Wrightsville Beach Magazine

It’s that time of year when many non-wedding focused magazines are featuring their anual wedding issues. Wrightsville Beach Magazine is currently running their wedding issue and we have a featured wedding in there from this past Summer. You may remember Elizabeth and Richard from the old blog. We had a great time working with them and their super cool wedding planner Maria from Maranna Designs.

Metro Magazine’s Wedding Guide

We’re in it with a short write up that made us blush a little.  Check out the magazine on line if you get a chance.  Metro Magazine

Nicole & Kent’s *E* Session

I’m back from the West coast with much to share, but not all at once.  I shot Nicole and Kent’s wedding on Saturday and we actually did this session the day after.  They went with a vintage inspired theme for both their wedding and *E* Session which made it all the more fun.  I just love it when clients get involved in the look and style of the photo shoot.

We walked along the San Diego waterfront and found some outstanding locations to shoot.  We ended up at the hotel Del Coronado on Coronado Island and were treated to a beautiful sunset.

We’ll be right back

I’m headed on a big jet plane today to sunny San Diego.  While I shoot a wedding there,  Meridith and Katherine are shooting in the winter wonderand of Winston Salem.   We’ll be out of touch for a few days, but I’m sure we’ll be blogging heavily on our return.

Us being goofy

On a much lighter note than the previous post, I took a moment recently to clean off my computer desktop of all the random files that seemed to be everywhere and I found a few things that made me laugh.  These are photos that Meridith and I take at receptions when things are, shall we say, between the action.

The first two photos are of us imagining how revolutionary (and entertaining) we would be if we just  started shooting with the “Official Wedding Cameras”.  I think we could provide a whole new direction for the industry.  Meridith would like for me to keep that project on the back burner for now though.

This image is our attempt to see how crazy and distorted we could look in a fish eye lens.  It worked!  We look totally weird. (but entertaining yet again)

Will’s first hair cut

As a photographer I sometimes take for granted the impact that a photograph or series of photographs can have on a person or a family.  The following photo shoot took place some time ago, but it wasn’t until recently that these images went from being part of a few thousand others of our son to priceless treasures.  The past few months have changed the way I look at photographing families and children.

A few months ago I was talking with a photographer who specializes in family portraiture.  He believes that a family portrait displayed in the home reinforces to children that they are in a secure and loving home.  I have to admit that I thought that was the sappiest thing I had heard in a while and thought what an interesting marketing angle.  (call me cynical)  Since that time, my tune has changed.

When it was time to take our son for his first hair cut I planned for it to be an event.  It was going to be a guys only thing and Meridith was nervous that he would come back with less hair than she would like, and my Grandmother was distraught that we would cut any hair on his head, and wanted every strand delivered to her in a bag.  I wanted my Grandfather to take Will to his barber shop.  The one he had gone to for years and I wanted to photograph the whole thing.

Will did great and I could tell that my Grandfather had a great deal of pride in showing him off to the old guys at the barber shop, and being part of his first hair cut.  I was really happy with the photos we got and didn’t think much more about them at that point.  This past October 21st, Will celebrated his third birthday and my Grandfather passed away the next day.  It was truly sad, but not unexpected.  It was a blessing that most all of the family was near at that time.

I’m not sure how much Will is going to remember from this time in his life.  I still struggle to remember family members who I knew when I was very young.  Looking through all the photographs I had taken over the last three years it became very apparent that when he looks at these photos in ten, twenty or more years, he will know that he was loved very much by the people close to him and for that, these photographs are now priceless pieces of history.

So often I see photos of kids and families and everyone is well dressed and looking at the camera and of course smiling.  While those are nice and sometimes necessary photographs, to me nice is all they have to offer.  While those photos have their place, it seems to be the photographs of people interacting in ordinary situations that to me provides meaningful insight to who those people are and tells a more compelling story.  Sometimes however, you don’t realize that until later in life.

Katherine & Chris- Winston Salem, NC

Now that the holidays have settled.  I am finally posting a wedding we did before Christmas with Katherine and Chris.  The wedding was in Winston Salem and the reception on campus at Wake Forest University.  This was the night after Wake Forest had just won some huge game (sorry, don’t know which sport)  and all of the trees were freshly toilet papered which looked really creepy at night.  I also had the opportunity to meet some campus police as I walked from my car to the reception with a can of Mountain Dew in my hand.  They wanted to make sure I wasn’t having more fun than they were.

We brought along our new assistant Nathan to thrid shoot with us and he spent most of the day with the lens baby.  I really liked this shot of his.

This is the first time that a couple has asked us to arrange a meeting before the ceremony where they would not be able to see eachother.  I thought it was pretty cool.

Katherine is a chemist, so the floral arrangements at the reception were presented in beakers. I just love it when people put themselves into the details.

One of my favorite images of the night.

Free Advice

This is advice for those who are not yet married.  Meridith and I recently photographed a beautiful wedding in a beautiful church. We had worked at this church before and knew the rules for photography were very strict. The rule was that only one photograph is allowed to be taken during the entire ceremony. What a tragedy! The lady in charge of making sure we knew this rule was quite diligent in reminding us of this rule throughout the beginning of the day.

Well, rules are rules and we don’t want to break the rules.  I also knew that this person would be listening out for us and possibly making note of any camera clicks during the ceremony. As I sat there crouched in the balcony waiting for an opportune moment to shoot, I was thinking that all I needed was for someone to sneeze, or play loud music. Then I could shoot a few frames without fear of getting pulled out by my ear. The last time I was at that church I remembered there being a lot of music which made it easier to camouflage the camera sound (which is not loud at all)

Most places of worship have a few reasonable rules regarding photography. It must stay in the back or balcony, no flash, (who would dare do that?) and that’s usually it. For places where they go above and beyond the basics, my advice is to be sure you know about it and talk with us so that we can figure out a way to very discretely get the photos that are most important.

Back to School

You may not have known that I teach part time at RCC in their Photography Technology Department.  I spend one day a week for sixteen weeks a year teaching classes that concentrate on lighting and studio lighting and this January begins my 6th year working with students at the school.  This Year I have had the opportunity to work with the students in the commercial photography department which is very dear to me because that is the world where I started.

Anyway, this coming Monday is the first day of another eight week session and the topic this session is advertising.  I have much planned to get the students excited about shooting and am looking forward to sharing some of the results with you.

On the final day of class last semester I had a model and make-up artist come in so the students could get some experience in model direction.  Here are two images I made from that session.  The first is a wide shot of one of the students shooting in the studio and the other is a shot I made while demonstrating a specific lighting technique to the students.