Yanyo Wedding

Well, after quite a bit of time off from posting in the Blog, it's time to start this back up again. :)

This past weekend I had the pleasure of photographing Bill and Heather at their Handfasting/Wedding/Anniversary Party. It was a beautiful event on a stunning day. Most of the celebration took place outside. Hopefully my work captured the Magic that happened that day.

I love doing shots of the bride getting ready, I find you can see a lot of personality then.

The care was lovely, covered in handmade daisies.

Though the flowers were stunning, somehow this shot felt like it needed to be in a muted tone.

This image was beautiful in color, but I love using selective color to make them more emotional like this one is.

This wedding was filled with the sound of bells and windchimes that lined the outdoors.

The Bride getting the end of her bracelets on.

Zoey is such a beautiful little girl and she loved the bells that everyone had.

This was the adorable grandbaby of the wedding couple.

From here on down is wedding portraits of the Bridge and Groom....Enjoy!

Goodbye Dear Friend

Earlier this week I received rather sad news from a dear friend of mine. Tara of Northern Lights Ranch had to put down her amazing stallion Malachi this past week. He came down with an infection that the equine hospital was unable to treat. I have never met a pair so well matched as these two. This horse had to much presence and grace, he was truly a joy for me to photograph.






This shot sums them up to me, his power and grace matched so well to her inner power. Though he towered over him, you can tell how much he cared for her and watched out for her. He truly was her stallion and he will be missed by all who knew him!
Farewell Dear Malachi, may the Rainbow bridge welcome you to green pastures!

Darby Downs Equestrian Center

I'm finally getting caught up and back to normal here, so it's time to resume my posting on the blog.

My last post was about Jack McDonald Stables. That same month I also photographed a few other farms, all for Pittsburgh Professional Magazine.  This shoot was at Darby Downs Equestrian  Center.  The magazine was writing an article about the Equestrian community in Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas.  At Darby Downs, the interviewed Kathy, who is pictured below.  She currently takes lessons on her Perch/TB cross there.  The two of them look great together, and there images do not do them justice.

I also discovered some of the other owners enjoying their horses at the stable during my shoot.
The feel and ambiance of this barn was a great inspiration to me.  I did a lot of close up work here, along with a lot of farm life type portraits.




shilottesThey also seemed to have the perfect setting for me to work on my silhouettes.  I did a lot of work on those here and I have to admit I'm very pleased with my work there.



I hope you enjoyed the images from Darby Down as much as I enjoyed being there.  I hope to be able to return there some time this summer to get to work with everyone when the setting is a little more green.

Slacking Off

Ok, so over the last several months, I've been slacking off. I have tons of new pictures to post from a lot of shoots, I just haven't had time as of late to post them. Look for the first update around lunch time today. Sorry for the delay!!

Jack McDonald Stables

I had the pleasure of spending last Sunday with Jackie and the boarders and staff of Jack McDonald Stables.  I was there for a shoot for Pittsburgh Professional Magazine.  We managed to turn the day into a lot of fun, even though the weather was less then ideal.  At Jack McDonald Stables they specialize in Arabians and Dressage horses.

Though a very serious and respected stables, you can see that they also are very serious about having fun.  Here we see Jackie with one of the horse at the stable.  
This horse and rider combo impressed me to no end.  This is a youngster with a rider and owner who was a grandmother.  If you watch these two together, you can tell how bonded they are.
Since Jackie also trains Dressage horses, she gets other breeds besides Arabians and Arab crosses.  Here we see one of her junior riders with a Friesian mare that is in training with her.


Here we see one of her boarders and her husband, along with their own personal horse.  You can just tell by looking that both her boarders and horses are quite happy there.

This gelding is amazing to watch move.  He's going to be a horse to watch when he hits the show rings in the next few years.
Although Christy can no longer rider her mare, due to health problems with the mare, you can tell how much they care for each other and how alike they are.

This set was another set that amazed me.  This mare was underweight when her owner bought her.  You can see what some love and TLC can do for a mare like her.

Pittsburgh Youth Ballet

I had the chance to do some shots for the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet this weekend.  They asked me to come do some shots of their girls to use them for up coming advertising campaigns.  They wanted shots that showed the girls in practice, having fun and doing what they do in practice.  I tried to offer not only shots of the girls, but more artistic shots that can be used again and again for them.  Hopefully you enjoy these samples and you can see more to come when they new ad campaigns come out.