Senior Session

Today we had so much fun doing another fabulous senior session. We headed into downtown Coatesville, searching for a more urban look. We found so many great spots, we can't wait to go there again. Thanks for a great time, we can't wait to show you the rest!

There are a couple more images in the Portrait Moments "seniors" on our website.

David's Drive

Last Monday Neville had the opportunity to donate a day's work on behalf of a fundraiser called David's Drive. This was the inaugural event to commemorate the life of David Strauss, a psychologist who dedicated his life to enhancing the lives of people with brain injuries. He co-founded a company called ReMed, located in Paoli. ReMed provides therapy and supported living services for over 100 clients striving to live a normalized life with their brain injuries. David passed away a couple of years ago after a year-long battle with a brain tumor. This was the same type of brain tumor that Lori's father passed away from five years ago. The fundraiser benefitted a new organization called the Council on Brain Injury (CoBI). The CoBI is a not-for-profit organization supported by ReMed who's mission is to support efforts across the brain injury spectrum that help individuals with brain injury and their families return to living their lives as fully as possible.

David's Drive was attended by over 100 golfers and many volunteers from ReMed. It was a gorgeous day in the 70's. Everyone had a lot of fun golfing with friends and collegues. The usual contests were held such as hole-in-one holes, longest drives, and straightest shots. After the golfing was over a reception was held to honor a couple of other people who have contributed to the awareness and treatment of brain injuries. The first was Keith Primeau, retired captain of the Philadelphia Flyers. He suffered a concussion early in the 2005 NHL season and has been dealing with symptoms since then. He has been working to raise awareness of head injury within youth sports programs and the impact it has on kid's lives. The second award was presented to Dr. Keith Robinson, recognizing his work as a physician for people with brain injuries. He is currently heading up the the program at the VA in Philadelphia for treatment of the soldiers returning from Iraq with head injuries.

This was truly a wonderful event, benefitting a great cause. Neville was blessed to be a part of the event.

Schedule your beach portrait session

We are planning to head to the beach next weekend, Sept. 28-30 for a round of golf with Lori's aunt and uncle and for an engagement session. We thought we'd post ahead of time in case there is someone out there who has been hankering to do a beach portrait session. . . now is the time! Give us a call and we'll see what we can schedule in. We'll be in the Atlantic City area.

Tara and Jeff get married

Last weekend we had a lot of fun working with Tara & Jeff and their families! The weather called for showers all morning with clearing in the afternoon. The problem was, we had planned to do all our photography in the morning before the ceremony!! Well, as we drove down to Wilmington, we were thrilled to see the skies clearing sooner than expected!! We first spent some time with Tara and the girls getting ready at Tara's grandmother's house. We then went to Alapocas Run Park where we set up Tara and Jeff's "first sight". We always love doing a "first sight" before the ceremony because its always filled with such emotion and gives couples time to enjoy being with each other. This day was no exception! We then went into having fun with Tara, Jeff and their bridal party - everyone was so easy to work with. We especially had fun with the guys under one of the bridges - they were looking pretty cool!! We finished off with Tara and Jeff before heading to St. Hedwig's Catholic Church in Wilmington for the service. What an absolutely beautiful church this was! After the service, we picked up some family photos before heading over to Waterfall Banquets for the reception. Jeff used to be a DJ a few years back, so he had one of his friends take care of the music for the night. We must say - this was one fun dance group!! Jeff even got behind the table and spun some music! What a blast the reception was! We wish Tara and Jeff a wonderful honeymoon!

We love finding great light!! This image above was lit from a skylight in the bathroom!! The shower curtain was our backdrop!! You never know where you can find amazing opportunities!!

Don't forget to check out the recent moments gallery on our website for more details.

Comment on Neville's Post

So a few posts below, unknown by me, Neville posted our wedding picture and one from when we first met. When I returned home from my trip with the girls, I opened up our blog to see where we were at with our postings and couldn't believe my eyes. I immediately teared up, realizing what my wonderful husband had done.

So a word of advice to all you wonderful newly married couples. . . after 12 years of marriage, continue to let one another know how special each other is, I'm still smiling about that post!

Mary Ellen & David Engagement

Well, we got our wish, and returned to Valley Forge Park, hurray! This time with Mary Ellen and David. We headed there for 5:30pm to catch the light at our favorite time of day for lighting. They are one fun couple who just enjoy laughing with one another. And once again, they gave us complete freedom to do and suggest anything we wanted - we love that! They're wedding is coming up soon and we can't wait. They are going to be too much fun, and Mary Ellen and going to make a lovely bride!

Sarah and Johnny get married!

Saturday was the wedding of Sarah and Johnny. They are so special to us for so many reasons. We have known Sarah since she was in 6th grade when she was part of the very first youth group where we were leaders (and newlyweds), she has lovingly cared for our children over the years along with her sister Becca, she's Becca's sister (see Becca and Brian get married)!, Johnny is just one terrific guy, and we think so highly of her parents. As a result, it was difficult to maintain my composure during the day as the little girl we once knew has turned into a beautiful bride and wife.

The day was filled with such emotion and joy. We started off at Extended Stay America with Sarah for the getting ready fun and then headed over to Frazer Mennonite Church to meet up with the guys who were more than willing to become our "boy band" for a little while. It is so much fun for us when the guys totally get into the photography. And music to our ears when we overheard one say at the end "that was fun!"

Next was the service that was beautifully thought through, including the message and vows performed by Johnny's father. They also included a foot washing ceremony during the service which we had never witnessed during a wedding. Tears definitely rolled down my face on that!

After the family formals, we headed to Radley Run Country Club. We had never been there before and it is certainly a location we want to go back to! So many interesting and unique places - we could have spent hours moving around to different locations! Just like the service, Johnny and Sarah put a lot of thought into the reception and chose to have a non-dancing reception, aside from a lovely first dance and parent dances (which caused more tears to flow). The toasts were full of kind and special words, and there was much enjoyment among the guests mingling with one another.

We didn't know it, but apparently our assigned table was with the parent's of the bride. When we found that out, that just pulled on our heart strings - what a special place of honor for us... sorry we didn't sit there Paula and Larry!!!

We wish you a beautiful marriage Sarah and Johnny and we look forward to watching the two of you grow together as a married couple.

As always - please visit the Recent Moments Gallery on our website to see more images.

Susan and Taylor Engagement

Last night we had a wonderful time with Susan and Taylor for their engagement session. They chose Valley Forge Park for the location and we had an absolute blast there. We've been there in the past for wedding photography, but not an engagement session... we'll be returning! What a wonderful location with lots of variety and fun stuff. We had so much fun with these two, such easy going personalities and they truly care for one another. We just love that we get to be a part of so many wonderful love stories, and get to capture the special way couples interact and look at each other.

We discovered it really is a small world. Susan had found us independently through a google search to then find out their coworker, Johnny, is none other than Johnny, of Johnny and Sarah, whose wedding we will be photographing this weekend!

Thanks Susan and Taylor, we can't wait for your wedding next summer. We are going to have too much fun!

Our Anniversary - Part 2

Lori has been out of town this week with the girls while I've been holding down the fort and doing my best to manage the many tasks Lori covers so well on a daily basis. I am amazed at how much work Lori gets done and am so thankful for our partnership in life and with our business!

If you've read below, we just celebrated our 12th anniversary. In light of that, being on my own this week, and missing my wife and kids, I got to looking through some old albums as I wandered down memory lane. I thought it would be fun to post a couple of images I found!!

We officially met at Ontario Pioneer Camp in Canada in 1987, but didn't really begin our friendship until 1988. The first photo is from that summer of 1988 - when everything got started for us!! The second photo is from our wedding day in 1995. The reality of getting older is becoming very evident in our lives and I can't believe we've known each other for over 1/2 our lives!!

As Lori has also been the master of our blog, I am entering new territory here in trying to make this post with images - I hope I get it right!! (I can't wait until Lori and the girls get home!)

Our Anniversary

We just wanted to share that we just celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary yesterday. How quickly the time has gone by, we can't believe we've know each other for 20 years now! It's fun to think back to the days fantasizing what life would be like for us as a married couple. 3 children later, here we are just loving being together. We celebrated by sending 2 of our 3 kids to Grandma's and getting a babysitter for the 3rd! We went out to dinner and then to the movies to watch Becoming Jane - it was fabulous!

Christine & Kevin get married

What a great time we had on Saturday at the wedding of Christine and Kevin. We started off in Springfield at Christine's parent's home for the getting ready. Christine's mom made all the dresses, including Christine's wedding dress. To my delight, the gown was hanging in the sewing room waiting for me to play with some detail shots. After we completely re-arranged the furniture in the house to really make use of some beautiful natural light, we headed down the street to Kevin's house where the boys were hanging out. We were so excited to meet up there with the guys and Kevin sure knows how to decorate! We had a blast utilizing these surroundings and keeping it light and fun.

Next stop was St. Matthews Lutheran Church which was another short trot down the road. What a pretty church it was, nice and bright. Most memorable moment for me was the sticky note stating "enjoy" that the pastor had written out for Christine and Kevin. After doing most of the formals at the church, it was time to head downtown.

A year ago, Christine and Kevin had expressed interest in doing their photography at the steps of the art museum. Since that time, the museum has begun a significant construction project and is completely covered in scaffolding. We did know this a head of time, and Christine and Kevin know how we love a challenge so we still went! And what a blast we had. A big thank you to you two for giving us so much creative freedom!

Our final stop was at the Ballroom at the Ben for a beautiful reception. The setting was completely opposite the scaffolding and gates we had just been at, so it was fun to spend some time doing some more imagery before the party started - and what a party it was! Over the year that we have gotten to know Christine and Kevin, we know they love to laugh and they surround themselves with people who like to also. What fun for us!

Thank you Christine and Kevin for making our job so enjoyable and fun! We wish you a wonderful marriage and fun honeymoon!





Don't forget to check out the recent moments gallery on our website for more images from their day.

Family Fun at the Farm

We got to go back to another favorite spot of ours, Springton Manor Farm, with one of our favorite families: our babysitters! We waited until early evening and had great light to work with. We brought all 3 girls with us and they had a blast running around while we occasionally could be heard saying "get behind mommy and daddy!" Too much fun and lots of laughs - thanks guys!

Lisa & Michael get married

What a wonderful time we had with Lisa, Michael and their families! Such joy and laughter filled the day. Everything was held at Villanova Conference Center which is a beautiful setting. Lisa and Michael got ready there so Lori got to have fun with the girls while Neville hung out with the boys. Lisa's mom actually did her make-up! Once all the preparations were complete, Lisa and Michael wanted to see each other and do all the photography ahead of time - which we love when that happens. We found a private setting for their first glance of one another and once we all dried our eyes (yes, even Lori!) we spent some time doing images with them, their bridal party and family. The outdoor ceremony started at 6pm. They had designed their programs into fans - quite clever - and most were put to use on this hot day! Because all the formal photography was done ahead of time, Lisa and Michael got to enjoy the entire cocktail hour and mingled with everyone. The reception was a blast, again filled with lots of emotion including tears and laughter - all the stuff we live for! Lisa and Michael shared their thanks to all the guests, parents gave welcomes and toasts, best man gave a toast, and Lisa's sister Dana share a lovely song, which, once again caused the tears to roll (yes, Lori too!)

Thank you Lisa and Michael for such a wonderful day. We wish you a lifetime of joy and may the happy tears continue to flow for you.





Don't forget to check out more images on the recent moments gallery of the website.

Becca & Brian get married

Vacation has ended, but we are still having fun because we got to spend the day with Becca and Brian! We have known Becca since she was in 7th grade (we were her junior high youth group leaders) and we have enjoyed watching her grow into a beautiful young woman. She has now married the love of her life, Brian, who get 2 thumbs up from us (isn't it great that the photographers get to give their stamp of approval!?)

Our day started off at Extended Stay America for the finishing touches with the girls. We had initially planned on doing the photography there, but the weather report was calling for thunderstorms all day. If it wasn't storming, it would be raining, if it wasn't raining it would be "steamy and tropical". Well, it turned out that the only part of the weather report that was accurate was the steamy and tropical part but everyone was thrilled because Becca and Brian dreamt of their photography outdoors. Anyhow, we ended up making a quick trip with the girls to a park across the street, thinking it may be the only time to get outdoor shots.

Next we headed over to the church, Frazer Mennonite, to meet up with the guys and get ready for the ceremony. The ceremony was beautiful, with a lot of thought put in to it by Becca and Brian. There were lovely tears between Becca and Brian and I caught Becca's sister Sarah holding back, which in turn, caused me to get all choked up - ahh, I love the variety of emotions experienced on wedding days.

The reception was held at People's Light and Theatre at the Farmhouse which was a beautiful setting to continue with the celebration. Lovely toasts were given, and we witnessed a really nice touch of lighting candles during the speeches. What a wonderful day it was. Thank you Becca and Brian for inviting us to share in this day with you. We wish you a wonderful honeymoon and we are so glad you'll remain a part of our lives!






Stay tuned for Becca's sister's wedding in 5 weeks!

We're back!

The office was closed because we were on VACATION! We have just enjoyed a wonderful 2 weeks off and are feeling refreshed and relaxed. The first week was spent with our fabulous children where we headed north to Neville's homeland (Canada) and enjoyed some rustic living. Here is just a glimpse of what we encountered on our trip:

I can't even begin to tell you how large that creature was (which decided to land on Lori's shoulder and yes, screams were heard miles away).

Part of our second week was spending 3 days at a photography workshop by the fabulous Australian photographer, David Williams. We really enjoyed our time at the workshop and also having some time for just us as well. Here is Neville and David:

We are really excited to head back in to the second part of the year.