Brittany and Garrett are a great couple! We had a lot of fun on their shoot this past Sunday. :) I first met them at Mary Ann and Daniell’s wedding where Brittany was a bridesmaid! So I knew we’d have a lot of fun. When Brittany and I spoke about where they’d like to do their shoot, they wanted to have some in a bookstore or a library as her and Garrett both write and are very into books (i love that people still read… and actual bound books!). Brittany went to school for creative writing and wants to be an author, while Garrett writes for recreation. But we were doing this shoot on Sunday evening, so I had to think about a place that would be open on both Sunday evening and on Memorial Day weekend and… of course… it was Reader’s Corner on Hillsborough! :)

They were only open for a half hour, so we took few pictures inside, and did the bulk of our shoot outside. For those who don’t know, Reader’s Corner is that store that has books outside all night. They are only a few cents, and you pay for them via a little slot in the door with all proceeds going to NPR. It’s really pretty rad. We took some pictures. Brittany and Garrett bought some more books. It was all good. :D

We then moved on to a pretty park behind their house that they walk to quite often. It was a gorgeous summer evening, but hot! But they were great sports and put up with the heat, mosquitoes, and our ideas. ;) And Brittany has the most gorgeous blue eyes!

The light was greaaat. Thanks, end of spring!

Yay!! We love this session and it already makes me go, “Ahhhh, summer” even though it’s still spring and I’m sure I wouldn’t say that if I weren’t inside the air conditioned comfort of my house. ;) Thank you, Brittany and Garrett! We had a wonderful time working with you and wish you the very very best on your wedding and married life!

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. :)

Raleigh engagement photographer Raleigh engagement photographer

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

Raleigh engagement photographer Raleigh engagement photographer North Carolina wedding blog North Carolina wedding blog

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. ;)

engagement session Raleigh wedding photographers Raleigh engagement engagement portraits Raleigh

Geoff was dragonfly’ed.

dragonfly hat engagement portraits Raleigh engagement portraits Raleigh engagement portraits Raleigh engagement portraits Raleigh woodsy engagement session engagement portraits Raleigh engagement portraits Raleigh engagement portraits Raleigh

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!!

Lori and Hassan became engaged in December 2010 in downtown Raleigh and contacted me shortly thereafter for photographs. We weren’t sure how the weather was going to pan out in January, but they had a beautiful morning! It was sunny and blue skies all the way. However, it was also ridiculously cold. :) And extremely windy. :) And nobody was shaking more than their little dog, Wrigley, who came with us for the session! But all three of them were troopers and we got some beautiful pictures traversing downtown Raleigh! They are a gorgeous couple with a great sense of style and it was so fun getting to know them. :)

downtown raleigh engagement session raleigh wedding photographer raleigh portrait photographer downtown raleigh engagement portraits raleigh wedding photographer

Little Wrigley! She was a super good sport the whole time. She was with Lori and Hassan when they got engaged on the Capital Building lawn, so it was only fitting that she was there with us. Maybe she can be the ring bearer at the wedding! :) I vote yes.

portrait photographer raleighdowntown raleigh portraits raleigh engagement

We were shooting outside the capital in this little awesome doorway when the security guard saw us and waved us inside and out of the cold! Of course, we all had to go through security which took forever, I had to be inspected with a wand, and both my and Lori’s boots set off the metal detector, but all and all we were happy to be inside for a few minutes. ;)

capital building engagment photographs raleigh engagement photographer

Thank you so much, Lori and Hassan! You are a beautiful couple and I had a great time working with you!