lauren + pat =married! mebane wedding photographer

if I had to sum up lauren and pat's wedding in a word, that word would be incredible--the venue was picturesque, I loved the colors, lauren looked radiant, pat looked polished, and it was a sunny (and hot!) day! I loved it that everyone partied the night away too!

and pine lake pavilion was just fantastic! the light in the trees, the details of the venue, and just the overall gorgeousness--I was blown away!

I had been looking forward to this wedding for over a year--and especially since I did their engagement photos! and it did not disappoint :)



I must say--the guys totally rocked their pink, yes? and the horse drawn carriage was unbelievable! and at the bottom, those are lauren's something olds--so sweet!

love these? go check out the rest of their wedding under "recent weddings" here!

kristin + erik = married! charleston wedding photographer

you've seen their engagement photos, now it's time for their wedding. it was a hot afternoon in charleston, but it quickly led into a beautiful evening, complete with a light breeze and gorgeous light for their rooftop wedding at the harbor club. kristin looked amazing in her adorable gown, and erik couldn't stop smiling!



it was at this wedding that I was reminded of how important photographers are--how we have the duty and privilege of capturing the moments that people spent hours and hours crafting, but also the moments that the bride and groom never thought of, or, most importantly, those they never saw coming. In this case it was when erik kissed kristin's hand during a prayer (which totally brought tears to my eyes) and the horse and carriage that the maid of honor surprised them with when they exited!

and I loved loved LOVED that they had someone doing caricatures at their wedding. His name was Chad Straka, and you can see his website here. I thought this was a totally fun idea for a wedding favor--and judging by the line to get them done, I think the guests agreed!

it was also pretty awesome to photograph this wedding because these two are/were, literally, my next door neighbors! they now live in a home about a two minute walk away in the same neighborhood, and I love seeing them and hearing how they're enjoying their photos! it always makes me smile :)

kai, chrissy and kris: durham newborn photographer

one of the best parts about photographing newborns is that I often get to visit my clients' homes and see where they live, how they decorate and all that jazz. definitely an enlightening thing!

with chrissy, kris and kai, it was awesome to see how much they looooove photos--they had photos all over their house! pictures from their wedding, engagement photos, arts photos of places they'd traveled, pictures of their friends, pictures of family, etc. and now, I'm betting their walls are covered with pictures of their handsome little boy, kai.



all of the items on that shelf were important to them--kris' baby shoes and body building trophies, chrissy's bridal portrait, pictures of their family, souvenirs from trips they'd taken, thoughtful gifts they'd been given, etc. I loved giving them a picture that had so many sentimental items included!

I could blog pictures of this family all day--but instead I encourage you to go check out their album in the cream-of-the-crop section on my portrait site!

allie's bridals: cary wedding photographer

when you see these, allie will be, as she put it, "be-boppin' down the aisle!"



I love it when brides do bridal portraits! It's such a special dress and an amazing event--and I know that she and allan will enjoy these portraits when they are old and gray :)

best wishes to you both, I can't wait to photograph your wedding in a few hours!

katie + ben = married! durham wedding photographer

you already saw katie and ben's engagement photos--now it's time for their lovely, lovely wedding!



I loved all of the details of their wedding, some of which aren't pictured here. Katie's dress had a blue bow and a piece of her mother's dress sewn into the lining. Ben had special earrings for her to open during their first look. Their bubbles were placed in the shape of a heart, they had an awesome candy table and it seemed like every single element had special meaning--I loved it! And a super-shout out to these two for their thoughtfulness--they put extra thought into where we should sit and we had an excellent time with our kickball-playing tablemates :)

little baby evan: durham newborn photographer

this little boy is one the smiling-est babies I've seen in a long time. if you look at the one in the red shirt you'll see his smile--he looked like that 5 minutes into the session, and it was almost like he was waving and saying "hey carrie, nice to meet ya!" my heart melted, I'm not gonna lie. :)



little evan was an answer to his mommy and daddy's prayers, and it was incredible to see the love that just poured forth from them. and I can't wait to see that love in a tangible form--that is, when david draws a picture of evan. check out his AMAZING work, here. my husband matt and I can't wait to have him draw one of our wedding photos for us too! such talent, such love, this family is incredible!

sarah + evan = married! blowing rock wedding photographer

I just love the mountains of north carolina. maybe it's because they are still a novel thing to me--in tulsa we had plenty of rolling hills and lots of shoreline from our lakes and rivers, but I rarely saw real mountains. and there's such an awesome vibe when you travel out west--I just love it!

so of course I was thrilled when sarah and evan's wedding rolled around! I had such fun doing their engagement photos and their wedding was simply gorgeous. see?



also, that top left picture of her dress in a bathtub? tells you just how awesome sarah is! I told her what I wanted to do and, without batting an eye, sarah said "do whatever you want, I trust you completely." and now that is my favorite dress picture EVER. :D

one other awesome thing about this wedding was the venue! It was a lovely little city park and the wedding was on a little peninsula of land with a gazebo. and this wedding helps me answer a question I get all the time. first, the picture:


More often than not I get asked "do I want/need/have to have a second shooter?" It's a totally fair question--weddings have budgets and second shooters cost money! But if you have a second shooter, you can often get perspectives like you do here. These were taken within two seconds of one another. And in this case, my second shooter was my fabulous husband Matt, who second-shoots for me 95% of the time! :)

There are a ton of other amazing moments from Sarah and Evan's wedding I'd like to share with you--and you can see them on my wedding website, under "recent weddings." Go check it out!

kristin and erik: durham engagement photographer

these are my fabulous neighbors--and this is their fabulous engagement session!



I loved that the whole time we were doing the session I just kept thinking "they are so in love!" Too cute, huh?

I can't wait to share their wedding with you!!

ryan, beth and addison: raleigh family and baby photographer

my, how quickly the little ones grow! I had last seen little addison at her newborn photos and it was amazing to see the change!



she was so cute in her flower sunglasses and such a trooper in the heat! and I just love her beautiful eyes and her curious expressions--she was definitely taking in everything that day!

jackson (jack) john: raleigh newborn photographer

you've already met jack's super-cute parents (see their maternity photos here) and now it's time to meet their super-cute little dude!



he was seven days old in these photos--and every bit as cute and cuddly as the day he was born. he was only eleven hours old in this picture. :)



and blogging about this particular session gives me a chance to share a new product with you--my new calendar!



I'm including one with every newborn session taken between august and december this year, AND if you booked a portrait package with me, I'll be giving you one for also! Want a calendar for your wedding or family photos? No problem! I can custom design one for you! Calendar pricing starts at $20, please contact me for details!

lisa and richard: north carolina engagment photographer

I feel very fortunate to be blogging about yet another one of my dear friends!

Lisa is my very favorite person on my softball team (no offense other Toxic Wasters!)--she has a contagious laugh, a positive outlook on life and can out-run everyone I know other than my husband (who I swear is part cheetah)--but she gives him a run for his money! And once upon a time, she encouraged me to visit a rock climbing gym with her. I did, I had fun, I got lots of bruises and blisters and bought my very own harness. It was awesome!

Just telling y'all this make me want to go to the rock climbing gym now...

so, anyway, while there I also met Richard. He was very nice and quite funny and a very experienced rock climber--and after one of the evenings at the gym I informed Lisa that I was pretttty sure that Richard totally wanted to make out with her. And you know what? I was right.

They met climbing. Their first date was climbing too-Richard took Lisa on her first outdoor multi-pitch climb--meaning they went 600 feet up a mountain and Lisa's life literally rested in Richard's hands! And appropriately enough, Richard proposed to Lisa while they were climbing!

So for engagement pictures, I just knew that climbing had to be involved! What I didn't know is that it would mean walking to the top of a mountain!



We traveled the path of their first date--first, they climbed Stone Mountain (but we hiked up it)! Next we went to the ice cream stop at the entrance to the park, then ate at Foothills Brewing and saw the sites in Winston-Salem. I loved that I could photograph them at such meaningful places!

They'll be getting married this October and my husband and I will be celebrating our 6 month-aversary at their wedding--and I couldn't think of a better way to mark the occasion!

These are only a handful of the pictures from their session. Wanna see the rest? Go to my wedding website and see their album under "couples!"

jamie and sasha: durham headshot and furry friend photographer

I really love Durham, y'all. It's an awesome city to live in and an even more awesome city in which to photograph.

Jamie wanted some updated headshots and brought her sweet doggie, Sasha, along for the session. I love it when people bring their furry family members, too!




And since the bees were out and about doing their duties, I had to get a picture of that, too, because it made us all smile. :) Thanks again, Jamie! Please give Sasha a scratch behind the ears for me!