I've been so fortunate as of late to receive a few professional requests for my services as a photographer.  My portfolio is growing and I'm thinking about starting a minimal website to reach out to prospective clients in the Northeast Ohio and Western Pennyslvania areas.  It's quite exciting, and proves to Phil that this isn't just a passing hobby.  You know what that means… lens shopping, baby!

Last weekend, I got to meet a new baby, and get ready for a new baby.  I'm quickly becoming surrounded by infants and small children.  Not quite sure how I feel about that, as I'm sure the "When are you having children?" questions will begin multiplying innumerably.

My cousin Katie is very pregnant right now, and as a gift to her, I photographed her baby shower and took lots of 8 month photos.

And to make things even sillier, when I walked into church (late) on Sunday, there were three pregnant women standing and talking in the doorway!  If this is a sign from God, I think I'll wait a few years before thinking too much about it.

I don't think I mentioned this in my last post of photos from this wedding, but I had quite a few challenges in photographing the event.  Most of the time I spent in the church basement with the girls, taking shots of them getting ready.  Flourescent lighting, blue walls, and blue carpet were challenge one, two, and three.  But I really appreciated the random old upright piano in the corner of the basement.

While editing my photos, I messed around with applying various color layers and textures to the pictures, which helps reduce that flurescent light basement look.

The next challenge was the mix of incandescent and natural lighting in the sanctuary during the ceremony.  It would make for an odd mixture of warm and cool tones in a single shot.  But I still ended up with some shots that worked out after editing.

This next photo was my favorite capture from the ceremony.

The next challenge was the weather.  It began pouring during the ceremony, and I, of course, forgot to bring my super cool clear umbrella.  Fortunately, the church had a front porch, so while I stood in the rain taking pictures, the bridal party was safe and dry at the front of the church.

The wedding took place at a small New York town, where we were able to find cute storefronts with covered porches.

All the while, it was raining outside.

The last and most frustrating challenge of the day was my camera equipment, or lack thereof.  I was working with two f1.8 lenses, which is great for low light, but not great for hardly any light.  Which is what I was dealing with at the reception.  I had no external flash to speak of (working on that right now!), and I really wished I had just splurged and bought that 50mm f1.2 lens I've been eyeing for the past few months.  It would've helped out greatly.
But, I'm still very encouraged about the shots my other cameras (Kyle and Jera) got during the dancing, and I can't wait to see theirs!

There are hundreds more pictures I would love to share with you, but it's just an awful lot to post on the blog, and I'm sure most of you appreciate me limiting the photos I post here.  Hopefully I can share another wedding sometime soon!  I'm accepting new events, and already have two weddings booked for next summer!