Purple flowers and soft glowing light make for pretty pictures.

And Emily is so pretty too….she has such a great “serious” look!

Love this field.

The dogwood trees and azalea bushes were in bloom.

And you know how much I love old barns and buildings….

….with the cutest little grain bin that I ever did see!

Ring shots in nature.  I didn’t know this beforehand, but Emily loves pine cones. 

Cute picture.  Always dandelions in bloom, no matter the weather!

The flowers on this tree perfectly matched Emily’s shirt.

And a little dancing to end the session….

Emily and Joey, I look forward to your wedding this September at the UVA Chapel and Boars Head Inn!

I love so many of these pictures, that it was difficult to pick which picture to put first….Well, find a neat old red car….take pictures with the neat old red car!

Sarina has the best smile and her eyes are simply amazing!

Love the ray of light shining in.

I found a “new” location that I absolutely loved.  And I just love all of the images in this series….

The gorgeous eyes….

LOVE.

And for a little variety and some more prettiness, we ended Sarina’s session out in a field.

There were still a few yellow flowers hanging on, just for us. 

Simply STUNNING.  Seriously, Sarina could be a model!

LOVE this one too.

And I love these last three pictures together….

Can you tell that I just love this session?!  Sarina, you were so sweet and fun to work with and best wishes in all you do!

Julia and Joe were married last Sunday on a beautiful afternoon at The Trivium Estate & Conference Center, a historic antebellum home, recently made into an elegant wedding venue.  The selling point for Joe when deciding on the location….an on-site photo booth!  Their wedding was full of fun, including homemade ice cream, and plenty of surprises….one of which was a very special “someone” who stopped in to visit! 

Julia, you were a gorgeous bride, and you and Joe are perfect together!  I hope that you’re having a wonderful time in Mexico!

One of my many favorites from Kristen and Philip’s session….

The way the light was shining through the tree and onto the door was simply splendid!

And this….this is an elevator for cars….and this made me very happy.

The light was so beautiful that day.

Kristen has the most amazing blue eyes and she is so pretty.

Definitely one of my favorites!  I already mentioned this on our Facebook page, but we were on our way to a new location and the light stopped me in my tracks….I had an idea….and I knew that the end result was going to be astonishing!

Hey look!  Someone was so nice and wrote the word, “LOVE”, on the wall in chalk for us! 

Being a little daring and standing on a busy street….

The spectacular view from the back of Philip’s house!  We made it out there just in time to capture some pictures in the soft light as the sun was setting.

I love this picture too.  Isn’t the view so beautiful?!  The lovely Virginia countryside at it’s finest!

Philip proposed to Kristen last Christmas Eve at the romantic and luxurious resort, The Homestead, in Hot Springs, Virginia.  After dinner with family, Philip pulled Kristen aside and asked her, “What would you think if we were married next year at this time?….What would you think if we were engaged tonight?”  Of course, she said yes!  And then they were able to share the news with everyone that was at their Christmas Eve gathering.

I can’t wait to photograph Kristen and Philip’s wedding in just over a month!

Oh yes, and I knew that I would love this couple when Jessica’s first e-mail started out with, “Good Morning, I am in love with your work.”  And to make it even better, Jessica said that she loves brick buildings and old downtowns.  Perfect!

The evening of their session was so beautiful and I was definitely in love with all of the locations that we found for pictures.  Jessica and Kyle were so great to work with, and it was so fun to witness their love and interactions.  And they certainly made my job super easy, as they both were completely as ease in front of the camera, and such natural models! 

So many favorites images from this session….

Where they got married the day before!

They are one stunning couple….

And Jessica is completely gorgeous and so sweet too.

The light was perfect all evening.

Love this series of images.

Another favorite….aren’t their hats so cute?!

We were walking along to our next location and Kyle randomly does this fancy little jump.    Of course, I made him to it a few more times for the camera!

I couldn’t believe my eyes when we came across this old trolley car….yes, I was in heaven!

Such a pretty ring.

Simply beautiful.

One last location….

When I sent the link to Jessica for them to view their finished pictures, Jessica had more sweet compliments, “These pictures are gorgeous!!!  I’m in love.  Seriously.”  Thanks so much Jessica and Kyle, for allowing me to document this very special time in your lives!  I hope that Kyle is able to travel back home very soon!  And let me know if you need a photographer out in California next year for the big wedding festivities! 

Enjoy a sneak peek of this pretty garden-themed wedding….

This is not your typical cancer play.  Sarah & The Dinosaur is an unorthodox, funny, heartbreaking, and honest narrative of one woman and her journey with cancer.  In Sarah’s world, this cancer has come to her in the form of a Dinosaur.  It doesn’t look like Barney.  It follows her everywhere.  It feels guilty.  It wants to leave, but it is so hungry. Through all of this, Sarah fights her Dinosaur and struggles to make peace with what it means to live with terminal cancer.

Woven into the play are original writings from the real-life Sarah’s blog, [Love X Infinity]2 where she chronicles her life as a “Cancer Princess.”  This is the story of her sometimes quirky, sometimes poignant, always courageous, soulful fight with cancer.”

I went to college with the real-life Sarah, but unfortunately did not know her personally.  Many years later, I learned that she had eye cancer and that it had spread to her liver.  And then a little while later, I heard about the play that Ingrid De Sanctis wrote, Sarah & The Dinosaur, and knew that I wanted to go see it.  As so many others can relate, I too have connections with cancer in my family.

I bought my ticket and went to see the play at one of the premiere shows and then it became extremely personal to me, though I did not fully realize that until later….You see, as I was sitting there that evening watching a play about a girl and her terminal cancer, my mom was trying to call me on the phone to let me know that my grandma was just diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and given less than a year to live….  It was kind of like a slap in the face.  However, I knew that I wanted to do something to support this amazing story and the real-life Sarah, a.k.a. “Cancer Princess”.  So I offered my photography services to document the person that inspired this story and the people that brought the story to life….the story about a girl, her cancer, and a dinosaur.

I hope that your heart and soul will be touched and moved by these images.  And I cannot tell you enough to get out and go see this play….You will not regret it!  And those local to the area, that time is this week!  You can watch Sarah & The Dinosaur on Thursday April 26th (tomorrow!), Friday April 27th, and Saturday April 28th.  All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. and will take place at ShenanArts at the nTelos Theatre in Staunton, Virginia.

Susan and Steve, and Susan’s two children, Anaïs (11) and Elek (8), live in St. Louis, Missouri.  Susan and Steve are both architects and they met while working on a job.  And how did they end up getting married in Williamsburg, VA?  Well, they went on a vacation last year and enjoyed it so much that they decided to get married there.  The Williamsburg Inn and grounds were absolutely beautiful!  We were so glad for such great weather for lots of pictures outside (they allowed the most time that we’ve ever had with a couple and it was splendid!).

Susan said, “At the Inn there is a fantastic formal bar with a bartender in a tux, so we’d love to do some photos there of us getting some drinks….”  Perfect.  And I love the old, timeless feel of this first photo.

They incorporated green elements for St. Patrick’s Day, along with blues, birds, tree limbs, and the theme, “Going out on a limb”.

Goodie bags for all of the kids at the wedding….filled with lots of fun Lego sets!

The wedding cake and topper, complete with a Lego bride and groom.  There may or may not be a slight obsession with Legos associated with this couple.

Steve said, “Oh look, there’s an e-mail from RubySky Photography!” 

Love her hair accessory.

So sweet.

It is worth noting that Susan made the frilly fabric decoration on the front of her shoes — so creative and pretty!

Susan and Steve were such a fun couple — laid back, relaxed — and we thoroughly enjoyed taking their photos!

Well….I guess that you just have to see the paintings hanging inside the inn to appreciate the below photo on the right. 

This was such a neat vine-covered archway and I would love to see it in full bloom sometime too.

The colors were stunning.

The lighting at this location was superb.

And these pink magnolia flowers were so gorgeous and made an eye-catching backdrop.

This picture makes me smile.  We quickly scanned the books in the library to find two titles that would be fitting for the day — “Behold this Woman” and “Never Without You”!

And here we have Susan helping Anaïs and Elek with the final touches.  Cute kids with beautiful blue eyes!

Family photo time….love all of these pictures — they’re so happy!

Elek was so proud of the golf ball that he had sprinted out to find in the grass.

Beautiful bride and beautiful daughter.

Susan and Steve walked out of the inn and down the aisle, together, to their wedding ceremony.

The officiant was also adorned in green for the day. 

Elek was the keeper of the rings.

It’s almost over….

LOVE.

So all afternoon we were trying to track down one of the bicycles (owned by the inn) for some fun pictures.  And everyone time we saw one parked out front, the next minute it seemed to be gone!  So I at least got a picture of the rings on the bike fender!

Susan and Steve, many congrats to both of you and your family!  And it sure was a wonderful way to start our wedding season!

This picture makes me smile….look at that sisterly love! 

Charlotte shows a sweet smile.

A pretend little tea party.

More hugs.

Big brown eyes….so cute.

Sydney looks so grown up.

Charlotte and Mom.

Sydney and Mom.

Peekaboo!

So big!

And pretty Miss Sydney to end our session.  (Charlotte was finished with all of this!)

It was a fun morning with these sisters!

A favorite image from the afternoon.

Some pictures in the woods….

….with some really nice light.

And, look!….Eric was able to borrow the ‘State Champions’ trophy (that trophy was so heavy!) and plaque for his session, and they went along perfectly with the shiny new medal around his neck.

These pictures were kind of fun.

And a closer view of the new soccer jerseys.

Love the colors of this old building and the reflections in the windows too.

Eric has such striking blue eyes and his blue outfits were definitely good choices to complement them!

An amazing old house.

By the end of Eric’s session it was quite cold, but he did great!  Eric also plays baseball for his school.  So here’s hoping that you’re also having an extraordinary season!