Peace Begins at Home | Charlottesville Design House

Welcome to the 2014 Charlottesville Design House!  

The Design House is in it's 5th year and is presented by the Shelter for Help in Emergency, whose mission is to end domestic violence in the Charlottesville community.  This years home is located within the gated community of Farmington, and is set on 4 private and wooded acres.

In 2009, the Shelter's 30th anniversary year, a vision for establishing a major fundraising event to help sustain the Shelter's residential facilities operations and outreach in the greater Charlottesville community was established in the Design House event. 

This year's Design House included 25 designers who transformed the home into a designer show house by volunteering their expertise, time and materials. 

Below is a little snippet of details I fell in love with during my tour of the home!

Click here to see more information on the Design House designers.

All proceeds from the Design House are used to help the Shelter for Help in Emergency's mission to end domestic violence in our community. Official Design House photographer: Robert Radifera.

Little Bird | Charlottesville Child Photographer

"You are my little bird . . . ." - Elizabeth Mitchell

So carefree and full of life, I recently worked with two little ballerinas on a series of studio shots and keep on coming back to this image to share.  More to come!  

This beautiful natural light downtown studio is now available to all of my clients.  

Advanced Camera Workshop | Charlottesville | Amy Benoit Photography

workshop & mentoring sessions

My workshops and mentoring sessions are designed to get you where you want to be with your photos. 

Take your photography to the next level with the advanced camera workshop and learn how to shoot in manual mode! You will learn how to control your exposure and white balance while making informed decisions about ISO, shutter speed, and aperture in order to achieve your vision in-camera. We will also cover shooting indoors with natural light in-depth, as well simple steps for tweaking your photos in Photoshop and prepping them for print. 

I'LL TEACH YOU:

  • benefits of shooting in manual vs aperture priority mode and in RAW vs JPEG
  • in depth understanding of the exposure triangle: ISO, shutter speed, and aperture
  • how to get amazing blur or bokeh
  • which lens is right for you and why paying attention to focal length is so important
  • how to find the best lighting scenarios and to make the most of them

The workshop and mentoring sessions are not designed to help you jump start your photography business.  They are for beginner to intermediate level photographers and geared to help you get better results.   

DETAILS OF THE WORKSHOP:

  • $150 per person includes 3 hours of hands-on instruction, yummy snacks, + a workbook filled with the information we cover.
  • Sunday, July 20th, 1:00-4:00pm

  • Held at 134 10th St. NW, Charlottesville  (a renovated studio space one block from West Main Street)

  • Class size is limited for a more intimate and hands on approach.
  • A non-refundable 50% deposit is due to reserve your seat.  The remaining balance is due the week prior to your workshop.  

can't make it to a workshop, check out the ONE-ON-ONE MENTORING:

Ideal for those who have busy schedules and can't make it to a workshop.  It's the condensed version of my workshop and it's 100% focused on you.  We'll go over all the basics and you also get the opportunity to focus on something you have been struggling with.  Maybe it's that your house is so dark and you have trouble getting shots of your kids without the flash popping up.  I'll help you determine what the best settings are for those scenarios, and I'll teach you to be able to find the light that is best in your house.  Whatever it is, we'll chat before the session to make sure you get everything you want out of it.  We'll cover as much or as little as you need.  2 hours of 100% you time  |  $150

Welcome Baby Clay | Charlottesville Newborn Photography

Sweet baby boy Clay, only 12 hours new and the sweetest 9 lbs 13 ounces of newborn goodness I have ever seen!  

Hospital Newborn Session | Martha Jefferson Hospital  

With My Morning Coffee | Greek Yogurt Peanut Butter Dip

This morning I whipped together a quick little dip while I sipped on my coffee and my son sat quietly playing with his toys and watching Cloudy with the Chance of Meatballs for the 20th time!

Soooooo yummy (and toddler approved!)

1 cup of plain or vanilla greek yogurt 
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1/4 cup of honey
1/4 tablespoon of cinnamon (or a little more if you like)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Mix until it's thick + creamy and well blended.  Serve with fruit, pretzels, graham crackers, etc!