My 365 post from yesterday got moved to today because, frankly, I’m getting old & am too tired to stay up after a wedding & post a photo.  Maybe I need to take up coffee, or vitamins!

Well, I had the great pleasure of photographing Dave & Kasandra’s wedding at Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis, Maryland.  I got an email from Dave earlier in the week asking what my plans were if it happened to rain.  Um…not show up???   Well, thanks be to God, it did not rain until after the wedding!

We ran out of time (due to various reasons) for Dave & Kasandra’s bride & groom photos, so I begged them to let me take them out after their reception & have 30 minutes of their time.  The following photo is one of the many that made me get all giddy & teary-eyed at the same time.  Thanks so much for letting me put you in the briers…I think it was worth it!

They were both told that they never smiled in photographs.  They could have fooled me!  Dan & Cindy could not STOP smiling almost our entire session.  And I even had to bring out my “kindergarten teacher” voice to get Dan to stop gazing at his future bride & give the camera a few glances.  These two kids could not have been more in love than what I witnessed this past Saturday.

Now I think all my couples are the greatest, and they are all madly in love with one another.  But I have to give Dan & Cindy the award for the most lovey dovey looks, most hands holding, most kisses, most spontaneous acts, and most energy!

Dan & Cindy I am honored to finally give you some photos of you both together.  And I cannot wait for all the surprises and acts of spontaneity that will no doubt occur during your wedding!  Enjoy your preview…

I think I’ve said it before, but Michele & her daughter Emerson were my first ever “official” photo session waaaaaaay back when Emerson was just 6 months old.  Well, Emerson is closely approaching 3 and is now a big sister!

Michele contacted me back in May when I was having my Avon Walk for the Cure Photo Fundraiser.  She really wanted to participate, but wasn’t able to have her session until this past July.  Of course I said YES!  I was so excited to get to reconnect with Emerson and meet the newest Hess, Mackenzie.  These girls are not only beautiful, but so much fun!  Emerson has this cool face called “crazy eyes” that made me laugh so hard I couldn’t snap a photo at first.  And Mackenzie may only be a little one, but she certainly knows how to avoid the camera.  Every time I’d try to photograph her straight on she conveniently moved in a new direction.  Good thing I brought Skittles, lollipops, and my Elmo doll.  As soon as I busted those out I had their attention.

Here are Darren, Michele, Emerson, & Mackenzie….

I met the Johnson family through my daughter Emma’s preschool.  Amy and I had many conversations about location, clothing, and ways to make the girls feel at ease.  We decided on Quiet Waters park, casual dress, and LOLLIPOPS – giant lollipops to be exact!  Amy & Wayne got some awesome lollipops on their beach vacation and we pulled them out when the girls could take no more smiling.

We couldn’t have asked for a better day either.  The impending storm held off for us, brought nice cloud cover, and the park was giving free admission & a concert that day!  We only had one snaffu – Drew fell & got a boo-boo!  But she handled it wonderfully.  You’ll see the sweet photo I snapped of Amy cuddling her later on down in the post.

Thanks so much Wayne, Amy, Drew, & Kate for letting me get in your face with my camera.  I really enjoyed watching you all interact!  Here’s your preview…

Mommy makes it all better

The Whole Bunch

My mother-in-law has a saying hanging above a large window frame in her dining room that says, “All because two people fell in love…” Under the saying, and in each pane of the window are 4 pictures of each of her four children growing up. Fast forward to now, 2008. Instead of four lovely children, she has four children, two daughters-in-law, one son-in-law, three granddaughters, and a grand baby on the way. That’s thirteen people when we all get together! Sometimes it can get crazy with that many people around, and I won’t deny my recent session with the Roe family was a little “crazy” at times. But the love between them was evident! Thanks to Jack & Colleen (and Maddie) for “buying” me as an anniversary gift for your parents. I so enjoyed my time with your “crazy” family! I hope you enjoy this little sneak peek!

The ones who started it all

Then came the kids

And then the grandchildren!

(my neighbors and Maddie - the princess)