It was such a joy to be asked by Tosha and Brian, the talented photographer and DJ duo behind Story+Rhythm, to photograph their new branding photos for them! We worked with them back in 2015 (time flies!) and so I was super excited to reunite with them! Tosha is the photographer in this relationship and Brian is the DJ. Sometimes they work together, and sometimes separately. I think it’s neat how they’re partners in the same industry but have completely different jobs and roles. It’s always fascinating to talk with different vendors to see what happens to them behind the wedding scenes! So Tosha, Brian, and myself walked about the city and discussed weddings and venues and photography life without Geoff. Geoff’s been missing all of my recent client reunions because he’s retired now, but he did happen to be downtown for a work conference on this particular day and was sticking around so we could go see Coheed afterward at the Ritz. While my face was in the viewfinder, he sidled up next to me and I definitely thought my camera was going to get stolen, but nope, it was just Geoff. So he did get to say hello to Tosha and Brian – hah! It was so much fun to work with them again. If you need a wedding photographer or a DJ, please check out their awesome work! https://storyandrhythm.com/

Jane and Alex are engageeeed(!) and getting married in MEXICO (jealousss) and hired me to photograph their engagement portraits (yaaaaay!) under the stipulation that we try our best to avoid ticks (ewwwwww). Jane has gorgeous hair and incredibly fit upper arms, and Alex has very impressive eyelashes in an almost-Richard-from-Lost type of fashion. They are very cute. They have also lived in every state beginning with the letter C, visited 46/50 states, and have both lived abroad, which is so impressive! We had fun discussing their travels, work, and hobbies. They met while they were both attending Wake Forest and now live happily in Durham with their two dogs. They spend a good deal of their time now browsing PetFinder, and trying to convince one another that they don’t need a third dog. When not contemplating the pitfalls of life with three dogs, Jane spends her time lifting heavy things, and Alex spends his watching baseball or playing video games. Together they’re rock-solid, and they can thankfully both lift each other in a pinch should the occasion arise where the floor would suddenly become lava and they’d need to take turns carrying one another to safety. I enjoyed working with them very much, and thankfully all ticks were avoided during this shoot.

At Home with John+Anna.

We have been so lucky over the past few years to gain some family portrait clients who make us feel like we’re part of their own family and we just love them so so much that we could squeeze them all to pieces. This is one of those families. Last year we met Anna, John, their daughter Lou, and their pup Keva, and they ran around and we photographed them being adorable. Lou was talkative to her parents, but was semi skeptical of us as most two year olds are (why are these people in my house?).

Fast forward a year and a half, and we suddenly and inexplicably gained all of Lou’s trust, and she immediately launched into a detailed speech regarding tigers, dinosaurs, and pajamas with feet upon our arrival. She sometimes prefers to eat breakfast while wearing a helmet, and insisted on having a temporary tattoo to match Mr. Geoff’s real tattoo. She also has a new little brother, Gus, who is just as friendly, only without words. He prefers spending his time chewing on giraffes and smiling happily at everyone.

We crashed Matchbox cars! We made pretend nighttime with a tent! We gave a full sleeve of temporary tattoos to a 3 year old! At some point a very scary monkey also made an appearance, and we might’ve asked if John and Anna would give us ice cream (they did). It was the best day.

Also, if you’re curious, Anna is a professional illustrator and does some pretty rad artwork of adorable kids and pigs and once drew a picture of myself, Geoff, and our two cats riding in a Viking ship.