Cat is my go-to person when I have an idea for a particular shot or location I want to try out.  Last week, I was laying in bed thinking about how I was in the mood to take pictures.  Sometimes I get in this mood.  And it's not fun when it's past midnight so there's nothing I can really do about it.

I did something about it the next day, though.  I texted Catherine and asked her if she would go with me to try out some new locations.  I have been overusing a few places and need some new favorites.  So we headed to Grandin and explored the area - and it is definitely a new favorite.

It's always nice to have a shoot with no pressure.  Just good friends, laughing and talking as we go along.  All because we have nothing better to do.  Because we want to have a little fun - and as usual, we did.

Ashley and I went to Goodwill a few days ago to look at stuff for our apartment, and on the way home, I commented on how the lighting outside would be perfect for picture-taking.  We both have been super bored for the past couple weeks of break, so we decided to hike through the woods in our backyards to a more rural area close-by for a photoshoot, which would give us something to do.  So yes, somehow a thrift store shopping trip turned into these lovely images...but I don't hate it.

Last January, I met the Blanding twins for the first time - at the top of McAfee's Knob, where they were doing a photoshoot with a green couch they had carried all the way up the mountain.  This year, we decided to reunite with each other and the green couch, but instead of McAfee's, we drove up Bent Mountain to the Guzo's farm.  Along with the couch, the Blanding's had a truck load full of chairs, ladders, suitcases, and outfits.  For a few hours, I forgot about the fact that school was about to start and just had fun taking crazy pictures with crazy friends (Bobby does some photography too, so I even got the chance to be in front of the camera for once).

 

Over Thanksgiving break, I got this image in my head that I just had to try (no idea where it came from).  Bright colors.  Fun outfits.  Balloons.  An alleyway.  So I gathered up two of my favorite girls to work with and we headed downtown for a few hours of creative shooting.  We climbed to the top of parking garages, visited the graffiti wall, and of course, in the end, let the balloons float away.  I got the image I was looking for and more...and had so much fun while doing it!

When the mountains began to transform from blue-green to red, orange, and yellow, I vowed that I was not going to miss the opportunity for the beautiful shots that fall makes possible.  Of course, school and work got in the way, and I realized we were already halfway through October - pretty soon the trees would be bare and I'd have to wait a whole year to utilize that golden light and colorful backdrop again.  Luckily, fall break gave me an open Friday morning, so I grabbed my good friend and former roommate, Nicole, and we headed out to get the pictures I had been wanting.

There is no denying that Blacksburg is GORGEOUS during this season, and these images prove it.  We explored an abandoned house on Patrick Henry (I needed to test out the location for Laura's bridal portraits in a month), and though it's a pretty house, the front porch isn't nearly as awesome as the Guzo farmhouse unfortunately.  We acted like little kids playing in the leaves, but anyone who knows Nicole and I know that we usually do not act our age...