Shonna & Jonathan | Engagements : District of Columbia

What a fun day this was. Shonna & Jon were such fun-loving, laid back people to shoot pictures of. The beginning of photo sessions always seems to be the most awkward because couples have to get used to someone taking pictures of them smooching, cuddling & generally being cute with one another. Not this couple! We dove right in with some amazingly real pictures. No real posing was necessary, and that just shows these two are naturals. Another session is already in the works for an artsy/casual/straight-up-awesome shoot maybe in the next month or two. I'm thinking sometime in September so we can get some fall colors in there. How's that sound, Shonna? ;)

We had such a blast traipsing around the district. We got lost a few times (naturally), we got some awesome candids as we walked the city. Shonna & Jon just melted right into the groove, and were so wonderful together. We spent a fair amount of the day laughing at random things & riding around on the metro. I had a really difficult time choosing the best pictures to post here, I had so many to choose from! Again, naturals.

Congratulations to the beautiful couple!

love it!!!!!!

Shonna, I had to post this picture. It just shows how carefree & relaxed you are with each other. We had lots of these sorts of moments. ;)

So beautiful. :)

Experimentation. Thanks again for you guys' patience as I fiddled with my camera. & as we waited for the thousands of other patrons to disperse from the area we were shooting in. ;)

I am so grateful for the opportunity & the pleasure to shoot this wonderful couple. Thanks again, Shonna & Jon. Looking forward to round 2!! :D

Sneak Peek!

Shonna & Jon take on DC!

More to come!

Jennie & Jason : Engagement

Jennie & Jason are one of those couples that I can't really remember a time when they weren't together. I knew both of them in high school & was greatly honored when I was asked to do a "round 2" photo session with them, after the wonderful & talented Korie Lynn took a whack at it (beautifully, I might add), I told them I definitely wanted to toy around with some "whimsical" ideas along with some general playing with chalk as if were were children on a hot summer day.

It was perfect. They are such patient & sweet guinea pigs.

It turned out to be a very warm day, especially in the sunshine & not realizing that, yes, laying on pavement with chalk drawings surrounding you would be especially difficult when the pavement was cooking at an approximate 3,000 degrees.

So! We managed to find a shaded area, whipped out the chalk & a ladder (thanks, Jason's brother) & got artsy. We also managed to get some more formal shots down on a back road bridge. We were on a hunt to complete this mission before looming storm clouds arrived. We managed to complete this task, without much more than a few stray raindrops. It was such a success.

 The long awaited "Round 2" engagements are ready for your viewing! Enjoy!

Love these pictures, & love this couple.

Happy July!

Hello!

Today:

The teaser for Jennie & Jason's engagement session (remember them? I did a couples shoot with them a few years back...)

Next:
More of these two lovelies!

The teaser for a baby session I had the pleasure of shooting a few weeks back...

& the final chapter in the saga of the camera bag!

Stay tuned!

I wasn't going to post anything else until I had some awesome pictures to show you of something new in my life. Well, as sad as this is - I was only able to swipe some pictures off the grand ole' internet to show you some of my latest obsessions/recent purchases that have made this girl a happy one, indeed.

This nail polish is my current obsession. I typically wear a dark purple or a reddish/brownish shade, but lately, I am all into greys and light pinks. I can't remember if I posted this here or elsewhere, but the simple combination of a medium grey and a baby girl pink anything makes me swoon. I've found myself layering the same pale pink tank under a thermal heather grey shirt that I own, probably twice in the same week because I absolutely love the combination of color. I love dusty colors.

I actually stole this bag from my sister. Or, rather I stole the fact that this bag is cute and I desired it to be in my collection after seeing my sister tote it around, courtesy of Target. Oh, Target. I've spent more money in that store than I care to admit, but as you can see, this purchase was well worth it. It's got a thick canvas-y material constructing the body, with (my favorite part) a "cross body" strap so it's more of a messenger style purse than anything else. I was in love when I first saw the sis with it. Now we get to be twins. ;)

And lastly, a trip to the thrift store made my weekend by not only having a pair of adorable rocket dog flats that I thought for sure weren't going to fit me because they were a size 8, but alas, they managed to fit oh so perfectly. I also found a nice running pullover that has all the nice add-on's like the thumb hole/partial hand coverings for the chilly mornings, the pocket (on the back!) for a key/ipod, and it's cute.  But the highlight of this trip was the pair of worn in American Eagle boyfriend jeans:

(they look similar to these:)

I must say, I've been on a quest to find the perfect slightly wider legged, worn in, longer jean for probably 6-9 months. They are so comfy and are currently gracing my legs with their worn in presence. Excited for the spring when I can pair them with my flip flops and a classic white tshirt (oh, one day I'll do an entire post on the glories of the white tee. It's a slight problem and a mild obsession. I think I own over 7 plain, white, boring tshirts.)

But I'll save that for another day.

Sorry this had nothing to do with my photography, but I felt the need to share those little tid-bits with someone other than Jeremy, who just says "that's awesome" when I start squealing about thrift store finds! /new nail polish! / my cool new bag!

He is a boy, after all. 

Until I dust my camera off...

fast forward:

I can't even begin to explain the roller coaster that has been my life since my last time posting.

I moved on from being a chiropractic assistant to a full-time nanny.
Talk about a change of pace. I went from working 45+ hours a week with hundreds of patients in my face constantly, charts needing to be built, phone calls needing to be made, nonstop, go go go ETC. To wearing my sweatpants until I feel like putting real clothes on (which, this week, has been almost every day - I'm fighting some sort of stomach bug on top of feeling extraordinarily sleep deprived even though I go to bed no later than 10:30. Is this what moms go through all day long!?), feeling somewhat stir-crazy due to the frigid temps lately, out of place because I'm still in the process of moving into the upstairs apartment space that is my new home, aside from one pair of tennis shoes & a pair of boots- all of my shoes are at my old apartment, which just by definition sounds like a problem. Just the meshing of two lifestyles is different and is definitely something to get used to.

I feel like this will be an opportunity for me to see what being a hard-core mom is like. Living with two kids, going through the daily struggles/joys/accomplishments that a typical stay-at-home-mom goes through will definitely teach me a lot about this so-called "dream & desire" that I've had to be a mommy since I was old enough to carry a plastic baby doll around the house wherever I went. It's going to be a new experience - but in doing so I know that it will teach me more about myself & the things I want for the future. So many things to mentally prepare for. This is going to be my opportunity for this. A lull in the fast-forward motion that is my life.

It is almost noon on a friday morning. The kiddos are asleep on their 1st nap of the day (typically I can get them to take 2 each day.) This is my time to catch up on reading the news/my blogs, cleaning the house, and just a mental preparation for when the youngins' wake up and I need to be alert and available to their every need. It seems pleasant, right? Well - sadly, I have to wait till Summer before I can get back in the swing of things with school & I just recently finished editing the last photo session I've had on the books (hello, winter), so all this "free" time seems kind of daunting. Strange? I went from hating my busy life and how I lacked the time to do anything, to this sort of slower existence, where I make pb&j sandwiches for the 3 year old, feed oatmeal to the baby, all the while checking the daily beast for the latest news tidbits so I don't feel like I'm completely outside of the bubble that is "the real world" ....

The babe is awake. Until I get another moment...

xoxo, Danielle

To Do List:

Tonight:
(or: an evening of possibly getting off early)

-Pull some old pictures off the ancient hard drive
-Paint finger nails a new, bold color.
-Get another chapter in of Eat, Pray, Love
-Some serious stretching (thanks to some consistent gymming, I am sore all over.)
-Watermark work?
-New Logo work?
-BLOG MAKEOVER???

I am ambitious, yes. What's probably going to end up happening is something like this...

I'll get off late, then get frustrated with how little time I have to do anything, which will equate to me coming home, eating more v-day candy, sitting on facebook and reading blogs, and going to bed early because "i'm so tired" .. (even though I slept more than 8 hours last night.....)

Hopefully I can get a lot accomplished. This has been a rather productive week - but I'll save the details on WHY that is for my next post.

Have a wonderful, sunny day!!