We have had a truly amazing amount of adorable doggos lately, so when we heard that we were going to be photographing little Finn, a Cockapoo Extraordinaire, we were sure that he’d be pretty great. And he was! And what makes Finn so great, you might ask? Well, Finn has a wide variety of adorable quirks, mostly involving the fact that he loves to chase toys but hasn’t yet mastered the concept of bringing them back to you, so rather he exchanges one toy for another. All games must involve multiple toys. You go out in the yard and throw something, and he runs at sound-barrier speed to go get it, and then chooses whether or not it’s worth dropping his current toy (which he brought over with him in his mouth) for this one that you just threw. His favorite is a little pink tennis ball and a frisbee, which he carries in such a way where it adorably gets stuck a bit on his head. He also has a stuffed log in which plush squirrels are hidden, which is also currently a big hit.

Finn’s beloved owners are Robin and Bob, who are incredibly lovely people who adore their family and wanted to have photographic evidence of this point in time in their lives with each other and Finn. They were really wonderful and easy to work with despite it being a particularly freezing morning and shooting outside. They were also capable of interacting in an endearing and beloved way with each other, regardless of the fact that zero out of the four people present were morning people. We had such a great time getting to know these guys and witnessing their dog put a frisbee on his head. We’re happy to have captured their family together having a good old time in their neighborhood!

Promo // Gilded Bridal.

I am so, so, so thrilled to have done our third promo shoot for the fabulous Gilded Bridal! For those who missed parts one and two, Gilded Bridal is a boutique bridal shop in downtown Raleigh run by our very own former engagement and wedding client Susan Langford! She offers dresses from independent designers, and they’re badass. And I’m not just saying that because I love her. If her shop was around when I was married, my dress would’ve been a whole different ballgame.

Susan cares deeply about her brides and also her awesome staff, so for Gilded’s Staff Appreciation Day, I came in to take headshots of the gorgeous Gilded girls as well as brides going through the process of picking out a gown and accessories. Then they all went to get manicures. It was a good day.

So if you’re in the market for a wedding gown in the Triangle area, check out Gilded Bridal in downtown Raleigh because Susan is awesome and I am so proud of the incredible business owner she’s become! And now we have a ton of women e-mailing us to tell us that they bought their dress from Gilded and it’s our current wedding clients buying wedding things from our former wedding clients and that makes us smile a lot because our clients are THE BEST! And it’s neat to see them come together.

Thanks to the amazing crew who helped us pull together this day! Hair/Makeup by Samantha Ray of Lula Hair + Makeup and Joanne Maye. And thank you to our amazing models and staff: Leah, Amy, Susan, Natalee, Lauren, and Heather! You put the sparkle in Gilded Bridal. :)

Woah, you guys. When I opened up my email to see that I had an inquiry from this guy, I was half tempted to respond and tell him that I was booked for all of remaining space and time because I was way too nervous to shoot a session for him. I’ve been following/stalking/admiring Michael Moss and his photography work since 2008, since I first started my business and had zero clients. So to receive a super kind note from him asking us to shoot his promo session for his new website overhaul was high praise indeed. After I got over the initial shock and decided to refrain from telling him we were booked for all remaining space and time, we set up the session.

We were nervous. Well, I was nervous (Geoff is perpetually unworried and unconcerned). We hadn’t met and I was afraid I’d screw it up in some monumental and unforgivable way. Or my camera would die or I’d forget how to use it. But then the shoot started. And he was SO NICE. And he’s Canadian! I don’t know why, but this made me far less intimidated (it’s widely known that every single Canadian is nice), and then we had a good time. His wife Angelique (who, side note, is absolutely beautiful!) came with us on the session and did a great job being adorable and helpful and fabulous. And guess what? I don’t think we screwed it up. In fact, I think we did a pretty good job, but we also had some fabulous subjects to work with. Please check out Michael’s work if you haven’t had a chance, and enjoy our promo photos of him and Angelique!