Milla and Brad–Great Photographers and Friends

December 14, 2009

For those of you blog readers who dream of becoming a photographer yourself one day, I have one really important piece of advice that I only wish I’d taken sooner: get to know other photographers! Seriously, you can learn so much from each other, and you can really grow your business. Some of the great local photographers I’ve gotten to know this year are Milla and her husband Brad of Milla C. Photography.

Milla is not only a talented photographer, she is also a great friend and person. I guess that makes her a friendtographer? OK, lame butchering of the English language. Anyway, I don’t think you could ever be depressed hanging out with Milla–she has this awesome laugh and joyful presence that’s really contagious. Plus, she and Brad are also Pittsburgh transplants from Florida, so they can relate to our adventures of trying to explore Pittsburgh while getting completely lost.

So, when Milla asked me if I could take some photos of her and Brad to use for Christmas/New Year’s cards this weekend, I was definitely excited. It’s a perennial problem for us photographers…we rarely have photos of ourselves! I have to admit, though, that it’s a bit intimidating photographing another photographer, but these two made it so easy and fun. We met up at Frick Park on Saturday and enjoyed the beautiful, if chilly, weather. And of course, they brought along their “kids,” Tuco and Turk.


Ha, this one’s just for laughs…Tuco persisted in standing right in front of the camera, so what else was I to do?

You know what’s really neat about Milla and Brad? They’ve been married for six years–and they’re still totally in love with each other. Awesome.

I love how Turk is looking politely away…

Standing guard.

Milla–you are so BEAUTIFUL. Seriously girl.

Check out Milla’s cute hair piece…I thought it was an Etsy find…but no, it’s from Target my dear friends! I might have to get myself one…

Thanks guys for being such awesome friends!

Posted in PortraitsTags: ,,,

by mary

add a comment

Amanda - Stumbled across your site.. and WOW! These pictures are incredible! Fantastic job. I can only hope to be as talented a photographer as you one day! 🙂

Milla - Mary Schwartz you are wonderful… THANK YOU thank you thank you. I totally love them so much. You captured our goofy family so wonderfully and naturally! 🙂

Pets Only–I ♥ Faces Week 49

December 14, 2009

I love this week’s theme at i ♥ faces, but I was really torn between two favorite photos of Astin. Seriously, even as I’m writing this post, I can’t decide which one I want to use.

But since I have to choose one, I’ll go with this one where he’s doing what he loves most–sleeping under the covers. Plus, I just love his little whiskers in this shot. The other runner up was this photo of him bounding through the air, another favorite hobby of his.




Be sure to check out all the other wonderful entries at i ♥ faces.

Posted in ContestsTags: ,,

by mary

add a comment

Sadness: Going Gray » Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer | Birchtree Photography Blog - […] is a happy four year-old dog, the next he is a happy and GRAY four-year-old dog. I guess all that sleeping is finally catching up with him. Take a […]

Gena @ thinking aloud - A wonderful picture, well captured, tells a story and certainly deserving of first prize!!!

Tara - Congrats on you win! This photo is just too creative. LOVE it!

Cindy - Congratulations on your winning photo! What a great shot!

Puna - Congratulations! I love this photo.

Amy @ I Heart Faces - Hilarious!! Congrats on the win, I love this shot:-)

-Amy
Co-founder
I Heart Faces

Life with Kaishon - Oh! I am SO happy for you! Your picture is lovely and I am very glad you are a winner! Way to go! Hope you and your sweet doggy have tons of fun today. Is it snowing there? : )

Wendy - Congratulations on your win!

Vanessa - Congratulations! This is a gorgeous shot.

Meet Rudy » Pittsburgh Wedding Photographers | Birchtree Photography Blog - […] have a lot of dogs to introduce you to on this trip. My only consolation for having to leave my own beast behind is that I’ll have a dog (or two) to keep me company everywhere we […]

Marla - This is so lovely – great b&W – great composition – great subject. Makes me smile to see this.

Randa - This is soooo very cute! I love it!

Elle - so cute! great shot!

Patti - Sweet photo !!!

Wendy - This is too cute! I bet this dog is fun to be with!

Alysha - This is such a cute picture! Love it!!!

Jake Easley - Wonderful!
We have one that does this a lot! Great capture. Thanks for sharing.

Elena - oh my gosh! I love it!!

amanda thiessen - haha cute!

Cindy - Absolutely adorable!

Rachel Greene - aww! I love it!

Katy - What a cute shot! love it!

Becca - Oh my goodness, you need to win again with this one – it’s perfect!

melissa - I Love this in B&W!

Lyndsey G - Astin is in this photo where I would rather be instead of working! I really like this photo, it made me smile, and I can’t help but ask a dumb question, but is this black and white? I love the color, but it looked a little different than black and white, I was wondering how you edited this. Thanks!

Annette - Hmmm, you are right, the bounding through the air shot is great too! I think this one is just so cute.

Leslie - Adorable picture!

Austin - This is too cute. Great shot!

Sarah King - Oh my, I love it!!

Angie - Precious. Astin and I would get along great!

Fun, fun–Fifth Place

December 12, 2009

Well, I really wasn’t expecting much with my entry this week for i ♥ faces, so I was pleasantly surprised to see my photo selected as the fifth choice. Now I guess my dog and husband are famous…for all the wrong reasons! I must say that I really loved the first place winning photo, so be sure to check it out.


Here’s the hubby and dog again:



Posted in Contests

by mary

add a comment

St. Sylvester’s Church Wedding | Emily and Bob

December 10, 2009

Last Saturday I had the most wonderful time getting to photograph Emily and Bob’s gorgeous wedding at St. Sylvester’s Church in Brentwood. This was my second time to photograph at this lovely church. Long time blog readers may recall Crystal and Martin’s wedding way back in May.

Well, Saturday’s winter weather was a far cry from balmy May’s, but nonetheless, it was absolutely perfect with the falling snow! Besides, it’s hard to get much sweeter than Emily and Bob, and I think they would have had a beautiful wedding even if a tornado was raging outside. The best part about it all was that Emily and Bob braved the snow to get some awesome photos, which made my heart sing for gladness. My clients are wonderful!

After the ceremony at St. Sylvester’s, everyone headed over to Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church banquet hall in the South Hills. Emily and Bob also took a few more photos outside of this beautiful church before celebrating inside with family and friends.


Ok, the first thing I have to say about this wedding was that there were waaay too many cute babies and kids running around! I hardly knew what to shoot…Emily and Bob…or cute kids?

I loved Emily’s blue shoes…

Getting on the dress is always fun.

Meanwhile, the guys were just hanging out and talking.

I think the expression on these girls’ faces says it all about how Emily looked.

This little guy was watching me..

Love the doors out in front of St. Sylvester’s.

The MEN.

The ladies.

Love this shot by Jay…

You’ve seen this one…

Emily, you are gorgeous.

And Bob, you’re quite the handsome fella.

My view.

Jay’s view.

Father, daughter dance…

Congratulations Emily and Bob!

And hey, who says I won’t brave the elements for my clients?

Posted in WeddingsTags: ,,,,

by mary

add a comment

Winter Weddings in Pittsburgh | Planning a Winter Wedding - […] Emily and Bob (and their bridal party!) braved the elements to get some gorgeous snowy photos. The kids don’t look too happy, but they were soon whisked indoors. […]

2009 in Review: Vote for Your Favorite Wedding! » Pittsburgh Wedding Photographers | Birchtree Photography Blog - […] Emily and Bob Posted in Business | Tags: pittsburgh wedding photography […]

Milla - Beautiful job, Mary! I love love love the snowy pictures… they were so great to go outside! I also love the group photos in the doors. Very cool!

marfa - Wow, I love that dress! I think that is my most favorite wedding dress ever. And yes, love the blue shoes too!

Charles Ackerman - Wow. . .each time I look through one of your postings Mary, the pictures seem to get better. You have such a talent, and I just wanted to let you know how much I love your photos.