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By Jennifer, October 2, 2010 9:59 pm

Alexander Luke

My husband and I welcomed our son into the world on September 9th! He was born at 7:09pm weighing 7 pounds 6 ounces and measuring 21 inches long. Thank you all for your prayers and support!

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By Jennifer, August 22, 2010 3:37 pm

My husband was mowing the lawn today and came across this cute little turtle in our yard. The fence around our yard was preventing him from escaping. So, we had to show him the way out by lifting him over the fence and putting him on the other side. If you know what kind of turtle it is, please leave it in the comments. Of course, I had to take some photos, but my pregnant belly prevented my from being able to get down on the ground for some direct head on shots. He was actually pretty fast, too! So, I had to stay on my feet. Below is my favorite photo of the little guy. Here are some more photos.

Turtle

UPDATE: Someone has informed me that this is a box turtle.

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By Jennifer, August 1, 2010 3:09 pm

Yesterday my husband and I were guests at Scott and Elisa’s beautiful outdoor wedding in Chestertown, Maryland. Scott is a friend of mine from college. So, it was good to see old friends from my Case Western Reserve University days and to catch up with their lives. The wedding was set on the banks of the Chester River which made for some great photographs. Unfortunately, the seats we were in didn’t allow a view for much of the ceremony as there was a big tree in the way and we were near the back, but at least we were in the shade which kept us cooler than most of the rest of the guests who were sitting in the sun. Below are some of my favorite shots from the evening. You can view more photos here.

Scott & Elisa

Chester River Ceremony

Centerpiece Made of Lemons

Sunset Over Chester River

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By Jennifer, June 30, 2010 10:05 am

So, I made recent inquiries (to the Loudoun Photo Club and on Twitter) for tips on photographing fireworks since July 4th is quickly approaching. I thought I would consolidate the advice I received into this post, test it out, and then show the resulting photos from this weekend in a future post. Thank you to all who sent your suggestions! Feel free to add more to the comments.

• Use a tripod to keep the camera steady.
• Get to the display early to find the best vantage point.
• Consider having foreground or background elements in the image as they make the scene more interesting and add scale.
• Use manual focus and focus on an object close to where the fireworks will be set off from.
• Plan to take lots of photos and delete about 75% of them.
• Set shutter speed to “bulb” mode. This allows you to keep the shutter open while you press the button and the shutter won’t close until you release the button.
• Use a remote or cable release instead of the on-camera button to prevent camera shake.
• Open the shutter when the rocket starts it’s flight and close as the firework explodes so there is not a gaping black whole in the center of the firework. Should be about 2 seconds, but can range from 1/2 second to 5 seconds. Keep the shutter open longer to have multiple bursts in one image, but not too long or you’ll end up with “big blobs of light.”
• Most recommended setting the aperture to f/8, but the suggested range was anywhere from f/8-f/11.
• Set White Balance to Tungsten.
• Set ISO to 200.

One person recommended this page and which seems to have some good information: http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-fireworks

Have a very happy and safe Independence Day!

UPDATE: Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to photograph any fireworks this year. So, I’ll have to wait until next year to try out these techniques.

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By Jennifer, June 13, 2010 10:05 pm

Matt & Regina got married about a year ago. Since I am nearly 7 months pregnant now, it’s pretty difficult to shoot weddings this summer. So, Matt & Regina agreed to get all dressed up like it was their wedding all over again, and we did a photo shoot in Old Town Alexandria so I can build up my wedding portfolio. It was a fun time! We visited the farmer’s market, walked down King Street to the boating piers on the Potomac River, and stopped at some of the shops along the way. Regina and Matt were an adorable couple, and I wish them many years of happiness together! Below are some of my favorite photos from the morning. You can view the rest of the images here.

Matt & Regina

Regina

Matt & Regina

Matt & Regina

Regina

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By Jennifer, June 12, 2010 7:28 am

Last Saturday morning, I had the opportunity to be a part of my very first Loudoun Photo Club event. We photographed 8 different birds at the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia. Below are my favorite shots of each bird. You can view all the photos here.

Smoke Eastern Screech Owl (Grey Morph)

Fire Eastern Screech Owl (Red Morph)

LEO Long Eared Owl

Hipster Barred Owl

Hybrid Falcon (Peregrine x Merlin)

Fuzz Northern Saw-Whet Owl

Red Tailed Hawk

Lilli Silver Morph Gyrfalcon

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By Jennifer, June 10, 2010 10:38 pm

This week I photographed a beautiful home in Lovettsville, Virginia for a Realtor named Roger. It’s an amazing 3,400 square foot property on 10 acres of land in Loudoun County. Below are some of my favorite shots of the house. You can view the rest of the images here.

Master Bedroom

Sitting Room

Kitchen

Living Room

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By Jennifer, June 6, 2010 8:22 pm

This past weekend, I enjoyed an afternoon celebrating at my friend Megan’s bridal shower. It was a fun time! For more photos go here.

Megan Opening Gifts

Megan & Her Mom

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By Jennifer, May 31, 2010 10:34 pm

Tonight for dinner, Nick and I made lamb kabobs. They were delicious! Nick will post up the recipe on our personal blog, and I’ll update this post with the link once he’s done that. I hope the photos below make you drool! More photos are here.

Lamb Kabobs

Lamb Kabobs

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By Jennifer, May 21, 2010 8:51 pm

The home studio is now set up and Ruthie was my guinea pig of sorts allowing me to take her senior portraits in the new studio. We chose a blue background to match the senior portraits of her siblings. We also took some shots outside. The wooded area provided a nice, natural backdrop. You can view the rest of the photos here.

Ruth in the Studio

Ruth

Ruth Outside