Luray Wedding

Direct sunlight can often not be our friend... but not this time.


Congratulations, Sarah and Brock.

Modern Bride Closes

Sorry to hear that Modern Bride (along with other Conde Nast publications like Elegant Bride and Gourmet), has been closed and will no longer be published.

Too bad - we contributed fairly regularly to Modern Bride (both photos and occasional columns/articles) and enjoyed working with their editors. Declining ad revenue - along with pretty stiff competition from The Knot - caused Conde Nast to find cost-cutting opportunities.

From what we understand, Brides.com will stay in operation, and Brides magazine will go to a monthly publishing schedule to pick up some of the slack.

Ask the Experts Column

Our first column for the OneWed.com Savvy Scoop blog is up. Once a week we'll answer questions from OneWed members about wedding photography and wedding topics in general. This month's column is about location shoots and permit fees. Check it out!

Critically-Acclaimed Bouquet

Congratulations to Emma on her bouquet taste - a photo we took of her bouquet made the front page of OneWed. Here it is ----

A Little Recognition

One of our photos was just chosen out of thousands of entries by OneWed.com, the largest searchable online database of wedding vendors, to be featured on their home page. (It's not up yet, so don't bother looking. It should appear in the next week or so.)

We also will be contributing to an "Ask the Experts" column on OneWed, answering wedding photography questions from OneWed readers.

Pretty cool!

Harrisonburg - JMU - Joshua Wilton

Beautiful weather Saturday, great couple, fun families... could not have been a better day for Emma and Alan. We've barely started going through photos, but here is a sneak peek for family and friends to check out.

And congratulations to wedding planner Lynn Ianizzi of Finer Points, and the staff at the Joshua Wilton, for putting on an outstanding event. And to DJ Danny Craig for keeping the dance floor full for nearly three hours. (Never an easy feat.)

Clifton Inn, Charlottesville VA

Rained in Charlottesville a couple weeks ago for Rebecca and Matt's wedding, but the Clifton Inn was nice enough to hold a tent over from the previous day's wedding... so everyone stayed dry. You know a staff cares when the Event Coordinator and Facility Manager are hard at work on umbrella duty. This was our third time at the Clifton Inn in the last couple years, and as always they did a wonderful job.

Congratulations Rebecca and Matt!

Bubbles over Rice (or Bird Seed)

Another of our less than thought-provoking survey results:


Couples prefer bubbles by a 3 to 1 margin over rice or bird seed. Why? Less mess, less cleanup, and bubbles don't run afoul of increasingly tight venue restrictions. (A number of venues prohibit rice and bird seed in their contracts - they don't want to clean it up or avoid hungry birds later.)


Plus bubbles are a lot less likely to end up in your hair, your gown, or your eyes. And from our point of view they tend to make for better exit photos.

More Congratulations

More congratulations are in order. We photographed Jeremiah and Erin Bishop's wedding several years ago....


Jeremiah is a world-class mountain bike racer, and last year he won the U.S. National Mountain Bike Championship in both the short track and the marathon classifications. (Just how good is he? In 2006 he placed eight at the World Championships, which is the highest placing of any U.S. male at that event in over a decade.)


He's also a versatile rider; above is a photo we took at the 2006 Tour of Shenandoah road race, an event he entered just to mix up his training (and as a favor to race organizers.)

He's also been invited to be on the panel of the Washington & Lee University Institute of Honor Conference this month, "Sports in America: Playing Fair," where he'll discuss his views on doping and illegal performance enhancement. (Quick summary: He's against it.)

It's quite an honor, since the conference features speakers like Myles Brand, the head of the NCAA, Travis Tygert, Senior Managing Director and General Counsel of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, and Jeffrey Toobin, lawyer, author, and legal analyst for CNN and The New Yorker.

Thanks for a Great 2008

Thanks to all our couples for a wonderful 2008. We were fortunate enough to photograph weddings in Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Lexington, Staunton, Waynesboro, Luray, Richmond, Woodstock, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Williamsburg, Virginia Beach, Fairfax, Alexandria, Manassas, Arlington, Reston, Woodbridge, Warm Springs, Winchester...


... Front Royal, Roanoke, Culpeper, and Staunton, plus out of state locations like Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Bethesda, Rockville, Silver Spring, Raleigh, Monterey, Philadelphia, and New York.

Everyone at BlackBird Images wishes you - and for a number of you, your recently born kids or kids on the way - all the best in the years to come.

Don't Be Afraid of Unusual Angles

If the only times you've been professionally photographed were in a portrait studio, you're probably conditioned to the same old poses and camera angles. Even so, be open to trying something different - the results can be striking.

(It also helps that, in this case, there are picnic tables at JMU's Arboretum for us to stand on.)

... But Traditional is Also Great

Our last post may cause you to think we favor non-traditional or heavily-stylized photos. In the end we favor making our clients happy: If you want non-traditional, we'll deliver. If you prefer a classic look, we'll deliver.

For example, one of our wedding favorites from the last couple years is this photo.

Why? It's not stylized or photoshopped or meticulously posed; instead it's clean, simple, clearly evokes a time and a place... and captures both Shelley's warmth and her sense of playfulness.

Most importantly, it's the look she wanted.

Bridal Portraits - With a Twist

Traditional bridal portraits will never go out of style, but more and more brides are looking for something less conventional. In fact, some of the shoots we've done recently would never be defined as bridal, even though that was the clients' intent. They wanted something different... and we think you'll agree they got it.


Keep in mind these take time and effort to shoot - on our part as well as yours. Hair, makeup, location... all are critical. (For the photo above you need to be willing to stand partly unclothed in 40-degree temperatures on a windy beach.) Or you may want something a little less literal and heavily stylized ---


Again, you can't just roll out of bed and get this kind of look. (Great genetics help, too.) But a studio isn't always necessary - we pulled this off under natural light coming through a high window. It was a two-minute setup that turned out to be Michelle's favorite from the entire session, for reasons that are hopefully obvious.

Time of year is critical, too - the cherry trees were in full bloom for less than a week, but they're perfect for the look she wanted.


So if you're looking for something non-traditional, start talking to us now so we can pull all the elements together!

Shenandoah River

We scheduled a sunrise engagement session a few weeks ago and while waiting for the couple to arrive were treated to this. Definitely makes getting up early worth it ----

Church Photos

We tend to focus on faces - kinda natural, since we're wedding photographers, not landscape or architecture photographers. But we've gotten a lot of requests to see church photos, so here are some random ones from the last few months. Bonus points if you can name all four churches.





In order, First Baptist Church, Woodstock; Jackson Memorial Hall, VMI; First Baptist Church, Waynesboro; Parkview Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg.

Renewing Vows - One Week Later

A few months ago we photographed a "second" wedding ceremony; the couple were married in Arizona, went on their honeymoon, then came to Virginia to hold a second ceremony for local friends and family. Here they are outside the Stonewall Jackson Hotel in Staunton (where we've photographed five receptions this year alone.)



We've seen more of this type event in recent years - destination weddings are still popular, but often the couple will limit the guests at the destination and then hold a second service (or just a reception) for those who were not able to travel.


Speaking of the Stonewall Jackson Hotel, they do a consistently great job with receptions. The location is great, the service is excellent... we're always happy to work there. If you're looking for a venue, check them out.

Old Hickory Golf Club - Woodbridge, VA

A few more photos from Kirsten and Ryan's wedding in Woodbridge, VA. Foliage was pretty, but Kirsten looked even more spectacular.

Lucky with Light

Every once in awhile the light is perfect... and you're there when it is.

Fall Weddings...

Quick post to show the splendor of fall foliage... we were in Woodbridge, VA for Kirsten and Ryan's wedding. Kirsten had found this spot less than a mile from the country club where the wedding was held... perfect!

VMI Wedding

Face it - we get to go to pretty cool places to photograph weddings. Last week's wedding was at VMI in Lexington, VA. Here's the bride before the wedding on the parade deck, the huge field circled by a majority of the campus buildings.


You can visit much of the campus anytime, but the barracks are off limits... unless you're with the right company, it seems. Here's the groom and his groomsmen at the entrance to the barracks area - this part of the campus you can see even if you're not a cadet or member of the administration.

So far so good, but then the guys decided they'd like to go inside for a photo where they used to live. What you can see below are the guys on the second floor balcony. What you don't see are the disapproving stares and muttered conversations of cadets who are not at all happy that visitors are inside the barracks. (According to one of the parents, they had only been inside twice during their son's four years at the school on official visiting days.)

I guess it helps to have seven alumni along, including Marine, Navy, and Army officers, if you're going to break a regulation or two.

The Chapel is beautiful; it's a wonderful blend of tradition and history. (By the way, the museum located in the basement includes Stonewall Jackson's horse, Little Sorrel; he looks a little the worse for wear - admittedly, we would too over a hundred years later, stuffed or not.)

The walk back down the aisle is interrupted by the saber arch, a military wedding tradition. (And kudos to the cadets in the honor party; they stood at attention for well over an hour before the service even started.)

The couple aren't allowed to pass until a kiss is exchanged; it's a very cute moment.

We decided to extend the saber arch tradition in honor of the groom's gift to his new bride; here they are in front of the new BMW he surprised her with while we were taking post-ceremony photos.

The cadets are incredibly professional, for want of a better word: They're dignified, reserved, respectful... very impressive. Their demeanor makes them seem older than their years. But right after we took this photo, one of the cadets asked me if we needed them for anything else.

We said we didn't, and thanked them for their help. He then whispered, "What's the deal with the car, anyway?" We told him it was a gift, and he softly said, "Sweeeet..." It was a very cute moment and a reminder that, inside the uniform and the discipline, the cadets are still just kids.

VMI is a neat setting for a wedding, but don't get your hopes up: You have to be an alumni. It is a memorable site, but it was also fun to watch the alumni attending the wedding reminiscing. Clearly the bonds built while at the school last a lifetime. Note in the photo below the groom's sash; that signifies his status as a VMI alumni.)

Congratulations to Jennifer and Parker!