Everything about Audrey and TJ’s wedding was too pretty not to share right away! Will write more later but for now, enjoy the beautiful details.
Quick shoutouts: Coordinating and Design by Janel Bailey Keen of Vivid Expressions, amazing location at Williamsburg Winery, insanely GREAT food from East Beach Catering, the always fun Cedric of Big Dreams Entertainment Inc., beautiful cake from Gourmet Bake Shoppe, makeup by Candice, and getaway car from James River Transportation
We shot this last fall, but I am just getting around to blogging it now. Rina and I had a blast at Riley’s senior sessions, thanks to her awesome mom Bev for booking us! Funny story about the first photo; at our first appointment, I mis-judged the timing of sunset and we had to shoot in the dark right after night fell. Setting up our lights through the trees actually produced a cool effect, which I hope to try again someday.
We got it right the second time and were able to go into two locations, Red Wing Park and First Landing Park. There are so many great parks in Hampton Roads and it was actually our first time shooting at North Landing. It was a beautiful location – so beautiful we were dodging other photographers left and right 
Even though it was cold at the time, Riley gave us beautiful shots!
Disclaimer: this is a personal post, so if you’re not interested, avert your eyes! Haha! Anyone who has worked with us and/or follows us on Instagram should know my sweet daughter/DCPG mascot, Meems. About 90% of the DCPG instagram is either her insanely detailed drawings or cute outfits.
We bought Meems a fancy dress for no reason and she’s probably growing out of it as we speak, so we did an impromptu portrait session at the Pagoda. I didn’t get to do her 9th birthday portraits back in February, so I was glad to finally get a free moment to take some “official” photos of her! We kept it simple; natural light, barely any editing and no makeup or fancy hair. We were really pushing it that day time-wise, so by the time we got to the Pagoda it was cold and we literally had 15 minutes of usable daylight. Everything worked out; the soft sunset light was perfect, she was a trooper about the weather and she magically did not argue once about posing or location.
Taking a cue from my friend at http://mamamccuan.tumblr.com, here is Mia at age 9:
LIKES
DISLIKES
What’s new at age 9?
She was accepted into Old Donation Center’s visual arts program, which was a no-brainer. We’re letting her do more things on her own, simple things like making her own breakfast, riding the elevator at the Creative Space w/o us or being home alone for short periods of time. The baby steps toward independence are mostly for the sake of Mendell and I because we’re so used to hovering around our only child, haha. She’s very entrepreneurial minded; I’ve stopped her many times from attempting to sell her drawings to people at parties and suggestions she’s made to me about DCPG or business ideas in general are surprisingly practical. Sometimes talking to her is like talking to an adult; her tendency toward introversion makes her really thoughtful and insightful for a 9 year old. Even if the end result is her not getting what she wants, she is always open to listening to reasoning and for the most part understands, even if she doesn’t necessarily agree. She is shy to strangers, but outgoing to people she knows/loves. She’s a pro at ordering her own food at restaurants. She is still working on doing cash transactions at stores by herself, but loves doing it. She has Mendell’s inherent and effortless kindness, which draws people to her. Babies love her! We also noticed a funny trend where shop owners/restaurants will give her free cookies for no reason at all. She was an orange belt in Muay Thai, and a yellow belt in Kali (Filipino Martial Arts) but discovered this year that she wants to focus only on Kali. She craves independence but still likes to snuggle with us at night before bed. She still sleeps w/ her favorite bear from when she was a baby. These years of her still being a little girl are fading fast so we’re trying to hold on and savor this time before the tween years hit! Being the self-aware person she is, she says, “I hope I stay sweet, even when I’m a teenager.” Me too, Meems.
All in all, she is a lovely little person
My favorite people in the whole wide world. I love them so much!!
These two are like living anime characters, haha.
I hope to make portraits an annual thing for her and her cousins; it’s nice to shoot for yourself and your family every now and then!
- Cies
RM Auctions is a leader in the collector car auction industry. Last summer, they reached out to us to photograph a locally-owned 1933 Packard that was going up for auction in October. Automotive photography is Lester’s specialty as well as he and Mendell’s all time favorite type of commercial photography, so naturally, I sent them both off to Newport News for the shoot. They had pretty strict brand/photo guidelines we had to follow, so they weren’t able to employ Lester’s usual strobist/extreme angle style, but they did an amazing job of lighting the car up, yet maintaining the clean, natural look the client requested:
Here are the tearsheets from their auction catalog:
A few shots I personally loved:
RM Auction’s website has more details about the car itself and even more photos! It ended up selling for $451,000!!: http://www.rmauctions.com/lots/lot.cfm?lot_id=1055900
One of the best benefits of being a photographer is getting to meet fascinating people from all walks of life. I especially have a soft spot for entrepreneurs or people with very diverse professions/hobbies. Crystal Endsley, or as we like to call her, Dr. Crystal or the Good Docta, is definitely one of a kind. I first knew her as a bad-ass spoken word artist, then later learned she is also a working professor w/ a Ph.D. She is quite literally, a hot teacher. Personally, she’s one of the nicest, funniest most enthusiastic people I’ve ever met. Rina and I had a BLAST doing her photoshoot, where we captured a variety of looks for her to use in her teaching, spoken word and activist collateral. She was also the very first session we did in our new studio/office!
[From crystalleigh.com] Crystal Leigh Endsley, is currently Visiting Assistant Professor in Africana Studies at Hamilton College. Previously she was an Instructor in the Women’s Studies Department at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania where she also served as Interim Assistant Director for the Paul Robeson Cultural Center. Endsley completed her graduate studies at Penn State’s main campus where she earned a dual Ph.D. in Women’s Studies and Curriculum & Instruction…in addition to her academic career, she is internationally recognized as a spoken word artist, activist, and actor, performing and presenting workshops and lectures both in the United States and abroad.
I LOVE photographing senior sessions. Not that I don’t love all my babies and toddlers, but now and then it’s nice to photograph a kid who will actually listen to you AND wants their photo taken We did four outfit changes, starting in Mt. Trashmore for photos of her in her jersey. She won a college soccer scholarship so she wanted to show off her moves. Unfortunately, she just had ACL surgery so we were limited on what movements she could safely do; we stuck to low kicks. I wanted the movements to look real and not staged, so I told her to kick away. Her mom got a great workout chasing after each shot and I was directly in the line of fire and almost got nailed a few times…all totally worth it:
The sun was setting really fast, so we raced over to Sandbridge to get some beach shots. They ended up purchasing this photo as a 16×20 canvas:
The sun set while we were there, but we had lighting so we were able to get a few fun shots of her in the water. It was September, but surprisingly it wasn’t too cold:
The second half of our session took place a few weeks later at Redwing Park in Virginia Beach. She is so beautiful!
Thanks to her mama Exzelle for choosing DCPG! Fun fact: Exzelle and I grew up down the street from each other. This job always has me reconnecting with old friends, neighbors and acquaintances, I love it.
Cies
Photo credits:
Liz + Jared’s beautiful, intimate wedding came to us by accident…literally. We already had a wedding on the books for that day, but our friend Rich-Joseph Facun (one of our fave photojournalists) called us two days prior because he had broken BOTH of his arms – pretty much the worst non-fatal accident a photographer could have the week of a wedding. He heard we were already booked, but thanks to the insistence of his awesome wife, Jasmine, he called us anyway. Anyone who has worked w/ DCPG knows we roll deep and this time having 3 shooters came in handy (again, literally) because we were able to spare Lester for a few hours without missing a beat at Kris and Christian’s wedding the same day.
I originally intended to post more images but I was too excited to share these. Lester is known for his intricate lighting setups, so it was a nice change and surprise to see so many au naturel, ethereal, sun-drenched images. It was a perfect sunset wedding on the water. Congratulations to Liz, Jared and their adorable kids Quinn and Staylor!
- Cies
(I may add more images from the “reception” later; stay tuned!)
Want to hire DCPG? Contact us!
Photography by Lester dela Cruz, thanks for rolling solo!
We are strobists and love the challenge of mixing flash w/ decorative, ambient lights in the background. The holidays were a great excuse to play with some cool effects! I loved getting to shoot at our client’s homes to give each baby their own unique environment, but it was also fun to set up the studio or go out into the city. Enjoy the holiday cuteness and I hope everyone had a great season!
Photography by Ciesther dela Cruz, lighting/setup assistance by Mendell dela Cruz.
It’s no secret that we heart quirky, personal weddings; Chrissy and Scott’s was definitely no exception. In a sea of Pinterest, mason jars and cotton fields, Chrissy and Scott’s black and white Día de los Muertos-inspired wedding was refreshing and a visual pleasure to photograph. Hand painted tattoo-style lettering on the girls shoes, black feathers, glittery pumpkins, skulls on beer coozies; so many amazing details!
Their wedding weekend was actually pretty eventful for DCPG as well! Mendell went to the ER two days prior to the wedding thinking it was just a gallbladder attack and he’d be in and out, but he ended up being admitted to the surgical floor for a serious bile duct obstruction. By the time the wedding rolled around, I was running off of very little sleep, and dealing with having to charge batteries, organize and clean lenses in a hospital room then having to leave him to go shoot the wedding. Big shoutouts to the 5th floor nursing staff at Sentara Princess Anne hospital for taking amazing care of him (and me!) for the 4 days we were there and to the friends and family who kept him company when I couldn’t. (P.S. It’s his birthday today; wish him a Happy Birthday on our Facebook!)
Luckily, Lester and I have teamed up on weddings before as a duo – one of the best advantages of the DCPG squad is that there are so many of us, it creates a nice built-in backup system. Adding to our good fortune was a wonderful team of vendors, beautiful weather and a schedule that ran very smoothly. We couldn’t have asked for more! A few highlights/shoutouts to keep in mind as you look through the photos:
Vendors:
Thank you for making it through this long blog post
- Ciesther
We know it’s last minute, but some studio time has opened up so we are doing mini-sessions at our Norfolk studio over the next few days just for babies and kids in their Halloween costumes!
We’ll keep it simple; each session will last about 10 to 15 minutes, we’ll view the proofs right after and you can pick a photo to take home as a 4×6 print right there and then! We will also email you a collage you can use as a Facebook timeline cover (or a standard web sized photo if you don’t want the Facebook timeline cover) and a link to an online proof gallery if you were interested in purchasing prints. Prints will be at a discount since these photos will have really basic editing.
Ready to do this? Please visit our online appointment site to schedule your session: http://dcpg.genbook.com then pre-pay for your session online by clicking on the “Buy Now” button (click on the drop down if your child has siblings).
We are a family AND a business. Partners Cies, Mendell & Lester are experienced Norfolk and Virginia Beach based photographers that love wedding photography, babies, commercial and events, and specialized editorials. We create amazing images full of your personality and we are super fun to work with. Nothing is better than doing what you love with the people you love. Do you want to learn more about us? MORE INFO
