Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

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  • Arti & Gautam – Mehendi & Sangeet

    Last month I second-shot for one of my favorite photographers, Jenn Link, at Arti and Gautam’s mehendi and sangeet celebration before their wedding. And while I want to share a few quick photos here, you simply must hop over to Jenn’s blog to see the full story. She has tons of beautiful images over there.

    I’ll start with a few details because the room was just so cool:


    Arti’s friends and family were waiting to welcome Gautam:

    As soon as Gautam entered, the celebration began!


    The mehendi celebration is traditionally where the bride has intricate decorative henna patterns applied to her hands and feet prior to the wedding:

    Coming up soon are the photos from their lavish ceremony and reception – it was definitely one of the most fun events of the year!

  • Making Christmas Happen

    As many of you know, my parents moved out to Colorado earlier this year. Chris and I visited them for the first time in November for Thanksgiving. This is actually my first Christmas ever that I’m spending without seeing my mom and dad, and it feels weird! My parents have always had a way of making Chrismas really happen whether you’re in the spirit for it yet or not. If I know them well enough, the house has been well-decorated all month long. The tree and decorations are up, lights are in the yard, and my dad probably gets a Christmas tune stuck in his head every day or so and hums or whistles it around the house. In contrast, my own house shows very few signs of the holidays. I just now put our little Charlie Brown tree up and that’s about it – I’ve just been too busy lately. But my mom still found her way of making sure the Christmas spirit is extended to us, even across all these miles. Yesterday we received a package in the mail with this adorable little ornament, so I’m feeling a little more Christmas-y now (I’m even inspired to get a real tree next year). And in honor of my dad, I’m humming some Christmas tunes around the house today. Love you both!




  • Fire School Live Burn

    Today I had a unique opportunity to photograph something very different and new to me. My new friend, Corey, (who is dating my very dear friend, Coelle) had one of his “final exams” this morning and I volunteered to take some photos for him and the other students. Final exam to me usually means a pencil-and-paper test, but Corey’s final exam happened to consist of entering a burning house and extinguishing a fire. Corey is a volunteer firefighter in the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department, and today was their live burn practical exam. I totally love that photography allows me to learn more about various things – to be honest I had never really thought about how fire fighters practice putting out fires. Today I gained up-close insight as to exactly how that practice takes place. I hope the company enjoys having these photos, and I hope that in a very small way I was able to give back to these brave men and women who put their lives at risk for the good of the community.

    The live burn took place in Vienna, at a home that was scheduled to be demolished.

    Dozens of firefighters and EMTs were involved in the activities.

    Students (in the red hats) took turns working on teams for each burn.



    This is Corey, hamming it up a bit for the camera:

    Corey, explaining the various pieces of gear:


    This was one of the last burns of the day:



    Coelle pointed out this cool silhouette in the doorway:

    All smiles during clean-up:

    “And these are my gloves…” (I love how the kids are completely in awe!)

  • Hiking Hemlock Overlook

    Hiking Hemlock Overlook

    Today I was able to cross #28 – Go hiking off of my 101 in 1001 list. Chris and I went to Hemlock Overlook Regional Park based on one of the trails listed in the Hikes in the Washington Region book that I picked up at Eastern Mountain Sports last weekend. I honestly had never gone hiking “for real” before, wearing proper shoes and navigating a trail map. We had so much fun! I know it might sound a little crazy that we went in 37-degree weather, but it was perfect considering my main concern about hiking: bugs. I didn’t see one bug. We saw a few other hikers though, so it wasn’t so crazy that we were out there. The trail was rated as moderately difficult, and I feel like I did really well with the 3.3 miles of it (I only tripped a few dozen times). I commented on how muddy it was (see post title) and Chris said I was probably the only person there today that said that. I’m a beginner at this outdoorsy stuff! I get the appeal of it though – it was so peaceful and nice to be disconnected for a while, and the fresh air was good for me. I only brought the little point-and-shoot camera along since my main purpose was to watch my footing, but we did take a few pictures:

    My fearless guide:

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    The expert and the newbie (I feel like I look wide-eyed in surprise or shock or something):

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    It may have been cold, but it was a gorgeous day.

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    My cute new hiking shoes before they got muddy (I’m proud of getting them muddy!):

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    Chris exploring a creepy Blair Witch-like structure. Actually, it’s the remains of Virginia’s first hydroelectric plant.

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    And a nice little message on a building back near the parking lot as we were leaving:

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  • Will Pose For Ice Cream

    I met an absolutely adorable family at the Belmont Country Club clubhouse yesterday for a holiday family portrait session. Originally we planned to do the pictures outside, but the day was just completely blustery so we took it indoors. They arrived all decked out in holiday colors (seriously, how cute are they?!); even two month-old Ryan was looking festive.


    Evan (5), really perked up after we started discussing his post-portrait session treat: ice cream.

    I love pictures of kids just being kids:

    This is a behind-the-scenes look at Dad and Evan trying to get Ryan to laugh. They were successful a few times!

    And one of my favorite images from the session, just a nice quiet moment with Mom before baby Ryan decided he had had enough of taking pictures.