Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Blog

  • Post-Thanksgiving Updates

    Hi there! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and felt as happily over-stuffed and surrounded by loved ones as I did. My apologies for the silence on the blog for the past week or so. Chris and I are back from spending a few days in Colorado to visit my family, and I just realized that I don’t really have any photos to share here! I rarely picked up my camera while we were there – I just didn’t have time. The visit seemed awfully short, and I mostly just wanted to hang out with everyone. Chris and I traveled in on Monday, spent Tuesday through Thursday there, and then spent all day Friday traveling home (including a 4-hour layover in ATL). Tuesday my dad drove us around to see the places I lived when I was little, so I did take some pictures of the houses and my old schools, etc. but I’m pretty sure those aren’t that interesting to anyone other than me. I snapped a quick picture of the Rocky Mountains from the backseat of the car while we were on the road, and really that was about it. It was kind of a gray, cloudy day:

    It felt weird not to take my camera out more often. Another thing I didn’t do while I was there was keep up with any kind of training/workouts, and that felt weird, too. So it’s back to the routine this week. And speaking of routines, I need to catch up on blogging some photos: I second-shot a traditional Indian wedding with Jenn Link before I left, so look for those photos soon!

    Edit: I just realized this completes item #92 – Visit my sister in Colorado on my 101 in 1001 list!

  • Kathy & Mike – 11.15.08

    I’m really crunched for time again, so just a few favorite photos from this wedding that I second-shot for Marlene last weekend. You’ll be able to see more of the story over on her blog. I spent some time with all of the guys before the ceremony and did the traditional group portraits, but this one is my favorite of Mike and my new friend, Brian (who couldn’t get enough of me taking his picture):


    And then this one of Mike, planning his escape before the ceremony began (just kidding Kathy!):

    Don’t let the gorgeous blue skies in this next image fool you – it was only momentary. For the rest of the day we had gray, dreary weather. Kathy and Mike didn’t let it dampen their spirits though. After all, it’s good luck! St. Raymond of Penafort in Springfield was beautiful and modern, and had tons of light.


    And we had access to the choir room/balcony, which makes me happy. I love shots from above.

    This was taken from upstairs, too. Kathy’s dress was silk, and just stunning:

    As I made my way back down from the balcony I spied on the ceremony through the doors:

    Warm and lovely reception details from The Villa in Calverton, MD.

    And my favorite shot of the night, the father-daughter dance…so incredibly sweet.

    Best wishes and congratulations Kathy and Mike! Hope you have a wonderful time in St. Lucia and that you have much better weather while you’re there!

  • Jennifer & Blaise – 11.01.08

    I’m running a little short on time this week, so just a quick post with a few images about a wedding I second-shot for Kate a couple weeks ago. As per usual, I spent a little time with the guys before the ceremony. Blaise is in the middle there, most easily spotted by his infamous curly locks:


    Here, the guys are stretching and getting warmed up before the ceremony:

    I love two things about this next picture – the look of adoration on Jennifer’s face as she sees Blaise, and the fact that all of the people behind her all looking down at their cameras (a.k.a. “chimping”) to see the images they captured!



    The gorgeous newlyweds:

    And as always, some lovely reception details:

    Best wishes and congratulations to Jen and Blaise! Wishing you a lifetime of happiness together.

  • Tri-Training

    For anyone just tuning in, I’ll briefly recap the 101 in 1001 list that I created earlier this year. In the interest of spending some time doing things that I want/need to do in my life, I created a goal list of 101 things I want/need to complete in 1001 days. The list includes some tasks that will enrich my life in various areas: mentally, physically, and emotionally. Some of the other items simply needed to get done, and other items still are just for fun. Fifteen items are complete, and I have just a little over two years left to finish the list. There are a couple of really big ticket items on my list that just might take the full two remaining years to do them. Snorkeling might have been one of the hardest things for me to do mentally, but biking the entire length of the W&OD trail and back will probably be the hardest for me to do physically. And while it’s not on the list, I decided that in the interest of completing my swimming, biking and running goals, I just might as well sign up for a triathlon. Not the Ironman or anything of course, and not even a full-length event, but a shorter triathlon designed as an introduction to multi-sport events. My good friend, Kim, did the same triathlon a couple of years ago and I was just so completely proud and inspired by her accomplishment, so hopefully I’ll be able to follow in her footsteps.

    So in the interest of getting a move on, I am hereby starting my training to complete this goal, and I want you, my fabulous blog readers, to be witness to the fact that I am officially starting. This is something I’m doing for myself, but just knowing that anyone supports me in these goals will give me additional strength to push through the tough times. And knowing that I’m publicly putting this out there just might give me the accountability that I need as well!

    To commemorate the start of training, here are some really goofy pictures of me! I don’t have a running-related photo, so will you settle for one of me in pink boxing gloves (taken with Chris’s BlackBerry) trying to make an intimidating face?

    EDIT: I updated this post to remove the idea of updating on Tuesdays. 🙂 It’s sort of a weird day for me to update on because my training week runs Monday through Sunday. But I promise I’ll post updates when I can!

  • Smashing Pumpkins…Again

    Smashing Pumpkins…Again

    Chris and I found out that out of the two nights that the Smashing Pumpkins were playing at DAR Constitution, the second night was the more “nostalgic” night with a set list that included more of their classic songs. So, we decided to go again last night especially since those are the songs that I’m a fan of. I definitely enjoyed last night’s show more than the first night. We had better seats, although our view was still blocked because of the one girl that was standing up in our section (we couldn’t stand up to see over her because we would’ve blocked the people behind us). Regardless, we still had a good time. As a side note for my photographer friends, I smuggled my 5D, 50 1.2 and 200 2.8 inside to get some better shots this time. It was still tricky trying to work around the girl in front of me, but every time she’d sway to the right or at least put her arms down, I could get a fairly clear shot of the stage. If anyone was at the show and wants to borrow these images from my blog, feel free! Please just link back to my blog and/or leave my photo credit on the image if you post them somewhere else online.






    These next two are for Gary, who was sitting next to me and wanted a shot of Jimmy all lit up: