The Great Return of the Twin Lens Reflex Camera!

Today I stumbled upon this great article/blog/tutorial... whatever you want to call it!

It is all about finding a way to go digital with your vintage (toy) cameras. This discovery brought much joy to me on this rainy day. For ages I have been trying to find a way to utilize my old twin lens reflex camera. While the article was mainly directed at cheaper cameras like the Kodak Duaflex or Brownie I still found it very useful for my beloved Mamiya C330.

Here is what it looks like (thank you google image search):


This is the camera I shot with through college and at one time never thought I could make a photograph without it.

After reading that tutorial I literally jumped out of my chair, grabbed my current camera & the C330 and ran outside while yelling to Jonathan, "I need to try out a new trick".

Here are a couple more of my results! I got Jonathan to model for me.

Also note that since the C330 was once a professional camera it does not have the fish eye look that some of those samples had and mine also had a focusing circle in the middle of the ground glass as well as numbers on the side!

Please let me know what you think of these images!!





If you are having a portrait session with me and are interested in having a few pictures shot this way just let me know!

Jackie & Matt! (Mr. & Mrs. Session)

This weekend two of my favorite people in the whole world came down from NYC to visit! My cousin Jackie and her wonderful husband Matt arrived Saturday afternoon with cupcakes in hand from Magnolia Bakery. Let me just say that those red velvet's were just to die for!

It had been nearly 2 years since I had been up to NYC to see them and it was just way too long. We had a great time talking, eating, drinking, playing Rock Band, and of course... TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS! Next month Jackie and Matt will be celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary!

Jackie and I grew up very close, spending nearly every weekend together as kids and to see the happiness and joy that Matt brings into her life just moves me to tears.

(Us at our grandparents house for easter 1988!)


To see them grow together from 18 year old kids who met during their freshman year of college in NYC to very successful adults rocking the Manhattan lifestyle has been a pleasure. I saw Matt as part of our family from the very first time I met him in 1999 when she brought him back to Florida during spring break.

It feels like just yesterday when myself, Jackie and our other cousin Nicole were drooling over the wedding day plans. An amazing outdoor wedding at The Ancient Spanish Monastery in Miami, getting ready at The Diplomat Resort on Hollywood Beach, an amazing Vera Wang gown that she snagged at a sample sale in NYC (it was actually this infamous dress worn by Charlize Theron at the 2000 Oscars, topped off with Cuban catering featuring paella, sangria and a tres leches wedding cake!

To me this wedding epitomized all things South Florida. It is where Jackie and I grew up and the culture there is woven into the very essence of who we are as people even though it's been ten years since either of us have lived there.

Here I am as one of her fabulous bridesmaids:



A snapshot I grabbed of the happy newlyweds:



And here we are 5 years later. Jackie says she really can't believe it's already been 5 years because every day they still feel like newlyweds.







In closing, I love you both! Make sure to watch the slide show, it really captures they joy they bring to each others (any everyone who knows them) lives.

Introducing...

My June 28th bride, Holly!



I just finnished editing all of Samantha & Scott's images and I found this fantastic one of Sam's good friend Holly who happens to also be one of my brides! She is with the adorable flower girl (who never made it down the isle)

You may remember her as the adorable little girl from second picture in this post!



I can't wait for Holly's wedding!!!

House of Sweets!

Amanda, a friend of mine down in South Florida makes cupcakes that are amazing! I mean I have not had the chance to try one since I have not been able to get down there in 4 years... wow... four years... that makes me want to cry! Either way just LOOKING at pictures of her cupcakes makes me drool!



I love the idea of cupcakes for weddings, showers, birthdays... ok ok ok... cupcakes for everything! I even have a Wedding Collection called the "Cupcake"!

The site for House of Sweets is so adorable you just have to go look even if you are miles away from the Sunshine State.

She's a super cool girl with tons of talent, make sure you read the About Us section of her site! She also has some of the cutest tattoo's I have ever seen:



Which were all done by her amazingly talented finance JR (beware, link may not be totally office or kid friendly)! He draws, paints & does tattoos!

She also makes the coolest cookies and heart shaped brownies!

Here are some of my favorites:

Carmel apple!



Brownies!



Baby Cakes!



Pirate theme!



Strawberry Short Cupcakes:



Peanutbutter & Jelly:


I will have to find out who took the amazing pictures so I can give them proper credit!

Hmmm, do you think Amanda would trade me wedding photography for yummy cupcakes? She is engaged and all...

:)

One year ago today...

I was driving down to Gatlinburg, TN knowing that from that day forward my life would never be the same. I was meeting the man that I had so easily fallen in love with over the past month face to face, for the very first time. It may sound absolutely insane but I knew before I even got there that this was who I was going to spend the rest of my life with.

I had known Jonathan for about 2 years prior to this day but just casually as friends, online through World of Warcraft... crazy... I know!
He had left the game and we lost contact until we reconnected via Myspace. We had so much to catch up about that I said in an email:

"Just give me a call tonight so we can catch up, it will be so much easier!"

From that night in early March until April 12th we talked every day on the phone for at least 4 hours.

When we met, we talked for about an hour, nervously, my hards sweaty and my stomach full of butterflies. We decided to go to dinner but before we walked out the door I demanded that he kiss me.

The rest is history. The picture above is the very first picture we took together with my cell phone so I could show my mom how handsome he was!

I love you honey! Happy anniversary!

The historic town of Occoquan, Virginia

A few weeks ago I woke up to this email from Jonathan:

Subject: Lists of to-do and such....

Ok, so here's the list, if you're willing : )

First, get dressed for going out. You'll be gone for a while today, and bring your camera.

At Lowe's / Home Depot:

1) Pick up 1 quart (or 1 pint if they have them) of those two colors, plus a third color of your choice.

At the bank:

1) Deposit that check in the bank for me. I signed it, and it's on my desk.

Lastly...fill up your gas tank on my card, and drive somewhere. Don't worry about your car, just get in and drive...if it breaks today, it was gonna break anyway. It's a beautiful day! Drive down south, drive out west, drive to the Metro and go into town...go anywhere! But take some pictures. They make you happy :)

Bring your phone, and text me to let me know what you're up to : ) Love you!

What a great feeling to know that your *someone* truly gets you and understands what you need!

So what I ended up doing was getting in the car and going to Occoquan!

I had heard it was fantastic and people told me I would love it and I sure did! I don't have many pictures that show you the town but as always I got stuck in the little details. It really was the first day that I got to see that spring was really here so I became obsessed with all the different blossoms!

Enjoy!











A self portrait:



Oddly I love to photograph electric meters on buildings. I have always done it without even thinkings. I think it is because they are such and eye sore on a building but if you really look at them there are some beautiful lines, shapes & symmetry going on! I also just love the texture and color!

Samantha & Scott are married!

Yesterday I had to honor of photographing Samantha & Scott's wedding. I really think someone up above was smiling down on them yesterday because we have not had a single nice day in over a week and yesterday could not have been more perfect.



It was a small wedding full of close family and friends. Samantha & Scott really made Jonathan & I feel at home even though it wasn't hard for us since we already knew a good portion of Samantha's family! I think I mentioned it before but Samantha is our friend Jen's sister. Jen & her husband Sean are like family to us and to be a part of her sisters wedding was just awesome!

Here are some of my favorite shots from the day:







I am so in love with this image of Samatha as she was about to walk into the church!!







I adore this shot of Sam & her other sister Amanda!



Samantha, absolutely stunning!



Thank you for letting me be a part of your wedding day!

Cherry Blossoms!!

On Sunday we took Jonathan's grandparents up to DC to see the Cherry Blossoms! We left pretty early in the morning and I think we caught the only sunshine of the day! Don't let the sun fool you though, it was SO windy & cold. Luckily Jonathan brought some extra scarves for his grandparents.

Jonathan's parents brought his grandparents down on Saturday afternoon to stay with us overnight. We had a ton of fun. We even got his grandmother to play ROCKBAND!! Can you believe that? Everyone has asked me why I did not get a picture of that. Well the answer is very simple...

I WAS BUSY ROCKING OUT ON THE DRUMS!

We went out for dinner at one of our favorite places in our neighborhood and then watched Flags of Our Fathers on the big screen in the basement. His grandfather really enjoyed that! Watching a WWII movie with a veteran of that war was really a moving experience.

After going into DC Sunday we all took a nap and later when his parents came back (they spent the night down in Fredericksburg) we all sat by the fire and our awesome roommate Mike grilled up a great dinner!

We had a fantastic weekend and I hope you all did as well!

Here are a few more pictures for you: