Blair is one of those brides that came to us with a really unique request. We’re listening….let us have it. She and her fiance, Jon, both have degrees in turf management. Yes, there is such a thing. She specialized in turf for baseball fields and golf courses. Talk about a specific degree!

She really wanted to see if we could get permission to shoot part of her session at City Stadium in town. The Lynchburg Hillcats, Single A affiliate for the Pittsburgh Pirates play here.

We finally got the okay and had the whole place to ourselves. How cool is that?! It was really fun to go some place totally unique to Blair. The second part of our session was held on her family’s tobacco farm, which was the location of her wedding yesterday. Unbelievable amounts of acreage set against a large pond. BEAUTIFUL!!!

Blair, you were an awesome bride yesterday, we can’t wait to get to your wedding photos…for now, here are your long awaited bridal portraits. Thank you for being a bride that let’s us have some creative freedom to shoot outside the box.

Calling her shot

These trees are massive!

We are in the middle of a crazy six week stretch shooting every weekend and also doing a tradeshow tomorrow. We wanted to give you something to keep you coming back. There is nothing worse than a stale blog. Here are some shots from Rhae and Scott’s wedding that my brother Joe and I shot about a month ago.

We drove up to the mountains of Lexington, Virginia to the House Mountain Inn. This was the perfect location for Rhae (being from Montana and all). She wanted a place that felt like home and The House Mountain Inn did not disappoint. Here are some images to prove it.

Scott and the guys had gone skeet shooting earlier in the day and asked if they could take pictures with their guns. Heck yes you can take pictures with guns! Honestly, what was I going to say, they had guns!

I think there is a metaphor here…

Rhae’s dad

…and the kiss.

Rhae and Scott like to fish, so we worked that into the ring shots.

These next few pictures need some explanation. One of Rhae’s bridesmaids told me she had something planned for Rhae and to be prepared. Next thing I know, she has Rhae sit in a chair with a basket.

She explained to the crowd that only one person has the key to her heart, and that person is Scott. She also said only one man can have the key to her house. She then asked if there was anyone in the building who had a key to her house, to return in to the basket. I’m not kidding, every man in the place (young and old) had a key and dropped it in the basket.

I can’t say I had ever seen this joke played on someone at a wedding, but it worked like a charm.

We’re driving with no hands! Safety first kids!

Rhae and Scott, we had an amazing time documenting your wedding day in Lexington. It was great to see you at Blair’s wedding yesterday! Congratulations to you both!

Ryan and I headed to the beautifully restored Villa at Kriselea a few months ago to photograph the ever poised Kelly for some bridal portraits. This is a pretty popular venue to shoot and for obvious reasons, it is GORGEOUS! Kelly was the model bride. She really knows how to look at a camera. Some girls get it and some need a little more hand holding. Kelly gets it!

She is so graceful and elegant. Her sweetheart dress was perfect on her. We shot her wedding this past weekend and had an awesome time, but we are backed up on wedding entries, tis the season…. so I can only dangle this little carrot in your face in the meantime.

Kelly you were so fun, relaxed and beautiful to photograph. It is great to finally release your bridal session for others to admire your beauty. You were a radiant bride on Saturday.

I love the way she is looking at her mom in this photo.

I can give one wedding photo as a teaser. I love the romance of this picture and the finish. It looks like an old newspaper.

We planned for months, saved, looked forward to 5 days of R & R….and it came. Boy did it come. In all it’s vengeance, not glory. Maybe we should have heeded the warning signs like Ryan getting scheduled to have all four wisdom teeth out the day before we left. The fact it took over a day of laundry and packing just to get out the door packed to the gills with food, toys, clothes, and supplies. You just can’t imagine what a baby and toddler need in a week!

Needless to say, despite our children being sick the whole time, not much sleep, Ryan’s face swollen to kingdom come and the threat of rain each day. We did get to the beach a few times and the pool each day. We watched lots of TV, read, and ate cookie dough and ice cream until we were sick.

I do realize that a vacation is where you get to do whatever you want and as long as their are children involved, you do whatever they want! So you have to rearrange your expectations and just take it for what it is. We weren’t in Lynchburg for five days. We didn’t have internet for five days, we didn’t edit pictures, answer emails, or take phone calls for five days…and that is good for the soul!

So here are some moments from our trip. Simple moments of family time. It is fun to watch your children experience things that you normally take for granted. The joy of playing in sand, watching the waves, jumping in and out of a pool. I love my kids, they are so awesome, SO AWESOME!

Chloe’s first view of the ocean. She gave it a C-…I think the noise and vastness overwhelmed her two year old mind.

Doing the funky chicken

Bennett’s first time in the ocean

Big shoes/feet to fill

me and my boy

She loved playing in the sand until she realized you had to go into the water to rinse off…not so happy then.

This is what our little sicky did while coughing up a lung. Lots of Baby Einstein!

So Ryan and I went out one night to shoot around town and spend time together. We found this really random statue place with some of the most bizarre things I have ever seen. Most of them cost over $1000! I can’t imagine dropping a grand on something like this. I have no words.

or these gems

I wanted to buy this swing for our house. I love the color red!

We then took pictures of each other and the beach. Not too much else to shoot, so why not each other? He is my favorite person and I am his!

Full moon

Back to normalcy!

We were blessed with a niece who is amazingly godly, sweet, kind and good hearted. Not only is her character impeccable, she is absolutely gorgeous! She is completely oblivious to her good looks which makes her all the more endearing.

Ryan and I decided last year that we would start giving her a photoshoot for her birthday present each year. What else could a teenage girl want? Although her birthday is in April, we didn’t get a chance to squeeze it in until last weekend. Whoops! That’s what having another baby and being in wedding season will get you.

I cannot believe she is only 14. When she smiles I see a teenager, but when she looks dead into the camera I see a young woman. She is stunning and let me tell you…she can turn it on for the camera; she just gets it! I can’t imagine looking this beautiful at 14. You don’t even want to see a picture of me. Let’s just say Aqua Net and I were BFF. I grew up in upstate NY and my hair easily added four more inches to my height. Hey, it was 1990! You were only as cool as the width of your hair.

This is our beautiful Natalia.