The rain.  Is it weird that I like it?  Go ahead, roll your eyes, call me emo.  And today it’s perfectly rainy.  Now, if only I could figure out a way to get all this work done and cuddle up on the couch with a movie I’d be all set.  But although I like rainy days, there are two instances where I’m not a fan:  on wedding days, and when I’m in New York City.  Unfortunately last time I was in New York, it was cold and rainy.

Lady Liberty.

My Armenian great grandmother came through Ellis Island in 1917 by way of Argentina to escape the Armenian genocide.  Imagine that?  Standing in the very spot that my great grandmother entered this country all those years ago.

“I’ll have what she’s having.” 

Headlines don’t sell papes.

Let’s be honest, traditional guest sign-in books are a thing of the past.  Lately couples have been trying to think of new creative ways to make sure they remember all the special people who attended their wedding.  Well guess what?  I’m here to make your job easier.  Because what’s better than showcasing your beautiful engagement photographs with a custom 8×8 leather bound flush mounted guest sign-in album.  Umm, winning.  They are way fancy, and custom designed with your engagement photos.  Many of my couples use them as coffee table books after the wedding, which I think is an absolutely perfect way to remember the day.

Here’s a look at Amanda and Sonny’s guest sign-in album with their engagement photographs from Annapolis, Maryland!  The album is 8×8, and here you can see the size comparison to Maggie and Seth’s 10×12 vertical wedding album.

Love the stamp imprinting on the front and the inset photograph.

The pages are printed on archival quality photo paper with lay-flat binding.

The layouts are designed clean and simple with lots of white negative space for guests to leave notes of well-wishes and sign their names.

I’ve been known to ask for five more minutes many times in my life.  On the playground when I was little?  Maaaa-oooommmm, five more minutes!  On the dance floor?  Just five more minutes!  So, obvi you would think a wedding day would be no different.  Well, to be totally honest it was.  In the beginning I was afraid to ask for the time I needed.  I just went along with the day and grabbed what I could when I could.  And unfortunately, I found that I was disappointed with my results.  Why don’t people understand?  And then, over the last five years I learned something very important.  One, that couples just don’t know how much time you need to take the beautiful creative portraits that they hired you for.  And two, it is our job to educate them; I normally suggest no less than forty-five minutes for bride and groom portraits.

So, over the weekend after Amanda and Sonny’s gorgeous wedding ceremony at Historic London Town and Gardens, we continued over to a beautiful spot to shoot their family formal photographs.  They had originally decided to forgo the first look but changed their minds last minute and decided on indeed going with a first look, so all of our portraits were completed at this point.  We finished up with the family photographs about ten minutes early, and as I looked through my lens the sun was sparkling through the leaves as it was setting behind the trees.  As their families began to walk away, I debated for a second and I just had to because I knew if I didn’t I would regret it.  I walked up to Amanda and was all sooooooo, I know we finished with portraits, but the sunlight is absolutely beautiful right here, is there any chance you could give me five more minutes?  And she looked at me, and said, ok we can do that.

And just because I asked, they gave me the most amazing extra five minutes from the day.  Can’t wait to share the rest of these with you!

She greeted them at the door, beaming with a smile and after taking in just how beautiful Stephanie looked, Darrell’s mom realized something was different.  She told Stephanie that never in her life had she ever seen a bride so calm and collected the morning of their wedding.  Stephanie smiled and just said that it was all Darrell.  Even with the threat of rain looming in the forecast Stephanie said Darrell brings a calm to her and she just couldn’t wait to see him.  She finished getting ready, made her way to the church, and started walking down the aisle escorted by both of her parents.  And there he was, at the end of the aisle waiting for her, trying to hold it together, lip quivering as he lifted his hand to wipe the tear streaming down his face, at the sight of his stunningly beautiful bride.

Stephanie and Darrell were married at The Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore, Maryland.  I’ve never met a couple with so much passion and joy for life and for each other.  They are two of the nicest and most sincere people with the biggest hearts you will ever meet, and it was such an honor to be able to photograph their wedding and document their love.  Hope you guys are enjoying Barbados!!

Stephanie’s pink heels were the perfect way to start the wedding day.

Pink peonies in a bridal bouquet are always stunning.

Stephanie looked so gorgeous!  And HOLY BLUE EYES, they are the most beautiful blue eyes I’ve ever seen.

I loved all of the pink wedding details.

Love this moment.

Since the church was so pretty we started off their portraits at the church just in case the sky opened up and started to rain on us.  How adorable are they?!

Then we made our way over to the Evergreen Museum to finish up the rest of their wedding portraits and their wedding reception before the storms moved in.

Girl, I mean, seriously.  Stunning.

Darrell.  Looking mighty finnne!

Ya’ll are just perfect.

Stephanie and Darrell are so easy to photograph because they just love on each other all the time and make my job super easy.

This amazingness might be my favorite from the day.

Thankfully we finished up with their wedding portraits just in time before the storms moved in.  Though the Evergreen Museum is absolutely stunning,  I’m not gonna lie, that sky looks angry.

And inside they literally danced the entire night away.  Such an amazing party and night.

I had this crazy idea, let’s clear the house and throw dad a surprise birthday party.  I thought she was going to freak out, but honestly that mother of mine,  she just sat across from the little table where we were eating crepes and said ‘ok.’  And just like that we were planning a party.  It came together with weeks of hard work and planning and then the moment we brought him in the house and he saw everyone there, his face lit up.  It was a face I will never forget.  He was so surprised.  Not just surprised.  Stunned.  Everyone was there.  Many had not seen him in years, several driving hours just to be at his party.  For him.

And as the night went on, as I expected it to, something happened that I wasn’t expecting.  You see when you’re young, this man, you know him as your father.  And then when you get a little older, you get to know him as more of a adult who just had kids, just like the rest of the world.  But during this party I got to know the people that worked for him and called him their boss.  It was a side of him I had never seen before.  They looked up to him, valued his opinion, trusted him, and built friendships.  Because this person that I’ve known all these years first as a father, then as an adult, I now know was a hard working supervisor and friend to everyone he worked with.

I’d like to send a huge thank you to my friend Peter who came to shoot the party for me, half of these beautiful images are his!  Thank you Peter, I know I said it a million times, but we are forever grateful that you were there with us!!  We decided on a vintage nautical theme since Dad loved to spend his summers on the Chesapeake Bay!

I snagged this sail from Dad’s house, the one that we actually used to sail with, on his 38′ Morgan and the oars before we sold his house in downtown Annapolis.

The invitations were lined with old nautical charts, and hand addressed in gold by my sister.

I made all the paper pieces, starting with the invitations stamped in gold and closed with a gold rivet and sailing knot.

This Sláinte plaque we gave to my dad several years ago for fathers day which hung in the cabin on his boat until he sold it, and now has been sitting on his shelves for the last couple of years.  We decided to place it at the head of the table right in front of him.  Sláinte is an Irish toast meaning “good health.”

Just Cakes in Bethesda did an amazing job with Dad’s ombre wave-like birthday cake.

Now THAT is what I call a dessert table; Mom made the rest of the desserts and did a superb job.

“Take some sweet treats for the road”

This is my G-pa.  He is a very young ninty-six.  And he has an iPhone.  I don’t have an iPhone.  Something is wrong with this picture.

I was starting to wonder if Dad was suspecting anything, but seeing his face when Brian turned him around.  Nope.  He knew nothing.

I love this one.  Together.  And happy.

Very special birthday wishes.

It’s sixty-five degrees.  The sky is gray.  And I’m wearing my Uggs.  Quit judging, yes it’s cold enough.  Adele is blasting.  And I’m doing everything in my power to avoid doing work.  OH LOOK DUST, maybe I should dust that before I start sneezing.  I’d like to know how to-do lists shrink.  No really, I want to meet someone in this universe who has ever successfully crossed everything off their List.  Because seriously, my List?  That dang thing keeps growing.  I cross one thing off, and add three.  What’s up with that?  Bunch of bullshit if you ask me.  Sorry folks, not PG rated today.  And the warm weather, where art thou?  My pool membership and swimmies are waiting for you.  Please come back.  But in the meantime, I’ve decided to take a vacation.  I know, such a foreign idea to me.  Last one was two years ago, and then the last one before that was in 2004.  So I declare 2012 the year that I will vacation again.  My toes WILL HIT SAND AND SUN THIS YEAR.  It will be during wedding season, so yes, I’m crazy.  It’s ok though, I need it.  You have no idea.  Pass the frosty beverage please.  Until then, this will have to hold me over.

As if the first wedding of the season doesn’t bring enough wedding day jitters then the forecast has to go ahead and predict oh I don’t know NINETY PERCENT CHANCE OF VIOLENT STORMS.  Megan, seriously, it’s not supposed to storm until after your bride and groom portraits.  DUDE HOW DO YOU KNOW?!  Portraits are at 3:45.  Storm’s at 4.  This can’t be good.  You’ll be fine, it’s not supposed to storm until later.  Besides I’m just your mom, part-time assistant, bag carrier, do-girl, and if I’m wrong, just fire me!  OH I’LL FIRE YOU, ALRIGHT.

Thankfully I had a backup plan, and a backup-backup plan to my backup plan.  And guess what, I didn’t need either.  Moms, she’s always mostly right.

Can’t wait to share with you Stephanie and Darrell’s beautiful wedding from the Evergreen Museum in Baltimore Maryland!

Don’t ask, cause I’m not sure why.  It’s like when you’re in school and it happens every year.  It doesn’t matter what grade you’re in, you still get nervous.  Heck, I rolled up to my senior year in college the first day and STILL GOT NERVOUS.  I mean how many years of school is that?  Seventy?  Like I said, it just doesn’t make sense.  And after five years, the nerves still get all twisted up inside me with the first wedding of the season.

And then I walk into the room where the bride is, unzip my camera bag, take out my lens, attach it to my camera, and take a deep breath.  You know, the kind of deep breath you take when you’re about to do something big and you need all the umph in your body to get you going, then the very moment the locking mechanism latches the lens into place and I calm down.  It’s the familiarity of the situation.  Of the camera.  Of what I’m doing.  Of what I love.  I know I’m capable of doing it, it’s just the anticipation, the thrill, the excitement that gets me nervous beforehand.

This weekend marks my first wedding of the season for me and if I’m being totally honest, the first day of school nerves are there like every year.  But I’m ready, and I’m so excited to kick this amazing season off with such a wonderful couple.

If you’re a photographer, have a love for photography, or just want to know my favorite cupcake flavor and want to have one of your questions answered on my next FAQ post, feel free to email me here, and I’ll try to include it! For past FAQ posts check them out here.

Lori asked: How do you keep your files organized?  Over the years it’s taken a few systems to finally get one that worked the best, so most importantly it’s about what works best for you.  I have a filing cabinet where I keep all my important documents and backups but, on my desk I keep two file trays at arms length.  The top one keeps personal items and the bottom one keeps all my files for this seasons weddings.  They’re filed by brides last names and dates; I’ve found that by using the brides last name I can keep better track of the wedding because I’m in contact more with the bride than the groom.  Originally I kept everything in the filing cabinet but it became a huge mess every time I had to go over and pull out a file.  Now everything I need is right at my desk.  Included in each file is their contract, package selection, invoice, a copy of their payments, and their product selection sheet.  Some people are going paperless but I still need to have hard copies of some things.

Gracie G asked: Do you shoot RAW?  From the inception of my business I started shooting JPEG and that’s the format I still shoot today.  RAW format records more data in the pixels while you’re shooting which allows you to manipulate the photo more when you’re editing; therefore they are significantly bigger and then always have to be converted to JPEGs at some point anyway.  Basically if you mess up when you’re shooting it’s easier to fix during post processing.  My theory has always been…don’t mess it up in the first place.

Chris asked:  How do you handle the email load?  Email is FUN!  SIKE!  Over the past year I’ve really started to set up guidelines for myself.  No emails during non-work hours.  And no email on the weekends.  This is a job, just like other people have jobs and just because I own a business does not mean that I should have to answer emails at all hours of the night and weekends.  I am just a photographer–not POTUS.  I let my clients know that the best way to get a hold of me is by email and that I will get back to them within 48 hours or else something happened to their email.  And I quit reading my facebook email inbox long ago–someone needs to add the option to disable it.  Trying to juggle real email plus facebook email/SPAM was just too much so I added a note on my facebook that says if you need to get a hold of me, email me, and everyone does.  I encourage you to set up guildlines for your business as well, because the moment you set up guidelines for yourself other people will start respecting them!

They met in high school and the very handsome Charlie was one year older.  Throughout college they had mutual friends so they started to hang out more and had become better friends.  And then one day he decided to ask out his beautiful friend to dinner.  She said yes.  Except she thought it was a friends dinner, so she did just that, she brought a friend.  T’was a nice date.  At Chart House in Annapolis.  All three of them.  Though Lindsey swears she really didn’t realize it was THAT kind of dinner, her friend was feeling the third wheelage to max degree.

And even though that first date didn’t go quite exactly as Charlie had planned, the second date indeed was just the two of them.  Lindsey and Charlie have the most adorable wedding planned for September at the Annapolis Yacht Club.   We decided to start off their engagement photographs in downtown Annapolis then head over to the water by the Annapolis Yacht Club just as the sun was setting.

They’re always laughing, and I love it.

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie—the boy sure does know how to pick a rock.

Charlie is easy going and happy, love these two of him!

Next we went over to the Annapolis Yacht Club for the second half of their engagement photographs and found this big beautiful navy blue yacht.

I love this one.

Lindsey, go ahead girl, GO ON WIT YOUR GORGEOUS SELF.  Seriously.

It started to sprinkle right before sunset, but to be totally honest if it’s going to sprinkle to get a golden sunset like this I’LL TAKE IT.  Oh and umm, really, how amazingly beautiful are they?!

My absolute favorite image of them from the day.  How is your hair so perfect, Lindsey?

We finished up literally with the last bits of the sun setting with the Annapolis Yacht Club in the background–a perfect end to a perfect afternoon!