Monthly Archives: July 2009

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Tim & Lori ~ Thorpewood Retreat Center, Thurmont MD

Maryland Wedding Photographers

July 31, 2009 – 11:51 am

Jon & I photographed a wedding at the beautiful Thorpewood Retreat Center in Thurmont, MD this past week.  This venue is such a wonderful place to visit.  Not only do they host weddings in one of many beautiful locations throughout their 155-acre Catoctin Mountain retreat, but they also practice multiple self-sustainability concepts from their gray water system complete to the composting toilets!  Read more about their green practices here.   Not to mention that the proceeds from events held at the retreat go directly to their At Risk Youth Program.  It’s an amazing place, and I urge you to check it out!

Tim & Lori’s wedding was a special event, even with the rain that decided to come down on us right after the ceremony.   I wish it would have held out just a little bit longer, but everything went well anyway, and everyone had a great time!

Lori’s Maid of Honor put together the bouquets right before we left for the ceremony.

I love this shot… Lori’s so happy!!! I know it’s a bit blurry, but if you would have seen how DARK it was in there, you’d be impressed that even my prime lenses got this much detail :)

They didn’t have the kiss during the ceremony, so as soon as they got out from under the shelter, Tim asked “May I please kiss my wife now?!” Um, please do!!!

Thorpewood has their own caterer, Canapés, and I’ve heard they do a great job. But that is a TOTAL understatement! The meal was FABULOUS! I love food, and most weddings have decent meals, but this was simply outstanding. Plus, they use local, farm-raised & organic ingredients as much as possible, which you know I love about them :) They cater events outside of Thorpewood as well, so if you’re planning a wedding or other type of event, talk to them!!!

I love how the dance floor feels like it’s in the treetops… well, it kinda is actually!

Groom/Daughter dance

By Lori | Posted in green, weddings | Comments (1)

DC Photog Shootout

Washington, D.C. Wedding Photographer

July 13, 2009 – 4:20 pm

I recently met up with about 50 other photographers for a shootout that my friend, Armin, hosted in Old Town Alexandria.  These events are a great way for us to get out and away from our computers, and shoot, learn & network with other amazing photographers in the area.  I had lots of fun, and can’t wait until the next big one!  If you’re a photographer in the Shenandoah Valley, give me a shout about the upcoming Trash the Dress group shoot Robin Day & I are hosting VERY soon!!!

We had three great models, and an awesome make up artist, Crystal Jo.  She did my makeup for our wedding, and I LOVED it…  If you need a make up artist in the D.C. area, definitely get in touch with her!

Armin was teaching a group on tracking & panning. I felt sorry for all the runners & cyclists that turned the corner to find a zillion camera lenses on them!

Kimberly Brooke brought her ring flash for everyone to experiment with.

Kristie Blake & Tisha Mccuiston were taking lots of behind-the-scenes shots.

Thanks to Kristie Blake for this shot of some of us at the restaurant before going home.

By Lori | Posted in business news, personal | Comments (0)

Happy Independence Day!!!

July 4, 2009 – 11:59 pm

We had a great day today with family, and hope you did too!  We celebrated our independence by splashing in the pool, barbecuing, playing croquet, throwing some discs in Jon’s disc golf basket, playing with the puppies and the ferret, trying to outdo each other in Ninja Warrior on the swing set, hula-hooping, calling other family & friends, eating lots of bad food and of course: FIREWORKS!!!   Here’s a glimpse at our 4th of July :-)

By Lori | Posted in personal | Comments (0)

Kevin & Cathy ~ St. James & The George Washington Hotel

Charles Town, WV Wedding Photographer

July 4, 2009 – 2:43 pm

I had the rare pleasure of 2nd shooting two weeks in a row, which I haven’t done in quite a while! I love 2nd shooting for other photographers, because there’s not much post-production involved: I just show up, take pictures, do a rough edit, and hand it over to the main photographer to finish up! The first one was for Robin Day of Robin Day Photography in Charles Town, WV. Talk about personality, this girl is so fun to work with :-)  I shot her headshots a couple months ago, which reminds me that I’m still neglecting my blog of so many sessions that I haven’t posted yet. Maybe I should do another Blog-a-thon… we’ll see.

Kevin & Cathy’s wedding was so beautiful. Although I’m not Catholic, I LOVE Catholic ceremonies. For me, they bring an extra sense of romance and spirituality to the event. Plus, since most Catholic wedding ceremonies are pretty long, there’s great opportunities to get lots of pictures! The reception was at the always gorgeous George Washington Hotel in Winchester, VA. By the time we got there the sun was shining and everyone was having a great time celebrating the marriage of two wonderful people :-)

Enjoy the bigger pictures and different combos I’m testing out for the blog…

Since I was the 2nd shooter, I stayed with the guys while Robin was with the girls getting ready.

Kevin seeing his bride walk down the aisle.



This is actually the first time I’ve shot in St. James Catholic Church since they built this beautiful new location.






I stopped traffic while Robin was getting shots of the couple in front of the George Washington Hotel, but I managed to sneak in a few shots real quick.  I love how Robin posed them in this shot!

I let traffic flow again, and we headed back to the pocket garden of the hotel for some more romantic shots of the newlyweds.




The George Washington Hotel does a fantastic job at setting an elegant mood for a wedding…

Details!  I loved the colors of the cake, and it looked like it tasted fabulous!


Father/Daughter… so sweet  :-)

Mother/Son… just as sweet :-)

Kevin’s brother was his best man, and gave a great speech.

Cathy manages a great musician, Chris Merritt, and had him play during the last part of the reception.  He is super-talented, and I hope I get to hear more of him live.  Go check out his site here, and if you have a chance go see him this Thursday at The Red and The Black in DC.  I used to photograph lots of bands in the DC area, so it was fun to photograph another talented musician :)

And, of course I can’t forget about the wonderful videographers that Kevin & Cathy chose.  They had Kathy & Michigan Sunde of Split Pine Studios, which is who I chose for my wedding videographers as well!  They are so creative, and go well above the average boring wedding videos you used to see so much of (and still unfortunately do sometimes….)  It was great working with them again!  Here’s a shot of Michigan getting a unique perspective of Chris.

Thanks to Robin for having me shoot with her, and thanks to Kevin & Cathy for a wonderful time!


By Lori | Posted in weddings | Comments (0)