Mariia Berezina Photography - Twelve Months Studio

Vika+Jenya: 1 Year Together

2013-05-09T12:19:00.003-07:00

There is something special about seeing your childhood friends getting married. Unfortunately, I was not able to come to Vika's wedding, but we decided to make a 1 year anniversary photo shoot to catch me up on what I've missed. I can't explain how wonderful and funny this couple is! They are one of those couple that some would say about "they are meant for each other". Jenya met Vika about two years ago at work. Since that moment they have always been together making each others lives brighter and happier. The photo shoot tool place in Donetsk. You can see some great views of our city at several pictures on the rooftop and the at a park.

Pittsburgh Wedding Photography: Matt + Lara

2013-05-06T18:50:00.000-07:00

Ukrainian Beauty

2013-05-04T14:09:00.000-07:00

Spring portraits: Polina

2013-04-27T15:56:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since I updated my blog! But I am back and I promise to catch up and upload a lot of new photo shoots I had for the past several months.. and many more coming soon.

Here are a couple photos of my lovely sister Polina. I am visiting my family in Ukraine now and it has been so great just to relax and enjoy being at home. Also, we got a new Chau puppy, pictures of which are going to be in the next post!

Stas and Kseniya in Georgetown

2013-01-06T18:55:00.001-08:00

SRU Campus Tour Video

2012-12-16T11:00:00.001-08:00

Working as a Graduate Assistant at Slippery Rock University, I had a privileged to create this video of its campus that is used in its smart phone tour application and website.

Pittsburgh Wedding: Daryl + Danielle

2012-11-04T18:28:00.001-08:00

Beach Wedding Photo shoot: Ben+Shannon

2012-10-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

Pittsburgh Wedding Photography: Ed+Krista

2012-10-22T19:31:00.000-07:00

Engagement: Ryan+Nathalia

2012-08-06T21:25:00.005-07:00

Butler Engagement: Ray + Liz

2012-08-06T01:27:00.000-07:00

Ray and Liz met each other while studying at Slippery Rock University several years ago. When I asked Ray to describe the way they met, it seemed like it was love from the first sight. Liz interviewed Ray for a position at the university's newspaper. Unfortunately, he did not get the position, but he gained much more - a true love of his life. I can not wait to see Liz in a white wedding dress in October and share this day with them!

Ray is also a photographer, so I you can imagine I had a little pressure to shoot the best as I can. However, we still had a great time walking around Butler's downtown. I absolutely loved Liz's idea to bring yellow balloons. I am a big fan of stylized shoots and props! I think it often helps a couple to show who they are, their passion for each other and their story. Enjoy!

Moraine Park Family Portraits

2012-07-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

Cranberry Wedding: Mark + Casey

2012-07-29T11:51:00.002-07:00

A sneak peak from this amazing wedding. More coming soon.

A Rainbow Wedding: Caleb+Angelina

2012-07-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

You are probably thinking: Why Rainbow? To find out the answer, scroll till the very end to see something amazing. I love the way nature can change the photo shoot and the look of pictures. I have taken pictures during rain, snow, sun nut I have never had a full rainbow in front of me, almost saying: I am here for a photo shoot.

The wedding of Caleb and Angelina took place at the amazing Succop Conservancy. I absolutely enjoyed taking pictures there. This place has a lot of trees around that give the shade I needed for portraits. In addition, the house inside is gorgeous!

This day was definitely special as we had everything: from the bright sun to the strong rain, from smiles to tears, from friendship to true love. I am very happy for Angelina and Caleb as they are so perfect together.

Engagement: Dima + Nastya

2012-07-23T21:47:00.001-07:00

Cranberry, PA Wedding: Jordan + Amanda

2012-07-17T06:48:00.001-07:00

There are some people in you life that you meet and know right away that they are awesome and you want to be best friends with them! Amanda is one of them. And I am so happy I was able to be a part of her and Jordan's wedding. I loved everything about that day and absolutely love the way this couple loves and cares about each other.

Amanda and Jordan wanted their wedding to be focused on God and to show God's love to other people. Right before Amanda walked down the isle, they played the video about their lives, God and their relationship, which was created by an amazing videographer Chris Martin.

The reception took place at the Cranberry Highlands Golf Course. I was not sure if we will be able to take any pictures outside as the whole day it seemed like it was going to rain. But we got an hour of wonderful light and amazing clouds to take the couple's portraits. And then, right after we took the last picture outside, it started raining so hard that I got soaked within 2 minutes while taking pictures of Amanda and Jordan leaving.

Engagement: Jenya+Vika

2012-07-03T15:54:00.001-07:00

I am visiting my family in Ukraine now. So in between meeting with my friends and relatives, shopping and eating a lot of Ukrainian food, I find some time to take pictures of my friends that got engaged or will have a baby soon (these pictures will be in the next post).

Here I would like to post a little sneak peak from the most recent engagement photo shoot. I realized that it is so awesome to take pictures at night! Particularly when you have a remote flash and a 50/1.4mm lens.

Video Porfolio

2012-06-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

Below you can find examples of the video production projects that I carried for Slippery Rock University (the U.S.) and Campus Crusade (Ukraine). All videos were produced using Canon 5D Mark II and Adobe Premiere Pro software.

In the Rain

2012-06-13T07:58:00.000-07:00

Engagement: Caleb+Angelina

2012-06-11T09:43:00.000-07:00

A little sneak peak from the recent engorgement photo shoot. More coming soon!

In the sunset

2012-06-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

Decided to try something new and creative in editing. What do you think about the result?

Body painting is done in Photoshop.

Bird's Nest Bridal Shower

2012-06-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

I am super excited to share these pictures from Amanda's bridal shower! Her brides maids did an amazing job decorating and planning the party! The theme was a bird's nest. Some of the amazing details that were planed were:
- everyone got a little feather to pin into their hair and if they said words Amanda or Jordan, they had to give their feather to someone else;
- I really liked cute little pieces of paper in the shape of feather, where guests wrote their advises for the successful marriage;
- sweets were called tweets;
- paper balls in the shape of feather.

Most of these decorations were hand maid by Amanda's friends. And.. I forgot to mention wonderful sweets and orange+minе water!

I can't wait for July to shoot Amanda's and Jordan's wedding!

Alina

2012-05-30T21:39:00.001-07:00

I know Alina for about three years. She was one of the first people I met when I came to Slippery Rock university as exchange student. Since that tie we kept in touch and now when I came back to Slippery Rock we were able to hang out again and cook our national food! She is from Kazakhstan and speaks Russian which is awesome because we can talk to each other in our native language. And even though Kazakhstan is far form Ukraine we have a lot of common in our culture, food and traditions because of the Soviet Union past of our countries. She is gorgeous model! And I really think she looks a lot like Beyonce!

The weather was perfect for this shoot. It was partly cloudy, which gave us a lot of weather "moods" to experiment with. We started the shoot in Butler, PA and got some great pictures in bright summer cloth in the urban settings. After that we went to a field near Slippery Rock. I always wanted to get some "warm" and "tender" pictures with flowers but never had a chance to do it. So I was super excited! Even though it is a little hard to do a lot of different pictures on the field, Alina was super creative and came up with a lot of great poses. Now Alina is leaving for Florida to go to a grad school. I will miss her when she'll be so far away!

Pittsburgh Engagement: Kyle + Sara Beth

2012-05-30T20:07:00.000-07:00

I met Kyle three years ago when I was involved with CRU - christian organization on campus. After graduation Kyle joined CRU as staff and worked in Slippery Rock and other universities. On one of the staff conferences Kyle met a girl and this girl was amazing and funny Sarah Beth. Since that moment Kyle wanted to get to know her better and a little later they started dating. The only problem was, Kyle and Sarah Beth were several hundreds miles away. I really admire couples that can make long distance relationships work. And, after a year of relationships between Grove City, PA and Roanoke, VA, Kyle realized he can't be without Sarah Beth any more proposed to her in the Point Park in Pittsburgh.

That's why when we were planning an engagement photo shoot, we chose Point Park as a location. After that we walked around Pittsburgh and got some wonderful shots surrounded by high buildings and other urban scenery. I really enjoy taking pictures in the city - you can find a little park and make it seem like jungles or get amazing pictures around numerous structures. We had a perfect sunny day filled with laughs and great time getting to know each other and documenting their love. Enjoy this wonderful couple!

Love this shot! Bridge near in the Point Park

Definitely favorite!

Sarah Beth you are sooo pretty!

A little bit of creativity

I really like an engagement ring that Kyle chose!

Wedding: Will + Ginni

2012-05-20T09:00:00.001-07:00

Ginni contacted me the day before her wedding. A photographer she hired was not able to take pictures at her wedding, so she was desperately trying to find a new one within the next a couple hours. Ginni is also a photographer, so good quality pictures are very important to her. I am very glad, that I did not have an plans for that day and was able to be a part of this wonderful wedding at the Harmony, PA. Ginni's and Will's wedding was simple but very fun! It seemed like I was at home with my friends and family.

Ginni has three kids, that are so adorable! I have never had a wedding with so many kids and I never realized how hard it is to make sure they all smile and look into the camera while I take a picture. However, the end result is super cute!

There were a couple things that I would like to highlight. First, I really liked the cans with flowers and candies as center pieces. It looks colorful and tastes great at the same time! Second, there was a fog machine during the reception. It is not common for weddings to have one, but I would highly recommend to have it! It makes pictures look great and gives wonderful distorted light. I published a couple examples below. And third, Ginni did not want to have flowers for the wedding. She and her bridesmaids love to read, so they all had books instead. Such a great example to think "out of the box" and express yourself!

Enjoy!

Aren't they adorable? :)

Love the fog!