Elise’s Bridal Portraits in Durham, NC.

The first wedding of the year is officially over, meaning I can now post Elise’s bridal portraits!! :D Ow ow!

Elise and I did these back in the beginning of February (hence the no “Carolyn” watermarks on them because I uploaded these to the blog last month and now am too lazy to go back and put my name on them, but Geoff couldn’t attend the session so I don’t really think they need to be labeled anyway). I asked her whether or not she wanted them to be funky or traditional, and she said she had thought traditional in front of Duke Chapel (where they were married yesterday in a wedding of awesome!) but now that I mentioned it, funky might be fun too. :) Sooo we split ’em up. Half in a crazy amazing antique store, the other half at Duke. Both, apparently, equally treacherous for her gorgeous dress (bridal portraits aren’t for the terribly faint of heart, and your dress will get dirty and need cleaned, and you may trip and rip part of your dress under your high heels, so make sure that you have a good and nice gown person who understands the dangers and can do any cleaning and repairs well before the wedding).

Elise is amazingly beautiful, and Geoff and I both agree that she looks like a young Molly Ringwald. I wasn’t sure whether or not Elise would be offended despite how gorgeous we think Molly Ringwald is (since you know how sometimes people tell you that you look like someone you don’t think you look like and it freaks you out?), but Geoff assured me that “Molly Ringwald was like, the Queen of the 80s!!” I told Elise, and she said, “Anytime anyone compares me to the Queen of anything (especially the 80s) I’m thrilled!”

This is why we love you, Elise. Have a great time in the Bahamas!

Amy+Ben’s Engagement Session at Duke University

Ben grew up in Indiana and came to North Carolina for college but ended up in New York City, NY while Amy grew up in Raleigh but went to college in Ithica and winded up in New York City, NY, only to come back to Durham for their engagement session at Duke University. GOT IT? Good! :D

So both Amy and Ben were in the same states at kind of roughly the same time periods but nothing ever really overlapped. Amy was introduced to Ben through a cleverly-disguised blind date set up by their mutual friends while she was visiting New York City (Ben already lived there at this point). They spoke to each other online for a few months while Amy was finishing up school/cleverly devising a way to get back to New York City while in Ithica. She visited him often, one thing led to another, etc., and it all accumulates into a very happy wedding this September at Temple Beth and 1705 Prime in Raleigh! For now they remain happily situated in New York where Ben works for a software company and Amy is a physical therapist.

So why Duke University? Ben went to college at Duke and they dig the architecture and the general space (it also reminds Amy of Cornell, where she went to school). And I was sooo super happy and delighted that parts of the campus actually had flowers and leaves and things that were bright and happy! It’s kind of hit or miss around in the area right now as to whether or not all of the grass is completely dead or bright green. :) Anyway – I had a great time with these two nice and fun and adorable people and look forward to their triumphant return to North Carolina in September!

A Valentine’s Themed Anniversary Session in Raleigh with Kim+Joe.

What better way to celebrate your 4 year anniversary than tromping around in a field surrounded by red balloons, a totally sweet tent made for children, fake crows, hand-painted tights, and more doilies than you can possibly imagine!? :D

We happily took pictures of the stunning Kim (mom and photographer) and the handsome Joe (Army man) in a field nearby our house. Kim and Joe celebrated their anniversary with a session to celebrate their amazing awesomeness. Kim’s starting a photography business of her own, and photos are mega important to her. She wanted these pictures to be fun, relaxed, and show how in love her and Joe are… which wasn’t hard to do. :) She also wanted it to be Valentine themed with the major color scheme being red, white, and pink. Ironically, they had a lot of the same ideas that Geoff and I had for our own anniversary session last year: using a lot of props and things from their actual wedding, bring glass Coke bottles and birdcages equipped with crows (which we still had from our wedding and took along for this shoot… the crows were happy to be included and so often used), colored shoes, and decorations that were meaningful to them (a Mason jar full of golf balls to represent Joe’s love of golf, and a jar full of buttons to represent Kim’s craftiness).

Kim and Joe came equipped with TONS OF PROPS that, apparently, also fill their house at any given time of the year. You see, Kim is a major crafthead (hence the jar of buttons). Constantly, constantly crafting. Every decoration you see in this shoot that involves ribbon, yarn, doilies, necklaces, tights, fabric flowers – Kim made herself. She has an incredible talent for creating things that are fun, sweet, and inherently happy.

They were our first couple to come to their session equipped with their own party-sized helium tank.

**I want to give major photo props to Geoff, who helped me set  up and style the table of crafts that Kim brought, but who also took freaking awesome pictures, many of which are below. Geoff always shoots weddings with me, but he isn’t always able to make it to portrait shoots because he has a regular software engineering job and I shoot portraits on the weekdays. But when he’s able to make it, he takes really great stuff (in addition to coding our website, blog, ordering system, and everything else behind the scenes). So, in order to give credit where credit is due, I’m now watermarking all pictures with our names in the lower left hand corner. It’s very subtle (I despise watermarks as I find them distracting and don’t believe they stop people from stealing anything unless they’re right over the picture… which is even more distracting) and I hope it serves the purpose of giving Geoff credit while not taking away from the pictures. :) GEOFF, YOU ROCK.