A few years ago when I was first officially starting my photography business Emily along with her mom and sister came to me for some portraits. We had such a great time that evening, and even though I was very nervous we got some beautiful portraits of mom and her sweet daughters. To this day they are some of my favorites, and hang in my studio space! I appreciated, and still do, the confidence that Cathy (Emily's mom) had in me.

So, when they came back to me for Emily's senior portraits I was just humbled and very happy for another opportunity to photograph this family again! Cathy had sent me the cutest photo of Emily when she was just a little tyke, and with her permission is allowing me to share it here! What a cutie, and what a personality!

Emily is such a sweet young woman, and full of spunk, too! The day was gorgeous as we walked through the park taking her pictures in just about every spot imaginable! I enjoyed my conversations with mom and daughter just talking about, well, just about everything! School, senior year, future plans, college, swimming, goofing off, the best light.....yep just about everything! We laughed and had lots of fun, and Emily was just stunning in her blue jeans and red converse tennis shoes! No nerves in this session, just good fun picture taking and we got some great ones!

Emily, we wish you the best, and hope you enjoy your senior year to its fullest! Look forward to your future; God's got a great big plan for you!  Oh, and kick butt in Latin! ;)

2013-11-07_0007 2013-11-07_0008 2013-11-07_0009 2013-11-07_0006

With fall in the air, and the vibrant colors here in Northern Virginia to go along with it makes a wonderful time for outdoor family portraits. I know Robin through church and our women's bible study, and when she asked me to photograph her family and at their home it just made me smile inside. I remember a time when I had my daughter's pictures made, and the photographer came to our home. That was several years ago, and to this day when I look at those pictures it reminds me that these were "taken at our HOME"...what a wonderful sentimental feeling! I hope that in the years to come when Robin looks at her family's pictures she will get that same sentimental feeling that I have with my own family pictures. Thanks, Robin for giving me the opportunity to capture some memories for you and your wonderful family!

2013-11-07_0001 2013-11-07_0002 2013-11-07_0003 2013-11-07_0004

As some of you know, I love to photograph kids, and at the end of a session I will usually let them take a few pictures of their family members as I help them hold the camera. They always look forward to this, and sweet little Emily was eager to have a shot at it. She did pretty good, don't you think!? 2013-11-07_0005

I posted a picture earlier this week to my Facebook page about these two people that are very close to heart. They are my daughter and mom-in-law. And I hate to use the description to describe my husband's mother because of the negative stereotype we as a culture seem to have attached to that name. These two gals are near and dear to me, and I love them bunches!

My daughter wanted to do a photo session with her Gramma Boo, and she wanted this style. We had a lot of fun trying to find the right spot in the yard, the right light, and so on. It was a good thing that my daughter was there to direct things sort of, as I was too preoccupied observing their interactions with one another. I don't think they realized just how much this moment was touching my heart.

Gramma Boo and Kristen have always been close. When my daughter was little she would refer to her grandmother as her buddy, and missed her terribly when she would have to leave to go home from a visit. My daughter is a grown young woman now, and when Gramma comes to visit Kristen is always over here visiting as much as she can, taking her gramma out on shopping excursions, lunches, and so on.

As I sat down to edit these pictures little did I know that it would be some of the hardest pictures that I have ever edited! I was crying my eyes out just looking at them and their expressions. It is such a tender thing. It even made me think back to my own grandmothers and how much I loved them, and still do even though they have gone on home to the Lord.

Time flies! Enjoy each moment. We sure did this day!

2013-10-30_0001 2013-10-30_0002

Ben and Carly are some of the sweetest people that I have met, and what a great day they had for their wedding. As a lot of you know we have had a lot of rain in our area recently, and I mean A LOT! There were also a lot of other issues going on in our area, and you may have caught a glimpse of this on the news or airwaves; the Trucker's Ride for the Constitution, protesters in DC regarding the closing of our National Parks, protesters in DC over the government shutdown, and on. A lot of things could have jammed up their wedding day, but it didn't! All the guests seemed to be able to get there, even the guests coming from New York. The rain stopped for Carly's dream wedding to come true; an outdoor ceremony overlooking the Belmont Bay at Osprey's Landing in Woodbridge, Va http://ospreysgolf.com/, which by the way is a BEAUTIFUL place to have your wedding! Not only is it gorgeous, but the staff are PHENOMINAL!! Thank you Hunter and Brittany for everything you did to make this day run smoothly for these sweet people.

The day was overcast with a little misting here and there. Then right before their ceremony was to begin it POURED! Carly made the call to wait 15 minutes before pulling everything inside for indoor services to see if the rain would stop. I can tell you LOTS of prayers were going up to please hold off the rain for this couple to get married outside. Well, as you can see from the pictures our prayers were answered, and then some. Not only did the rain stop long enough for the ceremony, it held off for outdoor pictures at all of the locations that Ben and Carly wanted. When we got back inside it began to mist, and rain a little, and so on. Before we left it stopped again just long enough to get the night venue shot with Ben and Carly, and on our way home it misted yet again. What a perfect day!

Even if it had rained I don't think anything could have spoiled the joy in these two people's hearts as they celebrated with their family and friends. You could see and feel the closeness that this family shares with one another, and it was a pleasure to witness such love. Carly was beautiful, Ben was handsome, and their lighthearted natures led to some fun moments in their wedding day; particularly during the ceremony.

Congrats to the both of you; we wish you many years of blessings as you start your married life together! 

2013-10-15_0001 2013-10-15_0004 2013-10-15_0003 2013-10-15_0006 2013-10-15_0015 2013-10-15_0007 2013-10-15_0008 2013-10-15_0009 2013-10-15_0010 2013-10-15_0011 2013-10-15_0012 2013-10-15_0013 2013-10-15_0014 2013-10-15_0017 2013-10-16_0001 2013-10-16_0002 2013-10-15_0005 2013-10-15_0018 2013-10-15_0019 2013-10-15_0002 2013-10-15_0016 2013-10-15_0020 2013-10-15_0021 2013-10-15_0022 2013-10-15_0023 2013-10-15_0024 2013-10-15_0025 2013-10-15_0026 2013-10-15_0027 2013-10-15_0028 2013-10-16_0003 2013-10-16_0004

For many years now I have had the pleasure of photographing high speed action shots at my son's baseball games. I have learned to anticipate where the plays might actually occur, and have trained my camera eye to follow the ball. When you are looking through the lens at a ball off the bat coming at you full speed you learn to get out of the way, and very quickly. In years of photographing I have never once been bashed by a baseball, and a quite proud that I have developed a quick get out of the way reflex when that ball is coming in to cause impending pain.

Today that changed. Facing double headers for the day I photograhed the first game without incident and got some really cool shots that I am sharing with you here in this blog. I decided to sit down and watch the second game with the parents and my friends and let my husband photo the second game because I  had bashed my toe earlier that morning in my rush to get ready for the game, and it was quite swollen, possibly broken, and it hurt! So, I am watching my son pitch and talking with friends at the same time when all of the sudden a foul ball is hit and everyone is yelling "watch out"! When I finally realized what was going on it was too late, and I got bashed right on the top of my head with a flying baseball.

So, from now on I will be looking through the lens for those nasty speed demons that inflict horrible pain! My reflexes are dysfuntional without my camera planted firmly against my face and eye!

Enjoy the pics!

2013-10-06_0001 2013-10-06_0002 2013-10-06_0003 2013-10-06_0004 2013-10-06_0005

My son recently attended his first high school dance with a group of his friends. The process leading up to the event was quite a different experience than what I had with my daughter when she was this age...maybe it's a boy thing, and that boy being a young 15 years old, and that boy just not into details like us gals are...I think you moms out there know what I am getting at! It left me "wondering" what the heck was going to happen for the weekend homecoming dance. I am also wondering if this is any indication of how the next four years might go down?? According to my husband's mom it is.

As I tried to explain to the boy proper etiquette when asking a girl to the dance, he acted as if he would rather have is eyes poked out with needles than to hear "old fogey" advice coming from his dear sweet mom. So I just exercised my parental rights and tortured him! 

The night of the dance I was relieved that I was not the only mom of a boy who didn't have a clue, and a few of us discussed how things were going to be different next time around. I wonder if it will be so? I at least hope so!

As we waited for the lovely young ladies to arrive we watched our young men as they anticipated the arrival of their dates for group pictures. I think us moms enjoyed just watching our boys being dressed up and looking like young men. Never mind they were tossing footballs, and running after each other trying to tackle in their fine apparel, they just looked good for the moment.

When the girls arrived they were all smiles and just lovely! The moms were all smiles too! I remember those days, when your daughter was getting ready for the dance and just how lovely, and "girly" the whole thing was. I hope these moms had some of those moments with their daughters.

It was fun watching the guys and gals interact with one another, and I was hoping that my advice given to my son was paying off; at least I hoped so. I would like to think he didn't go through all that pain for nothing! As I watched these kids it reminded me of a show that maybe some of you had watched several years ago. It was called "The Wonder Years" ,starring Fred Savage. I loved to watch "Kevin and Winnie" as they experienced the awkwardness of growing up and having a crush on each other while denying it at the same time. We all were there at one time in our lives. Now that I am a parent I have watched this in my own kids as they grow up, and it brings smiles as they learn to deal with this new experience in their lives. Sometimes it brings a case of the nerves!

Anyway, this can be a wonderful time in a person's life, and it looks like this bunch of kids were just having a ball! I hope they have many happy moments in their high school years, and minus the heartaches....get ready moms and dads....you know it's coming!

2013-09-30_0002 2013-09-30_0001 2013-09-30_0003 2013-09-30_0004 2013-09-30_0005

Recently Dave and I traveled to Charleston AFB, SC to attend the Twenty Year Anniversary of the C-17 program, and to observe the delivery of the last aircraft. This was a very special event for us, and especially for Dave and his flying buddies. Twenty years ago (yikes!) there was a lot of buzz in the air over this new program, this new plane that was coming into the Air Force, and initially to Charleston. I knew it had to be special when they rolled out the red carpet (so to speak), invited the families to a picnic to discuss this new latest and greatest aircraft.

As the military personnel scurried around that day talking with one another I remember seeing and hearing the excitement in their faces as they talked about this incredible plane. Part of the reason for having us spouses there was to share with us the excitement, but being the "seasoned" military spouse that I was I couldn't help but pick up the subliminal messages of "your husband is going to be gone a whole lot more than you ever experienced if he flies this airplane". I knew, and it was ok, even though if I have to confess now I wasn't all that thrilled of him being gone even MORE! I was ok with it for a lot of reasons; I am a proud American - born and raised in a military family, I love the military and the people who serve, and mostly, I love my husband and I could see the excitement in his own face as he was anticipating this experience of a lifetime, and how could I not be happy to see him happy!? There are lots of other reasons, but those are the biggies. So we embarked on this adventure together, and twenty years has come and gone.  There is a song out there that has the words, "don't blink....years go by faster than you think". Well, it certainly has, and what a twenty years it has been!

In honorable fashion, the carpet was rolled out for the delivery of this last aircraft, and with much military pomp and circumstance that I just dearly love. There is great respect and honor displayed at a military base for flag, country, and fellow service members. I hope you can see some of this in my pictures.

These service people have my admiration. I have seen the military transform people's lives for the better, and they have become someone they thought they never could be. While it's not so easy being in the military at times, especially in times of war, it is a very honorable profession to be in.  It is great thing to be a part of the military family. The bonds of friendship that you make with people will last a lifetime.

Enjoy the pictures of the Twentieth Anniversary of the C-17.

2013-09-16_0001 2013-09-16_0002 2013-09-16_0004 2013-09-16_0003 2013-09-16_0005 2013-09-16_0006 2013-09-16_0007 2013-09-16_0008 2013-09-16_0009 2013-09-16_0010 2013-09-16_0011 2013-09-16_0012 2013-09-16_0013 2013-09-16_0014 2013-09-16_0015 2013-09-16_0016

Because my family live along the Crystal Coast of North Carolina, we get there as often as we can to visit. We also will do photo sessions there, and the beach is one of our favorite places to go. This past summer Dave & I had such fun photographing my sweet niece, Brooke for her senior portraits. The late afternoon on the beach was perfect, even though it was very windy! If you are planning a visit to my stomping grounds here's a link to get you started! http://www.crystalcoastnc.org/?gclid=CMvG46bgr7kCFZRj7AodbEgAEA. If you live in the Atlantic Beach, Emerald Isle area and are looking for senior portraits, family portraits, or engagement sessions give us a call and we will schedule you in! We also did a beautiful sunset beach wedding earlier this year; here's a link to that blog if you would like to see the pictures.  http://www.teresaarthurphotography.com/blog/2013/5/allison-and-shon-are-married.  Brooke, I hope you enjoy your pictures! I think they are absolutely gorgeous because you are, inside and out! xo

2013-09-03_0004 2013-09-03_0001 2013-09-03_0003 2013-09-03_0002