03.29 | LOVE | Leah & Chris Engagement

Meet Chris & Leah! We wanted to express their love of music & the city in their e-session so we started our shoot at Kleinahan's before walking to some of my favorite photo-op spots around Allentown. I love shooting down there; the street art, old brick buildings, cool walls & gorgeous late afternoon light that hits the street just right all make for perfect photo session spots! I love these images & have to compliment them on their wardrobe choices; looks so great with all the colors in the backgrounds. These two were so fun to work with & I can't wait for their wedding!

 

06.23 | Mini-Getaway : Baltimore, Instagrammed!

During the craziness of wedding season, we wedding photographers really savor, celebrate & basically just go nuts for rare Saturdays off. Every time I have a free weekend, I have to plan something (you can't spend a precious Saturday sitting around the house!)

I'm just getting back from a great little getaway with my husband this past weekend. We took our car & drove down to Baltimore where we spent the weekend just being tourists. We checked out the Walters Art Museum, Edgar Allen Poe House, The Lexington Market (home of the best crab cake I've ever had), bummed around Fell's Point, ate some famous Bertha's mussels, toured the Civil War Museum, drank margaritas out of a hubcap at an Elvis themed Mexican restaurant, played around the Inner Harbor & spent a day at the Aquarium (where, as you'll see, I was full-on captivated by the jellyfish!)

Anyways, it was an awesome mini-roadtrip & per my husband's request, I didn't bring my big ol' fancy pants camera or lighting gear (he knows I get into 'work' mode with that stuff around). Instead, I just spent the days wandering the streets with only a small purse and my iPhone. While the quality will never compare, it was wonderfully liberating not to have to worry about a $10000 bag on my back; not to mention the physical joy of not having to carry that bag on my back in 100 degree heat!

More and more, for my personal collections, I've been using my iPhone & Instagram to capture little bits of my daily life. A lot of people are surprised that a professional photographer would embrace such a chintzy method of capturing and sharing images, but I simply love the ease of always having a camera on me & being able to instantly share. When your fun, favorite hobby becomes your daily job, it's important to keep a small part of it as just a hobby; my daily Instagram diary is a way to just have fun collecting bits of the world around me.

So anyways, I wanted to share some photos of our trip & invite all of you to follow me on Instagram. If you have the app, you can follow me at city_lights_studio OR if you don't have an iPhone, you can view on the web at this site : http://instagrid.me/city_lights_studio. There's more added almost everyday, so please check back :)

06.17 | LOVE Session | Liz & Ryan Maternity Portraits

Remember Liz & Ryan from their gorgeous 2010 wedding? Well they emailed me recently to announce their pregnancy; needless to say, I was so excited to hear!! For those of you that don't know, I offer a maternity session/newborn photoshoot package as well as discounts for previous clients & love to see my wedding couples again & be updated about wonderful things in their lives! Liz & Ryan wanted some studio shots, but also wanted some fun city portraits as well. Luckily enough, my studio is located right downtown, a block from Shea's; so we started in the Theater District, hit Fountain Plaza and the Electric Tower then went upstairs for a few shots in the studio.

We had such a great time at their wedding & I was so excited when they came back to my studio for photos of this next exciting phase of their life together :) Can't wait to meet the beautiful baby & capture more family memories! See you guys soon!!