Dustin's Senior Photos

Yesterday Dustin and his dad came by the studio for his senior portraits. They booked me for an hour in the studio, but I was hoping to get some outdoor shots as well but it started pouring down rain just as they pulled into the driveway. We still got some awesome shots inside and I had a great time working with Dustin.

Brooke & Eric's Engagement Photos

Tuesday afternoon Brooke and Eric made the trip into Somerset for their engagement photos. I'll be shooting their wedding in October and it was actually our first "face to face" meeting. The shoot was fantastic. Eric and Brooke are so hot together and really had some cool ideas, including wading into Lake Somerset for some shots! We didn't finish until almost dark so I even grabbed some cool moonlit shots.

New boudoir photos

Earlier in the week I met with another of my clients to shoot boudoir photos. The shoot went great and we got some terrific photos. I'm currently designing an album for her of the photos and she's going to give the album to her fiance on their wedding day. I think that's such a cool and romantic gift!

Krysta & Bill's Engagement Photos

Sunday afternoon I met with Krysta and Bill to shoot their engagement photos. I'll be shooting their wedding next June and I had a blast working with them. I can't wait for their big day as I know it will be a lot of fun!

100 - 17

This afternoon I was shooting senior photos for Dustin. As we worked on the shoot, I became more and more impressed with his look and personality. When we finished up his session, I told him about 100 and asked him if he'd like to be a part of it. He quickly agreed and I made several portraits of him. I think he's a terrific addition to the series.

Melanie's Senior Photos

Saturday I met with Melanie and her mom to shoot her senior photos. A few weeks ago I shot portraits for Melanie's cousin, Whitney and I really have had an awesome time working with their entire family. I might also be shooting a family portrait for them in a few weeks and I can't wait. Melanie was great to work with and I had a lot of fun on our shoot.

Haley's Senior Photos

Friday afternoon I met with Haley and her mother to shoot her senior photos. Senior pic season is winding down now that school is back in, but it's always fun to have a new senior to work with. I had a blast with Haley and am glad I had the chance to work with her.

9/11 - Six years later

I live about 5 miles from the Flight 93 crash site, and this morning I went to Shanksville, PA for the memorial ceremonies. There was a steady drizzle, which seemed oddly appropriate considering the solemnity of the events. There were several family members of the victims in attendance, along with Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell (shown in profile in the second photo) and US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff(shown in the second to last photo). At the exact moment of the crash, organizers recited the names of all of the Flight 93 passengers and 2 bells were rung. Afterwards, doves were released. It was a very touching ceremony and I'm glad I was able to be there.

Sunday's Boudoir Shoot

Sunday afternoon I met with one of my wedding clients to shoot her boudoir photos. It was my first such shoot in several months, but everything went great. I've been having more and more clients inquire about boudoir photos over the past wedding season and I decided to go ahead and add the service to my site. Apparently, they're "all the rage" for women to give as gifts to their significant others, from everything from Valentine's gifts and weddings gifts to first year anniversary (which is paper) presents. I asked yesterday's bride why she wanted to have boudoir photos shot for her fiance and this is what she had to say:

"After I began shopping for a wedding gift for my future husband, I realized that I couldn't find anything out there that I felt was special enough for him. I wanted to give him a gift that he wouldn't expect, that was custom-made especially for him, and that would totally blow him away. For those reasons, I decided to have boudoir photos taken. I plan to put the photos into an album to give to him on our wedding day. Knowing me, this is the LAST gift he will be expecting from me! Knowing HIM, there is no better gift idea - he will absolutely LOVE these photos! I can't wait to see the expression on his face as he looks through the album!"

As with most clients, yesterday's bride is planning on giving the photos to her future husband as a wedding gift, so I don't want to reveal her name. She gave me the go ahead to post some photos on the blog, but I didn't want to post any that showed too much of her face so I chose some close-ups instead. As you'll see, I take a very artistic angle on these photos and shoot everything tastefully, while still showing off the beauty of my client.

Tomorrow's boudior shoot

Tomorrow I'm shooting a portrait session for one of my wedding clients. Most photographers call these "boudoir" photos, and while I've never been fond of that term it's industry standard so I may as well call it that too. The nature of the shoot is to make my client look as beautiful, elegant and glamorous as possible.

I don't shoot many boudoir sessions, probably because I don't advertise it on the site. I also likely won't be able to post any photos since the images are a surprise wedding gift for the bride to give her husband and showing them here beforehand would spoil the surprise. I typically shoot these sessions in a fine art style using lots of black and white and natural light. Being so different my usual work, the sessions are quite fun and very creative. I'll talk to my client and see if I might be able to post a pic or two which doesn't show her face. If she agrees, it'll give you an idea of the work I do on these shoots.

On a totally unrelated note, I bought a new keyboard recently (I went wireless) and I'm having an awful time getting the hang of where the keys are located. I don't type traditionally (I don't think I do anything traditionally) but I can easily hit 100 words a minute in my weird typing style but I've slowed down dramatically with this darn thing. So, if you notice any typos, I'm blaming them on the keyboard.

Lauren's Senior Photos

Tuesday I met with Lauren and shot her senior photos. It was a lot of fun working with her and I might do another shoot with her later in the season with some of her sports gear. She also mentioned doing a family shoot some time in the fall, so I'm quite excited about getting to work with her again.

Erica and John's Engagement Photos

Monday afternoon John and Eric stopped in for their engagement photos. We'll be shooting their wedding this fall and it's always great to be able to photograph a couple before their big day. I had a great time working with them and the shoot went great. They even had some photos taken with their cat. I've photographed people with dogs before, but this was my first cat and I'm happy to say it went well. He was one well-behaved kitty. And don't both Erica and John look super-hot in the black and white photo below? I love that shot!

Olivia's Senior Photos

Late Sunday afternoon I met with Olivia and her mother to shoot her senior photos. I've photographed a few of Olivia's friends this year and as with them, I had a lot of fun working with her. I also think she has the greatest eyes of anyone I've shot this year - if you don't believe me just check out the first pic!

Josh's Senior Photos

Sunday afternoon I met with Josh and his family to shoot his senior portraits. Josh has a lot of photography himself and it's always cool to photograph someone who also has experience behind the camera. It was a great shoot and I hope to get to work with Josh and his family again.

Bridget's Senior Photos

Later in the day last Tuesday I met with Bridget to shoot her senior photos. She was referred to me by some fellow classmates and it's always cool to work with friends of clients. I had lots of fun shooting her portraits and I loved the great dress she wore for some of the shots!

Elizabeth's Senior Photos

I hope everyone had a terrific holiday! I'm still getting caught up on work and blogging as I've been swamped the past several weeks.

Last Tuesday I shot Elizabeth's senior photos. It was actually our second shoot, the first was a few weeks ago and we were rained out shortly after starting. I really had fun working with Elizabeth and we got some fun shots, including some in front of a grand piano!