it's all in the details

The details of a wedding go a long way for determining the tone and style. Croched doilies, mason jars, wildflowers, and vintage mismatched plates set the tone for Elisa and Jon's day. Homemade spice rub favors (delicious by the way), funky table numbers, and (winery appropriate) cork name cards added that extra something. Perhaps the most amazing thing of all is that Elisa made most of these things herself. These images are all in true color as you can see. Vintage or not, it would have broken my poor color-loving heart not to show all of the detail that went into this. So cool...

Elisa and Jon

Last month I had the pleasure of being able to shoot Elisa and Jon's wedding. It was a hot July day at Tarara Winery in Leesburg, Virginia, and everything was perfect. Elisa and Jon's vintage sheik wedding truly felt like something from a magazine. The day was wildflowers, lace, and country elegance. Keeping with the theme, I tried to give the photography the same tone. For as much as I love color, I've also always loved sepia as well. I remember making my first sepia print in a darkroom way back when that was the only place you could make a print. It was an awful landscape image, but I loved it just the same. You can achieve the same sepia effect digitally now, but the look still reminds me of film; something I (sadly) now associate as vintage and think of with nostalgia.
Elisa and Jon, I wish you a wonderful and happy life together. Thanks for a great day of shooting. Also a special thanks to my lovely assistant photographer Brighid Uddyback of Oz Images. More from this wedding to come...

Got FRESH?

Another image from FRESH. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

FRESH.

A few weeks ago I got to do a shoot for FRESH, a new ice cream and milk shop in Raleigh run by a local dairy farm (Maple View Farms in Hillsborough, NC). This place has seriously ruined me on milk and ice cream forever. Never again will I be satisfied with the plastic jug full of white water parading itself as milk on my super walmart shelf. Nor will I be satisfied with the frozen low-fat white goo that foolishly calls itself ice cream in the freezer section. This place is the real deal, so if you're in the area, go. It was a super fun shoot and I'm sure I'll be posting more images later. This image was designed to be used on a t-shirt. I decided to try and make the image look more like an illustration than a photograph, going for like a grungy vintage-t type of look. I think it came out pretty cool, but if any of my fellow photographers have found any other fun or creative ways of editing images for clothing let me know and I've love to mess around with it. One thing's for sure, I'm not a very skilled editor, I tend to be more on an in-camera person. I could look through a lens for 12 hours and not tire, but 12 minutes in front of photoshop and a sharp stick in the eye begins to look appealing.

My Mother

This is my mom! Isn't she beautiful?! My mom is awesome. She's the most happy, fun-loving, generous, loving person I know. Mom, I love you so so much! Thank you for always being so supportive of everything I do. Move closer! Happy Mother's Day!

Tim and Sarah Hall!!

Congratulations to Tim ans Sarah Hall! Or Tim and Sarah Hill according to the DJ.. eek, well at least we can laugh about it now :) This was by far the most interesting experience I've had shooting a wedding, mostly because it was my brother's wedding and I was in it, which presented a unique set of challenges. I learned a few things for sure: 1. choose your shoes while thinking in photographer mode, not bridesmaid mode, clunky heels a no no. 2. it is ok to hold your camera in place of your flowers while standing at the altar. 3. a good tripod and button-pusher person is the key to success, thanks to Christine, Priscilla, Mom, and all my other lovely assistant button-pushers! As for the wedding, it was a beautiful ceremony, everyone was gorgeous, and I'm just so happy that I got to be a part of my little bro's big day. Here's to you guys and the wonderful life you have in front of you, love you both!

I was finishing up the images from my shoot last week and just had to post one more, such a great moment..