Wedding, Continued

In this shot you can see me! I've nicely labeled everything, so you can figure out where I am in relation to the bride.

He is a cutie!

Best Man, left;  Groom, right.

Our best man loved to have his picture taken~

I love this family shot in front of the red door of the church.

Stunning.  I have seen and photographed a lot of beautiful women in my years of taking pictures, but I can honestly say, something about this girl stopped me dead in my tracks. She's about 14 is is simply stunning.  I'll need her to come back to me when she's a senior in high school so I can do her senior portraits.  This is my fault, but these shots don't do her justice.  She is glorious. 

And her handsome brother. 

Tomorrow look for the shots of the ceremony.  That's the part where I got all teary and choked up. 

Maria and Claudio's Wedding

The groom leaving the house.  Don't worry, he didn't see the bride before the wedding.

Our lovely bride!

The best man was up to no good!

The Maid of Honor.

Beautiful, beautiful and beautiful. 

Happy and excited all at the same time.  I love this shot because I think it captures all the emotions she was feeling.

Stop back tomorrow for pre-ceremony shots taken at the church and shots of the ceremony itself. 

A Short Video

From Maria and Claudio's wedding check this out!  Just click on this link:  http://animoto.com/play/KmdX5KAHoNzLKGjaGt6T9w

Tomorrow I'll start posting shots from yesterday's wedding!

December 7th

A day, that for many, will always carry special meaning. I always like to take a minute,  on December 7th, to thank those that have served and are serving in our military.  

Maria and Claudio

Today is Maria and Claudio's wedding!  It looks to be a crisp winter day, partly cloudy, which I like, and I'm very excited!  Maria is such a sweet person, and I finally get to meet the groom.

Hopefully I can post some shots tomorrow.   

Everyone enjoy their Saturday. I'm sure there's lots to do with the holidays approaching quickly.

Women Business Owners

Good morning!  I've been spending some time thinking about the next few months. I don't have any winter weddings, after tomorrow's, and have only one more portrait session for the year. January and February are typically quiet months for me.  In order to keep growing photographically (plus, if you know me you know I need to have all my time filled or I go crazy..I hate to be bored) I've decided to start a project this winter focusing on women business owners. I'll shoot local business owners, and in exchange for their time, I'll give them a DVD of images to use as they wish. When I finish the project, I'm not sure what I'll do with the images, maybe try to get them published somewhere or displayed locally.  If you are interested in free portraits, essentially, send me an email to ndmabilog@comcast.net

And happy Friday.  Looks like it's COLD out there today!

Leftovers

It's been one week since Thanksgiving.  Earlier this week I decided to pitch every item that we had left from the big day.  If they were in my refrigerator, I'd just feel compelled to eat them, so I threw them all away. Over the holiday I gained one pound back so I decided it was time to take control again by getting rid of those evil leftovers!  Repeat after me:  "Leftovers are the enemy." I'm back on track now, which is just super 'cause it's time for the holiday luncheons and other celebrations to start....

I

Here's a snapshot taken with my iphone of my dear friend's little guy...you've seen him here before, and he remains one of the sweetest people I know.

Lego Exhibit

"The Art of the Brick" was an exhibit at the American Swedish Cultural Museum in Philadelphia by artist Nathan Sawaya.   The exhibit only ran through November 30, and I'm sorry I didn't get this post up a few days earlier as hopefully some of you readers could have gone.  I only took a few shots with my iPhone, but the exhibit was very cool.   The kids and adults both enjoyed it.  My favorite piece was the pencil but there were many other inspiring pieces.  I was amazed by the artist's imagination  and by the fact that he had so many pieces that must have taken hours and hours to build.

  

Cooper's Thanksgiving Visit

I think Cooper is sad now that is buddy, Cookie, has gone home.  Either that or he's catching up on his sleep.   

My Mom

Something about having your mom around instantly makes you feel better, doesn't it? Now that she's gone home I feel worse than I've felt all week. I dropped my mom off at the train station yesterday, and came home and crashed. Cooper crashed, too. When Norman came home from work he immediately said: "I wish Cookie were still here with us.  It's quieter without her."   Then he went on to say how he wished she lived with us!  WOW...here's a guy who loves his mother-in-law!  The lovefest is mutual because my mom can't stop saying enough good things about Norman.  

Thanks for a great visit, mom.  Time will fly until next year is upon us again. xoxo D

Let it Snow

I am looking for former 'brides'  who would like to put their wedding dress on again...when it snows!  So this will take someone who isn't afraid of getting her dress wet, who isn't afraid of getting cold, and who can work with me on locations and timing since we can't schedule ahead of time when it will snow.  If that is you, send me an email or call me and you'll get a CD of shots for your time.  

Sweet Pea

Here's my niece. Look at those big, brown eyes.   She's talking now, by the way, which is a joy to listen to.  

Happy Thanksgiving

*I'm the one on the right, in the snappy coat, and my legs still look like that, even 40 years later.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I know I have a lot of blessings in my life to be thankful for.  My recent bout of the "flu" made so many people express their concerns, that I'm even thankful for that today. 

Here's a little update.  I went to the doctor yesterday afternoon, since I tried to exercise and couldn't seem to catch a deep breath.  It seems my URI settled in my chest in the form of bronchitis.  They gave me a nebulizer treatment there, since I was wheezing, and then sent me off for my antibiotics and an inhaler.  Hey, I'm feeling better now than I have in the past week and am ready to EAT. SOME. TURKEY.

Profound

"Wait three years and every disaster turns into a blessing."

--Buddhist saying

10,000 Hours

Do you have 10,000 hours?  Let me explain.  I just read the book Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, and one of the things it said was that in order to be really great at something you need to devote at least 10,000 hours to it.  Sure, you need the talent and the drive, but really that practice makes a huge difference when you are talking about being good at something vs. being the best at something.  Think about Michael Jordan.  Sure he had the natural talent to be a good basketball player, but he spent countless hours playing/practicing basketball; consequently, he arguably was the best (or one of the best) basketball players to ever play the game.  And that made all the difference. So, I ask:  Do you have 10,000 hours?  

Part of me thinks that I were younger, I'd say yes.   I'd also say that this helps explain why I am always taking pictures.....it can only help, right?  Anyway, while I summarize the book rather too quickly, the book was well-written and very informative and entertaining.  I highly recommend it. 

Sick

It really snowed on Friday.  It was the beautiful and wet kind of snow that was big, fluffy, and stuck to everything, except the roads.  Really, it was perfect.  I got these shots when I was taking Ethan to school and I LOVE the school bus shot!  I really love it. (Really, click on it to see it larger, and then you'll see what I mean about how fantastic it is!)

When I took Ethan to school I had a sore throat, by noon I had what I thought was a cold. Annoying but not too bad, so I could work all day just fine.  By 5pm I was in bed with chills and aches, and that's basically where I spent the rest of the weekend. I still have a pounding headache and I'm alternating between being overheated and having the chills.  At this point I think it's in my chest and that I might have a sinus infection on top of it all. So, my 'cold' turned into the flu, I think, and now I'm wondering how much longer I have to go  until I feel better.   Here's what I did not do this weekend:

1.  I did not do my Thanksgiving grocery shopping

2. I was supposed to go to a party yesterday, one that I had really been looking forward to, and I did not go to that.

3. I didn't eat very much (which helped me drop a few more pounds, so that part is good)

4. I didn't interact with my son at all. 

5. My mom is coming tomorrow and I didn't wash the guest room linens  yet.  

Really, when have you ever gotten sick at a convenient time?  On top of all the stuff I have to do before Thanksgiving (and I'm not sure how I'm going to squeeze that in considering today I have Ethan's parent teacher conference and a dentist appointment...which I would cancel but they'll charge me since it's the last minute.....and I have to go to work)  TODAY IS OUR 13 YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!  HAPPY ANNIV TO NORMAN (who has forgotten, I think.)   

I hope anyone reading this has a great day and thanks for putting up with my whining. 

Saxbys Coffee, Haverford, PA

More shots from last week's party.

Family

Here are some shots of the owners of Saxbys with the crew and they are like one happy family. The owners are the people up front and they are smiling and happy....they have a beautiful new business that's been busy this week. Congratulations!