Pittsburgh Engagement Photographer: Ginny+Carson

Another Pittsburgh session! This time in the cit-ay itself and of one of my oldest friends, Ginny. :) *Note: Ginny’s real name is Angela for the record, but I haven’t called her that since the 8th grade, so I think it’s fair to say that it’s Ginny for this blog post. We met at some point in elementary school, I don’t even really remember when or how, and have been causing problems for all of our teachers ever since. :) She was one of my wonderful bridesmaids for my wedding and I will be one of hers in the spring! I was super excited to help her pick out a fantastic photographer in Pittsburgh for her wedding, but even more excited to photographer her engagement pictures while I was home, yaaay!

I met Carson a few years ago and the first thing that struck me was that he is exactly. like. Ginny. It’s pretty much if you put Ginny into a guy’s body and had him walk around and say the same things Ginny would. It’s hilarious. Unfortunately for Carson, I have been giving him a hard time since I met him since I basically feel like I’m talking to Ginny. So Carson got to skip all of the formal stuff and went straight into verbal harassment from me. Sorry, Carson. ;) They both live and work in D.C. now but are planning on moving back to the ‘Burgh eventually. Their wedding is taking place at a church in New Ken with their reception at Soldiers and Sailors in Oakland. For their engagement photographs, they wanted pictures taken in the Northside in the Mexican War Streets (Geoff and I’s old apartment was there!!) and on the North Shore near PNC Park and Heinz Field (Go Steelers!). They wanted them very Pittsburgh-centric… and I think it accomplished just that. :)

For those of you who’ve ever parked in Pittsburgh, this photo needs no explanation. For those of you who haven’t, putting random chairs in the middle of the street in order to hold your parking spot is a Pittsburgh thing. ;) We found these and used the opportunity.

Outside the fence behind our old apartment! Meeemmorrriieeesss….

Quick wardrobe change in the car and a jaunt downtown! :) I’m pretty sure Ginny and I spent at least 50% of our elementary school field trips at the Carnegie Science Center. Oh yeah!

The Gateway Clipper’s Majestic rode on past and the people on board screamed at Carson to kiss Ginny… and cheering promptly erupted. Kinda wish I had a video.

The photo below was a series of…”Car!”….”Game on!”… “Car!”…. “Game on!”

Taken right before I literally fell into the bushes I was laying on. :)

The picture to the right is probably the oldest documented photograph of Ginny and I (special props to Nick Tutolo and Justin Silich) at the history museum during a field trip in… 4th grade maybe?

The below left is a picture in possibly 7th grade taken outside Notre Dame on a marching band field trip. Check out my outfit. This was back in the day where I fancied a lot of ska music. Ginny’s outfit eerily resembles the one she wore in last week’s reenactment. It’s a shame we forgot which side we were standing on in this picture, but oh well. ;) Photo credit goes to Carson!

Love you, Ginny and Carson! I can’t wait for your wedding where I can actually dance!! And I’m totally going to pretend I’m single so I can catch the bouquet!

pittsburgh visit.

this past weekend and week has been a total whirlwind for us. we went home knowing we’d already be busy enough with my mom’s birthday and visiting my grandma in the hospital, but with added engagement news on top of that we got really exhausted really quick. lots of talking, lots of planning, lots of discussion. we didn’t get back to raleigh until late sunday night and have been rushing to catch up on all the business we missed while we were gone while simultataneously trying to recover. geoff has a cold and i’m exhausted, but we’re slowly catching up. i’ve been editing from last week’s shoots and preparing for the wedding i’m photographing this weekend in cary.

i uploaded some of the photos we took in pittsburgh this past week – all of which were taken at PNC park. we took my mom there for her birthday as neither of my parents had ever been to the new stadium. the pirates lost, of course, but going to that stadium is always so much fun – and it was fireworks night! plus the pittsburgh skyline never gets old.

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magic hour in the ‘burgh.

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the sister and me…cheesing it up at the game.

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seriously – who mows those lines so straight?

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there was a giant red moon that night that, when photographed properly, reminds me of a bad 80s music video.

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“even fireworks at pirates games dwarf most cities’ fourth of july.” – laura

p.s. go steelers!

a jumpstart on autumn.

i love autumn. i really do. and not just because toothpastefordinner.com has several great autumn cartoons. and although summer is not over, i can tell you that my mind is totally over it already. i’m not sure why… i think it was the several days where it was kind of chilly because of all the rain. the light is also beginning to change – you know how autumn light is very different around 5:30 than summer light? or am i just nuts? anyway, i’ve been too busy to use the pool so to me that means that we might as well start autumn.

why i love autumn (in a list):

  • pumpkin pie
  • weather
  • colored leaves
  • stepping in crunchy leaves
  • halloween
  • my birthday
  • halloween candy
  • great photography light
  • having the windows open
  • carving pumpkins
  • wearing a jacket
  • everything about october

i’m sure there are things i am missing. but it is wonderful. last year geoff and i were new to north carolina and explored the mountains and hanging rock for the first time, so when i think of autumn now i think of those things.

it was absolutely amazing up on hanging rock in the fall. we decided we would hike up to the ledge because we knew there would be an awesome view. however, we weren’t entirely prepared for the hike instead of the walk, as evidenced by us wearing our chucks instead of hiking shoes. here we are at the top of hanging rock… both of the boys pretending to be excited but actually terrified. i was the one who climbed out closest to the edge while geoff and colombo tip-toed slowly out onto the rock, then perched themselves in a relatively safe place and laughed nervously:

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hehehe…i’m not going any further than this… hehehe.

i plan on going back soon with my wide angle lens. raleigh was pretty awesome in the fall too last year. the weather was amazing and lasted for at least two months. the leaves were also colored for a really long time. eventually they fell off, but it took them a while.

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i won’t be home for fall in pittsburgh at all this year which makes me a little sad. i am going home in september and december, but am skipping out on fall there entirely. fall in pittsburgh is cold, but then again i consider pittsburgh having really only two seasons: spring and winter. it’s only really warm in summer for a few days. fall is way too chilly and the leaves change color and fall off the trees within a week. i think that’s mostly because it rains so frequently in the fall there.

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the only sunny day captured on film in pittsburgh.*

*exaggeration… kind of.

i am hoping the fall in raleigh will be how it was last year. it will be the first october i have never been home. last year i was in north carolina for my actual birthday but went home the next weekend to see my family. this year my family is coming down to see me which will be lots of fun. my sister, mom, geoff and i are going to see U2 at nc state’s carter-finley stadium. woo! i am still trying to figure out how and if i can smuggle my camera inside. meanwhile, my dad (who harbors a strong disliking of crowds and bono) will stay at our house and entertain the kittens. and hopefully not cause any trouble at the science museum like last time:

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