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Friday Fun | Take 3

June 30, 2017

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I’m Manali
Coach, editor & brand photographer based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. When I'm not behind a camera or teaching about systems, you'll find me at a vineyard or cuddled with my cat Keegan on our cozy couch!
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If you’re new to Friday Fun posts, check out the first one! Here are the highlights of week three!

-This past Saturday I got to wake up entirely too early, fuel up on a ton of coffee and drive down to Fredericksburg to capture Davion & Ebonie’s wedding with Chadia as her second shooter!! I blogged about what second shooting is earlier in the week so check that out if you haven’t already!Β Wedding days are super long but you operate on this crazy high since there is so much going on, so much to capture, so much to help with to keep the day moving smoothly. This was my first wedding with my new camera and guys, it was an absolute DREAM!!! It focuses so quickly and works wonders even when it’s super dark which helps you out SOO much on wedding days when moments go by in a heart beat and you need to catch them! I was so grateful that Chadia was incredibly open to letting me capture everything from getting ready details to setting up shots for family formals to posing the bride and groom during their portraits!!! This wedding gave me the confidence that I can capture a wedding on my own and that someday I do want to go full time with wedding photography! πŸ™‚

I’m not posting any from their portrait session as bride and groom because I gotta keep them under wraps until Chadia delivers over the final images, but here’s a sneak peek of their day! All dark purple, wisteria, white and gold!!!

– Before going off to shoot the wedding, I got to do a quick cute picnic date near my house. Nav and I took some grapes and some chocolate cookies to a neighborhood spot to enjoy a cooler, summer afternoon with a lake view and a tire swing! It felt like being a kid all over again πŸ™‚ I also spent an afternoon hanging out with him at a local cafΓ© on Sunday while he worked on his secondaries and I worked on editing pictures I’d taken from the wedding! I enjoyed THE best hazelnut cappuccino I’ve had to date, so for any other coffee lovers, if you need a nice place to get some work done in the company of some espresso, check out Cafein in Chantilly!

-I’ve been trying to capture more behind the scenes photos on my iPhone so that I can have pictures of anything that I put in the Friday Fun posts! Despite being able to work my camera, there’s just something about me and phone cameras that doesn’t click quite as well. I always FORGET to take pictures of me and people that I’m hanging out with which is the complete opposite of what you’d expect from a photographer. So if I’m hanging out with you, remind me to take a picture of US together and I promise I’ll put you in here!Β Also, if anyone has some sick photo skills on an iPhone, teach me your ways and I promise I’ll teach you how to use a camera!! Oh also I finished up an online photo course that I took and it was seriously life changing!!!

-Tuesday was a whirlwind of a day. I met my friend Suma for coffee super early in the morning in Fairfax. It was definitely early but so worth it and I’m glad I got to spend some time with her before she went back up to the Burgh! Let’s pretend people actually call it that….But it was so nice getting to catch up with her about her stories about being a bridesmaid (!!!) and how her photography stuff is coming along πŸ™‚Β I came back home for a total of ten minutes and then left for Georgetown to do some photo scouting for something super top secret and super exciting that’s coming up in July!!! I brought along burgers from Good Stuff Eatery and HIGHLY recommend it if you’re looking for good grub in Georgetown! Also, if you love coffee check out Peet’s on M street, it’s super cute and cozy!!Β After scouting, my cousin came to Georgetown and I spent time with her braving out the Georgetown Cupcake line (really, I complained about my feet hurting) and eating tacos for dinner at Chaia where my mom joined us. For anyone that’s vegetarian and loves tacos, they have farm to table tacos that are all for you guys!!

-To end the crazy night, I had my first bhangra practice of the summer and let me tell you, it kicked my ass. I’ve been working out here and there (should really work on being more consistent) and it was good to get back in the swing of things! I met a ton of new girls that were super welcoming and I’ll see how the rest of the summer turns out!

-Wednesday I did my favorite senior session to date with Helena in Old Town Alexandria. We started out at Alexandria Cupcake, meandered down to Princess Street for the cobblestones, headed over to Market Square and ended by the docks for the sunset!! I loved the nautical theme she wanted to tie in and think we did it justice! If you haven’t seen her pictures, check out her blog post here!

-Yesterday I spent an afternoon relaxing, editing, and catching up on photo webinars! The dishwasher guy came through but unfortunately was unable to fix our dishwasher, so that’ll make week three and running of that saga. TBD on when that will end hahaha! Went out to happy hour with past coworkers at Clyde’s and got their crab & artichoke dip and had lots of wine πŸ™‚

-And to end, I apologize in advance for ridiculous amounts of caps lock but MY BABY COUSIN IS IN TOWN FOR JULY FOURTH!!! He is SUPER CUTE, likes throwing things on the ground hahaha and loves to smile for the cameras, so that’s a good baby in my books! Hahahaha kidding but definitely expect to see TONS of cute baby photos over the next couple of days as I cuddle the crap out of my aunt’s baby boy πŸ˜€


Past Friday Fun editions:
Take 1 | Take 2 | Take 3

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