Liam's Newborn Session | Virginia Portrait Photographer

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend and the Monday Blues aren't getting you too down. But if they are... here's a yummy newborn session that will cheer you right up!

I had the pleasure of photographing my friend's perfect new little guy, Liam, a few week ago. He is such an adorably small person with the best button nose! I had so much fun with him, though the session was a little stressful for him at the end (I think all the fun stuff just wore him out). His mom had the cutest little hats for Liam to wear, made by a friend of hers just for Liam. I especially loved the little elephant hat. Liam's nursery theme is elephants, and the hat just fits right in! Here's a little peek into our day together:

Wedding Wednesday: It's All In (Capturing) The Details | Virginia Wedding Photographer

If big-picture ideas and overarching themes are two great cake flavors, the details are the frosting that glues them together. As a bride you've spent hours poring over ALL the details, from color schemes to flower arrangements to cake flavors to seating card displays. You've invested months of your precious free time into making each and every detail of your wedding picture-perfect, and while some guests may not notice all of these details, your photographer definitely will! We know how hard you worked making 400 of those tiny and oh-so-cute toothpick drink flags, or painstakingly inscribing that heartfelt thank-you note on each and every guest's favor, and it's our job to capture these details for your eternal memory.

Details! They take a lot of planning, and we're here to help capture them beautifully.

Yet photographers are human, too. In the hustle and bustle of the big day, we won't always capture EVERY detail - no matter how hard we try, that's just how it is.

But this is where you can step in to save your own day! There are other ways to make sure the wonderful details of your wedding are preserved by you and your guests (in addition to the details we manage to snag as photographers). And the beauty of multiple methods is multiple perspectives. You'll get 100 versions of your day to remember, not just two or three!

Photo Booth 
A photo booth is a great way to capture the funny, silly, and quirky sides of your guests! With fun props, photo booths can instantly set a "party" atmosphere during your cocktail hour or reception. Another plus with renting a photo booth is that your guests can have memories from your night as well! Consider using a photo booth to create favors from the night for your guests, and save a copy of the images for an fun-filled guest book.

Check with your photographer if you're interested in a photo booth - most provide some version of one these days, although what they offer varies by photographer. If your photographer doesn't offer a photo booth, renting one is also easy-peasy!

Disposable Cameras
Disposable cameras are a classic wedding staple. They're fun for your guests - and fun for you! You can even customize them with your names, wedding date, and colors to coordinate with the rest of your wedding decor. While you won't get top-notch images from the cameras you set at each table, you'll get boatloads of memories and a little something from each of your guest's perspectives. You can order customizable disposable cameras through sites like The Knot and Etsy.

Smartphone Apps
Let's get real, y'all; it's the 21st century. Everyone and their grandmother has a smartphone, which means all of your guests (including your grandmother) already have a camera. Your guests are snapping images left and right with the camera in their phone and blissfully instagramming the night away. Instead of giving them another camera to worry about, why not make it easier for them to share the photos they're already taking at your wedding?

The best smartphone app I've seen for just this purpose is called Wedding Party. It's a nifty app that lets you create a private and collaborative album for you wedding, where your guests can upload their mobile images throughout the wedding. All you need to do is create the album and give your guests instructions to download the app (it's free!). The best part about this is that everyone has access to view and contribute to the album when they download the app, so you get hundreds of the candid and fun images to remember - and so do your guests!