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 :)

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!

marano holiday photoss: dallas couples photographer

I feel like I'm really fortunate because I often hit it off with my clients--and this couple was no exception. We had SUCH a good time laughing and joking around and taking pictures. And they had some fantastic ideas!

here they are with bogey, who if I recall correctly is an english bulldog. I'm pretty sure he spends most of his weekends posing for the camera--he was a natural!



and he kiiiinda stole the show sometimes.



we played around with balloons


and lovely staircases


and just captured their overall awesomeness--love this sweet gum seed pod with their rings!




and I love this one! the lines, the look on bogey's face, just the whole thing!


want to see more of this awesome couple? go look in my "cream of the crop" section for their album!

s and e: durham engagement photographer

it was a misty fall morning--and that made for GREAT photographs! I met S and E at Duke Gardens to capture the fall colors and take their engagement pictures and we had a fantastic time!

my favorite FIRST! I LOVE the intense fall colors!



and it was just touching how sweet they were to each other. sometimes with couple shoots I just end up smiling the whole time seeing how much they love each other. this was DEFINITELY one of those times









s used to come and study under this magnolia tree, so it was pretty special to be able to work it into the shoot!



and look at those awesome smiles! these two were SO easy to work with!





S and E I am really looking forward to your wedding in JUNE!

karen and rich: durham engagement photographer

this is my friend karen and her fiance rich. I've known karen for...let's see...well, I guess we met four years ago. we bonded over graduate thermodynamics taught by a man who was, literally, from transylvania. and had a dracula accent. it was excruciating--we cried together and laughed together (at tests. while taking them!) and celebrated the final by enjoying both icecream and beer. it was THAT bad.

anyway, after that horrible shared experience we talked sometimes and tried to get together, but nothing ever ended up working out, really. but then she was leaving for england to go to grad school for a year and I *had* to attend her going away party.

and during the year she was across the pond we emailed and talked more than we had in the previous three years! (not counting all things thermo) and then one day I got the BEST email! rich had proposed, they were getting married in the states and she wanted ME to do the honor of photographing her wedding!! and, could they please please get some engagement pictures while rich was visiting?

um, YES, of course!

so (and sorry for the all the words, I promise there will be pictures in just a sec!) when talking locations, with karen and rich half a world away, I asked where they met and if there was anything special to them. they said that they met for the first time at a train station: this train station...



so we went to the new amtrak station in downtown durham!



this is my favorite from the whole session--just look how happy they are!


we tried to kind of re-create their real life meeting--rich saw karen before karen saw rich--see?


see that rock in their hand (I mean the one in their hands, not the one on her finger!!)? on the day rich proposed he saw the rock on the ground right near where he asked her--and it looks kind of like a heart. SO sweet!


and I LOVE how sweet they are--and check out those chuck taylors!


doesn't the bus station bench look awesome in this one?


so precious. so romantic. so THEM. :)


karen and rich, thank you so much for sharing your story with me and for asking me to be a part of your big day! and rich I am so excited for you to move here SOON! I look forward to sharing many beers and dinners out with you two! and I can't wait for your wedding in april!!

[and, fun fact? karen and rich are getting married the week after I am! matt and I have set a date!! can I TELL you how excited I am about how fantastic april 2010 is going to be? I can't believe it's only 5 months away!]

jo and ed: raleigh wedding photographer

weddings and couples are my favorite type of sessions to shoot--there's something about the LOVE that makes my heart smile, you know? it's even better when I get to shoot for someone who I know and whose company I enjoy--and such was the case for this wedding. Along with the pastor and many of the guests, Jo, Ed and I all attend the same church, so it was really fantastic to get to be a part of their special day.

I co-shot this wedding with my friend and fellow photographer, the fabulously talented Nicole Faby, and we had a blast! There were so many beautiful details and lovely touches and WOW! The day started out at Jo's gorgeous house in the more historic area of Glenwood, just north of five-points. It was an intimate ceremony and just so touching!

the flowers were by The English Garden--check out the breathtaking bride's bouquet!

Nicole got this one of Jo making her entrance

and here are two from the ceremony--floor level by me, bird's eye by nicole. that's a HUGE plus of having two photographers at your wedding--you get multiple viewpoints!

and the kiss, captured by nicole!


even jo's doggies dressed up for the occasion! I'd never been to a wedding with dogs before, but it was a hoot! they were so adorable and very well behaved--and pets are part of the family, so it was great they could be a part of the day! I couldn't resist getting pictures of the cuteness!




nicole got this hilarious one of jo and ed with their kiddos--too funny!


and here are two of the beautiful couple! this first one is by nicole--ooh la la!

and then here's one I took of the duo at the front of their home!

the details were just gorgeous too! check out the rings (rings and flower by nicole, the other two rings by me)-just amazing!





and last but not least: seeing this written on an envelope brings a smile to my face! glad nicole got this one!


Nicole and I really enjoyed working with y'all! Keep an eye out for more images SOON! :) Nicole will be blogging some of our images too, so I'll link to it when it's up!

mini photo shoots, frisco, tx : robin, jeanene, will and hope!

what a lovely family, yes? It was so much fun working with this family--they were full of life and enthusiasm and so easygoing!

the kiddos with mom


this waterfall was fantastic--and kind of hidden! I am SO glad we found it!


such a cute couple!


will and hope really wanted to take a picture with the statue. I have no idea how he managed to climb on it though--it's metal and in full sun and it was already over 90 degrees. Definitely the Texas heat. But they were determined! And I love this picture of brother and sister, don't you?


they look like they just "fit" together, I think.



and this is my fave from the entire session! Sometimes I suggest a jumping photo and people are very hesitant--but not this family! They went in whole hog, cheesing it up for the camera and I LOVE it. Well done, well done! And an extra high-five to the parents, 'cause they're even more enthusiastic than the kiddos!

colleen & mark, connie & rick, emily, megan and sammy

whoa--been a while since I last blogged! I've been spending pretty much every free second editing, editing, editing. sorry for the hiatus!

we had a great time on this hot and sticky sunday afternoon! the two women here are sisters, and they wanted family pictures, plus some of each of them with their hubbies and some of the three little girls. such cuteness!

the whole gang!


so sweet!




such love...




they were so energetic, too! I laughed a lot, and that's always a sign that a shoot is going wonderfully!



you can see more of their awesomeness as one of my "cream of the crop" albums. check them out!