Mary & Don :: Engagement

We have to warn you - we're not very photogenic!, Don and Mary protested when we arrived at the Savage Mill bridge for their engagement shoot. Renata and I knew better.

Mary's eyes sparkle when she's with Don. She didn't stop smiling the entire shoot. Don made one funny quip after another, just to make Mary laugh. How is that not photogenic?!

We took a little walk in the woods and found this gorgeous patch of light!

Don and Mary are getting married in June; a sweet, intimate ceremony with their families. We can't wait!

Sophie

I stared at the screen in disbelief. Someone actually wanted an interview with me? Like, a grown-up-job-real-world interview? I had polished my resume as best as I could and was too proud of my cover letter. I guess I had never considered that someone might actually call me back.

That someone ended up being my great boss, Sarah. I honestly could not have asked for a better first boss! After about 3 months of working under her, Sarah announced she was pregnant! The entire office (consisting of almost exclusively women) could not have been more excited; we threw her a shower, bought her gifts way too often and when Sarah finally gave birth to sweet Sophie, tried our best not to call everyday.

Lucky me, I got to meet Miss Sophie about a week after she was born! Sarah and I needed to talk shop, plus my camera lens was aching for that baby. I could have taken pictures of Sophie all day.

Sophie was a little cranky in the beginning, but she started getting the hang of it by the end.


















Sarah and Dan have another "baby", Maggie, who is very protective of little Sophie.

Happy first Mother's/Father's Day, Sarah and Dan! Thanks for letting me be a small part of your family.

Proof that we are still alive

So, right after we present a new blog, we go MIA. Sorry. We have an excuse, we promise!

This past weekend, one of our dear friends, Amanda, got married. I was a bridesmaid and Renata got her first experience shooting sans me. (She did great!) The wedding was just lovely and an all-weekend event! As proof of my excuse for blogging absence, here is a horrible picture of me shot by a guest at the wedding...

I don't know why I look so out of it. Maybe because that dress was squeezing the sense out of me. Yeah, that's it. Thank goodness for Spanx.

(Sidenote: If you are a bride and haven't checked out Spanx yet, you should. There is nothing embarassing about a little extra support - and they are super comfortable! You can also find the generic brand at Target.)

Renata's cute little pregnant self was scooting around snapping away during the ceremony; it was fun trying to communicate with each other without anyone else knowing. She did great! Although she was not the main photographer, Renata directed humbly and shot beautifully. Trust me, if you're a bride, you want this girl around on your wedding day! I know from experience :)

Besides this crazy weekend, we started a small business accounting class this week to try and better our inner entrepreneurs. It's...well...boring. But good. We have another week and a half of class to go.

In other exciting (and scary) news, we will be attempting to shoot 4 weddings (oh yes, I said 4) in 1 week (oh yes, I said 1). We're super excited and could not be more grateful for the business, but are wondering what we have gotten ourselves into. Then again, we think that most days. Thoughts, prayers and Red Bull are appreciated. :)

P.S. We have 3 recent weddings and an engagement session yet to post...stay tuned!

New blog!

As you can see, we have a new blog! Just an FYI, this blog is still under construction. Some of the pages and layout still need to be tweaked, so pardon our dust.

Thanks for your patience!

Honesty

Can I just be frank? This blog is certainly a place for current and prospective clients alike to view our portfolio, but it is still an archive for our photographic journey. It's easy to hide behind the this shoot was so awesome's and the we love our clients's - which are both true statements! - and not disclose the real us. The Andrea and Renata who are super intimidated. The Andrea and Renata who get deathly nervous before each shoot. The Andrea and Renata who sometimes feel all they can do is pray for creativity because they feel drained.

Honestly, that is who we really are. We are so excited to be doing this business thing, especially together, but a lot of the time we feel like we don't have a clue what we're doing. At all.

For me (and I am only speaking for me, Andrea, in the following paragraph), my biggest struggle in photography (and LIFE) is my pride. Pride is such a funny thing - it makes me feel so big, when really I am very, very small. Someone asked me a question the other day about photography and I couldn't believe the response it evoked in my heart. I did not say exactly what I was thinking, but I was amazed at how easily I forget not knowing the things I do now. There was a time, very recently, where I didn't know how to manually shoot, I had no idea what ISO was, or how important aperture is. How dare I forget that the only way I learned is because other people taught me?

There is a huge trend in the photography world towards networking, and it's great for the industry. There's a big push to share ideas and techniques, not keep them all to yourself. There's enough business to go around. Sources like the [b] school and ProPhotoResource have been huge helps to me - and they only exist because photographers want to help people out.

I need to be kept humble. There are times when I think I am. But then, when I think of myself of humble, I most obviously am not. I am praying for situations that cause me to feel small, to put me in my place.

Renata, on the other hand, keeps me as down-to-earth as possible. Never arrogant or full of herself, Renata really embodies a person who strives to use their talents to serve others. That's something we want to strive for in business as well. We honestly believe that if we have any success at all it is because God willed it to be so, and we have nothing to do but serve Him and others.

Please do not read this post and take my thank you's as insincere. I truly mean them. I just want you to know the real me, the grateful side and the brat side. Both sides make up who I am just as much as photography does. Here's hoping that this journey squelches the brat and refines the gracious. Thanks for coming along.

The Jillson Girls

You know those people who, when you meet them, you just know you're going to get along? For us, that's when we know it's going to be a good day! (And we are lucky that our clients are those kind of people!)

The Jillson family was just that way - as soon as they stepped out of the car, we knew it was going to be a good day. The whole family came along, and I loved meeting them all, including Jennifer, the matriarch of this obviously female-populated family.

Not only did Renata and I get to photograph gorgeous Erica, we also got to meet and photograph her beautiful sisters. Gee whiz, these girls are beauties! We feel for their dad. :)

Jillson family, we loved meeting you! Thanks for modeling the kind of family we both strive to have.

MVP

My family asked Maria Vicencio and her husband Drew to take our family pictures a few weeks back. They were just amazing.

I know I've declared my love for Maria on this blog before, like here and here, so I'll spare you this time. :)

The pictures turned out incredible! We are currently featured on their blog, so go check them out!

Maria and Drew, you guys are inspirational and so down-to-earth. Thanks for capturing my family and letting me tag along on weddings :)

Erica :: Senior

Erica is a beautiful girl and that's an understatement. A good friend of Caitlin, we knew Erica would be fun. We were immediately charmed by Erica and her family and thoroughly enjoyed the whole day.

We trekked all over the Naval Academy, armed with a mini-closet of clothes and Erica's gorgeous smile. The weather was beautifully perfect and we decided to soak it up. We even had a little lunch. Erica was a natural - she would just fall into these comfortable poses - a photographer's dream. :)

Erica, congratulations on graduating! Good luck next year! We think you should considering modeling on the side... :)

Business and a bun in the oven

Tonight, Renata and I are attending a small business seminar - and we are excited! Neither of us are very business-savvy, so this should help out a lot. Plus, we get to cross off one of our resolutions. :)

Things will be picking up this summer, as is the plan. It's looking like I am going to be work-less for about a month and a half during the summer, which should be the perfect amount of time to get our official business up and running! We'll be debuting a name, brand, website and new blog. We can't wait to give out business cards.

Also, it can be public knowledge now that Renata is pregnant with baby #2! They just found out it is a boy, so she's going to have her hands full come September. :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you to our clients, both past and present. We're living a dream like you wouldn't believe - and we have you to thank!

After a wedding...

Last night, I shot a wedding with Michelle and Maria. I. Love. These. Women. I could not feel more blessed to get to learn from them.

Erin & Taylor wed yesterday at the Ceresville Mansion in Frederick. It was gorgeous and the two of them had us tearing up. Since I shot with Michelle's Canon 20D, I don't have any images to share just yet, but still wanted to write about the experience. Renata and I are really considering switching to Canon. Michelle and Maria are reeeally trying to convince us. At the wedding last night, Michelle let me use her brand new 50mm 1.2...and I fell in love. Buttery and super versatile, even on the 20D which won't let you shoot above a 400 ISO because of the noise. We only shot Erin getting ready and the ceremony, but I still learned a ton!

The best part about photography for me is the people. I love meeting new people and finding that we just click. Erin and Taylor were those kind of people for all three of us. As we were leaving, Erin said, "I wish we could hang out more!" That is the greatest compliment ever. Images are important (they are the staple of the process!), but I don't think they speak for themselves. Photographer-client relationship is just as crucial. I learned that from Michelle!

The thing I love so much about Michelle and Maria is that they aren't just fellow photographers, they are friends. I know that networking is becoming uber important in the photography business, but that's not what hanging out with Michelle and Maria is about to me. I actually just like hanging out with them. After the wedding last night, the three of us headed to downtown Frederick where we treated ourselves to a ridiculous amount of Five Guys fries drenched in vinegar and cajun goodness, plus Ben & Jerry's on a cone (way to be diet-arily responsible, ladies :) ). It's so fun being able to talk about photography for extended periods of time. Plus, Maria and I just soak up the time we get to pick Michelle's brain.

Michelle and Maria, I had a blast hanging out with you guys last night! Please let's do it again soon. :)