Wedding and Lifestyle Photographer
I’ve invented a new word… Instagramming and am certain it’ll be quite famous soon ;) AND we’ve added to our family, a beautiful, feathery, white girl, Phoebe. She’s a sweetheart but that’s for another blog post. I keep wanting to get to it but am running out of days! So bare with me and I’ll cover all of the details concerning her soon. As for now please take a moment to enjoy the amazing photos that my iPhone is capable of taking ;)
Have a wonderful weekend!
I haven’t been slacking, I promise… (Reason) It’s just you see, all of last week I was babysitting my wonderful nieces and nephew. So I decided to take a whole week off because I simply was exhausted (Excuse). So this Tuesday I finished everything, the wedding, and the lifestyle, and am ready to share with you guys. Thank you for not loosing any hope and checking back everyday on me. ;)
Now as I’ve mentioned in the “sneak peak” of this shoot before, this is a SOOC (Straight out of the camera) post. And as much as I’d love to say and explain to everyone that I was “going for some sort of effect” (Excuse), I won’t and am glad that I’m doing this post this way because I want feedback NOT on my photoshopping skills but on my picture taking skills (Reason).
So thanks for stopping by and enjoy this awesome lifestyle shoot that we had with my sis. She was amazing and so much fun to hang out with! AND she took us out to the most amazing little taverna that serves the county’s best ribs! Thanks sis for an amazing time.
It was quite an evening for him. He got to sit by the most wonderful, most gorgeous, and absolutely amazing girl. He didn’t pay attention to his friends or surroundings. All he thought, was her. All he saw, was her. She didn’t notice at the time how much attention he was giving her. But something kept telling him that she would be his.
A few weeks didn’t pass by and he proposed. She stared at the ring for five minutes straight not murmuring even one word. She carefully took the ring and after another five minutes replied, “Yes!”. And he fell deeper in love. Half a year later Irina walked down the aisle in a gorgeous wedding gown about to marry her one true love.
You see some people take 5,10,15 years to marry their best friend, while others take less than a year to meet, engage, and marry. But in the end it’s not how long it takes you to tie the knot, it’s how wonderful the years are after you say “I do!”…
A very popular russian tradition “Buying out the bride”.
Don’t forget to enjoy the slideshow I prepared especially for you guys…
Have a fantastic Wednesday!
I remember the day like it was just yesterday.
I was leaning against the greasy counter of McDonald’s looking at the morning paper. Jimmy Hendrix playing in the back where all the grilling was done and not a single soul was ordering their usual breakfast food. I was at work and there was nothing that I could do to make it look like I was staying busy, so I kept reading the paper. Every now and then a car would pass by and we all sort of lost hope in serving a customer that morning. As I kept looking through the paper in search of a new job I found one that really stood out. But before you know what it is you’ll need to know this…
For the past few summers, I would lay around the pool areas and enjoy the joyous screams of kids as they splashed in the water, soaking up all the sunshine that I could before the season ends. Every time I would be at the pool, I was always urged to become a lifeguard. I guess all that “Bay Watch” watching and the water really got to me ;) So I would say to myself, someday, and if not in this life than in another.
Now back to the paper reading at McDonald’s… So here I am reading the paper and Diane comes up asking what I’m doing, a usual. Diane and I did drive-thru together, she took orders, I served, and vice-versa. Can’t really say we were friends, just work buddies. I enjoyed her company and can hope for the same in return. Anyways I found the local resort, Massanuteen, searching for lifeguards for the summery season. I looked up at Diane and said, “You know? I’m going to be a lifeguard, someday.” She said, “Yeah?” Passing a sly smile and raising her eyebrows. I knew she didn’t have much faith in me, but who blames, we were only co-workers, what did she know. So she continued saying how I probably wouldn’t be able to do it, since you know, it’s hard work… I didn’t lose hope though, I tore off the small square of the ad and stuck it in my pocket.
Almost two years later and two other jobs, I decided to go for it and take the 10 day training course to become a lifeguard. Almost giving up because of how hard it was, and Diane’s words haunting me, I reminded myself that this is what I want. I passed and was happy. Happy with myself that I didn’t quit. Happy that I believed in myself even after all the obstacles I had to overcome to get to where I wanted to be. Happy because I was doing what I wanted to do. Sometimes life becomes a jerk and throws obstacles at you just so you quite. Sometime it sends people who are jerks and makes it hard for you to succeed. Sometimes it makes it look like it wants you to fail just so you work harder for it. Sometimes life keeps pushing it farther away from your grip just so it keeps its meaning and value, and teaches you to treasure those things.
Although lifeguarding wasn’t something I wanted to do for a lifetime career, I’m so glad I did it because it taught me a few valuable lessons that I will always cherish. Lifeguarding was just the beginning of a new spark that would later become a fire for something bigger. It was just a lesson, a test, to make sure that I could handle the “hard stuff” when it came in the future. Today, when I lose hope, I remember that 15-year-old girl who leaned against that greasy countertop that morning, and smile.
Happy Sunday!
In case the title didn’t give it totally away, I’ll reword my phrase. ;) I am going to blog a full SOOC (Straight out of the camera) shoot. Not editing, photoshopping, except for the frame that I put as a watermark. I hope you guys are just as excited about this one as I am… Because you see, for sometime now I’ve been really working on getting good color, exposure, and crop as I shoot… I don’t want to be known for being a good photoshopper. I don’t want to waste my client’s time by having to edit, even if it takes only one day. The “photographee” (I totally just came up with that, soon you’ll be seeing this word in all the famous dictionaries) wants to see their images ASAP, why should they have to wait? So here’s my goal and I am slowly getting to it! I hope these won’t terribly suck! ;)
Happy Thursday!
When I walked into the chilly apartment with the air-conditioning blowing full blast, I felt as though I have walked right into a part of Olga’s dream. She was stunning, with her hair done and smile set right. As if she was a real princess living the fairy tale. She couldn’t wait to be married and everything showed just that. The girls helped create a perfect-moment-like-atmosphere and that made Olga even more happier. July 9th, 2011 was a perfect day for Olga and Artem to get married.
They were nervous, happy, excited, and joyous. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. The way he looked at her made everyone smile. The way she smiled made everyone awe. They held hands and kissed none-stop. They laughed and hugged and made everyone jealous (in a good way of course). They smiled till their jaws hurt and cried with joy till their eyes turned red. Their speeches made every eye wet. Their laughs made very mouth smile. Their personalities make a perfect harmonious song. Their love towards one another shows in every aspect of their character. Their love for God is shouted from their lives. Olga and Artem you are perfect in the eyes of our God and everyone who has witnessed your wedding is blessed.
This will always make me tear up.
You can really see my love for sun glares from this post.
Happy Wednesday!
Liya & Andrey. Remember those two? Well they ordered this monstrous album 12″X17″. Yikes huh? It’s huge! I’ve never in my life have seen such an amazing thing created by a human, but here it is in my hands.
It weighs close to 30 pounds, has 31 pages (16 spreads) and is wrapped cozily by real black snake skin leather. It truly is a beauty. It comes in this beautiful, black leather, hard case, which is held closed by a magnetic inside. The quality on these things are simply incredible and jaw-dropping! Trust me on this one. When it came to our doorstep and we unpacked it I squealed with amazement, and simply couldn’t get enough of the fresh smell of ink, paper, and leather.
The case…
A few close ups of the details…
The gutter is so small it’s barely noticeable… But I don’t have to tell you that.
Happy Monday!
Here’s to another amazing wedding in good ol’ Virginia. The forecast predicted rain all day but we were blessed with beautiful sun-shinning weather. The bridal party added so much fun to this day and made the couple relaxed and ready to be married. Congratulations to the beautiful couple!
Happy Sunday!
