We struggled with the decision to post this here but decided that enough of you ask about him on a regular basis that we really should: its with a heavy heart that we write to tell you we said goodbye to Cass on Thursday of this week.  Casanova has been our best friend ever since there was an us and has been Sam’s best friend for even longer than that.  He was the only one with us when we got engaged and was the ring bearer at our wedding.  He lived to be almost 15 years old, which is pretty old in Border Collie years, and he played frisbee everyday to the very end.  The loss we feel is profound and we miss him like crazy but mostly we’re just glad to have had him as part of our family for so long.  I could go on and on about what an awesome dog he was but I’ll keep it brief for the sake of professionalism… Simply put, he was the man.

Sam and I took these pictures from him over the past week, he was a handsome old guy and we’ll miss both his brown and blue eye equally:

And just a couple of favorites that make us smile, including my very favorite of Sam with Cass on a camping trip last fall and one of the Poo and I on his 14th birthday last January.  Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive over the past few weeks, we’re lucky to have so many awesome “dog people” among our many clients.  This blog is all about the love and if there’s one thing we learned from our friend, its that love has no bounds.

Posted by Mel @ 5:05 am, in Personal | 3 Comments | Permalink

Just a few more shots to add to Christina and William’s wedding pics… We met up with Christina on the campus of Washington & Lee to take her bridal portraits back in September.   The campus architecture behind Christina seems more like a studio backdrop than a real location for many photos, resulting in some very classic bridal portraits. We love the one she enlarged for the wedding above and here are a few more favs from the session.  Enjoy!

Posted by Mel @ 4:53 am, in Bridals, Portraits | 1 comment | Permalink

Christina and William’s wedding brought us to neighboring campuses in Lexington, Virginia: Christina met William while attending Washington & Lee while he was studying at the Virginia Military Institute just down the street.  The rehearsal dinner the night before took place on VMI’s campus while the ceremony at the historic Lee Chapel and the reception in Evans Hall occurred on Washington & Lee’s campus… a perfect merger.

We were happy to find leaves on the trees and covering the ground, lending the warm and inviting colors of fall.  The bridesmaids wore jewelry that Christina made herself matching the gold accents in the ladies’ bouquets.

Their wedding was full of personal touches that helped tell the couple’s story, the evening toasts tied it all together.  Christina made trombone cake toppers to represent their meeting: both of them play the trombone and met in a band class.  Christina and William’s first date took place at Sweet Things, a local ice creamery who served up a delicious sundae bar to accompany the cake (remember their engagement session?).

We have had a great time working with both Christina and William over the past year, we hope that they are enjoying their honeymoon and wish them a great time at their second reception over Thanksgiving Day weekend.  Here’s a slideshow with our favorites from the day and if you would like to receive an email when their online gallery is available, click here.  A post with Christina’s bridals is soon to follow…

Posted by Mel @ 1:13 am, in Weddings | 1 comment | Permalink

Amelia Cate is 3 months old and couldn’t be more perfect in every way.  Her parents, Aimee and Randy, are no strangers to our lenses: they’ve attended a few weddings we’ve shot as both family members and close friends.  I’m very excited to be documenting Amelia Cate’s growth through her first year.

I love Amelia Cate’s nursery.  Knowing that many years of all things pink would start soon enough, Aimee though she might as well choose anything but pink before AC could form an opinion.  I especially love the mobile over her crib, how can you have anything but sweet dreams looking up into tufts of white butterflies?

I found myself using mirrors as frames frequently as we worked:

Modeling is exhausting work…luckily…I love taking photos at nap time:

Already I can’t wait for our next shoot at six months.  Here’s a slideshow of my favs and if you would like to see an online gallery of the photos, click here.   

Posted by Mel @ 10:00 pm, in Portraits, Wee Ones | 4 Comments | Permalink