Bridal Sneak Peek

Now that her wedding has passed, I can share a couple of sneak peeks from a bridal shoot that I enjoyed a couple of weeks ago.

Douthat State Park has always been one of my favorite places to shoot and one of my favorite places to take brides for their bridal sitting.  It was a beautiful day with just the right amount of clouds in the sky to make for a pretty backdrop. The dock that hangs out over the lake always makes for some great shots and that day was no exception. My bride was very excited about her "ruby slippers" so I had to make them a featured portion of at least one photograph.

On a related note, did you know that Dorothy's famous ruby slippers were made out of silver in L. Frank Baum's original "The Wizard Of Oz" novel? I didn't either until I read it yesterday and that can be your handy piece of trivia for the week that may help you win the big money on "Jeopardy!" one day.

Fall has turned out to be a busy season for me and I've yet to have a weekend pass that hasn't involved at least one shoot. I know this weekend I have two big ones, including the first portraits for a little girl who has only been in the world for about two weeks. That shoot will be a lot of fun.

Of course, every portrait shoot creates at least three hours of post processing and every wedding creates much more than that, so I won't be running out of things to do for the foreseeable future. 

I don't know how it is in your neck of the woods, but around here the fall colors are really beginning to flourish. I'm a bit surprised at how they've shown up, however, since the trees appear to have turned at the bottom of the mountains first, instead of turning at the top as they normally do. Either way, the colors make for some great fall shoots!

I hope you'll follow the link to the Hagy's Photography Facebook page and hit "Like" to keep up with all of my latest shoots. Judging by my calendar, there will be plenty more photographs added to the page in the near future!

As always, all photographs appearing on this blog are a copyright of Hagy's Photography and may not be reproduced or printed without the express written consent of Bethany Hagy.

A Look Back

I thought I'd start this week off by taking a look at the engagement session that dates back to my very first post on this blog.

The photos were delivered last week and, now that the happy couple has seen them, I want to share them with you as well. It was a fun shoot, as you can hopefully tell from the photos. Not only did I get to break in my new Canon Rebel T3, but I also had the opportunity to explore some new photo opportunities at Douthat State Park and downtown Clifton Forge.

The most challenging aspect of this particular sitting came in post processing. If you're unfamiliar with this area of Virginia, then let me tell you that we have a serious gnat problem. In the summer, clouds of the irritating little bugs follow you everywhere you go. Not even copious amounts of bug repellent will hold them off. Photoshop, however, is a pretty effective remover of gnats even it if takes a little extra time to erase them from the frames.

I won't say much today, except that I'm hoping you enjoy the new blog design, courtesy of a helping hand from The Student Knitter, a good friend of mine that I had the chance to hang out with over the weekend after I finished up a great shoot at The Homestead Saturday afternoon. I'll be sharing a sneak peak from that shoot on Wednesday, so stay tuned!

Be sure to check out and "Like" Hagy's Photography on Facebook to see more from my wedding, bridal, engagement and portrait shoots.

As always, all images appearing on this blog are copyright of Hagy's Photography and may not be reproduced without the express written consent of Bethany Hagy.

A Few Of My Favorite Shots

One of the great things of being a photographer is that you never know what you're going to see next. While on the surface, every wedding is the same, but every wedding is incredibly different. Sure, the bride and groom are always the center of attention and there are usually a couple of cute little flower girls and ring bearers that try to steal the show. The couple dances, the cake gets cut and then we all take our memories of the day and go our separate ways.

There's always a story, however, and that story is always different. If there's one thing I enjoy about wedding photography, it's immersing myself in the story of the couple I'm spending the day with. I like to look for the little things that set them apart, be it a special moment with a loved one and especially that first moment between the bride and groom when they see each other for the first time. There's nothing better than a good story and everyone I've ever met has at least one.

My favorite are the moments that are absolutely impossible to recreate. Magic happens every day, whether we're paying attention to it or not. Sometimes, if we're paying attention, we'll find a great photo in it. I was once fortunate enough to be shooting a wedding on a summer day that was filled with thunderstorms. While that may have been a problem for a lot of people, this lucky couple had a rainbow appear in the field where they were wed. It was the first and only time I've ever been able to stand at the end of a rainbow and it was something I'll never forget. I hope they won't either.

I also was fortunate enough to attend a wedding with fireworks, as you can see. Of course the bride and groom wanted a photo of the fireworks, which was something I'd never attempted before. It all came together at the end, fortunately, and I was able to capture what's become one of my favorite wedding pictures. You can't see their faces in the photo, but for me it conveys the perfect end to a fairy tale day that every couple deserves.

Some moments are just too precious. I was waiting for a reception to begin and the bride and groom to arrive from the church when I noticed the flower girl and ring bearer anxiously awaiting their arrival. I think the little ring bearer was just looking to get out of his tux, but the flower girl was eagerly awaiting the bride in her dress. I remember distinctly how happy she was when the bride finally arrived. I have other photos of them together, but this was the one that will always bring the story back to mind.

I love couples that are adventurous and always open to new ideas. I especially love it when they're willing to bring their own ideas to me, as the couple at the top of this post did. We had a great time hanging out with the entire wedding party during a laid back morning of preparations and the after ceremony shoot was one of the most fun I'd ever had the pleasure of conducting. The photo of the two halves of the bridal party pulling the bride and groom apart has been done by countless photographers, but I'm happy with how my version turned out. More importantly, the bride and groom had a great time making it.

I tell all the couples I work with that, if they want great photographs, they must allow me time to work. I generally plan for an hour between the ceremony and the reception for portraits and I have a list of shots I'm going to be working on and looking for. But sometimes photographs just happen. I've attended only one reception at The Vinton War Memorial and it's a wonderful site for a wedding or reception. We were walking across the street from the church when I saw this wonderful structure sitting perfectly against a clear blue sky. Even though we were about to enter the reception, it was just too perfect a photograph to pass up.

My husband is a writer and he tells me that writers never read their own work once its published. Considering the amount of work and editing that goes into a novel, I can understand why he'd be reluctant to read his own stuff, but I certainly go back and take time to enjoy my own work. When I'm looking at a photograph, I'm not just looking at what I've taken and how I can improve on it later, I'm looking at memories I've made and people who have been gracious enough to let me be a part of their story.

You'll find all these images and more on the Hagy's Photography Facebook page and if you're interested in learning more about booking a shoot with me, please feel free to contact me at hagysphotography@gmail.com.

As always, all images appearing on this blog are a copyright of Hagy's Photography and may not be reprinted or reproduced without the express written consent of Bethany Hagy.

Sunset & Silhouette

I'm not normally a nature photographer. Josh tends to enjoy creating landscapes and other aspects of nature photography while my focus tends to be on people and their stories, but sometimes I just can't help myself.

A couple weeks ago I came home from shooting Brent and April Ball's wedding and reception to find a beautiful sunset. Before I finally packed my camera away for the day, I couldn't resist trying to capture the fiery sunset.

I took quite a few different photos and this one was my favorite. I like how the tree in foreground shows up only as a silhouette. There are ways around that, mostly involving the use of either a flash or the more complicated high dynamic range photography, but sometimes going the simple route is the best.

The shot was taken with a shutter speed of 1/250 at f/9, with an ISO of 1600 and a focal length of 35mm.

It's been a busy, but productive, week here at Hagy's Photography. I put the finishing touches on an engagement shoot and after the happy couple gets to see them for the first time, I'll share my favorites here with you (hopefully by the end of the week). I'm still working on processing my wedding photos from the Ball wedding and I have a shoot booked for one of the Homecoming candidates at Alleghany High School on Friday. Saturday and Sunday will feature a bridal shoot and a birthday shoot for a one-year-old if the rain doesn't get in the way of my plans.

The fall season tends to be a busy one for photography and this year is shaping up to be no exception to that rule, but I can't imagine a better way to spend my fall. If you're interested in booking a shoot, you can always send an e-mail to hagysphotography@gmail.com or call 540-968-1483. You can also find more of my work on my Facebook page.

As always, all images on this blog are copyright of Hagy's Photography and may not be copied, printed or otherwise utilized without the express written permission of Bethany Hagy.