Morning Madness: Bright and Early Shoot for Amy Rizzotto's Yoga Heights' Boot Camp Class

I love a good morning shoot.

Sure, its painful when I first wake up at 5:45 a.m., but once I get shooting, I just love the bright, pure energy that seems to radiate from all my early-morning photos.

Several weeks ago, I had the privilege of shooting an early morning boot camp session (taught by Amy Rizzotto!) for the fabulous team at Yoga Heights and enjoyed every minute of it. Everyone was so bright-eyed and excited to sweat -- it was an awesome way to start the day.

Even though it was a little bit dark outside to start, I think the photos really captured the excitement of the bootcamp class. I mean, look at those smiles! Take a look:

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!

Promotional Sunrise Shoot for Yoga Heights' New Studio in Takoma Park, MD

For those that don't already know, I do a lot of work for the wonderful DC-based yoga studio, Yoga Heights.

In addition to being fabulous studio owned by two fabulous ladies that I couldn't adore more, Yoga Heights is also a rare yoga space that celebrates every body, every level and every budget.

With so much "Instagram yoga" floating around on the internet these days, making people thing that yoga is about being a skinny minnie doing crazy poses in beautiful places, its refreshing to have a wholesome studio like Yoga Heights so close to home.

The even more exciting thing about all of this is that Yoga Heights is expanding to a new neighborhood later this year with the opening of their new Takoma Park location. Clearly, this big news called for a sunrise shoot to collect new photos to promote the upcoming location.

Even though it was an early, muggy late summer morning, and it took us a little while to wake up, I think this shoot is magical. The smiles from the Yoga Heights team plus the warm morning light make me smile every time I flip through this photo set.

Thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!

A Glimpse of the Holidays: Christmas In Canmore, Alberta, Canada

Oh the holidays -- one of my favorite times of the year!

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been spending my time off this December/January with my family in Canmore and Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 

It's been a magical two weeks up here in this winter wonderland and I've had a wonderful time relaxing, catching up with family and, of course, capturing a few shots of my time off!

I won't take a ton of time away today to talk about my vacation (I still have a few more days left!) but here's a look at what I've been able to capture between snowshoe excursions and cookie baking so far:

Happy Holidays: Gingerbread Houses

Hi friends! Can you believe it's Christmas Eve already? I sure can't!

It seems like just yesterday I was in full-on work and school mode, balancing my USO work responsibilities with writing my final papers for my Georgetown grad school courses, just counting the days 'til my winter vacation...

Anyway.

This year, I'm spending the holidays in Canmore, Alberta, Canada with my family and I couldn't be happier. Mr. Man is coming too and will be celebrating his first Canadian Christmas with us!

In preparation for this year's festivities, my niece, nephew, mum and I all sat down to put together and decorate gingerbread houses. I know I'm the biased aunt, but I think they turned out lovely!

What do you think?

All of the Fall Feels: Mini Session with DC Zumba Teacher Melanie Smith!

The holiday season is in full swing, but my mind is still in fall mode, mostly because I've been doing this fall mini session flashback blog posts :)

Speaking of --  for the final installment of my fall mini session flashbacks, I present the lovely Melanie Smith.

Melanie is a zumba instructor for Washington Sports Club in Silver Spring, MD and is an amazing fit model. I mean LOOK at these shots!

If you've been following my work for a while, you'll probably recognize Melanie. I've done several shoots with her before -- urban DC, Costa Rica, etc. -- she's basically my best client.

Anyway, I'll let the snaps speak for themselves...

Autumn Mini Session with DC Yoga Teacher Charlotte Bowden!

Happy almost Friday world! 

I thought I would keep to my fall flashback theme from last week and share about another yoga mini session I had in October. I mean, who doesn't love looking at fall photos, #amiright?

On Halloween weekend, I had the pleasure of snapping some photos of local DC-area teacher Charlotte Bowden. If you're a local yogi, you may have seen her teaching at Grip the Mat events or at Corepower Yoga in DC.

Charlotte and I had an early morning session, which was absolutely magical. The fall colors contrasted perfectly with her outfit and the scenery of Rock Creek Park was stunning.

I think I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves...