Has it really been so long since I posted?  We’ve been very busy shooting, the blog will catch up with us eventually…

Speaking of catching up, remember Lee and Marshall’s gorgeous wedding at Main Street Station?  Somehow Lee’s bridals got away from me so I’m going to back pedal a little because its totally worth it.

We got together to take these late last spring at the Country Club of Virginia where both Lee’s mother and sister had their wedding receptions.  In addition to the sentiments behind the choice, it was a good place for some interesting interior shots too… Lee being an art director for R Home and all.

Serendipity is a funny thing.  We had gone in thinking that we would use the heavily wallpapered walls and antique fixtures as backdrops, I had the shots fully sketched in my head before we even walked through the front door.  While waiting for Lee to get ready upstairs, we stumbled into a side room where we thought we might store some equipment, concerned that we were distracting attention from canasta games and luncheons going on around the club.  It was a rather plain board room with a very large, semi circular window made of fabric pleats.  Sam and I looked at Lee’s vintage inspired dress with the shift length and then at each other.  Scrap the stodgy Southern belle stuff.  We were going for Hollywood glam, art deco style in the board room!  We pulled the tables and chairs back, hid some unsightly plugs and heaters in shadows, and played with with this fun and completely unexpected backdrop.

There were several fun details to play with on this shoot, including Lee’s bright yellow shoes, birdcage veil and dress pockets:

While we had a good time exploring the interiors at CCV, the shot that turned out to be our collective favorite was taken on a bench right outside!  I can’t put my finger on it exactly but its a little sassy, confident and still pretty and Southern.  It hit all the bases…

Congrats once again to Lee and Marshall and thanks to Lee for letting us play…

Posted by Mel @ 5:27 pm, in Bridals, Weddings | No comments | Permalink

I don’t have the best track record of sharing bridal portraits so I wrote “blog Jess’ bridal portraits” on my Monday to-do list with 3 stars next to it, just to get my own attention.  Bridals are taken in advance of the wedding and must be kept out of the public eye so as not to ruin the great reveal the day of and therefore, even when fabulous, these sessions just kind of fall off my radar.  So I’m here at my desk chanting my own little campaign slogan for the duration of this year and beyond, “no bridal left behind!”

We took Jess’ bridals on the historic grounds of the Virginia House, a medieval English estate moved piece by stone piece to a beautiful piece of land overlooking the James river in present day Windsor Farms.  The gardens surrounding the house are every bit as impressive as the house itself and make a romantic and dramatic backdrop for portraits.  While I’m not generally a fan of post production antiquing, I felt like it was appropriate for a few of these and Jess agreed.  Its nice to step out of the comfort realm every once and awhile…

A big thanks to Jess for being such a relaxed, gorgeous and enthusiastic bride.  I’m certain that we prefaced more than one shot plan with, “I know its going to sound weird but do you mind if we try ___?”  And congrats once again to Jess and Jason who tied the know on 6/18.  And thanks to you for checking these out!

Posted by Mel @ 9:16 pm, in Bridals, Portraits, Weddings | No comments | Permalink

You may remember Jesse & Jonathan’s amazing wedding from a few posts ago, the event took place in Crozet, Virginia at King Family Vineyard.  The couple thought it would be fun to have some wedding photos taken around Richmond as well so they returned from their honeymoon to get all gussied up again for a local shoot.  Day After sessions are kind of like a Trash the Dress sessions but with the groom too.  Its ideal for couples who want relaxed, fun photos that we can’t get the day of the wedding due to geography, a setting sun, a tight itinerary or inclement weather.  And those aren’t the only good reasons to consider this option: you don’t have to worry about the dress, you don’t have guests waiting on you so there’s no rush, you’ve had time to reflect on the wedding experience, you can try out a different hairstyle or make up look and best of all, you get to wear the dress more than once.  Amen to that!

Jesse & Jonathan knew they wanted some photos taken in their neighborhood so we headed down to Forest Hill Park, just an acorn’s throw from the couple’s new house.  

We couldn’t resist hitting the park’s playground and getting some play time in there.  I think our favorite shot was this ultra-formal with the horsey:

Clearly a night in shining armor, its Jonathan to the rescue:

maybe…

Forest Hill bumps right up to the James River so we headed down to Reedy Creek to find some train tracks.  After all, what better way to represent the journey that has just begun than train tracks?  And what could be a more “Richmond” sight than train tracks?  And the answer is: train tracks with trains on them!  We were happy to find a few cars in rest and took full advantage. (This is what art school does to your brain, in case you were wondering).

Congratulations once again to Jesse and Jonathan on their marriage and wedding, we were glad to draw out the celebration a little bit.  Here’s a slideshow from the shoot and if you would like to visit their online gallery, click here.

Posted by Mel @ 7:51 pm, in Bridals, Portraits, Weddings | 2 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