Pittsburgh Wedding and Portrait Photographer

St Nicholas Pittsburgh Wedding | Steve and Natasa

November 17th, 2011

Where do I even start to tell you about this wedding? I knew that I was looking forward to it at our initial conversation. After the engagement session, I was even more excited.

I got a good hint whenever I went over the timeline with Natasa, about a week before the wedding. I had never been to a traditional Serbian wedding before, so I wanted to make sure I had a good idea what to expect. “Well,” she told me, “it will start with a skup at the house, and it’s party and there will be music and dancing… And then we’ll go to the church, and after there ceremony, there will be music and dancing… And then we go to the reception…” And my response was, “Let me guess- music and dancing?”

Yes. Yes there was.

The day started in style with champagne and mimosas at Steve’s parents house, for the skup. The skup is a party where traditionally the groom has to barter for the bride’s hand. Many of the family & guests come to celebrate & congratulate the couple before they leave for the church. So Natasa spent most of the morning upstairs with her bridesmaids, preparing and greeting the family, while Steve spent time with the guests and live music downstairs. When it was time to leave, the band and all of the guests crowded into the entrance of the house to sing “The Chapel of Love” to Natasa and paraded her to the limo. (What a great send-off! I wish every wedding had a parade! And singing!) The ceremony took place at Saint Nicholas’ Serbian Orthodox Church in Monroeville- such a beautiful location, which fantastic stained glass. The choir was amazing and one of the loveliest moments was listening to the bridesmaids singing with the choir as Natasa walked down the aisle…just beautiful. After the lovely ceremony, it was onto St Nick’s Greek Hall in Oakland, to continue the party… and continue it did. I think we called it a night at eleven, at the party was still going strong. A day that long can easily be tiring and stressful, but Steve and Natasa both bring such a joy & ease that the day flew by. We were so happy to be there to celebrate with them… God grant them many years. :)

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Pittsburgh Maternity Photographer | Danielle and Stephanie

April 24th, 2012

Two best friends, due just two months apart, surrounded by their families on a gorgeous spring day, and I was thrilled to be with them to capture this exciting time. We’re counting down to a matter of days- Stephanie is due any time now and Danielle is a little later this summer. I’m definitely looking forward to meeting their little ones! You will be seeing more of them later… :)

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White Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake | Personal Recipe

April 5th, 2012

I love to bake, but I can’t call myself a food blogger, for a few reasons. I have a small kitchen. It never has pretty natural light and it’s always cluttered. I don’t have sets of cute matching bakeware. I’ve been known to use the dish rack to store ingredients. I’m frequently covered in flour and get batter all over the countertops. I never plan ahead and almost always have to make last-minute runs to the grocery stores. Most telling? I never follow recipes.

I always try to! I start with recipes! And then I get halfway through and go hmm. I’m constantly tasting the batter and making changes on the fly, so the end result might be pretty far removed from the original recipe. Everything’s a grand experiment. So this weekend when I started making cheesecake, and Andy suggested taking pictures of it and putting it online, I laughed at the thought.

I mean… I know I bake well. My cheesecakes are more popular than I am. But doesn’t it seem like a bad idea? I could just picture getting cream cheese on my lenses. Dropping the camera strap in the batter… yeah, I can be that disorganized in the kitchen.

Well, I did it anyways. And the good news is, I didn’t get anything on my camera. And the cheesecake turned out well. Scratch that… the cheesecake turned out fantastically- even though it was an experiment. It’s light and fluffy and scrumptious and beautiful. And I wrote it all down to share it with you. Ready for it?

White chocolate cherry chocolate chip cheesecake.

Doesn’t it look heavenly?

One note about this recipe: I often try to bake simply and use as few dishes as possible. Well… this is not one of those recipes. It’s very easy to follow! It’s not scary at all! But it is just a little time-intensive. It also required nearly five million bowls and four hands and a blender and all of my counter space. But it’s oh-so worth it.

I mean- just look at it.

White Chocolate Cherry Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Filling

4 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened
1 ¼ cup sugar
½ cup sour cream
4 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon lemon juice
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 can cherry pie filling, pureed
½ cup milk chocolate, mini chocolate chips or finely shaved chocolate.
(Note: I recommend using the best-quality chocolate you can find for these chips. I used Valrhona milk chocolate couverture, and the creaminess it added was amazing.)

Crust

1 package double-stuffed Oreos, crushed
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350. Take a 9 inch spring form pan and wrap the bottom half with aluminum foil. Make sure there are no cracks in the foil on the bottom. Grease the pan.

Crush the package of Oreos. You can put them in blender, or you can put them in a Ziploc bag, and then give them to my husband with a hammer. It’s just as quick either way.

Melt the butter, and then add the crushed Oreos. Mix until moistened, and press into the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

To make the filling, start with the cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat for several minutes, until creamy. Gradually, add 1 cup sugar, beating continually until well-blended.

Separate four eggs. The egg whites should go in a small bowl and set aside. The egg yolks should be added one at a time to the filling, beating well in between.

Add the lemon juice, vanilla, and sour cream to the filling. Mix well.

Place the white chocolate chips in a glass bowl. To melt on the stovetop, fill pot with water and place the glass bowl inside. Use medium heat for several minutes, stirring constantly until chips are melted. If using the microwave, put a small amount of water in a slightly larger glass bowl, place the bowl of chips inside of it, and place them in the microwave. Microwave for two minutes at a time, stir, and continue until melted.

Allow chocolate to cool just slightly (don’t let it get hard!) and blend thoroughly into filling.

Puree the cherry pie filling until no large chunks remain. Stir into filling. Add the milk chocolate chips.

Take the egg whites in the separate bowl and beat for several minutes, until stiff peaks form. Continuing to beat, slowly adding the remaining ¼ cup sugar. Gradually fold the egg whites into the filling, mixing gently until no streaks remain. Pour the filling into the pan.

Place a flat baking plan in the oven, and put the foil-wrapped spring form pan in the center of it. Pour hot water in the baking pan, up to an inch high on the spring form pan.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the sides are set and the center is almost set- the center will still have some movement. If after 60 minutes, the top of the cheesecake is browning or cracking and the center is still too liquid, turn the temperature down to 300 and continue to bake until center is gently set. Turn off the oven and allow the cheesecake to rest for another hour. At this point the entire cheesecake should be set. A toothpick inserted into the center will come away clean. Refrigerate overnight, serve chilled.

Enjoy delicious cheesecake bliss.

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Pittsburgh Wedding Photography | Handcrafted Wedding Albums

March 19th, 2012

I am delighted to finally show off my new sample albums! They arrived this week and I couldn’t be more thrilled with them. These are beautifully handcrafted flush- mount albums. They have lovely thick pages, lay open down the middle so that images can go across both pages, and the printed images are amazingly clear and beautiful. (Put it this way: I am used to seeing my work in print in all sizes, and even I am impressed with the print quality.)

If there is one thing I think is undervalued in the wedding industry right now, it’s albums. I completely believe in being able to have the digital files from your wedding- it was one of my priorities when I was looking for a photographer, too. But as valuable as they are, digital images simply aren’t a replacement for holding the photographs in your hand. I’m curious if past brides would know offhand where they stored their images on their computers, if I asked them. Or if they’d made backup copies, in case the computer or USB fails. Or if they have printed even half of the prints that they had wanted to- I’m a photographer and I can never seem to remember to make personal prints for myself. Believe me, I understand.

In comparison, having these books- heavy, substantial, bound well and printed beautifully- is such a great reminder. You can’t pick one of these up without being drawn to look through it, and the memories it holds are invaluable.

A few notes about the design process, and what’s pictured below. There are two cover options for the books: Japanese silk with a cameo image (shown below in aqua), or leather with embossed names (shown in bitterwsweet nabuk.) I love them both- the silk looks modern and fresh and the leather is plush and gorgeous. I custom design each album to tell show the narrative of the wedding day- it features about 75-100 images, and they are very carefully chosen to show the ambiance & the moments & the emotions and capture the true feeling of the day from beginning to end.

If you’re considering whether or not to invest in a wedding album, I will be bringing these to all of my consultations, and holding them in your hands makes a surprising amount of difference. Feel free to get in touch if you’d like to see them in person.