Holland Photo Arts Blog

Our friend and wonderful DJ Evan Reitmeyer wrote to us last week, inquiring about our thoughts on hiring a wedding photographer. It was a team effort, as a couple dozen of Washington DC’s talented shooters got together to answer a variety of Evan’s questions on the subject, providing once again a great resource for couples looking for guidance during the process of planning their wedding. You can see the complete article on hiring a wedding photographer here, in addition to other wedding-related articles you might find useful. Enjoy!

Last year we had the pleasure of returning to Veritas Vineyards several times for weddings at this beautiful winery. One of them was highlighted in our minds our hearts because of the laid-back, fun-loving approach Daniela and Matt took to their celebration. Not being deterred by the rain, they had their family and friends gather informally among the leather sofas and chairs in the tasting room while they took their vows standing in an open doorway leading out to the vineyards as a soft rain fell outside. That night was an incredible and raucous party, and we had a blast! Today we’re celebrating with this wonderful couple, who shared some of their favorite images with us as well as this update:

We are now in Blacksburg, Virginia, finally living together with our new dog and beautiful countryside view.  A special thanks to everyone who helped make our wedding day a huge success, especially Holland Photo Arts. Bill and Anne helped to capture the emotion, the feeling and the spirit of the wedding day at Veritas Vineyards and Winery that will live on forever through the photos.  Here’s to new beginnings and life full of happiness and joy.  Cheers!

Daniela’s favorites:

Matt’s favorites:

(The one above is also Bill’s favorite image that Annie took that night.)

(The one above was the two of them seeing each other for the first time.)

Their joint favorites:

(We put this beautiful last image on a huge spread on their album, which is one of their favorites in the album as well.)

You all have been so incredibly patient…don’t think it goes unnoticed. As a nice little reward, there’s a wonderful sneak peek of Miranda and Eric’s fantastic Washington, DC wedding for you below. More about them when we do the full blog post, but we hope you enjoy these in the meantime.

If you haven’t read Part 1, please enjoy it below…

I arrived back at the Hawk home later that afternoon and happily documented their afternoon and evening together, culminating in bedtime for the kids…

A little Wii time for everyone. Bowling, tennis, golf…you name it!

They have a wonderfully dense wooded area behind their home where the kids go out to build forts and practice climbing the old oak trees.

And their dog did what dogs do…

This is one of my favorite images of father and son.

I love the look on Kate’s face here…it’s the look of moms everywhere, “I’m just wondering whose eye you’re going to put out with that thing.”

Ooops!

Surveying the landscape.

Perhaps an unorthodox place for a nap, but hey, it works.

They made the best dip!

Bath time…

Such a wonderful, tender moment between these two. I love it.

G’night! Thank you all again for allowing me into your home. It was truly a pleasure and an honor.

It’s a rare thing for a family to have a photographer follow their every move through most of a day, but that’s exactly what Chad and Kate Hawk invited in when I arrived at their home at 6:30 one recent Friday morning. Chad is our chiropractor, and an amazing one at that. We had proposed doing a Day in the Life session with his family to him and Kate, and they jumped at the idea. Naturally, it can take a little while to get to know one another and establish that ever-required sense of trust between photographer and subject, yet their family was wonderful in their ability to simply go on about their day, with nary a wink or nod to the camera, save for a couple of moments which will be inherently obvious later.

To be able to document this family’s day was an incredible experience for me. As wedding photographers, Anne and I are witness to a wide variety of ways that families express their love for one another, and thus it was Chad and Kate and their wonderful kids. It is hard to imagine a couple more tender and caring for people in general and their family specifically then these two, so it was quite an honor to be able to be a part of this, to bear witness to a simple day in their everyday life. Thank you both, and I hope these images offer some wonderful memories of the day for years to come.

Their mellow dog greeted me as I pulled up that morning.

Chad’s coffee mug is the best…”What a Guy”.

It takes some of us a little longer to awaken than others.

Morning greetings and hugs all around…

Making waffles…

I love this. There was no pretense, no nothing. Just kids being kids.

Someone could use some coffee. I’m not saying who, but I mean, really…

Breakfast time!

Although it was still summer, it was a rather chilly morning.

Chad, in addition to adjusting peoples’ spines, has worked at an area farm to take care of their farm animals as well, such as this lucky horse, on Chad’s semi-day off. The dog behind it’s hind legs was trying to snap at flies flying around.

Even the dogs get an adjustment.

Back at home and enjoying a sloped driveway.

Ah, the rigors of a dirt road when you have training wheels…

At midday I took a break for a short bit, so that’s what we’ll do here, and coming up in a short while will be Part 2. Stay tuned!