Grip the Mat: Soul & Spirits (& Glowing Yoga Fun!) at Capitale

I know I've been teasing about the end of summer for the past few weeks, but today, I can officially say, both by the calendar date and the cool, dreary weather outside, fall is officially here.

So, as a final ode to the dog days of summer -- warm winds, piña coladas and all -- I thought I would share snaps from a mid-summer Grip the Mat Soul & Spirits event that took place at the end of August.

It feels like this event took place forever ago although its only been about a few weeks -- its funny how the seasons changing can make time pass so quickly isn't it?

For those that don't know, I shoot a ton of events (seriously a TON!) for Grip the Mat, a local DC start up that hosts pop up yoga social events that usually mix an all-levels vinyasa flow with wine, cocktails or beer.

They're a blast to shoot! I get to meet so many interesting yogis, get cool neon/technicolor snaps for my portfolio and generally have a great time.

I'll admit shooting at Capitale for this particular Soul & Spirits event was a bit challenging with the lack of light, but I think I made it work!

Behind the Shoot: Spooktacular-ly-awesome photos for Fiterazzi Magazine!

Happy almost Halloween! I hope you're as jazzed about the festivities tomorrow as I am!

This past weekend I hosted the fall shoot for Fiterazzi Magazine with a few of my fit-minded friends. the idea behind this shoot, in comparison to the summer shoot was to capture some fall foliage/scenes and showcase some new fitness moves in the cooler autumnal weather -- andd talk about autumnal weather, we scored the JACKPOT on Sunday. 60 degrees. Sunny. What's not to like?

My four lovely models and dear friends -- Alisha, Sarah, Autumn and Sara -- donated their smiling faces and strutted their stuff on camera for me about two hours total.

It's funny, before the shoot,  I don't think any of the girls new each other, but they all knew me, and by the end of the session, they were all laughing, smiling and getting along splendidly.

I met each of these ladies in a very different way and each at a different time in my life.

Autumn, the lovely African-American sporting the charcoal sweater, met me when I was 18 when we were both starting out playing on the GW softball team together

Alisha, who's gorgeous dark complexion makes her pink jacket just POP, I met earlier this year while playing dodge ball at a local social sports league, USS, here in the city.

 

Sara, the fierce gal rocking the short hair cut, has been my creative competitor and close friend for years, since we studied journalism and video production together at SMPA.

And the other Sarah, who's wearing my favorite pair of BODYPOP watercolor print leggings, was one of the first real-world friends I made when I was working with her at Post TV -- the video outlet of the Washington Post.

Each of these women has been a friend to me in her own special way -- which is why I was so glad they all got to meet each other and help represent Fiterazzi with me, looking fit and fabulous in on the streets of D.C. on that spectacular fall day.

A Taste of Fall: A trip to Butler's Orchard

This past Saturday was a totally gorgeous day in the Washington, D.C. area. After a week of rainy weather, seeing the sunshine, even for just a few short afternoon hours, was an especially welcome treat.

Since Mr. Boyfriend and I were planning to head to the farm last week for Columbus Day, but got rained out and ended up at breweries instead (whoops?), we took advantage of the weather and put on our fall best and headed out to Butler's Orchard.

After a lot of traffic (and I mean A LOT, like hours worth of stop-and-go) we arrived at the Orchard and got lost in the slew of fall-themed activities they had to offer.

I think its safe to say that both my and Mr. Boyfriend's favorite farm attraction was the pumpkin chucker -- Think huge cannon that can launch pumpkins at speeds that they were never intended to travel at. We couldn't help but just sit and stare at it for minutes... that is, before we both had to whip out cameras and take a few pictures. Obviously.

While the pumpkin chucker was a novel sight, I'll admit, the rest of Butler's Orchard was a little disappointing. Maybe I'm getting too old for rink-a-dink corn mazes and hayrides. Or maybe I just need something a bit more "adult sized." 

Either way, it was nice to get outside and enjoy one of the areas first true fall days.