Kelly Prizel Photography

Today is the first day that DC is accepting marriage applications from gay couples. Having grown up in Virginia and then living in DC for 6 years, I’m so proud! My hometown is taking a huge step towards equality today and I’m so happy for all the amazing couples lining up outside the courthouse this morning.

So in honor of gay marriage in DC, I’m giving away 2 *free* engagement sessions! All you have to do is email me at kelly@kellyprizel.com with the code: Gay Marriage.

Rules:

• Engagement session must take place in either DC or the CT/NYC area in April, May or June.
• You must send an email with a picture of the two of you and why LGBT equality is important to you.
• You must include the code Gay Marriage.

Lauren and Desaray got married August 09 in Dupont Circle, the historically gay neighborhood of DC.

I’m a huge animal lover. Having volunteered at multiple animal shelters(starting at age 13 I volunteered every saturday at the Fairfax animal shelter- yes, I did want to save the world), worked at two different emergency animal hospitals for a total of 5 years, worked as an adoption counselor for a shelter and volunteering for multiple animal rescues, I have become very familiar with animal rescue.

I actually knew *nothing* about rabbits until I met one at the humane society. Who knew they were so smart, funny, and gentle!

I eventually adopted rabbits: I fell hard. I loved these two rabbits who ran around my living room, would kiss my face when I read on the floor, would flop all the way out on top of each other, and were litterbox trained. I happened to be working as an adoption counselor at the time for a shelter and we had so many rabbits(it was a few weeks after Easter) that we were putting down 2-3 rabbits a day because we had run out of space. I grew sick as each new rabbit was dropped off because people got their kid a rabbit for Easter and then realized “Crap! I have to take care of this?” so they took them to the shelter.

It felt like rabbits were this toss away animal- something was different about how people treated rabbits compared to dogs and cats. I needed to show how amazing and smart these animals were to people. So I became a foster mom for the House Rabbit Society.

February is adopt a rabbit month. So even if you don’t have room in your life to adopt a rabbit, spread the word about how amazing these creatures are. These creatures all deserve to be inside to show their full personality- not in a hutch outside to forget about. Don’t buy a rabbit- adopt! I know in DC alone there are over 200 rabbits right now waiting to find a forever home. And that’s just in the rescues.

And yes- I do have my own rabbits. They officially live in my home office but have free roam of the upstairs. Abraham was found on the streets of DC and disgusting when we got him. His favorite napping spot is on our bed. Guinevere was abandoned in the woods before someone spotted her and realized she was no wild rabbit! She was rescued from the woods(domestic bunnies are not wild bunnies and typically die if abandoned in the forest in a few days). Toby is our tinniest bunny who adores Guinevere and loves to follow her around.

Toby (the smallest bunny at 3.5 pounds)

Abraham (the rex rabbit, meaning his fur is as soft as velvet)

Guinevere (our biggest bunny at 10 pounds!)

When your in art school you don’t just take photography classes- you get to dabble a bit in other areas. And I dabbled in bookbinding. This project was the first project I did but I thought I should blog about it because Vday is almost here and this book is all about love. I made a flag book with mini envelopes that contained various love notes that Natalie(my wife) and I had written to each other over the 6 years before we got married. I even ended up using a wax seal that we bought in Italy with our first initials intertwined. I love how it turned out! To see more photos/read more about it, hop over to my article on So You’re EnGAYged.

We both already know what we’re getting each other for Vday. Let me say that I can’t EVER keep something exciting from Natalie. I don’t think she has ever received a present I didn’t tell her about first. Maybe…maybe once. In 8 years. But this weekend we are going on an old steamtrain across the CT countryside to look for migrating eagles. It’s the one weekend a year you can spot them and while just an old train ride itself would be fun, the eagles idea was a huuuuge bonus. Then the train stops in a tiny town where we’ll have lunch and look around and take the train back. May I also say said train ride is super affordable? Then we’ll either grab chinese food and watch movies(I know, the excitement is unstopable) or go to Scozzi for their killer risotto. This was all Natalie’s planning that I begged her to tell me because I actually am not big on surprises- they make me nervous. I like to prepare and build excitement. So we looked for binoculars online.

I found her Vday present on Etsy of course. But I’m making it mine too. I’m having a artist actually handcut silhouettes of us from one of our wedding photos. So when I get said papercuts, I’ll hang them up of course. But not before I scan the silhouettes and insert our last name which I had calligraphed. So it will be our two silhouettes facing each other from opposite sides of the frame and our last name below that. I’ll print it and frame it to hang next to our actually handcut silhouettes. This is actually something that harkens back to our honeymoon. We were in Paris and finally got to the big museum I had been literally dying to go to. We were running late and the museum would close in 2 hours, so I was kind of dashing to the museum. That’s when I saw it- a guy, right before our eyes, paper cutting silhouettes. Just with his eyes and scissors he was making these amazing papercuts. I literally could feel my heart say “STOP! Must get! So cool!” But there was a line. So we waited for 15 minutes before I realized I was missing the amazing art inside the museum. So I bit my lip and walked away. I never saw him again. Even Natalie was super bummed.

So we finally get to have our handcut silhouettes.

So, I’m not big on exercise. I know, I know…I should move more than every few hours off my computer to go get a snack. Here’s where hiking enters. I love nature. And in order to see nature, generally, you have to walk somewhere(what?!? no golf carts?).

So Natalie and I found this amazing park where no one hikes. It’s got a nature center and every few weeks I’ll spot a living person walking into said nature center. But apart from this, it’s just been us on the trail. I have actually come to look forward to these hikes, the calm, the cold air, the sound of the stream. So I brought along my tilt shift lens for a hike and tried not to fall on my face and break the lens on the ice.