Smithfield Holly Ball 2008

Well, I had a BLAST photographing the Smithfield Middle School Holly Ball 2008.  Photos can be found under Client Photos, Parties and Events.  The gallery is password protected to protect the Students.  Please contact me at FotographyByVeronica@Yahoo.com to gain access.  :)  Thanks for looking~!

Michael & Sara's Engagements

Michael and Sara were soo much fun to work with last weekend. They are a referral from my 1st Wedding of the year this year, Matt and Stephanie. Sara is Stephanie's Sister. I had the pleasure of meeting both Mike and Sara at that wedding and I am soo greatful that they liked my work and decided to book with me for their September 2009 Wedding. Anyway, Last weekend, we met up at Newport News Park and had their Engagement Session. Meeting them for such a short period at Matt and Stephanie's wedding didn't prepare me for what was in store. Mike and Sara are so Crazy and Fun. Their session was full of laughs and highjinx. I was really inpressed at how easily Mike got comfortable infront of the Camera. Having a man who is really, truly comfortable during a session is a rare and pleasant experience. I find it soo touching that you can see how Absolutely in Love Mike is just by looking at these photos... without even knowing Mike and Sara. Anyway, They were cute and funny and sweet to work with. We had a little adventure during our shoot also. We found this random floating canoe in the lake. Mike and Sara wanted to Jump in and go get it. I was soo excited at the idea of such random and spontanious photos. However, we all thought better of it since we still had a lot of photos to take and they didn't want to be wet for th rest of thier session. We did however get some fun photos of Sara holding Mike as he leaned over the water with a Stick trying to reach the Canoe. Anyway, have fun looking over the sample of photos below and feel free to check out a few more in my Portfolio. I'm not sure yet when we will be doing Sara's Bridals, but after all the fun of this session, I truly look forward to ANY other sessions where I have the pleasure of Working with them again.

Jon & Heather

Jon and Heather were a Really Fun couple that I had the pleasure of working with.  This was a Wedding that I assisted my good friend Kristen on.  Jon & Heather were Married at the Roanoke Island Aquarium in Manteo, North Carolina.  If you go back to my Back From OBX Blog, you can read more details about the Weekend and the Wedding.  So, here are some

pics.....

 

Time to Catch Up....

So, I finally have a few minutes to  catch up.  I am soooo far behind on Blogging it's not even funny.  So, my next few blogs are going to be of some of the sessions I've had in the last few months.  You can see More photos from these sessions in my Portfolio.  :)  Leave lots of love.  :)

New Photos

So, I FINALLY got some free time to add some new photos to my Slide Show.  If you look in my Portfolio, you will notice a bunch of password protected galleries.  Those galleries are some of the newest shoots that I've had over the last few months.  I will try and make sure those galleries are open to the public by the end of the weekend.  It has been a CRAZY couple of months and it's just taking me a little time catch up.  :)

Help Pass Senat​e Bill 1738—​The PROTE​CT Our Child​ren Act

Help Pass Senat​e Bill 1738—​The PROTE​CT Our Child​ren Act

(to read full story​ and for click​able links​,​ go here.​.​.​.​.​)​

http:​/​/​www.​ oprah​.​ com/​artic​le/​oprah​show/​20080​911_​tows_​preda​tors






Hundr​eds of thous​ands of child​ren are victi​ms of sexua​l abuse​ each year.​ Due to the sheer​ lack of resou​rces,​ law enfor​cemen​t is unabl​e to follo​w up on the major​ity of leads​ they have.​

The PROTE​CT Our Child​ren Act will:​ 

Autho​rize over $320 milli​on over the next five years​ in despe​ratel​y neede​d fundi​ng for law enfor​cemen​t to inves​tigat​e child​ explo​itati​on.​
Manda​te that child​ rescu​e be a top prior​ity for law enfor​cemen​t recei​ving feder​al fundi​ng.​
Alloc​ate funds​ for high-​tech compu​ter softw​are that can track​ down Inter​net preda​tors.​
Act Now!
Your U.S. senat​ors will be votin​g on the bill soon,​ so it is cruci​al you conta​ct them immed​iatel​y.​
Go to www. senat​e.​ gov to find conta​ct infor​matio​n for the senat​ors in your state​.​ Searc​h for your senat​or by name or state​ by click​ing on the arrow​ from eithe​r dropd​own menu.​ Conta​ct infor​matio​n is provi​ded here.​ To send an e-​mail,​ click​ on "Web Form"​ below​ his or her name,​ and e-​mail your lette​r to make a diffe​rence​!​ 

Call Your Senat​ors
If you choos​e to conta​ct your senat​ors by phone​,​ be sure to tell them,​ "​Vote yes on Senat​e Bill 1738—​The PROTE​CT Our Child​ren Act."

Write​ to Your Senat​ors
If you choos​e to write​ a lette​r,​ fax, teleg​ram or e-​mail,​ you may use the follo​wing sampl​e lette​r—and​ modif​y it how you see fit.

Dear Senat​or:​

I know that you belie​ve,​ like I do, that we must do every​thing​ possi​ble to prote​ct child​ren from sexua​l preda​tors.​ That is why I am askin​g for your help.​

Last year alone​,​ U.S. law enfor​cemen​t ident​ified​ over 300,​000 crimi​nals who were traff​ickin​g in movie​s and pictu​res of young​ child​ren being​ raped​ and tortu​red.​ Exper​ts say that one in every​ three​ of these​ crimi​nals has local​ child​ victi​ms.​ Child​ porno​graph​y traff​ickin​g over the Inter​net has given​ us a trail​ of evide​nce that leads​ strai​ght to their​ doors​teps,​ but the vast major​ity of these​ child​ren will never​ be rescu​ed becau​se inves​tigat​ors are overw​helme​d,​ outnu​mbere​d and under​funde​d.​

As your const​ituen​t,​ I urge you to do every​thing​ in your power​ to pass the PROTE​CT Our Child​ren Act (S. 1738,​ Biden​-​Hatch​)​.​ This bipar​tisan​ legis​latio​n passe​d the House​ 415-​2,​ but it is now the victi​m of petty​ parti​san polit​ics.​

Now that we know where​ these​ child​ren are and how to prote​ct them,​ there​ is no excus​e for the Senat​e to fail to take actio​n this sessi​on.​

(​Your name here)​ 

Instr​uctio​ns for How to Copy and Paste​ the Lette​r
To copy and paste​ the lette​r into your senat​or'​s web form at www. senat​e.​ gov, point​ your mouse​ arrow​ at the begin​ning of the text that you want to copy.​ Click​ your left mouse​ butto​n and hold it down.​ While​ holdi​ng the left mouse​ butto​n,​ drag your arrow​ to the end of the text that you want to copy.​ Relea​se the butto​n.​ The text shoul​d be highl​ighte​d.​ Place​ your mouse​ arrow​ over the highl​ighte​d text,​ click​ your right​ mouse​ butto​n once and let go. A new menu shoul​d appea​r.​ Selec​t Copy from the drop down menu.​ When you get to the messa​ge form field​ for your senat​or at www. senat​e.​ gov, point​ your arrow​ at the begin​ning of the messa​ge field​ that you want to copy your text to and right​ click​ with your mouse​.​ Click​ Paste​ from this menu.​ Submi​t your form and help our child​ren!​



http:​/​/​www.​ oprah​.​ com/​artic​le/​oprah​show/​20080​911_​tows_​preda​tors

Bonnie's Bridals

So, I had a Wonderful Bridal Session with Bonnie on Sunday night.  This morning I finally finished editing her portraits.  I'm so excited for her.  She and John are getting married on Sept 27th.  Photos will be posted onto here and into my portfolio after the Wedding.  

**Sneak Peak*** Todays Shoot.....

Alrighty, Finally I have 5 minutes of free time and I am SOOOO excited to blog about todays shoot.  Today I had a Session with Clinton and Susanna.  They are the Bride and Groom for my October Wedding.  Susanna is Drop Dead Gorgeous and Clinton is just really comfortable and at ease and Pretty Good Lookin' also.  ;)  Anywho, Todays shoot started out like most other shoots and turned into something Spectacular.  

Ever have one of those moments where everything just falls into place?  It's like Good Karma.  ;)  Perfect Client, Perfect Location, Great Weather, Beautiful Sunset.... Can't ask for much more.  Anyway, Back to how the shoot Started.....

We went to a Local Park here in Newport News to take some photos.  We started out in this really cool tree and then moved across the street to the Private Beach.  Well, Once we were done there, I wanted to Sneak down the road to this Private Driveway that is just soo amazing and romantic.  We did a few shots at the top of the driveway and then we started talking about how it was such an amazing location... (think long secluded driveway with trees arching overhead leading to a hanging bench swing overlooking the bay.  Doesn't get much more beautiful than that.)  Well, we decided to make a go of it and see if the Owner of the Home would possibly let us take a few shots there.  The owner, Nan, was outside when we walked up and she was FANTASTIC~!  We introduced ourselves and asked if we could shoot there and I was sooo surprised that she said yes.  I mean, We had come traipsing down her private driveway and bothered her while she was out chillin' drinking a glass of Champagne.  Well, Nan was Great.  The house was Beautiful so we asked the History.  Come to find out, It is the OLDEST pre-Civil was home still standing in the Newport News area.  The home was built by a Confederate Ship Captain in the 1800's.  During the Civil War, the home was used as a Army Hospital.  To top it all off, the Captain's ship sank somewhere in the Harbor that the house overlooks.  It was such an awesome story.  Well, we all fell in love with the house Architecturally, but Clinton is an Army Nurse so he felt a special Connection to the Home.  So, Amazing story leads to Amazing photos.

Nan, If you read this..... We are SOOOOO Grateful to you that you allowed up access to you Beautiful and Secluded Home.  Thank you for the wonderful conversation and opportunity.  We spoke briefly about possibly shooting there again and I sincerely hope that we can make that happen.  Thank You again .

So, I've only edited about 60 photos from the over 750 that I took today (more than I have EVER taken during a session that wasn't a wedding.)

Here are a few of my Favorites.  Enjoy and Please leave me some Comments.

Todays Shoot.....

I had THE MOST AMAZING photo shoot tonight.  I mean, I've taken nice photos before, but I've never taken a photo where as soon as I snapped the shutter I was like "OMG~! This is AMAZING."  So, Here is my FAVORITE photo so far. (I'm still downloading the over 800 photos I took, so I haven't seen them all.)  Write more in a bit.

Summer '09....

I just booked a couple more Weddings for 2009.  So, Make sure to check out my Calendar on Wedding Outlook to view my Available Dates.  Also, we will be working more out of State next year.  We have finally settled on some orders.  Can't wait to hear back.  Some people are gonna be surprised.  Anyway, Keep checking back for some new photos posted.  :)

Client's Currently Waiting for Photos.....

Hey Everyone, with the Tropical Storm hitting this weekend, please be aware that it might take a day or 2 longer for me to edit your photos if we lose power and such.  I am working on your photos as quickly as possible.  Please check back Monday to see if your Portraits are finished yet.  Thanks for being patient.

My Son's 1st Birthday~!!

So, I am taking the weekend off this weekend.  It is my youngest son Joseph's 1st Birthday today.  We were going to have a birthday party tomorrow, but because of Tropical Storm Hanna, we have rescheduled the party for next weekend.  I am taking today and tomorrow off to spend time with my family and weather the TS.  Have a Safe and Happy Weekend Everyone~!!!

Howard & Alexis

Howard & Alexis.... Watermen's Museum, Yorktown, VA.... 19 July 2008.

Alan & Caitlin

Alan & Caitlin.... St. Patrick's Church, Enfield, CT and Avon Old Farms Inn, Avon, CT.... 21 June 2008.

This Wedding was a Special Pleasure to be a part of.  I was not the actual photographer for this wedding.  I was invited as a Guest and my Husband was one of the Groomsmen.  This Wedding was so special because Alan and Caitlin are Best Friends of My Husband and I.  Steven and Alan met in Kindergarten and have been friends ever since.  Alan was the Best Man at Our Wedding last year and Alan and Caitlin are the God Parents of our youngest son Joseph.  Like I said, these photos are not the "official" wedding photos, but Alan and Caitlin know me well enough to know that I can't just sit and not take photos.  :)  Their photographers were kind enough to Humor me and let me "shadow" them for the day.  I was also privileged to get all the FUN photos from the Reception.  The contracted photographers left the Reception around 8 but the party raged on until 11 or 12.  I was able to get all the great "party" photos.  The DJ's had everyone do a Conga Line and a Soul Train.  I also was there to get the Bride and Grooms last dance.  I included many more photos to this blog than I did on most of the others because this wedding and this couple are very important to me.

Thank you Alan and Caitlin for allowing me to be me and take photos of your Special Day.  :)