Boudoir Photography

Modeling Photography

Now, if you noticed, the boudoir photo session went from shooting with a BMW to shooting in a pool.  The reason behind that was to create an educational video for how I use glamour lighting for the Digital Wedding Forum.  The “DWF” is who hosted the convention in San Antonio and was gracious enough to video the pool shoot then use it as an educational piece for other DWF members.

In addition to this, they were very accommodating and let me have a copy and display it on my blog.  I’ve got a link to the post below where you can learn more about the shoot and see the video itself.  Again, a huge thanks to the DWF for letting me post this!  The DWF is a very valuable resource and was absolutely vital for help when I first started my wedding photography business.

The Video is here:  Behind the Scenes of a Trash the Dress Shoot

*please note – I did get IN the pool.  In January.  In my underwear.  Thankfully, that part is very, very short in the video. 

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Emily is probably the most energetic, smiling and outgoing person I have met all year.  Even better, it’s infectious so everyone around her catches her enthusiasm and joy and, well, it turns into one big laugh fest and celebration very quickly.  Emily and her bridesmaids were getting ready in one of the conference rooms down by her wedding reception as she had quite a few bridesmaids and 2 hair & makeup artists.  This allowed Emily to also get a sneak peek of her room, delicious wedding cake by sugarland & gorgeous wedding flowers by dogwood tree florist, before she headed over to Duke Chapel for the wedding.

As it was an evening wedding in winter the light we had, or I should say, not have, really makes for dramatic portraits and with Duke Chapel as a backdrop, I think they came out absolutely stunning.  That is truly what I love about wedding photography…  getting truly unique and gorgeous results using unconventional methods.  so back to the important part of this blog entry, Emily & Will had a gorgeous ceremony and after we did our couples portraits, we headed back to the Washington Duke Inn for their wedding reception.

The room was gorgeous, Greg from Joe Bunn DJ Company was setting the mood with the tunes and everyone was ready to eat and party down.  I ended up doing a few ring shots with the wine corks which, I found out later, Emily is a huge fan of wine.  Wait, not like that… you know what I mean!  Anyway, after the cake cutting and toasts, the party got started and everyone really had a great time (including me) celebrating Emily & Will’s marriage.  When it came time for the bouquet toss, Emily had a game plan.  That plan was, well, fairly straightforward….  throwing the bouquet straight at her sister.  LOL.. I loved the expression on everyones faces.

The night just flew by and before I knew it, the evening was over.  That’s the mark of a great party I think!  I know I say this a lot but I really mean it – it is a true honor to be present and capture the moments, emotions and all elements of my clients wedding day.  I think that passion shows in the work and, as you can see, there was no shortage of great moments!  I hope you enjoy a few choice photos from Emily & Will’s Duke Chapel wedding.

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I photographed Stephanie & Jonathan’s engagement session at the Umstead back in May of this year so it was really great to be back, this time for the wedding.  Both Jonathan & Stephanie got ready in the Hotel so it made for a very short trip to hop from Stephanie’s wedding suite to Jonathan’s suite.  Both of them were getting ready with their respective weddings parties in the room so it really made for great photography.

Their outdoor wedding ceremony was presided over by their Uncle which made for a somewhat unique and certainly a memorable ceremony.  After the ceremony was over and the family formals were done, my newly married clients and I went down to the lake behind the hotel to photograph their wedding day portraits.

We all headed into their wedding reception where Jonathan & Stephanie greeted all of their guests in a receiving line before sitting down for lunch.  After eating and pending more time with the guests, the cake was cut and the couple danced with each other and their parents.  Morning and afternoon weddings have a completely different feel then evening weddings and it was really a joy to photograph.  I want to thank Stephanie & Jonathan for choosing me to capture their wedding day memories!  I hope you enjoy a few photos from their wedding day!

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Their day, for wedding photography at least, turned out wonderful with cloudy skies giving me a ton of flexibility on which locations I could use.  Wedding photographers really love cloudy days because of the beautiful soft light we get to play with. The Fairmont Methodist UMC has a great courtyard with some of the most amazing light to work with.  We dodged a few raindrops did some photography around the church campus then off to Bogarts in downtown Raleigh where I got to take the happily married couple out and around the architecture in downtown(which is a big favorite of mine). Back inside the wedding reception we got to enjoy a wonderful set of dances with the parents and, of course, the newlyweds. Bogarts did a wonderful job with hosting the wedding reception and everyone had an absolute blast dancing and celebrating with Hunter & Melanie! As things began to wind down, a few of the groomsman “prepared” the car as a final salute to the couple – which of course I got some cool photography of.

As it does tend to happen in this area, the skies cleared up after the wedding reception which gave us the chance to the go back out downtown and do some evening photography. I do need to clarify the wedding was on 10/24, so there was some Halloween activity going on in the form of a scavenger hunt – so hopefully the explains the zombies appearing in wedding photos.

DJ: Shannon Pake – Raleigh, NC
Flowers: North Raleigh Florist – Raleigh, NC
Cake: Wandaful Cakes – Raleigh, NC

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

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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.

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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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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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I met Christina & Antoine for the first time last year. At our initial consult, I remember thinking how much fun it would be to shoot this wedding. They were an absolute pleasure to talk with at the consult (and even for a few minutes after as we waited for the rain to subside) and I remember thinking how long of a wait it would be to work directly with them. Well my thoughts and inner monologue we are right on the money. From the moment I arrived at Christina’s house in Raleigh there was this pleasant aura in the air (along with some Alicia Keys) and the house was abuzz with energy. That energy stayed up throughout the wedding and into the reception at the Raleigh Sheraton hotel.

It was my pleasure getting to know the both of them and wish them the absolute best in their marriage and lives together!

So, without further ado (you’ve waited long enough), here are the photos (Photographers Note* – I do not condone trying to photograph while driving):

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