Amy & Chris: Married

May 9th started out hot and sunny. By 4:30pm (an hour before the ceremony) it was a mad scramble to put the tent back together, save the flowers and linens, and pray for sun amidst the thunder and lightning. By 5:30pm Amy and Chris were married under a beautiful sunny blue sky.

Congrats to the both of you!!

Desirae & Justin: Married

Congrats to Desirae and Justin who became Mr and Mrs Butler on April 11th! The wedding took place at the gorgeous Ballantyne Resort overlooking the golf course. It was absolutely beautiful and the bride looked stunning! After the ceremony there was a fabulous Tiffany's inspired reception complete with a candy bar! After the reception we got to meet up with Desirae and Justin in Uptown Charlotte to have a little photo shoot fun. The couple met while working for Bank of America, so of course we had to get some pictures!!

Congrats to both of you! Enjoy!

Kid's Play

Give me a camera, a studio and a group of boys under the age of 5 and the fun never stops!!

Makeovers coming in April

One of our favorite wedding people is Heather Bryson because she does an amazing job with hair and makeup. She's also a very fun person. We are teaming up with her for a one-day event to do makeover and photo sessions. This will be an extremely fun time. You can find out more about this event by reading the info page here. You can learn more about Heather at her web site.

The photoBooth in action

My church is partnering with Montclaire Elementary school in Charlotte to help them send their 5th grade class to Washington DC. Last night, we put on a fundraiser dinner at the school and of course that was a great place for the photoBooth. It was a hit.





Call us to book the photoBooth for your event. www.photoBoothCharlotte.com.

photoEdge: A History (Part 5)

2008 marked the 2nd year of business. We had the house, we had the business, we had the brochures, we had the weddings booked, etc. Now it was just time to grow the business.

At the start of 2008 we already had 16 weddings booked. We were starting to get more brides calling us rather than us calling them. People were even starting to knock on our door. In Spring we had a booth at the Waxhaw Spring Fest for the 2nd time and had many many people say “You guys are the ones who just fixed up that house aren't you?” Our name was starting to get around.

Everything was looking up in the world of photoEdge. We did have some setbacks however. It's amazing how good an idea can sound in your own mind and during the planning period and how poorly it can do in the real world. We tried, we failed, we tried something different. We're still learning how this whole business thing works, but 2008 was a great teacher! By the end of the year we had successfully photographed 26 weddings,

about 70 portraits of engagement couples, families and children,

our first maternity portrait,

multiple senior portraits,

a high school prom,

our first dog portrait,

and much much more like bridal portraits in the bath tub!


It's hard to even remember all of the stuff that happened in 2008! The business sort of felt like it took off. In December when we looked at our yearly numbers we discovered that we had actually more than doubled our revenue! We still have a LONG way to go before we reach the “comfort zone” but 2008 definitely helped us get a little closer to our goal.

Who knows what 2009 has in store, but it's a brand new year with brand new trials, joys, failures, successes and stories!

photoEdge: A History (Part 3)

Now that you know a little about both Dave and myself, it's time to talk about how our stories collide. Growing up in California Dave's family and my family both attended the same church. I started babysitting for his 5 children (there were only 4 at the time) when I was 13. I continued to babysit for their family until I graduated high school, which just so happened to be the same summer they moved to Waxhaw.

Over the next 3 years while I was going to school and Dave was working with Wycliffe, slowly photoEdge came to the surface. Dave had always wanted to do photography as more than just a hobby and decided now was the time. He jokingly asked if I wanted to come join him in starting the business when I graduated. I immediately said no. No offense to Waxhaw, but it's nothing compared to Santa Barbara!!

During the next 6 months I started thinking more and more about what I was going to do when I graduated. At this point I knew I wanted to do portraiture, but I didn't know where to go and was nervous about starting a business on my own. Waxhaw was starting to sound more and more appealing. Dave in the meantime was going ahead with his dream and getting the ball rolling on photoEdge. Slowly but surely, God changed my heart and in May of 2006 I took a trip out to Waxhaw just to see what it was all about. I knew that when I visited I would know right away whether it was a yes or no. Within 48 hours I was set. I would move to Waxhaw in January of 2007 to become a co-owner of photoEdge!!

While Dave continued to get the business going I graduated from Brooks and took the next 2 months at home for the holidays and working to save money for the move. On January 18, 2007 I arrived in Charlotte, NC. We spent those first few weeks getting everything all set with lawyers and what not for our partnership. And I got settled into living in the South.

And that's where photoEdge began.

Life in really wide angle

This year, we started thinking about what new kinds of things we can offer. One of the things we thought about is a fisheye lens. A fisheye lens can see 180 degrees from corner to corner and make very unique photos. Let's see now - new lens - trip to Charlotte - a chance to try it out! Here are a few shots from today.

Weddings just aren't going to be the same now!

Carolina Bride

We have been advertising in Carolina Bride Magazine for the last 2 years. It is one of the more exciting bridal magazines I've seen in awhile. Each issue we get to submit weddings to the magazine for cover stories, feature articles, the Wedding Album section and A Picture Is Worth section. When we receive our shipment from Carolina Bride we spend a few minutes flipping through every page trying to find all of our pictures :o) It's fun for us and the bride who's picture gets chosen.

Last November, we got a call from the magazine informing us that one of our weddings had been chosen as a feature article! Tyyawdi and David Hands were planning a wedding for September 6th in Hilton Head. That's right during hurricane season and 3 days before the wedding, the hurricane was threatening their wedding site. Tyyawdi scrambled to re-plan her entire wedding at the Ballantyne Resort. Even though everything was re-done 3 days before, the wedding was wonderful and we were excited to be a part of her special day.

Amy & Eric

A few months back I got the opportunity to photograph Amy Wright in my bathtub. A few days later, I got to photograph Amy Wright and Eric Johnson on my porch. And a few months later I got to photograph Mr. and Mrs. Johnson at their wedding reception!! 
Congrats Amy and Eric!!!

Neely & Daniel

Neely Schmidt and Daniel Rose were married on Saturday, November 22nd. They had a beautiful ceremony at Belk Chapel with an awesome reception at Bentley's on 27th.

Congrats to Mr and Mrs Rose!!

Senior portraits gone bad?

How many of you had your kid's senior portr​aits done by a big corpo​rate photo​graph​er and are compl​etely​ unsat​isfie​d?​!​ You had to wait forev​er.​ Drove​ far away.​ Got stuck​ with simpl​e borin​g backg​round​s and poses​.​ Got the proof​s back and absolutely​ hate them!​!​

Don'​t worry​!​!​ Just becau​se you are required to get the "​senio​r drape​"​ pictu​re done by them to get in the yearb​ook,​ that doesn​'​t mean you have to buy any of the other​ pictu​res!​

At photo​Edge we are a full servi​ce photo​graph​y studi​o.​ You can choos​e exact​ly when and where​ you want your pictu​res taken​.​ We'​ll even come to you! Do you want to inclu​de your dog in the pictu​re?​ GREAT​!​!​ Let'​s do it! Want to try some fun "​celeb​rity"​ style​ portr​aits in our studi​o?​ GREAT​!​!​ Let'​s do it! Want to take pictu​res at your favor​ite park?​ GREAT​!​!​ Let'​s do it!

We'​ll even refun​d your $50 sessi​on fee from that OTHER​ studi​o!​!​ Call,​ email​ or messa​ge me today​ and we'​ll set up an appoi​ntmen​t :o

Jenny & Jerry

Most Recent Weddings...

Here's a peak at our 2 most recent weddings....

When I grow up I want to be a photographer...

This morning I, Christy, got an opportunity of a lifetime. No, I didn't go in any more burning buildings! Instead I went inside a building that holds such precious archives that if it was burning all of the air would be sucked out to kill the fire! Myself, along with 3 other photographers, had the opportunity to visit the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (http://www.billygraham.org/default.asp) headquarters to meet with Russ Busby, who has been the head photographer for the last 52 years!

Talk about an incredible man! He's living proof of my theory that portrait photographers are (or at least should be) some of the nicest characters on earth! This man has had the opportunity to travel all over the world photographing everyone from the poor farmer in the Middle East to the president of the United States. When I say president I'm talking pretty much every single president since the mid-1950's!! Just recently he traveled overseas to North Korea... or was it South Korea? I don't remember. Anyway, the guy has stories to tell!! Not just stories, but also plenty jokes and tidbits of helpful information. Something that stuck out in my mind he said at the very end. "It's the person who takes the picture, not the camera." 

Originally our meeting was supposed to be only an hour. Two and a half hours later after hearing stories, seeing the archives and learning about how they work, we were saying goodbye. He gave us each a copy of the Billy Graham documentary book full of quotes, articles and photographs of the last 50 years of his ministry. Quoting Russ, "It's not a book of pictures I've taken, or things Billy Graham has said, but rather it is a book of what God has done." 

It was such a blessing to get to spend a few hours with a man of his character. I can only wish that someday when I grow up I can be a photographer like Russ Busby!!

Summer's here...

Well, the busy weekends have stopped... for now. Here's a little peak at what we've been up to...

Heather & Steve in Asheville



Nicole & Stephen


Amy & Michael