She is hitched so I can share!

Wow what a beauty with her irish eyes and dark skin. Loovee it! She is the one who really wanted the city scape shot I think with our little practice with Ashley we were able to nail it. Good thing too this girl was freezing. It was a very blustery early April day and it was all she could do to hold still and smile as I dodged some cars. I love her curves and how she holds a pose. Shannon you are amazing!

Jen's Dry Engagements

After their stint in the rain I owed these two a dry warm engagement session. They really know how to work the camera Jen sends me ideas I send her some and at the end of the evening starving Seth sets up a scene and has a great idea, I'm telling you the bug is catching. (Check out the in the barn picture so cool). In a little more than two weeks this couple who have been together nine years will tie the knot and I am so excited to have seen this part of their journey. They really work well together. I mean how many people are willing to not only get their picture made but also deal with animals that aren't exactly thrilled to be included. Then to top it off they are just cute! I mean you know I am a sucker for the eyes, wow!
I hope you enjoy the peek into this story as much as I do.

Matt and Laura

These two were such good sports running all over the countryside stopping at anything that met my fancy. Then they caught the bug and were lookin for sites too. I guess I need to put out a warning to all my clients "photography is contagious" and if you look at Ashley's Blog addicting too. I was also running on no sleep because I stayed up all night in the Relay for Life the night before so they really got to see me in a haze. I thought for sure I was taking crap, and praying Ash was catching the good stuff. But apparently me in a haze can be a really good thing. Well, I will let you guys be the final judge. I also got a little jealous of Ash's amazing silhouettes so we had to do a few. I told her the countryside can be just as good as the beach you just need to find a little height and a gap in the trees. Plus you need some cloud cover to get the cool colors. It seems everything worked in our favor and these guys jumped at the chance for some fun pic's. Heehee I made a joke jumped ;). Yea I am a dweeb but that's ok it keeps everyone laughing. Thanks guys! And yes for those of you paying attention we have been BUSY! Yeah I love it!

Josephine

This is my oldest and dearest friends'(like since High school friend) little girl she is just like her mama calm serene and as cute as they some. Looking at her you think she has red hair....til you put her with mama. Then she passes as a complete blond. What a head of hair she has too oh my goodness I have never seen the likes of it.
Congratulations Ria I hope these pictures do your little doll justice!

A bride and her Horse

Jen is one of my spunkier brides... she always has amazing idea's and is willing to try anything (hence our engagements in the rain) so I was not shocked at all when she says hey let's do some bridals with my horses. So we head out to Winston to shoot this beauty in all her glory with her other love (since the groom has to wait to see this dress til the wedding) her horses. Then as soon as we were done with the horses this huge cloud took all my sweet light.... not to be deterred we decided let's try it and see what we get. Oh my goodness love these clouds they give such drama to the image. Then I really wanted a barn picture I mean out in the fields with all this farm stuff you have to do barns...believe it or not Jen wasn't quite sure she saw my vision but she is always game (yeah Jen) and we were out of light so we set up the flash (the sometimes necessary evil) and tried our hand at a little something different. They turned out pretty good but I am a little biased. The first one we shot was almost ghostly so we will forever call them our haunted bridals. These are a very few of my favorites (I only have like a 100 fav's) just to give a taste of what we did but I really had too much fun doing them! Thanks Jen for all the hard work and great idea's I think they paid off really well.

My Birthday Gift

Last week was my birthday, and per my norm fairly uneventful but pleasant. My dear husband gave me these beautiful roses and reminded me yet again that I am impossible to shop for. He did ask the florist to take off the tacky necklace that was attached and made sure they were fresh so they would last longer than a day. He knows me so well. Then today I was fiddling with some pic's and ran downstairs and passed these guys, and to admit a downfall in my photography ability I have been having a heck of a time figuring our how to shoot rings in flowers and get them as crisp as I would like, so I thought lets do some practising. So I took off the first gift ever given to me by my husband my wedding ring and started some practice shots. Now when my brides get married their rings are shiny polished and usually better than mine by a long shot. So as I am bemoaning this well worn ring I start to remember that time when we were young newly engaged and starting on our life together, as many of my clients are. It was a short courtship we met became friends and were engaged before we ever dated. In matter of 4 mths we were married and within the year we had our first son. It was such a whirlwind I don't think I took much time to savor it all. But today as I thought for that brief moment of how I wished we had appreciated that time together I had one of those moments sweep over me where I was reminded that we had that moment and now we have this one. The established well worn marriage where it may not be new and fresh but it is stronger firmer and greater than I ever thought it could be. All those years ago I thought I could never love him more has become but a small amount to what I feel now. We have survived some major obstacles thrown in our direction we have seen some good marriages fall. But we are still together a little careworn our hairs a mess but it's ok life happens. I am thankful for the family I have for a husband who will probably never get me lavish gifts but will always love me no matter my many flaws. I think I have it all. But don't tell them that I like to keep them guessing. So excuse the not so pretty ring in the flowers but it is mine and it was picked exspecially for me by a young man with all the love in his heart.

Shannon & Russ

These two took me back to my old home town of Greensboro and showed me the sites! What fun to see where their courtship has taken place and how they have enjoyed the city they call home. Shannon is a classic beauty and Russ is a typical musician always busy and into something. These two cater to one another beautifully and make for some amazing shots! Thank you so much for taking a day and hanging out with two photographers and letting us capture these moments.

Momma braggin

Colby decided he wanted to play T-ball this year. Well like all parents I didn't think much of it. Then he was hitting some tennis balls with his uncle turns out he has quite the natural hit. Well let's sign him up see what he can do. (Still thinking Uncle Ryan was being an easy thrower) Well his first game was tonight and both times he got up to bat he hit the ball! The second time his team mates even did well enough that he made it to home plate! This kid has so much fun out there and he even pays attention. Maybe we have a ball player! Way to go Colby even if you never hit the ball you are a good team player and that will get you farther than anything. (But hitting the ball every once in awhile makes it more fun to watch)

I love his little dance he did that's Colby always putting on a show!

Kristi and Jeremy

These guys really put up with a ditzy photographer. I had been doing preschools all week and was a little in the kid zone, they got lucky I didn't ask them to blow the dog off my head. But we did miss the turn to Duke Gardens and for those who know that part of 85 that meant two turnarounds just to get back to the right place. I can only imagine the thoughts running through their heads. Then when we get there we apparently picked the busiest day of the year and when I went to my secret spot to park it was full..... with rolls of grass luckily there was just a couple spots not blocked so I didn't have to continue looking for another parking area. Then I realized I had forgot Ashley's camera (I was worried she may never forgive me). Well it all worked out somehow and we got these great picks of a cute couple. Kristi is so cute and I love the freckles on that tan skin, the red hair and green eyes oh I could go on forever she is just so cute! She reminds me of the girls I have been seeing on Magnum PI and Quincy that my husband has been watching lately. Thanks guys for not firing me that day I wouldn't have blamed you one bit! They even said they had a fun time.... at least I gave you guys something to laugh over ;)