Every year I like to look back through the photos that we’ve taken and share some of my favorites from the year. This year (as it seems every year) we were privileged to photograph some incredible couples. We were a little more local in Tacoma and South Sound for a lot of them, but also had the opportunity to travel to new places – getting to spend a weekend with a fun couple and their friends and family in Durango, CO. In Durango the mountains and the aspens provided a backdrop for Loren and Kate that was second to none. We also got a money shot in Bellingham of Erin and Patrick under a double rainbow during the rainiest wedding day we’ve ever had. We spent our last wedding of the year, shooting Johanna and Elliot on the 11th Street bridge and at Courthouse Square, a venue I’ve been wanting to shoot for a year or so now. It didn’t disappoint.
We want to say thank you to all of the couples that we got to work with this year. We know that when you chose A.Lorae Photography.com you put your trust in us. You allow us to step into your lives – into some of the most intimate moments of one of the most important days in your lives. You take the time to get to know us and allow us to get to know you. You show us your traditions and you trust us to honor and respect them. While we want you to love your photos, we also want to know that we merited that trust.
Thank you for bringing your love, your laughter, and your light to our photography this year. Happy New Year!
Last week I was watching a video of a photographer, Mel DiGiacomo, that caught my attention and inspired me to do a blog post on b&w photos taken up-close with a wide-lens. He was talking about the magic behind those photos – the life that you can capture when you’re up-close and personal with your short little lens. . . and it got me thinking.
I don’t think that they are the photos that I’m talking about are the ones that catch your eye the first time through. I do think, though, that they are the ones that you see as you are flipping through the set on a rainy day and you think, “Wow! I love that photo! I never saw that one before.”
We love them because they tend to capture people’s personalities . . . to capture them with a different perspective, but a perspective that we love. We love them because they are close, moving, drawing us in to that person or those people as if we were sitting at a table with them, laughing and enjoying life, or talking over something serious. It evokes emotion.
So, with that in mind I have put together a collection of some of those photos that I love. For those of you that own these photos or are the subject of the photo, maybe it will be the first time you’re really seeing them, or maybe they are the ones that you have fallen in love with. More than anything, I hope they evoke some emotion, that they are the ones you sit back in your chair and stare at for awhile.
My friend, Karla, holding my namesake, Amy, in Regalo de Dios, El Salvador.
Two aunties dancing, waiting for the bride.
Bride and groom starting things off at the reception for this Habesha wedding.
Bride and groom dancing away the evening, ring bearer on his phone.
Traditional Ethiopian dance at a Habesha wedding. The mother of the bride in the middle.
Leading the procession out of the wedding in the woods.
Kids sliding towards the camera on the hardwood floor at a wedding reception.
Littlest girl in the family trying to slide on the hardwood floor.
The cutest ring bearer. He was 5.
Bride holding her necklace just before going up to see her groom for the first time.
On the way to family photos after the first look and a few quiet moments together.
Toast to the bride at Mojitos after a fun night of Zumba!
Up close with the mother of the bride, and sister-in-law, getting the bride ready.
The bride, just before the first look.
Bride and maid of honor getting ready for the wedding!
Everyone getting their shoes on.
Bridesmaids having fun the morning of the wedding!
Swinging for the camera.
Coming through the tunnel at a Southwest wedding.
Three friends celebrating my birthday up close.
I can’t handle all of the joy in this smile.
Bubbles trailing behind the bride and groom on their way out.
My sweet, sweet grandma on the first day that I got my 10-22mm.
Does this kind of cool need a caption?
They could be the cutest couple you ever saw, with the coolest dog ever.
Margarita coloring.
Amy Jill.
The baby is worried about what that little boy is going to do next.
I am trying to catch up on weddings that I have done over the past year or so with this new blog so I’m going to work forward from some time ago. . .
Ivan and Sierra are two of the most energetic, creative, talented people I know. I’m convinced they found each other because they eventually wore out any other possible partners! These two put together all of their creative talents (and those of many of their friends) to throw a beautiful wedding in the woods at the base of Mt. Rainier a little over two years ago. It was an all day, late into the night affair at Wellspring Spa at Mt. Rainier and fun was had by all. There was a band or a musical number to quench almost every musical taste, desserts by the dozens, and a bride and groom dressed to the nines in their totally unique wedding apparel. Even as a second shooter at this wedding there were lots of great photos to share!