Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

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  • 101 in 1001: What Was I Thinking?

    For those of you who have been following my little blog for a while (thank you for reading!), you know I’ve been participating in one of those 101 in 1001 lists. First, there are two things that I have finished but haven’t posted about yet: #5 – Buy a new sofa, and #68 – Refinish a piece of furniture. Both of these items go along with some updates we are making to the house, so I’m not quite ready to take pictures yet, but I can at least show you proof that I did refinish a piece of furniture. This Pottery Barn headboard used to be black, but I wanted a softer look for the master bedroom and decided to paint it sort of an antique brass:

    And second, because my deadline is fast approaching, I have been reviewing the rest of the list to see what I have left to accomplish. There are a few things that I’m not really interested in doing anymore, a few things that are no longer possible (visiting my brother in Scotland – he moved back to the States!), and more than a few what-was-I-thinking items. I’m not a quitter though, and I still plan to complete as much as I possibly can assuming it’s possible. I think I mentioned this before, but the one item on the list that seems completely insurmountable is riding a bike to the end of the W&OD Trail and back. The DC end. That’s about a 56 mile ride. I think when I added that item on the list, I figured I had already done a 20 mile ride so what’s another 36? Except I don’t think I rode my bike all last year because of a knee injury, and now I’m not in any kind of shape to do even 20 miles! But I’m still willing to spend this spring, summer (ugh), and fall trying my best to get this item crossed off the list. I’ve already been out a couple of times for very short rides just to get back into the habit. So if that one is the only other 101 in 1001 item I happen to complete before the deadline is here, I’ll still be really proud because that’s the big one for me. So stay tuned!

  • Ch-Ch-Changes

    Pardon my urge to make small-talk about the weather, but I can hardly believe it’s in the 60s this week after all of that snow we had last month. Spring is almost here! Change is in the air, I can feel it. And speaking of change (corny segue?), you might notice I happened to sneak in a few changes to the blog this week. Let me know what you think! (As a side note for anyone who is interested in the technical details, I updated my version of WordPress, and then my old template didn’t work that well anymore, so it was time for a new template.) One of my favorite little features is the Facebook tab up there in the left-hand corner – it’s a quick way to get to our Facebook page!

    But the real purpose of this post is to show you another mini-project. In keeping with the “changes” theme, I am currently working on a makeover for my home office. Just a new coat of paint in a different color, and some new furniture for added function. If it all turns out well, I’ll show you some before-and-after photos! Anyway, part of the makeover has included finding some artwork to hang on the walls. I’m in no way an art collector so I’m not talking about fancypants pieces, I’m just talking about fun framed art to add little bits of visual interest to the walls. I have a chocolate brown and orange-y colors theme in mind for the room, so when I found this print on etsy, I was thrilled. It’s even more adorable in person. And in searching for other fun prints in the perfect colors, I was inspired to make something on my own. I created this little modern heart print with the date of my wedding anniversary (please ignore the wall color – that’s going to change):

    It’s sort of another framed date project, right? If you’re interested in making this or something similar, here’s what I did: I opened a new file in Photoshop in the size of my frame opening. (This is a RIBBA frame from IKEA, and the opening is 4.75 inches square.) Next I used a cute function of Photoshop that I rarely use called the Custom Shape Tool to create a heart shape in the punchy orange color. Then I added a text layer with our initials in white and centered it on top of the heart, and then added another text layer of the date in orange and positioned it in the corner. I printed the file, put it in the frame, and that’s that! Super easy, super cheap, and now Chris and I have no excuse for forgetting our anniversary. You could use other shapes to commemorate other occasions, or maybe you’ll be inspired to come up with another framed date idea. Let me know if you do!

  • 2010 Wedding Schedule

    Have you ever wondered about what exactly goes into the whole wedding photography process (specifically our process) step-by-step? Each wedding start-to-finish includes at least the following steps:

    • consultation with the bride and/or groom via meetings, emails, phone calls, etc.
    • contract preparation
    • accounting/book-keeping steps throughout
    • shooting an engagement session
    • editing the engagement session
    • site visits to pre-visualize the wedding day
    • additional consultation to discuss the wedding day schedule
    • pre-wedding prep including equipment checks and cleanings, battery-charging, and memory card formatting
    • shooting the wedding!
    • backing up the wedding images and then backing them up again
    • editing the wedding including categorizing and processing the images
    • creating a blog post of my favorite images
    • uploading the images to Pictage (thus backing them up, once again)
    • burning images to discs
    • packaging up everything for delivery

    Most of my weddings also include guest books and wedding albums, so that adds additional steps for designing the albums, making changes to the designs, and then ordering/delivering the books. Plus there are tons of other little steps in there just to keep the business running smoothly. Whew! So all of that said, in order to provide my clients with the best and most personalized service, I only take a limited number of weddings each year. I am so excited about the amazing couples that we have booked for 2010!

    We are currently booking for 2011, but have decided to open up one more spot for 2010 (though June and October are both full). So definitely contact us soon if you’re considering SSP for your wedding this year! And in honor of this really rainy weekend we’re having, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite images from Marjorie and Nick’s rainy day wedding last year:

  • Jarring Memories

    Obviously I rely very heavily on photography to help document my personal memories, but I also have things that I’ve saved from vacations and fond moments throughout the years. I’m a firm believer that objects with special meaning should be displayed instead of crammed into a shoebox and shoved away on a closet shelf, but sometimes it’s hard to figure out HOW to display things and they just end up in that box. I have a handful of random things that have just been tucked away in a small lidded basket, and I have recently been brainstorming fun ways to display my cherished keepsakes. I thought I’d share a few of my ideas in hopes that it will help you find a way to honor your own special memories.

    My first two projects were as easy as just putting things into pretty jars! Strange as it is, I saved a baggie of sand from my first vacation to the Outer Banks with Chris, and it’s just been sitting in my “memory box” for over a decade. I also have a seashell that we found, and an OBX sticker that I bought in one of the gift shops. It occurred to me that there aren’t too many ways to display sand, but I found this cute jar from IKEA for $2.99 and it works perfectly! I just poured the sand in there and nestled the shell and the sticker (with the backing in tact) on top. Easy breezy, instant art/display/conversation piece:

    In addition to that baggie of sand (so weird, I know), I’ve saved nearly every ticket stub from every movie, concert and show I’ve ever seen.* If you and I have gone to an event together, I probably still have the stub. It’s a habit from when I was in middle school and it just stuck – I can’t throw them away! So every time I return from an event, the stub went into the memory box. Since the jar worked so well for the sand, I decided to try the same method for displaying ticket stubs, and I love it! I found these two apothecary jars at Pottery Barn, but there are plenty of places that sell similar containers, or you could even use fun flea-market finds. I keep the stub from the first movie I saw with Chris (Good Will Hunting) displayed front and center.

    So what do you think about jarring your memories? I think it would work really well with so many things. You could collect a few details from your wedding like an extra favor, a save-the-date or invitation, your garter, etc. It would also work well to corral collections like wine bottle corks, matchbooks, or pretty much any small items.

    What memorable items have you saved? Do you habitually collect anything like ticket stubs? Let me know if you have a fun way to display your keepsakes! I have a few more projects that I’ll blog about soon.

    *With the exception of movie dates pre-Chris. 🙂

  • Alicia & Adrian – Engaged!

    I honestly feel so lucky to get to do what I do as a photographer, and when I meet the sweetest, cutest people like Alicia and Adrian, it just reminds me WHY I love it so much! We spent the afternoon yesterday exploring Old Town Alexandria, chatting, and taking some engagement photos. We had a really really beautiful day even if it was a little on the chilly side, especially for these two since they hail from Houston! King Street was alive and buzzing even more than usual (everyone must have been alleviating their cabin fever), but we managed to sneak away on some of the quiet side streets for some really fun spots. And for those of you who know I have a thing for interesting doors and doorways, you know I have a good time wandering Old Town. Okay, enough of my babbling – onto some my favorite the images!

    I feel like it’s a tad cliche to say this but they both have the most amazing eyes, seriously. And Alicia, I’m pretty jealous of your hair – it looks totally perfect even though it was windy!




    So incredibly sweet!



    I’m pretty sure I squealed when we found this. How cute is that?! It’s like a little heart thought bubble.



    The colors around Old Town are amazing and so fun. I love both of these:

    Alicia and Adrian – thanks so much for hanging out with me yesterday! You guys are so much fun and I’m really looking forward to your wedding in June, which I can pretty much promise will be much warmer weather for you! 🙂 See you soon!