Stork Alert

As we said in our last post, September was a big month for us. Among many other events, our second daughter was born! For those of you who have gotten to know us, you realize this is what we are all about–family. Family and the special love of a family is why we do what we do–and why weddings are so packed with meaning for us.

Nothing is more special than seeing the one who stood at the altar with you just a few years ago bring a new, completely unique person into the universe. It is truly humbling, really indescribable, to be married to someone who you start out admiring and over time get to see in new and even more awesome roles (like motherhood).

Here are a few photos from our baby girl’s first week home. She’s a such doll!

Where in the World

Where in the world have we been? This year has been a wonderful, blessed whirlwind for us. We were so busy with weddings this Spring and through the middle of the summer we simply could not keep up with the blog.

Also, Christine and I got to be bridesmaid and groomsman for Christine’s brother’s wedding in July. It was such a blast to be on the other side of the camera! The photographer, Mike Lamb did an awesome job. We got to talk shop while he the guys were getting our tuxes on and throughout the night.

Additionally, Eric traveled extensively during July and August and just returned from a week in Europe. September was an amazing month that deserves a post all its own.

We’ll be on the road a bit more, but are winding this down as we head into winter. Here are a few shots of the scenic town of Wertheim, Germany (in a downpour). We hope to stay in touch much more in the coming weeks.

Andrea and Tom

We met Tom and Andrea over 18 months ago at a local bridal show and never forgot them.  They were so engaging, energetic and full of questions.  We were so impressed by  Tom’s detailed involvement and with Andrea’s beautiful smile.  After our initial meeting, on a regular basis out of the blue, Christine would ask me if I had heard from Tom or Andrea.  They really stuck with us and were on our minds in a way few other couples are.  We really looked forward to their wedding.

What a wonderful day it was.  A few rain drops fell, but nothing got in the way of this beautiful event.  It was really hard to select just a few, but we chose these shots as our favorites.  We hope you enjoy them.

Katie and Justin Engagement

We are so excited to show you a recent engagement session. We’re excited because Katie and Justin are a truly wonderful couple. They were so relaxed and adventuresome and so full of great photo ideas–it gave the entire session great energy.

Katie and Justin are so in love and full of joy it was impossible to keep from smiling while spending time with them. Enjoy this little sneak peak. We simply can’t wait until their wedding.

Jess and Eric

What a great couple and a great day Jess and Eric had.  The entire day was planned at Riverdale Manor and what a perfect day it turned out to be.  Rain was forecasted thankfully sunlight beat out the clouds.

While Jess and the girls got readyin the house, I took Eric and the guys down to the river for photos.  Everyone wanted to play for the camera–I couldn’t have been happier!

The ceremony was outside with perfect weather.  Jess and Eric had a really touching sand ceremony after their vows to end a perfect ceremony.  Cocktail hour on the patio was a huge hit before we all moved inside for a one-of a kind  first dance rumba.  Everyone had an excellent meal followed by a room full of amazing dancers showing off their stuff.  By the end of the evening, everyone had migrated back outside to watch the stars from the back deck.

It was the perfect ending for an amazing couple.

Marcy and Devin

Okay, we are finally getting back on top of our shooting schedule and album design which means it’s time to get back to blogging a few of the events we’ve had in our 12 week shooting marathon.

What a way to start again–Marcy and Devin’s wedding was to die for!  It was at a beautiful location, Bent Creek, with every detail planned to perfection.    Marcy normally has so much energy we wondered if she’d be nervous on her big day, but she was the coolest bride we’ve seen for a while.  She allowed plenty of time to get ready and spend with her girls.  After her gorgeous beaded dress was donned, we traveled to several locations and got some really fun photos before making our way to the ever-perfect Bent Creek Country Club.

The ceremony was colored with lanterns hanging everywhere, incredible flowers and the most unbelievable performance of the “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (think Roberta Flack).  This solo was so powerful that it actually got rousing applause from everyone–it’s worthy of  a blog all to its own.  It has been a really long time since we have seen a room full of people who danced as well (or as continuously) as this crowd!  This was a party–a total celebration of a great couple.

Here are just a couple of our favorite shots while we start designing the album.

Leah and Andrew

We wanted to share a few of our favorite shots from the wedding we just finished.  We’re traveling to Indianapolis this week for our next wedding so our promise to be more faithful bloggers may have to wait a week.  Maybe we’ll convert to a travelouge for a week!

Enjoy the images–more to follow soon.  By the way, I’ll have to explain the last one, “Waiting to Exhale”.

Where to Next?

Christine and I have been having the most delightful, long, intense conversations about what kind of art we really want to make.  I think this is something that creative types always do–they are always pushing their comfort level to see where the next inspiration comes from.

We love our  trendy, glamorous  commercial/fashion clients and we love the romantic, eternal joy of our wedding business, how do we combine these?  So far, we have kept these worlds separate, but that really is crazy.  Our artistic drive flows from both of these and our brides are always loving our romantic fashion shots–and asking for more.

Christine and I photograph so differently and yet so complimentary that this process has been really exciting to be part of.  It really started to take shape in January when we started the major overhaul of our website.  This gave us the chance to look back over tens of thousands of photos we took last year and to get a sense of a very large body of work.  To see which shots our brides loved, which ones brought a nostalgic tear to their parents eyes and which ones people wanted to see over and over.

That being said, we have mapped out a process to really let our creativity out of the box.  One of the elements of our plan is to meet up with other successful photographers that we identify with.  One of our absolute favorite husband and wife photography teams are the Sallees from Dallas, Texas.  JB Sallee recently came to Philadelphia to host a seminar for photographers.  We were all over it and it confirmed several things for us.  Number one, that our creative path is absolutely vital to give our brides what they deserve (more about this in later posts) and secondly, that the Sallees are as good (dare I say better) than their reputation.  Check them out if you’ve never heard of them.

We know where we’re going and we are so excited to go there with our brides.  If you are interested in wedding photos that are modern, gorgeous works of art that you will  have on display 50 years from now, give us a call and see where we’re headed next.

How do you accessorize your PJs?

In case you ever wonder where we get our artistic flare, all you have to do is come over for breakfast.  Spending a few minutes in our shoes will clearly cause ideas that we’re sure you haven’t had before.

What a joy to be able to see the world as a child–the next best thing is to be able to share it with one.

Every Dad’s fear

Deep in every Dad’s heart he knows that someday his baby girl will fall in love with a man and move away.  We deny it, ignore it, act as if it simply cannot happen.  Yet, somehow it does.  And from what I’m told it happens much faster than ever imagined. 

Well today it happened.   Not the falling in love and moving away part, not all of it anyway–but the tiniest part.  Today, for the very first time, my little, tiny girl very emphatically told me, “Daddy! I don’t want to snuggle because I just put Lipsmackers on.”

Lipsmackers, I say.  How in the world did fancy chapstick suddenly bring my whole world to an end?  How can having  comfortable lips be more important than a dad’s hug?  I was lost–completely unanchored.

I keep telling myself it was nothing–just a rash statement, but deep down where it really matters, I know.  My little girl is growing up and some day, yes someday, she will fall in love and really move away.  I could ban all chapstick, lipstick, and all sorts of items, but I know it wouldn’t do any good.  In fact, it might even make it worse.

So for now, I’m just going to cherish every hug and kiss I can get and pray that they keep coming for many, many, many years to come.

P.S.  If you haven’t hugged your own dad recently,  put on a fresh coat of Lipsmackers and go over and give him a big hug–he probably needs it right about now.