Before Martha and Eli’s engagement session, I had to teach Mike the basics of my on location light setups so he could help me out in Alexandria.
Dorie of Dorie Howell Photography and her daughter, Sydney, volunteered to be our test subjects for this mini shoot.

Here are a couple of favorites:

Huge thank you to Dorie and Sydney for being awesome and climbing over fences and avoiding cow poop with us!

-Becca

Before Martha and Eli knew each other, they both joined the US Army in 2001. Eli started his career as a saxophone player in the US Army Band in DC, and Martha was a paratrooper/vocalist with the 82nd Airborne Division band in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Later, Martha moved to DC and joined The United States Army Band. They saw each other around, but never had the chance to sit down and talk. It wasn’t until they were both performing at the same 4th of July concert on the National Mall when they really got to know each other. After rehearsal one day, Eli told his friend to invite Martha to the bar with them. Martha who usually always says no, agreed to meet them there. As Eli puts it, “I won her over with the good looks and boyish charm.”

This past Friday, I went out to Old Town Alexandria with Martha and Eli for their engagement session and was able to create some gorgeous photos while walking through the streets.

A Huge thank you to Mike for helping me out and being an awesome voice activated light stand and being my Sherpa.

Martha and Eli- I cannot wait for your wedding this Fall! Thank you for being so awesome to work with!

Here are some of my favorite images from the session:

-Becca

I’ve been working a lot in the studio so far this year. Recently, I did head shots for GMU senior, Julie. I just wanted to share a quick peek with everyone!

-Becca

This past weekend I traveled up to Middletown, PA for Jennie and Matt’s wedding at the Event Place. (You can see Jennie and Matt’s engagement session here.)
Matt and Jennie are the perfect example of an e-Harmony success story. They started talking to each other when several states separated them. When they finally met (after Jennie driving 8+ hours in the middle of the night to Pennsylvania), they knew they had to make it work. Everyone seems to be in agreement that there is no one better for Jennie than Matt, and there is no one better for Matt than Jennie. They both have strong personalities, but they fit so perfectly together. Finally after all of the driving over state lines and Skype dates, they can now just be with each other at their home in North Carolina.
This wedding was a DYI lover’s dream. Jennie is an artist and works as an art teacher. She made 90% of the decorations herself, including the hand made paper table assignments, signs, and paper flower bouquets, and the ceramic tea containers.

A HUGE, HUGE, HUGE thank you goes out to Karlo and Katie for helping me out at the wedding!

Jennie has opened an online shop to sell paper flower bouquets, ceramics, and more. You can find it here.

Here are some favorites from the wedding– check out the end of the post for some behind the scenes shots:

Again, a huge thank you goes out to Karlo (my second shooter) and Katie (the assistant). Here are a couple of shots for you all to see what goes on behind the camera to get the photos you all see:

-Becca

I am the type of person to be constantly wishing I was on the beach somewhere with a good book. Back in February, Mike (the boyfriend) and I had the chance to spend a week out in Javilla, Costa Rica at the Hotel Laguna Mar. I just wanted to show everyone some of the photos from our week in paradise! I’ll be doing a dedicated blog post on Laguna Mar later on.
(Many of these photos were taken on the iPhone. I did have my DSLR with me, but it was too bulky to bring everywhere.)

Back in November, Mike and I went to the Luke’s Wings Homecoming Gala out at Terminal A of Reagan International Airport. (Note: Please check out Luke’s Wings, they’re an amazing organization that helps families of wounded service members visit their loved ones while they’re in the hospital or in rehabilitation.) While we were there we entered a couple of silent auctions and a raffle for airfare and a hotel stay in Costa Rica. I tend to be fairly unlucky with raffles or drawings, so I considered buying the tickets to be a donation rather than a chance to win. Mike felt the exact same way and didn’t count on us actually winning. Toward the end of the night, they finally began drawing the winning numbers and I had all of our tickets lined up, and they began calling out the numbers. They matched up with the VERY last ticket in Mike’s set. I was shocked. I hesitated and was absolutely silent while I double and triple checked. When I finally spoke, I think my exact words to Mike were, “We ****ing won!” I then started giggling like I was 5 years old and half ran (in high heels) to the front to claim our prize.

After months of planning and coordinating with the airlines and the hotel, everything was set. We left Febuary 1st for our Costa Rican adventure.
Here was the original plan:
2/1/13-
Leave out of BWI at 7AM
Have a layover in Ft. Lauderdale
Arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica at 12:30.
Arrive at the Alta Hotel outside of San Jose and spend the night there.
2/2/13-
Leave San Jose via Nature Air at 9:45 AM
Arrive in Punta Islita at 10:30AM
Get a ride from Punta Islita to our hotel in Javilla
Hang out there until 2/8.

Snow and ice on our plane at BWI before sunrise:

What actually happened.
2/1/13-
Supposed to leave out of BWI at 7AM, but because of technical difficulties, we didn’t leave until 10AM.
Miss our connecting flight in Ft. Lauderdale and have an 11 hour layover and try to sleep on benches in the terminal.
Our connecting flight leaves 45 minutes late.
Arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica at 2:30AM (3:30 AM EST).
Arrive at the Alta Hotel 3:30AM
2/2/13-
Leave San Jose via Nature Air at 9:45 AM
Arrive in Punta Islita at 10:30AM
Get a ride from Punta Islita to our hotel in Javilla
Hung out there until 2/8.

We unfortunately didn’t hang out in the San Jose area as long as we planned on. We were super bummed because even at 3:30AM Hotel Alta seemed like an amazing place to stay.

Ft. Lauderdale Airport:

Our trip on Nature Air on 2/2 actually went pretty smoothly– especially compared to the day before.
The plane out to Punta Islita was TINY! This is the view of the interior and we were sitting in the LAST ROW:

Take off was a bit scary and part of the flight felt like a roller coaster ride, but we saw some incredible views of Costa Rica:

Once we were settled in at the Hotel Laguna Mar, we primarily hung out at Playa San Miguel and the estuary. You could sit out on the beach for HOURS and only see a couple of people.

Here is a 360 view of Playa San Miguel and the estuary:

More photos are after the jump:

The hotel ended up having a Superbowl party and many of the local ex-pats attended. Since the broadcast was in Spanish, the announcers would slip up fairly often when there was a touchdown and start yelling “GOOOAAALLLLLL!!!”

The view of Javilla from our suite:

Our last night in Javilla, I made it a point to stay on the beach to watch the sunset over the Pacific.

Waiting at the extensive Punta Islita airport to get back to San Jose:

Now, I wish I could tell you that the way home was less dramatic than the way out. It wasn’t. Delays in San Jose made us miss our connection in Ft. Lauderdale. At Ft. Lauderdale airport, Mike and I sprinted from one end of the airport to the other to buy last minute tickets back home on the last flight out (on a different carrier).

The entire trip was absolutely worth it, and the travel drama just added to the adventure. Mike and I had an absolutely phenomenal time, and we’ve already started talking about going back.

Pura Vida!

-Becca

This past Saturday, Cory and I headed down to Union 206 to test out some studio ideas we had. Ali Dash (a model located in the Baltimore area) wanted some more Wonder Woman photos to add to her collection, and so she hung out with us for the day. We had a ton of fun and got some great shots.

I will be doing a lot more studio work this year, so keep an eye out for it!

Here are a few photos from Saturday’s shoot:

-Becca

I do a lot of second shooting for other photographers in the DC Metro Area. If you go through my blog posts throughout the year, many of those weddings do end up on the blog, and then there are some that do not. A lot of the time, this is because I’m busy culling, editing, and blogging my own weddings.
Since my wedding season has died down, I have a chance to blog some of my favorite images.
I want to thank all of the wonderful photographers I worked with during the 2012 season, and I hope to continue working with all of you in 2013!!
Now, please remember I was not the main photographer in these weddings. The clients are not my own. I was the second photographer. Please go to the main photographer’s website to see their work.

w/ Moshe Zusman:

w/Scott Henderson:

w/Cory Brodzinski:

w/Heather DeFriest:

w/Paul Kim:

-Becca

I don’t think I realized when starting my photography business I would be photographing and documenting the people I grew up with and the people that they love. I feel absolutely blessed that these people are letting me in and capturing these milestones in their personal lives.

I’ve known Lindsey since kindergarten. Yay for Girl Scouts… *ahem* I mean youth group? Then in first grade, we were in Japanese Immersion together until 8th grade. We had the same circle of friends growing up. Through high school, she dated guys for mayyybeeeee a couple weeks to a few months. So when I saw through facebook that she found this handsome guy name Jack while at Virginia Tech, I knew it was serious, because he stuck around for a while.
Jack and Lindsey actually met briefly at a Virginia Tech tailgate. They were instantly hitting it off but didn’t exchange numbers. The next semester they ran into each other at a party. They have been joined at the hip since. Jack proposed to Lindsey at her family’s beach house on the Eastern Shore.
And now we are here. We had their engagement session out at Manassas Battlefield. Lindsey was absolutely gorgeous (like always), and Jack was quite dashing.
A massive thank you to Cory for helping me out once again.

Lindsey and Jack- THANK YOU for being so awesome and allowing me to shoot your engagement session!

-Becca

Kelly and Wayne met in high school up in New Jersey. They met during choir rehearsals. Were they a Finn and Rachel? Maybe, but wayyyyyyy less dramatic. They actually didn’t really notice each other until much later when they were stuck on a bus trip next to each other to Virginia Beach. This forced them to get to know each other really well. (New Jersey to Virginia Beach is quite the long bus trip.) Kelly said this to me: “Wayne held my hand and he hasn’t stopped since.” How absolutely adorable is that.
Wayne proposed to Kelly on one of the beaches at the Jersey Shore. He set up a romantic dinner for two on fine china and lace. Obviously she said yes!
This past Sunday, I drove up to Batsto Village in New Jersey for their engagement session.
Huge thank you to the wonderful Tim for helping me out!

Kelly & Wayne- I cannot wait for your summer wedding and to see all of the awesome details!

-Becca

In the middle of October, I went out to Albuquerque, New Mexico (thank goodness for spell check. ha!) to visit my brother and his family and see the balloon fiesta. I got to see all of Albuquerque and other parts of New Mexico.

Here is a mix of my favorite photos from the Nikon and my handy iPhone.

-Becca