Updated website!

I'm so excited to have finally had a chance to sit down and update the website. There's lots of new photos in the galleries and on other pages! Check it out!

Sarah & Mircea's Wedding

Well, after several long nights editing the photos, they are done and are available to view! You can find them at www.eighthdayphotography.com. Simply click on clients, and follow the link for Sarah & Mircea's wedding! I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave comments!

Eighth Day Photography might be down for a bit...

We are in the process of changing our server and web host, so if the site goes down temporarily, I apologize. But please know that we are making changes to improve the site!

Moving Pictures from Sarah and Mircea's Wedding

I'm still in the midst of editing the photos from this beautiful wedding on Sunday, but I did want to share the following slideshow with all the excited family, friends and guests of Sarah's and Mircea's.

As is traditional (at least in the OCA), Sarah entered the chapel on Sunday to the choir singing the hymn to the Theotokos that is prescribed during this time of Pascha, "The Angel Cried". (To translate for the non-Orthodox: Sarah entered the church to a piece that is sung for 40 days after Easter in honor of the Virgin Mary). And here are some of the photos from the ceremony.

More photos and another set of moving pictures, to include reception and fun photos will be up shortly. But, please, enjoy these while I continue to edit and make the rest beautiful!

Mircea and Sarah's Wedding

Today's wedding was just beautiful. I'll likely go in and edit this post tomorrow to give some of the story of this gorgeous wedding and this beautiful couple, but until then, here are some photos from today!

Time Management

I realized today that time management is a very important skill to have. I knew that starting a business would be time consuming. (Duh.) And I knew that I have absolutely no intention of quitting my job for ABC Language Exchange, which I love dearly. So, somehow, I have to meld the two, in addition to being a mommy and a wife. So, how does one do it?

Well, as I learned today, very carefully. We are preparing all of our equipment for tomorrow's wedding of Sarah and Mircea. Their wedding will be beautiful. But, because it falls on a Sunday, and unlike for most people, our Sunday is in fact a work day for the both of us, we are learning all about time management today. Because, here is a list of all the things we normally do on Sundays:

1) Dn Gregory is a deacon in NJ
2) We go to church
3) We entertain the little one
4) I do all the things for ABC Language Exchange that I usually do for them on Sundays, which is all sorts of small tasks that I don't need to elaborate on, but it takes me 4-6 hours on a Sunday to get it done.

So, this week, with Sunday being a wedding shoot (which we are sooooo looking forward to!), all the regular things we do on Sunday (minus church) have to get done, in addition to all sorts of other things getting prepared for the wedding:

1) Charge all batteries
2) Replace all batteries
3) Confirm everything starts up and fires
4) Check CF cards
5) Format CF cards
6) Time sync cameras (since we are starting at 2 different times tomorrow, we time sync today)
7) Run to the store and buy gel inserts for both of our shoes
8) Get new white shirt to look nice for tomorrow's wedding (a trip to the mall)
9) Prepare laptop for slideshow at the reception
10) Go to reception location and confirm a place to put the laptop for the aforementioned slideshow
11) Check in with the bride (Sarah) and make sure no questions are left unanswered on both our parts
12) etc, etc, etc, etc.

So, as you can see, its all about time management. Throw into the mix playing with Matthias and spending a little bit of time with my husband, and still having time to blog, I think we're doing ok!

Check back tomorrow night or Monday morning for some photos from tomorrow's wedding!

Moving Pictures from the Bridal Shoot

I had such a good time with the crew in Indianapolis! They are all really beautiful people and we really had a blast with the photo shoot. Check out the moving pictures below! You can also view the photos at www.eighthdayphotography.com/Clients/IndianapolisBridals/index.html.

Photo Shoot in Indianapolis

Well, we are back from Indiana. It was a crazy week, but we got so much done. The house is looking great! I finished painting the trim in my office, and over the next few weeks, my in-laws will bring over my new office desk and get that set up, so that as soon as we move out there, I will be totally set up and functional! In addition, we have all the curtains up, the dining room table is in, the chairs are set up around the table, all the appliances are in place, and we really have a home out in Indiana!

While we were in Indiana this week, Dn Gregory and I had a great photo shoot with some wonderful friends! We got together with Shannon, Lydia, Alicia, Vicky, Eric and Zack and had a great time getting some wonderful photos! All of these people are just beautiful and take really great photos, so, don't give me credit...give the credit to these folks!

Shower Curtains are up...its getting so close!

There is something so nice about putting up shower curtains. It really make a house a home! I put up the shower curtains today in the two full baths today (we have a third half bath) and the house is really starting to look much more like a home! We also arranged some of the furniture in the family room yesterday, so we have places to sit and to work. I put up the curtains in front of the sliding glass doors yesterday, and as soon as we put up a couple of pictures on the mantle and above the couch and perhaps add a bookshelf, the family room will be complete.

It seems to odd that just a few short months ago, we closed on this house. When we bought it, it needed so much work! We stripped wallpaper, lifted old floor tile, painted, layed down floors, and when we left to return to NY at the end of January, it still didn't feel like a home. Not yet. Now we are back again, and this time, with some furniture, some appliances, and now, the shower curtains, we really feel ready to move in! Those shower curtains make all the difference!

Blogging from Indiana

Well, here I am sitting on my couch in my own house in Indiana. We arrived in Indiana yesterday afternoon and then headed over to St John the Forerunner for Vespers and the annual Bright Monday Bash. It was wonderful! And today, I am sitting in our new house working while watching the installers install my new dishwasher. There is something so wonderful about knowing that these things belong to me: I can do laundry in my own washer, I can do the dishes in my own dishwasher and I can cook on my own stove.

And this is just another step in our move to Indiana. Very soon, this will be a permanent move! I can't wait!

Christ is Risen!

Dn Gregory, Matthias and I would like to wish everyone a very happy and blessed Pascha (Easter). Dn Gregory will be headed to church tonight for the midnight service, and Matthias and I will stay home (its all just too much...the church is too small, Matthias would have to sleep in my arms for a very long service, there's no place to put him down, he'll likely wake up, etc, etc, etc.). However, our staying home doesn't discount the great joy of the Feast!

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

This is too funny

Is this how people see photojournalism? I think its particularly funny, but its not really photojournalism. Yet, there is a trend these days for tilted photos. Its a nice trend that can be taken too far. Like selective coloring. I think both of these styles have a place in photography, and I personally like both. But I also like saturated colors (another trend). What will really hold up in the future? I don't think anyone knows. Although, its interesting...take a look through your grandparents albums and then your parents albums and then perhaps some albums of friends who were recently married. I think one thing stands out in all of these...not photo journalistic pictures...but nice formal portraits. That's why I like a combination of the two. I think there is a place for both of these types of photography, and I like to be able to provide both types.

A cause I'd like to get involved in...Pure Fashion

I was reading on a forum today about a clothing line called Pure Fashion. I love everything this group stands for, and really look forward to getting involved with helping them out with photography. There will be a fashion show in Fort Wayne on May 5th, but unfortunately, we'll have to miss it this year because of our moving schedule. But certainly next year, I certainly look forward to donating my time to photograph this worthwhile fashion show.

I've always been a big fan of modesty and it is so hard to find modest clothing. In fact, when Dn Gregory and I found out we were expecting our first child, we really worried about having a little girl, because it is so difficult to be modest this day and age. Its simply difficult to find appropriate clothes. Luckily, we had a little boy, so it wasn't that big of a deal. But its not just clothes for teens...even little girl clothes are all about showing the midriff and have low cut jeans. 5 year old girls do not have hips!

So, I'm very excited that I've learned about Pure Fashion. Here are some things they believe about clothing:

1. That our private parts should remain private.
2. That undergarments should not become outer-garments.
3. That our bodies are holy and sacred and our clothing should not reveal what should be concealed.
4. That virtue is the most important must have for every season.
5. That being healthy, physically fit, clean and well groomed is always in style.
6. That we should support retailers, designers and magazines who support virtuous behavior.
7. That we can be pretty without being provocative.
8. That our clothing sends a message to those around us and it should reflect our dignity as young women.

How wonderful!

Creating an ad for Orthodox Weddings in Indiana

In the next few weeks, I'll be working on creating a postcard ad to send to Orthodox priests in Indiana to Orthodox churches in Indiana know that I am available not only for wedding photography, but also for baptisms, ordinations, hierarchical visits and all sorts of other things!

I think it is really important for an Orthodox couple to have an Orthodox photographer who not only understands the cultural side of the wedding, but more importantly, someone who understands liturgics and knows the service inside and out. Both Dn Gregory and I are graduates (well, he'll be a graduate in a couple of weeks) of St Vladimir's Seminary. Because of that education, we both know Orthodox services inside and out. And that, I believe, is a great service that we can offer any Orthodox couple having an Orthodox wedding.

We also just love that we'll be in Indiana because there seem to be Orthodox churches of all kind out there! I think Fort Wayne alone has 5 Orthodox churches of all sorts of jurisdictions: OCA, Antiochian, Greek, Romanian, etc. And with Indianapolis not far away, and also Chicago, I look forward to working with Orthodox churches all over that part of the Midwest!