It's Prom Night for Gabe!

One of our goals for Gabe this school year was for him to attend the prom with his classmates.  As a junior, this was his first opportunity to dress up and boogie his heart out on the dance floor.  His teacher was on board so all it took was a bit of coaching (including the reminder that girls are not impressed when he calls them "Chica") combined with some serious tailoring at the tuxedo shop ("Sir, he has some very interesting proportions!") and Gabe was all ready for his big night. We dropped him off out in front of the dance where he was met by a classmate and his teacher.  After reluctantly allowing us to photograph his magnificence, he strutted into the building ready to wow his adoring public.  In the picture above, Jay thinks he is contemplating which dance move he should use to start the night; I think he may be considering how many girls will be mesmerized by his Venezuelan mojo.  Either way, we are confident the Fort Defiance High School Prom will never be quite the same!

Trevor | Waynesboro Virginia Senior Photographer

I am so happy to finally have gotten the opportunity to finish Trevor's senior portraits! Nasty weather interrupted our first meeting, but the make-up day was perfect. Beautiful weather for November and the sunset was incredible. He had some fun ideas and even the dog cooperated for some great images...

Vintage Senior| Waynesboro Senior Photographer

This week was vintage week and Emily got to be the first senior to have portraits finished with these filters. I was excited to play with some photoshop filters I hadn't previously used and create a vintage look to the finished portraits. Emily had a great location and some fantastic clothes for her session that I thought would really flow with the look I was trying to create. To be honest, there is a great deal of time and creativity that goes into creating portraits that are non-traditional. It isn't too difficult to simply adjust lighting, contrast and simple color. Most photo editing programs will allow those changes. Its getting beyond that is great fun. Professional cameras differ from your point & shoot cameras in quite a few ways, but one important way is that they allow us to create images in a RAW format. That is mumbo-jumbo for humongous digital files with lots of pieces of individual data ;-) The reason I use this format is so that I have lots of room to play with the images in the editing phase. This week, I tweaked the data to give Emily's portraits a fun, retro or vintage look. I happen to like this look, but have no fear....I can always use that same data to transform these same images to a totally different look! We'll have to wait and see what Emily and her mom like best :-D

Kacy | Senior Portrait Photographer Waynesboro, Virginia

After being rained out once and then a hurricane creeping up the coast, I was wondering when we would get to finish Kacey's senior session! Of course, the sun always seems to shine brightest after a storm and we definitely enjoyed the beautiful afternoon. I am really happy with the images we created and thought I would post a few for Kacy to enjoy. Now, we just have to get her brother Trevor in front of the camera....

Fort Defiance Senior {Shenandoah Valley Photographer}

A great senior session just before the holiday with Leah from Fort Defiance High School. It was a perfect afternoon for a session and there was just enough color left on some of the trees for some beautiful backdrops. Enjoy your sneak peek...

Caleb | Fort Defiance Senior Portraits

Seriously Ladies, who can resist a good looking guy in a suit?? Caleb, you did a great job with your portrait session. I hope you enjoy your sneak peek!

I love this image! Hope those numbers have washed off at some point in the last few weeks...

Annie |Fort Defiance Senior

You wouldn't know it from the images and the smiles, but it was a bit rainy at the JMU Arboretum the evening we photographed Annie's senior session. Despite the occasional drizzle, I really enjoyed this session. Her whole family came along, including their three dogs :-) This crew is so relaxed and fun! Annie, you did an awesome job - especially considering Matt was messing with you at times ;-) You look beautiful and I can't wait to show you the rest of your portraits. Hope you all enjoy your sneak peek!

Some Studio Fun

I know this is August and I know we live in Virginia, but does anyone else think it has been ridiculously hot this summer?? When it came time for Emily's senior session, we had to change plans. It was just too humid to be outside. Of course, it didn't matter what I look like...sweaty behind the camera is perfectly acceptable...but it is always my goal to make the young person in front of my camera look their best. So, we tried some studio images and figured out a new plan for this coming week. Thanks for being so flexible, Emily! You were seriously patient with my technology glitch and I know I have said this before, but your smile is just beautiful. See you on Monday :-)

Friends pt.3

These last few are just a quick peek at some of the image I took of the two girls together. It was a fun afternoon and you ladies (and your critters) did great! Talk to you soon :-)

Friends pt.2

Here is Marissa's sneak peek :-) I really enjoyed incorporating the animals into their images.