As I was helping run the competition, I could not enter but I really wanted to photograph anyway as the facility is gorgeous.  I also wanted to play with using different lighting techniques that, if they didn’t turn out as hoped, would not disappoint a wedding client so these are certainly a little different then other Bridal portraits in Raleigh, NC that I photograph.  The end results were, in my opinion, beautiful!  Using somewhat of an unorthodox lighting method, I ended up creating a very dramatic, timeless and alluring bridal portrait.  It should be noted that while my model, Kim, is not a bride, she also had no modeling experience so was just as nervous in front of the camera as anyone else would  be.  She really rocked the shoot and I really love the end results.

I’d like to give a big thank you to  the RTP Marriott staff for letting us use their hotel, our models and makeup artists, the Wedding Photographic Society for helping hold the event (there are 5 of us who help run it) and our lovely “clients” who donated their time and put on wedding dresses for us.  On to a few photos that I hope you really love!

We had everyone on deck for Carly’s bridal portrait with her mother and sister coming out to help.  We could not have asked for a more beautiful day and, as such, the gardens were teeming with people.  While my life is certainly not like this, people rarely see a bride outside of a wedding so, of course, we had our own gaggle of spectators watching us work.  Carly handled the attention like a pro and we ended up with some beautiful portraits for her wedding day.   I hope you enjoy a few of her Duke Gardens Bridal Portraits.

I met up with Sarah, her mom and helpers at the Fearrington House so we could get right to the bridal photography.  They let us have full access to the gardens and entire grounds so we had so many diverse looks to play with.  Sarah certainly wanted a beautiful portrait but we wanted to keep it mostly traditional while showing the southern charm of the Fearrington.  We photographed until the sun went down and the results we got were absolutely outstanding.  I am afraid I made Sarah’s job really difficult in picking out just one photograph.  Sorry Sarah. 

I hope you enjoy a few choice photos from Sarah’s Bridal Portrait session:

I asked Joanna to come out for this and she readily agreed (Thanks Joanna, you rock!) as it was an opportunity to have some fun and photograph what we wanted. As this was more for me then Joanna, I decided early on that an Urban Bridal Portrait was just what I was wanting to do. Locating a warehouse in Raleigh was a little more difficult but a friend came through for me and found one with access to do it in. All I can say is, I want, really want, to do this more often as we both had an absolute blast with it! Joanna brought out her Jimmy Choos to spice up the bridal portrait and, with the dress and a lovely wedding client, well the results were awesome!

The bridal portrait lasted about 3 hours and it literally flew by as we moved from floor to floor in the warehouse. Gems like this location are hard to find in Raleigh so we shot until the sun went down (which gave us some beautiful golden light to photograph with). Using mostly natural light, I think we really captured the feel of the location and came out with an outstanding example of an urban bridal portrait. It’s shoots like this that really recharge my artistic sensibilities and, as a wedding photographer, that’s essential to getting the iconic look and feel I want in my wedding photography.

Joanna, thank you so much for taking the time out to have some fun! I truly hope you enjoyed both the session and the photography we captured!

We started out at the North end of Wrightsville Beach, NC on the sand dunes and worked our way around the beach. By the time we got done there, I was having a very hard time focusing my camera because of how dark it was (and my fingers were frozen). We moved down to the Oceanic and used the floodlights from the pier to make seeing everyone a bit easier.  I really love working with wedding clients who want a unique and different bridal portrait and this did not disappoint.  I think you will agree, the results were stunning!

We started out the bridal portrait slowly at first.  I mean, multiple lights and a guy with a camera, a nice guy that is (nice camera too), can be pretty intimidating at first so I thought it would be neat to shot the progression of our shots below.  I would like to thank the lovely Lauren for being my portrait client and especially for having fun during the shoot which enabled us to get the last shot, which she chose for her bridal portrait on display at the wedding.

This weekend I had the amazing Anna’s bridal portrait at Meredith College.  If you;ve never been on campus, they have a beautiful chapel and an amazing lake complete with bridges, killer geese and lovely foliage!  We started the day by grabbing some photos overlooking the water and proceeded to walk around the lake. I’ll give myself 1 point for recommending Anna wear her cowboy boots instead of her shoes as we were walking in nature.  I didn’t hear it, but I’m sure her feet (and shoes) both thanked me in their own way.

COOL STORY ALERT – Anna’s father proposed to her mother on one of the benches overlooking the water, so of course I had to photograph them sitting back on the bench again.

Here’s a few selections from the day!  Sorry fellows, she’s already taken!

To achieve this, we enlisted the assistance of two very talented models, Heather & Lauren, poured them into a few different wedding dresses and went to downtown Raleigh with a total of 6 photographers, 2 models, 3 dresses & 1 scarf (RIP).  The sun was out, the winds were blowing approximately 40 mph and we suffered only one casualty, the scarf.  It was literally ripped from our models hand and soared over 15 stories in the air before landing somewhere on top of a parking deck.  With the impending weather, we didn’t bother to look for it.  During our dinner break, the weather decided we should work on indoor shooting and The Big Easy came to our rescue.  They literally let us have the run of the place and with such rich textures, great ambient light and vibrant colors, it really made our evening.

Special thanks to everyone who participated – Ken, Bob, Patti, and Frank!

Now, onto a few of the photos: