Laura and Tom met at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville so we traveled to the mountains to take their engagement pictures.  They were RAs so of course we had to include some dorms in the background…

The trees were peaking at the time of our visit, making an already historic and beautiful campus even prettier.  Laura and Tom showed us all over the Grounds (that’s wahoo for “campus”) and we loved using the many columns, gardens and beautiful architecture as backdrops.  Best of all, we just got to hang out with a really cool couple for a few hours.  If a picture says 1000 words then we have lots of good stuff to say about L&T…

L&T, we’re looking forward to hitting Williamsburg with you next June for the wedding and we thank you for your generous patience while we worked our way up to editing these.  Enjoy the slideshow and if you would like to see an online gallery of their photos, click here.

Posted by Mel @ 9:21 pm, in Engagement Portraits, Portraits | 1 comment | Permalink

Jolene and Eric are dear former students of ours and we couldn’t be more pleased to be a part of their wedding next June.  We took their engagement photos at the historic Byrd Theatre in Carytown, a fondly familiar spot for any Richmonder.  In fact, I’m not sure you’re allowed to live here without seeing at least one, two buck flick there.  And if you are really from Richmond, you can (and will) recite all the lines of the opening anti-trash infomercial filmed circa 1983 aloud with the rest of the theatre.  Its a performance phenomenon.

 J&E went to the Byrd for their very first date where they sat in the balcony and watched The Neverending Story.  A little foreshadowing, perhaps?  Not to mention that Eric and Jolene were both film majors while studying at VCU so we really couldn’t have asked for a more appropriate location to celebrate both their past and future together.  We’re super grateful to the good folks at the Byrd for opening their doors to us.  

Not knowing what to expect, we arrived with strobes in tow.  But when it came down to it, the KISS rule (keep it simple, stupid) applied as it usually does.  We did some simple light painting using long exposures on a tripod and a flashlight to make Eric and Jolene pop out of the dark, no fancy flashes or transmitters necessary.

J&E brought popcorn along just to make it even more realistic…

I know that antique washes are insanely popular with wedding photographs these days but how about taking a pic by the light of an antique window instead?  The top floor to the Byrd is bathed in a yellow green glow late in the afternoon as the result of colored glass:

Here’s a slideshow with our favs from the session set to, you guessed it, the theme song for The Neverending Story.  Because hey, it works.  To view the entire session, click here.  Congrats J&E, we’re already looking forward to June ‘09.

Posted by Mel @ 9:51 pm, in Engagement Portraits, Portraits | 2 Comments | Permalink

Karina and Allan drove all the way from North Carolina to take pictures on the campus of their alma mater, the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.  Its a significant place: its where they first met, where they began dating and where they got engaged.  Because they met at a campus event where they decorated cups, Allan made cups to help him propose:

Cups weren’t the only props they brought along for pics.  Ahhhh, the surge protector.  We learned that this little item has been the source of much laughter at Allan’s expense.  As the story goes, Karina was plugging her computer into the same outlet as the fridge in her dorm room so her computer kept shorting out.  So Allan bought her a surge protector… for Valentine’s Day.  By the time he figured out that his gift wasn’t likely to create sparks (go figure, its purpose is to stop them), it was too late to get something more romantic so he gave it to her anyway.  She found it sweet while the rest of their friends made him the poster child for the anti-Cupid.  So we took pics in front of their dorm that we know family and friends will get a kick out of…

Karina and Allan wanted photo booth style pictures for their save the date cards so we pulled out a fun lighting trick, would you ever guess that they are standing outdoors in front of a bunch of trees when we took these?  

According to conventional wisdom in the world of portrait photography, a height difference between a couple should be minimalized visually by taking seated shots, shooting from above, etc.  Sam saw this shot while we were faking the photo booth and used their height difference to make a quirky-fun portrait, I love it:

Karina and Allen, we’re looking forward to more photo booth fun at the wedding next May.  Thanks for making the drive, for all the great stories and for being so much fun to photograph!   Here’s a slideshow of the session or go here to see more in the online gallery.

Posted by Mel @ 8:43 pm, in Engagement Portraits, Portraits | 2 Comments | Permalink