Angela & Darin: Married

We met Angela & Darin quite a few months ago and were immediately excited about their wedding! Dave got to photograph their engagement session at Freedom Park back in August of 2008.







And I got the opportunity to photograph Angela's bridal portraits in May of this year at our studio in Waxhaw.








Here's a sneak peak at their wedding photos.Congrats Angela & Darin!!

Weekend of Weddings: Meghan & Bryan

Day 2 of our Weekend of Weddings was Meghan and Bryan's wedding. You may remember Bryan and Meghan from this post a few weeks ago.  The day was GORGEOUS! We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. They were married in an outdoor ceremony at the Providence Country Club.  

The day was full of laughter and fun! There was everything from playing Catch Phrase, "karaoke" by the groom (and a few others!), comments about dresses of a certain blue that just so happens to be the color of the Duke Blue Devils, and of course a surprise appearance by General Lee from Dukes of Hazard. 

Great day!!

Weekend of Weddings: Leslie & Michel

Day one of our Weekend of Weddings started on Friday afternoon with Leslie and Michel. The ceremony took place at Saint Gabriel's Church with the reception following at Roof with a View. Dave got the opportunity to photograph the couple awhile back for engagement photos. Talk about one happy couple!

Enjoy!

Malida & Steve: Married

Malida and Steve met through a set up. According to the maid of honor, they were "inseparable". I heard a few stories about their relationship involving toilet seats and boat accidents that just go to prove their love for one another. Despite lots of rain and having to move the ceremony inside at the last minute, the day turned out beautiful! Both bride and groom were full of smiles, laughter and tears!

Congrats to you both!!

Helpful Hint - "Say Cheese"

Children can be one of the most difficult subjects to photograph. But they can also produce some of the most adorable portraits. One of the things that makes portraits of children so adorable is their expressions. It can be extremely difficult to get a decent expression from children. One of the most common things parents say during a portrait session is "That's not your real smile. Smile nice now." The thing is, that is their real smile.

At a very early age children get used to smiling for the camera. Kids as young as toddlers can already have a "fake" smile. How do you get rid of it? Well, the answer is to make the child laugh or giggle. We photographers use lots of different tricks to get kids to smile including funny phrases. However, saying "Cheese" is the last thing we want them to say! While "cheese" produces a smile like expression, it's the same word they are used to saying for the camera. Kids typically end up saying "cheeeeeeeeese" which produces the fake smile.

Next time you're photographing your children try something different. One of my favorites is "Stink feet!" The trick is to get them smiling. Instead of taking the picture when they say the words, take the picture right before or after when they laugh at themselves. Or tell them a joke. Anything to get your children smiling and laughing. Those are the expressions you want to keep!

Sarah & John: Married

May 16th was Sarah's day to be princess. She was an absolutely gorgeous bride at a beautiful ceremony where she became Mrs. Sarah Moore. She and John were married early Saturday afternoon surrounded by friends and family. They were such a fun couple to shoot! Afterwards, we took the bride and groom for some shots alone in the park. Gorgeous!

Congrats to you both!!

Bryan & Meghan: Engaged

A House Divided. Or at least that's what their Save the Date cards say. You see, Bryan is a Duke Blue Devils fan and Meghan is a UNC Tar Heels fan. Therein lies the problem. Their wedding on May 30th will be an "historic event" (quoting the Save the Date again). We're pretty confident they'll make it work though!!

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!

Stay Tuned

We've got some exciting new programs to share with you so stay tuned!!! I'll give you a hint:



And no, Christy is NOT pregnant!

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.

What's a PPNC?

Last week was the PPNC convention. PPNC stands for Professional Photographers of North Carolina. Every year, we get together in Durham, NC for a 5 day convention. During this time, several photographers from around the country do presentations, we get to see all of our friends, and there is a print competition. This year's theme was "Tackling the Art of Photography." I always feel honored that such talented photographers are willing to spend their time sharing their gems with us. One of my favorites was Tim and Bev Walden at www.waldensphotography.com. Tim's father was a photographer before him so photography is in his blood. His creative approach to relationship photography was inspiring to me. He also has a fantastic story about his father, who became paralyzed from the arms down and did not have a good prognosis for his future. After this event, he continued his business and was able to work from a wheelchair. He told his son Tim that he would accept no excuses. This is a good word for these times.

I volunteered on the committee for print competition. Seeing the best work of many amazing photographers together is inspiring and humbling. Listening to the judges comments is also quite a learning experience.

Being a member of PPNC has been an invaluable asset for us. This community of photographers is a close group willing to share and help each other succeed. Check out the web sit at www.ppofnc.com.

photoEdge: A History (Part 2)

Now that you know a bit about Christy, it's time for me (Dave) to add my part. Like Christy, my family comes from California too. People sometimes ask how we came to know each other. My family and Christy's family both attended the same church in California, in a small town called Santa Margarita. Santa Margarita is a small town of about 1000 people. It is surrounded by two ranches, one 15,000 acres and the other 16,000 acres. It's a fun little place near San Luis Obispo, where my wife and I both went to college. Christy was one of our favorite babysitters and our kids love her.
In high school, I took photography classes and was a member of the photography club. One of the exciting things I did in high school was to take a canoe trip down the Colorado River. My favorite photo from this trip was of the London Bridge in Lake Havasu, AZ.

I loved photography, but I was also interested in computers. When I graduated, I decided to take the computer route but kept up with photography as a hobby. Several years later, when photography went digital, everything came together for me. Through a series of circumstances, we moved to North Carolina and now run the photography business. In photography, there are lots of areas of specialty. It's kind of like doctors. If you have problems with your heart, you go to a heart specialist, not the podiatrist. For me, photography is boring if there are not people in the photo. I love the interaction with people and creating fun and beauty with people.

I often tell Christy that she has a life because she is always doing stuff with friends or going out to do fun stuff. She tells me that I do too, it's just different. My life is my family. With five kids, there is always either excitement or drama. I would love to take more photos of them but I have worn out my welcome with most of them. We had a day at the lake last summer to do photos and I have a few wonderful shots of our family.

Robyn, the youngest, is the only one who still likes to be photographed.

George Hurrell

In the 1930's anyone who was anyone in Hollywood was photographed by the great George Hurrell. To this day he is still considered the "Grand Seigneur of the Hollywood Portrait". His unique style of lighting and over retouched skin tones created the signature "Hollywood Glamour" style. Here's a taste of our recent George Hurrell inspired photo shoot.

What's a wordle?

I found this today.



Click on it to access it and create your own. It's fun.

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!

Goofy Spontaneous Fun!

photoBooth Charlotte is here!

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.