Jane and Alex are engageeeed(!) and getting married in MEXICO (jealousss) and hired me to photograph their engagement portraits (yaaaaay!) under the stipulation that we try our best to avoid ticks (ewwwwww). Jane has gorgeous hair and incredibly fit upper arms, and Alex has very impressive eyelashes in an almost-Richard-from-Lost type of fashion. They are very cute. They have also lived in every state beginning with the letter C, visited 46/50 states, and have both lived abroad, which is so impressive! We had fun discussing their travels, work, and hobbies. They met while they were both attending Wake Forest and now live happily in Durham with their two dogs. They spend a good deal of their time now browsing PetFinder, and trying to convince one another that they don’t need a third dog. When not contemplating the pitfalls of life with three dogs, Jane spends her time lifting heavy things, and Alex spends his watching baseball or playing video games. Together they’re rock-solid, and they can thankfully both lift each other in a pinch should the occasion arise where the floor would suddenly become lava and they’d need to take turns carrying one another to safety. I enjoyed working with them very much, and thankfully all ticks were avoided during this shoot.

Ahh, the annual culmination of embarrassing photos of ourselves all in one place. We look terrible or confused or hangry, and are occasionally seen straddling logs in the middle of streams or getting caught in gym equipment. We are always, always, always pointing out in vague directions, gesticulating wildly, or petting dogs. I also decided to add an always-smooth-looking fannypack to my arsenal of wearable camera gear this year, so now I look like I’m ready for a week long trek in the wilderness after I’m done rock climbing. Not pictured this year: multiple pictures of Geoff eating wedding cake. I don’t know why. Maybe because I was able to eat more cake this year than ever before due to my gluten-free wedding guest brethren, so I was also busy eating cake at the same time? Either way, a disturbing lack of pictures of Geoff eating. I’ll work on that for next year. To make up for it, there is a picture of the Virginia Tech mascot hugging him against his will. Enjoy the stupid expressions and awkwardness of it all. To all of you who worry about how you’ll look in your pictures, we promise it won’t be this bad.

The “Making Fools of Ourselves” posts started in 2011 at the end of our Class of 2011 post. Here’s a look at younger versions of us:

2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011

At Home with John+Anna.

We have been so lucky over the past few years to gain some family portrait clients who make us feel like we’re part of their own family and we just love them so so much that we could squeeze them all to pieces. This is one of those families. Last year we met Anna, John, their daughter Lou, and their pup Keva, and they ran around and we photographed them being adorable. Lou was talkative to her parents, but was semi skeptical of us as most two year olds are (why are these people in my house?).

Fast forward a year and a half, and we suddenly and inexplicably gained all of Lou’s trust, and she immediately launched into a detailed speech regarding tigers, dinosaurs, and pajamas with feet upon our arrival. She sometimes prefers to eat breakfast while wearing a helmet, and insisted on having a temporary tattoo to match Mr. Geoff’s real tattoo. She also has a new little brother, Gus, who is just as friendly, only without words. He prefers spending his time chewing on giraffes and smiling happily at everyone.

We crashed Matchbox cars! We made pretend nighttime with a tent! We gave a full sleeve of temporary tattoos to a 3 year old! At some point a very scary monkey also made an appearance, and we might’ve asked if John and Anna would give us ice cream (they did). It was the best day.

Also, if you’re curious, Anna is a professional illustrator and does some pretty rad artwork of adorable kids and pigs and once drew a picture of myself, Geoff, and our two cats riding in a Viking ship.