Latest from behind the lens

Milestones

Lifestyle maternity session | Megan & Jeff

This week I got the chance to meet up with one of my favorite past wedding couples for a lifestyle maternity session in their home.  Megan and Jeff were married in 2013 and now three years later, I got to spend a wonderful afternoon with them capturing some memories as they await the arrival of their first baby girl. Here are a few highlights!   I remember Shiloh and Sheldon from their engagement session in 2012, and now these two fur brothers can't wait to meet their new human sister! We even made it outside for a few photos at sunset since it was such a nice day 🙂 Happy Shower Weekend Megan! I can't wait to see what the future holds for your family 🙂
Amanda Wilson
April 2, 2016
ProductsweddingsWhat to do with your images

Wedding Album Registry – the perfect gift

Spring has arrived and before you know it, wedding season will be in full swing!  That means that right now it's bridal shower season, and if you know someone getting married this year, you're looking for a wedding gift.  I would like to tell you a story about a toilet brush.  In 2009, my husband Sean (who was still just my boyfriend at the time) had a friend who was getting married to an awesome girl.  Sean received an invite for us with information for their registry, and like most men completely ignored the RSVP date and gift information.  By the time they called asking us to RSVP and I found the invitation, nearly every item on their registry was already purchased.  Every item was marked off except one, a toilet brush with matching toilet brush caddy.  Why was it the only item left? Because no one wants to walk…
Amanda Wilson
March 29, 2016
Engagements

Pittsburgh Winter Engagement Session | Megan & John

We waited three months for snow this winter to shoot  Megan and John's pittsburgh winter engagement session.  It was the fourth and final installment of their four season engagement series that began last spring in Washington DC at the Cherry Blossom Festival.  After rescheduling many times, either because there was no snow, or because the windchill was below zero, we decided to take the last week of winter and make it work!  Our plan was to revisit the site where Johnny proposed in front of the Hard Rock Cafe Christmas tree in Station Square.  Since the trees were already down, we explored the nearby Smithfield Street bridge.  I loved the way Megan's red peacoat looked with the blue bridge supports!  Don't let their comfortable smiles fool you, it was FREEZING!   Just when we thought we were going to succumb to hypothermia, we discovered a campfire burning outside of Bar…
Amanda Wilson
March 24, 2016
weddings

Pittsburgh winter wedding | Courtney + Matt

I'm going to warn you right at the beginning of this post, I am sharing a TON of photos from Courtney and Matt's Pittsburgh winter wedding ! Though Mother Nature didn't give us any snow, she did bless us with a beautiful 50 degree day at the end of January!  It was a real treat to have sunshine, clear roads, and blue skies over the city! The day started off with a brunch at Courtney's parents' house for the girls while everyone got their hair and make up done.     Courtney's mom and her sister, Lindsey, helped her into her dress. The photos during this 'getting ready' portion of every wedding day are always some of my favorite. We always make time for a few family portraits before the excitement of the day takes over.     The ceremony was held at Calvary United Methodist Church on Pittsburgh's north…
Amanda Wilson
February 20, 2016
Engagements

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! This morning I woke up with this image on my mind!  Sometimes the behind the scenes story of an image is just as good as the image itself.  I actually spotted this heart shaped tree on instagram when searching hashtags last year to keep up to the minute on when the cherry trees were blooming in Washington DC.  I knew we had to find it!  Just a few weeks later, the stars aligned and we drove 245 miles from Pittsburgh to DC for photos at sunrise on the tidal basin.  We were shooting in a beautiful grove and in the background of the shot a few hundred feet behind them, I spotted it.  There was the tree!  We could not believe that out of the thousands of trees on the tidal basin that we found this one.     Just a few more months till Megan &…
Amanda Wilson
February 14, 2016
Engagements

Courtney & Matt | Hartwood Acres engagement photos

Courtney and Matt are getting married this Saturday! I know that they are hoping for snow, but here's a look back at their summer Hartwood Acres engagement photos.   I asked Matt to describe Courtney in three words.  His first response was Mother of Dogs.  He was kidding!  *sort of*   Even though they are a family of five including their three pups, Koda, Tootise and Tanner. Matt says Courtney would save every dog she met if she could.  "Loving, pure-hearted, and genuine," is how he describes his future wife. Proof that Courtney can be serious!  For about 2 seconds 😉  We all know she's a giggler. Courtney said the first thing she noticed about Matt was that he was so tall!  Then she fell in love with his wit and his dry sense of humor and he charmed his way into her heart.  (Who couldn't love a guy that wants…
Amanda Wilson
January 25, 2016
Milestones

Bruckner Family | winter family photos

I first met Amy and Ryan three years ago.  They were newly engaged and planning their wedding for early spring 2013.  Ryan had just pulled off an amazing proposal by carving out "Will you marry me?" onto a rock on the banks of the Youghiogheny River, and then taking Amy on a fall hike to the rock and surprising her by dropping to one knee with a diamond ring.  She said yes and a few months later Ashley hung on to the back of my pants as I dangled out over the frozen river shooting their engagement photos at Ohiopyle.  We all nearly got hypothermia but it was worth it!  They were married that April before the leaves popped and now three years later I had the privilege to meet up with them again just in time for their first baby's first birthday.  Since December was so mild this year,…
Amanda Wilson
January 4, 2016
Personal

Behind the scenes in 2015

New Year's Eve is here and I thought it would be fun to do a look back behind the scenes in 2015!  We did a post earlier this year about the rough life of a photo assistant and what they have to do in order to get the awesome images we show on our website.  The rest of 2015 was no different!  Every day is a reminder that what we do is always always a TEAM effort.   We did a fun engagement session all over Pittsburgh's north side and Point State Park this summer.  It was a gorgeous night to be at the fountain and we witnessed a live proposal just a few feet away!  Ashley and I grabbed a few test shots while our client couple was changing outfits.  Instead of moving the car and looking for a parking space in the middle of the regatta, we decided…
Amanda Wilson
December 31, 2015
Personal

Christmas traditions

Since we were kids, our family always had one special Christmas tradition.  We never had an artificial tree.  A live tree was one of the most special parts of Christmas.  It was like bringing a piece of the woods into the house.  The way the needles smelled when you walked into the living room in the morning, or came home through the front door after school meant that we had entered that time of year when there was something nice to look forward to.  Going to find the perfect tree always started with one of us standing up on top of my mom's hope chest (this was where the tree always went because our living room was very small) to see how big of a tree we needed to find.  They would use my height that year as a measurement (I was the tallest for many years) and when I…
Amanda Wilson
December 28, 2015
Engagements

Justine & Chris | fall engagement photos near Portage, PA

  When you find the one, you just know.  I didn't believe it till I met my own husband, but I can tell you that if you aren't sure - then you haven't met the one yet.  Justine and Chris met just a few years ago and the first thing she noticed about him was that he smiled all time.  A fortune cookie from one of their first dates of take out Chinese forecast the future. It read, "stop searching forever, happiness is right beside you." For their fall engagement photos, Chris and Justine invited me to Chris' family home near Portage, PA.  We explored acres of woods and fields, visited Wilmore Dam for photos by the water, and ended  at sunset on top of the hill underneath the tree where Chris proposed.  We even included the third member of their family, their golden retriever puppy, Camo.  From the tree…
Amanda Wilson
November 19, 2015

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