Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Category: events

  • MS Ambassadors Ball

    Last night I had the honor of participating in something different and very special. I attended the National MS Society Ambassadors Ball as a volunteer photographer and witnessed an amazing charitable event. The ballroom of the Hilton Washington was all decked out for the ball:


    So many fabulous items were up for bid in a silent auction, and so many people opened their hearts and their wallets to try to win the items and to raise money for a great cause. I know what Chris would’ve wanted to win:

    And I know what I really wanted to win! (Yes, that’s a real yellow lab – she’s 10 weeks old!)

    A few international performances provided entertainment for the evening:

    How cute is this little one?!


    Once the dance floor was open, The Wright Touch had everyone out on the floor for the rest of the evening, showing off their best moves.


    I’m thrilled to have been able to help out in some small way, so thank you to Sarah, Hilary and Abra for inviting me out! (And it was nice to meet you too, Emily! Please do email me anytime about photography. You’ve got a good eye, girl.)

  • Afternoon Tea with Princesses

    Last Sunday I was cordially invited to have tea in the afternoon with Princess Emma for her fifth birthday.

    It was a warm beautiful summery day, and perfect for a tea party in the backyard. All of the guests wore their favorite princess attire, and the decorations were all fit for a princess including real china teacups and even a teeny tiny tea set in the garden for fairies. Here are a few of my favorite details from the day – this is a page from the photo album I designed (click on any of these images to view the entire album):

    There were Tinkerbells and Belles:

    One of the highlights of the party was when Cinderella showed up as a surprise! She danced with the girls, sang songs, conducted a princess initiation ceremony with real princess certificates, and painted faces. The girls were in awe of the real-life princess at the party, and it was fun to see their reactions.

    And check out this totally amazing birthday cake that Emma’s mom, Jamie, made herself.

    It was an absolute honor and a pleasure meeting Princess Emma and her princess friends, and I hope all of her birthday wishes came true!

    P.S. One last photo specifically for my photographer friends. Even royal princesses chimp every now and then! With the perfect chimping face, no less. A budding future photographer, perhaps? I think so! (Okay, I’m pretty sure there’s no LCD on the back of that camera, but it was super cute anyway. Maybe she’s wondering what we’re always looking at on the back of our cameras.)

  • Her Majesty’s Album

    Okay, I consider myself to be rather computer-savvy usually, but for the life of me I cannot figure out why I can’t embed this slideshow into my blog. But I wanted to post the album layout (in slideshow format) that I designed for Alyssa’s princess party, so I’ll at least post the link. To see the album, click here or click on the image of the cover!

  • Fit for a Princess

    As I mentioned, I had the great honor of photographing a princess party last weekend and here are just a couple of my favorite images (without posting too many faces – I didn’t seek specific permission from all of the parents to post their kiddos’ pictures on the blog):

    Awaiting the arrival of other guests:

    The surprise arrival of Cinderella herself:

    The birthday girl, in awe of Cinderella:

    The birthday girl’s little sister, equally in awe:

    All of the girls looked absolutely fantastic in their princess outfits. And I totally loved seeing the girls’ faces as Cinderella, the ultimate princess, sang songs, told stories and painted the girls’ faces. I had so much fun covering this event!

  • Leavin’ on a Jet Plane

    Tomorrow is the big day! I’m so anxious. I can hardly believe it’s here already. I have massive piles of laundry to do today before I can get started packing. My dad would pass out at the amount of stuff I’m bringing with me for only a 3-day trip! But I’ll still follow his rule of bringing only what I am capable of carrying on my own. Chris has a HUGE suitcase that will easily fit all of my clothes plus my pillow. Plus I’m bringing my large camera bag, and a carry-on tote for stuff to do on the plane. I’m so excited that my Epson P3000 digital wallet/card reader can play movies! I’ll watch The Nanny Diaries (loved the book) on the plane.

    Ugh, speaking of movies, Chris and I saw Cloverfield last night. I was so excited to see it because J. J. Abrams, the creator of Lost, produced the movie. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but I didn’t love the movie. Tip: don’t eat before you go see it. Not because it’s violent or graphic (it is) but because the camera work is supposed to look like a homemade movie and it’s extremely shaky the entire 90 minutes. The effects were good though, so it was fun in that respect.

    Also fun: volunteering last night at the Special Olympics with Alia and Michelle. This is our second year with the event, and this time we participated in decorating the auditorium for the opening ceremonies. We blew up tons of helium and mylar balloons in a “superheroes” theme, and bunched them to hang around the room. Here’s a really bad picture of our handy-work (I just had my little point-and-shoot and the room was dark):

    I probably won’t post from Louisville, so have a great week!