DC Wedding Photographer | Documentary Wedding and Portrait Photography in DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia » Portraits

Highlights of 2011 | Portraits

mary — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:17:34 +0000

Time flies when you’re having fun, as my mother would say. Well, if that’s the case, this year was a lot of fun because it seemed to fly by at an incredible pace. But before I say goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012, I wanted to share a few highlights from the year. First up are some favorite portraits.

Looking back, I honestly did have a lot of fun shooting so many creative and meaningful engagement and family sessions–several of which involved snow and ice and two trips to the Big Apple. I hope you enjoy looking back on these as much as I do. Here they are, in no particular order.

Documentary Family Photography | Grayson and Garrin

mary — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:42:47 +0000

On a beautiful fall evening in October, I had the chance to meet up with Grayson, Garrin, and their parents for a family photo session in the park. Grayson loves mowing the grass, and the park had plenty of it for him! And while Grayson enjoyed swinging on the swing set, baby Garrin was content to be held.

These are just a few of my favorite photos from this family portrait session.

Fall Family Portraits | Easton’s One Year Session

mary — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:45:15 +0000

One of my favorite things about photographing families is watching them grow. I had the joy of catching up with Easton and his family this fall for his one year session. Technically, I first met little Easton before he was born at Brianne’s maternity session. Then I photographed his newborn session, and so it was perfect getting to see how he’s grown over the first year. What a fun and curious little boy he is!

And I must say, expecting a little one of my own now has given me a lot more respect (and understanding!) for pregnant women and busy moms. And if it’s possible, I value these portrait sessions and the photography I provide even more–it’s so important to document these quickly changing stages of our families!

Here are just a few of my favorite photos from this session.

Pittsburgh Trash the Dress Session | Kristin and Josh

mary — Tue, 24 May 2011 15:50:32 +0000

Sometimes you get rain on your wedding day, which is supposed to mean good luck. But of course, rain can also disrupt your vision for your wedding photos, which is what happened to Kristin and Josh on their wedding day last year. Kristin was a bridesmaid in a Susie and Nick’s wedding, and I remember her telling me about her rainy wedding day and her disappointment with her photos. So a “day-after” session (or sometimes called a “trash the dress” session) seemed like a perfect solution for her.

A “day-after” session doesn’t actually need to occur the day after your wedding. It is basically a special photo shoot of you and your husband in your wedding attire on a day other than your wedding. These sessions are a lot of fun because there’s no pressure to be anywhere at anytime, and you’re able to take some more creative photos that might get your wedding dress a bit dirty in the process.

So after a couple of reschedules (due to rain!), we finally got some decent weather last week for Kristin and Josh’s trash the dress session. Kudos go to Josh for being so willing to get dressed up again for photos (not always the first thing a guy wants to do). And many thanks to Jay who came along and helped me with lighting. Here are a few of my favorites:

Houston Texas Newborn Photos | Elliot

mary — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:14:42 +0000

I already introduced baby Elliot on Tuesday, so today I’m just going to follow up with some more photos from his newborn session in Houston. I’m so looking forward to watching Elliot grow up, and I hope to be taking more of his pictures throughout the coming years!

How can you not smile looking at these photos?

Elliot was already hamming it up for the camera.

Fans of Texas A&M will appreciate the significance of these next couple of photos.

Taking care of a newborn is tiring…

Grandma comes for a visit.

Houston Newborn Photography | Meet Elliot

mary — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:16:14 +0000

This past weekend I made a quick trip down to Houston, TX to photograph my best friend’s newborn baby. It was truly a joy to get to see Kara and James’ new little one, and I can’t wait to share more photos of their precious boy.

But while I’m catching up on work and editing photos, I wanted to share a favorite from Elliot’s newborn session. Ewok (their dog) is not so sure about this new addition to the family…I think he’s figuring out he’s been usurped.

When Photographers Have Their Own Photo Session

mary — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:52:28 +0000

Normally, photographers prefer to stay behind the camera. But occasionally, the call for updated website headshots and new facebook profile pics lures them out from behind their big fancy lenses to get a taste of their own medicine.

Actually, I think getting your photo taken can be therapeutic. For a few hours, you can feel like a model, have random cars honk at you from the street, and receive ego-boosting feedback like “You look perfect! Stand just like that…yes! Beautiful! Oh that light is lovely!” Honestly, taking the time to take someone’s photograph is a way to honor them as a person. That’s something I’ve come to realize more and more in my own work and why I strive to photograph guests as well as the bride and groom.

But I digress. Last year, my fellow photographer friends Milla and Caryn and I had a mini photo-session while we were in Las Vegas for WPPI. This year Milla and I won’t be making it to WPPI, so we staged a session here in the lovely ‘Burgh. I’m so thankful for great friends like these two ladies!

Laughter | A Friend’s Maternity Session

mary — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:21:38 +0000

Blog readers will probably recognize the couple in this photo. Kara is a long-time friend who’s stuck with me through the difficult times and makes me laugh like no one else. And while we live far apart now, I still cherish her friendship and am so excited for her and her husband as they await the birth of their first child in April.

During my trip to Austin, TX, I managed to tack on a maternity session for Kara and James at the end of the week in Houston. We lucked out with some beautiful weather, and I’m glad I got to document this incredible moment in their lives. Here is just one fun outtake from their session.

Pittsburgh Newborn Photography | Sneak Peek

mary — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:15:44 +0000

One of the great joys of my profession is that I not only get to be with my couples on one of the happiest days of their life–their wedding–but I also often get to see them start and grow their own families. Yesterday afternoon I got to meet Mae, Megan and Justin’s 12-day-old sweet baby girl, and I had such a fun time photographing her newborn session.

This morning I’ve been busy with some appointments (the dentist–blerg!), but I just wanted to share a quick preview of our session. I’ll be sharing more later, so stay tuned!

A big congratulations to Megan and Justin!

Photographing Photographers | Unpublished Photos

mary — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:34:26 +0000

I have a problem. I am bad, bad, bad at editing my own personal photos. I download them to my hard drive, and then I let them sit for weeks, months, years…sometimes never getting around to editing and uploading them. I suppose I figure I’ve got tomorrow to work on them–client’s photos come first. But then tomorrow comes and goes, and I still haven’t touched them.

So I’m going to start a new series on my blog called “unpublished photos” to motivate me to find and edit long-lost pictures. These first photos are from a session I did last fall with several other Pittsburgh photographers. You see, when you’re a photographer, you rarely get photos of yourself and your family. So several of us decided to meet up and do a joint photo session.

It was crazy. Cameras everywhere, kids running around having fun, too many lenses to look at all at once. But it was also fun.

And I promptly downloaded mine and never, ever edited them. Major fail. I kept thinking once I finished with my weddings I’d get to it…but then the holidays came…and…and… I had lots of excuses.

Finally, I pulled them up today. Here are a few edits. Photographers were Jonathan and Tiffany Cooper of Hot Metal Studio, Michael and Jennifer Williams of Michael Will Photography, and Amie and Joshua Powell of Photography by Amie.