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Daryl Musser Photography bio picture

Welcome to our Blog!

Hi, we are Daryl and Thelma Musser a husband/ wife team based in Ephrata PA. This is the blog about the photographic side of our lives, both professionally and personally. We hope it helps you  to get to know  a bit about us, our work, our daughter, and the people and things that are important to us.

If you are a potential client we hope these images give you a better idea of our current style of shooting, and a little idea of who we are and what we are about.

Have fun, click around, get to know us! Then leave us a comment, send us an email--we love feedback and getting to know you!
Thanks for visiting!

1000 friend giveaway. Final Day

Awwww…..so sad. It’s the last day of giveaway. I am so going to miss getting 100+ comments a day on here. I really could get used to this…..:-) In fact, I would say I got addicted in that short amount of time.       However, if we drag this on much longer, the chance of any of you winning decreases even further, so we need to stop:-) We’re almost at 600 entries, so I think we’re all good:-)  At the risk of sounding gushy,   Thankyou, thankyouthankyou for playing along:-)  When I threw this little giveaway up here the other day, I was quaking with nervousness, wondering if it was silly, if it was even anything that people would be interested in, would anyone even comment, and how embarrassing would that be if no one did?!?!

Daryl and I are already scheming our next giveaway:-) I guess we like to give back a little sometimes, we are recipients of so much sweetness in this industry–kind people, beautiful subjects, nice words….it makes doing what we do, so worth it.  So we’re thinking of a way to give back in a huge way….we’ve got an idea….now we have to work out the quirks.  I think hope it will be huge. I kinda have the nervous feelings about it, like I did w/ this one, but if this giveaway was an indication, our next one will be a smashing sucess, thanks to you , our friends.

So. stay tuned……:-)

again, i loved reading your comments. Our Prince of Peace seems to have made the top of the list….I think most of us would like a few answers to the confusions in our lives:-) Husbands, sisters and moms were runner-ups, along w/ long-lost/distant friends.  After reading all yours, I could think of a whole list of people I would like to get together with–why is it our loved ones all live so far away???      And then there were some originals…one of my favorites being The Pioneer Woman–now why didn’t I think of that? Still kicking myself I didn’t go to her book signing when she was in the area. But. i can read her blog every day, so we’re good.  I liked the idea of lunch with oneself…..a little ‘me-time’ is always fun too:-)  Then there was Scarlott O’ hare, Mary-Jesus’ mother (ditto that), Panini w/ Joseph ( again, ditto), Shepherd of the Hills, Abraham’s wife Sarah,  Beth Moore and Elisabeth Elliot–I say, how about a huge fellowship meal?? Sounds good to me. Carry-in potluck w/ all of the above, I could get into that.   With the exception of Scarlett, I think it might just be possible one day, too…I think the event is called the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. Makes me smile just thinking about it:-)

Today. Last day. I want to know…..

oh. I don’t know. I seriously tossed this around all day yesterday and entertained a couple questions over and over.  And just cannot decide.

So. I’m going to give you options. You can answer any of these three:

1. What is your motto in life?

2. If you knew you could try anything and not fail, what dream would you attempt?

3. What are you doing today?  (i know, i know,  such a normal boring question. I’m just staying home all day, editing……so i want to know what you’re doing–hope you are having more fun then me!!) I was going to take Abbi to the park for a fall photo shoot in the leaves, but the light today is flat. boring. blah. and who wants photos without glimmery light?? not me. Sad that I have to scratch the plan though.

1000 Friends giveaway day#3

WE DID IT!!! We arrived at 1000 friends last night on Facebook, and this morning are well past it at 1013!!  The sad part is, we have no way of  knowing who that 1000th person was–if it was you, please say so!!  Facebook doesn’t store friends in order of who liked you when–at least, I don’t think so. If you know of a way to find out, pls let me know:-) Sadly, we were otherwise occupied at the moment it happened. You’d think after all this drama that we’d be glued to our computer screen in breathless wonder, just waiting. But no, the last timewe checked we were at 1998, then, we got distracted, and missed “THE MOMENT”.  But THANK YOU! New friends, you have made our goal possible!!!

I LOVED reading the entries yesterday. Every time I came on here I would find at least one that made me snicker.   And now, i have many ideas in my head of places to hide things. If, in fact, I ever did need to hide something.  I don’t really see that happening anytime soon though.  I must say, the one that made me laugh the most was “if it is something small, I would hide it in my closet, in the cape of my dress”   As a cape dress wearer in the past, I can fully appreciate the wonders that can be stored in a cape, so that made me smile:-) If you don’t know what a cape on a dress is, then I’m sorry, it prly sounds like a lame joke to you.     I now know that a toy box, a diaper pail, the back of a toilet and the back of a piano are all steller hiding spots–great thinking. Oh, and I loved the concept of hiding something in a cluttered room cuz who goes there??  Reminds me of a cleaning clients I had in the past, her laundry room was literally knee/waist deep or so. We tackled it one day and found under all that, her divorce paperwork.   Great storage solution, I thought.    There was the more traditional hiding approach mentioned–that of burying the object–I did appreciate the idea of  planting a yellow small flag with a smiley face to mark the spot–clever. And  also  planting forget-me-nots–perfect.    Another favorite was if it’s money, putting it in the family Bible, cuz it’s His anyway, plus if anyone did find it, who would feel right stealing soemthing out of a Bible??—great thought.    SO Thanks for humoring me yesterday. You all did great.

Today I want to know:  If you could have lunch with anyone, who would it be? Lunch being hypothetical, of course. If you want to meet them for breakfast, dinner, or a midnight snack, that is perfectly permissible as well.    I personally, would like to go back in time, to the earlier centuries and meet one of the British Authors, either Jane Austin, or Charlotte or Emily Bronte (they wrote Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre)….I find that period of history fascinating at the moment, and should like to talk some more about what it was like to be alive then, when the threat of dying from a common cold was a big deal, among other things.  I would like to go back to their time to meet, of course, in England somewhere.

As far as a bit of housekeeping goes: if this is your first day entering, you can refer back to day 1 to learn more about the prize, and also the process for entering.   If you become a friend, or link this contest, it would be awesome if you make a separate comment telling us so. apart from your answer to the question.  Those of you that included all three bits of information in the same comment, it’s fine, don’t go back and change it, but from here out keep them seperate if you can,  it will make the drawing process so much easier:-)   Also, if you friend us on Facebook, come here to tell us  as well, cuz that is the way it will get entered into the drawing.  We love the posts we’re getting on Facebook that you have become our friend, but we’re not sure if you’re thinking that is counting as an entry. We’d hate for you not to get that extra entry in the drawing.   So yeah, I think that is all for today.   Oh yeah, i will be in and out today, so if your comment doesn’t show up right away for some reason, don’t worry, I will get to them when I get home this afternoon.

Back to lunch, who are you meeting???

1000 friends giveaway week. Day #2

WOW!!  What fun i am having!!  I cannot begin to say how fun it was to see all the comments just pouring in all day yesterday. I kinda felt like one of those radio announcers during a share-a-thon thingy, where the phone calls keep coming and the totals keep rising…not that people where giving us anything, just, you know the rising totals.  I was home all day yesterday at the computer, editing, and I must admit I really did not get that much done…. I kept clicking over to check comments, and approve them, It was so fun, i loved every minute, it made my boring editing day just fly.

Of course, I am the nosy sort. I wanted to comment back. i wanted to know why your life is “underwhelmed” or “homesick” or why you chose “opportunities” or “heartbroken”, i feel like there’s a story behind alot of these words, and I just want to know it !! :-)
I shall just have to curb my nosiness and move on.

BTW, don’t know if you noticed, but thanks to you guys, we gained 52 friends yesterday. 52!!!! I am in amazement. I guess i was pessimistic about the possibility of gaining 100 friends in a weeks time, but wow, we’re halfway there!!

SO. Let’s keep it rolling.  Today the burning question is:  Where  would you bury a hidden treasure if you had one to hide???

And also, you do know this is all in fun right??? I mean, if you really have a hiding spot that you don’t want the world wide web to know about, then by all means, do not divulge.   I just am dying to see what your clever original brains pop out for this one. I’m sure we will get some great ones:-) If you need to know the rules, refer back to day one. Also, I think we will shorten the giveaway by a day and announce the winner on Friday. Also, the more info you give me, the better, so when I have to track you down, if I have your last name or email address, it will prly  make it a little easier to figure out who you are.

BTW, i think my hiding spot would be the freezer.  :-) it’s fireproof, and who would dig under a frozen turkey looking for it??

1000 friends Giveaway week!

Announcing our first official giveaway!!

Daryl and I have been scheming for weeks as to how best to conduct a giveaway. We love all our readers/viewers both here and on FaceBook. We love hearing from all of you online and IRL at weddings or where ever. We’ve been watching  our friend count on Facebook  steadily inching towards the 1000th friend and can’t wait until it gets there. (no idea why, really :-) )  So we are trying to think of a clever way to push it over the top, and also how to celebrate all those wonderful friends.  BTW, I’m not sure if “friend” is the right word to refer to our Facebook buddies….i know for long time the word used was “fan” which made it akward to think of starting a facebook page for our business. I mean, who wants to request that someone become a ‘fan’, really?   Lately it got changed to that  you ‘like’ a business, if you want to recieve their update. So I guess I  should be saying we are inching our way towards 1000 ‘likes’, but that sounds silly too….so if I can refer to the ‘likes’ as “friends’ you all know what I mean, right??? Since that is what we think of all of you as–our friends!

great. I’m so glad we have that all cleared up.

Now, back to the business at hand…..so we wanted to do a giveaway….then was the question of what we should give…..we know so many of our ‘friends’ are from other areas so a photo shoot or something of that sort might not be practical at this time….hmmm…..then we decided we should do something we love…and of course  we couldn’t help but thinking of our  (ta-da! drumroll please!!)  Gallery wraps!!  We absolutely LOVE the gallery wraps that we offer w/ our wedding packages.  They are fun, look good anywhere, and are super sturdy and durable.  We think you would love one too! I mean, who wouldn’t?!

Let me just tell you a little more about them, we just got one done for our family room (our very own first personal one),  img_4357

The printing is such a nice soft glossy sort of print, on a canvas which is then wrapped on a 1.5 or 2 inch thick  frame. Your image can either be wrapped completely around the frame or if there’s not enough edge on your image, the part that is wrapped around the sides can be white or black.

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The 1.5, and 2 inch sizes.

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One way to have the back finished is with a wire hanger running through the middle.

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The other way (our personal favorite) is with the back paper covered, and two metal hangers on the upper corners. These also have a small plastic protection thingy on each corner so that your walls are not scratched.

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So. We are giving away an 11×14 gallery wrap of your favorite jpeg image. After we determine that you are the winner you can upload your photo to us, or we can help you out if you need one taken ;-) If you have no interest in having a photo gallery wrap you can also get a text wrap done, such as something from Red letter words . We would be more then happy to whip something up for you in  photo shop.

To enter:   Each day this week, I will be posting a “get to know you” question.  By leaving a comment  answering that question, your name will be entered into the drawing. So. One entry per day for answering a random question of my own amusement:-)

Then, give us some link love!! Each time you link this giveaway on any social media, leave me a comment saying you linked it, whether it be on your blog, or facebook, whatever. Each link is worth another entry. And yes, i guess you can link it every day if you don’t feel too silly doing that:-)

Also, if you find this blog through a link, and are not a “friend” of Daryl Musser Photography on Facebook, become a friend, then  leave me a comment saying you did so, and that is worth another entry.  We’re hoping to see our ‘friend’ count hit 1000!!  BTW, we LOVE the interaction we get w/ all of you through facebook. We love that we can reply right back to your comments, whatever. It’s so fun!!   Facebook does not allow give aways that is why we moved it over here!

The winner will be announced Saturday morning.

SO, let’s get started:-)  I can’t wait to get to know you all better. Tell me, what is one word that describes your life right now??? That is my burning question. I want to know.

Jason + Jolynn 10.2.10

Jason and Jolynn’s wedding day dawned clear beautiful and bright, with nary a bit of wind to be found. That made us exceedingly happy, that, and the gorgeous bride and groom we got to work with.  Jolynn is Daryl’s cousin, in case you can see any family resemblance:-)

We shot these images at the lovely Stautburg village. Christy Smucker from C.S. Photography worked with us for the day. We recruited her help since her husband was a member of the bridal party. It was super fun working with her, and she brought a new bit of creativity to the day.

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Jolynn wore super fun red shoes for the day. We loved them. There are so many images of these shoes in our file from this wedding.

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Jolynn thought of a fun prop to bring to the shoot–mini chalkboard. We certainly had fun with these!

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The lovely bridal ladies, love the varied shade of red.

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The handsome groom:

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Ray + Maria

We have long been anticipating this wedding. Ray and Marie go to our church, and also, Marie’s sister Miriam is our faithful  assistant at most weddings, so it was a huge honor when Ray and Maria asked us to be their photographers. Of all weddings that I wanted to nail this season it was prly this one, just because they are a super couple, and also, we have to see them every Sunday in church:-)  As fate would have it, Mother Nature had her own ideas about their wedding day, first we were visited by remnants of a hurricane for the latter part of the week, resulting in flooding and sogginess. Thankfully the skies cleared on the actual wedding day, however, the force clearing those skies was an incredibly aggresive wind.  The location for the portrait session just happened to be on one of the highest places in the Ephrata area, so yeah, we were just a little blown away by the day.  Rainy wedding days can be a struggle, but now I think I prefer them over windy days (not that I prefer rain in the least, oh no). However, Rain doesn’t blow hair to pieces and bouquets apart, or anything else nasty like that.  I was kinda bummed that the wind forced us to stay close to the porch of the house, when there was tons of gorgeous spots around this location, I so badly wanted to get really awesome images for these guys.  But, we did the best we could under the circumstances, like always, and I really think we nailed a couple images or two, or three.

Ray and Maria, best of everything  to you guys!

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Maria, you really had some gorgeous details. The dress. The bouquet–yummy!

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Ray cleans up well.

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The bouquest was just dripping with orchids, quiet stunning indeed./

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Windy city.

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Loooved the girls’ flowers too!

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Love this whole family! Imagine, 12 siblings, what  fun!!

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The wedding/reception was all-in-one and a candlelit affair. They did a great job making NCMF’s gym into a beautiful place.

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The menu was coffee drinks and desserts!  Yumminess.

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Ryan + Liz E-session

Who doesn’t love a young in-love couple??:-)   We sure do! Daryl and I had great time with Ryan and Liz while doing their engagement shoot. We know our mission is truly accomplished  when a guy, who hates having his pictures done, admits that this was more fun then he thought it would be.  I think that is one of our ultimate challenges, to make sure that our subjects are not having an experience akin with having teeth pulled:-)

We did their engagement shoot in Lancaster city–the much-loved, often photographed location of our beloved county.  We tried our very hardest to think outside the box in  finding fresh and interesting spots for this shoot–something that’s not the easiest in a place photographed as much as this one. Ryan and Liz prly thought we were a little nut-so when we got excited about this set of stairs with fab lighting:-)

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Ryan and Liz, you guys are an amazing couple, we are looking forward to your big day next spring!!

Jared + Amber

Daryl and I were excited to travel to DE for Jared and Amber’s wedding. It’s always fun to travel to new places, with new people to meet and brand new places to shoot in :-)   We certainly were not dissappointed this day. The weather was beautiful, the people friendly, and the sunshine warm.

Jared and Amber chose the historic governer’s mansion in Dover DE for their wedding photos. It is a gorgous old house, built in the 1600′s, (if my internet sleuthing is correct). I found it so fascinating, I actually looked it up after we came back home. Prly the only other thing I learned about the mansion via google is that it is believed to be one of the most haunted locations of DE:-) Not that I really put much stock in ghosts…..certainly didn’t see anything on this wedding day!

Back to Jared and Amber….it was a warm September day, but they were good sports and we got a ton of great shots!

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The groom at his finest:

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Together….

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The mansion is always under gaurd by the DE police, since it is a working home. The current Governer and family actually use it fairly often…but they were not there last Sat. The police officer on duty was super friendly and interested in the going ons. He even offered  to allow us into the house, to the 3rd story, where we could shoot the couple down in the garden below. It’s  an idea that actually has only ever been done once before!   Of course, we were game!!

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He also offered us to tour the main area, and ice water to drink. Like I said, super nice guy! He said he just gets so bored there, he’s happy to see people some days! I couldn’t resist a few shots in the gorgeous front french door.

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At home at the governer’s mansion:-)

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The couple also drove a classic car owned by the father of the groom, originally owned by the grandfather of the groom.  We’re always excited with fun props such as that.

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On to the reception. It was held in a grassy area in the middle of woods.   The sunlight right at the time of the reception was just right, I could have done a whole ‘nother shoot in the pathway to the reception, but the guests were hungry so….:-)

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The cake looked gorgeous against it’s woody backdrop.

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JR + Esther

Yet another gorgeous event in our string of weddings this fall! Jr and Esther were blessed with an amazingly gorgeous day awash in that perfect dreamy light.  I think these two would have photographed well in a thunderstorm, but I’m glad we didn’t have to try that!!!

Esther in her bridal finery.

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Couldn’t ask for better:-)

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The happy two. image-301

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The lush boquet:

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Reception details:

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Chris + Tonya

Well, I don’t know where to start today. After being away from the blog for quite some time–we’ll blame the mono for that, it’s  hard to know even where to begin. It’s turning into a crazy season here, with the fall weddings in full swing:-)

Last Saturday was a gorgeous beautiful oh-so-perfect day,  just right for a wedding. Chris and Tonya chose this day to become married and what  a pretty event it was.  Here is the gorgousness that is Tonya’s dress:

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And the pretty bride herself.

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The groom–and his men.

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The bouquet against the backdrop of the beautiful beaded bodice

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The train was to die for.

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The girls in their green.

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I prly say this about every bride, but I could have shot her all day.

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The bridal party.

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In lieu of a limo, the couple rented a trolley for transportation to the reception. What fun!

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The happy two.

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I don’t think it gets any better:-)

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