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!

I am so happy to finally be posting a beautiful portrait session of my dear friends and lovely couple, Greg and Matt. Greg and I were partners in crime in college, meeting one Halloween when he painted himself white, dressed up like Michael Jackson, and approached me in the school cafeteria, saying something to the effect of, “Why hello there, little girl.” We’ve been friends ever since. I also credit Greg with the start of my real passion for photography, as he was and is an excellent photographer in the DC area.

When Greg first told me about Matt, I was so excited. And of course I was not disappointed when I met him. :) Matt has always been so kind and nice to myself and Geoff, and makes a perfect other-half for Greg. They are a beautiful couple together and very close to my heart. Matt wanted pictures of the two of them as a couple for Christmas, as they’ve been dating a few years and need a good picture for their wall. Greg bought him a session and they both came up to visit me in Pittsburgh while I was home for vacation, where we took the pictures in and near our old alma mater, Point Park.

SPECIAL THANKS to the Point Park library staff. Specifically, thank you to William Cameron for giving us permission to photograph inside the Point Park library on a bitterly cold and snowy day in Pennsylvania when the library was closed for Christmas. And thank you to Chris Hill for meeting with us, showing us cool places in the library we hadn’t been before, and being supportive and hilarious. Thank you!

raleigh portrait photographer

pittsburgh portrait photographer

portraits PPG place

portraits PPG place

point park university library

point park university library

This picture cracks me up no matter how many times i look at it.

downtown portrait session

We found an awesome (abandoned?) phone booth that was really old school on the roof of the parking garage where I parked. :) Bonus points!

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downtown pittsburgh portrait session

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pittsburgh wedding photographer

Props to Greg for showing me this sweet staircase!  This is probably my favorite from the day:

raleigh wedding photographer

pittsburgh portraits

point park university library

Of course we’d have this funky wallpaper in a secret room above the library accessible only by rickety bronze elevator. Go Point Park Pioneers! ;)

point park university library

The Point Park Library used to be an old bank and we’ve kept the batman-movie-looking giant vaults in tact. :)

point park university library

point park university library

north side photography

We wanted to take some shots on the North Side and parked across from my and Geoff’s old apartment where we took this picture. :) It used to be white with baby blue window sills, but they’ve painted it. I like it. :) I miss living there, minus the occasional shootings up the street. The North Side has become a pretty dangerous area of Pittsburgh, but the Mexican War Streets (pictured here) is a little beautiful neighborhood of awesome old houses and is (relatively) danger-free.

north side photography

pittsburgh photographer

north side portraits pittsburgh pa

north side photography pittsburgh pa

I love you, guys! Hope you enjoy them. :)

out of raleigh and back in pittsburgh on august 28th for nicole and luke’s wedding. :) this was a cool wedding to do seeing as how i went to high school with luke and how i’ve known his older brother since my days of braces and extreme hair cuts (ohhh, middle school…you were shameful years, indeed). his brother chris was good friends with my sister and we knew each other through her and various marching band appearances (i told you they were shameful years). anyway, chris was in my sister’s grade a few years ahead of me while luke was a grade younger than me. chris and i have kept in touch via facebook and he’s been following my photography progress since i’ve started. actually, i owe the whole creation of the carolyn scott photography blog to him! it was totally his idea. thanks, chris!

anyway, when luke and nicole got engaged, he recommended me to luke and i ended up booking them for their wedding. :) it was super exciting and awesome to see everyone again and to meet the lovely nicole for the first time (although we’re pretty sure we must’ve met before at some place…sometime…which neither of us can really remember). they had a gorgeous wedding at st. george orthodox church in new kensington, pa while their reception was at the oakmont country club (helloooo nicest golf course in the states!).

pittsburgh wedding photographer pittsburgh wedding photographer pixie hair salon st. george orthodox church new kensington

gotta love getting ready in a children’s school. this sign was amazing (it’s the elementary school teacher in me).

st. george orthodox church new kensington raleigh wedding photographer bridesmaid tattoo

WEDDING FACT: nicole and i chose the same bridesmaid dresses for our girls except hers are purple and mine are black. also – both of our dresses are la sposa – an amaaaazing spanish wedding gown maker. ::high five, nicole!:: we have good taste, what can i say. :)

pittsburgh bride st. george orthodox church new kensington

nicole is beaaaautiful!

bride getting ready st. george orthodox church wedding

WEDDING IRONY PART ONE: this was the first wedding where i had absolutely no restrictions inside the church whatsoever despite it being the most religious/scared ceremony i’ve ever attended. in fact, i was encouraged and asked to use my flash through the entire ceremony and stand up front with the priests (yes, multiple priests…3 to be exact). i never use my flash during the ceremony, but this church was extremely dark and i did so at the request of the bride. the church was seriously breathtaking and i’ve never been in one like it.

st. george orthodox wedding st. george orthodox wedding st. george orthodox wedding

SWEET WHEELS.

pittsburgh wedding photographer newlyweds! bridesmaids in a classic car oakmont country club wedding

WEDDING IRONY PART TWO: so usually i have a ton of restrictions placed on me at the church during the ceremony and total free reign at the venue where we usually take the formals. however, this was totally opposite. no restrictions whatsoever at the church… a trillion restrictions at the country club. we were allowed to take pictures in a very limited area of the course due the fact that it’s a very prestigious country club and, as we were told by the man that followed me around to make sure i didn’t break any rules, that a spike from a bridesmaid’s heel could cost the course $4,000. soooo, we obviously followed the rules. :D geoff was also told that he was not allowed to check a voicemail out in the hall, but that he had to go outside for that…which cracked me up. this club is serious stuff!

but what it lacked in freedom it made up for with its gorgeousness, delicious food (or so i hear because i still can’t eat much), and overall coolness because hey – i was at the oakmont country club! NEAT.

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they are a seriously good looking couple!

bride and groom first dance wedding reception oakmont country club

this picture never fails to crack me up on chris and his jumping sister. THIS IS FOR YOU, KAIT.

wedding reception wedding reception oakmont country club

it was a great wedding that i was so happy to be a part of! it was an honor to be able to photograph such an intimate ceremony and to be able to shoot inside the oakmont country club. :) congratulations to the newlyweds and please keep in touch! and thank you, luke, nicole, and chris, for making this happen!