Blue Ridge Mountains: Wintergreen

In January my husband and I spent a weekend at Wintergreen Ski Resort in Nelson County, VA. Sitting at the top of one of the mountains in the Blue Ridge, it's quite a gorgeous location (and I'm only partially saying that because I grew up there!). On our second morning there the sunrise was too beautiful to miss, and luckily our balcony was facing in just the right direction.

R & C Engagement Shoot | Outer Banks Photographer

Over Thanksgiving, I had the pleasure of doing an engagement shoot for my cousin and her fiance while we were all together at the Outer Banks, NC. We found a wide variety of beautiful settings, including venturing down to the very cold beach for some lovely near-sunset photos. I'm so happy for the two of them, and I can't wait to photograph their wedding later this year!

Beauty and the Beast

It's not often that you are able to go to a Broadway-style show and take photos during, but that's exactly what I was able to do at Disney World. While at Hollywood Studios, we saw a shortened version of Beauty and the Beast in a beautiful outdoor amphitheater. It was wonderfully done, and made for some beautiful shots!

Getting "The Shot"

Sometimes, the shot that  you set out to get isn't the shot that you end up with...but the one you get ends up being so much better than anything you ever could have planned!

Tonight I headed out to our pond to take some photos of the geese for a 30 day photo challenge (the theme today was "Animals"). The light was fading quickly, and unfortunately the location of the geese just wasn't thrilling me. The photos I shot were ok

Christmas Decorations 2014

Last year I posted up quite a few Christmas-related photos, including bokeh, portraits, ornaments, and lights. This year, I didn't take quite as many photos of these holiday-related items this year, but I did spend some time during the week before Christmas practicing a couple of techniques. The first was something that I saw on a photography site and thought I'd give a try. 

With this first one, the idea is to start zoomed in on the object, and during a long exposure s-l-o-w-l-y zoom out to the maximum distance. That creates this cool light trail effect!

Leesburg, VA| Architecture Photography

This month I am participating in a new 30 day photo challenge. I'm not going to post every single  photo throughout the month (I'm planning on a summary at the end of the month instead), but I do want to post my favorites that result from any shoot that I do. Day 4's topic was "Architecture" and I had the idea to take some nighttime photos in downtown Leesburg. Here are my favorite few from the shoot.

Little Miss S: Newborn Portraits

Because this little one spent New Year's Eve at my house tonight, and she's no longer quite so little (5 months already!), AND because what's cuter to share on New Year's Day than an adorable newborn...here are my photos of the adorable Little Miss S!

My extended family: holiday portraits | Outer Banks Portrait Photographer

I don't often post photos here that I'm in (as instead I'm normally the one behind the camera!), but this was a rather unique family photo shoot that I wanted to showcase...my family!

We all met at the Outer Banks for Thanksgiving last month, and as we so rarely all have the chance to be together, I thought it would be nice to do a big family shoot. In addition to the group photo above, I also took photos of the different components that makeup our family. And despite it being a bit chilly, the overcast skies actually provided us with a very nice background!

The P family: Christmas card photos

Last month I took photos of my former housemate from college and her beautiful family, for use on their Christmas cards this year. We met at the Point of Rocks train station in Maryland, just on the other side of the Potomac, and took photos throughout the park there. After warning me that her kids may not cooperate, it turned out that they were perfectly delightful! They were all so much fun to work with, and we captured some really great moments.

Disney's Animal Kingdom | Nature Photographer

We began our day in Disney's Animal Kingdom by going on the Kilmanjaro Safari. Disney is home to a 110 acre wildlife preserve, where the animals are completely self-sustaining (they are not fed each day by the employees, unlike at a zoo). There are over 34 species of animals that live there, and according to our guide we were able to see just about all of them! We were very fortunate that the animals were all up and about so early in the morning. Here are my favorite shots of the morning.