Remembering His Blessings

It has been quite some time since I last posted on my blog! 
Between e-mail, my Facebook page, my website, my personal Facebook profile and Pinterest, blogging often gets pushed to the bottom of the list when it comes to my work (perhaps with the exception of Twitter). 

However, I have had a blast with some exciting milestone shoots/sessions, and I would like to share some of my favorite shots, and to introduce you to a few (some new) friends!

First off, I shot my first wedding! 

~Mr. & Mrs. Hoffman~

I had this fun 1 yr. old session

with Truitt S. 

  

And another newborn session! 

This sweetie is Ivelisse <3                                      

Meet Hadasah! She was a darling for pictures, as I think you can see!

This is the photo that won 1st place in the Enhanced category of the Shenandoah Photographic Society year-end contest.
I had multiple pictures place in the monthly contest, however this one placed 1st in the monthly as well as year-end contest. 

Meet The M. Family~

It was such a blessing to photograph this family! I had a blast capturing these memories for them! So sweet. 

I've been taking pictures for this family for awhile now, and it was a picture of the two kids here (JJ and Mimi!) that won a blue ribbon (1st place) in the 2012 year-end Shenandoah Photographic Society contest. 

And last but certainly not least, I photographed my first twins this week!

Meet Jack (bottom) and Grace (top)!

I've had a busy year, and I'm so grateful for all that the Lord has blessed me with! He's challenged me and "grown" me so much throughout this process. Thanks to all who have helped make my work possible, and thanks to all my wonderful clients! I can't thank you enough for all your support.

Merry Christmas from Victoria Christine Photography, and I hope the coming year holds many blessings and happy times for you all!

Sincerely, 

                                      Victoria Christine 

Golf...hot...fun!

I know I know, it's been quite awhile since I last updated my blog, shame on me.
This event was awhile ago, but I HAVE to share some of my faves.

The pastor of a church I attend asked me to shoot an annual charity golf tournament organized to raise support for the Isaiah 58 Project (a local downtown ministry), and of course I said yes! It was incredibly HOT, but everyone enjoyed it, and all the guys very graciously put up with an obnoxious photographer in their faces!

After never having been on a real golf course in my life, I must have learned SOMETHING! Ironically, that evening after the event my family had scheduled a fun night of putt-putt golf (I know, it doesn't really compare, but still). Normally I suck at putt-putt, but that night I won!  :)
What a long, but fun-filled day!

I was very blessed to have had the opportunity to help support my brothers and sisters in the Lord and the work they're doing for Him through the gifts He's given me. I'm now looking forward to doing more work for them in the future!

Here is a link to their ministry site in case you're interested: http://www.isaiah58project.com/

Blessings!

Victoria

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of shooting my neighbors' (and friends'!) grandson's baseball game. The location was perfect from a photographic standpoint, and I loved spending the time getting to know my neighbors better!
I'm sure you will enjoy these few pictures from the game as much as I enjoyed taking them! This was my first sports event that I photographed, and I loved the overall excitement and friendly competition (of COURSE I cheered the Frederick County National's on!). Looking forward to my next sport's event now, too!

 Pre-game practice–

One of the less "intense" moments during the game...

My neighbor's grandson, Blake, just before the game started.

 Pitcher Stone Garver with Blake in the background.

Have to include this. Stone was so expressive as he played–and no wonder–he plays hard!

New Beginnings

A new life, born to a world of opportunity; a new beginning.
A new venture; another small step for me in the world of professional photography.

Saturday, June 9th was a big day for me. And a big day for one sweet little baby boy. Orion S. came to my house/studio accompanied by his family–daddy, mommy and little sister–so that they could have some portraits taken of him, and for their first family portraits to be taken–by me!
What an honor, privilege, and responsibility! To capture the beauty and innocence of a wonderful gift from God so recently born into this world–what wonder and awe fill my heart. The excitement welled up in me from the time we first arranged to have the shoot. So excited, yet wanting to be prepared for anything, for days I studied newborn photographers' methods, read books and articles, watched online tutorials, and swallowed every morsel of more experienced photographers' wisdom that I could get my hands on, going on late into the night and groggily dragging myself out of bed the next morning in order to meet life's other demands.

My very first official newborn shoot was in less than a week! Can you say excited?!

Saturday dawned bright, sunny, and hot. I nervously, but excitedly, made a few last minute preparations. I wanted everything to be in place. 

I will add that though I've photographed little ones, including babies, I've never photographed a true "newborn." Like, ten days old newborn! There are so many things that come into play with newborn shoots vs. shooting older babies/children. If you're shooting bare bums, then there's soiled blankets and props and backdrops (and hopefully nothing and nobody else was caught in the line of fire!), and of course there's always the concern of comfort and safety more than ever for such a vulnerable little one, not to mention feedings, changings, spit-ups and potentially hiccups, etc. I prepared–as much as one could possibly prepare–for the unexpected. Boy am I glad that I've had a lot of experience caring for little ones in my life!

I anticipated all of the above, and more! But what I got was nothing like I expected, to say the least. Orion was a perfect little angel! Hardly a whimper escaped his lips as I posed and re-positioned and adjusted this or that throughout the shoot. We made sure it was plenty warm enough for the little guy, meaning mommy, my mom (who was assisting) and I were dripping in sweat, while he laid perfectly content for the majority of the shoot, only squirming and fussing a teensy bit when we moved him. Not once, NOT ONCE, did the sprinkler system come on during the shoot! And nor did a portion of his breakfast make its way onto our laps! Needless to say, we were all shocked. 

I fully expect my next newborn model to soak the room and vomit up the breakfast menu to make up for it!

I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am looking forward to my next newborn shoot now more than ever!

A few from the shoot...

Congrats to the Shadler family on the arrival of their precious little baby boy, Orion!