Several weeks ago, on probably one of the hottest days of the year, T.J. and I had the privelidge of shooting Ben + Bethany's wedding in Balitmore. I went to high school with Bethany and am always appreciative when people I know include me in their wedding celebration! It was my first time shooting a wedding (reception) at the American Visionary Arts Museum and I loved it. Here are some of my favorite images from the day! -Brooke
A few weeks ago my good friend from college Leslie got married to an awesome guy named Matt! We are working on their photos and hope to have them up on the blog soon, but for now I thought I would share some of my favorite shots from the Smilebooth! - T.J.
Brooke and I feel spoiled that we get to do what we love for a living, especially when people like Brandon + Jamie are our clients! Brandon + Jamie tied the knot at Riverdale Manor in Lancaster on a beautiful summer day, surrounded by friends and family. They were simply amazing on their wedding day. They both looked fantastic and were equally laid back! They just seemed super happy to finally be getting married and moving on to the next phase of their lives together! Brooke and I are always honored to be a part of peoples lives on such important days.
Two moments stood out as extra special in their day, both of which are captured below. The first moment was when Jamie's Grandma arrived for the day, where she greated the girls in their pink dresses on the lawn. She could not contain her excitement to see the girls and Jamie looking so beautiful. And she was equally thrilled that she matched their dresses.
The second moment was when Jamie walked down the isle. I know that's always a special moment during any wedding day, but the two images below of Jamie's Mom turning to watch her, and the one of Brandon seeing her for the first time, are just fantastic. You can feel the excitment in the air in those photos.
Enjoy our favorites and leave comments! -T.J.
I rarely shoot kids and family photos, but when I do it's often of people I actually know. So I was very excited to shoot the beautiful children of Rob + Keara, who I went to high school with, and even shot their wedding video years ago. I had seen photos of their kids on Facebook and knew they were both adorable red heads... so I was pumped for our session.
Both Kit (who just turned one and recently started walking) and Diggory were incredibly well behaved. It was amazing. We were all a little shocked actually. In addition to being well behaved and super cute, Diggory is obsessed with cars. All kinds of cars. So naturally we ended our session by giving him the keys to his self proclaimed "best friend's" (his Great Grandma) car. It was great.
Enjoy some of my favorites! -Brooke
Today I get to share Samantha's senior photos with you - and I love each and every single image from our shoot. She is seriously beautiful inside and out, and not to mention quite photogenic. I can't seem to choose a favorite photo, but I think the ones in the green dress might be my favorite. Which is yours!? -Brooke
Every wedding I've ever had the chance to photograph has been a blessing in one way or another. But some stand out above the rest - and Clint + Kim did just that. Kim has been a long time family friend and I'd always hoped I'd be able to photograph her wedding some day. Kim and her kids are such wonderful, kind-hearted, genuine people ... and Clint is the perfect addition to their family.
Clint + Kim's friends and family pulled together this amazing celebration at almost no cost to the couple. Food, desserts, decorations, location, photography, music and so much more was simply given to them out of sheer joy and support for this next step in their lives. It was amazing. In addition, it rained the entire day. It did not stop or slow down for a single second, yet it barely phased Clint + Kim because they were getting married, starting a few family that day and nothing else mattered. I will say, however, Praise God for that little four foot wide porch that allowed us to do family and bridal party photos outdoors. I wish there was a photo of the 10 of us crammed onto that porch as I directed the organization of umbrellas, plants, rain boots and portraits, all in 20 minutes time.
---
I've had many conversations about remarriage with by best friend Kate. And since she is a way better writer than I am, I asked her to write down her thoughts on the subject of remarriage to better explain why Clint + Kim's wedding was so heavy, in the best way possible, on my heart.
Kate writes, "Remarriage can be a brave choice, having seen firsthand the hurt and loss and sadness and extraordinary difficulty that comes when you connect yourself so intimately to another person. Remarriages are based on hope, the belief in love, the belief that life isn't a 1-chance kind of operation, but that if you keep moving forward, it can keep getting better.
Marriage is a metaphor. Marriage is supposed to be a reflection of how God loves us - how he loves the church. Sacrificially, eternally, and without condition, in spite of our ugliness. People sometimes say things like "marriage won't fix all your problems" and "your husband (or wife) won't complete you," and while that's true, we sometimes miss how much marriage DOES affect us, how much it does change and complete us, how much we truly, actually, emotionally need another person - in the name of individualism and independence, and standing on our own two feet to protect ourselves from possible future hurt. Marriage is full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness - because the love of Jesus is full of all of those things.
The truth is, marriage IS a shelter, because the love of Jesus is a shelter. It IS full of hope because the love of Jesus is full of hope."
Enjoy my favorite images below - and leave comments if you'd like. -Brooke
Several weeks ago Joy traveled from Philadelphia to my little town of Manheim so I could shoot portraits for her website. Joy is an incredibly talented designer and illustrator and needed a handful of new images to update her site. So, that's where I came in!
We walked around town for a bit and then ended up at my parents house to finish the session. It was so ridiculously hot. It was pretty awful... but the photos turned out beautifully despite the heat!
Be sure to check out Joy and bookmark her site - it's quite inspiring! -Brooke
In the months leading up to this shoot, my e-mail conversations with Alyssa assured me that photographing her and Nick would be nothing less than spectacular. Something that makes my job so enjoyable is that I get to meet new people almost every week. And sharing stories about love and marriage is uplifting and fun, especially since I'm in the midst of wedding planning myself! I knew of Nick + Alyssa through one of our previous brides (and current second shooter) Liz! I was so excited to take them to some locations around town that I've never gotten to use before. I can't wait to capture their wedding in September! -Jeff
I met Blythe last Christmas when she applied to be a walk in love. model for our Christmas 2012 lookbook. I knew as soon as I read her little bio and saw her photos that she'd be a breeze to photograph. So naturally, I was thrilled when she got engaged and asked me to shoot her engagement photos.
Jay + Blythe have been together for several years and from the little I know about them seem perfect together. They were both incredibly easy going and comfortable in front of the camera. Defintely my favorite type of people to shoot, especially on wedding days. (Cough, cough, hire me, cough.)
Enjoy a handful of images from their engagement session. I really do love each and every photograph! -Brooke
To view all of Jay + Blythe's images, click HERE!