April 14, 2011

Raleigh Engagement Photographer: Jenna+Josh

Yay, Jenna and Josh!! It has been a while since we scheduled this and I had been looking forward to working with them since photographing their furry children, Jack and Lola. And they were troopers. We walked a lot through the woods and on top of locks of rocks with Jenna in uncomfortable shoes and Josh doesn’t like having his picture taken. :) But we conquered both shoe and camera uncomfortableness to have a wonderful session! I love the colors in this one and, considering the awful weather we’d had last week, I was happy to see the sun again for this session.

Jenna and Josh live together in Oxford where Jenna is a pharmacy tech and Josh is a narcotics officer for the Sheriff’s Department. They’re having a backyard wedding in September. :)

They both have the nicest smiles. It’s like a dentist commercial, really.

Thanks for being good sports, guys. :) You know I just had to pose them in front of the ridiculous bird silhouettes sign. I’m sure this wasn’t what Jenna was envisioning for her portraits, but you have to stick a few interesting ones in there for amusement. ;)

Geoff was dragonfly’ed.

Josh told me that Jenna tends to be picky about pictures of herself, so I hope you can find some that you like, Jenna. ;) I think you look beautiful!!

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April 13, 2011

Raleigh Engagement Photographer: Ashley+Rodney

Meet Ashley and Rodney, a very sweet and adorable couple from Zebulon, NC who are planning a wedding for 2012. :) Rodney proposed to Ashley on February 13th of this year and they’re just in the beginning stages of planning… not yet in the throes of planning panic quite yet. ;) Ashley contacted me for an engagement shoot at Perry’s Pond, a quiet little place a little north of Zebulon near Bunn. Her mother had her senior portraits taken here and the local high school still does a lot of senior portraits on this piece of land. Ashley changed high schools before they took their group senior shot here, so unfortunately she wasn’t able to have pictures here… until now! :) And a beautiful woodsy location it is! And although we would’ve loved for the sun to be out, it was at least warm and the rain held off to mere drizzle for 95% of the time, so it was a success!

Ashley has such a sweet smile and gorgeous eyes! And Rodney is such a sweetheart. They’re both really kind, down-to-earth people.

Oh, and meet Brodie too! :) How could we forget him. Here he is, below, smiling for the camera (love those teeth). Brodie is a Peekapoo and nothing, really, but a large ball of the softest fur on planet Earth. He is adorable, fiesty, and easily distracted… and I love him a lot!

For those of you who’ve had a session with me, you know my tendency to walk backward without watching where I’m going and tripping, falling, and generally causing a scene. That said, this was a particularly dangerous location for me with all the rocks and water. ;) But I survived without a scratch!

Quick change of clothes and some drizzle later… my favorite picture of the day!

Ashley and Rodney, you are wonderful! I hope you, your family, and Brodie enjoy the pictures. :)

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April 12, 2011

Raleigh Portrait Photographer: Gregory(baby)+Kuma(dog)+Bella(dog)

Prepare for two really cute two sessions in one! :) A wonderful woman named Melanie called me a couple weeks ago to set up a portrait session for her 11-month old son, Gregory, and her two dogs, Kuma and Bella. Therefore, this is half toddler-portrait-session and half dog-portrait-session… the best of both ridiculously cute and cuddly worlds! :)

We’ll start with Gregory first! Gregory, who is such a photogenic toddler and lover of the camera despite his cold at the time, is the happiest toddler in the world. He didn’t cry or get upset once, even when he was tired! He laughed and smiled the entire time. Even when he finally did get tired, he just sort of rubbed his eyes and looked like, “Uuuggghh… so tired… but I must… keep… posing…”. He’s clearly a baby modeling natural! I loved this little fella!

This is Gregory’s “Blue Steel” face… all CSP clients have one, even the babies.

And enter Bella! Bella is a large (very large) black and furry dog of unknown origin. She is a total sweetheart (her patience exhibited below) and Gregory just loves her.

Bella and Gregory get along. Kuma, ehhh, not so much. :) Kuma gets along with Bella, but not really with kids. She just does her own thing being A REALLY CUTE (but tiny) dog that looks like you took a Husky and shrunk them down with a shrink-ray and made a pocket sized version (technically called the Shiba Inu breed). Look at that face!

Enter Gregory+Kuma+Bella’s incredibly kind and beautiful parents, Melanie and Mark! Melanie is a software architect and Mark is a lawyer, and combined their children will be very smart and professional! Look at Gregory’s face below… he knows how to work it for the camera. :)

Look at this little dog! Ohhh, Kuma, I just want to give you lots of hugs but you kinda just do your own thing by yourself and I respect that.

So Bella originally was supposed to be 40 pounds full grown, but she obviously became much much bigger. No one is sure of her breed… all we know is that she’s very soft, furry, and giant. But she is so cute! I love her ears. She can look pretty wolf-ish sometimes and is just adorable!

I had a great time on this shoot and it was a pleasure getting to know and work with this beautiful family! :)

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