What is trash the wedding dress? Facebook Contest Raleigh NC

Its contest time again here at Michelle Gunton Photography. The winner will get a free trash the dress session with the digital files. The winner will also have their hair and make-up done my Made-up. Contest winnings valued over $800.00.  I would like to give a big thanks to Lindsay Morse with Made-up for her contribution to the contest prizes. Lindsay Morse actually had a trash the dress session about a year ago with me and of course did her own make-up for the session. I love the work she does and I am excited to work with her again soon.

So you might ask what is Trash the Dress? Trash the dress can be a little misleading because I have done photos in the past where brides contact me and say,"Michelle My wedding dress came clean after our session, can you believe it?" Honestly sometimes no I couldn't believe it. Trash the dress to me just means that photos are taken in unusual places that are not your normal location for a bridal shoot and no worries about getting the dress dirty. Whether rolling in mud, floating in water, run down cars where there is a lot of rust, in the ocean, etc,etc. A regular bridal session you have to be very careful with the dress. There have been numerous sessions I wanted to try something new but couldn't b/c  I would risk getting the dress dirty. You will see in the pictures below that I start off doing creative wedding shots and then move into getting the dress dirty :-)

Photos like these are not for everyone. There are still some who believe that the wedding dress should be preserved and stored in a closet in the hopes that one day day their daughter will wear their dress 20 or 30 years later? I have been a photographer for a lot of weddings and I have to say the biggest thing people are wearing from the past is the veil. To the best of my knowledge I have not photographed a 2nd generation wedding dress. If you do not want to get your dress dirty then this contest is not for you, do not enter.

This contest might be best for this type bride

1. Do you live a little on the edge and want something different than everyone else?

2. Did you get married years ago when trash the dress wasn't in?

3. Did you get crappy photos from your friend who photographed your wedding for free?

4. Do you want some beautiful, creative, artsy wedding pictures for free?

5. Most importantly are you ok with getting the dress dirty?

So here are the rules of the contest.

You must be a fan of Michelle Gunton Photography on Facebook or become a fan before the deadline to be eligible.

Raleigh wedding photographer in NC Facebook fan Page

Rules:1. One entry per person 2. Once you submit your picture you cant change it. One vote per person, duplicates will not be counted. 3. All votes subject to verification.  5. Winner must have at least 75 fan votes to be eligible to win, past winners of the facebook contest ARE eligible to participate. 6. Prize must be redeemed in August or Sept 2011, prize will be forfeited if not done in these months. Prize is non-transferable. The winner is the person with the most votes on their picture, must be at least 75 votes.

Submit  your favorite wedding photograph from your own wedding to michelle@michellegunton.com, in the subject line put your first and last name. If I was your wedding photographer please do not send a picture with the watermark on it. Photos must be submitted by July 15th,2011 and by submitting your image you are agreeing to allow me to post your image to my blog/FB. On July 17th I will send you instructions on voting that will begin on July 18th,  2011. Very important, any votes cast before voting begins will not be counted.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask. I look forward to seeing your wedding pictures. Session to take place in Raleigh or surrounding areas.

Wedding Reception Venue in Cary NC

The Matthew's House in Cary, NC is a beautiful wedding reception venue. The venue is also one of the best wedding caterers in town. You dont have to book your wedding there to get the great food of Chef Richard, they will travel anywhere local. When considering a wedding hall keep this in mind about the Matthew's House. They can host both indoor and outdoor weddings. That in my opinion is a great plus. The reception hall is big and open with beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. I could go on and on about this site, but just know I LOVE IT!!!

Now onto Jill and Keith's wedding. Jill and I did everything over the phone and by email. So I was excited to meet them both on wedding day. Case in point, the ceremony was to take place outdoors however the weather did not want to cooperate that day so the decision was made to move it inside the reception hall. Greg with Brides and Bouquets was the florist. I also love, love his floral arrangements.

I was very happy to be the photographer for this wedding in NC and hope you enjoy the photographs. This was a very short intimate wedding.

My family Portrait | Family photographer | Raleigh NC

The Gunton family got together for Easter and I thought what a great time to do a family portrait. Normally I'm the photographer for other people so it was nice to do my husbands side of the family. This portrait session really should have been video taped. Lets just say the family is really into goofing off as you will see in some of the photos. I really love how the images turned out, goofiness and all.

Family portraits can be done at the place of your choice within a certain distance. As a family photographer I try to allow children to be children. The more you allow them to be free, run and play, the better the pictures.

Please enjoy a little ensight into my great family.

Family Portraits | Wake Forest NC | Raleigh NC

Danielle was the winner of one of my facebook contest last year, so she decided to do a family portrait session. Especially love my job as a photographer when everyone in the family could be professional models,  makes being a family photographer easy. These portraits were really important to Danielle because I'm sad to say she had lost a baby to SIDS. I couldn't even imagine. She said its important for her to have a lot of photographs of her kids b/c she didn't have a lot of her baby. Danielle has a Children's Resale store in Garner Lil Joey's. Danielle I have much respect for you being a single mom and raising 3 kids, Rock it girl!!!!!!

The portrait session was photographed in Wake Forest,NC.

Newborn Pictures | Raleigh NC | Photographer

Avery is one of the cutest 3 day old newborn baby's I have ever seen, ok I am a little bias because Cassie and Mike are good friends of mine. Its nice as a photographer to take a break from weddings and clients and actually photograph friends who totally trust me to do my thing. Baby Avery was on her best behavior for our picture session. The only time she cried was when we were changing her clothes. I look forward to watching little Avery grow up.

As a newborn baby photographer I was very excited that the house was filled with a lot of natural lighting. I had flashes with me just in case it was dark, but didn't really need them. All the pictures were done with natural lighting. If you are taking pictures of your newborn baby at home, I suggest putting them near a window or door to get the best light, it will make a world of difference in the quality of your photos too.

View Cassie and Mike's Maternity pictures



 

River Ridge | Bridal Photos | Raleigh NC

Faith's bridal photos were photographed at River Ridge Golf in Raleigh,NC.  Who would have thought we would have gotten 83 degree weather in the middle of March. I hope we get the same kind of weather for the wedding. Guess I need to start working on my tan.

I love how the bridal pictures turned out because they are somewhat on the classy side. I normally stay away from sitting bride's on the stairs, unless requested b/c its somewhat too traditional for me, but with Faith's wedding dress flaring at the bottom, the hair piece she made her herself, the hot yellow shoes, and a bouquet of yellow flowers, the stairs made for a great background, and really showcased her accessories well. I will definitely use this pose again.

You can view the enagement pictures here  Raleigh Wedding Photographer

Family Portraits | Raleigh NC

A portrait of a family. This isnt just any family, these are wedding photography clients who over the past two years I have come to know as my friends. Mike and Lindsay Morse were my winners last year in my facebook contest and before the wedding season started we decided on a family portait session at the beautiful Duke Gardens in Durham, NC. I was worried that March was too early to get pretty photos, but not at Duke Gardens, endless creativity can be had. Big thanks to Mike who took the main role of getting Rhyton to laugh. I was sooo happy that she gave me a smile during the family portrait on the bridge.

Mike and Lindsay are also in the wedding industry please ckeck out their websites

Raleigh wedding DJ

Raleigh bridal make-up

Pregnancy Photography | Raleigh NC | Maternity

Oooh la la more pregnancy photography. I had the pleasure of photographing my good friend's maternity pictures and for some reason I had balloon's on the mind. I got some inspiration off line and knew exactly what I wanted to do. I went to Harris Teeter to get 20 red balloons, half long strings, half short strings. Got them tucked into the car, only to have one pop and scare my daughter and myself half to death, it was sooo loud! Cassie and Mike arrived and we started on our venture in the park. Hmmmm, it sure was windy out, and hmmm the balloons were really tangled when we got them out of the car. Mike and I tried to separate them to no avail, plan was out the window. So we made do and made the best of what we had.
I was looking forward to this Pregnancy session because I normally do maternity photos in my studio. I knew before hand that I wanted to do do something like a silhouette, but I wanted to take a different approach and make the photos more creative. I hope you find them interesting. I also knew before arrival that the tress leaves had not bloomed, so the normal beauty I get at the park would be different. Man do I love how the picture of the 2 of them with the big tress in the background turned out, look at that beautiful blue sky.
As a photographer I love couple's like Cassie and Mike b/c at the end of the maternity session they got out some silly string and started playing around. I hope you love the images as much as I do. :-)

Wedding Angus Barn Pavilions | Raleigh, NC

The Angus Barns pavilion in Raleigh, NC is a beautiful wedding venue as well as a great place to eat. I love their food. I had the pleasure of photographing Stacey and Stew's very small intimate wedding at The Angus Barn. We started the day at Stacey's house. It was so funny to watch her doing dishes right before leaving in the white stretched limo. It was Halloween weekend so they had brought a couple of masks to get some fun photos. If you are looking for a wedding venue with a rustic feel, the Angus Barn Pavilions is the perfect venue.

2 of my preferred vendors shared in this day

The wedding planner for the wedding was Sally Oakley. If you are looking for a wedding planner I strongly suggest Sally Oakley. I love working with her.

The wedding flowers were done by Gregg with Brides and Bouquets. I work with Gregg a lot, you cant go wrong with them. Love his work!

Bridal Portraits downtown Raleigh NC

Wow I cant believe I forgot to blog about these bridal portraits done in downtown Raleigh one summer night. I was excited Tara Parker with Tara Parker photography assisted me in holding lights, afterwards we had dinner and talked about wedding photography.

I just love how these bridal photos turned out. We decided doing the session at the Capital building in downtown Raleigh. I loved the architecture and the lighting of the building. For the most part I used available light. Tara held the lights for me when we did some in moore square by the brick walls.

Its good to bring someone with you for your bridal portrait session, they can help with your dress when walking.

Child portraits | Raleigh NC | Photography

Child portraits with a photojournalistic approach. Recently I was able to get out of Raleigh, NC for a little R&R. The photography subject this time, one of my children, Madison. When Madison was a child she did good sitting and doing the normal portraits but as she has gotten older those natural smiles and looks don't come by making her sit still. The best photos come from her being a kid and doing what she wants. I would prefer an outdoor photography session any day over a studio portrait session. The exception would be newborns and children under 1yrs old, but if the child is walking lets take them to a park :-)

I'm particularly loving the new chocolate processing I'm using. Jan -March are my down times in the wedding industry so during this down time I have made my own preset for turning pictures to a chocolate black and white. Sure you have probably seen this tenting before somewhere but this is one is a Michelle Gunton Photography original. I plan to make more of my own through out the year.

I hope you enjoy the creative photos on the beach. I know 2 of the pictures are really different and its ok if its not your style, but I LOVE THEM. I didn't want it to be like a regular picture, more like a piece of art.  Clouds have been photo shopped in one of the pictures. I love the trees that were on the beach. This was at Folly Beach,SC. It was about a 1/4 mile walk to view the lighthouse.