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Welcome

My name is Rodney Cool. I started Aesthetic Life Studio in 2005, after shooting my brother's wedding. Before that photography had been a hobby of mine since high school, but I never really thought about making it a business. After my brother's wedding, that all changed. I fell in love with wedding photography. The beauty, the emotion, the challenge; everything about it.

I love and enjoy beautiful things. I believe the appreciation of beauty is part of what makes us human. I believe weddings are the most beautiful of our traditions and ceremonies. It's symbolism is profound on spiritual, religious, physical, emotional, and personal levels. It's two people, coming together, forsaking all others, including themselves, and willingly giving their lives to each other.

I want to be there to capture those moments. Aesthetic Life Studio's mission is to 'Capture the Beauty of Life'. Not just weddings, but every special moment. Whether it's the beginning of a new life, rejoicing in a new baby, the celebration of entering adulthood, or the anticipation of two lives coming together. I want to share those experiences, I want to be there to capture life.

My style is a bit different then most traditional photographers. I would describe myself as a 'Photojournalism Impressionist'. What I mean by that is I capture the moment as it's happening, however, I may at times place you in a situation or a pose, etc. For example, your engagement session will go something like this. We arrive at the location you selected for the shoot, I will place you in an area with a nice background, and just encourage you to act yourselves. As I look through the lens I may slightly pose you to get the best shot. I believe this style is a good mixture of new and old coming together.

I strive to be a master of my craft. To do so I research a lot online, I read tons of magazines and books, plus I attend at least one photography seminar a year. I buy the best equipment I can afford, and I'm not afraid to take creative and technical risks. I am also a member of PPA (Professional Photographers of America).

Sorry, I know this is exactly what my About page says on my main site, and I know it's lame not to have something different, but hey, that's just too much work. :)

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A Wedding at Stonewall Golf Club

July 2, 2009 – 6:47 pm

Robin and Matt where married in May at Stonewall Golf Club in Gainsville, VA.  Their wedding was beautiful, even though it rained.  Rained? No. It was an all out thunderstorm.  Luckily there was a tent covering over the patio for their outdoor ceremony.  :)  It all worked out, though, and was a great wedding.  Robin found out about me by her sister who found out about me on The Knot back in early 2008.  Her sister had read about me through a thread that was going on at the time posted by one of my 2007 clients.  That goes into a whole other story, though, and this post is about Robin and Matt.  :)  Like many of my clients, Robin and Matt met several years ago on a dating site.  From what I understand, it was pretty close to love at first site for both of them. 

The above photo is one of my favorites from the wedding, and I didn’t even take it.  (I hate when that happens.)  :)  It was taken by my assistant Jessica.  I love this photo.

The bride and groom had to move under the awning to stay out of the rain.  That’s why they are in the middle of everyone.  I just love the expressions on everyone’s faces in this photo.  There is just so much joy.

If you can’t tell, Matt was having a great time, and so was everyone else!  :)

Robin and Matt I wish you all the best and look forward to working with you over the next several months as we get your album together!

Oh, and if anyone wants to look up Stonewall Golf Club, they can be found here:

http://www.stonewallgolfclub.com

 On another note, we just missed our goal of 150 page fans on facebook by just a few people!  Since we are so close, we are going to extend the offer to give away a $25 gift card to a very popular coffee house until Monday.  If we have 150+ fans by the end of Monday, one of our fans will receive the gift card.  So look us up, become a fan, and suggest your friends!

http://facebook.com/alifestudio.fb

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  1. Jessica Fike   -  

    Hhhoollleerrr!! One of my pictures made your blog! I can officially die a happy person now. :) I am so glad you liked the picture - thanks for using it!!!

Facebook Page We Want 150 Fans by Tonight!

July 1, 2009 – 11:04 am

So, if you’re not friends with me on Facebook (and you should be) :) you don’t know that I’m trying to get 150 total Fans to join our Aesthetic Life Studio facebook page.  If we can make it to 150+ fans then I am giving away a $25 gift card to a very popular coffee house to one of our fans!  Currently we have 121 fans.  As of Monday afternoon we had 98, that’s 23 new fans in a little over 36 hours, which is freak’n sweet!  Thank you, to everyone who added us!

I am addicted to Facebook.  I love it, and think it’s one of the most useful things on the web, if not the most useful thing.  Lately, I’ve been posting more photos to Facebook, then my own blog.  So, to see more, check us out on Facebook and become a fan!

facebook.com/alifestudio.fb

Yes, we were able to get a username, but someone already has alifestudio (ugh), so I got alifestudio.fb.  The .fb on the end stands for Facebook, but I’m sure you figured that out.  Check us out, become a fan, and tell everyone you know!

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A Wedding at The Inn at Leola Village in PA

June 29, 2009 – 9:51 pm

Wow, it’s been awhile since my last real post.  I’ve been crazy busy with weddings, engagement sessions, portraits, etc.  I have so much to post, and I hope to start making new posts daily.  To start off, I’m going to post my latest wedding from this past Saturday.  This post is for the wedding of Valerie and Luke.  The were married at The Inn at Leola Village, which is just outside of Lancaster, PA.  This place is beautiful, the food is amazing, and the staff there is outstanding.  They were so helpful and friendly.  Check them out at:

theinnatleolavillage.com

Valerie and Luke are two of the nicest people ever, and you can tell they just adore each other.  Below are just a few photos from before and during their beautiful, yet, simple ceremony.  Enjoy!

This is one of the most uniquely beautiful rings I have ever seen.  Way to go Luke!

Valerie looked amazing!  Just stunning.  Her jewelery, hair, flowers, dress.  This girl has great taste.  I loved her vale.  It was fairly short and had kind of a 1960’s retro feel to it.  Very cool, and very pretty.

This the room where the guys hung out before the ceremony.  This is a guys room, and was so cool.

The ambient lighting in the room was very dramatic, and almost had a cinematic feel to it.  Just awesome.

That’s all we have for today’s post.  After we get these processed and in our client gallery I’ll take a few more and post them to my Facebook page.  If you haven’t already, look me up, or go to our Facebook link and become a Fan of Aesthetic Life Studio to see more photos!

Congrats, Luke and Valerie, and enjoy Jamaica!

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-27

June 27, 2009 – 9:59 pm

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-06

June 6, 2009 – 9:59 pm
  • Going to Renfrew Park for Heidi & Darrel’s e-session! #
  • RT @tweetmeme It’s Not the Recession, You Just Suck http://tinyurl.com/youkindasuck #
  • Chck this out: http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com Why you should hire a pro photog & look at work, not price :) Absolutely hilarious! #
  • I got a pc today loaded with 64 bit Vista, and 8 gigs of RAM, but Photoshop CS3 won’t work. Anyone know what I can do? I’m slightly annoyed. #

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-05-30

May 30, 2009 – 9:59 pm
  • leaving for Gettysburg for Chris & Suzanne’s wedding! #

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-05-23

May 23, 2009 – 9:59 pm
  • In bed. It’s been a long, but awesome weekend of weddings. :) #
  • Today is Lily’s first birthday! #
  • on the metro taking my son to the zoo! #
  • on my way to Sun’s Statium for Toni & Joel’s e-session. This should be pretty cool. #

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Birthday Cake and a One Year Old

May 22, 2009 – 2:00 pm

This is a week of birthdays in our house.  Both of our kids were born in the same week of May.  My daughter had her first birthday on Tuesday, and my son will be 4 on Saturday.  We are having a combined birthday party for them this weekend, but on Tuesday, we had a small cake for my daughter, and since my parents live very close, we invited them to come over.  Here are the photos of her first birthday cake experience.  Enjoy the cuteness!

This photo is obviously not of her eating birthday cake.  This is of her first birthday present.  In this photo you will also see our chihuahua - Little Miss, my dad’s arm, and that abomination chewing on the purple dog toy is our puggle - Gupagup.  We got her when my son was two, that’s what he called her, and it’s stuck.  We also affectionately call her, pig, dumbest dog ever, and (my wife’s personal favorite) worst-mistake-of-my-life.  (It was my wife, Janelle, who wanted her to begin with, and yes, I remind her of this when Gupagup runs into the house with muddy paws, steals food, etc.)  She is a sweet dog, though, and loves our kids.  She can just be very annoying, and is not very bright.  But, at least she’s house broken, for the most part, just don’t get her too excited.  Ok, on to cake.

I have so much to post from the past few weeks!  Engagement sessions, weddings, a few portraits.  I want to get them all up, but it’s taking a while.  I hope you enjoyed the cute, and that you have a great holiday weekend!

By admin | Posted in Uncategorized | 3 comments         Hide Comments | Add a Comment
  1. Debbi Smith   -  

    wow! You take such awesome pictures!!

  2. Jessica Fike   -  

    I very much enjoyed the cuteness! The pictures definitely get me excited about having kids. Brian said I get to clean up the mess, though. I hope you enjoyed your week of birthdays!

  3. Ben & Ker   -  

    oh man! these are PRICELESS!

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-05-16

May 16, 2009 – 9:59 pm
  • on my way to DC for an e-session. It’s a beautiful morning for it. #
  • I’m on the metro. Someone is wearing a little to much purfume. #
  • on the metro again after a good e-session. #
  • in a waiting room listening to ‘the greatest hits’ of soft rock hits. help. #

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Keren & Ben’s Virginia Beach Engagement Session

May 15, 2009 – 7:52 am

About a month ago I traveled to Virginia Beach to shoot Keren & Ben’s engagement session.  I’ve known Keren since she was about 14, and I’m happy she’s found a great guy.  They are getting married this June at the church I attend, Bridge of Life, which is located in downtown Hagerstown.  You can view their website here:

bridgeoflife.org

After the ceremony, Keren and Ben will be heading next door to Duffy’s on Potomac for their reception.  The Ballroom at Duffy’s is awesome.  If you go to my main site and check out the gallery ‘Kia and Jeremy’, you’ll see some photos of it from their reception.  You can view Duffy’s site here:

duffysonpotomac.com

Keren and Ben’s e-session was awesome, and a lot of fun.  We start out on the beach and ended up at this ghetto of a amusement park.

Thanks, guys, for a great session.  Less than a month to go!  :)

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  1. Ben & Ker   -  

    Hey Jr,
    Thanks so much for taking our pics! you rock!!!

    Ben & Ker

AJAXed with AWP