Aaron Watson Photography Blog - Charlottesville, Va » Engagement Session

A New Spin on Guestbooks using Engagement Pictures!

Kelsey — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:00:18 +0000

We love displaying our photography in albums, because it’s such a great way to tell the story of a portrait session or wedding. We have custom designed wedding albums and family albums, and we are very excited to show you a guestbook we created from an engagement session Aaron did with Elizabeth and Bubba. As you click through the album, you will notice blank pages and extra white space surrounding some pictures. These pages and extra space provide great places for all their wedding guests to sign and leave little messages for the happy couple. After the wedding Elizabeth and Bubba will have an album of their beautiful engagement pictures along with personalized signatures from their family and friends that they can flip through all the time!

Announcing Aaron Watson Photography’s “Love” The T-Shirt Contest Winner(s)!

Kelsey — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:15:46 +0000

It’s been a very intense battle to the finish in our “Love” the T-Shirt Contest (if you haven’t already seen it check out our Facebook Page)! All the brides who had their picture taken at the Aaron Watson Photography and Exist N’ Motion booth at the Elegance in Bridal show did an amazing job rallying likes to win the Prize. It was very exciting for us to watch the votes shoot up! Last year we were so impressed when the winner of the Contest got over 100 votes, and this year the winner has reached over 1000 votes!!! Congratulations to Kiersten for getting so many likes and being the winner of our “Love” the T-Shirt Contest!!!

But wait, we have an added surprise for two of our other brides! (I wish there was a way to insert a drumroll in a blog post.) Because there were so many brides who did such an amazing job in the contest, we are going to be giving a 2nd and 3rd place prize!!! Congratulations to Kadee for being our second place winner with 954 votes, and to Allie for being our third place winner with 393 votes!!! You can see what each girl has won by scrolling down and reading the caption under each winning picture.

Congratulations to each of our winners, and a BIG thank you to all of the brides who participated in our contest! You rock!

Kiersten has won the grand prize of an Engagement Session with Aaron, as well as a 16×24 print of her favorite photograph from the session! (Valued at $545)

Kadee has won the second prize of an Engagement Session with Aaron, and an 8×10 print of her favorite photograph from the session! (Valued at $389.95)

Allie has won the third prize of a $250 album credit for a custom designed Aaron Watson Photography Wedding Album!

Engagement Pictures at Mt Ida Farm – Charlottesville Wedding Photography

Kelsey — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:57:19 +0000

We have some absolutely beautiful engagement pictures to show you today! Ga-Young and Eugene live in DC, and they are getting married at the Clifton Inn in July. They are what you call “foodies” and they both agree that Charlottesville is delicious, so they were more than happy to travel here for their engagement session! They chose Mt. Ida Farm as the setting for their pictures, and as is always the case at Mt. Ida, the pictures are gorgeous. Ga-Young and Eugene started out by the gazebo and the lake. They brought their dog along for a few pictures, did a little dancing, and shared a glass of wine under the gazebo. I love the last few pictures of Eugene and Ga-Young in the tall grass after the sunset. The blue sky is awesome!

Charlottesville VA Engagement Pictures

Kelsey — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:19:00 +0000

Here are some of Sam and Greg’s beautiful engagement pictures from their engagement session on the Downtown Mall and the lawn at UVA! Sam and Greg both went to the University of Pittsburgh Pharmacy school, which is where they met, and started dating. (Both of them are Pittsburgh Penguins fans! Go Pens!) For Sam’s graduation present, Greg booked a trip to Hawaii! Sam was suspicious that he might propose on the trip, but they had been there for five days and still no ring, so she thought she might have been wrong… Then they went to Maui for a luau and afterwards, knowing how much Sam likes to listen to the waves at night, they went for a walk on the beach. That’s when Greg popped the question! Sam and Greg are going to be married this fall at Keswick Vineyards, and they are so excited for all their family and friends to be in one place and having a great time. We are so happy we get to be a part of their wedding!

These delicious looking cupcakes are from Cappelino’s Crazy Cakes, which is on the downtown mall, and worked perfectly as a part of Sam and Greg’s engagement session!

Aaron Watson Photography Best of 2011 Wedding Photographs

Kelsey — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:31:42 +0000

First of all, Happy New Year everyone! We hope you all had a great holiday season, and are as excited about 2012 as we are. To start off the new year, we thought it would be fitting to do a recap of a few of our favorite wedding photographs from the 2011 wedding season. We have a mix of pictures from Weddings, Engagement Sessions, Bridal Portraits and a few photographs from the Mount Ida inspiration shoot. We hope you enjoy looking back through some of our favorite wedding pictures from 2011, and we are excited to continue showing you beautiful photographs in 2012!
(ps: we will also be doing a Best of 2011 Family Portraits, so keep an eye out for those too!)

Engagement Pictures at Mount Ida Farm

Kelsey — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:54:17 +0000

You are in for a treat today everyone! We are going to share a few amazing pictures from Alex and Shannon’s Engagement Session at the always gorgeous Mount Ida Farm. Alex and Shannon are such a beautiful couple and they loved walking all around Mt Ida and capturing photos in every pretty place they found. Shannon’s dress in the first few pictures was awesome, and I thought it was great that they had pictures taken in both formal and casual outfits. I also love how they really made their session personal to them and wore jerseys from their favorite sports teams in some of the pictures while they tossed around the football. Shannon has such captivating eyes, and her and Alex have so much chemistry in all the pictures, they just grab your attention!

… also make sure to read to the end for some exciting news about Mount Ida Farm!

I love these two pictures! See what I mean about the captivating eyes?

Huge thanks to Milicent of Mount Ida Farm for letting us take pictures there! I am really excited too, as they just announced that they are offering exclusive tours on their luxury shuttle bus to local wineries like Trump Winery, Keswick Vineyards and Castle Hill Cider (some of our favorites!) and we can’t wait to take advantage of this on our next free weekend! (Local wineries can also arrange a wine tasting for private events at their beautiful event building; you can check out a little sneak peek of the building from the stylized shoot we did in August!)

Elizabeth & Bubba’s Engagement Session in Scottsville, VA

Kelsey — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:24:25 +0000

These Engagement pictures from Elizabeth and Bubba’s engagement session are absolutely amazing. They invited Aaron out to Scottsville to take their pictures at the house where they used to live. The scenery was everything you could ever want for an engagement session, complete with a tree swing and a red barn! Elizabeth and Bubba met at JMU (go dukes!) and were actually best friends before they realized they had deeper feelings for each other and have been together ever since!
They are both musicians, and music was one of the first things they bonded over when they were in a band together in college. They love going to live shows and playing gigs around Charlottesville with their band, The Moon Rats. (Also keep an ear out for Bubba’s band, Hot Twang, which also plays around Cville).
We asked Elizabeth and Bubba to tell us their proposal story, and it’s so sweet! Elizabeth went out of town for a week, and when she came back there were candles and flowers on the table, and Bubba handed her a card and told her to open it right away. She read all the sweet words he had written, and when she got to the bottom there was a post it note covering up part of the card. She took it off and read the question “Will you marry me?”. (She said yes.)

Engagement Photography in Richmond Va

Kelsey — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:15:35 +0000

I am so excited about these engagement pictures from Jing and Jeff’s Engagement Session! To start, Jing and Jeff are hysterical. They have so much fun, and are constantly making each other laugh, and some of the faces they made in the pictures are priceless! They are also very stylish, and each outfit they wore perfectly matched their surroundings. Two thumbs up for styling. I also love these pictures because they did the first part of their session in a little cupcake shop in Richmond. The shop is called Two Sweet Cupcake Boutique, and it is so cute. (Not to mention the cupcakes Aaron brought back were delicious!) The J & J coffee cups and J & J pillow are awesome (both were gifts from friends), and I love the “too sweet” apron and the stuffed cupcake! For the next part of their session they went to Maymont Park, which is absolutely beautiful. Every place they went was more gorgeous than the last and when they took pictures next to the waterfall it looked like they were transported to a different country! Congratulations to Jing and Jeff on their engagement, and we can’t wait for their wedding next year!

Engagement Pictures at Keswick Vineyards in Charlottesville VA

Kelsey — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:45:03 +0000

I am so excited to show you a few pictures from Sarah and Patrick’s Engagement session at Keswick Vineyards! The colors of fall are starting to appear, and they make for gorgeous photographs, especially combined with the lush greenery that’s still present. Patrick and Sarah brought a sign very appropriate for taking engagement pictures at a vineyard, and I love it! I think it always adds to a session when you have props, and the picture of the sign with Sarah and Patrick silhouetted in the background is amazing! They also brought their two adorable Yorkies, who loved their day out at the vineyard! One of Keswick’s main attractions is the fountain in front of the house, and I can see why from the pictures by it. The cascading water looks magical with the light hitting off of the droplets. There was the perfect amount of laughter and tender moments during this session, and we can’t wait for their wedding next year at Keswick Vineyards!

Announcing The Winner of the Aaron Watson Photography “Love the T-Shirt” Facebook Contest!!!! (Drumroll please…)

Kelsey — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:44:00 +0000

We are so excited to announce the winner of our “Love the T-Shirt” Contest! Congratulations to Whitney Leigh! She had the most likes for her photo from our booth at the Elegance in Bridal Show, a whopping 131 likes!!! Whitney and her fiancee Ricky will receive a FREE engagement session from Aaron Watson Photography, complete with a 16×24 print of their favorite picture from the session! Thank you so much to all of the wonderful brides who were a part of our “Love the T-Shirt” Contest!

We are also excited (and by we I mean JP and myself, Aaron is NOT excited) to announce that we have won the office side bet we had going during the contest! For those of you who weren’t aware, Aaron challenged JP and I to get more likes on the photo of us in the booth (as seen above) than the winner of the “Love the T-Shirt Contest” (who at the time already had over 100 likes). This challenge touched JP’s competitive side, and she launched a full blown campaign to get everyone she came into contact with in the past two weeks to like our picture. We were victorious, coming in with 141 likes and over 115 comments! What do we win you may ask? Unfortunately it is not a free photography session with Aaron, but it is something almost as valued in our little office. FULL CONTROL OF THE MUSIC SELECTION FOR TWO WHOLE WEEKS. This is an amazing prize, considering that JP and I’s musical preference is vastly different from Aaron’s. He will now be subjected to country, Britney Spears and the Sound of Music pandora stations until the end of the month. Needless to say, JP and I are beside ourselves with glee. (Glee! I was just inspired with a new idea for a pandora station I could create! Poor Aaron…)

Engagement Pictures by Charlottesville Wedding Photographer

Kelsey — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 20:08:55 +0000

Here are Leslie and Ben’s beautiful Engagement Pictures taken at Chiles Peach Orchard (and on the side of a scenic country road in Crozet)! Leslie and Ben really wanted their engagement pictures taken near views of the mountains, and Chiles Peach Orchard was the perfect location. There are so many great places to stop and take pictures, with so many gorgeous colors. The green of the leaves next to the brownish orange of the dirt roads look amazing in the pictures, along with those magnificent Blue Ridge Mountains in the background. Leslie and Ben’s clothing choices couldn’t have been better; the blue and pink compliment each other, and look terrific among the colors of the orchard! Leslie and Ben are getting married next June at the Clifton Inn and we can’t wait to be a part of the sequel to their beautiful Engagement Session – their beautiful wedding!

How incredible is this picture?! I love the sweet moment, and the light on their hair is so beautiful; it’s such a romantic photograph.

Hank and Olga’s Beloved Session – Staunton Wedding Photographer

JP — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 20:39:20 +0000

Olga and Hank were married in March of this year at the beautiful Keswick Hall. We were very excited to reconnect with them and photograph their beloved session, which is similar to an engagement session but occurs after the couple is already married. We sometimes refer to them as “just because” sessions, because there isn’t any particular occasion, we are just celebrating a husband’s and wife’s love through pictures.
Hank and Olga live near Staunton so Aaron drove there to meet them for their session. Hank and Olga are really into photography and they love the look that Staunton has to offer, and Aaron was very excited to explore a place he doesn’t photograph in often. Staunton had many unique locations for pictures; the historic downtown Staunton turned out to be a goldmine! Especially when paired with the amazing props Olga and Hank brought along, the shiny red balloon being a big favorite of ours. Olga is a gifted dancer as you will see in the photos and her style, grace and natural beauty make these pictures really special. Enjoy the first Beloved Session we have shared on the Blog!

Engagement Photos – Mount Ida Farm

Aaron Watson — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:00:31 +0000

I am so excited to show you these amazing engagement pictures from Anne and Campbell’s engagement session at Mount Ida Farm. As you no doubt remember from our first sneak peek of Mount Ida Farm, it is an incredibly beautiful venue, with so many gorgeous settings. This time I also had the opportunity to take pictures at Mount Pleasant (Mount Ida’s sister farm), so I made sure to take Anne and Campbell everywhere! Fortunately, they were up for anything, from feeding horses to playing on the dock, and we lucked out with a gorgeous sunset!

Anne is such a sweetheart, I originally got to know her through Keswick Vineyards, as she was the tasting room manager there. I met Campbell shortly thereafter, at a Keswick Vineyards party at the Shebeen (a very popular restaurant with the Keswick Vineyards crowd), and even though they were not engaged yet, I could tell that they would be shortly … and I was right! They have a great chemistry with each other and always have fun together. During our session, they loved being goofy and had no reservations about showing off their personalities!

Recently Anne became the event manager at King Family Vineyards (a new position which was just created), and I could not be happier for her! It was perfect timing too, as Campbell’s deployment was moved up, making their engagement much shorter then originally anticipated. Now instead of having close to a year to plan their wedding, they only had 4 months! Thankfully King Family had an opening, and Anne and Campbell will be having their wedding there coming up on September 11th. I am also really excited, because Anne & Campbell just moved from Richmond to Crozet, so I will get to see them more often and help them get to know all of the great places around Charlottesville!

I can’t wait for their wedding! Until then, enjoy a few of their fun engagement photos!

I’m in LOVE with her hat in these pictures! -Kelsey

Engagement pictures by Aaron Watson.

Engagement Pictures at Veritas Vineyards – Charlottesville Wedding Photographer

Kelsey — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 20:52:24 +0000

Afton and Brian love wine, and they knew that they also wanted to be married at a vineyard. When they realized that Veritas is located in Afton Va, they decided to go for it! As it turns out, Veritas is not only an incredible venue for a wedding, but it also makes a beautiful backdrop for Engagement pictures. Afton and Brian had a great time touring the vineyard with Aaron and taking pictures in many different places. After their time at Veritas, they went up to Skyline Drive and got a few amazing pictures during the golden hours of sunset. I love how the blue of Afton’s shirt and the purple of Brian’s really pops against the colors of those gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains. (And of course, that amazing silhouette picture goes in the favorites archive!) Afton and Brian obviously have so much fun together, and they are a beautiful couple. We’re so excited for their wedding next May!

Charlottesville VA Photographer – Part 1 – the Engagement Pictures

Kelsey — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:19:58 +0000

Today’s post will be two fold and will introduce you to Katie and Steve, who got married a few weeks ago at the University of Virginia. Before I show you the amazing images from their wedding however, I want to take you back a few months to last fall when Katie and Steve had their engagement session. I was looking back over their engagement pictures, and I realized how incredible they are. It just wouldn’t be right if I didn’t share them with you.
There are many things that make these pictures so beautiful. The colors of fall were at their best during the session; there was still green in the trees, and browns and oranges from the leaves that had fallen, and those colors mixed with Aaron’s talent of showcasing the gold of the sun is stunning. It also helped that Katie and Steve had coordinated their clothing to match perfectly with their surroundings. I love the sparkle of the sun glinting off the water in the pictures of Katie and Steve on the dock, and of course Aaron made sure to capture my all time favorite type of photo – the silhouette picture. However, I think the main thing that makes these pictures so terrific is how much fun Katie and Steve had. The love they have for each other shines through in every picture and they obviously have a blast whenever they are together.
Enjoy their engagement photos and don’t forget to come back and visit later today to see their Wedding Pictures!