Interior design is something that I have come to respect and love more recently as an adult. It occurred to me when I moved into my first apartment alone and was no longer living with my fabulous interior designer friend Maggie that it is a true art and skill. One that I am unfortunately not amazing at but I think some of her skills rubbed off on me so I at least have a live-able home!

Lately I’ve been working with fabulous interior design group from Residents Understood , helping them capture their unique interior design projects. They have done some incredible work around the city so far, and I’m excited to share their latest project with you here. This was a kitchen that they remodeled, and I am in LOVE with the blue and yellow complementary colors, as well as the fun details like the drawer hardware and chalkboard. Enjoy!

Well folks! In honor of Valentines day….and it being my birthday month! I have decided to use February as my month of LOVE this year! I’m going to share with you this month, all sorts of great things that are my absolute favorites in this world! From chocolate molten lava cake recipes to some of my favorite shoots from the past few years. It is so exciting!

I want to start off this month by starting a contest! I am a sucker for creative and fun proposals, and hearing about how couples met and fell in love- like that first moment they knew that they wanted to spend the rest of their life with their significant other. SO! With out further adieu, this month’s contest is about you all sending me those stories, about Love from falling in love, to the most creative and fun proposal stories! I’m also a sucker for  those fabulous awkward date stories- as a single gal myself, trust me, I can absolutely relate!

The winner will get a free 1-2 hour Love session with me (Whether it’s an engagement session, a post wedding session, a portrait session) and have their story and session posted on the blog for all eyes to see and share in the fun!

So how do you enter you may ask?? Well it’s quite simple:

1. Like the Kate Haus Photography Facebook Page

2. Write your story in 1000 words or less and send it off to k@katehaus.com with the Subject line: Love my story!!
The contest ends on the 28th of February and the winner will be announced March 5th.

**In order to win you must be located within 100miles of the Washington DC area. And schedule the photo session before February 2013.

In light of the Superbowl only a few weeks away, I wanted to post some of my own NFL pics !!

I am so blessed to have the sweetest younger brother, who also happens to be the place kicker for the Seattle Seahawks football team! He surprised me over my Thanksgiving visit with a press pass to the Seattle Seahaws/Washington Redskins game. Let’s just say it was awesome!! Nerves mixed with adrenaline mixed with the excitement of joining and watching my “little” brother on the field produced some great pictures. All my senses were heightened when looking through the view finder in the event that the ball might come in my direction and I would quickly have to get of of the way of 200 and 300 pound athletes. It was truly a wonderful opportunity and something I hope to pursue more when I have the chance. There is no better view than from the sideline with unlimited access. Thank you, Steve, and go Seahawks!

You only turn Thirty once, and though for me it won’t be until February, I had the wonderful opportunity of hosting my friend’s Thirtieth at my place.  I ended up arriving home from a photo shoot in Boston thirty minutes prior to the shindig, and the party started with a bang! It included lots of dancing, drinks, and feasting on a roasted pig that the birthday girl had requested for her celebration. We brought out some fun party gigs for photos, as you will see below. Enjoy!

I have just recently gotten into doing Boudoir shoot sessions after a friend of mine decided she wanted to have some sexy photos of herself to give to her fiancee as a wedding present. It was then that I realized that Boudoir is something that a lot of people are secretly interested in… So I figured, why not? I had a few friends who were interested in having their photos taken, so I set up a date, a location, (a hotel room at the Tabard Inn with lots of character), a professional hair stylist, and a professional makeup artist. The girls came in, got their hair and makeup done, and each had an individual session while relaxing with some wine and cheese. They all brought special lingerie, underwear, or even football jerseys to wear for their session as well as some fun accessories like pearls and fancy high heels. We had such a great time and I am definitely looking forward to holding more sessions. Ladies, keep an eye out for one coming in January and sometime this spring! Of course, I am not going to show you everything, but here are some fun head shots. And if you are interested in seeing more, and possibly partaking in a shoot yourself, I am happy to show you more so you have an idea of what I do. Enjoy!

Sorry for the delay people! But I have been busy getting all these wedding and holiday photos up before vacation! After Lynn and Matt’s wedding, which was the weekend of Halloween, I had a little bit of time to join in on my friends double thirtieth birthday MTV themed Halloween party. I didn’t have a costume, but I pulled out some fun photobooth props so I could fit in… In any case, here are some photos from the evening. I hope you enjoy their creativity.

Had a wonderful time with the fam down in North Carolina this past christmas! Here are a couple photos I took of the sweetest family of four (I’m super biast…after all I’m related). Enjoy!

This wedding brought me back to my naturalist days as a snowshoe guide in Vail, partly because it was out in the woods in Thurmont, Maryland, and partly because it was bitterly cold. Poor Bernadette and Joel had planned to get married outside at Thorpwood and have the reception in an unheated barn, but it was so cold that we ended up having the ceremony in the barn and a very cozy reception in the main cabin, with a fire going and all. Good thing, too, because when I met up with Joel and his groomsmen to take some getting ready shots and portraits, we encountered some snow flurries, believe it or not. Regardless of the weather, spirits were high and Bernadette and Joel had a beautiful and intimate wedding day with wonderful family and friends. Everyone celebrated with some heartfelt toasts and a really really delicious pre-thanksgiving fried turkey buffet.

The day started with portraits of Joel and his groomsmen, and then of Bernadette and her bridesmaids. We then went to the barn for a beautiful ceremony. They even provided gloves with the program. Afterwards, while the guests enjoyed wine, beer, and cheese, we stayed out in the bitter cold taking pictures. We had some real troopers in that bridal party and ended up with some great photos. The main lodge offered the warmth we needed, where they had a wonderful reception, featuring a giant fireplace, delicious buffet with fried turkey, toasts, caramel apples as gifts, and lots of fun dancing. It’s always a good party when people pull out their awesome dance moves! I was also pleased to see the engagement session look book as a guest book.

I had the pleasure of meeting Bernadette and Joel earlier this year for their Georgetown engagement session, and after spending a couple hours with them walking around the town, I knew we were going to have a great time at their wedding. I loved working with Bernadette and Joel; it was a wonderful way to end the wedding season!