Robert Holley Photography

I have some friends who formed a band called Shadows and Ghosts and they were playing at the Velvet Lounge recently.  I had never seen them play and thought it would be fun to photograph their show.  A brief consultation with the founding member educated me on the image they are developing.  I am always excited about requests to be as creative as possible with photography.  The band played great and the guys seemed to have a fantastic time.  I loved the way the photos came out!

Daphane and Ben were married this Spring at The Westin Annapolis with a blend of American and traditional Asian culture.  Following an American based ceremony the couple and their closest relatives  moved to a private room for a traditional Tea Ceremony.  Both Daphane Ben have a playful and loving spirit and they made sure this came across the entire day.  One of the nicest couples I have ever had the pleasure of shooting.

Kotrina and Murat booked me to shoot their wedding more than a year and 1/2 in advance.  After spending an afternoon in Georgetown for their engagement shoot, I have been looking forward to the wedding ever since.  They are such a loving couple with a bond that is built on a mutual joy of life.  Both the ceremony and reception were held at the Newton White Mansion, which instantly became one of my favorite locations for a wedding in the DC area.  The facility is magnificent and the grounds amazing.   It would be difficult to find a better spot for a wedding.  I arrived at Kotrina’s house to find her and her bridesmaids in pink towels.  These ladies made sure the fun and laughter never stopped!  One of my favorite shots of the day is the joy of their faces as they sneak a peek at the Bride and Groom seeing each other in a set up “first sight” moment.  The entire day was full of joy, laughter and fun from start to finish.

I spent an afternoon with Courtney and Ted at Meadowlark Botanical Garden.  Meadowlark is one of my favorite spots in Northern Virginia.  Lots of space to explore, beautiful gardens, it makes for an ideal engagement shoot location.  Of course with all those wonderful flowers comes a ton of bugs.  Courtney and Ted were troopers and ignored the pesky little things.  We had a fun time and got some great images.

Glen Echo park must have been something in its prime!  It was a lot of fun exploring this old amusement park with Nicolette and Alex.  It is always difficult to shoot at a place like this because I try to create pictures that are more about the couple and less about the place.  I think it worked.

Michelle and Doug were married this Spring at St. Joseph’s in Emmitsburg, Maryland, a church dating to 1841.  This was the first church I have seen with a graveyard completely surrounding it.  After the ceremony the happy couple departed the church to one of my favorite traditions, bubbles!  The reception was held at the Musket Ridge Golf Club in Myersville.  The club is gorgeous and they allowed us to roam the course a little to get some great shots of Michelle and Doug.

Heidi and Michael were married earlier this Spring in Washington D.C.

I started the day with Heidi at the beautiful Hotel Monaco in Alexandria.  She was the picture of calm as she got ready with her bridesmaids.

We then moved to the Long View Gallery for the ceremony.  Not only was this the first ever wedding at the Gallery, but we needed special permission from the secret service to have the event.  The entire street was closed off and giant barricades erected along the sidewalk for the international nuclear summit being held down the street.  You have to love DC!  The gallery is actually an art gallery as you can see some of the paintings on the walls.  Amy from Engaging Affairs helped everything run smoothly and she created a great post on her fabulous blog, bridal bubbly.

The highlight of the cocktail hour was the National Championship winning oyster shuckers from Martooni’s.

The same space where the ceremony was held was magically transformed into a wonderful reception area and the fun was on!  Michael’s uncle is a professional magician and he put on a great show.  Heidi’s dad and her brothers could be found on the back patio most of the night enjoying cigars and then at midnight the staff served slider burgers, and mini milk shakes.

A walk down the sparkler tunnel ended the evening for Heidi and Michael.