Since they are going to be married at the awesome historic Sotterley Plantation, I thought it was only fitting to do their session in a plantation nearby… so off we went to the Lancaster County Park. The day was chilly, definitely colder than the 70 degree weather they have been enjoying down in Maryland this week, but they braved it out and made it so easy for me! Katherine and Matt, thanks again for coming all the way to Lancaster and hanging out with me today!

And now, here are some of my favorites from the day!

We started at a lake near my home and ended the session at an abandoned (and semi-demolished) house a couple of miles down the road. Having never done a session in the snow before, I didn’t know how physically tough it was going to be. By the end of the session I think I had sprained my ankle, pulled my hamstring, and had lots of bruises, but it was so worth it! Terica & Dan, thanks so much for being so flexible and awesome! Can’t wait for the wedding!

At the beginning of the year my wife and 18-month-old son traveled out of the country for a couple of months. This gave me my only opportunity to do house projects this year so I took on painting our home and remodeling the kitchen a little. In January I flew out (in the middle of a snowstorm that involved me getting to JFK only to see the terminal shut down and I had to sleep on the floor by the parking garage!) in January and spent a few weeks with my family in Indonesia as well.

Early in the summer we received the news that Winny is expecting our second child! We are thrilled, the pregnancy is doing very well, and the baby is due this March. This is such a fun time as several of our good friends are all also expecting, thus we often had gatherings in our home where all the ladies present were pregnant!

In November I attended a workshop that changed my career. I was re-energized, challenged, taught, and encouraged. I met many, many amazing photographers whom I can proudly call friends and mentors. If you are a photographer and are looking for that next step to improve your skill, I highly recommend it. Their next workshop is in March and it will be even better than ever!

As soon as we got back from our overseas trip, our photography business started picking up again, culminating in a whirlwind 2-month period during October/November where we did about 20 shoots in a 2 month period. This forced us to became even more efficient in our editing, as we strove to deliver images consistently and quickly. One of the instructors at Genesis, Tony Hoffer, taught that we photographers should always examine our own work and strive to improve on it instead of always looking for inspirations from others. So at the end of the year, after 15,000 images have been delivered to clients, I thought it would be fun to create a ‘Best of 2011′ slideshow as we celebrate the beginning of what should be our best year yet! If you have a high speed connection, don’t forget to watch it in HD!

We really owe all of you family, friends, and clients a huge debt of gratitude for the amazing year that we had. Thank you for all your support, kind words, and most importantly for trusting us in capturing your most important day of your lives. 2012 looks to be an even better year, and we hope you will continue to walk on this journey with us! Cheers!

A few weeks ago we scheduled our shoot and the day finally came. As I was packing my gear I heard the phone ringing, and I was told that we had to cancel the shoot because Tim was suffering from kidney stone! I was kinda bummed not only for Tim but also because that evening we had the most gorgeous sunset we could have ever asked for! But thankfully he pulled through and we were able to reschedule the shoot a few weeks later.

I didn’t know much about the location they choose other than it is very meaningful to them.  So I was really pleased when I saw how awesome it was – it’s been a while since I got to shoot at such a rustic location. Not to mention Laura and Tim was SOOOO easy to work with.. I’m so looking forward to their wedding next year!!! Here are some of my favorites:

We hung out around Rittenhouse Square, before wandering around the neighborhood and finishing the shoot at Broad Street. Sara and Erik tease each other so much.. so getting them to laugh was probably the easiest part of the job!

Thanks again guys for hanging out with me and being so much fun!

The snow did come and did it’s thing, bringing huge trees down and leaving thousands without power for a few days.. but on the day of the shoot the weather itself was actually great. What follows is an amazing series of images that juxtapose the fall foliage with the remnants of the snow from the day before.

Chris, Nelly, and Kayla, thanks so much for reaching out and travelling all the way to the northeast. Our family had such a great time hanging out with you!

I almost felt really bad asking Anna to pose here… but I think the pictures make up for all those thorns!

When Roger contacted me about doing Dylan’s senior shoot I was very flattered and excited. Roger is one of the people who encouraged me to jump into photography. He even helped convinced my wife to let me buy my first DSLR, the Nikon D80. My oh my how time flies!

We did the session at their beautiful property. Here are some of my favorites!