In my internet travels and experiences, I occasionally come across excellent articles geared towards helping brides choose a good photographer, or how to plan the wedding day to achieve great photos. It's been awhile since I hired my wedding photographer or planned a wedding day, so it sure is a good reminder to me to see these around! Here are a few of the ones I thought hit the nail on the head while being fair to the photographer, too:

• On Hiring A Photographer (with Part 2 and Part 3) from Bride's Little White Book
• Photography (amateur and pro photos side by side) by Seattle Bride
• The Secrets to Great Wedding Photos by R.D.Decker Photography

And I can't close without plugging a few things I've written to try and help out the budget-conscious bride (there's also great stuff over at A Practical Wedding):

• Wedding Photography: How Do I Negotiate
• Wedding Photography: What To Do If You Just Can't Hire A Pro
• The Pregnant Photographer: A Bride's Guide

Of course, my standard two-pronged piece of advice is this: hire someone you're totally comfortable with, and on the day-of, RELAX and be happy! It's your wedding day, so ENJOY! What often makes the best photographs happen is very simply the love, energy, and affection present between the people being photographed.

May you find these articles helpful, inspiring, and productive for your wedding planning!

It's been awhile since I posted some of my favorite photos of my daughter, Ruth. Cliche alert: she's growing up so fast. These two photos capture my favorite things about her: the way she is completely in love with her dad, and her observant, intense nature.

The first photograph was taken while Stephen was bouncing on a trampoline, which is how Ruth's hair has become rather electric. The second photograph was taken after Ruth had decided to eat dirt. Yup, she's that kind of gal.

So, after quite a busy summer, and because some of you have been asking, here's the latest Mathewes news...

Pregnancy: Baby Imminent!

If you've been following my blog, know me personally, or caught glimpses of me at the local grocery store, you know I'm pregnant. Right, now, I'm very pregnant. It's t-minus three weeks, folks, until the new sibling (a boy--Lucas) arrives. The Official Due Date is August 22nd, but anyone who's been through birth knows that Anything Can Happen.

Time to hurry up and wait!

Amanda and Danny got hitched the day before the fourth of July! I remember thinking how much fun it would be to have a pre-parade celebration to attend. Essentially, it would be fireworks before the patriotic fireworks later on!

Amanda got ready with her mother and bridesmaids in her parents' home--a converted church building in Ellicott City. Don't you think the architecture is fabulous?

read more »

Last month little Jacob and his parents and I got together for some informal family shots in their home and at a nearby playground. This young five-month-old was all smiles and contentedness; you could feel all the doting and love beaming out of his deep, brown eyes.

I simply loved the color of this wall in Sylvia and Mike's house. The two of them photograph so well (you can see from my previous session with them), it was a no-brainer that Jacob would be a cutie.

See? All laughs.

At the playground, Jacob started to get a little tired, but that didn't stop him from enjoying his parents' antics.

Of course, the thing about babies is that they're always unpredictable and changing up your plans; I shot these photos of Jacob messing with his mom's hair and rubbing his eyes in the few minutes before we left--bedtime for him!

A couple years ago, I got it into my head that I really needed to do something with some old bridesmaid's dresses I had lying around in my closet. The solution? Drown them in the river.

A few pals of mine liked the idea so much, they asked me to do it with them. Of course, I had to oblige! Megan and I took an x-acto knife to her dress and tore away wildly at the fringes.

Stephanie brought along this old fur coat and decided to do some splashing.

read more »

Megan and Stephanie make a daring appearance again, this time as two punks at Artscape! I give full credit to these ladies for their amazing modeling efforts; they coordinated their outfits, did their own make-up and hair, and traipsed all around the city with me for nearly three hours!

Did you know that portable toilets can make a good backdrop?

We snuck around behind a few buildings and made use of the blocked-off alleyways that Artscape had created, allowing us some free time to experiment in roads that would be otherwise traversed.

read more »

Nathan and Sarah were married about two years ago in a lovely small wedding with friends and family. They didn't have that many frills, and really wanted to commemorate their anniversary with a special photo session together. So, we set out for the family farm in celebration!

Their first idea was to have a picnic. "We picked food that we thought would both taste and look good," said Sarah, after they had fed each other cheesecake and enjoyed some delicious champagne. The champagne had turned out to be a bit more dramatic than expected, but it made for a great photo!

read more »

Sydney and Chip are now the proud parents of little baby Harrison, photographed at just six weeks old. It's so remarkable and wonderful to meet such fresh and new people; a reminder of how precious and delicate humanity is! Something about little toes and that cowlick are just so captivating; they don't stay that small or that helpless for very long.

read more »