless and I probably could spent hours photographing Kristy and Steve in all the different beautiful spots given the chance.

To get a little “photographer geeky” here, I have to say that really learning to love my 100mm macro lens that I got awhile ago…the two images on the right were taken with it.  There is probably no better lens for those closeups of rings and other jewelery.

Loved this sequence of images with Kristy and her dad - this was as he walked in to see his girl in her wedding gown for the first time and sharing some of the last moments with her as a single woman.

Though my style is primarily documentary, some simple “classic” pictures are lovely to quickly include during the day.

Yes, there is a cast on Steve’s hand as you can see in the photo on the right.  About two weeks prior to the wedding, Steve broke his hand and had to have surgery (including pins) on it.  As requested, when I could, I tried to minimize seeing the cast in photos…but there were some times when it wasn’t possible.

The tent had uplighting with some reddish-pink gels placed in the room, giving a warm, fall glow as seen in some of the photos below.

I loved that during the evening, their fellow firefighters got up and presented Kristy and Steve with a very special gift shown below.

Congratulations you two!

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Location: Appleford Estate, Villanova, PA
Ceremony Musicians: Rittenhouse String Quartet, Philadelphia, PA
Caterer: Sage Catering, Berwyn, PA
Entertainment: No Macarena, Philadelphia, PA
Florist: Fleur de Lis, Haddonfield, NJ
Flowers used: calla lilies, fiddlehead fern, orchids, mums
Colors: chocolate, red, orange, yellow

Their wedding day didn’t turn out exactly as planned due to rain forcing their ceremony inside, but they never left that dampen the mood.  Let me tell you, I’ve got to love a bride who says, “I don’t care about the dress; as long as it’s not pouring down rain, I want to get photos outside.”  And we did…even when Dana had to walk through a puddle at least 3 inches deep, quite possibly sacrificing her shoes, to get to where we wanted to go.  Sadly, I don’t have photos of that because I was carrying two cameras, some other equipment, and an umbrella and couldn’t juggle all of that plus take a photo.  But, she really is a woman after my own heart…going to great lengths to get the photos that we want.

The day started with Bill as he was getting ready.  Talking with the two of them before the wedding, they decided to open their gifts to one another while I was with each of them…I love to be able to preserve those moments since the gift giver isn’t around to see the reactions.  Both did a wonderful job with their gifts - Dana’s to Bill came in 4 parts, each with a card and Dana had the gifts delivered one by one for Bill.  Bill did actually get gifts, but I loved the cards so much that I wanted to feature those.

“You cut me!” Dana exclaimed.
“No, I didn’t,” replied her sister.
“You cut me.  I’m bleeding.  Look.”
And so the conversation went as Dana’s dress was quickly undone.  All I can say is that it can be dangerous being a bride…and there are pictures to prove it…evidence of the injury that Dana’s sister inflicted with a pair of scissors as she cut out the dress hanger strings.  And yes, I documented those moments for Dana to use as she sees fit if her sister ever gives her a hard time.

Loved the jewelery that Dana wore.  A close family friend brought some jewelery for Dana to wear for her wedding…the beautiful blue ring you see here was borrowed and fit perfectly with the blue and green color scheme.  The engagement ring was cleaned just before the wedding - and knowing that I like to take close up photos of jewelery, so that it wouldn’t get dirty, Bill told Dana not to wear her ring until after I got to photograph it!  Thanks Bill, it photographed great!

Bill had a unique presentation for his gift as well.  Dana and Bill began dating in high school and back at that time, they passed the folded notes to one another.  In memory of that, Bill’s letter to Dana was folded just as their notes from their high school days, which I thought was a really cute idea.  And then, after opening her gift, Dana was handed another note…one from her to Bill from 13 1/2 years ago…the one asking him out.  He had it after all these years!  I think we were all impressed by that.  Turns out that he was looking for some fishing gear and came across the note.  So, while he may not have been specifically looking for it at the time, the fact that he has it after all these years impresses me quite a bit.

Loved the flowers - a combination of creamy white roses, blue hydrangeas, and green cymbidium orchids.

During their ceremony, Bill held Dana’s ring for a few moments before placing it on her finger.  I’m not certain if it was intentional on his part, but it allowed me to get a great detail photo that you see on the right.

A few photos from our Romance Photo Session:

Sometimes, cakes get pushed to a corner somewhere and not a lot of thought is made as to how the background will affect the overall look - I believe that cakes should be given a place of honor and I really loved the location used here.

Carried over the threshold of the reception

Then straight into their first dance:

And then a little before it was time to leave for the evening, we went out again to get some night time photos:

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Location: The Hotel Hershey, Hershey, PA
Ceremony Musicians: Lucchi Strings, Cherry Hill, NJ
Dress: Amsale, The Wedding Shoppe, Wayne, PA
Hair Stylist: Lucia Reynolds, Fashionistas, Phoenixville, PA
Makeup Artist: Chris, The Hotel Hershey, Hershey, PA
Entertainment: DJ Bob Foltz/DJ Eric B, Mechanicsburg, PA
Bakery: Tina, The Hotel Hershey, Hershey, PA
Florist: Narbers Floral Company, Boalsburg, PA
Flowers used: creamy white roses, blue hydrangeas, and green cymbidium orchids
Colors: blue, green, white

Prints - If you are planning on giving prints for relatives or friends, print orders must be received no later than November 1st to avoid possible rush charges.  If we have not already completed the photo shoot, please remember that we need time to process your images for viewing and time for you to select the images you want.

Albums - Some of our bookbinders have cutoff dates in mid-October, which means that our design must be approved and submitted to the bookbinder by then.  If you wish to have an album by the holiday, talk with us now and get your selections together. We have a limited number of openings for album layout and design still available and may be able to squeeze your album in.

Greeting cards -  If you wish to send out our custom holiday cards, and we aren’t using photos from an earlier photo session, we need to schedule a photo shoot soon.  Mini-sessions are available in the Pittsburgh area and are designed to create an image specifically for your greeting card; several mid-week sessions are available and there are limited weekend sessions.

Gift vouchers - Looking for a gift for a loved one - we offer gift vouchers that may be used toward a photo shoot or toward products that we offer.  These may be ordered at any time and a lovely gift card may be sent directly to the recipient or to you to give in person.For the women who are thinking of playing “Sexy Santa” and wish to schedule a “Just for Him” boudoir photo shoot, now is the time so that we can complete the session and have your finished products ready for holiday giving.