On 7/7/07, I had the distinct pleasure of taking part in the Redmond-Morgan nuptial affair in downtown Baltimore.

Getting all ten bridesmaids ready involved quite a great deal of time and attention, but everyone looked gorgeous, even down to their shoes.

Kuren made her way to the limo, and her veil caught the wind.

The sun was setting as the ceremony ended, but the festivities had just begun!

You can view the rest of the photographs at my client galleries.

Assisting me, Benjamin Jancewicz took care of the groom and his groomsmen. Latrice Dixon, of Favored Events (reach her at favoredevents [at] yahoo [dot] com, took care of the coordination; the reception was held at the 1840's Ballroom. I am thankful to the family for allowing me to be a part of this special occasion.

My nephew, David-Benjamin, is adventurous and kinetic, much like the young Alex I photographed awhile ago. He's not much of a ham for the camera, preferring instead to put on theatrical displays of face-making or some outrageous gesture to gain laughs.

While on vacation in South Carolina, I caught two moments that I think capture his energetic and daring spirit.

Fearlessly climbing over slippery rocks is one of his specialties, as you can see above.

I especially enjoy this second shot of him leaping out from underneath the waterfall. He looks so fish-like, and at ease with his environment. It's as though he was made for the water, and that the photograph captures the breath before he's reunited with his true element.

Unlike his brother, David-Benjamin, Isaac is a willing camera ham. The instant you point your lens at him, he smiles broadly and happily, saying, "Cheeeeeeeese!" in a long, drawn out, genuinely pleased fashion.

Isaac is also one of the most flexible and foldable little boys I've seen, fearless and innocent, climbing atop slippery rocks to perch himself precariously. He's happy to explore.

And of course, who can ignore that winning smile?

Continuing with the theme of brotherhood, I thought I'd include a few shots from a portrait I took of David-Benjamin, Isaac, and their youngest brother, Fintan. We had taken the three boys to the playground to help them work off some steam. I figured that during that time we could assemble them briefly somewhere and take a nice smiling photo for their mother--a nice surprise, right?

What I didn't anticipate, however, was how difficult it would be to get these guys to stop goofing around with each other and joking. After a few minutes, I gave up, and started encouraging them to make faces. "Okay, now give me a different face!" I'd say.

The end result, while certainly not what I had planned, worked well to keep them in a happy mood, while giving me some endearing results. They were released "back into the wild" and continued their playground mischief shortly thereafter.

Hannah, my niece, is quite a swimmer. Nothing could make her happier than to spend her days at the beach or the pool, splashing away in the water to her heart's content. Here she is at a pool we happened to stop at, enjoying the setting sun and refreshing water.

She's athletic and confident, always ready to play, and definitely holds her own in a family full of boy-cousins and brothers. When I took this shot, they were in the middle of playing some game involving a ball and a bucket they had found outside one of our cabins in South Carolina.

While exploring behind one of the cabins that we stayed at in Table Rock State Park in South Carolina, we found what we thought were some abandoned fish hatcheries. The deep cement troughs had become overgrown and moss-covered, making for an eerie environment.

Later on, I made it a point to escape out there by myself to take some shots. Without having any other models available to me, I simply set up my tripod with a self-timer, and struck a few poses.

Some technical thoughts: Because I was working alone, I was able to carefully tweak the white balance and exposure to give myself the best possible RAW file to work with in Photoshop. Post-processing is very easy if you've got the in-camera capture right, and it was nice to take the time beforehand exactly the right settings--you save a lot of time afterwards!

Last Sunday, Paul and Shelli got married. It was a small Orthodox affair at Holy Cross Church in Linthicum, MD. The bride and groom dressed simply. The reception was potluck. But it was a great deal of fun and lovely to shoot such a small church wedding.

The highlight of the Orthodox wedding ceremony is the crowning of the couple; after they are betrothed, they are crowned with martyrdom and their eternal destinies are joined together.

The crowns are then removed, and then placed on the altar; the crowns liturgically move ahead of them into heaven, symbolizing that the couple is aspiring to spiritual perfection.

After the ceremony, I took the couple outside to a historic magnolia tree, and took a few portraits.

Simple, but gorgeous wedding.

After Paul and Shelli's wedding on Sunday, I also pulled aside a few of the teenagers who attend Holy Cross for an impromptu portrait session by that gorgeous magnolia tree.

Bethany is a friendly and engaging teenager, going into her junior year. She's sparklingly smart, and about to study her brains out at community college for the next two years, earning college credit along the way. Go Bethany!

It was very easy to get her to laugh, which makes for a great photo, since she has such a wonderful smile.

Ivan is an uber-smart senior who's pondering what lies ahead for college. International relations, perhaps? Anything seems possible, especially since he already speaks a few languages. Go Ivan!

Willingly and patiently, Ivan let me dance around him for awhile. Later on, I hope to get a portrait session of him with his musical instrument(s).

This is my grandmother, Louise. She passed away on Monday the 20th, and I am are traveling to Massachusetts this weekend to attend the memorial service. She was 96.

I took this photo in 2002. I was in the middle of college, just beginning to study photography. She loved hearing about my classes, and always asked me what I was interested in photographing. Always encouraging, always affirming, sharp as a tack, and taught me so much about kindness and womanhood.

Of course I love this portrait for its sentimental value, but it has other qualities that I enjoy--the rich texture of her hair, the slight texture in the background, and the overall pose.

I wish I had taken more pictures of her when I had the chance.

Last weekend I got together with the Jones family to take a few impromptu portraits. Blaise, the newest addition to the Jones family, is a bubbling 3-month old.

Daren, the proud father:

Bernice, the happy mother:

And a moment of joy:

When taking the portraits, I lamented that we hadn't spent as much time outside as I had hoped. It was insanely hot, however, and eventually we were all sweating so much we simply had to go inside. But things turned out very well--Blaise was carted around happily, and was such a friendly baby.