Joanna and John - July 4th..how cool is that!

Joanna and John ~ how cool is it to get married on a day where everyone will be celebrating for the rest of their lives!

I had such a great time at this wedding and how wonderful to be able to do what I love (taking photos) and doing it while there are so many loving people that I knew! Joanna and John had everything so well planned out that every little detail was done in perfect taste but nothing was over done. Their wedding was held at EBIC in Elizabethtown and the reception was at Cassel Farms about 3 minutes outside of town. The weather was nothing short of a gift from God (whoever heard of a July 4th in the upper 70's??). At the reception site were games to play .. volleyball and croquet and frisbee and just lots of open space to let the kids RUN ~ it was a fabulous picnic! What made this so special is that Joanna and John are truly special people and I will speak for all the guests there.. we were honored to share in your day.

Enjoy the pics below and then head on over to FB with this link to view a whole bunch more!

For more pics, visit this FB link and feel free to become a fan!

Sarah and Aaron ~ 06.27.2009

Sarah and Aaron were the nicest couple. She burst into tears almost everytime you mentioned Aaron's name..and he was the same with her. We celebrated their wedding in Hershey at St. Joan of Arc's with a beautiful ceremony. Bill..my right hand man (literally) was amazing taking pictures in the church with his humungous lens at 600 mm to get such beautiful closeup shots without ever being noticed. I am so pleased with how everything came out that I had such a hard time chosing for this album. I hope Sarah and Aaron enjoy as well.

For lots more pictures, feel free to visit this link and then become a fan.

Professional Portrait Sessions .. they called it a Shoot-Out

I don't like the term Shoot-Out or even shoot for that matter. I prefer to say portrait sessions. Anyway, on Wednesday about 8 photographers from the Etown area gathered at Masonic Homes to practice photography with some models as well as exchange some techniques and tips.

Since this Wednesday was my usual day to photograph at Water Street I thought I would miss is, but when I got to Water Street there was a mix-up so I got to go. Yeah!! But I did not have all of my equipment with me. Boo!! But it allowed me to think and try new things with what I did have and with a borrowed lens too. And those who have worked with me know I love to use my light outside which I did not have this time so I really played with new ways to make that camera work for me!

I went a little edgy in post-production and for those of you who have seen my work you know I usually don't go this far..but hey..since it was all in trying new things I thought, why not!

So, thanks to all the models who came out. And I hope I taught you some new 'technical words' tonight like "can you move over a tish", or "tilt your head a smidge"!

Jen and Derek 6.2009

Jen and Derek are the coolest couple you will ever meet. Smiles all the time. And the way he looks at her, well you can tell he is heads over heels for her. It was wild to have the wedding and the reception at the same location - Mulberry Art Studios in Lancaster. By late evening we even took pictures on the roof in the dark with the city lights in the background. Thanks Jen and Derek for a great evening..it was a pleasure to work with you!

Jazz Fest 2009 on Canvas

A client of mine recently attended Jazz Fest 2009 in New Orleans. He came back psyched by all the music he heard and wanted a "creation" made from his pics. So he gave me a CD with all the ones he wanted and voila..above is what we created..it's 24x36 inches.

We had them printed on canvas and I decided to take some pics to show what a canvas is. In this case it's a creation (but in most cases it's a portrait) printed on canvas and stretched over a wooden frame. The frames vary in size but in this case it's the standard 1 1/2".

I wrapped the edges with the pics as well and put the band names around the outside ON the wrap. Below is how it turned out. I took a few pics today because the client is coming to get them tomorrow.

It's wild that this looks different based on how close you are to the canvas. I'm very pleased how it turned out and I hope you enjoy it as well!





I'll post a few more canvases that I have here at the house in future posts. Stay tuned!

She is just a beautiful girl.

It's funny how our paths cross in life. The young girl in this video is actually cousins with the little girl from my second shoot tonight. Wild! They had never met each other until they came to Water Street Ministries. God is awesome! Only he could see fit to use a situation that we might consider unfortunate but he used it for his amazing will.

And this video is using the donated services from animoto.com; Check them out to make your own cool vidoes!

My wonderful friend Julie and her boys!

I was so fortunate to photograph Julie and her boys. We had a great evening. I got to listen to some piano practice while I was setting up and I even had help from the boys. I LOVE when they want to help..it makes them involved and it's a better chance that you get some great pictures. We prayed before we started that God would be with us and I really think he was that night.

Julie knew exactly what "look" she was going for. She wanted nothing in the background to distract from her and the boys and she was fairly certain she wanted BIG and black and white. Alrighty..I can do that.

The interesting thing I have learned is that we all see ourselves a certain way and our kids too. So, what I see in the camera and think are my favorites is not always what the client sees. So below are some of my favorite shots as well as some of Julie's. Enjoy!



One last thing...I ALWAYS let the kids make funny faces. They are going to do it regardless so why not make them happy..again, it's all about the end product. I just had to include a few because they cracked me up that night and again tonight when I posted. Ha. I love kids so much! So pure and innocent!