Lara Swanson Photography

We’re Moving!

Lara — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:55:58 +0000

It’s official – we’re moving to Massachusetts!

Though I’m incredibly sad to leave my wonderful clients (and friends!) in the DC area, Brad and I are beginning an exciting journey up north. I’m so thankful for the wonderful clients I’ve had here; I hope you all keep in touch! I want to shout out a few particular people -

Kim, Jenn, Brit, Liz, Suzzanne, Lisa: thanks for being terrific clients, blog readers, and most importantly, friends.
Michelle: thanks for agreeing to befriend me a year ago; in the words of Lost, you’re my constant.
Kelly: you’re the strongest woman I know; thank you for being my best friend and business partner.

As many of you already know, I shifted my business to focus on portraits (rather than weddings) last year. It’s been a great decision – one that has allowed me to focus on my health – and I’m planning on continuing to do a few portrait sessions each year. But to keep up on my adventures, be sure to subscribe to So You’re EnGAYged, and feel free to shoot me an email anytime! I’ll miss you all and hope we keep in touch :)

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Michelle and Tyler’s steampunk circus wedding

Lara — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:25:09 +0000

My best friend is Michelle. Her husband is Tyler. This is their wedding.

Much more photos to come as I go through all of Anne Ruthmann’s and my favorites! Thanks, Anne, for being a stellar co-shooter!

Aaron and Rich’s family day – adoption portraits in Maryland

Lara — Mon, 10 May 2010 02:27:56 +0000

Why am I blogging photos from the fall? Because Aaron and Rich have officially adopted these two beautiful children, Dayanna and Dajour.

The above picture is my #1 favorite photo I’ve ever taken of a family, and we had to keep it under wraps until Dayanna and Dajour’s legal adoption day! I was elated when I received the email from the family about photographing it, too!

Thanks, Aaron and Rich, for inviting me to be a part of such a special day :)

The Waire Family

Lara — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:52:38 +0000

John Waire is an amazing photographer out of Baltimore, MD. I came up with the idea of getting a portrait session done of me and Brad at an eco-friendly tulip farm in Brightwood, VA and asked John if he’d be interested in shooting us – and volunteered to shoot his family as well! :) We had such a blast hanging out with them!

Some new (personal) work!

Lara — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:53:28 +0000

I’ve been working steadily on some side projects over the past few months. Here are a few images from them…

The Moxy Girls – a new venture!

Lara — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:04:52 +0000

I’ve partnered with Anne Ruthmann to launch The Moxy Girls, a pinup styling and photography studio for girls with moxy. ;) If you’d like to sign up for the next group shoot, become a fan for updates!

Here are some of my favorite photos from our first calendar shoot!

Suzzanne and Nate’s Alaska Album

Lara — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:42:20 +0000

Suzzanne and Nate had a wonderfully offbeat wedding in Old Town Alexandria last summer. So I knew that they needed an out-of-the-ordinary album, one that reflected their personalities and truly awesome union. Enter: Alaska album!

I love, love, love how clean and straightforward it is. One picture per page (makes it really easy to design!) and a cutout on the front and back for text.

Be sure to check out the other album styles I offer: Iris, Kiss and coffeetable are my top three!

Gorgeous canvas

Lara — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:13:16 +0000

I just got the canvas order in from one of my favorite clients, Liz and Nick! And of course, I wanted to show off the picture that they chose for their 16×20 – it’s the PERFECT picture choice.

A little bit of detail. I absolutely love how this turned out!

(And thanks, Brad, for being my hand model!)

Iris album

Lara — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:22:36 +0000

I’m excited to introduce my new album option – the Iris book. It features a gorgeous blind-stamped linen cover with full-page images (up to 100 pages/images per book). This is perfect for the couple who wants a fine art option but not the Couture price; it’s sleek and romantic in contrast to Kiss’ heft and volume. I will hopefully be receiving a matching book case soon to show off as well to check out the best way to keep the Iris protected.

(If you see any weird lines across the covers of the book, it’s just because of the short depth of field used to photograph it!)

The Iris comes in a few colors – below is the taupe:

Gorgeous linen cover:

Inside each book before the first page are marbled end sheets:

Then a piece of vellum sewn in to protect the first page:

Here’s an example spread. It’s one image per page, and the image will be full-bleed on two edges of the page:

Gorgeous, clean binding:

I
t’s a gorgeous book and I love it! This album does take longer to print and ship than the Kiss or the coffeetable albums, but it’s worth the wait. You definitely save design time with this book, since you’re just choosing the order of the images and not the design of each spread!

Megan and Ciara’s holiday portraits in Old Town Alexandria

Lara — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:31:45 +0000

Megan and Ciara are amazing parents. They love their kids so much, it’s incredible. I’ve loved working with them since their wedding in 2007, and I’ve been fortunate enough to work with them each year since! This year’s holiday portraits were a treat – we worked in my favorite garden in Old Town Alexandria VA!