First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage, Then...

... well then it is time for maternity pictures of course!

Gail and Brian are excitedly anticipating the birth of their first child, and I must confess that I have been waiting for this session ever since Gail told me that they were expecting.

We had such a great time using the grand staircase of their Bellefonte apartment building and their apartment, once again proving that you can use any location to create gorgeous pictures. Creating photographs is always a fun journey for me, but when I am blessed with a couple who are willing to try absolutely anything I suggest and who laugh and glow in each others presence, that journey becomes an adventure.

I am so honored to have had the chance to document this stage of the miracle and I can't wait to meet baby!

It was impossible to pick favorites from this session, Enjoy!

And Two Become One...

On Tuesday, December 29th, I drove to Bellefonte for what I expected to be a very different wedding. Well, the wedding was different, but not at all in the ways I expected.

Lauren and Mike chose to have a small wedding at the Bellefonte courthouse with a dinner reception following at the Gamble Mill. I ignorantly feared that since this wedding wasn't the traditional wedding I attend year round that I wouldn't have the same emotional connection that I normally have to the couple and the event. I couldn't have been more wrong.

This small gathering of only family and the closest friends welcomed me into the fold the moment I walked in the door. By the time Lauren stepped into her dress, I had tears pricking the corners of my eyes, and when the Judge pronounced them Husband and Wife in her small chambers there was not a dry eye in the room. This was the joining of not only two individuals, but two families who have pledged themselves to encourage and support this new couple as they walk the road of married life.

There were laughter, tears, and hugs abounding - leaving an impression on me that will not easily or quickly be forgotten.

These are just a few of my favorites from the night:

Generations

The holidays are wonderful in that they are one of the few times a year where we make a point to see family. Where all the generations trek over the river and through the woods to arrive at grandma's house, or Auntie Em's, or Uncle Bernie's.... well, maybe not. But still, holidays are one of the few times where multiple generations find themselves in one place at one time - and when that happens; it is time, dear readers, to take a photo.

"But Suzanne... aren't you a wedding photographer???"

Yes, dear reader, I am. I am a wedding photographer who also takes family photos, maternity photos, baby photos, etc... You'd be amazed at what locations can work for a variety of images - even in the middle of winter. Anything from your own living room (or that or a friend with a bigger living room), to a nice restaurant (just get permission first), to the location that the Andersons chose - a conference room at the Village. With a little bit of prior planning and an ounce of ingenuity; family photos that preserve the generations before they are gone will become something you DO, rather than something you wish you had done.