Terrible Twos???

My niece turned two today...and I can't believe how quickly she is growing up. Seems like yesterday that she was just learning to crawl...now she dances when she hears a good song on the radio (I use "dances" very loosely). But the good news is that it appears she is a fan of the Raconteurs. Anyway...my brother and his wife had people over on Sunday to celebrate and of course I brought my camera. Here is the homemade cake:


She really enjoyed the cake...


One of the gifts was a baby doll that actually makes sounds when you feed it...she was fascinated.


It was really funny that she took an interest in the cards almost as much as the gifts:


Last but not least...here she is relaxing on the back deck with bun buns...her favorite bunny:


I have some images from a wedding I did with Matt M. the other weekend that I need to post and am helping out with another one this weekend, so there should be some more wedding images soon.

Back to Weddings

It's been a while since I did a wedding post, so it's about time I get back to them, since I have a few to catch up on and one coming up next weekend. About a month ago I helped Matt M. with a wedding at the Woodend Nature Sanctuary in Chevy Chase. It was raining off and on throughout the day...and the ceremony was to be held outside. Fortunately the bride and groom (Emily and Jay) were really laid back people and just went with the flow. It was a pretty tough wedding to shoot, but was probably the most enjoyable, because Emily and Jay, and all the other guests were such nice people and were just happy to be together and celebrating the marriage. Here is a shot of some deer that I noticed as we were walking to the ceremony site...I didn't notice when I took the picture but there is a fawn right under the doe (click the picture to see the larger version):
The rain held off (for the most part) just long enough for the ceremony:Not only was there rain throughout the day, but it was also rather warm in the mansion...here is a shot of Emily cooling off by the fan (Matt M. and I parked ourselves in front of this fan quite a few times too!). You can see a similar (much better actually) shot that Matt M. took of this on his blog

Hopefully I'll have time this week to put up some pics of another one of the weddings I did with Matt M recently.

Matt.

Quick Post

I haven't been keeping up with the blog much lately (haven't posted any of the wedding images that I have done...but maybe soon if I have time)...but here are a couple shots from this weekends BBQ at my brothers house.

Allison enjoying the baby pool:
Here is a quick shot I took in between grilling...noticed some nice light and grabbed Anne, Kevin and Jacob (next time we'll take a little more time and maybe even lose the baby bottles...oh well):

Gone Fishing

Last Tuesday something happened that hasn't happened in a while...Karin and I realized that neither of us had plans for the upcoming weekend (our original plans had been canceled earlier that day). This is pretty rare, so we decided to take advantage of it and take a quick trip out of town. After some research and debating on where to go, we decided on taking a trip to Bath County...where I used to go camping/fly fishing on the Jackson River. Instead of roughing it we booked a room in the Hidden Valley bed and breakfast...right by the Jackson. After a four hour drive we arrived and met Pam and Ron the owners of the bed and breakfast, they gave us a quick tour, advice on where to get dinner and when the best times would be to go fishing. Long story short (too late), we had a great weekend with no tv, no cell phone reception, lots of fishing, a trip to the pools at warm springs (which produce 1200 gallons of 98 degree water every hour) and really interesting conversations with Pam and Ron about the history of the mansion (known as the Warwick....http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/warmsprings/cultural_history/index.shtml) and his tour in Iraq.
The first morning we woke to the rooster and fresh mountain air:
The warm springs bath house:
Karin fishing the Jackson: After fishing we relaxed on the front porch with Ron, Pam and their dog Sammy and talked about Ron's tour in Iraq. They are both really good people. If you like fly fishing, and the country, I can't think of a better getaway...and if you really want to spoil yourself, the Homestead is right down the road.

Life's a beach...

Another year and another family vacation at the beach...although this time was slightly different. Over the last year there were two weddings...my sisters a little over a month ago and mine in November. So we had 4 married couples and Allison...who is obviously my favorite person to take pictures of. Here are a couple shots from the trip...surprise surprise...they are all of her.

I got a castle in Brooklyn...that's where I dwell...

Ok, that's not true...I don't have a castle in Brooklyn and I don't even live in NYC (and I'm not the 4th Beastie Boy)...but we did spend the last weekend celebrating Lisa and Marc's wedding in a castle in Tarrytown, not too far from Brooklyn. We were all a little nervous when it rained all day Friday, but Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day (it started raining on Sunday again...good timing). This time I wasn't the photographer...I was actually in the wedding. It's been a while since I went to a wedding without being one of the photographers, although I did bring my camera to take a few pictures (the property was just too nice not to). Lisa and Marc chose Gulnara for their photographer...she was just named one of the top 100 photographers by the Wedding Photojournalist Association so I'm really looking forward to seeing shots from the day (she said they might be up in a week or so on http://gulnarablog.com/). It was fun to talk with Gulnara and her associate Maria, and see some really good photographers at work.

Here is Marc multi-tasking while we enjoyed a pre-ceremony drink at the castle bar:
The proud parents of the bride:
Claire, the flower girl and Oliver the ring bearer where really cute:
The first dance...this may be one of my favorite shots I have taken of a first dance:
Mr. Toth and Lisa for the father/daughter dance:
After some dancing and a few drinks Marc serenaded Lisa with "Everlasting Love"...it was great:



Last few pics are of everyone just having a good time...which we all did. Marc and Lisa, if you read this, I hope you are having a blast in Thailand!

Matt

Breakfast with some old friends

One of my closest friends also lives down in the Pinehurst area (very close to Duff and my sister). Matt (yes another Matt) and I have been friends since 4th grade. He and his wife Linn and their son Logan met Karin and I out for breakfast on the Sunday of my sisters wedding weekend. We got to catch up over a good breakfast and then got a tour of their house. We tried to get a some shots of the family, but Logan wasn't really in the mood to be photographed...still got a few though.

Next time we visit (hopefully soon) after doing some fishing, we'll get some better shots (I promise Mrs. Clark!!!)

Introducing Mrs. Rebecca Meyer

Ladies and gentlemen...boys and girls, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the last of the Lisacks is officially off the market. The other weekend I had the pleasure of shooting my younger sister's wedding in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Rebecca and Duff met while they were both assistant coaches at JMU, she the women's soccer assistant and he the men's golf assistant. They both decided to leave college coaching and move down to Pinehurt a few years ago.

The wedding was on Friday night, the weather was perfect (we even had a chance play Pinehurst #6 that morning...don't ask me what I shot...) and everything went off without a hitch. Here are a few shots from the day. Getting ready at the Carolina Hotel:
The wedding was held at Sacred Heart Church...the proud father and the bride:We were able to find some nice light around the Carolina Hotel for the family and portrait shots:Here is Allison sharing the pine needles that she found...such a giver:Rebecca and Duff decided it would be fun to have Duff's nieces cut the wedding cake, so they wheeled the cake onto the dance floor and let the girls cut away. It was really cute, they delivered the first pieces to the bride and groom.
I have to give a special thanks to Duff's friend Tom for taking my camera off my hands and making sure that I was in a few of the shots. My Uncle Stan, brother, and Catherine all stepped up to the plate as well to take a few shots to prove that I really was there...thanks guys I really appreciated it!At the end of the night it was time to relax: I had a blast shooting the wedding and can't wait to get back down to Pinehurst to visit again.

Sneak Peek

It may seem like I have been slacking lately...I still haven't posted images from my last two weddings that I assisted Matt M. with, but things have been busy. I shot my sister's wedding last weekend in Pinehurst NC (of course we fit a round of golf in)...so I have been going through the pictures the last two nights and should have some up in the next day or two...but I figured I would post this one that I was working on last night (remember to click on the pic to see the full size).

More to come soon.

A Quick Preview

I have not had time to get any new pics up lately (still recovering from our trip to San Antonio for the Final Four)...still need to get one of my memory cards back from Matt M...but in the mean time you can see a few shots that I took at the last two weddings on Matt Mendelsohns blog...he used some of my shots:


http://www.mattmendelsohn.net/matt-mendelsohns-dark-slide/2008/4/15/evermay-times-two.html


http://www.mattmendelsohn.net/matt-mendelsohns-dark-slide/2008/4/4/back-in-the-saddle.html


Just so I have at least one shot in this post, here is one shot that I took on the way to the wedding near Delaplane, Virginia:

Jacob Hammond

This past Saturday I helped Matt M. with another wedding. The ceremony was at Ft Myer in Arlington and the reception was near Front Royal...so it was about a 45 mile drive...but we had good weather and I was able to stop by and meet Anne and Kevin's baby on the way to the reception (while Matt M. went around DC with the couple to get pictures) so it worked out great. Here are a couple quick pictures I took while I was there:

The pictures from the wedding should be up soon.