Kelly’s Bridal session at the Kriselea
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008Ryan 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.
The non-vacation, vacation
Monday, September 15th, 2008We 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!
Natalia’s 14th birthday shoot
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008We 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.
A piece of history
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008Many of you know that Ryan only has the opportunity to moonlight as a photographer right now. Hopefully, in the next 3-5 years we can phase out his day job, a web designer for the city school district in town. Right now the base pay and insurance are invaluable considering we like to pop kids out every year, having good insurance is worth it’s weight in gold.
As of late, they are having Ryan take photos for special events that happen in the school district. A couple weeks ago we got a day’s notice that Barack Obama was coming to speak at one of the high schools in our district. Although many of our belief’s do not align with Obama’s, it was still an awesome opportunity to photograph a piece of history…a presidential candidate and possible president. Not bad for the portfolio!
Security was incredibly tight with Secret Service men all over
Senator Jim Webb also spoke
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About Kellan Studios
Kellan Studios is the husband and wife team of Ryan and Kelly Portnoy. We are located in Lynchburg, Virginia and are available for weddings, family & senior portraits, as well as being available for travel.
Check out our portfolio at kellanstudios.net