Thank you to all of you that have entered the contest…I am so honored!  We had more entries in one day that we had in the entire contest week last year…and that makes me smile!  However, I also know how many of you read the blog daily (it’s call sitemeter folks!)…so to the rest of you all – enter already!  Don’t forget, your comment must be on that post, so here it is: Contest Time!

Lots of exciting travel is in the future for Cassidy Dawn Photography!  Coming soon we will be heading to Washington DC, Kentucky & Northern Ohio (and that’s in just the next 3 weeks!), so if I fall a little behind in updating it’s not for lack of content, there is still lots to share and I promise to share it all!

Speaking of sharing, here is a little sneak peak of my first ever maternity shoot!

Have a great weekend, I am signing off today because tomorrow we head to Newark, Ohio to photograph sweet Emily & Brandon‘s wedding!  (scroll to the bottom of the post)

Oh, and if you happen to be near Wilmore, Kentucky tonight, head to Asbury College and say hi :) I am heading down with Justin & my dad to watch our good friend Ely Cartwright (and his band) open for Phil Keaggy & Shake Anderson!  Ely was one of the groomsmen in our wedding, and played as I walked down the aisle.  We are so proud of him and wouldn’t miss this for the world…even if it means a 6 hour trip in one evening!

Thank you for giving me a reason to post 400 times. It means the world to me to have people coming back, reading, looking at my pictures and supporting me.

(the view from my office window…)

Didn’t your mother teach you to ask?  Well, someone did…so it’s time for another contest!  Last November we had a contest on the blog and it seemed to be a big hit.  So in honor of my 400 post I thought we could do it again.  Just think…this could be one less Christmas present you have to buy (yes, that’s right around the corner!)

Here is how you play:
Leave a comment on this blog post. It must be this particular post. It doesn’t have to be profound, witty, or creative – just at least tell me who you are and where you what city you are from!

The drawing will be on NOVEMBER 6 – 10pm EST! Be sure to leave a comment by then.

Prize: An 11×14 mounted print (feel free to ooh) of any photo I have ever posted on this blog (that I photographed). Yep, that’s right, any photo. Take your pick! Could be a portrait, landscape, random photo…anything! (*if I’ve photographed you before, feel free to pick any photo from your session)
I have been blogging since November 2006 – so you may have a few pages to go through :)

*Anyone can win, and I mean anyone – however, you must be a human :), as much as I love pets, they are disqualified. Only one comment by each person will be put into the drawing, so unfortunately the more times you comment – well, it doesn’t matter. However, I do love your comments, so just leave them on other posts :)

Contest begins…NOW!

Oh, and here’s a shot of my little heart breaker that I took yesterday…he’s too cute!

I met Heather & Evan last February at Schlegel’s in town.  We talked about their wedding while warming up over hot chocolate (well, that’s what I had…coffee & I aren’t friends).  Heather was describing all of the details she was planning into her day.  There’s a good chance that I crossed my fingers under the table in hopes that I could be there too.  The wedding sounded dreamy, absolutely dreamy.  To my delight, I heard from them soon after our meeting and was so excited for September 5th to come around.

We had the most perfect, warm day, and guess what?  The wedding was every bit as dreamy as I had expected.  Heather & Evan did a wonderful job planning all of the details of the day.  I love looking back at the pictures and remembering little aspects of the day: Heather’s anticipation while she waited for Evan to walk up during their first look, their crazy, sweet bridal party…I think I made a few friends that day, the stunning ceremony…in one of my favorite churches to photograph.  Everything about the day was perfect…here’s a little look at what I saw.

Elliott Mathis did it again.  The flowers of the day were stunning!

You know I love when the bride & groom decide to see each other before the ceremony.  It’s also soo romantic!  One of the first things I noticed about Heather when we first met was her face when she would look up at Evan.  Adorable. For example, see bottom photo left & right ;)

The entire wedding party attire came from She Said Yes! in Chillicothe!

Heather’s gift from Evan…so sweet!

Evan’s a firefighter in town, and he had a couple visitors right after the wedding…loved that!

The poor couple got pounded with birdseed…I mean, really…it was everywhere!

I’m a sucker for a great car.

The reception was held at The Madison in Chillicothe.  It was my first time shooting there, and I was in love!  I can’t wait for more wedding receptions here, the venue was gorgeous, the staff was amazing, and the architecture…well, you can’t beat it.

Cakes from the oh, so fabulous…Erin of the Cake Kitchen!

Evan & Heather now share an anniversary with his Grandparents. They did the sweetest dedication for them.  Heather was also wearing Evan’s grandmother’s pearls that she wore on her wedding day.  The whole thing was so beautiful…and yes, I may have teared up…just a little ;)

I don’t know where to start on the reception dancing.  Hands down it was the best dancing reception I have ever been to.  I do believe it was a combination of 2 things.  One: Amazing guests that have crazy awesome moves. Two: the most amazing DJ’s I’ve encountered thus far. (plug time)  Rick & Dawn May (info below)…will here on out be the premiere DJ’s for Chillcothe and surrounding areas (in my mind)…they are so talented…and so great at what they do.

As a photographer, I am going to let you in on a secret…we aren’t big fans of the gimmicky dances.  It’s true. Dollar dance, generation dance…YMCA…ugh.  However, Rick & Dawn made them so fun!  The dollar dance contained fast paced current songs, and it was not only entertaining, but funniest thing I’ve seen in a while.  Oh, and the hats below where a huge hit during the YMCA.  They played the perfect mix of classics & down right great dancing songs.

So just know, if you are going to ask me a suggestion for a DJ…I will only have one answer.  Rick & Dawn May of May Audio Visual.  They are the best.  Oh, and I might beg you to hire them, so I can work with them again. :)

You can’t end a wedding without a little Journey. It’s just wrong not to.

Heather & Evan, you two are the best! Thank you so much for choosing me to spend the day along your side, capture memories that would help you remember this day for years to come.  I am more honored & blessed than you may ever know.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Vendors:

Photography: Cassidy Dawn Photography ;)

Flowers: Elliot Mathis, Chillicothe Ohio (740.775.1220)

Attire: She Said Yes! Chillicothe Ohio

Church: First Presbyterian Church, Chillicothe, Ohio

Reception: The Madison, Chillicothe Ohio (740.637.0126)

Cater: Touch of Class catering, Brian Curtis (awesome pasta bar!) (740.626.7100)

Cake: Erin Allsop, The Cake Kitchen

DJ: May Audio Visual, Chillicothe Ohio (740.701.0732)

One more thing: Brides, we are booking fast here at Cassidy Dawn Photography for the 2010 wedding year.  We are currently over half-way booked for the year…and days are going quickly.  If you were hoping we could photograph your wedding day, contact us soon so we can reserve your date!  We’d love to be there :)

I’m back!  Then again, I am not sure if I announced that I was going to be gone.  I’ve been visiting beautiful Lexington & Wilmore, Kentucky since Sunday…and it was a wonderful trip! I was photographing an engagement shoot & a senior, and had a great time at both.  It was the perfect fall days, I couldn’t have asked for better weather!

Anyway, I am back in Bainbridge, and back to work! Not only that, but I realized somehow I forgot to blog an entire session…I had shown a sneak peak…but no actual post!  So, to make up for that, I am posting them now!

Meet with Watson Family (and the Ray family)…these are some of my very favorite people and it meant so much to me that they asked me to do their family pictures.  I actually consider them family myself.  Here a just a few of my favorites:

Too sweet.

And my favorite of the day, again.

Dear Watson Family, you are one of a kind (in the best possible way that can mean). I am a better person for knowing you, thank you for blessing me with your friendship. Love you all!

I love this couple, these picture, and these new locations…what a wonderful shoot!

How adorable are they?! I knew I was excited about this shoot…but I was even more excited proofing the pictures.  I love them so much. This couple is so sweet together and were soo easy to photograph.  I absolutely can’t wait to photograph their wedding this December!

We had a great time walking around finding new spots for photos.  I usually have a couple ideas of where to go, or at least a street to walk down, but I always give myself one challenge:  Don’t do the same thing as everyone else. It’s common here to use the same things over and over again.  It gets so boring–at least use them in a way you haven’t before! I am excited to do more shoots downtown and find new places to use!

Who knew how great the Courthouse could look in engagement pictures?!

Did I mention the light? Oh, my the light.

Left: favorite.

Oh, another favorite!

And just a couple other things to note: this weekend is the Annual Fall Festival of Leaves here in Bainbridge, Ohio (where I live ;).

It’s one of my favorite times of the year; be sure to come out and enjoy our beautiful village!  I’ve even taken the weekend off to enjoy it. Today is a day full of spending time with my husband (he’s off today) and my puppy, then the Paint Valley football game (50 years of football!) this evening. Saturday will be Festival time & a baby shower. On Sunday it’s back to the Festival again for church and the parade :). It’s going to be a great weekend! Oh, and if you have extra energy at night…feel free to come help our youth group sweep the town streets, a yearly tradition (and we take all the help we can get ;)!

One last thing, if you need a laugh, head over to my friend Blake’s blog and read about a new game he created…and a little about yours truly.  I read a lot (and I mean a lot) of blogs, and Blake’s is by far the funniest blog I read…so I promise, you won’t be disappointed!  (I’m still laughing at that post!)

Have a wonderful weekend…hope to see you on the streets of Bainbridge!!!

This has got to be one of the cutest families around.  Seriously.

I’ve known the Johnson family for many years and I was so excited when they contacted me about photographing their family.  I first met Angie when I was in third grade…she was our long-term substitute teacher.  Then, she was also one of my junior high teachers.  Not only that, but my mom used to babysit their oldest boy when he was just a little guy…we had the best time with him.  Come to think of it, the pictures I used to take of him were some of my very first.

They are all so great, and it was a wonderful time to catch up during the shoot.  Here are a few of my favorites:

It’s that time of year again!  Christmas cards are ready!

I am really excited for this years options…I hope you all like them too :)

All cards are 5×7 flat cards with a linen texture, and they come with envelopes!  They are also completely customizable…so if you’d like to change a color or two, or maybe the wording, just let me know!  The back also will have room for a message if that’s something you are interested in!

To order yours, just use the online ordering site…or if your gallery has expired, send me an email!  The deadline for ordering is November 16th (this will ensure you will have them in time to send by December 1st…if that’s a goal ;)

*if you are a client on the cards templates, thanks for being so cute…

Amazing location. Great light. Crazy good looking guy. New photo spots. Heaven.

This shoot was so great…and sooo worth the 2 hour drive it took me to get there!  Robert & his mom heard about me from the beautiful Ellie (’09 CDP senior!), and I was thrilled when they asked me to come photograph his senior pictures.  It’s always flattering to be asked…but there is something even more flattering when they are out of town. I know there are photographers around and in between…but to be chosen makes me smile soo big :)

Robert is such a great guy.  Big brother to 3 siblings, plays guitar in a band (with his brother), involved in swimming, track & cross country, and no doubt an excellent student!  He’s the kind of guy that makes you know you can do more great things with your life.  In the 2 or so hours I spent with him and his mom, I knew that if we lived closer…we’d have to be friends.  They are all so involved in making where they live a better place.  I wish more people were like that.  It was an honor to spend time with them…and I’m crossing my fingers that the family shoot is able to happen ;)

Here are a few of my favorites (a few)…enjoy!

*love* the birdhouse :)

Dear Mansfield, thank you for your awesome alleys, brick buildings & streets…and crazy amazing doors.

Robert is a super talented guitar player…I’m always impressed with guitar players!

Robert, enjoy your senior year!  Thanks so much for picking me as your photographer…I had a great time :)

2 years ago today I married my best friend.

Happy Anniversary Justin, I love you more than you’ll ever know.

photograph: melaniemauer.com

I’ve had countless people come up to me and ask why I haven’t posted any pictures of my puppy…some people that I didn’t even knew I read my blog!

Here’s a shot of him from yesterday (4 month birthday)…he’s just so cute.