Important holiday deadlines

Need to place a holiday order that is past our deadline dates posted earlier in the blog?  We are (happily!) up to our eyeballs in work currently, so if you are a client and need to have additional portraits, cards, or gifts in time for the holidays, please call and/or email us ASAP with your order.  

Good news for those of you placing your print orders up until Wednesday, November 26th at 5pm - we will be able to provide holiday delivery with no additional rush fees. 

 Can’t get your order in by then, but still need holiday gifts?  We are happy to help – just call us before placing your order. 

a 50% fee will begin for orders needing rush service from December 1-7
a 100% fee will begin for orders needing rush service from December 8-14
a 100% fee plus overnight shipping charges will begin for orders needing rush service from December 15-18
orders placed after December 18 will be processed the following month

Please note that our office will be closed for the Thanksgiving weekend and will reopen on December 1st.  We will also close for the holidays beginning December 20 and will reopen January 12, 2009 although new wedding inquiries will receive responses.

Erynne + George | engaged

I want to thank Erynne & George for being such good sports while we were shooting in the early morning COLD.  As I was driving from Pittsburgh to Loretto to shoot their engagement session at St. Francis University (where Erynne attended college) and next door at Schwab Estate, I kept looking at the thermometer reading in the car saying, surely it’s going to warm up as the sun starts to rise.  Well, maybe not…but, I think the results are well worth the freezing we did that morning.

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

081019 blog001 Erynne + George | engaged

081019 blog010 Erynne + George | engaged

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.

081019 blog002 Erynne + George | engaged

081019 blog003 Erynne + George | engaged

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

081019 blog004 Erynne + George | engaged

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

081019 blog005 Erynne + George | engaged

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

081019 blog006 Erynne + George | engaged

081019 blog007 Erynne + George | engaged

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. 

081019 blog009 Erynne + George | engaged

081019 blog011 Erynne + George | engaged

Jessica + John | engaged

Recently, I went to the Bethesda Country Club in Bethesda, MD to meet and photograph Jessica and John who are getting married there in July of next year.  The golf course had a lot of beautiful locations – we just had to watch out for flying golf balls headed our way! 

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.
081009 051blog Jessica + John | engaged

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. 

081009 081ablog Jessica + John | engaged

Same location as above, quieter moments.

081009 091blog Jessica + John | engaged

081009 067blog Jessica + John | engaged

Just love this.

081009 114blog Jessica + John | engaged

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!

081009 131blog Jessica + John | engaged

081009 136blog Jessica + John | engaged

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!

Maia + Chris | slideshow

Please click the play button on the lower left hand side or within the center of the screen to view the slideshow.

Maia + Chris | married

I love fall in Pennsylvania and it was probably one of the biggest things I missed while living in Vegas (ask me about the “seasons” there sometime).  Maia and Chris’s wedding at Casa di Fiori in Leola, PA embraced the warm, fall feel using by cranberry, gold, peach, and cream colors.

maiaandchris01 Maia + Chris | married

maiaandchris07 Maia + Chris | married

The bracelet that Maia wore belonged to her grandmother.

maiaandchris02 Maia + Chris | married

maiaandchris03 Maia + Chris | married

maiaandchris04 Maia + Chris | married

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

maiaandchris05a Maia + Chris | married

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.

maiaandchris06 Maia + Chris | married

Congratulations you two!


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 + Steve | slideshow

Please click the play button on the lower left hand side or within the center of the screen to view the slideshow.

Kristy + Steve | married

Earlier this year, I decided that I would gift a couple with my services for their wedding date – there were many things that were considered when selecting the couple that would receive this gift – some of the things that we were looking for was a couple that had dedicated themselves to community and/or national service, volunteerism, enduring sacrifices, and so on.  Many of the couples that were nominated had great stories and selection was difficult, but we came up with a couple.

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.

kristyandsteve9 Kristy + Steve | married

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.

kristyandsteve1 Kristy + Steve | married

kristyandsteve2 Kristy + Steve | married

kristyandsteve3 Kristy + Steve | married

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.

kristyandsteve5 Kristy + Steve | married

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

kristyandsteve10 Kristy + Steve | married

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.

kristyandsteve4 Kristy + Steve | married

kristyandsteve6 Kristy + Steve | married

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.

kristyandsteve7 Kristy + Steve | married

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

kristyandsteve8 Kristy + Steve | married

Congratulations you two!


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

Dana + Bill | sideshow

Please click the play button on the lower left hand side or within the center of the screen to view the slideshow.

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