Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Category: events

  • 50th Birthday Bash

    Last night I photographed probably THE best birthday party I’ve ever witnessed, and it was held in a really (really really) cool venue, The State Theatre in Falls Church. I had been to the theatre for a show several years ago, but I didn’t realize they also held private events. The space is amazing! It was perfect for a party, and it would also be really fun for a wedding reception.

    01_scott_party_blog02_scott_party_blog03_scott_party_blog

    But more about the party – seriously, it looked so fun. You guys, it was a costume party! So not only was it at this amazing venue, everyone dressed up. The costumes were incredible, and somehow I didn’t see very many duplicates. People were so creative! I don’t even know how anyone could decide who to vote on in the contest since every single costume was fantastic. 04_scott_party_blog18_scott_party_blog05_scott_party_blog06_scott_party_blog07_scott_party_blog08_scott_party_blog09_scott_party_blog17_scott_party_blog

    The guest of honor himself had FOUR costume changes! Side note: this was fun for me, because I hadn’t met him yet. So when I arrived, he was pointed out to me as the gentleman in the President Lincoln costume. Easy enough! Keep an eye out for the tall hat. But then after a while I didn’t see Lincoln anywhere, and I realized he was now Captain America! And there were two more costume changes! Now THAT is how you do a costume party.10_scott_party_blog

    The dance floor was full all night long…11_scott_party_blog

    …except when guests visited the photobooth provided by The State Theatre! So fun.12_scott_party_blog13_scott_party_blog15_scott_party_blog 16_scott_party_blog

    Seriously, it was the perfect party. Happy happy birthday, Scott! You sure do know how to celebrate! 🙂14_scott_party_blog

  • Grace is 1!

    Yesterday it was so fun for me to see Heather and Dan again to help celebrate their baby girl’s first birthday! Grace’s sweet pink and yellow party was monkey-themed, including adorable touches like monkeys-in-a-barrel, banana chips, and Curious George.

    Look at that spread!

    Sweet baby Grace checking out the party goodies.

    Don’t worry, no one had to go through the trouble of sorting out all of the banana Runts – you can buy just bananas in bulk!

    Aren’t these pretzel candies so cute?! You wish you could try one, don’t you? (They were delicious.) Sorry to tease like that!

    The detail on these cookies was amazing!

    “Water for thirsty monkeys!” Too cute.

    I think the balloons were Grace’s favorite part of the party.

    Dan’s mom and Heather’s mom, reading Curious George with Grace. So sweet.

    Time to open presents! I LOVE her expression here. She was busy playing with her new Leap Frog laptop, and this little monster puppet snuck up on her!

    This is the puppet, so I totally understand your reaction, Grace.

    Aw, a sweet and soft monkey. That’s more like it!

    “Are ALL of these presents mine?”

    I need to verify, but I think I heard that one of Heather’s friends made this cake?! Sometimes I get so into photographing the details and moments that I miss some of the stories behind the scenes. In any case, this cake is beautiful! Hats off to the baker/decorator.

    Grace was such a lady! She preferred to scoop a dainty bit of icing with a stick rather than dive into the cake with her hands. She’s a classy baby!

    Heather and Dan wanted some fun pictures of the guests for Grace to enjoy one day, so I also brought along the facebooth and some cute props. It was a hit!

    Heather and her brothers/Grace’s uncles!

    Someday I hope this is Grace’s favorite photo of her parents!

    Sweet family portrait (taken while balancing a stuffed monkey on my head and holding the camera out in front of me/not looking through the viewfinder).

    Heather and Dan – it was so fun to see you and your families again, and it was absolutely wonderful to meet Grace! She is amazing, and I loved celebrating with her. More photos will be online for you soon! Hope you have a great trip back home. 🙂

  • Marcus is 1!

    A few months ago in August (when it was warm – remember that?!) I was so honored to photograph Marcus’s first birthday party at Lisa and Dan’s house! They went all-out with a classic Mickey Mouse theme. Noise-makers, party “hat” ears, and boxed party favors were all such a huge hit with the kiddos!

    Even the treats were Mickey-themed!

    “Yay! It’s my birthday!”

    Reading a new book with Dad.

    Presents!

    Love this face!

    A post-party family photo – the celebration was a huge success!

    Lisa, Dan and Marcus: I had so much fun celebrating with you guys – thank you for having me there! Marcus is just THE cutest and it was awesome to finally meet him.

  • 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!)

  • Sam’s Bar Mitzvah

    Jessica invited me to shoot Sam’s Bar Mitzvah with her earlier this month, and it was a really special treat for me since I had never been to one before. And the reception was especially fun in that it almost felt sort of like one of the spectacular parties on MTV’s Sweet 16, with a huge room decked-out in rollerblade and soccer-related decorations, a DJ and dance crew to keep the party going on the dance floor all night long, and TONS of friends in attendance. The big difference from the MTV show though is that Sam and his friends are totally genuinely nice, really well-behaved kids. I had worked with Jessica at Sam’s aunt and uncle’s wedding this summer, so it was neat to see the family again. Sam is such a cool kid, and he totally shined during the rehearsal before the ceremony.

    His family was so proud.

    And he was so very deserving of such a fun reception.

    Chris and his crew from Unique Dreams did an amazing job of keeping the dance floor full of energy. As a side note for this next image, I have never seen so many people doing “the sprinkler” in one room.

    They did some really creative games as well as some traditional ones. How low can you go?

    I seriously wanted to put my camera down and join in on the fun! Okay, maybe not for the limbo, but definitely for the dancing. It was such a fun day. Mazel Tov to Sam!