Professional Services in Lexington

Since opening her graphic-design studio in 2011, photographer Ann Marie Nipp has been using her Cannon DSLR to capture casual compositions unrestrained by formal convention, focusing instead on the easy smiles that result from her patient, ebullient personality. Her portfolio of work reveals joyous newlyweds, confident professionals, and relaxed families, but gives special celebration to children, who beam exuberantly as they play in front of her lens. Though occasionally contracted for work in the fourth-dimension, Nipp primarily shoots on-location throughout Lexington, carrying her portable studio to places that hold special meaning to her clients. Her eye for design works in tandem with her passion for photography, allowing her to easily edit photos and turn them into everything from business logos and fliers to greeting cards of her own creation.

Seven days a week, the partner laundromats hum with the whirring of high-efficiency washers and dryers. Boasting more than 30 years of business, the Chevy Chase location fields a skilled staff that erases blights from duds with 46 single, double, and triple-load washers and 28 dryers, and enables patrons to convert bills into coins with convenient onsite change machines. The laundromat purveys soap, bleach, and fabric softeners. The staff augments this shopping-while-washing experience by entertaining waiting guests with video games, complimentary WiFi, and—remarkably—a standup tanning bed, inside of which, naturally, is a comedian. Alternatively, the Suds 'N Duds location boasts advanced credit-card-operated machinery that washes loads of up to 90 pounds at a time in as little as 40 minutes and treats freshly bathed garments to a complimentary dry. The laundromats also grant customers a free dry with every wash and offer reward points, which—when saved up—can be exchanged for money to use on washing machines and drying machines.

In addition to self-service laundry, both locations offer same-day drop-off services. Their professional staff sorts, washes, and dries clothing using premium detergent and softeners before folding them into neat piles or intricate seersucker airplanes.

Laundry101’s staff picks up soiled clothing and household fabrics from customers’ homes, and returns them sans dirt and stains about 48 hours later. They dry-clean items and wash each client’s load of laundry separately so that clothes don’t get mixed up or misplaced, and afterwards place dry-cleaning on hangers and fold laundry. The staff also honors special instructions, from letting jeans hang-dry, repairing broken zippers, or adding extra starch to shirts with poor posture.

Though he was working at his family’s construction business, Tom Carr always hoped he could return to doing what he loved. From the moment he started shooting with his parents’ old Polaroid as a 12-year-old boy, he’d known photography was his passion. He kept snapping shots as a hobby, working at it during his off time until he finally made the leap and opened his own studio. Now, Tom draws on more than 22 years of experience as he captures families in natural light and documents landmark events such as engagements. He likes to capture genuine smiles and to “catch kids in their own element,” which he does by following little ones around as they clamber on monkey bars, pick daisies, or mock the outfits that an imaginary friend wears blue socks with.

Helmed by celebrity stylist Merika Rock, M. Rock Style's shutter snappers capture the alluring angles of subjects, drawing on an arsenal of makeup, hair services, and wardrobe advice from experienced aesthetics mavens. Throughout her career as a stylist, Merika has performed aesthetic services for a range of reality-show stars, professional wrestlers, and other celebrities. Before photo shoots, beauty artists can refurbish clients' locks and façades, and guide outfit changes toward flattering combinations, steering clients away from their collections of atmospheric diving suits. While clients pose, in-studio lights coax out sensuality, temptation, and regular good looks.

The multimedia specialists at Delp Video Services preserve memories through digital conversions and enhance footage through audio and video editing. Home videos preserved on VHS or MiniDV formats obtain sharper focus and easier accessibility after Delp's crew digitizes the memories on DVD. Similarly, tape technicians convert the contents of cassettes, such as old music or archives of favorite crank calls, onto CDs. For commercial accounts, Delp's services range from high-volume duplications bound within custom packaging to promotional-video production.