It was truly awesome to be a part of Jenny and Aaron’s wedding and experience it as more than just a photographer, but as a friend with a camera! I had the amazing opportunity to not only get to know Jenny and Aaron better, but also their family and friends who I look forward to staying in touch with and being life long friends! I am sad that everything went by so fast, but looking forward to sharing the pictures with everyone and hopefully returning soon!

The first pictures I want to share with you are from the Shot Spot (my version of a photobooth) which was a huge hit! There were so many great pictures that I put them into a little slideshow to show a quick glimpse of all the fun! Enjoy and stay tuned for some more awesome pictures from throughout Jenny and Aaron’s Wedding to come!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to document Anne and Nick’s wedding at Ft. Meade in Maryland. The chapel at Ft. Meade was not only a very special place for Anne and Nick, but also Anne’s parents as that is where they got married! It was a truly amazing day as it had been raining all afternoon and then 10 minutes before I arrived the clouds parted and some of the most beautiful light filled the church!

I loved Anne’s little umbrella!

When I took this picture it reminded me of a painting, so I decided to have a little fun and make it into one. This is actually a very new service that we are offering and has become very popular for bridal portraits and looks especially stunning when printed out on a 16×20 canvas!

Anne had the most amazing smile all day and this moment has become one of my favorite pictures ever! The lighting was very surreal and I love how you can almost see Nick smiling in the silhouette

I love the concept that when your in love it sometimes feels like time stands still and everyone else becomes a blur around you.  For just a moment your completely focused on one person with many feelings that you can’t explain and for that one moment it seems like nothing else matters.  If you were to picture that moment I feel it would look something like this:

Then I thought about what the moment after would be and Ingrid & Aaron seemed to answer that question for me as they started to dance in the middle of Grand Central Station. 

Of course it couldn’t last forever, so we headed to Central Park and had a little fun in the Subway on the way.

It definitely was not hard for them to show the love!

I’m definitely looking forward to seeing some fun dancing at their wedding in a few weeks!

When I saw this bridge I knew I was in for a treat! All of a sudden it felt like we were in Spain.

The art was amazing and I felt I would be amiss not keeping with the artsy theme. As you can see Aaron and Ingrid are not afraid of a little dipping action!

We then headed up to Ingrid’s friend’s rooftop for the most amazing view overlooking Central Park and the New York City skyline!

A little homage to Rose from the Titanic.

A little dramatic lighting for a dramatic sunset!

Then afterwards we met up with some of their friends for a little Chinese food!

… and later Aaron and I stayed up until almost 3:30 chatting about photography! I was truly a great day and I’m really looking forward to their wedding in a few weeks!

It was amazing that we found Jake in the hundreds of graduates, but even more amazing is that he saw us in the massive crowd of families.

This is one of my favorite moments from the whole day! Sam was looking on, proud of his brother graduating (maybe thinking that he will be doing the same in another year), and Amy gave him a big hug with a rush of emotions and feelings that only a mother could know.

Uncle Adam in all his jokester glory very proud that his son is finally finished accruing student loans.

From left to right: My grandfather Papa Lee, Uncle Adam, Cousin Jake, Grandma Nancy, Cousin Sam, Cousin Lauren

Sam sporting his retro look. I have a picture with my father in a very similar outfit at his own college graduation!

After a long day I was told I had to get a “slice” from Famous Ray’s Pizza by my good friend and a former New Yorker, Dennis Fryer. After checking in and relaxing for a second I found one directly across the street from my hotel. Let me just say it was amazing, thank you Dennis!

So a bit embarrassing, but I ended up walking the wrong way to what I thought was Times Square and instead ended up in Columbus Circle just outside Central Park. It turned out to be a nice area to sit while listening to the fountain and watch people passing. I also had some fun playing around with my fisheye lens on the Canon 5D…

I ended up finally finding Time Square thanks to my trusty iPhone, and grabbed some more fun pictures with my fisheye.

I loved this wall at the Hard Rock. You could view other Hard Rocks around the world on each TV (I think it was a live feed - anybody know?). You could also see some of the pins from each location too.

I took the first picture back when I started shooting digital (which I had a little fun “hand coloring” for a photography class assignment).   Eli played solo for the Monticello High School talent show and easily ran away with first place!  The rest of the pictures are from his show at Fridays After Five.  I wanted each picture to take on a little more of that rock star persona, so with the little bit of free time I had this week I decided to give them a more artistic look (also why it took me a week to post).  Feel free to leave a comment and let me know how you like them!

Thank you guys for making me a part of your wedding!   I can’t wait for everyone to see the pictures!  Here are a few to tease you with:

 I started off the day with Elizabeth and her beautiful bridesmaids while they were getting ready!

When I first met Elizabeth almost a year ago I was immediately struck by her beautiful smile and gorgeous eyes!

I loved their house and had fun with the ladies getting this relaxed portrait. Thank you ladies!

Although they were not supposed to give gifts, Dan gave Elizabeth these amazing Mikimoto Pearls for her to pass down in their family for generations to come. I knew I had to get a picture of them with her grandmother’s ring, which was passed down to Elizabeth.

Also, I must note that I was fortunate enough to have my good friend Eric Kelley helping me out. He is an amazing photographer and I was luck that he was available.  While I was with the ladies he was photographing the guys getting ready and also had the task of driving my car around while I got to do such fun things as ride in the RV and on the Trolley!  I couldn’t have done it without you bud, thanks!

Yes, I did say that I got to ride in an RV!  After over a hundred weddings I am happy to say that I still have a few “Firsts” now and then.  This was the first time I took an RV to a Church!  As you can see below, the laides rocked it out as we were riding in the RV!

If you are wondering, Elizabeth and Dan were married at Hatcher Memorial baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia on May 3rd, 2008.

As you can see Elizabeth’s father was a very happy and proud parent!

They were glowing with excitement throughout the ceremony and had the biggest smiles immediately after the first kiss!  In the background, Dan’s father had the honor of marrying the two.

We had fun in the Trolley on the way from the church to the Dominion Club. It was very hard to pick just one of the pictures from the trolley as there were so many great moments, but then again this is supposed to be a teaser. Look for the rest of the pictures in the Recent Events section in the next few weeks.

All of the time I am asked by perspective couples whether I do portraits/posed pictures within my photojournalistic style.  I’m thnking to myself of course, don’t you see them on my website!  Then I realize, my formals (as I like to call them), don’t look posed, stiff or forced instead they are very natural, so couples sometimes mistake them for photojournalistic pictures.  Afterall, I generally don’t call them posed pictures anyway, as I never actually pose anyone.  Instead I like to put people into a scene (usaully one where I can’t take a bad picture), and give direction for emotions and feelings instead of posing each person.  It makes things much more natural, relaxed and overall provides a better picture.  The pictures below I could not have posed, however by putting everyone in this beautiful location on the golf course (and with a little direction) we made a beautiful portrait!

We also had a little fun, can you tell?

Shooting on the golf course at the Dominion Club provided many beautiful scenes.  I am so glad the weather turned out to be gorgeous, as it provided this amazing scene, and my favoite pictures of this year so far.

Inside the Dominion Club there are two levels (with the main ballroom on the lower floor) and a beautiful staircase that provided a lot of interesting and fun angles for pictures.