Married: Melanie & Brett

She took a deep breath and looked up at the sapphire sky. "Do you believe the day we got?" Just then the phone rang and from the smile on her face, anyone could tell it was him. Telling her he loved her, telling her he couldn't wait to see her at the end of the aisle. The beginning of their long walk together.

Just before the doors opened, she took a deep breath and peeked through the window. "Do you believe it's here already?" Just then she caught a glimpse of something and from the smile on her face, anyone could tell it was him. Standing there loving her, anxiously waiting to see her. And ready to start their long walk. Together.

Married: Melanie & Brett

Last weekend, Justin and I drove "down the shore" in New Jersey to shoot the wedding of his cousin, Melanie, to her Brett. It was so cool for us because Justin's entire family was there and they finally got to see us in action, all ninja style and such! :) Check it out!

Melanie's GORGEOUS dress was actually jaw-dropping.

The flowers were all white and so elegant.

Shoes!

I LOVE this shot of all the hands that Justin got!

Her necklace was made from a recreation of one that Jackie Kennedy owned. How cool is that?

Heading to the ceremony

The beautiful Mellie!

The handsome Brett

Waiting to go down the aisle

Brett's first glimpse of Melanie

The guys!

The girls!

How cute is he? Cheek pinchin cute, that's how!

They gave out champagne and chocolate covered strawberries as their favors. Umm...yes please!

Check out that dress!

I grabbed this shot in the mirror of the girls helping Mellie with her bustle. I love how moody it came out!

Melanie & Brett, I hope you guys are having an AMAZING time in Cabo basking in the sunshine. Walking along the beach....together. We can't wait to see you when you get back!

Yep, it's that time of year again...

Justin walks into the office where I'm no doubt just finishing up some very important online shopping. He blows his imaginary whistle and throws one of our brand new Crate & Barrel dish towels on the floor.

I'm intrigued.

This BETTER be good if he's throwing my brand new Crate & Barrel Rococo Stripe dish towels on the floor, where they will no doubt come back completely covered in Cooper fur.

"Encroachment to neutral zone. Number 23 on the opposing team. 10 yard penalty. Repeat first down."

Uh huh.

I stare at him, head cocked to one side. I look down at my dish towel and back up again. Yep, still NO idea what he's talking about. So I ask: "What are you talking about?"

Apparently one of many facial scrubs and cleansers had somehow found its way out of the TWO SHELVES I COMMAND in our medicine cabinet and into his one, itty bitty, already overly crowded man space.

Like he said, encroachment into the neutral zone.

He was incensed. This was an injustice. And if there is one thing my Justin is all about it's justice. Now any other time he would have just hidden that bottle from me until I drove myself crazy trying to find it. Yea, that'd show me.

But now. Oh yes, now. Things. Are. Different.

For tomorrow we make our way ten hours south to my wild & wonderful home state of West Virginia to watch them CRUSH Villanova in the season opener. For those of you who are long time blog readers, you know all too well by now that we BLEED blue & gold, baby!

Yes, football season is once again upon us. Just knocking at the door.

And with it, it heralds in four glorious months of resolving our marital disputes & differences... with imaginary whistles and Crate & Barrel dish towels.

Married: Teryn & Brian in Stonington, CT

Nope, you're not reading that wrong! We had two, count em TWO, Teryn (Taren) & Brian's two weeks in a row! Seriously, what are the odds of that??

This Teryn & Brian actually live in Michigan, but they came to CT to have their yummy new englandy wedding at a private home in Stonington borough. First of all, let me just say that if you live in New England and you HAVEN'T been to Stonington yet, you must go now. Seriously, stop reading the blog and go get in your car right now! It is perhaps the most adorable town ever made. Don't believe me? Head on over to our girl Julia's blog (who was along to second shoot with us on this one) and check out some of her gorgeous shots all around town.

Now, on to the fun stuff!

Do you believe these walls?? Every single room in this house had a different amazing wallpaper like this. The three of us just wandered around drooling from room to room!

Teryn's mom was just beaming all day. She was so proud of her girl!

Teryn's girls helping her do the dive.

I love this moment! Teryn's sister Allie was actually half way up her dress helping her get her shorts off after she got the dress on. And they were both laughing so hard that all they could do was crack up every time she tried!

More of those gorgeous walls!

The handsome groom waiting for Teryn to get to the lighthouse in Stonington for their "first look" before the ceremony. These guys opted to do that so they could do all of their portraits first and then get right to the cocktail hour after the ceremony. It's a really cool way of doing things!

A close up of that awesome tie!

The moment when Brian turned around and saw Teryn for the first time. He was so cute and in awe of her and I have to admit that I had to walk off some tears that were welling up before I turned into a fanning mess!

Would you LOOK at how he looks at her?!?

Then we brought the bridal party in for some fun. Love the blue dresses that Teryn picked out for them.

The guys chillin on a wall

The beautiful flowers were done by Yumiko at Hana Floral Design who is INSANELY talented!

Brian's grandma just turned 97 and flew all the way here from California to see him get married. Is she not the cutest thing you've ever seen? I just wanted to pinch her cheeks all night long!

Ok, this would be the moment when I officially lost it. This was right before Teryn was about to walk down the aisle and the emotion of it all finally got to her dad who started to cry. And laugh. And then cry some more. There was no point in hiding it at that point. I just cried right along with him.

We actually weren't able to shoot in the church during the ceremony, so the next thing for us was to hit up the party at the cocktail hour. The signature Mango Mojitos that Gourmet Galley put together were INCREDIBLE!

Yea. Umm....THIS was the house. I know right!

Teryn & Brian grab a rare quiet moment together.

Brian's brother gave a CRAZY HILARIOUS and emotional toast! Since Teryn used to play tennis (umm at Wimbledon!) and now coaches at Michigan, the toast closed with "Remember, only in tennis can you lose with Love." How awesome is that?!?!

Ahhhh!!! These two! You're killing me! :)

The luminaries lining the dock at sunset

And the beautiful tent with that amazing house in the background. What an awesome night!

Teryn & Brian thank you so much for taking such good care of us and making us feel so welcome. We hope you're having a blast in Bora Bora. Enjoy every minute of each other and just soak it all in. So much love to you both!

Prom Night

Most of the week, the day to day of life takes over and the hours slip by so fast that in a minute they are gone. (Yea just think about that one for a second). But there is one night of the week that serves as a shelter against the storm. A safe haven where fun runs free and and you leave your to-do list behind. Wow. That just totally turned into a Beaches commercial right there.

But I digress.

That night is Date Night. A night of fun & freedom that rolls around once every seven days and is as much a part of the fabric of our marriage as not leaving your shoes in the middle of the floor for your loved one to trip over. You know... for instance. :)

But honestly, what would a night of love & romance be without a little healthy competition thrown in there for good measure? So we decided to up the ante. To start taking turns and switch off every week with who was in charge of planning date night.

Oh yea baby, let the games begin.

For the longest time, It was a decided tie with each of us only slightly one upping the other's previous date night before. My personal favorite was my treasure hunt that took us all over New Haven and ended up at the premiere of National Treasure 2 which Justin had been dying to see. Pretty creative, eh? Not going to be able to top that one for a loooong time to come, right?

Uh, yea. Not so much.

This past Friday, J called me and told me to get all dressed up and be ready by 8:30. I was picturing dinner out or maybe a cool concert....but was I WAY off. I emerged from the bathroom at 8:45 (what, that's early for me!) to the sound of Sir Mix a Lot doot, doot, dooting from the living room. And as I rounded the corner, I saw streamers and balloons in my high school colors and Justin in a suit & tie holding a corsage. It was Prom Night, baby!!! The movie "Prom Night" that is. Because he knows me. And he knows that the ONLY thing I love more than a really good scary movie, is a really good challenge. 

Game on, baby! Game on.

Yes, my high school mascot was a lumberjack. The Richwood Lumberjacks to be precise. Don't hate. Just cause your mascot was a bird or something scary like that. Pshhhh.

Married: Taren & Brian

If you've been reading our blog for any length of time now, you know just how much we LOVE our McKinneys!! And by that I mean their ENTIRE extended circle of family & friends. We first met Taren & Brian at Lon & Melissa's wedding (who we also just adore!!) last September and have since shot two engagement shoots with them as well as a family shoot for Taren's sister Shannon. So by the time the wedding rolled around we felt like we were part of the fam. We even got to go hang out with these guys at the rehearsal dinner on Friday night and they sat us at the head table with them!! Seriously?? Yea, like I said, LOVE THEM!!

Soooo without further ado, here are some of our favorites from the day!

I LOVE this shot I got of Taren in front of the Audrey Hepburn painting at the salon.

Her dress from The White Dress by the Shore was so gorgeous! It was all flowy and amazing...very midsummer nights dream!

I grabbed this shot of the gals checking out their flip flops by this incredible window light. I love how the symmetry is slightly weighted to one side like they used a lot in "The Man Who Wasn't There" (which we just watched with our PUG last night). Watch it if you haven't seen it!! It's awesome!!

Justin grabbed this killer shot of the girls getting ready to leave.

I was loving these lil' dresses so much and all the gold shoes that this shot instantly came to mind. I really love how it all started to look like a painting with a lil' Totally Rad Actions lovin.

This is one of the things I love most about having two shooters. J grabbed this shot of the girls looking down at me while I was grabbing a quick group shot. It's one of my favorite from the whole day!

The flowers were absolutely stunning. Seriously stunning. Wild Orchid in Middletown did them and we were just blown away!

The church!!

Hi!! These two guys were the ringbearers. Are you kidding me?!? Adorable!! My gal Val was with us again to second shoot, and between the three of us we just COULD NOT stop shooting them!!!

Yea...seriously!

Brian was so happy to see Taren!! I got all teary watchin the two of them and seeing how happy they were!

A couple of quick portraits with new Mr & Mrs

Taren was SUCH a gorgeous bride! Just incredible...her eyes are AMAZING!! ahhhh! Yea, gotta love that 85 1.4!

Cool shot!

While looking back through Josh & Beth's engagement shoot from this past May in San Francisco, I came across these two frames that I thought were pretty interesting side by side.   For this one I was across the walkway with the 200mm when this biker rode through my shot (which seems to be happening a lot lately!).  Both Josh & Beth and I were all standing still for the two frames, so you're just seeing the front of the bike in the first one an the back of the bike in the second one. Pretty cool!

Meet: Kim & Joel

Kim & Joel have no shortage of things they like to do together. In fact, their answer to this question on the Get to Know You Sheet filled up the entire front page and spilled on to the back. As Joel put it, "anything & everything, so long as it's with Kim." It was a veritable theme-making smorgasbord just ripe for the picking. Just give me an oversized hat and some gardening gloves and I'm good to go! But, as is always the case, one theme had to emerge from the crowd as the quintessential Kim & Joel. And it did. Oh yes, it did.

Golf!

They just love it. Mini golf. Big golf. Glow in the dark golf. Heck they'll even take to putting in the golf store if they have to. Just add in some yellow golf gloves and a visor to match and you've got yourself a photo shoot!

And faced with the prospect of all this yummy golf goodness. We. Were. In.

Meet: Kim & Joel
Their Theme: Tee for Two (yea, yea I know...go ahead and hate me!! )

All these shots were edited using the new Totally Rad Actions set with I LOVE. Love love love love LURV!!! They are so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up! :)

Doesn't Joel look like a pro? 

How trippy is this shot?!? Justin actually flipped it upside in post, so it looks like their shadows are wearing shoes!

Ring shot!

These two are so super cute! I actually had to restrain myself from pinching their cheeks!

Kim has the most incredible eyes!

This was their score card with their nicknames for each other. 

LOL!

After the mini golf, we headed out to Essex for some New England charm. Check out the sky that day!!

Love this shot I got of the two of them. It just seems so them.

mmmmm gold n' buttery!

See? There are those eyes again!! Just beautiful!

And Joel looking pretty handsome himself!

Kim & Joel, thank you SO much for coming all the way up from Florida to hang out with us! You two are so inspiring! We can't wait to see you again on:

Married: Matt & Lauren

Two Saturdays ago we had so much fun hanging out with our GIRL Val McCormick who second shot with us at Matt & Lauren's wedding. The day started off a little ominous, complete with crazy dark skies, a torrential downpour and flickering lights. But by the time the ceremony ended, we were good to go with some beautiful golden light!

Check out the radar:

But Lauren was a total trooper...and Justin didn't do half bad either! Do I have myself a keeper or WHAT?!?

I was lovin' this reflection in the makeup mirror at the salon

This was a shot of Lauren looking in the mirror for the first time after putting on her dress. I just love this moment Justin got!

There is something so celebrity about this shot to me. Which I guess makes US the paparazzi! Oh Snap!!!

The church was AMAZING!!

This shot was taken of a pretty cool set up of the bridal party, but I love how the low angle changes everything and makes it that much cooler!

Lauren & the girls

Matt & his boys

This shot is so intense! I love how he's looking at her!

Matt & his dad grabbing a moment...I totally dig the shadows on the ground!

Grandma & Grandpa!! A split second before this shot was taken, the Grandma shouted out "I don't think he's been this close to me in twenty years!!" HA! I LOVE IT!

Lauren was just an absolutely stunning bride. The wallpaper at the country club and this fun french chair made for some REALLY cool portraits!

See?? What did I tell you? Gorgeous!

And the Groom's looking pretty good himself. They are such a beautiful couple!

Lauren & Matt, I hope you guys are having a blast in Tahiti!! Drink a lil' umbrella drink for us!!

Meet: Natalie & Chris

"I turn on my computer. I wait impatiently as it connects. I go online, and my breath catches in my chest until I hear three little words: You've got mail. I hear nothing. Not even a sound on the streets of New York, just the beating of my own heart. I have mail. From you. " - Kathleen Kelly, You've Got Mail

The first time he saw her, it was only a picture. A snapshot that hung on a co-worker's wall. But sometimes a snapshot, a small moment in time, is all you need to somehow...know.

The first time they met, it was only a one liner. A crack about an old computer. But sometimes a laptop, even an old one, can bridge the miles between two hearts that somehow just...know.

Natalie is a high fashion NYC girl. Chris is the laid back Californian. But for just one day, their paths crossed and nothing has ever been the same. For months they emailed back and forth. With her on the east coast, him on the west. Going about their days, living parallel lives, they were joined by the promise of just three little words. You've. Got. Mail.

Meet: Natalie & Chris

Yooooou've Got Mail!

This was so much fun and so very You've Got Mail, but the real story behind this shot is that the guy on the bike was totally tanked at 2 in the afternoon and asked to be in the shot. He did name drop some Cartier Bresson tho, so we figured he'd earned it!

Love the post process on this one. Some Derelicte mixed with Bitchin B&W gave it this platinumy look!

So as you can probably tell from these picture, Natalie used to be a full time model and she totally knew how to WORK IT!!!! Dang girl!

Just beautiful!!

These guys just have so much fun together! Look how stinkin cute they are!!!

Mmmmm that's some yummy flare!! Buttery!

After the themed part of the shoot, we headed to the beach to spend some time with these guys just being themselves! Seriously, how adorable are they?!

Ummm...AND they have mad skillz!!

Super Hero Shot!!

Natalie & Chris, you guys rock our world! Thank you so much for coming up and spending the weekend with us! Sorry we all crashed before we could break out some serious scary movies...next time for sure!! We can't wait to see you guys on:

Livin' Life in Fast Forward

I just looked at the date of our last post and my jaw literally hit the floor and bounced back up again to see that it was a WEEK ago. A week! I could've sworn I just hit the publish post button on that one like three seconds ago! Is it me or did someone grab the proverbial remote control of life and click the fast forward button? Y'know not just the 2x or the 8x kind of fast forward... where all you're really trying to do is get past the weird foreign film previews and on to the Will Ferrel movie. But serious fast forward. ALLLL the way up to the 50x speed baby!!!!

Seriously, lately my days are more like minutes. The weeks, a mere lunch hour break. And the next thing I know it's the middle of August and I'm left wondering where the heck the past two month of my life went. But, it's times like these when you've really got to just slow down and enjoy the good things in life. The simple things. The constant things. The kinda things you know you can always count on.

Like the fact that my UPS guy gets me.

Reeeeally gets me.

When that doorbell rings and Cooper's ears perk up, I feel that mixed rush of emotion wash over me. Y'know that place where anticipation & endless possibility meets.... "ooh...do I really have to walk down my crazy steep stairs even ONE more time today"

Yea, I'm THAT kind of lazy.

But it's ok see. Because my UPS guy gets me.

And that's why every day he goes the extra step to meet me in the middle. Literally. See, he comes up a flight of stairs. I go down one. And we meet in the middle. Truthfully, I never even see his face. Just a hand popping around the corner... holding endless possibility. 

And let's face it, in this crazy fast- forward- hey- who- stole- the- remote-control kind of world...it's pretty nice to know you can always count on a daily dose of endless possibility. And someone who gets you. Laziness and all.

Meet: Mr. DePino....AND his ProActions!!

First off, I just want to say thank you SOOOOOOOO much to all of you who have commented, emailed or called in the past few days about my last post. It really makes it so much easier to blog something like that knowing that I have friends like you who always have my back!!! Ack! I so want to put something here about how you guys make me the richest girl in the world, but I am at a total loss for finding the right words right now. Seriously, everything I type is a TOTAL cheese fest..... so just know that I love you and you guys mean the WORLD to me!! xoxoxo

Now....whew (fanning myself furiously!!!)...on to some picture fun! A little while back our good friend, the one & only Mr. Steve DePino, asked us if we could shoot some new headshots for some super exciting things that he has coming up. Not the least of which, is the recent release of his brand spankin' new Pro Actions. Seriously I LOVE these things! Each and every one is more yummy than the next. In honor of their release we did the post work on all these pictures using his ROCKIN' new actions. . Sooooo... I'm gonna give you a little behind the scenes action with the "lab experiments" we did on each shot, and after that if you haven't grabbed up a set of these actions yet then you better GET TO IT!!

This was the very first frame Justin shot of the day and I LOVE it! We used a lil' Awesome Curves + Mr. Perfect 30% to make it really pop.

This was probably our favorite shot from the whole day. DePino BW v 2.0 at 45%. Justin also added noise at 14%

So sophisticated. Awesome Curves + Acid Washed 30%+ X Processed Washed Out 20%

I love the light streaming in here!!! AHHHH!!! Lab-a-touille 50%+ BW Dream+Pop

This one is so epic. Sin City+HOLGA-ize really rocked the feel.

LOL. Steve in a nutshell. Ultimatum 47%+Mystery 35%+Holgaize

Sin City +Bunsen Burner Lo+Sleepy Hollow 25%

Don't try this at home! Depino BW v 2.0 + F Stop 1.2 sim (but DO try this at home!!!)

Blue Steel+Soft Glow Lo+Vignette

F Stop 1.2 sim

How YOU doin??? Lab-a-touille 47% + Acid Washed 74% 

Exp film 1981 Green 50% + X Processed Washed Out 14% +Vignette 70%

Expired film 1981 Red 40% + The Fuzz + Vignette

Rockwell 30% + Sleepy Hollow 80% + Vignette. Justin also added noise at 14%

I call this one....Mr. DePino goes to Washinton. Tin Print + Vignette

Color Pop + Vignette 71%

Newsprint + Pop 75% + Vignette 46%

Darn Paparazzi. It's hard work being a celebrity! :) Color + Pop