Jake and Becca

Jake and Becca were married last summer at Becca's family farm in West Chester, Pa. In fact, the whole Ferber family rides. They are very accomplished equestrians who travel and compete in shows all over. Becca loves her horses and her family. It was important to her to get married at the home where she grew up, surrounded by loved ones, horsey pals and happy memories. :)

I love horses. I have ever since I was 4 years old and told my mom I didn't want just any horse - I wanted a Connemara pony. (where I got that at 4, I have no idea) These days I ride whenever I am able to, and I can drive most any kind of carriage like nobody's business. (except a 4-in-hand, Ive never done that) Anyway, the point being that this wedding was right up my alley and I was really happy and excited to shoot it.

Bridal portrait on the top left in the below set - took me about 2 hours. I used a piece of lace for the texture overlay. Fade work was done with a large, soft brush at 11% opacity. No, I'm not kidding all you photoshop people out there! lol Doing it patiently, by hand, in small increments makes a much better fade in my opinion. It has about 4 or 5 filters on it and I would say around 3 photoshop actions. (all hand tweaked, of course!) Painted the flower color back in a bit last.

Becca's horse is a thoroughbred, and they tend to be high strung, so we couldn't take him out of his stall for bridal portraits unfortunately. But we did manage to get some really nice ones of them together at the barn.

First Look :)

Ari and the Stick's First Look

Back story on Ari:

Jake is a hardcore outdoors man and hunter. (He also made me dinner once and it was delicious. So add cooking to his list of many accomplishments, too!) Jake told me how Ari came to join the family. It was end of hunting season and Jake found this little dog left out in the woods and abandoned by some jackass. From what I have heard and read, this often happens. 

Quote: "Animal Rescue groups say that with the end of hunting season, some unscrupulous hunters abandon their hound dogs. They say these strays end up on people's porches starving or are often times hit by cars on the road. Rescuers say this is a problem every year."

Jake said when he found Ari, he was this little lost, skinny dog that looked to be black or brown. When they bathed him they were startled to discover that he is actually blonde and white! He was just that filthy. Poor little guy. Since then Ari is not only a pet, he is a beloved member of the family. I always see pics of him with Jake on Facebook, hunting, hiking, even fishing - Ari rides on the boat! He is beyond devoted to Jake and his human family, as you can imagine. So it was only right that Ari should be included in the entire wedding day as well! Personally, I really dig the doggie bow tie. Blue is definitely his color. ;) He even helped to set up the ceremony. See the pics below, top left corner? That's Ari carrying the glass for breaking at the end of the ceremony. lol 

I also like the pic of the neighbor kids peeking through the bushes to see whats going on. Jake pointed them out to me, I didn't even see them at first. They're sneaky munchkins! The other little one in the lower left corner is Jake's son, Hunter. As you can see, he had some super serious pondering to do before the ceremony began.

My favorite couples portrait of the day below <3 Thank you to Seattle's most amazing wedding photographer Jim Garner for teaching me the editing trick to get this soft look! :D

Ok - next set of pics below needs some explanation. All last year and this year Ive been offering themed couples portraits. Sometimes the couples make the props and sometimes I do, depending on what the theme is. The 3 of us collaborate and try to come with something that runs either with the style of the wedding, or is personal to the couple. In this case - hunting. Duh. lol It was Jake and Becca's idea to do the William Tell thing. I love it! It was so much fun to shoot for all of us.

The reception was held in the private riding arena on the family's property.

Low light couples portraits in the barn at the end of the evening.

Pony smiled for the camera! Becca says its probably because he was mentally planning what new deviltry he can get into next. Apparently he's quite the little hellion. lol Still, you must admit, it's the perfect photo to end this wedding story. :)