Baxter Gets His Picture Taken

Every once in a while I get something completely different than weddings and last week it was Baxter. :) Baxter’s mom and dad (Rachel and Andy) found me through a fundraiser event that I participated in for a local shelter called 2 Paws Up where I donated a session for them to help them raise money for their organization. They rescue animals from high-kill shelters in North Carolina and put them up for adoption. :) His parents were in attendance at the fundraiser, won the prize, and contacted me shortly after to set up Baxter’s session.

Baxter is a Shar Pei most likely mixed with some sort of Pit or hound… no one’s really sure. All we know is that Baxter is adorable, and Baxter likes squirrels. He likes squirrels so much that he’s a certified flight-risk, thus landing us in his neighbor’s fenced in back yard for the session so that Baxter didn’t escape into the wild beyond, injuring all fluffy-tailed squirrels in his path. He was quite content to chase around his ball and his stuffed animals and hang out with his beloved humans. I’m pretty much in love with this little dude.

Raleigh Pet Photographer: Belle

Say hello to Belle! She is a Havanese doggy diva belonging to a wonderful family. When Belle’s mother contacted me to take her picture, I was informed that the 1.5 year old pup is very loved, very spoiled, and very much the center of the household… and indeed she is, and rightfully so. :) She is surrounded in these pictures by her identical twin bothers, John and Christian. Good luck telling them apart – inside their house are several portraits on their wall, and John and Christian can’t even identify themselves! :D The boys and Belle are super adorable, and I had a great time getting to know them. I send Belle’s mom this recommendation for her Halloween costume afterward as I think Belle would demand a costume that would highlight her assertive nature. ;)

Pittsburgh Portrait Photographer: Sarah+Nate

Horray for western Pennsylvania!!

Geoff and I traveled to a wedding in West Virginia this past weekend, but I flew home about a week before it to do a few photoshoots in our hometown of Pittsburgh. :) And it was awesome! The weather was about 75 degrees with low humidity, and I could actually sleep with the windows open. Unheard of! We do a lot of engagement sessions and weddings in Pittsburgh because a lot of our family and friends still reside there and I just love it.

But anyway, I was SOoo so so excited when one of my very good friends from college contacted me a while back to see if I could do a shoot with her and her new husband, Nate. Sarah and Nate were married but did not have a wedding, so they were looking to get photographs taken of them happily married and all that jazz. And I was stoked!! Sarah and I go back to 2004 when we both attended the University of Pittsburgh in Johnstown, PA. I was there for a semester before I realized I couldn’t handle the one Walmart and field full of cows and opted to transfer to Point Park which was in downtown Pittsburgh. But while I was in Johnstown, Sarah and I were super close and had a ton of really ridiculous times together. A couple semesters later, she too transferred to Point Park from the field of cows and graduated with a degree in Journalism. I made fun of her a lot for living in Pittsburgh but being from Philly, and she took it like a champ. ;)

Years later, we’re not dressing like zombies anymore** (see below) and are all married and grown up and stuff, and here I am taking pictures of her and her wonderful husband Nate whom I had the absolute pleasure of meeting for the first time… along with their adorable son/dog Bennett. SO freaking cute. We had the best time. These were taken at Northmoreland Park near New Kensington, PA (about 45 minutes outside of the ‘Burgh). I used to go fishing there with my dad when I was little. :) So neat to be shooting back there as an adult.

**…not all the time, anyway.

Okay, everyone! Time to breathe a collective, “AWWWWWWWWWWW” over Bennett, world’s most ridiculously cute dog.

Hey hey, western PA vistas! You’re not too bad yourself.

Sarah’s always had the greatest ice blue eyes and has been rocking the Zoolander “Blue Steel” since I’ve known her.

How cute are they? :) So cute. It’s such a lovely idea to do married pictures. Everyone stops taking pictures between the wedding and their kids… but I find it incredibly endearing to take some pictures of yourselves once in a while. You’ll love them later (and now!).

Now for a good walk down memory lane. The latest pictures with Sarah in the purple and myself in the yellow are photo credit of Nate (you rock, Nate!). The zombie picture is credit of… possibly Laurie Bolewitz, but I don’t remember at this point. There were a lot of zombies there that night. Photo credit in bottom left hand corner was totally copyright of Sarah’s mom while we were visiting in Philly. Clearly, our style of dress has matured (love that I had that studded belt… and also, who dresses like a prom zombie anymore? Regular zombie sure. But 80s prom zombie? That was so 2005ish). But we’re still able to rock the karate moves. Love you, Miss Sarah!! Please bring yourself and your lovely man down to visit us in the south sometime!