Family Portraits - Raleigh NC

Ohhh how I love photographing Jen's family portraits. I have been taking photos of the girls since they were newborns so its been fun to watch the children grow up over the past 2 years.  You can click the following link to see their newborn session Newborn Photography .The girls are really really  shy so we decided to do the portraits at a park in Cary, NC and boy was it a cold November morning. Haha and this Raleigh photographer does not like the bitter cold. We took a few posed pictures but for the most part we just let the girls do what they wanted. Patience is key when working with small children. I hope you enjoy this family session.



 

Raleigh wedding photographer | NC wedding photography

Michelle Gunton Photography, wedding photographer in Raleigh, NC  has again been nationally recognized by the AGWPJA.( The Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association.) The judges comments were "Very funny image and nice toning. I think that as strong as this image is, it would be even stronger if there were a tighter crop. The left side of the image is really not needed and distracts from this wonderful caught moment. " The reason that I chose not to crop in on the picture was b/c with a tighter crop you would  not know that the photo was from a mirror, not straight on. Yes, as a creative photographer when I snapped the photo I really wish I had the other bridesmaids face in the picture but I wanted the moment and I was afraid it wouldn't last long enough. My split decision still paid off in the end.

 

There are soooo many Raleigh Wedding photographers in NC, so why hire me? You should hire me for my creativity and ability to think out of the box. I go above and beyond what your being charged. You have a chance of having a nationally recognized wedding photo.  Another thing to consider is my photography studio is built onto my house so I am able to keep my cost lower than another high end wedding photographer who might be paying rent for their space. I am also able to keep my wedding package cost down because I do not out source my albums nor do I out source the processing of my images. If a photographer has these added cost they have to basically raise their prices to cover this cost. I dont know how many times I have heard " Michelle you need to raise your prices, your worth more than you are charging."  It makes me feel good to hear this from photographer's who are charging 4000.00-6000.00 for services.  You are getting a GREAT deal when you hire me as your wedding photographer.

Crabtree Marriott | Raleigh NC Wedding Venue

Allison and Alex's wedding was held at the Crabtree Marriott wedding venue in Raleigh,NC. This was my first time photographing the Marriott venue and I must say I fell in love.  I loved the light in the ceiling and also the white curtains and lighting behind the bridal table. I was honored to be recognized by the AGWPJAfor a reception image from this wedding that placed 10th in the world, wooohoooo. The image is of the silouhetted bridal party with their heads bowed in prayer. I normally do not take pictures during prayers but this was a great moment but done in a totally creative manner. Here was the comment left by the judge  "The wedding party looks like trophies lined up on a shelf - a strong linear composition supports the partially silhouetted figures. Furthermore, if you look closely - there in the middle just above that wedding cake - you'll find a moment, as the bride looks at her uniformed groom."

 Please enjoy Alex and Allison's wedding, I sure did :-)

Wedding Venue in Cary NC| The Matthew's House

Melissa and Daniel's wedding was held at the Matthew's House venue in Cary, NC. If you are a follower of my blog you already know that I love the Matthew's House, especially the food.  Chef Richard has the best shrimp n grits in town, I should know b/c I have photographed at a lot of different places. Sorry got to thinking about food but what I really want to talk about it is how beautiful this fall wedding was. The guys were outside playing guitar and drums when I arrived and melissa and her girls were upstairs getting ready. Man oh man  the girls  liked their music loud, lol. I felt I had arrived for a big party. Before the wedding ceremony outside I photographed each side of the bridal party seperately so we wouldnt take as much time after the ceremony.

Let me just say I love the photo of Melissa and Daniel photographed through the brick wall. I was laughed at b/c I honestly was in deep in the bushes, but thats what you get when you hire this Raleigh wedding Photographer, a creative, think out of the box type photographer.

Now onto the wedding florist, Gregg with Brides and Bouquets. Can I just say he is awesome and I love his work!!!! Please consider Brides and bouquets for your wedding or event.

The officiant was kayelily, whom I love working with!!!!

Grand Marquise Ballroom bridal portraits

I was so excited that Torri wanted to have her bridal portraits photographed at the Grand Marquise Ballroom. Having bridal pictures done before the day of the wedding allows the bride the opportunity to know how long it will take to get into the wedding dress, to make sure the wedding hairstyle she has chosen is perfect with her dress, and what girl doesn't want to get all dolled  up in a gown she is only going to wear once. 

It was my first time at the Grand Marquise Ballroom and definitely a place I want to photograph again. Torri and I actually met after she booked with another wedding photographer so we were both sad, but at least I had the opportunity to photograph her maternity, newborn, and bridal photos.

Senior portraits in Raleigh, NC

It was a great change of pace to get to do Dylan's senior portraits. Dylan wanted to use his bow and hunting gear for the pictures so I knew I wanted to do something creative with his senior photos. Man O Man do I love how these turned out. Enjoy.

Trash the Dress beach style | Myrtle Beach SC| wedding photographer

For me there is nothing better than a beach Trash the Dress Session. Having been born and raised in Surfside Beach, SC it is where I feel the most peace. Molly and I are both in the wedding industry. I photograph weddings and she makes custom cakes, cupcakes, and the best cake pops Tartlette treats.  I was really saddened to hear Molly say she didnt feel pretty on her wedding day. Apparently the wedding dress has a long story behind it, a not so good story, so long story short is Erin, Molly's friend won my FB Trash the Dress contest and Molly loved the pictures so she decided she wanted to turn a negative into a positive. Molly wanted to feel beautiful in the gown she were on her wedding day and trusted me to make that happen.

The planning that went into this was deciding on hair, make-up, and any props. Big thanks to Molly for letting me choose the hairstyle and the make-up. I knew I wanted the photographs to be a little edgy with some sex appeal, so I told Molly I wanted her to braid her hair wet and let it dry. Having done my 9 yr old daughters hair like it I knew the result  would be crimpy and stringy. For her make-up I knew I wanted a lot of black eyeliner and a very dark lipstick. Let me give you some insight on what this will do for some photos. By going with a very dark lipstick when you turn the image to Black and white the lips will really pop if you go with a light colored lipstick the lips will blend in nicely with the face, making it less edgy. The hair was done by me, Molly and Deshield, who by the way was a great help to Molly and myself during the shoot. Make-up was done by Molly herself, way to rock it girl.

We were going to start photographing around 4:30 but man ole man was it raining, so we took our time getting ready, had a couple cocktails, and then decided to venture out and within 5 minutes the sun was out and then 10 minutes later there was a rainbow over the ocean, I mean really?  2 days in a row I had been blessed with the presence of a rainbow over the ocean, thank you God! I hope you enjoy the trash the dress pictures and I hope you find one particular picture to be a work of art :-) View Molly's post here about the trash the dress

 

 

Wedding Bridal Pictures |Cary NC|Matthew's House

Yayyy I can finally show Sarah's bridal pictures that were taken at the beautiful Matthew's House in Cary, NC.  Matthew's House is a great venue to host beautiful indoor and outdoor weddings.

I didn't meet Sarah till the actual day of the bridal portraits, and boy was I tickled pink. Sarah is soooo beautiful!!! I was very happy that she had chosen me as her wedding photographer and I cant wait to show you the  photos.

Bridal portrait photography | Raleigh NC | Rose Garden

The bridal portrait photography of Kathy was taken at the Rose Garden at the Raleigh Little Theater in NC.

Newborn Photographer | Raleigh NC | Children's Photography

Yes I am also a newborn photographer serving Raleigh, NC and surrounding areas, I don't just photograph weddings. When I first started in this business I was strictly photographing babies, maternity and kids so it has been nice here recently to photograph some babies. Its takes a special kind of photographer to photograph newborn babies. The photographer needs to have A LOT of patience. Newborns are unpredictable.  You never know if your going to get a happy, sleeping baby, or a newborn that wants to cry the whole time.

This family portrait session was done in the clients home a few weeks ago. They wanted a more relaxed feel for the photos. When I arrive at a clients home for the first time I immediately start looking around for things I could potentially use in a picture. You will see below that I found a cool picture beside a table and lamp and put the newborn into my personal bowl(thanks to a previous client's home session who gave up their bowl, yayy for me). I also found another empty table under a picture that worked great, but my favorite spot was before I even entered the house I noticed their concrete squares leading in and so during the session I brought the baby outside in my bowl and used the concrete as the backdrop. A creative photographer is always looking for something different and unique.

I love how the pictures of the dad and his little girl turned out. Children have a mind of their own too, and we werent getting what I wanted so I suggested to dad to throw her up in the air. I knew this would get her real smile and a real moment, and in my opinion better than posed fake cheese for the camera. Having a child of my own makes it easier of knowing what might work to get a child to smile. Please enjoy :-)