This is our old blog. Use the link below to catch up with where we are today.
Yes, they really were missing their two front teeth! No retouching required. Peter and Kennedi are first graders at Fisher Elementary School in Richmond. We shot this back in October, around Halloween. Now, they both have their two front teeth and are enjoying Christmas candy.
Before leaving for Egypt with my husband (that's why I haven't posted in so long) I got in the mood for the trip with a portrait session of the lovely Christi. She's a local bellydancer and as you can see, is stunning. Photographing dancers is always something I've enjoyed doing. It's a challenge because you want to show movement and allow them to express themselves as artists. Soon, I'll post more images with her veil and even more movement. With this shoot, Christi showed me the classic bellydance postures, and I asked her to make some minor adjustments for the camera. She's also the first person to be photographed with my new blue-to-black backdrop. It seemed the obvious choice with her costume. Look for her dancing in the Richmond area along with the ever-growing population of bellydancers worldwide!
We've been working on Kim and Paul's wedding album, Finally, all the prints are off at our bindery, Art Leather. This is one of my favorite images from the wedding day. We were in a quiet hallway just outside the sanctuary as Kim and her dad waited to walk down the aisle. My heart was pounding (like it always does when the church is full and everyone is looking over their shoulder to get a glimpse of the bride.) Kim had the calmness of a saint. She just took a breath and bowed her head. I don't know if she was praying or just collecting her thoughts. Regardless of what she was thinking, I thought she was supremely beautiful and was glad to be there with a camera.
This handsome young fellow is Will Patterson, a senior at Richmond Christian School. His mom and dad asked me if our studio did Senior Portraits, and I said, "of course!" Call me old fashioned, but I wish kids would dress like this more often. It's his dad's tuxedo jacket. He certainly is dressed to impress.
On a quite Sunday, we went to Richmond's financial district with our model, Beauregard Marie. I worked in NYC for years and wanted to find a location that reminded me of the marble office plazas in mid-town Manhattan. I also wanted to replicate how the early morning/afternoon sun hits at such a strong angle this time of year.
Architectural photography is something we love to do. This home was designed by Perry DesJardins, a creator of extrordinary residences throughout Central Virginia. Infact, if you go to Perry's website, you can see the front of this house on his home page. This image was created by layering a number of different exposures within the image file. We set up the camera before sundown, and left it in place till dark. We added some stobe lighting there and there to open up the shadows. My assistant that day, Karin Sabine, hand held the strobe and walked along the set popping the flash at different areas. Some of the later exposures were as long as 8 seconds. The goal was to let the structural lighting appear as it does to the human eye. Nice digs.
The Powhatan County homestead known as West Wind (rolling hills and a turn of the century farmhouse restored by the bride and groom) was the site of a super-fun wedding on September 15, 2007. From the git-go, the couple (Colleen McGary and Al Kupeski) told us they wanted to focus on enjoying the company of their family and friends. The last thing they wanted to do was pose for a lot of pictures and be kept away from enjoying their wedding celebration with guests. So, with the couple's permission, we captured the day in a photojournalist style. Between me and photo assistant, Beth Furgeson, we captured over 300o images that day. It wasn't till the very end of the day, with the sun gloriously setting and giving us the hallowed "golden hour", that we were able to get the newlyweds to settle down and make their official "wedding portrait". Luckily for us, the groom has a spiffy John Deere that doubled as the perfect loveseat and bouquet-tossing platform for the bride. See the whole shoot at http://www.churchhillphoto.com/al. 
This story has a happy ending. Once upon a time, a Union Hill neighbor MaryBeth, brought her 5-month old daughter, Rigby to the portrait studio. Now Rigby, being an exceedingly intelligent child, was not to be fooled by the usual photographer's tricks. No funny face, nor silly sound could get her to smile or laugh. The harder the photographer worked at being crazy and wacky, the more she looked simply perplexed. Understandably, Rigby's mom and dad wanted happy baby images to choose from. But Rigby would have none of it. So the photographer got the good sense to ask MaryBeth to hold her daughter. Well, that did the trick. Nothing makes a baby smile like a mother's caress. Now everyone lives happily ever after.
One of the things we do alot (and I did this shoot with photographer/assistant Beth Furgeson) is go into workplaces and make environmental portraits. Last week, Brady Communications asked us to visit one of their long-term clients, Quad-C Equity Management. Two new analysts had just joined the firm and needed their images on the company website.
lighting that eliminates the distracting junk that is in everyone's office. It didn't hurt that both these guys are youthful and handsome. They look professional and approachable.
Here's another shot from our day with Candidate for Virginia State Senate, Richard Stuart. We started out at the farm of Woody Hynson (who's also serves on the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors.) Woody's farm is picturesque with shady fishin' banks along the Rappahannock River. He was planting soy beans that morning and needed a hand with the 50lb bags of seed. That's Richard in the blue shirt helping out. The body of water behind the men is a creek that runs into the river just a few hundred yards away. 
Wood's retriever puppy, George, is quite a jumper, and managed to get his muddy paws on all of us, including Richard. Fortunately, we had another shirt handy and got this shot of George the waiting for Richard to toss the stick into the river. Oh, if you're not familiar with the term "Northern Neck", it's the peninsula that is bounded by the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers as they flow in to the Chesapeake Bay.
Earlier this summer, my assistant Beth and I followed candidate for Virginia State Sentate, Richard Stuart. We photographed him talking with voters and visiting all kinds of folks throughout the 28th district. At the end of day-one, we stopped by his home to meet the family. Our job was to capture relaxed, everyday images of dad just hanging out with the kids. This image, with his eldest daughter, Katie, is one of my favorites. We just asked them to sit on the porch and read one of her favorite books. After a few poems, a tickle-giggle fest ensued and well, that's when the really fun pictures happened. Special thanks to all the folks we met those two days in Westmoreland and Stafford Counties...and vote for Richard!
This little guy came ready to have fun (mom & dad get all the credit). We made this image between wardrobe changes (he had some cute grandma-given outfits that got drooled on.) He's about 6 months old, so sitting up is still new to him...but as you can see, he's proud of his new "stature". This stage of a child's development can yield particularly rewarding photographs. Most babies are reacting well to parents (just to my left, so the infant can focus on his/her two favorite people in the world.) Also, babies this age are strong enough to sit up, but not quite ready to crawl away from the set. Perfect timing for our subject. This was our first shoot with the new "Desert Sands" backdrop, it has flesh tones, pinks and blues. Nice for youngsters.
Last week we got lucky with the weather and had a wonderful time with these three spokeswomen for the Virginia Department for the Aging program known as GrandDriver http://www.granddriver.net
Get married on a boat? Why not? On Saturday, April 7, 2007, Kori and Valdez took their vows standing in the bow of canal boat. Before and after, they toured Richmond's historic downtown canal just off the James River. It was a chilly, breezy day, but as you can see, they were oh-so happy. I love this picture of them, captured right after they said "I do".
While we're on the subject of clothing choice for photography...let's consider this fellow. This is a local architectural designer, Perry DesJardins. He came to the studio the other day (and this image has not been retouched...so forgive the few flaws we've yet to clean up). He intentionally chose the black turtle neck and suit jacket. So what do you look at first? His face, his smile, his eyes, right?
Here's a perfect example of how to keep the focus on the subjects of any group portrait by keeping the clothing simple. Notice the white shirts on both the mom and her son (Winifred ad Peter). Also notice the miminal jewelry and simple hairstyle. All that "simplicity" was planned and acheives a wonderful result. Instead of your eyes wandering around looking at distracting bling-bling or clothing patterns, you look at their faces and into their eyes. 
The College of William and Mary relies upon the generous contributions of donors' time, talent and money. There are so many interesting stories behind the folks who get involved with the college. The W&M School of Education asked me to help tell the story of Peg Harmon (the woman in the blue sweater) alumn and friend of the college. She's a retired teacher and has a lifetime of practical experience to share. Now she mentors graduate school students as they prepare for their own careers after college.
A trade magazine called "Cable in the Classroom" asked us to go on location to the Boys & Girls Club in Newport News, Virginia. Cox Cable helped fund and install a technology center for children who otherwise would have difficulty accessing the Internet when doing their homework. Because the Boys & Girls Clubs sponsor popular after-school programs in low-income neighborhoods Cox found a "perfect fit" for their outreach program. The adult in the foreground is Steve Kast, the director of Boys & Girls Clubs in the Tidewater area. My assistant this day, Stephanie Garr, did a great job helping with the lights...fyi, the room really isn't blue. We walked into a windowless concrete block room, lit with standard overhead fluorescent lights (yucky yellowish-green). We turned off all the ambient lights, and lit the back wall with a blue gelled-strobe. A very slow shutter speed exposed the monitors. We lit Steve with a partially collapsed umbrella and narrowly focused "kicker". We're happy with the end results.
This is Carter Ritchie. He's a real estate agent in Virginia and his group has been coming to our studio for a little over a year for their business portraits. I love the "casual confidence" of this image...aided by a brand new suit (custom tailored by Franco's here in Richmond.) This day in the studio, he wanted something a "little different" than his usual headshot. James Bond, look out.
Before the Christmas holidays, we spent a day on location at the headquarters of the Henrico (County) Federal Credit Union.
Our stylist, Winifred, use to be a hand model in NYC. This image was captured unintentionally. She reached in to fix something I didn't notice...and well, you can see for yourself how we try to get everything perfect in front of the camera. Even so, this handsome fellow needed very little adjusting. He just sat down and looked terrific from the git-go. This image is an outtake from a recent day of shooting for Suntrust Bank.
Here's what the Play and Park structure looks like from about 25 feet in the air. The camera & I were atop a construction scissor-lift. This was a real teamwork shoot with parents helping the client get the kids spread-out across the structure. The client even went up into the scissor lift ahead of me and drove it to just where she wanted the camera to be. Fearless! The graphic designer will eventually retouch-out the house and fence you can see at the top of the frame...perhaps leaving in the split-rail fence. What a great place for a kid to grow up...right next to an awesome playground like this.
