We never expected, however, that everything would go as quickly and smoothly as it did.

We met in Gloucester, where James lives (and in case you haven’t heard, one of our favorite places in Virginia).

After just half an hour, we knew we had found our perfect clients.

They are so in love. They’ve been together since late 2011, and now they are ready to take the big step this coming Fall.

They are not only a perfect match, but a pretty impressive one as well.

Mary Lynn’s not only a nurse, but yeah, she’s also a firefighter and an EMT. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of ways she comes in handy in a tight spot!

And like a lot of our grooms, James works at Newport News Shipyard, where he helps build ships for the US Navy. Not a bad catch, either!

Despite those impressive resumes, we can relate to them. Like us, they have been in a long distance relationship for some time now. Mary Lynn lives in Northern Virginia, and James in Gloucester.

Soon though, that separation will end…

Soon they’re going to realize their dream of being together forever in a little house in the countryside of Gloucester… 

We met them at Gloucester Beach on the York River to begin their sunset engagement session, and finished it after the sun was gone in the twilight (or what photographers call the “blue hour”) in historic Yorktown, Virginia.

We’re almost as excited as they are about this fall.

We will meet up with them and document the end of one chapter of their lives, and the beginning of the rest of their lives in Seaford at Bay Tree Manor…

Thank you so much for inviting us to document your engagement and big day! We are so honored to be your engagement and wedding photographers!

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Mary Lynn and James are another couple referred to us by our friends Mark and Paige at Bay Tree Manor, where we will also be photographing their wedding! 

Film scans coming soon..

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Yorktown Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

(these links return you to our homepage!)

If you’d like to contact us with an inquiry for your wedding or couple session, send us a message at info@www.michaelandcarina.com, or call 757-401-2551. 

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

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]]> http://www.michaelandcarina.com/virginia-engagement-photographers-contax-645-film-michael-and-carina-photography/feed/ 0 http://www.michaelandcarina.com/williamsburg-wedding-and-engagement-photographers-lauren-jason-michael-and-carina-photography/ http://www.michaelandcarina.com/williamsburg-wedding-and-engagement-photographers-lauren-jason-michael-and-carina-photography/#comments Wed, 08 May 2013 17:30:58 +0000 michaelandcarina http://www.michaelandcarina.com/?p=3738 Lauren and Jason met at the College of William and Mary where they studied to become lawyers.
They fell in love and got married three years ago.
They will be graduating this weekend.

Together.

No wonder they couldn’t stop smiling during our session!

We get excited when we see couples so head over heels in love.
And their journey together, as two lovely married lawyers, is about to get even more exciting as they have a big move and big plans ahead of them.
We are so happy you chose us to capture your love, Lauren and Jason.

PS: When one of you decides to run for President, give us a call to be your photographers

Thank you SO much to Anthony Le for assisting us! You were a great help!

If you’d like to contact us with an inquiry for your wedding or couple session, send us a message at info@www.michaelandcarina.com, or call 757-401-2551. 

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

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Alea said. Awww… thanks Alea. We’re looking forward to it already!

Still – you don’t have to be engaged to have a couple session, right?

Alea was a lucky winner of our Facebook giveaway at 2000 fans. She was one of the first people who responded. When we told her that she’d won, she was ecstatic. “I never win anything!!!” she said.

We met at sunset in beautiful, historic Gloucester County, Virginia for their shoot. After a lot of rain, we were lucky to get just the perfect day with perfect light. They brought along their pug Riley for a couple of shots, too!

Alea and Jason, thanks for responding to our giveaway because the images we took at our session with you are just… wow. So happy to share them on our blog.
film scans coming soon!

Photography info: these were taken on Canon 5D Mk2 cameras with 35mm L & 100mm L lenses. Film scans coming soon!

If you’d like to contact us with an inquiry for your wedding or couple session, send us a message at info@www.michaelandcarina.com, or call 757-401-2551. 

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

(these links return you to our homepage!)

This was the first time we photographed with film in harsh light and we are pretty excited! Check out Elaine & Ryan’s digital engagement photos here.

They will make a stunning bride and groom this July!

More film scans from Indie Film Lab!

Thank you so much for assisting us, Seth! You are the best film-changer and reflector-holder ever!!!

If you’d like to contact us with an inquiry for your wedding or couple session, send us a message at info@www.michaelandcarina.com, or call 757-401-2551. 

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

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On Monday, Justin and Lisa found our brochure at Bay Tree Manor.

On Tuesday, we met for a bridal consultation and they booked us.

On Wednesday, we photographed their engagement session.

On Thursday, we’re posting their engagement blog!!

Justin and Lisa are high school sweethearts. She’s in the Navy, and he’s a college student. She .LOVES. playing the trumpet as much as he .LOVES. hockey.

They knew just what they wanted from their engagement session.

Kudos to Justin for coming up with an awesome, hockey-themed ring shot!

They’re getting married this June and WE get to photograph their wedding, our first at Bay Tree Manor!!

We’re just as excited as they are!!

-film scans coming soon-

If you’d like to contact us with an inquiry for your wedding or couple session, send us a message at info@www.michaelandcarina.com, or call 757-401-2551. 

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

(these links return you to our homepage!

If you’d like to contact us with an inquiry for your wedding or couple session, send us a message at info@www.michaelandcarina.com, or call 757-401-2551. 

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

(these links return you to our homepage!  

contax 645/80mm lens f2/fujifilmpro ASA400

You guys already know the lovely Nic & Aicha, our old friends from Germany who made the trip across the water around the same time as us last year. They invited us down to Florida recently for a photoshoot. You can read more about them here and here.

We photographed them with our 5D Mark II digital SLRs and then edited the photos to where we wanted them to be in terms of color, contrast, etc.

We also photographed them with a Contax 645 medium format film camera on 120mm Fujipro 400 film.

And then sent the film off to be developed by the fantastic people over at Indie Film Lab.

And waited.

Now, we didn’t shoot that much… you just can’t with film, it’s too expensive to… but what we got back… well, we really like it…

We are SO blessed to know this couple and to be able to call them our friends!

Enjoy, Nic & Aicha! Hope to see you up in Virginia soon!

<3

She and her USAF-hubby Damian have been together for nine years and they’re still in SO-in-love.

Exactly how it should be.

They had only one problem:

After nine years, they STILL didn’t have any awesome lovey-dovey pictures to celebrate their marriage!

Enter Michael and Carina, and our trusty assistant Seth, to the rescue!

But seriously, it wasn’t that hard.

Damian proposed to her on a beach over 9 years ago… so what better place to celebrate the continuing success of their marriage with a photoshoot?

beautiful couple + beach + awesome bridge + beautiful sunset + awesome support & a great team = EPIC photos <3

Damian and Jasmine, thank you so much for your friendship, your kindness, and the inspirational way you love each other!

(film photos have been sent off to Indie Film Labs and are coming soon!)

(here Damian re-enacted his proposal by telling Jasmine about when he first knew he wanted to marry her – - – husbands, take note! a great idea to practice on more occasions than just photoshoots)

If you’d like to contact us with an inquiry for your wedding or couple session, send us a message at info@www.michaelandcarina.com, or call 757-401-2551. 

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

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We adore all their ideas and plans and all the thought they’re putting into their wedding preparations. Today was like a little preview of their wedding and we LOVE it.

Although it was quite chilly, we had a blast taking engagement pictures together; they are such a fun couple!

Julie and Tim, we can hardly wait for your wedding! Until then, we hope you enjoy your engagement photos.

If you’d like to contact us with an inquiry for your wedding or couple session, send us a message at info@www.michaelandcarina.com, or call 757-401-2551. 

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

(these links return you to our homepage!  

Raise the viewfinder and press it to your eye.

Position your hand under the lens, resting the weight of it with feet apart at the width of your shoulders..

Feel the wheel of the focus ring winding back and forth in your fingers…

Check the composition of your subject…

Talk to your subjects.. keep them engaged..

Wait for the right moment…

Wait for it…

Wait for it…

Hold your breath…

That’s the difference with digital and film.

… and press the shutter button.

The shutter releases and the camera motor winds the film to the next exposure.

No checking the back. That’s it. It’s done. Next shot. You’ve only got 12, so make them count!

I (Mike) learned on digital, so when I had a dream last year I was a film photographer (no seriously, I did), I kept playing with the idea and talked about it more and more with Carina.

We had been editing our images to imitate film exposures for a while, or trying to (there’s only so much you can do with digital, it can be surprisingly limiting).

But if we go with film, we want to go for the best.

So this year, a never-before-used Contax 645 and 80mm Zeiss lens joined our gearlist…

But for the past month we’ve been shooting with it we’ve been doing so “blind..” just relying on our experience with digital, hoping it translates into film…

And today we got our first film engagement shoot back from Indie Film Lab… and here are the unedited results!

And now I know why I had that dream, as cliche as it sounds…

HUGE thank you to Morgan and Mark for letting us experiment with film on their Yorktown engagement photoshoot, more from which you can see here.

Oh yes… I think we can expect to see a lot more film images from now on…

If you’d like to contact us with an inquiry for your wedding or couple session, send us a message at info@www.michaelandcarina.com, or call 757-401-2551. 

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

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She and her fiance Mark, both of Gloucester, Virginia, are getting married this year too!

She hadn’t originally planned on going “all out” for wedding photographers, but when she told us she had fallen in love with our work… we knew she was “our bride.”

She ordered 3 different dresses specifically for this shoot, sending two of them back – - – we think she picked the PERFECT one.

In fact, we loved both their outfits! They could write the books on what to wear to an e-session, lol!

Of all the days of February, our photoshoot happened to fall on the prettiest and warmest  day we could have hoped for.

We met in historic Yorktown, Virginia, just a mile or two across the river from where her wedding will take place this coming September.

After our shoot, we crossed the river together to tour the venue (her aunt’s home)… and wow… perfect view of the sunset… a beautiful old pier… lovely trees, rustic old houses, garden arches, a fantastic view of the river and the smell of salt in the air… we are SO EXCITED. Thanks, Mark and Morgan, for choosing us as your wedding photographers!!!!!!!!!!!!- Mike & Carina

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

Yorktown Wedding Photographers | Newport News Wedding Photographers

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They are also a couple that are up for being adventurous – even if it means shooting on a cold and windy beach at 8 in the morning, in February! Samantha was so chilly – but it just gave them a reason to cuddle even closer together for a set of fantastic, loving, warm photos. What better Valentine’s gift could you ask for? Except for chocolates… especially German chocolates…

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

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Krystle & Robert’s dog, Tate

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

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They both grew up in rural Gloucester County, Virginia. Levi’s uncle’s farm, tucked away deep in Gloucester on one of it’s many back roads, was the perfect setting for our engagement shoot!

Karen and Levi are both volunteer firefighters and have been together for four years. They met at an oyster festival and four years later, that’s right where he proposed to her.

The golden glow the sun cast on the fields of the Gloucester farm really were just perfect for this shoot.

Karen and Levi, we are SUPER excited about shooting your Gloucester wedding this coming May! Thank you for making us a special part of your big day!

For inquiries, email us at info@www.michaelandcarina.com or give us a call at 757-401-2551. 

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

No, it’s not Thanksgiving, but we just wanted to take a moment to say “Thank you” to everyone who has been such a big part of inspiring us to create “Michael and Carina Photography.”

It was back in Munich, almost two years ago around this time of year, that we decided this was something we wanted to pursue together.

Back then, we didn’t know whether we’d be in Germany or the US. My (Mike’s) work as an English teacher was undergoing a lot of changes, Carina was trying to hold off on entering university to see whether or not she’d get her greencard, her family was going through a lot of difficulties… Our relationship was strong but a lot of things were uncertain. You guys probably know the feeling of going to sleep and waking up and all the time in between, feeling like a rock is on your chest.

The idea of pursuing this and working together came almost naturally, but the idea that we could succeed at making this our full time profession didn’t. I had a good job, and although it wasn’t my favorite thing in the world, I loved working with children and I’d developed a good relationship with my co-workers.

I loved helping out my photographer friends and learning from them, and liked the idea of doing it on “our own.”

But full time?

In 2012 we moved to the USA and I left my full time job as a teacher, and Carina her part time job as a reporter/photojournalist, to work as photographers in Virginia…

We decided to work doing what we loved and to make a living off of it as well.

It was literally a flight of faith over the Atlantic Ocean.

I remember somewhere over Iceland I was begging God for answers, asking Him if this was the right way.

But we were on our way ; too late to ask if this was the right one..

Sometimes when I have a moment to myself I like to think about the “butterfly effect” and how one thing leads to another..

When I was growing up I had a lot of people in my life who believed in me – but I didn’t.

When I met Carina, that changed.. mostly.

I learned that if you really want something, you could achieve it if you work hard for it.

Loving her wasn’t just an emotion, and it certainly wasn’t always easy, (saying goodbye for a year is never easy) but an action.

There were people who ridiculed our relationship then… and there were people who encouraged us, strengthened us.Both of them got us to where we are today and I’m thankful for what I learned from both.

When we began our photography team, there were people at the beginning, a couple of years ago, who wrote us lengthy emails telling us to “keep our day jobs.”But there were also people who supported us and believed in us more than we thought they had reason to.

Michael and Carina Photography needed both of those sorts of people, because they both drove us, pushed us on. For that we’re thankful.

To the nameless French photographer who showed us in Paris how to take a picture in the dark (and lit up our entire lives in the process), thank you.

To Sonia and Cavell, who first told me what an aperture was and why I should just buy a cheap DSLR and a cheap 50mm to teach myself photography.

To “AG,” who stole thousands of euros from us when we were trying to invest in our equipment, thanks for teaching us a good lesson about the darker sides of human nature (we invested in several thousand dollars’ worth of equipment which never came; unfortunately, an Amazon scam artist who was never arrested is probably still out there doing this to other people).

To Marion, for answering my questions, giving me advice, for showing up at the door of the kindergarten and shoving a bag of your own gear in my hands to shoot “our” first wedding… thank you for believing in us and teaching us a lesson about the better sides of human nature.

To Carmen and Ingo for inspiring us to be a successful husband-wife team, thank you.

To Getty for buying our images… thanks!

To our families in Germany and in America for believing in us and praising us when no one else did, thank you. Dad, Oma, Opa were always especially there for us in Germany. Thank you. Mom(s), for encouraging us, believing in us, thank you.

To that photographer who wrote us that really long, mean, nasty email at the beginning of our photography journey, telling us to “keep our day jobs”, and that photography for people so lacking in talent was a waste of time… thanks for the encouragement

To the first couples, models, brides & grooms we photographed who believed in us… thank you.

To Kibiku, my old work, for pushing me, teaching me to be (slightly more) organized, and for allowing me to be the unofficial photographer. To Frank for teaching me to find more humor in life, to Avril for inspiring me to be more positive, to Gil for just being purely awesome, to Steffi for being Steffi… to Herr Kurzlechner who gave me a chance.. and everyone else… Andrea, Sarah, Judith, Ivana… Susi, Jan & Charlotte thanks!

(special place for) Katrin, for never for a second doubting that we could follow our dream; who told us over and over again to do it, to be photographers, and for always looking out for us like a sister. And for telling me to straighten up, iron out my shirt, and to keep my locker clean.

To the people who lost sleep over us when we moved to America and gave up our lives in Germany to live out the adventure that is immigrating to the New World, thanks for thinking of us..

To the Kim the Canon Man at Saturn for letting us play with “toys”…

To the editors of the Munich Mercury for hiring Carina as a photographer… Thank you!

To Jonas for carrying our stuff around, posing for us, practicing with us, learning with us, living with us, and being our trusty assistant in return for FIFA games, thank YOU! And thanks for all the fun times spending hours on the floor with Playmobile, legos and dinosaurs making time lapses!

To Chris & Lea for being friends and encouraging us AND critiquing us.. thank you.

Kirstie, for being a friend and giving us a chance! Sara, for being a friend… for giving us a chance! Angela, thanks for supporting us one business to another, always being there… Spring, Rachel, Rachel, Rachel (you read that correctly), Tori, Isabel, Kristina, Brandon, thank you guys! Megan for taking our pics! Crystal, Alice, Ivory, where would our images be without you? So many people I probably didn’t name, but thank you!

To the heroes I looked up to who turned out to be just really talented awesome nice people… Kristine, Sharon (you took our pics!!!!!!!!!), Will… thanks for giving us the time of day and supporting us, believing in us. Thanks to the HR Wedding Planner community for being amazing.

And now we’re coming to a close… from the bottom of our hearts, thank you, SO much, to the brides and grooms who invested in us as we’d just arrived from Germany. You believing in us made us believe in ourselves. It’s not only us, but because of you that after 2 years from dreaming it into existence Michael and Carina Photography exists, even if we are just REALLY getting started, and we will never stop being thankful for it. Thank you to all of our clients who have invested not only in us, but in our style and the value of what we provide. So many people I didn’t name but yea… already way too long… Anyways, I don’t know what the next two years will bring but the rock is off our chests and we are both very excited to see… God bless and thank you guys.. :*humbled & blessed*

Here are some old pics from our first year where we teamed up as photographers and did just about everything we could do, from weddings to model ports; from attempts at art and playing in Photoshop to jobs for newspapers.

^us joking around^

The only catch?

Because we wanted to avoid crowds and came to Lee Hall on a Tuesday, when they are normally closed, we were given about one hour for makeup and hair, and basically what amounted to LESS than an hour of shooting time.

Kristine and Crystal did an AMAZING job in a short amount of time and Hannah and Charles were fantastic.

The light was just perfect (considering it was the middle of December) and despite the short amount of time, we took some great images which will appear in our ad in the Hampton Roads Wedding Planner Magazine.

The dress, tux, and hairpieces were provided by the wonderful Angela at the Bridal Boutique of Gloucester.

Thanks to Crystal and Kristine who provided such wonderful support not only for hair and makeup but also during the shoot. Makeup artists and stylists are so often left holding reflectors, speedlites, and umbrellas on photoshoots and we are so thankful and appreciative for the people we have been blessed to work with – and that they are as patient and supportive as they are!

This is actually how Crystal’s (High Voltage Hair’s) work looked after the hour of shooting in windy, cold conditions. Held up beautifully!

We recently completed a series of bridal editorial style images which we can’t reveal (completely) until next year.

Tomorrow we are shooting for our ad with Hampton Roads Wedding Planner Magazine! We’re excited to work with some very talented models as well as Kristine French Makeup Artistry and High Voltage Hair at Lee Hall in Yorktown.

We were also recently contacted by a brand new bridal show to be the exclusive wedding photographers there! But more on that later…

Also finished up two weddings way ahead of schedule and preparing for another in a couple of weeks, getting bills paid, meeting with two brides this week – - – one thing we have not done is decorated the house. At all. Our apartment looks like the middle of January although it is the middle of December. Which is kind of sad. And must be remedied. However, we did celebrate our 9 year anniversary this past weekend and pigged out on German Christmas Lebkuchen (gingerbread cookies) – AWESOME. 

Here are some samples of portrait sessions we’ve had in and around the Hampton Roads area over the past couple of months.

Each portrait session with us is unique and strives to capture your character in a stand out image. Contact us at info@www.michaelandcarina.com or at 757-401-2551 if you would like to schedule your portrait session today. We like to shoot on location, but as it is winter, indoor arrangements can be made in Yorktown and Virginia Beach.