Last Friday I had the opportunity to head to NYC to photograph the NYC Hope Gala to benefit the Penn State Dance Marathon, aka, THON. If you want to check out the post about how amazing THON is click here.

Here are a few photos from the evening to give you a glimpse into what an amazing event it was!  There was a silent auction that had some really amazing items that folks could bid on…. a PSU football signed by Joepa…

A round trip to L.A. to be a part of the audience for Chelsea Lately and The Soup! … and then some….

An autographed photograph of Sidney Crosby with the Stanley Cup…And trust me… that is nothing! There were so many more amazing items!!!!

The Gala was held at Capitale…. gorgeous venue! Especially decked out in PSU blue and white!

Meghan Day the Overall Chair of the event opened the evening…

Followed by the infamous BlueBand

The evening was hosted by LaVar Arrington. He did a phenomenal job!

There were some really amazing families there to share their stories of the struggle of pediatric cancer and the hope and help that THON and the Four Diamonds Fund provide…

Below Connie and Hank share their story… through tears about their journey with their son Gabe. They actually started the THON Express, a 135 mile run in 24 hours that helps bridge the dancers of THON with the families of THON in the Hershey Medical Center. 

Elaine and John also shared their story of Ashley’s battle. She has had 2 successful years of chemo and doing amazing!

Ashley had a few things to share.

A photo of the overall committee with LaVar. They really did an amazing job!! The Gala was super successful!And of course the night ended with a little bit of dancing! Ashley is loving it!

m.e.

Just a heads up that I working on a blog post about the NYC Hope Gala to benefit THON…. but am off for another session, and will actually then be headed to the hospital to photograph a birth today! Crazy! Baby Sarah has decided that today is the day…. so in between sessions, I am hoping to bring you something!  Baby Sarah belongs to Beth and Ted, who you might remember from this session… and she is arriving on her due date!

Blessings!

m.e.

Last fall I had the opportunity to head to San Francisco for Erica and Paul’s engagement session.  I had previously blogged this session, but when my website crashed, this was one of the many posts that was lost in cyberspace…. so I thought I would share it again!

Erica and Paul are seriously the sweetest couple! This was the first time I had met Paul, but Erica and I had gotten together for coffee when she was on town.

They live in San Francisco, but both grew up here in Maryland and will be getting married this June at the Grey Rock Mansion.

I was super excited to head to San Francisco for their session, because I love to travel… San Francisco is one of my favorite cities…and my sister in law is a makeup artist in CA and she was able to head down to San Francisco to do Erica’s makeup for the session. Allison and I have wanted to work together for quite a long time! She is amazing… Check out her work here.

Meet Erica and Paul….

Some photos near the Golden Gate Bridge….and an amazing California Sunset!

And some time spent in the park….

Adorable!

And a quick stop in The Mission for Paul’s burrito and some more photos!

Can’t wait until the big day! You guys are so much fun! Thanks for being great hosts in San Francisco!!

m.e.

This post is really special because in December of 2008, I had a contest for a free photo session, and I just asked folks to submit a mini essay on why they or someone that they knew deserved a free session…..

The winners Amy and Mike had such a touching story that I wasn’t able to share at the time…. but now, I write this post able to share a piece of their journey with you. (Again, sorry that I can’t link back to it because of the problems with my old blog, but I just found out from Ross at Flosites yesterday, that it might be able to be fixed after all!)

I won’t go into all of the details because it definitely is a very personal matter, but Amy has been to doctor upon doctor, getting scans, blood work, 3 surgeries…. and the doctors told her that she might have trouble having children… and to try sooner rather than later . Amy quit her job as a first grade teacher (which she loved) to concentrate on starting a family…. eliminating additional stress factors that would impact their efforts.

Amy and Mike ended up seeing more doctors, more tests, etc., and then tried in vitro fertilization, with the first time not working and the 2nd losing the baby.

So Amy was put on more medication…. that was supposed to help in the long run….and after this treatment they would try in vitro one last time, and if it didn’t work they needed to begin thinking about adoption or perhaps a surrogate.

The thing that I loved about Amy’s story was that she just adored Mike and his support through the process. I think it was touching to hear how their struggle was bringing them closer even though it was painful and stressful. It made them grateful for one another, and they came out stronger in the end. That folks, is what life is about! We aren’t meant to go through life alone, whether we share hard times with a spouse, a best friend, or a family member…. and I think that their story is beautiful.

And, it has a beautiful ending…. I was just at Amy and Mike’s on Monday to photograph their precious new son, Brayden! Brayden Tyler Warren was born at a healthy 8 lbs and 5 ounces…

Welcome to the world little guy! Congratulations Amy and Mike!

Future Tennis player like daddy…. I just love his little cheeks! Such a cute baby boy!!!

He was full of energy.. that is for sure… Although it may appear that he slept a lot during the session, he did not!  He was wide awake for his model debut!

This photograph I think is adorable…. because he is basically in the same position as gorilla… and we didn’t position him that way. 

Thanks Amy and Mike!!!! (and Baby Brayden!)

m.e.

Wow! Totally ashamed I am… Gosh, it has been quite a long time since I blogged…. I knew it was at least a week, but over a week! Shameful! I don’t have that many excuses for you…so I won’t begin to make any up…

But I won’t let it happen again…  I plan to post for the next couple of days.

So, here goes…

This Thursday I will be leaving for New York City to photograph the Hope Gala for the Penn State THON. For those of you who don’t know… I am a Penn State grad, and there is no better place on earth than Penn State (…well…maybe Hawaii).

For those of you who don’t know what THON is click here. It is Penn State’s Dance Marathon and is the largest student run philanthropy in the Nation. The dancers dance for 48 hours straight…  THON is amazing… I am tearing up just thinking about what an amazing event it is. THON has raised over $61 million dollars over the past 32 years that has been donated to The Four Diamonds Fund to help families battling pediatric cancer.

I could go on for days about THON, literally… As a student I was involved on a committee every year to help with THON, and I was a dancer my sophmore year, and it was one of the most amazing experiences I have been a part of….

So, I am so excited and feel so blessed to be the Event Photographer for the NYC Hope Gala this Friday evening. And, the emcee for the evening will be LaVar Arrington, an NFL star, and Penn State Grad.

I tried to find some photos of THON from when I was a student…. I will try and share a few with you, but check it out.. and if it moves your heart, make a donation!

Here are a couple of great clips that will give you a better glance of THON… the videos made me cry…. AMAZING!

Check out the line dance (every year there is a new line dance that EVERYBODY at THON learns and does throughout the entire weekend : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnO2XOAwSjk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS2znImpA78&feature=fvw

Pretty sweet video of all that goes into THON: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmFV6m7Fsfw

This one has an opening statement by JoePa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykgilcll4cg&feature=related

m.e.