Annapolitan Engagement

Finally!  I have been wanting to do an engagement shoot in downtown Annapolis and today was my lucky day!  Melanie & Brian are getting married in August, so we got to work together and get to know each other better this afternoon.  We started at the Paca House, which was beautiful.  Here is my favorite shot from there:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is another:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we made our way back to Main Street, and grabbed some great shots on the way.  Brian was a trooper in his long pants and long sleeved shirt and Melanie in her sexy heels.  But they look great in the photos…wouldn’t you say?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is another shot where we hijacked someone’s house…I also did a little experiment with a texture over this one.  (How do you like that?  Its new to me…I think its kind of cool…)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So we finally made it to Main Street and stopped for a sushi snack at Nano (our favorite sushi place) and we got a couple last photos there…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this fun shot with Melanie’s ring…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had SO much fun…thank you guys for letting me drag you around the city!  Today was one of those days that I am reminded how blessed I am to have a job that allows me to meet all kinds of great people, work my own schedule, have all kinds of fun, go to new places, and constantly challenge myself to try new things and grow and improve my craft.  I am a lucky girl…

Smith X 5

I met the Smith family today (thanks to Lee and the Stephanies for the hook-up).  Tripp, Cooper, and Hayden make for no dull moments in that house…that is for sure!  But once everyone warmed up we had a good time and got some fun stuff…

Here is the fam:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wasn’t sure if we were going to get this shot, but we did…and got it GOOD!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hayden made us work for his smiles, and he seemed to want nothing more than a nap.  But mom managed to coax this smile before it was all said and done:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And once he fell asleep, we got this shot of the boys feet (note Cooper’s finger counting his toes to make sure they are all there…love it!):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for having me out!  I hope Rattatoulie and the big bucket of popcorn you earned was the best!

Brooks has Arrived!

You remember Brady’s belly from last month (the hot mamma on the stairs and in the doorway)…well her sweet boy arrived last week, and I was able to get some photos of him before we headed out of town…

Now, keep in mind, he was 5 days old.  FIVE DAYS OLD!  Do you see that giggly smile on him?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The smile is priceless, but I love the movement in Brady’s hair and the pride in Dad’s smile.  Great family shot.

And look how content he is getting attention from all sides:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I just love this shot of him & Daddy…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brooks is so strong…he seems so grown up already at 5 days.  What a special guy!  Thanks for having me!

Williamsburg Weekend

Who missed me while I was gone?   

I can’t tell you how strange it was to not touch my laptop in three whole days.  It is good to be back! And a special thanks to all who sent sweet messages wondering why the %$#% I haven’t blogged in so long…I missed you, too! 

So, the ride to Williamsburg took about 4.5 hours thanks to 95 traffic and two puking kids in the backseat.  The ride wasn’t an indication of things to come…we actually had a great time over the weekend.  We started at Busch Gardens Friday and did Colonial Williamsburg Saturday and Sunday.  Here is a collage of the buildings and such that I couldn’t resist photographing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The white house in the upper right hand corner is where we stayed.  It was so quaint…a bedroom and bath downstairs for us, and the same upstairs for the boys.  We were only a block off of the main street, so we were only a 5-10 minute walk from anywhere we wanted to go.

Here are the boys in our side yard:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were pretty into seeing how things were done 200 years ago.  Here they are watching the gunmaker build his fire:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the blacksmith had his fire burning when we arrived, and we were able to watch him work.  I commented about how there was no safety equiptment back then, and he assured me that his job (sticking his bare hands in a white hot fire and smacking the iron with a hammer) was no more dangerous that me cooking in my kitchen.  I don’t know about that…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But we saw all kinds of cool stuff, and it was mostly just great to get away and just have some time for the four of us without cars breaking down or photos to edit. 

But hold on, because I’m doing some major catching up today…

Out of Office…FINALLY!

Just a head’s up that we are headed out of town today.  Thanks to having a duel business-owning household, we can only get away for three days at a time, but when we do, it is overdue, well-deserved, and cherished.  Nothing like removing yourself from your everyday environment, turning off the cell phone (well, lets not get crazy…), and enjoying some family time.  So its off to Williamsburg for us!  You’ve got three days to gear up for boring family vacation photos!   

Have a great weekend! 

A Boy and his Dog

I grabbed this shot yesterday of Trent and Freddie.  Freddie will be 12 this year, and was here B.K. (before kids) so they don’t usually pay her too much mind.  But its moments like these that you know they love her, and she them.  She is a good dog…

Bowling with the Stepp’s

Summer has flown by, and we have not seen our friends, the Stepp’s, since it started.  So we were able to hook up yesterday and take the skinheads bowling (well, no skinheads, but…) at Greenway in Odenton.  They have completely remodeled that bowling alley…its AWESOME!  Very clean, all computerized, awesome arcade.  The snack bar was a bit pricey, but that was the only flaw I could find.  They have great incentives for the kids…a free game with every A on thier report card, and they can bowl one free game every day all summer.  Wished I had known about that month ago!  Anyway…I got this one shot of Maggie (and not even a good one) before the batteries in my camera died.  (One more complaint about my point and shoot…no battery life icon.  It only pops on red if its ready to die…)  And I call myself a professional…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, well…we’ll go again in a few weeks and I’ll bring my real camera and take so many pictures it’ll make your head swim…   Thanks, guys…we had a blast!

The Marshall Family

My second outing today was to visit the Marshall family.  They just welcomed Olivia to their family and wanted to get some photos as a four-some.  What a good looking group:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I don’t know what is with all of these moms who just had babies not looking like they did.  My youngest is 7 and I’m still trying to lose that weight! 

 

Here is Miss Olivia in her dresser drawer.  Big brother, Andrew, wasn’t sure what to make of that:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daddy goofs with Andrew while I grab some shots of Olivia alone:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a good big brother!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is Mommy with her girl:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for having me out!  And thanks to Tracey (who I don’t even know if I’ve met) who passed my name along.  I owe you one! 

 

Miss Avery

Cousin to Miss Eleanor from a couple weeks ago, I got to visit 3 week old Avery today.  She is such a little peanut, but her cry packs a punch! When she is hungry, there is no denying her.  We did manage to get some sweet stuff…

This one is a fave for me because it could be a picture of my oldest, Trent.  He was a thumbsucker, and his habit was to rub his ear with the hand he wasn’t sucking on.  He could turn his earlobe inside of itself so it would stick inside!  He can still do it if you ask him…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avery was also fascinated by her arms and hands.  It was clearly a new discovery…she kept raising them over her head and staring at them.  Isn’t it amazing to watch babies discovering new things?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is a sweet smile…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, Bridgette, for having me out today.  Especially on your first day alone with her!  You are one brave mama!  It was great getting to know you.  And thanks to Patti Bayly for the hook up! 

Friday Night on Green Street

After my shoot on the Shore Friday, I took the kids to visit our friends the Lancasters.  Since they moved to Centreville, we don’t see them as much as we used to…I mean, did you know you need a passport to get there?   

Kent & Kik had steamed some yummy crabs, so we hung out at Sean & Dawn’s drinking margaritas and picking crabs.    Sean was the mix-master, and Kent was doing some claw-magic on the crabs making me piles of meat.  I was completely spoiled all night…it was pretty great!  Thank you guys for eveything…I had a blast!

It started getting chilly, so the boys built a fire and we busted out the marshmallows.  What better way to round out a great day?  Here is a shot of Cam and his friend Zach roasting marshmallows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here are Graham & Turner together…in costume…as usual:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You see the big boys in the background zoning on the Xbox…fun for all!

Again, thanks to all who contributed to my spoilage.  And Kent even made pancakes & bacon for breakfast the next morning.  I think I may get myself a EZpass and do that more often…

THANK YOU!!!