Michelle and Wes | Fort Monroe Engagement Photography

From the first moment that Michelle and I met, I knew I found a kindred spirit of sorts! We kept joking how similiar we were in personality, and I'm so glad that hadn't changed over the summer when we met up again for the engagement session. I really try hard to get to know my clients, and so it's doubly wonderful when it's vice versa. Michelle picked up that I am realllllyy into framing when I take a photo, and all throughout our session, she went to town pointing out different framing opportunities at Fort Monroe! :)

The session was my first time meeting the groom, Wes, since he just returned on an Army mid-tour R&R from Iraq. And boy, did that guy have me laughing! ... and the way he doted on Michelle pretty much had me melting the entire session. Oh, and bonus? While we were at Fort Monroe, we got ourselves some history fun facts from the Army man! Jefferson Davis? Yeah, he was imprisoned at Fort Monroe. The moooore you know. ;)

This is a pretty special couple, and it breaks my heart that Michelle will have to have another three months away from her beau now that he has traveled back to Iraq. (So keep him in your thoughts and prayers!)

BUT on an awesome happy note, they are going to have one awesome wedding next March at Fort Eustis! Military sabers will be involved. And I'm pretty enthusiastic about the framing potential there! ;)














Until next time!
- Chelsea :)

The Wall Family - Fort Monroe Family Portrait Session

And Facebook does it again! With the beauty of modern technology, Heather found me through x, y, and z Facebook friends. Her family was vacationing in southern Virginia, and she wanted family portraits taken at the beach. We emailed back and forth for about two weeks finally deciding on Fort Monroe. We all know how much I love Fort Monroe. Well, I got to love Fort Monroe all over again and at 7:00am! That's right. This non-morning person wiggled herself up early for some primetime photos...

Heather is a photographer over in West Virginia and if you didn't know that before, you would automatically know it when you saw her boys. They were camera hams and knew how to be relaxed in front of a camera! I loved it!

But the Walls' story is a special one, and I felt very blessed to meet this family.

Heather and Carl knew each other from childhood, and apparently at age 11, Heather knew Carl was meant to be hers. They have been married for 10+ years and still going strong... that is inspirational in its own.

Now, Carl is quiet like my husband Rusty in terms of "I'll pipe in when I need to, but I tend to let the wife do her talking." haha But don't let that fool you... literally 5 hours after our photo session, he went sky diving! Adrenaline junkie, as he says it. You couldn't get me to step anywhere near an airfield for such purposes. ;)

But the most extraordinary part about this family? I got to hear their stories about the big WV mining explosion back in April. Carl was supposed to work that fateful shift, and as Design would have it, he ended up being a part of the rescue team, searching for those trapped miners.

Talk about being grateful for life's blessings.






- Chelsea :)

Dreama and David - A Fort Monroe Engagement.

When I met Dreama and David last October to talk about their engagement and 2011 wedding, I was really excited especially since the dynamic between those two are much like mine and my husband's (e.g., organized, artsy girl and go-with-the-flow guy).

It was no different when we met this past week for their official engagement session at Fort Monroe... and this time, they brought their hilariously lovable dog, Duke. When animals come on the scene, it's really a hit-or-miss ordeal. However, Duke had a one-track mind and that was "Frisbee." And because of this one track mind, we were able to get some great shots with Dreama and David's furry boy.

What I loved most about these photos was how trusting they were with what I wanted to do with them. Trust is important with any type of relationship, and they trusted my professional opinion and experience. <3 Thank you, you guys!

And now take a peek at the really funny photos below (and on Facebook)... because this was definitely NOT a dull session. Besides that, Dreama has gorgeous blonde hair that makes a girl envious (at least to someone who normally throws her hair into a ponytail! haha). And what's up with all these photogenic clients?! They make my job way easy! ;)















... and we'll meet these two again for their 2011 Fort Monroe wedding at the lovely gazebo you just saw!

- Chelsea :)