First I have to say “hello” again as for about the last month this blog has been MIA.  You may have noticed some dead links if you happened upon me in a search or through Facebook…  Something went crazy with a WordPress update and next thing I know I deleted my database and all my posts were gone!  (That’s what I get for messing around with things I don’t understand!)  I had just about given up hope that it was ever going to come back when I found some advice on the Googles and I contacted my domain hosting company…  and Ta-Da!!   I’m back in business!  Lessons I learned — don’t be quick to update WordPress and figure out how to back this thing up!

So now that I’m live again we have to celebrate with a blog post!  I thought I’d pull another one of my fall mini-sessions from the archives.  This adorable family had some fun wandering around Lancaster County Park and the girls loved playing in the leaves!

I think this is one of my favorite family shots from the session.  This was actually mom’s idea.  In our email conversations prior to the session she told me she envisioned some photos of them casually walking with the sun shining through the trees…  I think we pulled it off!

These two young ladies were a joy to work with.  They were a little unsure at first, but warmed up quickly and we strutting their stuff in a matter of minutes!  Here they are being “sassy”!

You have to follow a sassy shot with a lovey, sister shot!  Doesn’t this just melt your heart! 

Of course mom and dad have to strut their stuff a little too!

Another great family shot!  Fall is such a pretty time for photos-the colors are amazing!

What a beautiful family and a fun session!  I hope to do it again this fall!

Bryona  and I took a chance last week to get her senior portraits in on her day off.  It was a rather rainy afternoon and I wasn’t sure if we were going to have to reschedule.  Thankfully the rain stopped about 3:00 and we decided to go for it.  We had to dodge raindrops a few times during her session, but we made it work.  The nice thing about summer rain showers is they are usually short lived.  Thankfully the few times the clouds cried we were able to take cover and wait it out.  That’s a chance we always take scheduling outdoor sessions, but rescheduling is never an issue when the weather doesn’t want to cooperate!

Bryona met me at Rockford Plantation, my favorite place to shoot.  There’s just so much variety in a single location, not hard to kill two hours with a great model and a great location.  As always, here are a few of my favorites from the session.

This next shot is one of my favorites – this is a cover shot!  I think all the bling is what really set this one off for me.  Everything is tasteful and classy, yet really adds some interest to the photo!  This is a great example of thinking about every detail when you get dressed for your session.

When Bryona walked out in this outfit I wanted to call my motorcycle friend, Amy.  I would have loved her awesome pink wheels in a few of these shots! 

We had to take a break for the rain which was a great opportunity for Bryona to change.  I was excited to shoot a few more with some color!  Black, white and jeans are always classy and look good on everyone, but if you have a solid color that looks good on you, don’t ever hesitate to bring that a long too!  Color shirts take photos to a whole new level sometimes!

Anyone who has worked with me knows how “laid back” my portrait sessions are, which is great for helping your relax and not stress over the camera constantly clicking in front of you.  This is a prime example of a shot that just sort of “happened” as Bryona and I were working through some posing.  My instructions are typically very open to interpretation…  which is great because you can end up with some great shots!  Add some color effect and wa-la!  One of my absolute favorites from the session!

These next couple were just the final shots I wanted to get before we quit.  What little light we had on the overcast evening was just about gone, but I love playing around in tall grass and I think Bryona did too!

Thank you so much Bryona for the fun!  You looked great and I’m sure you’ll enjoy these photos more than some of your past shots!  Congrats on your senior year and best of luck with everything to come!  Keep the BF in line too! 

You may remember Marina for the bridal shower fiesta, so below is a familiar face!  Matt and Marina will officially tie the knot May 28th and we really wanted to get an engagement session in before then!  We were all able to sync our calendars to meet for an pre-wedding engagement session last Sunday and it’s time for me to show off some of my extended family members!  Marina is my husband’s cousin so this wedding is getting the extra special treatment!  There are a ton of favorites from the session and I’ll try to keep this post within reason…

We started at the Lancaster County Central Park – one of my favorite places to shoot.  I love the outdoors and I love the options the park provides.  Rockford Plantation is a local favorite, not only for history buffs but for weddings!  Check it out if you’re planning a wedding!  Okay, enough chit-chat…  enjoy a few images!

This should probably be my ending shot, as it looks AMAZING on my blog!  You guys are so freaking cute together!

Change of venue…

Trees, trees and more trees!

I had so much fun with these two, I can’t wait for their wedding day!  Not only are they going to be a beautiful couple I know they’re going to have a fantastic day together and having the privileged of capturing the memories means the world to me!

Matt and Marina – enjoy the next few weeks and all the final prep for your big day!  It’ll be here before you know it!  Get ready to enjoy the best day of your life (up to now) and I’ll see you on the 28th!

I’m back again!  How about another post?

Remember a while back I teased you a little with shots from my session with Jenna and Justin?  You might remember the bench series I posted.  Well it’s time for more images from their session.  If you missed the previous shout-out to Justin and Jenna you may not know how extra special this session was.  Jenna is my sis-in-law…  and Justin in my soon-to-be… bro-in-law-in-law?  Well regardless, they are both very special to me and thought it would be fun to do some engagement photos with me!

We spent some time at Lancaster County Park - a great place for portrait sessions.  There are so many various places to explore with just a short drive around the park.  We started at Rockford, one of my favs and then headed toward the covered bridge.

Time for some photos.  Let’s start with a few classic shots.  Nothing fancy, just mom-approved!

I love this next shot!

I love seeing how happy two people can be together.  If you know Justin you can only imagine what happened just moments before this capture to spark Jenna’s reaction.  Regardless I LOVE IT!

I have a lot of fun with this doorway and have captures some great shots in it.

Working with Justin I knew to be ready for anything at just about any moment!  This is just a sample of the “fun”…

This was Justin’s idea and I really didn’t think Jenna would go for it…  but she did!  My next goal is to talk them into dressing back up after the wedding and having some more fun like this…

This is Jenna’s Favorite

One of my favs…

This is one of Justin’s favorites and the one I think we might be blowing up for the wall…  it’s going to look great in their living room as a gallery wrap.  It’s also a great image to end the blog with.

Congrats again Jenna and Justin!  You two are a true joy to be around and I’ll gladly take your photos any time!

I had the pleasure of working with Venessa on Saturday to capture some senior portraits for her. I wanted to give you a little preview of what’s in store.

Here’s a shot of the lady of the day!

They’ll be more to follow soon!  Stay tuned!

Okay… you may have seen the preview so now it’s time for some real photo action. It was great going through these shots since alot of this area was new to me. It’s fun to work in a new location because you are forced to explore and see what you can find. Between the two of us I think we came up with some great little areas, both wet and dirty to get some great shots. I had some fun playing with these too so quite a few this time have been manipulated a bit.

A nice headshot. There was just something about the sepia coloring, it just made her eyes pop even more than they already do. You will probably notice I fell in love with Kortnee’s eyes… WOW!

This is one of those photos that I think looks much better in black and white than in color…

Fun little spot we found! We also have some shots on this fallen tree… it was a little challenging but we pulled it off.

Some color play

Another fallen tree

Covered bridges can be a real challenge. They are usually pretty dark inside, requiring blinding flash, sometimes they can provide the right depth of field and shadow. There is just something about how Kortnee pops in this shot… the background is actually pulled from the otherside of the bridge… we both liked the look of this on the back of the camera.

Creeks and streams and water of all sorts is fun!

Changing the pose up a bit… love the bridge in the background – great idea!

EYES!

Kortnee yelled at me (not really… just sorta gave me a weird look like I was crazy!) just nano-seconds after capturing this. One of her friends gave her a ring and I happened to catch that perfect “teenager on the phone” look! Love it!

Final shots for the blog. Two good close-ups.

Thanks for the fun Kortnee! Good luck with your senior year!

The rest of the images from Kortnee’s session can be found in the client proofing section of my website (link is on the main entrance page – where you might have clicked to come here)

Stay tuned… Katie’s senior session from downtown will follow shortly! There’s also rumor a session with Cooper in the near future… the first little one to sit on the other side of my camera!

Here is a teaser shot from one of my senior sessions yesterday. This is Kortnee, a senior at Lampeter Strasburg. We had some fun at Lancaster County Park, but this time we explored the area around the covered bridge and not Rockford. We had a lot of fun and I had to post one of my favorites and I know one of Kortnee’s too (she saw a sneek-peek of this image on my camera!)