The Before: Their Engagment

Tomorrow is the big day for this lovely couple.  I had the pleasure of taking their engagement photographs back in the spring and now finally the day has arrived.  

Trust me when I say this girl is as sweet and genuine as she looks.  No doubt tomorrow will be coated in classy and dripping with elegance.  I am not going to give too much away or else you will have not much to look forward to in "The After" post that will be coming.  The wedding will be held in Butler, PA.  And so far it looks like tomorrow will be a nice day for some beautiful wedding pictures.

Luck for us the day of the engagement photos, the weather with stunning.  It was one of the perfect Pittsburgh afternoons, and it made for a wonderful time in Schenley Park.  Nestled in the trees on the top of the of the highest points in the park, there was a small picnic laid out for the couple.  Complete with Save-the-Date-Sliders and chips, the couple was able to relax and ease in to the shot.  Did I mention the orange soda.  Who loves orange soda!? 

Needless to say, I am thrilled to be a part of their special day and help them relive it through photographs for years to come.

Friday's Sweet Treats: P1

How about we try something new.  Something that we can look forward to.  This is for all of my sweet tooths out there.  I think I will start/try to reserve every Friday so a delicious delectable.  As most of you, I too find a million things on Pinterest that I want to try, cook, or create.  I would say that my pinning is a little faster than my doing but as far as the cooking goes, I do attempt to create or be inspired by the majority of what I pin 79% of the time.  From now on, on Friday's I would like to share with you some photos of some of my Pin-tries .

To be honest, I am not much for cupcakes (although I post a lot of them).  It takes a very special cake to get me interested or close to excited.  With this big cupcake movement going down, I wanted to test my baking had an try gourmet cupcake making for myself.  And so far, so good!  

The beauties up above were life changers.  If I could bathe in one thing for the rest of my life, it would be that icing (trust me, once you try it…WOW) I made a double batch and it still wasn't enough goodness for me!  These babies are banana buttermilk cupcakes with a coconut caramel icing. http://life.nationalpost.com/2011/07/23/best-recipes-ever-banana-buttermilk-cupcakes/

If you want the most moist, decadent cupcake, and an icing you don't have to worry about making pretty, this is the cake for you!

I am always drawn to combinations that aren't the "norm".  Peanut Butter and Jelly cupcakes would fall under that category.

 http://sweetteaandcornbread.blogspot.com/2013/02/peanut-butter-cake.html

The cake is a rich sweet and salty peanut butter ( I used chunky because I didn't want to go tot he store and get creamy)  the middle is just normal Welch's grape jelly, and on top is a fluffy peanut butter butter cream.  This is your childhood sandwich, made into an adult form and then dressed up for a good night out!   I wish I could tell you the recipe for the icing, but I sort of just winged it. 

 Now if I could only figure out how to take all of the calories out of these things, I would be a happy camper!  Next week I will be trying my hand at gluten-free pumpkin cupcakes. Wish me luck!  

The Colors of Fall

You can not ask for a more perfect time of year than fall.  So it may sprinkle or get a bit chilly, but I don't think there are many people that can say they hate these few months.  *PLUS* It is the beginning of hoody weather ( who doesn't love that?!) 

Autumn is also the time of year where mother nature becomes an artist and paints the world in stunning, radiant colors.  On behalf of photographers everywhere, I'd like to thank mother nature for this!  Right around the middle of October, just about the time you have had your 39th pumpkin spice latte of the season, you will see the trees have changed and are rush with hues of rusty reds,  burnt oranges, and golden yellows.  It is no wonder this is one of the most sought after times for a wedding!  

Let's hope into my little time machine and had back to last fall.  It was my first experience as lead photographer, and I was extremely excited with what I had to work with that day.  Nestled up in Moon township is a beautiful old mansion surrounded by trails, streams, and nature's finest display of leaves!  

I had a wonderful opportunity to work with a dear friend of mine who had offered his assistance as my second shooter that day.  Needless to say it was a special experience.  The ceremony was set to be outside behind an ivy covered stone wall.  White folding chairs lined up on either sides of the burlap runner and tree branches trimmed the aisle.  It had so many possibilities…. until it began to rain!  This did not get the couple down or the guests,  They made things work inside and it was every bit as intimate and special as they would have hoped!  Lucky for us, the rain let up right when he ceremony ended and we were able to capture some really great moments outside.  

Playing "Dress Up"

Ladies, women, girls, etc  let's take a moment and reminisce on our childhoods.  How many of us played with dolls and barbies, and out of those people how many of you can agree that the best part of playing was the fact that barbie had so many outfits and could transform herself just by a change of cloths…..  Who, as a bright eyed girl with pig tails, loved to play dress up?  Play make believe and print they were a princess?  We really can't get away with stuff like that once we are older, except on Halloween of course. But what is there was another way?  What if there was a way you could play pretend, get all dolled up, and transform yourself just for fun, just for a moment….

This is not this woman's wedding day, the day has already passed.  For fun, experience, and to try some new things, this wonderful volunteer ( who may or may not be my sister) put her pretty face on, stepped into some high heels, and got zipped clipped and pinned into a number of white dresses.   We experimented and played for a few hours, and whether she will admit it or not, I know she had fun being a makeshift model :)  The point is, if you have an idea, a dream of being something else for just for a minute, or  a photo shoot you and your friends think would be the best, most fun thing to do *like ever*, let me know!  I am always up for a challenge and learning, and new unknown experiences.  Besides, even as adults, it is still fun to play pretend.