Washington DC Day 1: A Monumental Adventure

Whereas 2016 was the year of international travel for me, I've spent 2017 exploring cities a little "closer" to home. Initially, I got the idea to spend a weekend in the nation's capital because I wanted to take advantage of Allegiant's new direct flights out of Asheville (the reason for my NYC trip in February) but I also wanted to make it a girls' weekend with my mom. As this [$87 round trip] flight would've landed us at BWI and we'd planned to stay with family in South Riding, VA, we would've had to take a 2.5 hour metro trek from the airport to their home (totally worth it to me!) but in the end we decided to simply fly out of Knoxville and pay more. So, from the outset, the trip was shaping up to be different than I'd originally planned and this was only the first of many surprises!

Jeannie + Anne's Downtown Portland Engagement

I really can't emphasize enough how well everything fell into place for this Portland trip. Only a week or so before my departure, Jen emailed me saying that two of her friends (who were also the witnesses at her elopement) had recently gotten engaged and would be interested in an engagement session. I could not have asked for a more fun and easygoing pair to work with!

Jen and John's Portland Coffeeshop Engagement

"Some people follow their dreams. Others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission." This is the quotation that graced the back of our team t-shirts one year in high school and I've found it's applicable to a lot of things, especially business as I believe you really have to go after what you want. When I was planning my trip to Portland, OR last month, I knew I wanted to photograph a couple of engagement shoots and an elopement to use for my destination portfolio, so I sent out email upon email to local professionals hoping to find the right people to work with, and I did! As it happened, although he performs far more full weddings than elopements, Steve of A Beautiful Ceremony was officiating an elopement the very week I'd be there and as it was planned last minute, they did not have a photographer. Long story short because I'll be talking about the elopement later this week, they were delighted with the idea of actually having photos of their special moment and just as excited about the idea of getting some more casual engagement photos.

Jillian and Matt's Biltmore Engagement

Thanks to the power of the internet, I got to work with this fabulous couple from Florida last November capturing their engagement. Actually, not only did I get to shoot their engagement session, but I got to document the very moment she said "yes!" Matt had emailed me a couple months previously saying that he was planning to propose to his girlfriend at the Biltmore Estate and would love to have some photos to remember the whirlwind event and as a lover of proposals, I jumped at the chance.