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 :-)