April 6, 2011

Raleigh Engagement Photographer: Shannon+Phil

And here they are, the owners of the very popular Vince+Jackson. :) Shannon and Phil are great and oh so perfect together. We had a blast running around the city and taking shots in strange and unusual places. Their wedding is at Cobblestone Hall in June in Market Square, so they wanted their engagement session to be in Downtown Raleigh, but not near Market Square where their wedding pictures will be, so we found some new awesome places to shoot! I’m always up for investigating and finding new places and so I was excited. :) And we had a genuinely great time hanging out with them and their dogs (Jackson became particularly attached to Geoff) and had an awesome afternoon. Hope you love the pictures, guys! We are sooo excited to see you again in June!! :) :)

This couple has GREAT eyes and are so adorable together. :)

They were up for anything… because they are awesome. :) Shannon got a little dusty during this, but other than that no couples were harmed during filming. ;)

I really have several favorites from this session. This is favorite #1 (in no particular order).

VINCE AND JACKSON ARE BACK!!! This is their encore session because we couldn’t get enough of them the first time. ;)

This is Favorite #2.

This is favorite #3… and I think… my actual favorite. Although I’m not sure because I’m very indecisive.

Favorite #4! I love the orange buildings in the background. Downtown is great.

Favorite #5! This is tied for “Actual Favorite” with favorite #3. Thank you, Raleigh Convention Center, for being awesome and having great diffused lighting.

And thanks to Geoff for being a professional dog walker on this session! We had the dogs downtown and were maneuvering out of traffic and in several kind of dangerous situations for not-securely-tied-up dogs, so he was helping us out. This was Geoff’s first time being a pro dog walker for CSP and I have to say he is a natural. Jackson was terrified and does NOT like being away from Shannon, but Geoff managed to calm him down while they all sat together and by the end of the session Jackson was all about Geoff. And, of course, Vince wanted to pose with him. :)

3 nice things said

March 30, 2011

Raleigh Engagement Photographer: Reshma+Darren

Looove Reshma and Darren! This couple has been absolutely great to work with and I haven’t even photographed their wedding yet. They’re always on top of things, always in contact, and always positive, happy, and upbeat people. Their engagement session was unfortunately rained out earlier in March and was rescheduled for this weekend when it rained again. :) We all pulled up to the WRAL Azalea Gardens in the rain and low 40 degree temperatures and decided to wait it out. Thankfully, about 5 minutes later it all cleared (except the coldness) and we got it done! I was dressed in about twenty layers and Reshma was in a dress and freezing, but the gardens looked gorgeous and everyone was just happy the rain held off. Selena, Reshma’s daughter, tagged along and was not only a trooper, but totally hilarious and kept me laughing the whole time.

Thanks to Geoff for second shooting and amusing Darren by trash talking his Dallas Cowboys. ;) Below middle picture is Geoff’s take on my upper right picture. There are a lot more of his scattered throughout this blog post!

How absolutely lovely is Reshma?!?! She is going to make a stunning bride. And Darren is going to make a super handsome groom!

And enter Selena! This girl is clearly in line for modeling. Not only does she know all the right poses, but she loves being in front of the camera. At one point I do believe she said, “Every time I hear those clicks I just have to smile!” Haha, she is so adorable and awesome!

Oh, and did I tell you Reshma’s side of the family get total CSP bonus points for being from Pittsburgh?! Monroeville to be exact! They brought terrible towels to harass Darren with, who, as previously mentioned, is a Cowboys fan… hence the face below. :P

…Aaaand what’s an engagement session without your daughter gagging in the background as you guys kiss?! Hahahaha cracks me up. Selena afterward told Reshma that I was going to be the best part of their wedding because I “am fun-size like her.” YES!!

They are getting married April 24th at Maggiano’s in Durham’s Streets at Southpoint!

Geoff took the picture below of me instructing, hahaha. I look like I’m about five years old due to my extreme bundling up in cold temperatures (anything less than 65 degrees). Reshma and I are looking pretty tired at this point with her leaning on Darren and me leaning on my camera, haha. We woke up early for this! :D

1 nice things said

February 15, 2011

Raleigh Engagement Photographer: Katelyn+Blake

Who says February engagement sessions can’t be chock full of awesome?! Katelyn (Katie) and Blake were engaged in December and will be having their wedding in October in Texas. Blake is in the army and stationed in North Carolina while Katie is still living in Texas but flies in often to see him. She called me about doing their engagement pictures in Raleigh, and we discussed a couple of different options for locations. They were conflicted about two different looks: the tall, grassy field look and the bright colored background look. Usually it’s one or the other and it’s difficult to find a place to do both, but we ended up taking the nature ones at Fletcher Park and then making a short hop and skip to do the rest in downtown Raleigh.

It’s difficult to tell these were even taken in February with the lovely colors they chose to wear and the happy sunshine that followed us. :)

And before you see these, I must warn you… YES – Katie’s eyes are really that gorgeous… and YES – They are both that ridiculously good looking. AND FUN. I just love these two!!! Also, it never gets old to have a guy tell you at the end of the session, “Wow, that was a blast! I wasn’t expecting it to be that fun!” :)

Of course, thanks to the clients for being awesome/trust, and to Geoff, for assisting and capturing some great shots as my second shooter!