While this album is perfect for leaving out on the coffee table now and looking through anytime someone walks by, I can just imagine the family years from now looking back at the images and reminiscing or even retelling baby stories as Abby looks through the photos with a child of her own.
Read MoreOne of my very favorite subjects to photograph is love and what epitomizes love better than two parents with their 10 day old newborn? A few months ago two of my good friends brought their beautiful daughter into the world and instantly fell in love with this sweet bundle of joy. Because we all know that kids grow up entirely too fast, Parker and Kendal wanted to capture this first part of their journey so that when Abby takes her first steps or goes to her first class or has her first child of her own (Parker and Kendal - don't read that part, it's years away, don't worry!), they can look back and remember this quiet (or not so quiet?) time with her.
Read MoreWe're a week in to the new year so it's about the time that outrageous new year's resolutions have run their course and realistic goals begin to take shape. For me, I spent the week (when I wasn't working on clients' work) crunching last year's numbers, analyzing what worked and what didn't and especially journaling about the direction I would like my company to go. As this long term vision is starting to take root (I'll keep the details to myself for now, wouldn't want to spoil the fun!) I've narrowed down a few of my goals for 2017 to get me on my way:
Read MoreAs one of my favorite shoots of the fall, I've been meaning to sharing this album for a while, but wedding season certainly kept me busy. Now that I've got some time, here's a look at The Rogers' album from their couple's session around Waynesville.
Read MoreI've said it before and I'll say it again: a man who gives his wife a photo shoot and album for her birthday is a man who knows what he's doing! I met Ashleigh at Kudzu Brands so I had actually photographed her before, but it was fun to do so in a more relaxed setting.
Read MoreAs I'd photographed for 12 hours on their big day, narrowing down the images to fit into 50 spreads was quite difficult (and luckily not my task as Kim picked out which images she liked best!) My goal was to weave together the images in a way that would showcase their vibrancy and attention to detail while highlighting the importance of family and this newly-combined family's love for each other.
Read MoreThe day after Thanksgiving, I got to witness Terri and Jodi promise their lives to each other. While I get to see this quite often, their genuine happiness to make their vows and the pure outpouring of love from their families and friends brought more than one tear to my eye.
Read MoreAfter splashing around in the creek, we spent the rest of the shoot walking through the gardens (and avoiding the decidedly snippy annual flower market people), stopping sporadically when I found nice light to snap more happy photos. I'm fairly sure these two laughed the entire shoot and their merriment glows through all of their images. Tomorrow I get to document this loving couple making their vows to each other and I'm so excited to capture their happiness and love once again!
Read MoreThrough either ridiculously good luck or really smart branding I've somehow managed to shoot weddings exclusively for people with whom I feel sure I could be friends. Katy and Mark were certainly no exception and I was actually sad when leaving their wedding because I would more than likely not get to see them again as they live in New York City. They may sound strange to an outsider, but as a photographer (and a wedding shooter especially) you scrutinize people waiting for the most "them" moments - moments that will capture their essence and tell their story - so I felt like I knew the lovely pair incredibly well even though I'd only spent roughly 10 hours in their presence.
Read MoreNeither sickness nor cold air nor wildfires could keep Savannah and Kevin from making the most of their special day. Their deep love and admiration for each other shone through in every look, every touch, every stolen smile as they celebrated their new life together. This autumn day called for some beautiful festive fall details from vibrant shoulder wraps to warm-toned flowers to pumpkins. Thank you to all the friends, family and fabulous local vendors who helped make this couple's day even more special! Stay tuned for Savannah and Kevin's full wedding blog post soon.
Read MoreKim and Matt’s summer wedding dawned cloudy and warm, and only got cloudier and warmer as the day went on. Many brides would have fretted about the weather, but Kim remained calm - simply enjoying getting ready with her daughters and friends - and kept her cool even when she walked out the door towards the altar and realized the sky was opening. Throughout the whole planning and shooting process during which I got to know Kim and Matt, this theme of focusing on their love for each other rather than their need for everything to go according to plan held true. And for me as a photographer trying to capture all of the emotions and ins-and-outs of their day, this made my job infinitely easier and more enjoyable!
Read MoreThe locations people choose for the backdrops to their photo shoots are often very telling of their personalities and if this idea actually holds merit, then Janel and Corey's most prominent trait is vibrancy! We scheduled our engagement shoot one summer morning to avoid the terrible heat (didn't quite happen) and take advantage of the softer light while still capturing beautifully saturated images in the River Arts District. And I'm fairly sure the in the entire hour and a half that these two were in front of the lens, they were either smiling and laughing at each other or giggling at something I said or asked them to do. I've always said that my favorite subject to photograph is laughter and these two lovebirds filled my cards with grinning images.
Read MoreWe couldn't have asked for better weather for Katy and Mark's September afternoon wedding! The sky was a perfect blue with those puffy clouds that look like you could sleep on them and the sun shone brightly, aluding to the bright future ahead of this couple. Katy and Mark had two subtle but personal themes in their decor: "America" and "New York" (though one could argue the two are inseperable.) The nod to 'Murica wove through the color scheme: navy bridesmaids' dresses, red and white roses with a nautical striped ribbon, and red and blue ties coordinating with gray suits. As far as patriotic color schemes go, their's was incredibly well done. Though maybe not born-and-bred, these two new New Yorkers also incorporated their hometown into the decor at their destination wedding, particularly in their table settings.
Read MoreThese two [current] New Yorkers traded the hustle and bustle of the big city for a quieter Asheville wedding with perhaps a bit more of a scenic view. For their December destination engagement photos, we choose downtown and the Botanical Gardens to match their "outdoorsy" location desire. To match their personality style, we selected the Double Decker bus to emulate a whimsical coffee date, a quiet romantic walk through downtown with their puppy, Layla, and the river and cabin in the Botans for a few fun photos.
Read MoreLast weekend I got to enjoy my favorite part of the process - delivering the finished products to two people who put their complete faith in me to capture the most exciting day in their lives to date. Alex and Zack were the epitome of my ideal customer - they were looking for a photojournalistic style but also left the creativity up to me and most importantly they knew the value of printing their images to enjoy in multiple forms.
Read MoreWhile many students seem to prefer solo graduation shoots to have some 1-1 time with the camera, for these three [former] UNCA volleyball players who had studied, competed and grown up together for the past four years, it only made sense to have their graduation photos taken together as well. This proved to be great fun and we spent an hour giggling with a few minutes of photography thrown in.
Read MoreKudzu Brands is without a doubt one of the best in the biz. I hadn't even met Murphy myself (my husband met her) before I knew she needed to be at the helm of my branding design launch. As we got to know each other, we realized we could create a beautiful symbiotic relationship wherein I would photograph for them for certain projects, especially environmental portraits as that's my specialty.
Read MoreI have a confession: food photography may be my favorite genre of the art. I mean, capturing important moments in people's lives is great and all, but why do that when you can take photos of food for one of your favorite Asheville restaurants and then get to eat all of the food?! This was probably one of my most enjoyable shoots in the past few months because all I had to do was sit back and wait for the chefs and bartender of Post 70 to work their magic and then capture their creations. It also helped that my at-the-time-fiance-now-husband tagged along to entertain me, hold my reflector, and of course (first and foremost) to eat the delicious food.
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