I hope that everyone is basking in post-turkey bliss, well rested after lovely tryptophan and wine induced sleep and perhaps continuing to munch on leftover pie and turkey sandwiches.  Happy belated Thanksgiving to all.  I saved this post for this week to keep the warm, family buzz going because I love this family…

Ings and I go way back.  Far back enough that her now teenage nephew, Chandler, was 4 years old and calling her “Ings”.

I was a first year grad student and Jennings was my digital photography teacher.  Bless your heart for the assumptions but truth be told, I was far from her star student.  ”Command Z” was all I knew.  I spent the majority of class time with arms folded, rolling my eyes and blowing exasperated sighs through my bangs while muttering something about throwing a computer through a window.   I didn’t have time for this digital crap.  I had real art to make, in a darkroom, and this class was a waste of my precious time.  She allowed me to sulk but she wouldn’t take crap from me or anyone else.  And so it was, that first horrid semester, that we spent many late evenings together as Jennings tutored a hopeless case of a student, enrolled against her will in a graduate level digital class without ever having opened Photoshop.  She earned my respect twenty times over and we became friends.

Two and a half years years later I completed my graduate thesis work in a computer lab rather than a darkroom and was teaching Photoshop classes at two different colleges.  Trust me, neither one of us saw that one coming.  In fact, Jennings frequently uses me as an example with discouraged students: if Mel could do it, there’s definitely hope for you.  Look to the sky because pigs can fly! Its really just a testament to Jennings’ mad digital and teaching skills though.

And now we’re both mothers to young boys, no one saw that one coming either.  Taking photographs for Jennings, her husband Kurt and their two beautiful boys, Kael and Gaige, has been an incredible honor and privilege for me.  We got together at Carter Mountain where Jennings and Kurt have been coming together each fall since they began dating.  Once married, they invited family to pack a picnic basket and join them and over the years it has become such an important tradition that Jennings and Kurt, who now live in San Antonio, packed their bags to come home this fall and make the drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Texas-born Gaige was not used to cold weather and wearing so many layers.  He found his jacket very confusing so we likened him to Randy from A Christmas Story…

The family boarded a tractor for a hay ride around the property and afterwards we took a few family photos in the pumpkins.  The photo with Gaige, Kael and cousin Skylar is going to be especially priceless someday…

While the mountain view was amazing, we headed towards the apple groves to picnic and run.  I loved the solitude and light there so much that we really didn’t stray, it was the perfect play stage.

Check out Kael’s big bro stance here:

There was some quality control related apple eating…

And a whole lot of running and tickling.

While taking photos of Jennings and Gaige, Kurt and Kael staged an ambush.  These are definitely my favs.  L-O-V-E.  Love.

Jennings tasked me with picking a slideshow song, always a risk because you never know what I will come up with.  So I chose the theme song from Raising Arizona. Because hey, its bluegrass with a nod to the follies and adventures of parenthood.  Besides, who knows how we will surprise each other next?  Hopefully not by putting “a panty” over our heads and running down the street with a pack of Huggies but you never know, the two of us have done crazier things and pigs can fly…

Enjoy the slideshow and online gallery and thanks, Huletts and Sheffields, for such a lovely day.   I know how weird it is to be in front of the lens instead of behind it so thanks for letting me play.  I’m so sorry that my and my boys had to leave before the vineyard leg of the tour but we’ll make up for it with some beers very soon, December is almost here, can’t wait to see you and your boys then!

Posted by Mel @ 2:04 pm, in Portraits, Wee Ones | 1 comment | Permalink

Cascarones (Confetti Eggs), Spicer Family Farm Party, 11/6

Its no surprise that my iPhone and I have become inseparable.  What is shocking is that I am feeling more connected to photography right now through my iPhone than any of my professional cameras.

Say what?

I know, its a lot like that thing with Hugh Grant married to beautiful Elizabeth Hurley and getting busted with a prostitute.  Kind of hard to understand.

Its practically 2011 and everybody and their uncle is a pro photographer.  The rise of digital photography has leveled the playing field through immediate feedback.  Good bye darkrooms, text books, light meters and equivalent exposure problems; hello Flickr, Facebook and Photoshop.   F-what?

Before this starts to sound like an Andy Rooney style rant, I have loved running a business through this era.  Its been exciting, change and opportunity are everywhere, and I’m truly glad to see that great wedding photography is everywhere now too, unlike the dark ages when Sam and I were married.  It has elevated the profession.  The only problem is that we are all using the same lenses, we’re all attending the same seminars, we’re all practicing the same techniques and worshipping the same “rock stars” and as a result its all looking…. well, you know.

Back to my iPhone.  I downloaded Hipstamatic and at first, found myself giggling at the two bit mime of the alternative processes that wooed me into the fold of photo love.  I rolled my eyes at dippy “equipment” descriptions such as, “The Jimmy Lens: James was cool but Jimmy could walk through flames.  This lens rocks the daylight, the nightlife and everything in between.”  I’m no gear head but even I could use a little more than that!  Resulting photos didn’t look so much like analog capture as a mish mash of  alternative processes on acid, combining Holga, Lomo, Kodachrome, cross processing, infra red and other effects into a single kitsch photo with a technique identity crisis.

But I can’t stop playing with it.  For 8 days now we have documented our son with it.  For 7 nights I have had photo related dreams, remembering the small joys of film that I thought had been long forgotten:

-the sound a dark slide makes as you remove it, like drawing a tiny sword

-the tickle of acetic acid (stop bath) on your nose when you fix a 10 gallon drum

-the excitement of pushing soapy photo flo bubbles away to get the first glimpse of 12 precious, newly developed frames (more like 10 precious jewels, 2 dudds, I was very consistent)

-sleeving negatives, slightly curly and warm from the dryer, armed with a cup of coffee, a Sharpie and a loop over a light table

-the creative community of a darkroom

As I shoot with my iPhone and wait the eternity of 10 seconds for “development” before I can shoot again, I am reminded of a time when we didn’t gun through frames, when we waited for the decisive moment as Henri Cartier Bresson coined it, when we framed carefully before ever hitting a button, when there were 10-36 opportunities to get it right before loading the next $10 roll of film.  I’m also reminded of a time when a photo was a photo, not a painting or other medium where manipulation is the expectation.  You got what you got and you owned it, good or bad, fat or thin, wrinkles, dirt, slobber, all of it.  And when I am done shooting with my iPhone and go back to see my goodies later once my son is happily occupied with something else, I remember the nervous drive to the photo lab… did that wedding turn out?  And now you know how long I have been doing this.

Are these photos gimmicky?  Clearly yes.  But no more or less than it ever was on film.  And arguably no more or less than the effect of super shallow depth of field through a $1200 super fast prime, bringing the bride and groom crisp to the foreground as the background fades into a romantic, colorful blur (see post below).  Its an argument for the ages but I just want to figure out where I am right now.  And right now I love that these memories look like they could have been me as a baby or my parents as a baby or my grandchild as a baby (if we are still taking camera photos in the future).  They are simultaneously timeless and specific, just like childhood itself, so full of both newness and universals.  No matter how the world progresses from generation to generation, we are all introduced to it the same way.  We learn how to walk.  And as parents we watch the process with absolute awe, as though it has never happened before.

These photos are challenging me to drop the expensive gear for a sec and go back to basics, to work on seeing again.  I’ve realized that expertise and gear don’t differentiate photographers anymore, only vision does.  I’m not sure what the lesson is but I know I’m onto something.  And by the way, square frame, how I have missed you!  We fit together so beautifully you and I, I was never meant to be with a rectangle…

So here it is, photo love and a random week in November, brought to you straight out of my phone.

Playground, 11/5:

Spicer’s Farm Party, 11/6 (pear shot and me walking taken by Sam)

Fun with Safety Glasses, 11/7

First Real Haircut (tragic), 11/8

Mmm, Dinner  11/9

Ice Cream Cousins  (Fiver and Jordan), 11/9, taken by Sam

The Ferry to Yorktown (Michela and Jordan), 11/9, taken by Sam

Grandpa Frank drops by, 11/10

Wagoneer, 11/10

Playground, 11/11

The Truck Daddy Made (unpainted), 11/12

The Truck Daddy Made (unpainted), b/w  11/12

Fall on the Hill, 11/13

Posted by Mel @ 2:01 pm, in Personal, Portraits, Wee Ones | 2 Comments | Permalink

Jess and Jason are getting married next summer at the Mill at Fine Creek, a beautiful spot tucked away in Powhatan around the ruins of the old mill.  We met there to take engagement photos on a beautiful fall afternoon and it was so quiet and serene without the hustle and bustle of wedding preparations that we are accustomed to finding as we arrive.  While Jess and Jason didn’t actually need any help in front of the camera, they brought along a bottle of wine with a couple glasses as a relaxation “prop”.  Even without the wine and sun setting behind the forest we know these would have turned out just as dreamy, Jess and Jason have such a warm dynamic together.  Thank you both for being so amazing to shoot, we’re looking forward to the wedding!

But until then, enjoy this slideshow and if you would like to see the online gallery click here.

Posted by Mel @ 7:44 pm, in Engagement Portraits, Portraits, Weddings | No comments | Permalink

The engagement was big news around our office, Ellen’s family is pretty special to us and now we can’t wait to bring Will’s into the fold as well.  We were excited that Ellen and Will wanted to do an engagement session and even more excited about the location.  Working for the Democratic Party of Virginia, Will spends a lot of time around the Capitol building and definitely wanted to try it out as a location.  Sadly, the only time we had ever visited was a 4th grade field trip (Sam) and a Segway tour (Sam and Mel).  Luckily, Will cultured us a little.  Well, he gave it his best shot anyway.

Its been awhile since I have posted an engagement session so it might be high time to talk it up the cause.  You have to give these brave couples credit: its deceivingly hard to do, much harder than taking pictures on  a wedding day.  To get sweet on each other in front of a couple of camera geeks (particularly if you have envisioned them riding a Segway) isn’t the most natural thing in the world, assuming you don’t have a background in modeling.  It really is worth doing though, especially when you make the session unique to your story together.   Its not uncommon to attend a wedding and know only the bride or groom so these photos can serve as a window into your life together, pre and post white dress and tux.   So take pictures in the neighborhood where you live or the place where you had your first date or on your bowling league night.  Display them at the wedding, put them up on your wedding website, use them on save the dates, make magnets or banners or billboards or coffee mugs or whatever.  Its a welcoming gesture that says, you know us, celebrate us with us!

We ask folks to do a lot of kissing, sometimes to photograph actual kissing but most of the time to get the moment before or after where you crack up because its so weird.  Cracking up looks good in photos.  One of my crack up “tactics” is to tell couples to look serious, as serious as seriously possible.  Whatever you do, do NOT smile.  Ellen and Will are so good at taking directions that I actually liked their seriously serious shot.

Don’t get me wrong because they aren’t all serious.  We asked them to look at each other often because they would just beam and giggle.

The interior of the Capitol building was fun to work with between the checkered marble floors and grand rotunda, stately and romantic.  We had some fun with the exterior of the building and its surrounding gardens as well, gleaming in the late afternoon sun.

Just as the sun was setting, we arrived at Maymont to take a few more shots before the gardens closed.  The light was soft and warm with a hint of fall color in the trees behind the Italian gardens.  They were total picture taking professionals by then…

Ellen and Will, congrats once again on your engagement and thank you so much for humoring us throughout.  May will be here before we know it and we can’t wait!  Here’s a slideshow and a link to the online gallery if you would like to see more.

Posted by Mel @ 7:56 pm, in Engagement Portraits, Portraits, Weddings | No comments | Permalink