Latest from behind the lens

Engagements

Summer Schenley Park Engagement | Leah & Glenn

Leah and Glenn are getting married this weekend and it's time to look back and celebrate their engagement one last time before they tie the knot!  One of their favorite activities is going for a run together or taking a long walk with their dog, Kaia.  Last summer they were living in Pittsburgh and Schenley Park was one of their frequent evening hang outs.  We met up and walked the trail near Panther Hollow at sunset and caught the last vibrant colors of the evening on top of the overlook.  They even used the first photo below as their save the date they sent out to their wedding guests!   Kaia frequently stole the show till their friends came by to pick her up so they could continue with photos dog-free.  Kaia happily trotted off to their car leaving us to feel like the parents whose kindergartner runs off with…
Amanda Wilson
September 5, 2016
Lingrow Farmweddings

Saint Vincent Basilica and Lingrow Farm Wedding | Annie + Dan

Happy Anniversary to an amazing couple!  Annie grew up in Latrobe, PA but it wasn't until she moved across the pond to the UK that she met Dan one night at a bar in Southampton.  Not only was he handsome, he was intelligent, insightful, and made great conversation.  After a year and a half of dating and long car rides where Dan plays the DJ, (one of Annie's favorite things about him), they decided they wanted to be together for all the years ahead.  For their wedding, Annie and Dan invited all their guests from the US and the UK to come to the Basilica at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania where Annie's family has been celebrating weddings for generations.  Their reception was held at the beautiful Lingrow Farm which they chose for it's unique rural American setting and peaceful location.   The morning started off at Annie's mom's…
Amanda Wilson
August 29, 2016
Engagements

Point State Park Engagement Photos | Christina & Corey

Christina and Corey are getting married in just two days!  Today, we flash back to their engagement session last July in Pittsburgh.  We started out shooting with the skyline and dodging the geese along the north shore and then finished out the day with a spectacular sunset at Point State Park!  By the time we were done, we had crossed two bridges two times, walked from the science center to allegheny landing twice, highlighted their love of baseball at PNC park, and put in a total of four miles on the fitbit!   We loved shooting through sunset because we could play with the light.  A good sunset yields soft natural light photos, colorful silhouettes, and the opportunity to use some off camera flash for special effects.  It's a great reason to schedule your engagement session and your wedding photos to shoot through the golden hour in the evening!  (Bring…
Amanda Wilson
August 17, 2016
Engagements

Oakmont Engagement Photos | Carrie + Jimmy

Carrie and Jimmy are getting married this coming weekend and last fall we met up at Dark Hollow Park in Oakmont, their favorite spot to walk their five (yes 5!) bulldogs.  I loved their story from our first meeting when Carrie pulled out her phone to show me photos of Jimmy popping the question with a puppy proposal at the airport!  He told her that they were going to pittsburgh international to meet some friends who were flying in for the weekend, but in reality Jimmy had secretly purchased a very special puppy from out of state and it was arriving by plane that evening.  While they waited outside the arrival area, (Jimmy had a friend stationed inside the airport lounge with a camera at the ready) a man walked up to Carrie and said this is for you and handed her a beautiful little ball of fur with a…
Amanda Wilson
July 19, 2016
Engagements

Laurel Highlands Engagement | Kristie + Chuck

When Kristie and Chuck told me their proposal story, it was clear there was a special place we needed to go for their engagement session.  Kristie has so many happy memories with her father from Deer Valley YMCA camp. They spent many weekends there for Daddy-daughter camp when Kristie was a little girl.  She and her father would go out on the lake, hike to the spring, and climb up the mountain to the big overlook.  Sadly, Kristie's Dad passed away when she was fifteen and they weren't able to continue making such beautiful memories.  Fast forward many years, Kristie had met a great guy named Chuck at Hofbrauhaus while she was out with some friends and they had been dating for over a year.  Chuck knew that he wanted to ask Kristie to marry him but he wouldn't be able to ask her father for his blessing first, so…
Amanda Wilson
July 13, 2016
Milestones

Family photo session | the Ward family

Family stories are my favorite.  I first met Donna and Mike in 2008 and it has been an honor and a privilege to witness their story unfolding as they built a life together and started a family.  Now, eight years and two kids later we met up in May for a family photo session at Northmoreland Park to celebrate Cole and Cora's birthdays!  The weather was perfect and we had fun playing outside till sunset! I love this photo of all of them together, technically it's a one-off (which are always my favorite) from the perfect shot where everyone is looking at the camera smiling.  Cole can't contain his laughter, Suki the dog is distracted by a duck in the distance, and everyone is happy.  This is real life, skinned knees and all, and it's perfect.     Cole and his Daddy practicing their fighting moves. It took a while since…
Amanda Wilson
June 30, 2016
Engagements

Schenley Park Engagement Session | Becky & Matt

Two great people are getting married this week and they are sporting possibly the greatest wedding hashtag I've ever seen!  Meet the soon to be Mr. & Mrs. Matt Slippy who rolled onto facebook this week with their social media moniker #Slippywhenwed - BOOM!  Not only is it fabulous, but it's Pittsburgh fabulous because when it's icy out - other cities become slipp-er-y but here in Pittsburgh - roads and sidewalks get "slippy".   Enough about our western Pennsylvania verbiage, let's flash it all the way back to last fall when we met up in Pittsburgh for their Schenley Park engagement photos! There's a hilarious story behind this photo.  As we're standing there, (having scaled a small stone wall in order to position Becky and Matt with a bright orange tree behind them) wearing two cameras and with an assistant holding a flash and umbrella set up, a strange woman approaches…
Amanda Wilson
June 15, 2016
Behind the ScenesEngagementssurprise proposals

Surprise proposal revealed!

This story starts with a ring under the Christmas tree in station square on New Years Eve 2015.  Megan had been working as a wedding coordinator for Lingrow Farm, that's how she and I met, but she met Johnny in Station Square years before that.  They were both attending St. Vincent University and working for the Event and Conference Services Department.  If I remember the story right, Megan was driving the shuttle and saw Johnny waiting to be picked up on the curb.  It wasn't long before they were back at Station Square on their first date, and three years later I got an email from Johnny that he had a plan.  These two St. Vincent alumni were getting married, Megan just didn't know it yet.  Johnny explained that he would be home from DC for New Years and was going to take Megan out to dinner in Station Square…
Amanda Wilson
June 7, 2016
MilestonesProductsSeniorsWhat to do with your images

Graduation announcements |Class of 2016

May is just around the corner which means that the class of 2016 is about to say goodbye to their past twelve years of high school and hello to their futures!  This year in addition to senior portraits, we are pleased to offer Graduation announcements and invitations. We have a range of styles available - click to browse My Product Catalog.  Colors and text can all be customized to coordinate with your school!  Here are a few examples I've pulled together with photos from Carolyn, Dana, and Dillon's photos from this year! Graduation announcements can be customized with photos on the front and the back blank or text only, as well as multiple photo options on the front and back.  On the right, this is an announcement that doubles as a graduation party invitation on the back. If you're looking for a unique way to display many photos from your…
Amanda Wilson
April 24, 2016
Lingrow Farmweddings

Lingrow Farm Wedding | Justine & Chris

Justine and Chris just arrived home from their honeymoon and I cant wait to share the highlights from their lingrow farm wedding!  (You might recognize them, (and their dog, Camo) from their fall engagement photos  we shared back in November).  All week leading up to the wedding we watched the weather while Mother Nature changed her mind back and forth about what season it was outside.  While the first few reports called for three days of rain before Saturday, by the end of the week the outlook was much better!  We ended up enjoying spring weather in the morning and then a snowstorm after dark.  It wasn't the warmest of days, but their outdoor ceremony went off without a hitch! Here are some highlights from their April 2nd wedding at lingrow farm! All of the ladies looked fantastic in matching silk robes when we arrived at the farmhouse. Camo even got…
Amanda Wilson
April 13, 2016

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