Ashley Bartoletti Photography | Blog

Oh, what a year it has been! Last December seems both like a million miles away and just a few moments ago to me. So much has changed since then.

Last year I spent New Years Eve with my mom while she was in hospice at Chandler Hall (an amazing facility). At this point she was sleeping 24/7 so I worked on my 2009 website update and quietly rang in the new year with a glass (or two) of champagne. My mom died just three days later. I can’t believe it has been a whole year since then!

One of my biggest regrets is not having a lot of pictures with my family with my mom while my mom was still alive. When I spent the summer with my mom in 2008 I took this portrait of her. I know she’s bald (from radiation) and the scar on her head from her biopsy is quite large and scary, but it is one of my favorite pictures of her. I think she looks beautiful and her kindness shows in her face. I miss her very, very much.

Of course losing my mom made this year a very difficult one. Every event, holiday, and special occasion was a bit bittersweet without her, but I’ve made it through. I feel that I’m a stronger person now than I’ve ever been.

Another big change this year was that I moved 2600 miles from Las Vegas, where I had spent the previous FIVE years, back to Pennsylvania where I grew up. On March 14th I packed up and began the long drive east with my good friend Tim. It was quite the adventure! A few snapshots from my iPhone:

One of the highlights of 2009 for me was being able to cross off a major item from my 101 things to do list, ‘Photograph a tropical destination wedding’. And I had the opportunity to shoot THREE destination weddings this year. What a blessing! I second shot a wedding with Tim in Cancun and also shot Adria and Jeremy’s wedding in Cancun and Leah and Dan’s wedding in Hawaii!  I hope to have the opportunity to shoot many more destination weddings in the future!

I also shot many weddings here in Pennsylvania and flew back to Vegas several times to finish up some work out there. One of my favorite things about shooting weddings here on the east coast is the TREES! And flowers! And abundance of green grass! I must admit I really don’t miss the desert at all

To view more images from this year (and years past) check out my freshly updated website. The ‘weddings’ gallery has been completely redone, and there is a brand new gallery featuring Adria and Jeremy’s Cancun wedding.

One of my downfalls this year was keeping up with my blog! I have been so bad, and there are several weddings I shot this year that I still haven’t shared (but will soon!). I have been super busy with moving, traveling, and settling into my new life here in Pennsylvania and my blog has truly suffered. For 2010 one of my goals is to keep on top of updating my blog regularly, and share more about my personal life.

On that note, one of the very best parts of my move back to PA was meeting my boyfriend Mark. It feels a little scary for me to share with the world more about my personal life, but here goes! Mark and I met in June (from match.com! shhh) and he has been such a blessing in my life ever since. I have never been with someone who is so kind, sweet, considerate, supportive and generally awesome and I couldn’t be happier. In just over 3 weeks we are taking a vacation (my first non-work vacation in YEARS) to the Southern Caribbean and I cannot wait!! I’ll be sure to share lots of photos when we return. For now, here are a couple photos from our recent trips to Chicago and NYC.

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In 2010 you can look forward to some new and exciting things from me. For one, as I mentioned already, I’m going to be a better blogger! You can expect to see blog posts more frequently and more personal in nature. I’m going to resume my “month of blogging” like I did in 2007 for the month of February to shake things up.

Secondly, I’m going to be launching a completely separate division of my business focusing on families and children’s photography. While I do photograph kids from time to time currently, it has never been a main focus in my business. After realizing the lack of good-quality pictures from my childhood it has become a particular interest to me to create beautiful, love-filled images for other families. I’m hoping to launch a brand new website by the springtime so stay tuned for more on that. Here are a few of the moments I captured this year:

(oh how I wish I had a picture like that of me and my mom!)

I’m so excited for 2010 and all the hope and possibility a new year offers! I wish all of you the very best of luck, health, and happiness for the new year! Thank you for your interest in my business and life

Ashley

I have been a very bad blogger, but I just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a very happy holiday season. Merry Christmas and best wishes for a very happy and healthy new year!

Here’s a quick shot (from my iphone) of our tree

Notice the presents are not under the tree… that is because the cat likes to attack the tree (unfortunately) and I didn’t want any presents to get ruined in the process

I’ll be shooting my last wedding of the year on December 26th, and I still have several more blogs to share from this year.

This year has been a bit hectic and I’m posting things in a fairly odd order. This wedding I shot back in September at Nativity of Our Lord Church in Warminster, PA. The best part of my job is when you can see the love between two people and capture it to be forever cherished. This particular wedding made my job so easy because Marianne and Rich were oozing lover for each other, but it was easy to see it in other places too.

Just before she walked down the aisle, here is Marianne’s little sister and maid of honor getting a quick kiss from their dad.

I love the look on Marianne’s face here just before her dad walks her in.

A quick shot of the gorgeous detail of her dress and veil, such beautiful light.

During the ceremony they just couldn’t stop smiling at each other

Married! Very happily I would say

After the ceremony we headed over to Tyler Garden’s at Bucks County Community College. It was a bit of a wet day to say the least, but we still made the best of this gorgeous location - Marianne was a trooper.

Click below to see the full blog post
more beautiful images

The first week of November I shot my last wedding of the year on a beautiful fall day.

I am in love with her engagement ring, isn’t it gorgeous!?

The church, love the bright blue skies and fall leaves

A few minutes before the ceremony the pastor lead a prayer with the groomsmen.

Moments before walking down the aisle, I love the look on Tracy’s face. Dad looks pretty proud too

First kiss as husband and wife!

The handsome groom and the groomsmen

Such a cute ring bearer

Just after the ceremony we took a few minutes to do some portraits with Tracy and Adam. The sun was setting quickly so we had to move quickly!

Favorite!

Love this one, too!

When we got to the hotel we spent a few more minutes doing portraits in the gorgeous lobby at Dolce Hotel

A few of my favorite’s from their first dance

I still have several weddings to post from this years season, so check back for those

Last week I flew out to Chicago to visit my good friends Leah & Dan and while I was there I photographed their niece and newborn nephew, Teddy.

Teddy and Bridget live in a high rise building with huge windows overlooking Lake Michigan, making it an ideal location for portraits!

How adorable is Teddy?? One of my all-time favorites.

He reminds me of a little peanut here

Too cute!!

Big sister Bridget wasn’t soooo thrilled with the arrival of her new baby brother; I think this shot really shows her feelings

Doesn’t she have the most amazing eyes??

Biiig yaaawwwn

Peekiboo!

The day after Nicole and Kenneth’s gorgeous Bellagio wedding, they opted to shoot a day after session around the Las Vegas Strip.

How adorable are they??

In the beginning of October I headed back to Vegas to shoot the fabulous wedding of Nicole and Kenneth at Bellagio, as well as a day after session. Here are a few from the wedding day:

Some of the details

The beautiful bride!

I love the way people in love look

A rainbow created form the Bellagio fountains

Coming soon some more images from Nicole and Kenneth from their day after session.

Last week Cathleen and Bryan welcomed their first child, Joseph! I shot their wedding two years ago and was so excited to be able to shoot their baby.

How cute is he??

I am so behind on my blog posts! I have 4 weddings I’ve shot that I still need to blog, as well as another wedding shoot this weekend, and a newborn shoot to share as well! In the meantime, I wanted to share with you a fun post from a few days ago on the blog of my friend and coordinator Mark Kingsdorf of Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants on fun wedding shoes!

Mark asked some of the photographers he works with for images of fun shoes, for this post on his blog. When I was searching through my images to share with him I noticed a trend among my clients, pink shoes! I love it! Pink is after all not only my favorite color, but also the color of my brand. Here are some of the images I discovered:

Be sure to check back next week for more wedding posts!

At the end of September I had the pleasure of flying to Kona, Hawaii for the wedding of Leah and Dan. This wedding was extra special for me because not only was I the photographer, but also Leah and Dan are good friends of mine. I was so excited to be a part of their wedding weekend.

Locations don’t get much better than this!

Leah got ready in a bedroom facing the ocean.

I also played florist for the wedding and made Leah’s bouquet and helped arrange the table flowers. I thought the turned out pretty good

I don’t know why but I just loved this picture. Maybe it’s the champagne

Leah texting while she’s getting ready. Had to include this because its so Leah

Beautiful eyes!

Leah’s mom holding her something blue, which they pinned to the inside of her dress

Getting dressed

Beautiful!

Love the flower detail of her dress

Dan watching Leah come down the aisle, holding their gorgeous son Nolan

Gorgeous! Leah and Dan were lucky enough to have use the home of friends as the ceremony and reception site. This is their backyard!

I love this shot of Nolan from during the ceremony. Such a beautiful child!

Married!

The reception was one big long table for 28 guests, full of fresh flower bouquets. It was gorgeous and just what I would want for my wedding one day

Sunset!

It was such a pleasure to be a part of this beautiful wedding. I always love the opportunity to travel and shoot at amazing locations, and to be surrounded by friends was extra special. I’m so thankful for the opportunities my job allows me