A+M | Portrait Session

Do you see the family resemblance? All my siblings and I look very much alike (so much so that if you haven't seen us in years, you still know we must be related-strong genes I suppose).  Abby was on the blog a few weeks ago, and now it's Amanda's turn. Abby and Amanda used to be asked all the time if they were twins (close in age, and those strong family genes) but now I really think it's Amanda and I who look most alike. (We all are mismatched-I have dark hair and skin coloring like Abby, but facial features similar to Amanda. Abby and Mike have similar facial features but Amanda and Mike are the same coloring) 
OKAY-THAT WAS WAY TOO LONG WINDED. I got sidetracked. I write like I speak (my English teachers in school used to hate that, not formal enough) I DIGRESS AGAIN. 

SO. With much less explaining, Amanda and her sweetie are on the blog this beautiful summer morning! We took pictures at The Shrine of St. Anthony. The grounds of this Friary are beautiful. (So much so that we had hoped to have our wedding ceremony here, but alas they don't do weddings. Womp). It's easy to see why they wanted their pictures there. 
Fun was had by all. And the pictures, well I think you can tell these two are each other's lobster (Friends, anyone??). Also-the last picture showcases their personalities quite well. Mike just scooped Amanda up and I started snapping away. Not exactly art, but it was totally them. 

Abby | Senior Portraits

Long before I was a "photographer" my sisters were my subjects. I'm happy to report that they still trust me, although my work has grown greatly! My sister, Abby, is graduating from the University of Maryland, College Park in a few short weeks. Her next step is nursing school (A whole family of medical practitioners I tell ya) for which I know she will be just as successful, if not more. These are some of the images from her Senior Session!

Abby has a big heart which will translate well for all her future patients. I'm just glad she decided to go the route she did. When she was little she considered being a grocery store clerk. Not that this isn't an important profession, but Abby thought she got to keep all the money in her cash register. So had she gone the grocery store route, she maybe would have ended in jail. I DIGRESS. 

I'm so proud of all your hard work, Abs. It's certainly been a long 4 years. Nursing school will be hard too, but I know you are prepared for it! Enjoy this time, celebrate all your accomplishments! 

And remember...

"Oh the places you will go..."

Bryce's Birthday | Personal

Happy Birthday to the one whom I chose to do life with. 

As you wrote on my birthday card, for the first birthday we celebrated together, "You are half way to 40!" Well my eloquently spoken love, you are 3 years from  30! 
You must have noticed when you opened your present (sheets, because even though we have 3  sets, you really wanted the extra soft ones we saw at Target), that there was no card. This is your card. 

Adventure. 

This word seems to make a occurrence quite frequently in the 5.5 years we have been together. Before we started dating, I knew, life with you would never be boring. It would be an adventure. We have since gone on countless adventures (to Wegmans on a Sunday morning-which might be the scariest of them all, to hikes up a 14'er in Colorado at which I cried when we got to the top-I swear it was just the lack of oxygen playing with my emotions, or the time in Yosemite when you asked me if I wanted to hike down the way we came or go another way, to which I replied, "Well does it keep going up, or does it come down?" You know how that went. OH and what about the Precipice hike in Acadia. I will say no more. You know what you did.)  

These BIG adventures are just a part of our daily adventures (Especially Wegmans.) When you proposed to me, one of the things you said, was that you wanted to go on adventures together, always. All our adventures start the same way, me waking up next to you (and usually grumbling for some coffee) and typically me asking what the weather will be so I can dress accordingly (also me usually refusing to wear my hiking boots if we are hiking, in favor of athletic shoes).  We gather up our cameras, maps (who am I kidding, you type some address into Google Maps and I'm supposed to navigate but I NEVER do-sorry about that) and off we go. 

"Oh darling, let's be adventurers." 

This quote has had a special place my heart, because I feel like it relates to us so well. 

You have made me an adventurer. Both by being in a relationship with you, and by dragging, I mean hiking with me up mountains. I love it all. Even when I don't (and by don't meaning I'm wildly throwing clothes out of my bag in the middle of the San Fran airport, rushing to make my bag 50 lbs, cursing you for having to bring so much gear, or when I have been duped into the most recent hike, that's "so not a big hike at all").

I love doing life with you, the whole damn adventure of it all. I love that your heart yearns for something bigger, something wilder, something mildly chaotic and most definitely exciting (and something that ideally contains doughnuts, because doughnuts.) 

Happy birthday to my always adventurous boy. May this year be full of adventures. 

Rachelle + Jaryd | Engagement Shoot

This is a session I've been waiting along time for! When Rachelle reached out to me about engagement photos she said they really wanted to have them while it was snowing! How fun! Of course as much as I wish I could, I can't control the weather. We have been watching the weather closely for 2 months now, and finally it snowed on the weekend during the day when we were all free! It was perfect! These images will make you want to snuggle up with your significant other (or cat) and have a cup of hot chocolate. I wore three layers of pants and 2 pairs of socks plus my yellow duck boots. To say I was ready for this shoot would be an understatement!