Fall Wedding on Long Island - A Love Story

I don't think Melissa and Oladele could have radiated more joy on their wedding day. You can see the anticipation on their faces early in the day, their excitement at being husband and wife as they leave the church, their mutual adoration as they spend a little time alone for the portraits, and their passion for each other as they dance the night away. To see the Long Island love story, watch their album slideshow here.

Engagement Pictures in Washington DC - Amanda & Jon

I still can't believe what a gorgeous and warm fall day we had in mid November! It was the perfect day for Amanda and Jon's engagement pictures, with lots of fall leaves as the backdrop. As a wedding photographer, getting to know the couple is key to being fully invested in caring about every detail of the wedding day. And the engagement shoot is the perfect, relaxed time to get to know them both, to observe and document their relationship, and most importantly to show them they look amazing in pictures so on the wedding day they are completely comfortable in front of my camera.
Amanda and Jon are so cute together! Jon kept Amanda laughing the whole time and we all enjoyed the afternoon. And, now they can no longer say they don't have any pictures together, instead they have the problem of having way too many to choose from. But I think that's the best problem to have! :)


I love this pocket of late afternoon sunlight that spotlights them among the flowers:

Georgetown Children's Portrait Photography - Brennan & Kiana

I've been photographing these two cuties since before Kiana was born, and we have more and more fun every time! Kiana is a doll and Brennan is getting quite good with his posing ideas. I'm so glad the weather was nice for a beautiful fall shoot in Georgetown!

As a side note, it seems once kids pass the toddler stage that having their portrait taken regularly by a professional photographer drops way down on the list of priorities for most parents. But kids continue to grow and change and documenting that every year, or year and a half, is still important. You'll never regret having those pictures of your children. As you can see with Brennan, once those baby teeth are lost the smile changes forever!

Don't the Ginkgo leaves make the best backdrop? This tree simply outdid itself in the volume of gorgeous yellow leaves it produced. The streets of Georgetown have the best fall color in the Washington, DC area, I've decided.



We're still working on getting simultaneous smiles, but I love the more serious faces too!

River Farm Wedding Album - Allison & Ben's Wedding Story

River Farm, headquarters of the American Horticultural Society, and formerly part of George Washington's property, he gave it the name River Farm, is a lovely setting for a wedding any time of year. I've given you a glimpse already of Allison and Ben's perfect fall wedding day. Now, here's their album design; the day's story unfolding in pictures.

Arlington VA Child Portrait Photographer - Gabriel

When Gabriel's mom warned me that he was "active for his age", I expected the worst, but thankfully it turns out he's a little ham and loved the camera! - Just as long as his parent's didn't try to get into the picture and steal the spotlight, of course. I don't think any one or two year old takes well to being constrained. So, patience, time, and realistic expectations are the key ingredients for a successful toddler portrait shoot.
Gabriel is a beautiful boy and it was so much fun to catch up with his parents, as I was their wedding photographer a few years ago for their Washington DC wedding. You can find some of their wedding pictures here. I just love their old DC church, St. Dominic's, it's gorgeous!
And now, here's their blue-eyed boy! Isn't he a cutie with those curls!? His mom did a great job dressing him too, I love those fall colors in his sweater. And I think the red did bring out his lips and cheeks, good job Susan!

Georgetown Child Photographer - Hadley

Sweet little Hadley is turning two and becoming such a big girl. I'm so glad we had a rare warm fall afternoon for her to play in the leaves with her parents, knock on old doors to see if anyone was there, and squeal with delight in a way only a little girl can. I think I ended up with fewer close up head shots than usual because I didn't want to leave out those adorable striped tights. And have you ever seen such beautiful long hair on such a cute little girl?

Washington DC Childrens Portrait Photographer - Nate

I love keeping up with my little clients and watching them grow. We had a beautiful day for Nate's shoot on Tuesday and he was so cooperative! As a childrens photographer, you just never know how it will go. :) He was so cute, when I'd say "boo" to get his attention he'd start playing peak a boo. Precious!

Fire Island Lighthouse, Old Westbury Gardens, Cedarmere, and New York City

I enjoyed seeing a bit of Long Island and New York City while up in New York for Melissa and Oladele's wedding. Friday morning I went out to the Fire Island Lighthouse. It was a gorgeous day and I was disappointed not to be able to climb the lighthouse due to a school group.



Next Kathleen and I started our site visits for the wedding. She lives on Long Island and would be second shooting with me so it was fun to have her along to explore with me. I always like to know where I'm going so I can make the most of each location on the wedding day when time is flying by. First stop, the regal Old Westbury Gardens. I love these kinds of places and have been looking forward to shooting wedding pictures here! It was amazing and so hard to choose only a few spots to use for wedding portraits! And the fall colors were just spectacular!









As we were driving out to the San Souci of Sea Cliff, the wedding reception location, we spotted this place and immediately pulled in to check it out. It turned out to be Cedarmere with amazing potential for wedding portraits. I couldn't wait to bring Melissa and Oladele back here! The weather and time constraints of the wedding day didn't allow us to fully use the property - Melissa was willing to climb into the old greenhouse :) - but it was beautiful and fascinating none the less.




On Sunday we went downtown New York City and walked about 90 blocks! The left picture is the arch honoring George Washington in Washington Square Park. On the right is the nearly full moon rising over Central Park. There were runners still finishing the New York City Marathon, running to the finish line in the park. Quite an accomplishment for them! It was so sweet to see the people along the road cheering them on by name (when they had their names on their shirts).

Ice skaters in Rockefeller Plaza:
Times Square: