Lucky Me

One of the best parts of my job is that it allows me to spend time with my two lovely littles. Even thought it is exhausting, it is fun. I decided yesterday that I am going to try to take at least a picture a day of our adventures. I'll post the good ones here. Here are a couple of my faves from yesterday.

Nancy & Chet

Nancy and Chet are mom and son and it is always fun to see them--Nancy and I used to work together years ago and they have been coming to see me for several years. They were actually one of my first clients! So, it has been really cool to see how Chet has changed and grown over the years. Here are a few of my favorite images from their last session.

Hailey & Tyler

Recently, I did a newborn sitting with Hailey and family. She was feeling a little fussy--modeling is hard work--but we still managed to get some good shots. Tyler is the proud big brother and loves getting his picture taken. It was great to have the opportunity to take photos of the whole family--a new baby is such a big event! Here are some of my favorites.

The Mighty Quinn

I am slowly emerging from the baby fog, as my sister in law calls it. For anyone who does not yet have kids, the first few weeks are a haze of sleep deprivation and extreme monotony.

Baby X was born September 18th and weighed in at a healthy 9 lbs 6 oz. We named him Quinn and he is doing really well--the first week home was a little rough because he had a bad case of jaundice so we were going back and forth to the hospital and Dr every day, but after that, we settled into a nice routine of eat, sleep, change diaper repeat. His onesie says "Feed Me or Nobody Sleeps." So true!

More Wedding Photos

I am still trying really hard to catch up with my blog postings! I just finished the album design for Jeff and Lauren's wedding and I just had to post a few more of my favorite pics from their June Wedding at Ft Belvoir. Enjoy!

New Calendar & Schedule Update

I added a new Availability Calendar link to my website. You can find it along the top navigation under "Contact & Availability." Dates are filling up for 2008, and there are a lot of popular ones in Spring and Summer already.
Also, as a lot of you know, I have entered into the "very pregnant" stage and am beginning to wind down with appointments and I am not doing any more shooting till October. If you are interested in a date/appt, don't hesitate to contact me, I just may be a little slower in getting back to you. Right now, Baby X's arrival date is Sept 18, but I am not scheduling appts past Sept 8, just in case he decides to make an early appearance.
In the meantime, I will keep updating with some of my favorite pics from my recent weddings and sittings. I have been slow in doing this since I have been trying to get all my albums and other items as completed as possible before Baby comes. Stay tuned....

Email and Host Problems

Anyone who has been corresponding with me lately, or has looked at my site lately, knows I have been having major email and server issues. I am in the process of moving everything to a new company, so please be patient with me while I make the switch. In the meantime, feel free to email me at amie.otto@gmail.com as an alernate address! Thanks :)

Ft Belvoir: Lauren & Jeff

Yikes, am I behind in my posting! I have been so busy with weddings and then editing, I have let the blog get away from me (again). How do I get better at posting in a more timely manner? *sigh*

In June, I hade the pleasure of photographing Lauren and Jeff's wedding at Ft Belvoir. Besides getting lost in the the maze that is Ft Belvoir at night, everything was great :) I had no problem getting into Ft Belvoir, it was getting out that was the problem. No one mentioned the MAIN gate is closed at night! Here are some of my faves from the wedding.

Rachel & Parham, Raspberry Plain

I'm about half way through Rachel and Parham's photos and wanted to post a few. The wedding was at Raspberry Plain in Leesburg. The weather was rainy, but that did not dampen the sprits of the happy couple!

Memorial Day Weekend: Meadowlark Gardens

Over Memorial Day Weekend, I had the pleasure of photographing Emily and John's wedding at Meadowlark Gardens. The wedding was beautiful and I had a great time. I'm about 1/3 of the way through editing the photos, and wanted to post a few. I also worked with several great vendors--all of whom I would recommend. Victoria of Beautiful by Victoria, did makeup. Jenny and Katie from A Touch of Sass were the coordinators and kept everything running smoothly all day long. Marco Polo did the catering--the food was fantastic. Several stations were set up with different cuisine on each.

Tea & Sympathy

Between wedding season starting, product shots for Honest Tea and vacation, things have been a whirwind lately! I promise to catch up on posting soon, but in the meantime, here is one of the shots for Honest Tea. I shot the glass and plastic lines, which was actually more work than we originally anticipated! A lot goes into each photo, including the retouching afterward. it was a great expeience though, and it will be cool to see my work in ad campaigns and websites other than my own!

Photographing the Journey

I've had some more thoughts about photographing couples from engagement pics to having kids....I'm now going to offer a free DVD with the photos from all the sessions, which would include engagement, wedding, pregnancy, newborn, family pics. This is something I would love to have, so I think my couples will like it too. I'm going to be putting it together some information about it in the next few weeks that I can send out to past couples and have ready for new ones.
If I've already photographed your wedding and you are interested in this, contact me. If this sounds like something you would like, let me know! I am always interested in hearing what couples really want.

Some of My Favorite Wedding Sites

I had a question from one of my couples this week about my favorite places for weddings in the area. I thought this would make a great post and something I can update frequently as I shoot at new places. Here are some of my current faves:

Cabell's Mill
This is one of my favorite parks in general--they have great trails and the history behind it is interesting. The weddings are beautiful with the park as the backdrop. The indoor space is really charming too. You have to bring in your own caterer and other vendors, but I think this can also be a plus.

Chrysalis Vineyard
I LOVE this place. The people are super cool, the views are breathtaking, and the wine isn't bad either!

Airlie
If you are set on an outdoor weddings and want beautiful gardens as your backdrop, this is your place. The gardens are amazing, and they have a really nice indoor alternative too.

Inn At Vint Hill
I think this place gets overlooked a lot, but I love it. Very charming and the people who own it are great. The food is also fantastic.

Engagements A-Go-Go

It's been super busy the last few weeks and I've neglected my blog :( The good news is, all this time has been very productive, with wedding contracts, portraits, engagements and my first wedding of the year.

I really like doing engagement sessions bc it gives me a chance to get to know the couple and it really forces me to be creative. There are only so many shots of a couple one can take before they look staged and stale. So, I was really excited to start off the year with 2 enagement sessions for two of my wedding couples. These are a few of my favorite shots.

Weddings + Kids

Over the weekend I got a catalog from Oriental Trading Company. I have not idea why, but I have a soft spot for party decorations, stationary, and stupid party favors, all of which the OTC has plently of! One of the things I noticed that was new was a whole slew of wedding themed items designed to keep kids busy at the wedding. I've seen many creative brides put together their own activity packs for kids, but these are a great alternative if you don't have the time or energy to make something yourself. They also have great flower girl and ring bearer sets that are only about $10 each. At that price, you could even get these for all the kids at your reception!

Is this cute, or what?

I finally had time to fit in a my first portrait session of 2007 last weekend. I have been so busy with wedding appointments, it's been hard to find time. Here is one of my favorites from the sitting.

Weddings Unwrapped

I had such a busy week after the bridal show, I needed to get some relaxing time in this past weekend. I am a big fan of the Food Network and on Saturday I watched Weddings Unwrapped. It is a nice break from all the stress-filled wedding shows, like bridezillas or whose wedding is it anyway? All you foodies getting married should check it out when you are feeling like you need a break from all the planning :)

Snow

I've been meaning to post something a little less business-y and things have been going so well, I just haven't had the chance. Here is a photo from a few weeks ago when it snowed. This was Chloe's first snow where she has been able to go out in it. We got her all bundled up and she was outside all of 5 minutes before she wanted to come back in. I love her Detroit hat :)

Nicest Email

I got a great email over the weekend from a past client that I did newborn photos for. It is the feedback like that that keeps me going :) Her baby was adorable, and I really loved the photos. She tried a volume studio for the 6 mo pictures, and well....here is her email:

Hi Amie,
I am not sure if you will remember me. My husband, Matt, and I came in with our daughter Ashlyn to get her 1 month picture taken. I wanted to let you know that we still love the pictures and our family loves them too. So now, Ashlyn is 6 months old and we decided that we would try and save some money this time and just go to one of the mall places to have her pictures taken. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT! We just got home and could not stop talking about how awful it was compared to the wonderful experience we had with you. Ashlyn cried because there were 3 sales people trying to get her to smile, they took some awful shots and to top it all off. They were way more expensive. We were so spoiled by coming to you first. I can't believe that we made the mistake of going anywhere else. For her one year photos, we are definitely coming to you! My husband kept saying, "That is difference between working with a true artist and some guy with a camera. I am crushed that I spent my photo budget on the lousy pictures but am also excited about having you take her one year photo. We will be contacting you in a few months. Thanks again for your beautiful work and never again will I go to a random mall photo place.

I thought this was SO nice! Of course, I am sad that she will not have great 6 mo photos, so I hope she brings her in for a 'mini' session.

I was going to post an image from her session, but it won't work for some reason! grr. Ok, got it to work today....isn't she the cutest?

Crazy Idea

I have this idea that I want to photograph a couple from enagement, to wedding, to pregnancy, to baby, to family portrait. Is this totally crazy? DC is such a transient area, and though I've kept in touch with several of my wedding couples, none are still in the area who are/have been pregnant. If you're one of my past couples and you're interested, or, if you're just starting out on your search for a photographer and think this sounds like a fun project, please contact me!!

New Website!

I just finished loading everything up to my new website. Now, I will be able to make updates quickly. I really like the new look--I think it is really clean and focuses on the photos. What do you think?

I'm getting ready for the GMU bridal show this weekend. I'm really excited about it since we had so much fun at the last one. Stop by and see us if you are planning on going. We will be on the upper level in front of the east entrance--that entrance is closed that day, so we have a nice open aisle. And I promise we won't harass you too much :)

Inaugural Post

So I am finally starting the blog I have been thinking about for so long!

I am working on my new website right now, which I am SO excited about! I will finally be able to make more frequent updates. I am hoping to have it up in the next few days, a few weeks at most.

In the meantime, here is a new portrait photo of Patrick, looking oh so serious. Enjoy :)