Portraits in Raleigh: Stephanie

This lovely client found her way to me by inquiring about real estate photography for one of her clients. I referred her to someone else, and shortly after received another e-mail from her… this time asking me to take her portraits. :) When she told me about her company and products, I was so excited. Stephanie Wetzel is the brains and beauty behind Trading Pounds, a business centered around her recent weight loss (she’s lost over an amazing 170 pounds so far since January 2010!). She’s already written and published one cookbook and is in the process of writing her second. Trading Pounds includes a blog, free e-books, and other personal coaching tools. Stephanie wanted some new photos to show her kick-butt new look and I was more than happy to help. She’s a ridiculously fun girl who has two cats, is a self-described nerd, and whose favorite recipe is pot pie with rosemary. :)

Along with her entourage (manager Elise and best friend Travis), we went into the naturey parts of a local park per her request to photograph Stephanie looking gorgeous. This was my first shoot of 2012… held on one of the coldest days in Raleigh I’ve encountered in a long time… and we all had very limited motion in our extremities by the end of the shoot. :D Thank you for your bravery, Stephanie… and for your awesomeness and help, entourage! 

 

Cats in Pittsburgh: Logan Lemewski+Sullivan McSkillet

Every once in a while I meet a person with dogs who says they don’t like cats because cats don’t have any personality. Or they say they only like cats who are nice and friendly. Granted, I am sure there are some not nice/unfriendly cats out there, but every cat I have ever known has had a huge personality… it’s just that they don’t particularly care for many people besides their owners and their closer friends. We are crazy cat people ourselves so I’m quite partial to the feline club, but no matter what your views are – it’s a bit impossible to see these pictures of Logan+Sully and think that cats don’t have personalities.

Logan Lemewski (“Lemmy”) and Sullivan McSkillet (“Sully) are my nephew-cats. They belong to my sister Laura and live with her in Pittsburgh where they win the all-time award for being  the craaaaaziest cats in the entire world (photographic evidence below). She recently referred a wedding to me and wanted to use the referral bucks to get pictures of her furry crew, so I took their portraits before Christmas and documented the crazy: the catnip bubbles, the jumping off of doors, the hopping up on cabinets, the drinking from faucets, the red cat pajamas. They are stinking adorable but also absolutely insane. She’s had many stories over the past few years and it basically boils down to the conclusion that they must be getting their paws on some pretty heavy catnip stored away in some secret stash.

Cat Answer Key: Sully is the black cat, and Lemmy is the grey and white cat.

<3 Love you, Lemmy, Sully, and Laura!

 

Engaged in Pittsburgh: Brandy+Andrew

Brandy and Andrew met while she was a server and he was a cook at Johnny Rockets. They didn’t like each other. Brandy thought Andrew was stuck up. Andrew thought Brandy was weird. Eventually they ended up together and have been ever since. It turns out that what Brandy took for stuck up was just Andrew being kind of shy. But it also turns out that Andrew still thinks Brandy is “kind of weird”. :D ;) Bahahaha. But despite their differing views on the Harry Potter movies (Brandy loves them and Andrew politely puts up with them), they are fantastic together and laughed the whole time. They’re sooo sweet, but I already knew this about Brandy. We were in show choir and drama together for 3 years in high school… high-kicking our way to the top in our ridiculously sequined blue dresses. ;) Brandy has a beautiful singing voice. She met Andrew after we graduated (he went to another high school), so I just now have met him… and he’s wonderful! I’m so excited to see them together again on their wedding in June.

Photos taken at Johnny Rockets in Pittsburgh Mills (where they met) and Deer Lakes Park (behind the Mills). Special thanks to the Johnny Rockets crew for letting us shoot there before they opened up, and for the Deer Lakes Park fog for being so awesome and conveniently timed. Here is our wonderful Brandy and Andrew!

P.S. Brandy – you’re a fine girl (you’re a fiiine girl!). What a good wife you would be (such a fiiine girl!).