I hope everyone is having a great Holiday season. I know I am! I always think I may get to take a break this time of year, but between wrapping up last minute orders, making sure my books are in order for the tax man, and getting ready for next year it seems I am even busier than usual. However, over the next few days I am going to make sure I take some time off to relax and hang out with family and friends.

This picture is one of my favorites from this year. The wedding was in July at the Brown-Pusey House, a really fantastic venue in Elizabethtown. It was time to the pictures of the wedding party I needed to get a shot of Jenny, the lovely bride, and her two adorable flower girls. These flower girls were real pros, by the way. This was already their fourth wedding of the year.  This day they were both a little under the weather and their mom wanted to take them home for a nap before the ceremony started. We just had a few moments for a quick shot in the garden behind the house. It is always a challenge at weddings to get great shots that look both fresh and timeless, but I hope I did that here. I used a flash to overcome the sun because the light was very dappled under the trees. I had Jenny sit on the stairs and the two girls sit on either side and lean against her. They were all looking at me and I took a couple of shots, then I had Jenny interact with them; she looked down and I quickly got “the” shot. I knew right away we were done. They girls went for their nap and came back in time to be part of a wonderful ceremony.

This week I am posting an interesting image I took this fall.  The bride had a gorgeous dress with a five foot train, but she was getting ready in a normal sized house full of people and furniture. There really wasn’t anyplace to display the dress for a really amazing photo.  I walked all through the house several times looking for some place, then I headed outside.  As soon as I walked into the backyard I saw a lovely tree with the sun behind it and some autumn color in the leaves, and a stout branch to hang the dress from.  I looked around and luckily there was even a ladder leaning against the house, which I needed since the dress was going to be hanging about twelve feet in the air.  I went inside and got the dress and with the help of one of the bridesmaids I carried it outside and carefully hung it in the tree.  The sun was behind the dress and a little high, so I shot from a low angle. I hit the front of the dress with a kiss of light to balance the sun and got a great shot that shows the beauty of the dress and is a unique memory for the bride.  She loved the photo!

I love this photo and am so happy I got to be a part of creating it. It was taken at the Linnview Retreat in Nancy, KY, a small town near Somerset. The couple, Audrey and Nick, were awesome to work with and so very easy going! They really enjoyed their wedding day and savored the day, which helped me get some really great pictures. Wedding pictures always look so much better if the couple is relaxed and really enjoying themselves.

Linnview Retreat is a really great venue to hold a reception or even an entire wedding. They have a log cabin and a lot of outdoor space, perfect for a really nice country wedding. They also have a gazebo, and at night it is covered in Christmas lights and looks so very romantic. Audrey mentioned that they wanted some pictures taken there, and I was more than happy to oblige. The couple headed to the gazebo and I went and grabbed a couple pieces of equipment. When I got to the gazebo they were inside of it, which was very nice and romantic with the soft light of a thousand tiny light bulbs, but I wanted to capture the gazebo itself in the photo, so we moved in front of it. I had an idea to light them a little from the front, but decided first I would get a silhouette. I’m glad I did; this was one of my favorite pictures from the whole day, and the couple loved it as well.  The color and the touch of rim light on the couple make it a really special image