Weddings, Friends, and Technology!

While I am here in Asheville, hanging out with my wonderful family, and equally wonderful friends... Nathan is up in Kelowna, Canada, celebrating Gary and Missy's wedding!

I was hanging out with my buddy Corey at his studio working on his upcoming workshop, and I received a video chat invitation from Nathan. He put the computer up on a railing above the ceremony site, and Corey and I were able to watch the whole thing! It was almost like being there! So cool!

Of course, we couldn't let the opportunity to photograph this event pass us by, so here are a few shots that Corey grabbed of us watching the ceremony.

Gary and Missy (and all my other friends!), I am so sad that I wasn't able to be there with you guys... but I am so excited that I was at least able to join you virtually. I love you all, and miss you very very much. Can't wait to see as many of you as possible in a couple of weeks!

My Sister is a Senior! Congrats Khris, I love you!

I am in Asheville, doing a lot of fun hanging out... I've been here for a week now, and I've actually been too busy to blog! It's been crazy fun! I'll be posting some wedding images from Saturday sometime soon, but for now, I wanted to show off my family just a bit!

While I was here, I thought I should probably take a few pictures of my sister as she celebrates her final year in school! She wanted to bring along two of her best friends, Priscilla and Jen.

I wish I had images like this with my best friends from high school...





Beautiful girls...

My wonderful sister, Khrista.





Priscilla.





And Jen.





A few more fun friend pictures... I just loved the attitude I got out of them in these!





And my Favorite shot of the day... The girls just hanging out, and the sun in the most perfect spot. I just loved it!



Congratulations girls! Thanks for loving my sister, and for being there for her. I can tell that you guys were meant for each other :)

Y'all were a blast!



Khris, I love you, and I'm proud of you! Good luck this last year... enjoy yourself!

Congratulations Christine and Gavin!

This evening, I had the pleasure of hanging out for a while with Christine and Gavin. Christine is expecting a baby girl at the end of October, and we'll be hanging out all next year, photographing all of her firsts!

We started off just chillin' on the couch. I think Christine and Gavin are both stunning, so I can't wait to see their baby girl!





After a little couch time, we moved upstairs to work on the immense pile of pink stuff!
Mom and Dad got to work doing some much needed folding, and I got to inspect a million pink outfits! So fun!



After a quick clothing change, we moved into the bedroom, and lounged a bit more.



Grabbed a few images of Christine by herself...





Then went downstairs for some ice cream. Apparently, ColdStone has become a staple around this household of late... and sadly, Christine hasn't been very interested in sharing. I think Gavin managed to get a spoonful or two, but as you can see, Christine is definitely in charge of this stuff ;)



As we were wrapping up the session, I realized that I hadn't asked what the baby's name was going to be. When I asked, Gavin looked sheepish, and Christine looked amused. She said, we haven't decided... apparently Gavin is very methodical in his approach to choosing the name. So cute! So we ran back upstairs to grab a shot with the *three* baby name books, and the list! Can't wait to see what name they end up with!



Christine and Gavin, you guys were awesome! I can't wait to see you again! I'll be in touch soon with the rest of the images!

Baby Ellie... all grown up!

This morning, I had the opportunity to go back to visit Baby Ellie for a follow-up portrait session! I hadn't seen her in over a year, so it was amazing to see how much she had grown!

We had so much fun, and even braved the scorching heat for a few images out in the backyard...







Then we moved inside to do a few of my favorite kind of portraits. I am always amazed by how many fun images we can squeeze out of 5 minutes of quiet time! Ellie wasn't very interested in relaxing on the couch, but Allison pulled out her proof book from the last session, and suddenly Ellie was very excited!





She's certainly a busy baby, but we managed to catch her in between moments as well as her busy ones!





Look at that smile! (And I think Allison is beautiful!)



Last time I shot with Ellie, we hung out with her pony, Romeo... today we rode toy horses instead! Ellie is a natural!



Spent a little time coloring...



And even a bit of snuggling!



Pops came over to hang out for a couple of images. It was wonderful to meet him!



Howard and Allison, thanks for inviting me back... Let's not let another year go by before we do this again!

Enjoy your slideshow!

What I come home to...

Today, I left just before Addison woke up, took Austen to school, and went off for a early baby session...

It was noon by the time I ran an errand or two, and arrived home...

This is the sight that greeted me.



Addison had gotten herself ready to "go to beach." She's the cutest thing I've ever seen!

I grabbed that picture, and made her some lunch. She was incredibly animated all through-out, and I am so glad that I had my camera out and could capture her!







I just can't get over the fact that she was running around in her bikini... so funny!



I'll post images from my session later, but thought you'd like a quick taste of Holritz life! Have a great day!

OSP Chattanooga #2

Thanks to Torey Self, a local photographer and friend, OSP Chattanooga started last month as a means of local photographers from the OpenSource photographer's forum to get together. We were able to continue the meetings today with a get-together at Sushi Nabe, and we had a blast!




Our friends and fellow photographer Rich Smith and his wife Heather (and little baby Alana)!





If you're a part of OSP, live in the Chattanooga vicinity, and weren't at the meeting today, make sure you drop us an email and come out to the next meeting in September!

- Nathan

Austen's Big Day!

Well, babydom is officially over for my firstborn. And I am proud to announce that there were very little tears out of the Holritz family. Addison was a wee bit sad, but the grown-ups managed to make it just fine!

Started off the morning with a breakfast of champions, Spiderman Trix and some Sunny Delight :) Austen was not exactly certain how to feel.



Addison was all over the place... one second she was ecstatic, the next she was in tears.



There was a little videoing going on, so stay tuned for that...



First day preparation...










Ready to go, and headed out!



A couple schoolday portraits! He looks so grown-up! (Okay, getting teary-eyed now :) )







A quick family shot...



Walking into school...



A few more shots while we were waiting to get into the classroom...







Austen, getting some last minute advice from his Dad...



Austen is in Pre-First... I'll be a bragging mom, and tell you it's because he's so brilliant :)



I love this look he gave me just before they closed the door...



We're so excited to get to hang out with our old friends Matt and Kristen (and their daughters Alli and Kaitlyn this year)!



The day passed quickly, and soon it was 2:00 and time to pick Austen back up!





I am sure Nathan will post the video recap soon, but thanks for hanging out with me through this long photoblog!

We survived! Thanks for all the love!