Whoa.  My very first “First Year Documentary” baby isn’t a baby anymore… not even close!  She has grown into a beautiful, bounding, curly haired girl.  I can still see the baby face but she’s just so…. growing up!  As Dick and Jane would say, LOOK:

We thought it would be fun to go to the Richmond Zoo to begin our shoot so I met Tricia, Camille and Dorothy the doll there.  I can admit that, growing up in the DC area near the National Zoo, I was expecting our local zoo to be kind of lame: a goat tethered to a rope or something.  Maybe some geese.  But I was actually impressed, our zoo is pretty cool!  I’ve never fed giraffes before and let me tell ya, Gene Simmons has nothing on these guys:

Its been the summer of the peacock.  I lived in India for almost a year and not one peacock sighting.  And then, within one week here here in Virginia, I’ve had two close encounters of the flamboyant bird kind between Logan and Joey’s wedding and this puffed up male who was just cruising around for… chicks?  As I turned my lens he came right at me for his close up… and I wondered for a moment if peacocks were attack birds.  I was assured he was just flirting but Camille wasn’t so sure about the peacocks either.

Or the budgies.  We had a budgie stick with honey and birdseed so we were expecting small visitors with busy beaks but its still a little strange.

Hmm… so far this post seems to suggest that we took a little girl to the zoo to torture her with a succession of traumatic, wild animal advances but I promise you that Camille really did have a good time.   The skyride over the park was definitely a big hit.

After the zoo we went home so Camille could show me her “big girl room”.  Her new room has many of the elements of the original nursery but with a new piece de resistance: a great big bed in the middle that is so much fun to jump on…

Something about life imitating art?  I did nothing to coax this photo and it makes me laugh, especially with that plastic broom: Camille is clearly the master of her little girl domestic domain.  I’ve known Tricia and Patrick a long time now so I felt like I could be my true inappropriate self and joked that we should put a beach ball up her dress so she could be barefoot, pregnant and sweeping her kitchen while feeding her children.   Using our better judgement, we refrained.

Camille did have some motherly advice for me anyway.  She told me that if a baby is crying, you should burp it to make it stop and then she showed me how.  Thanks, girl, I need all the help I can get!

I’m feeling multiple photo displays when it comes to this session.  Maybe its because Camille moves so fast, single photos just aren’t summing her up for me.

We even had a chance to update the family picture.  After I left, Tricia told me that Camille asked when I was coming back.  Soon, I hope!  An announcement was made since our shoot that another family member is on the way.  Woot!  Camille is going to be the greatest big sis….

Here’s a slideshow and click here to see the online gallery, I’m so excited about the big news!  And a great, big Happy Father’s Day to Patrick and all our WP superstar dads!

Posted by Mel @ 9:30 pm, in Portraits, Wee Ones | No comments | Permalink

I feel like this post needs a drum roll!  We know that many of you out there have been patiently, patiently waiting for this one and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts, we really do.  We’re hoping these photos come just in time to greet the happy couple back from their honeymoon.

Jenn and Kyle are, in a word, awesome.  We’ve really enjoyed getting to know them over the course of the past year: crazy fun, super sweet… not to mention we always have a soft spot for couples who love their dogs (aka children with fur) as much as we do.  We were so happy to see Ellie again, sporting her wedding garland and awaiting her newly “official” parents to exit the church.  Sam nestled dog treats into the lens hood of his super wide to get her attention!

I meant to ask when I saw this… Did Ellie help Kyle pop the question?

The ceremony took place at the Chapel at the University of Richmond.  It was as if God cued up the lights just as the ceremony began, how amazing is the sun coming through the stained glass?  I wish we could make this kind of light happen at every wedding but all we can do is exploit it when it does…

The reception took place at the Jefferson Hotel, the icing on the cake of a classic Richmond wedding and Lariza of Detail by Detail did an amazing job making sure the event ran without a hitch.  The Empire Room was dressed in blue uplights and spotlighting to create a wonderland for dinner and dancing.   We’re always amazed at what a difference professional lighting makes when it comes to creating atmosphere for a reception.   Not that the Empire Room looks shabby in any light, of course!

We admit that we felt a little self conscious, between ourselves and the videographers it looked more like a movie set than a wedding at times.  So we want to thank Jenn, Kyle and their amazing wedding party for making us feel so welcome throughout the day.  Actually, y’all made us feel like rock stars.  We’re not worthy… but we had a really great time and enjoyed meeting all of you.  (And getting to use the word “gachi”!)  Check out this slideshow with our favs from the day or share the album on Facebook.  Oh, And click here to access the online gallery when it becomes available.  Congrats again, J&K!!!

Posted by Mel @ 10:51 pm, in Weddings | 2 Comments | Permalink

Before we get back to sharing the Memorial Day weekend festivities, I want to sneak some engagement photos in here that we took the week before on the University of Virginia’s campus in Charlottesville where Emily and Gabe met in grad school.  They are both finishing up their medical degrees and leaning towards pediatrics so Sam made me promise not to call their phones in the middle of the night with questions.

We took Emily’s amazing bridals at beautiful Virginia House in Richmond to kick off our shooting weekend.  Sadly we have to keep those under lock and key until after the wedding so you’ll have to stay tuned…

Here’s a slideshow from the e-session and click here to see their online gallery.  We’re excited for Emily and Gabe’s wedding at the newly renovated Virginia Museum of Fine Arts this coming August, congrats once again to you both!

Posted by Mel @ 2:19 am, in Engagement Portraits, Portraits | No comments | Permalink

As we pulled up to the beautiful Glen Roy Plantation in Gloucester, Virginia we were greeted by a magnificent peacock running across the lawn.  It was one of the rather unexpected but beautiful features of the property Logan’s family has been restoring for the past four years.  We learned that these impressive creatures conveyed with the house since, once a peacock has established a home, you can’t move him.  I can understand that sentiment, being rather anti-U-Haul myself.  Besides, who could blame them for wanting to stay at Glen Roy with its beautiful view of the water?  Sam and I have never really tried wildlife photography but hey, if this wedding thing ever falls through its good to know there are other possibilities!

A single, grand tree stands behind the house on the expansive land that reaches out to meet the bay.  This old tree was featured on the wedding programs and it became the backdrop for the ceremony.  While guests sang Ode to Joy I hustled up several flights of stairs and through a crawl space to reach a widow’s walk on the top of the house for this shot of the ceremony:

Usually the processional is all about the bride and groom but Sam caught this glance between Joey and his father:

A tent was set up on the back of the property in front of the dock where guests meandered to watch the water throughout the night.  Courtney Spencer of Merriment Events designed the event and coordinated the day.  As beautiful as everything was, it was Logan and Joey’s friends and family that made it memorable.  Her bridesmaids gave the most creative toast I have seen with a slideshow auction of items (and foodstuffs!) related to the couples’ history together.  And Logan’s father, Jay, surprised them with a light display with their initials on the far side of the field.  And talk about a party… the couple hired our personal favorite band, the Jangling Reinharts, whom we have loved since they played our best friends’ wedding in 2008 (we really need to get out and see you guys play outside the wedding circuit!).  There are too many crazy party pics to include here but I’m thinking this one sums it up pretty well:

Congrats to Logan and Joey, check out their slideshow with our favs from the day and to check out their online gallery, click here.

Posted by Mel @ 8:27 pm, in Weddings | No comments | Permalink