Chris & Trina's Wedding

Sunday was our second wedding for Memorial Day weekend. Sharon and I hit Elizabeth, PA and began the day at Trina's parent's home where we arrived to see the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile waiting outside. Right away, we knew we were at the right house!

Trina had driven the Weinermobile for a year after college and she'd told me ahead of time that it would be serving as transportation for the flower girl and ring bearer and I knew it was also an indication that the day was going to be a lot of fun. After the ceremony, Trina and Chris released doves outside the church. That was another first for us and we got some cool shots, especially the one below which is courtesy of Sharon. The day went great and Chris and Trina were so sweet and fun to work with.

Overall, including traveling time we spent just over 24 hours working on Saturday/Sunday. I spent another 1.5 hours each night backing up files and I'm still tired from the weekend. Yep, wedding season is definitely "on".

Karyn & John's Wedding

On our first wedding of the holiday weekend, Saturday Sharon and I headed to Sarver, PA to photograph John and Karyn's wedding. We got there pretty early and it was nice to be able to spend some relaxing time with the bride and groom as well as their friends and family before the days events kicked into gear. The wedding was beautiful as was their reception at the James Centre in Pittsburgh. Karyn and John are both great people and we wish them all the best as they begin their lives together!

Busy, busy, busy

Wedding Season is in full effect and this weekend we're shooting two couples' big days. On Saturday we're going to be photographing Karyn & John's wedding and on Sunday we'll be at Chris & Trina's. Needless to say, this weekend will be really busy and I probably won't have a new blog until Monday or Tuesday.

On top of the weddings, I'm still in the process of updating my website and that includes a bunch of cool new changes that will go into effect over the summer. The Blog will be updated with a new style and layout which will lead to a more visually exciting page, larger photos and a look that more closely matches the rest of my site. But the biggest change is one I'm keeping under wraps. I should be able to reveal it next week, but let me just say it will be really cool when it's done. :)

On a less hectic note, if you've been a long time reader of my blog, it should be evident that we're bird watchers. As a side effect of feeding the birds, we have all sorts of wildlife heading into our house to eat the sunflower seeds. One of the regular invaders is "Roxy", a raccoon who has been climbing onto our back deck and chowing down for the past couple years. She even brings her babies and they're all very tame. The other night she was at the feeder and I stepped outside to take a few photos. She wasn't too bothered by the flash and soon ignored me and kept eating.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Lisa & Yaron's Engagement Photos

This afternoon Lisa and Yaron made the trip in to Somerset for their engagement photos. I first met the couple a few months ago when they booked me for their June wedding and I had a terrific time with them today. They're a gorgeous couple and both Yaron and Lisa are naturals in front of the camera. Needless to say, I can't wait to shoot their wedding next month!

Nicole and Thad's Wedding

Yesterday Sharon and I drove up to Loretto, PA to shoot Thad and Nicole's wedding. It was our first trip to Loretto, best known as home to St. Francis University, and I wasn't too familiar with the area. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that their church, the Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel, was gorgeous. Crisp blue skies added a great touch to the outdoor shots which we took by the church and at the Our Ladies of the Allegheny Shrine.

Thad and Nicole are both such nice people and they were a pleasure to work with. I loved that we were able to spend some time together and get some portraits of the two of them before heading to the reception. Overall, it was a great day!

100 - Mother & Daughter

Earlier this week I felt like I'd hit the wall on 100. I hadn't done any shooting for the project in almost 3 weeks and the lack of progress was really bothering me. I decided to remedy that and I started sending some emails on MySpace, telling cool people about the project and asking if they're be interested in having their portrait made.

Deana emailed me back quickly and expressed her interest and said she'd also like to have her daughter, Donna, involved. This afternoon they came by the studio and we got some great shots. Donna was a little shy but I love how her portraits turned out and I'm including some shots of both of these young ladies below.

Better late than never

Sunday I promised I'd tell you all about Steve and Aimee's wedding, but yesterday my already hectic life got even more busy. My grandmother broke her hip and we were in Maryland while she had hip replacement surgery. It was late when we got home and I didn't have a chance to update the blog, but I'm fixing that today.

Saturday's wedding was amazing! We first went to Aimee's mother's house and took some preparation photos as well as some shots of the bride and bridesmaids. I also met the adorable flower girl who loved having her photo taken. Why are flower girls always so cute??

After that, we headed to St. Paul's Cathedral which is is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. It was my first time shooting at St. Paul's (we have a few more weddings there this year) and I was amazed. It is a gorgeous church with gothic architecture and is just stunning to see. The ceremony went great and after we shot a few quick "formals", we went a block up the street to shoot more photos at the Carnegie Building. I loved using the huge columns to frame the photos and it made for some great, dramatic shots.

Once that part of the day was over, it was time for the party to begin. We drove to the Youghiogheny Country Club for the reception. We did some shots on the golf course and then headed inside for the party. The night was crazy and so much fun. At one point, one of Steve's groomsmen when dragged me out onto the dance floor! I'm sure that must have been a sad site, and think they even got it on video. I'll never live it down. The DJ was Andy Hutelmyer and I have to say he was the absolute best DJ I've worked with so far. He played excellent music and really kept the party going. Hopefully we'll have more weddings with Andy at the helm!

Overall, it was a fantastic day and I love the photos we took. Aimee and Steve were absolute joys to work with and I hope they're having an incredible honeymoon!

Aimee & Steve's wedding

Yesterday Sharon and I hit Pittsburgh to shoot Aimee and Steve's wedding. We had so much fun and I can't wait to tell you all about it. However, today has been crazy busy and I don't have any spare time so I'm going to post some of my favorite shots from their big day and tomorrow I'll have another blog telling you about all of the cool people we met and the awesome locations where we shot photos. Enjoy the pics - there are a bunch of them!

Ann & Norm's Engagement Photos

This afternoon Ann and Norm came into Somerset for their engagement session. It was great to get out and shoot again after a few days "off". It was my first time meeting Norm and Ann and the shoot was a blast! We hit some of the usual spots as well as a few new ones and I love the variety we got. Their wedding this summer is going to be great!

This evening, while I began editing the photos, I started watching "Freaks and Geeks" on DVD. I watched it when it first aired and I loved the show. I was crushed when it was canceled early. I can't remember a show that better captured the awkwardness and confusion that surrounded the teenage years. I never did get to see the final few episodes, so I can't wait to not only revisit the show but to see what I missed.

Something has been bugging me...

And it's not all of the bad puns I make as blog titles.

Today we were mowing the lawn when Sharon noticed a crazy big insect crawling around on the deck. She called for me to check it out and I grabbed the camera, ready to photograph whatever it was she wanted me to see. What I saw was... well, I don't really know. If looked like an ant but was deep blue in color and it was bigger than any ant I've ever seen. I mean really big. Like 2 inches long.

If anyone knows what this bug is, leave me a comment because my google search of "flying blue ant" didn't turn up anything.

Ants have always creeped me out. Not a fear, just a general uneasiness. I think it's because I saw this movie when I was young:

I also detest flies and I know that's because Jeff Goldblum all too vividly demonstrated how flies eat in "The Fly". If you saw the movie, you know what I mean.

It's been a slow week as I get last week's work edited. I have an engagement shoot on Sunday so I'll have more to post then.