Occasionally, I walk into a “preparation” room and have to pull up my boots because, well, it’s going to be a challenge. The preparation room here, however, was large enough to hold the ceremony in and beautifully adorned. A very fitting scene for my lovely couple and it instantly got the creative wedding photography juices flowing (which means I start doing crazy things like hanging wedding dresses from chandeliers and stuff).  After a beautiful ceremony and, what the officiant described as the “best wedding kiss all year”, we went outside Jones Chapel to capture a few bride & groom portraits… only one problem now, it was dark. Well, if you know anything at all about me, I LOVE shooting in dramatic lighting situations and, well, darkness can certainly be considered dramatic especially when used in wedding photography.

After I subjected the couple, specifically Christa, to December temperatures in a sleeveless gown outside Jones Chapel and in a parking garage, we headed up to the Royal to get the party started.  Ron Smith got the party jumping after everyone had their bellies full with food from Cafe Luna in Raleigh, NC (If you have never been there you must go!). Dancing, partying and laughter were everywhere for the rest of the reception events and the couple exited the wedding with a sparkler sendoff to their car. Apparently a few of the groomsmen had their way with the car and, ahem, I won’t be showing any of those photos.

So, congratulations to Christa & Aaron! You guys were awesome to work with and thank you so much for choosing me as your wedding photographer!  As always, here are a few of your photos!

Reception – The Royal – Raleigh, NC
Wedding Directors – Danielle McNeillie and Jack Armstrong – (919) 656-4551
Cake – Ashleys Cakes – Raleigh, NC
Flowers – Victorian Seasons – Apex, NC
Catering – Cafe Luna – Raleigh, NC

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Fake snow along with a beautifully decorated campus completed the feeling (thanks to the cold weather as well) and made the event a HUGE success with over 1000 people attending which filled out almost the entire American Tobacco Campus.  Bay 7 housed a beautiful VIP reception where local brewers and a culinary school had suds & food for everyone.  Complete with Christmas decorations and Wull E. Bull made an appearance to try out the food and help celebrate the lighting of the tower.

Here are a few photos from the event!

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Walking down to meet Caitlin, I ran into Justin who certainly had the pre-wedding look in his eye. Not panic or fears fellas, excitement with a twinge of nervousness. I always thought Caitlin would make a beautiful bride and indeed she looked fabulous! After the preparation shots of both the guys and gals, it was time to saddle up and get on with the wedding. After the wedding and formals, the couple departed for the Crabtree Marriott.

Having just been here last week, I had one shot I wanted to duplicate but, other then that, I wanted fresh & new stuff for us. So after a quick tour of the grounds, we got down to the party! The wedding was a beautiful affair and I (as always) was honored to be a small part of their wedding day.

Here’s the photos!

Wedding: Good Shepard Lutheran Church – Raleigh, NC
Reception: Crabtree Marriott – Raleigh, NC
Flowers: Fresh Affairs – Raleigh, NC
DJ: Island Sound – Raleigh, NC
Cake: C.A.K.E. – Raleigh, NC
Ceremony Music: Symphonius Sounds – 919-598-9822 – Raleigh, NC

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So, after the Church wedding, Erin & Ken exited to bubbles and one of the most incredible summer skies I’ve seen in some time.  It most be the area because we rarely if ever get skies like this in Raleigh.  After some quick formal wedding photographs, we drove to her parent’s home on lake Gaston for the wedding reception. I will do my best not to drool on my blog post, but for those that know me, I am a huge architectural buff and her families home was, well, incredible. The amount of love and care taken in every detail is amazing. With rock laden streams running through the property, pools, fountains, walkways, boat docks, horseshoe pits, a (temporary) air conditioned tent and so may other things I can’t even start to describe, well, it was a real treat and certainly added to the beauty of Erin & Ken’s wedding photography!

It was an honor to have photographed such a special wedding day for Erin & Ken. I was treated like a member of their family the entire day and, when it came time to leave, I was a bit saddened as it felt like I was leaving behind my family as well. The night ended with a wonderful fireworks show over Lake Gaston were we sat lakeside and watched with more friends and family (and of course got some spectacular photography)!

So, a big thank you from me to everyone! Your hospitality & warmth will always be remembered!

Wedding: Lakeside Lutheran Church – Raleigh, NC
Reception – Her Family’s lake house on Lake Gaston
Photo Booth: ShutterBooth North Carolina – Raleigh, NC
DJ: Bow Tie DJ – Tracy Telenko – Raleigh, NC

On to a few photos!

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While Kerri got ready in a beautiful suite in the Renaissance Hotel in Raleigh, Greg headed over to the church in downtown Raleigh with the guys and my 2nd photographer captured them doing their thing (Won’t be posting those, sorry guys – but I see there was a table harmed in the process). As Kerri got ready, it was very apparent how close everyone in the bridal party and family was. A big challenge for photographers on the wedding day is finding out the relationships between everyone so we can better tell the story. Well, with Kerri’s party, I couldn’t determine who was immediate family and who were friends – since they were all treated like family, I did the same.

The Sacred Heart Cathedral is beautiful and a great example of architecture in downtown Raleigh and following the ceremony, we were able to get a few quick photos in before everyone took a break. The reception picked up that evening at the Renaissance Hotel in Raleigh at North Hills and, with it being my first time there, I was very excited to check out the property. One words comes immediately to mind – beautiful! With the happy newlyweds and 100 of their friends and family celebrating, Kevin Majoros (Joe Bunn DJ) got the party rolling and, well, let’s just say a few pictures had to be censored for decorum purposes.

Congratulations to you both! I am always honored to be chosen to both document and create artistic imagery during a wedding day – so thank you for choosing me!

Wedding: Sacred Heart Cathedral – Raleigh, NC
Reception – Renaissance Hotel in Raleigh – North Hills – Raleigh, NC
Flowers: The Purple Poppy – Wake Forest, NC
DJ: Joe Bunn DJ – Kevin Majoros – Raleigh, NC

And on to the photos:

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This year I’ve had alot of “travel” involved wedding photography clients. Either I’m traveling to a particular destination or the bride & groom are traveling here. Katie & Steve fit the profile, well, exactly. They currently live in Texas and decided on getting married in North Carolina because of its central location to their friends and family. I remember how difficult it was planing my own wedding so I can only imagine removing the ability to meet with people face to face. However, on Saturday, it was obvious that all the planning, phone calls and even facebook chats (guilty) made it worth it.  With an outdoor wedding, we really kept our eyes on the sky as the forecast was calling for scattered showers. On the ride over to Duke Gardens, Katie would look up nervously at the sky just to make sure the weather was behaving. Once we arrived, I think the weather got the message because the sun same out and made for a beautiful ceremony. With storm clouds approaching after the wedding, we got thru our formals and made some pretty awesome photos with the looming clouds before heading back to the Umstead Hotel.

After a quick trip back to the hotel,  the surprises were endless: A helicopter grooms cake from Sweet Memories, beautifully decorated and coordinated flowers from the Watered Garden and, of course, dinner from the Umstead. Randy from Joe Bunn DJ got the party started with dancing and Katie’s father brought the room to tears (yes, me as well) with his performance of a song he wrote for his daughter. After the cake cutting and dancing, everyone got back to the dancing & celebrating of Katie & Steve’s beautiful wedding.

Congrats to you both! I am honored I was present to capture your day and produce some beautiful photos for you to remember it by. Speaking of, here’s a selection of images from the day.

Wedding: Sarah P. Duke Gardens – Durham, SC
Reception – The Umstead Hotel – Cary, NC
Flowers: The Watered Garden – Raleigh, SC
Cake: Sweet Memories – Raleigh, SC
DJ: Joe Bunn DJ – Randy Bennett- Raleigh, NC

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21 Wedding Photographers
5 Models
8 Wedding Dresses
2 city blocks

As we laid siege to Glenwood Avenue, it was quite a sight to behold, apparently too much to behold as I did hear of one accident involving two cars, one rear ending the other just after passing one of our gorgeous brides.
After 2 hours of photography, the models & photographers we’re all exhausted but very happy with the end results. In my group, we had 5 photographers working with Lena, our bride, and we visited 8 locations in two hours within 2 city blocks in downtown Raleigh. It’s a wonderful reminder that we don’t always need green pastures or studios to get stunning portraits.

As always, here are a few select photos from the day! You can learn more about the event I organized or our group which holds monthly wedding photography meetings here.

As always, here are a few photos from the day!

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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!

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With it being such an intimate affair, we really concentrated on the family and the celebration of Michelle & Jasons wedding!  It was a real honor for my wife and I to attend with my wife doing the girls hair and me, of course, photographing the ceremony.

Congratulations to you both!  Here’s a sneek peek of your photos!

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The March meeting, however, was a bit different.  The leadership of Triangle NACE pooled their talents and essentially donated a wedding & reception to Josh McMinis & Christina Stein – a very lucky & deserving couple – with the local NACE chapter in attendance.  Held at the beautiful Sutherland property in Wake Forest, NC, Christina & Josh were married on the lawn area under a beautiful sky and fabulous weather.  Many local vendors donated their time and efforts into providing a spectacular wedding for the happy couple including the venue, food, drinks, wedding cake, tuxedo, gown, rings, photographers, videographers, DJ, etc…  It certainly was a wonderful evening to be a NACE member and I’d like to wish my most heartfelt congratulations to both Josh & Christina!

Here’s a few photos from the evening!

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The ceremony was held in the beautiful Church of the Good Shepard on an overcast (but beautiful) Saturday in downtown Raleigh and the parents arrived in a Rolls Royce to the front of the Church.  There were so many opportunities for beautiful photos as I had a beautiful couple, beautiful venue & beautiful light and downtown Raleigh as a backdrop.  My favorite is the one of Cindy, just having gotten into the Rolls Royce, taking a moment to check out her wedding ring.

The reception was held at the Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, NC.  Every wedding or event I have ever been at photographer at has been gorgeous, and this was no exception.  After a wonderful meal accompanied by a pianist, everyone adjourned on the patio for Cigars.  With such a collection of close family and friends, the images we captured were beautifully true, honest and joyful moments shared among a very special group.

What a way to end the year!  Congratulations to Cindy & Neil!

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The happy couple is honeymooning this week but hopefully they can log onto a computer and get a sneak peek of the below shots.  You can view the entire gallery here (password required).

I wish the both of them a very happy life together!

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It certainly was a long day with enough technical information and theory to cause a photography “reboot” inside my head.  I think it was actually perfect because some of his techniques are very counter-intuitive at first…. then you see the results and after you pick your jaw up from the floor, you realize there is another whole new world available to you with flash.

If you’re a photographer and reading this – GO SEE HIM!.  If you’re a client, hopefully you’ll enjoy the photos below and realize that, just because it’s at night, we can still get some really striking photography.  All of these images are taken during the seminar.

First – Someone shot Neil…  Not sure quite who but I know we had 3 cameras pointed at him.

Now for some stuff during the day using fill flash.

Here’s some stuff from after dinner with only the ambient streetlight and fill flash.

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It serves as a bed & breakfast and has so many photographic opportunities, I probably annoyed the happy couple to take photos in all sorts of locations.

It was a very intimate gathering of about 40 people and they were married underneath a gazebo in the “backyard”.  With a 3-tiered fountain as a backdrop, they exchanged their vows and sealed it with a kiss that, literally, everyone in the crowd felt because of the true love between them.  From the ceremony we went straight to the food that is well worth the drive, even without the beautiful surroundings you’re dining in.  Good friends, family and a happy couple made for a truly unforgettable celebration.

As always, here’s a few shots of the day!

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After the ceremony everyone sat down to one of my top ten meals of my photography career.  Shrimp & Grits, Tenderloin in a mushroom gravy sauce & Spinach & ham topped chicken were just a couple of the items on the menu.  Jordan and Kacie were both a pleasure to work with and we even got a “road shot” on Millbrook road.  No, I won’t show that one on my blog just in case someone gets run over (I don’t recommend this by the way) and blames me. 

Congratulations to both Jordan & Kacie!  It was my pleasure to photograph your wedding celebration!

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