Raleigh Family Photographer: Gabby+Mike+Evan+Olive+Max

So I don’t advertise that I do family portraits because I concentrate mainly on weddings and those are 99% of my time. I’ve typically narrowed it down to only photographing friends’ families, or friends of friends, or families of friends, etc.  But I received this e-mail in my inbox a few months ago, and the wording was so funny that I agreed to take this woman and her so-called “crazy bunch” on. Upon further stalking of my blog, Gabby (the mom), discovered that my friend Alaskan Kate (who was my bridesmaid and featured a few times in my blog as a photography subject) is her son’s preschool teacher. We both thought that was strange and a small world, but it got even weirder when I said, “Oh yeah! I just volunteered for Kate’s bookfair to raise money for their preschool tonight! I made the buttons!” And it turned out that they were there and we had already met each other and Evan (their son) made a button and the button maker malfunctioned and her husband Mike gave me a rating of C- button making!!! SMALL WORLD.

Anyway – Gabby’s been keeping me entertained for weeks now sending me funny Twitter messages and I’ve been busy stalking their family pictures on Facebook. Now their family pictures are here! Gabby is mom, Mike is dad, Evan is the handsome 3 year-old, Olive is the adorable 15 month-old, and Max is the senior dog. All of them are equally adorable. You’ll see. It’s kind of hard to choose. Special thanks goes out to Chacha and her son – the Fekete family’s trusty neighbors who wrangled children, dogs, shoes, jelly beans, socks, bags, and were able to make everyone smile.

 

 

Raleigh Engagement Photographer: Keena+Dink

Keena and Dink are a great couple whom I had the pleasure of meeting through the Downtown Raleigh Alliance. They are super into downtown Raleigh and both live and work there. As Keena told me, “It’s our whole world.” There were a few specific places Keena and Dink wanted to go, and they toted me around in their car to them. :) They wanted to go to the places that they usually frequent in order to get a sense in the pictures of their happy lives that they live downtown. They’re a huge fan of the local restaurants and the Boylan Bridge Brewpub, so we went up there toward the end so I could photograph them inside one of their favorite places. :) Dink is a bankruptcy lawyer and Keena is in legal marketing. They both conveniently work in the same building! They’re having a small ceremony downtown in May, and then they’re heading to Las Vegas with family and friends to celebrate with another ceremony (but no Elvis). ;) Enjoy!

Raleigh Engagement Photographer: Kelsey+Drew

Let this be an incredible example of how having the super giggles in your picture can work in your favor. Whether you’re nervous, cold, had a few shots before the session, or just plain giggly… it really makes everything better. Trust me – I know that some of the poses we put you in can be awkward, but they’ll only look awkward if you can’t shake off your tenseness… and there’s only so many cheesy jokes I can tell. ;) I also know that it’s awkward having a camera shoved in your face by someone you barely know, but try try try not to take it too seriously. It’s funny! The whole situation is kind of ridiculous. So have the giggles… it makes everything better. :)

Our wonderfully giggly girl here is Kelsey and her sharply dressed guy is Drew. Kelsey is a pediatric nurse at Duke and Drew is in the Navy Reserve. Joining them is their fantasticly happy dog, Miley…goofy and wonderful as can be. Interesting location story! Kelsey and Drew like baseball. They wanted to do their session at the Durham Bulls stadium, but the owners typically don’t let you do full sessions there or allow you to go on the field unless you have an insider. So we tried the old Durham Bulls stadium, but they were having practice that night, and then an event. So I’d been e-mailing Kelsey and Drew back and forth… and thinking… and we weren’t sure about what to do. Conveniently, Geoff had a baseball game that I attended a week or so later. He’s the catcher for the Wake Blue Sox… an adult team in the area. Where’s the game? Oh, just some guy’s random baseball field behind his house.

What?

So I went to his baseball game, saw this guy’s baseball field and the area surrounded it, and e-mailed Kelsey the next day. :) Thankfully, the owner was gracious enough to let us shoot on the field and the yard since Geoff plays baseball against their team, and it was awesome!!! Geoff wasn’t able to accompany me to this session, but was super happy with what I did when he saw it afterward… except for Kelsey and Drew’s Red Sox allegiance, anyway (Geoff’s a Yankees fan). ;) But I say, with a couple as super sweet and kind as Kelsey and Drew, they can be Red Sox fans any day! Also, don’t look too close or you might notice the name Geoff Brown on the baseball equipment. :P