Jennifer, Nathan and I met at their aunties country house in Warren County. A beautiful location, with a couple horses, a lake and fields. We spent some time wondering around the grounds, using the horse, the boat and the swing. Even coming across a black snake in the boat!

Once we finished up at the country home, we jumped in my car and headed to a near by lake to capture some beach looking portraits. A location they have often gone to on a hot day to escape the city life. After that we headed to Richmond to do some night time photography. Going from bright sunshine to the starkness of the nighttime hours. Using street lights, car headlights and a single flash to create the illumination. The canal area in Richmond has been redeveloped over the years and really has a lot to offer.

Links
Gallery – to view and order professionally enhanced prints
Warren County
Richmond

Abby, Brent and I met in downtown Raleigh to do part 2 of their engagement session. The first was in Manteo and very much a coastal theme. The second part to the session was much more city urban. Capturing dusk to night time shots was extremely important to the couple.

We started off in Boylan Heights, in downtown Raleigh. Then moved around that location, ending up on Fayetteville St. The cool thing about Boylan Heights, is that you can clearly see the Raleigh skyline. It’s pretty cool too, not that far from there. As there are a lot of old buildings, with a number unused and very much in a bad state of repair. Perfect as a portrait background!

Links
Gallery – to view and order professionally finished prints
Boylan Heights
Downtown Raleigh
Manteo

Leslie, Adam and I met at The Butterfly House, an amazing sunroom full of butterflies, a few birds and other creatures I am sure! The Butterfly House can be found at the Museum of Life + Science in Durham. A building that hosts many functions through out the year.

The couple wanted to capture some of the elements found there and it was a great location to get started. I always prefer a low stress environment for my clients to start an engagement or bridal session. After a brief clothing change, we rushed over to a local park with their two lovely dogs. Nature is something dear to them and the dogs are part of their family. So it was really important to them for the dogs to be in a collection of photographs for the session. We had fun at the park, making it more about a walk around the park. After finishing up at the park, the couple changed to their final set of clothes for some night time photographs. A completely different style of photography. Moving from high key to low key… essentially, very bright backgrounds enveloping the couple to the starkness of night with a single flash and street lights. Wondering around the streets of Durham, using some of the older buildings available near to the Marriott Conference Center and then near the Tobacco factories.

Links
Gallery – to view and order professionally finished prints
The Butterfly House – shoot location 1
The Eno River Park – shoot location 2
Downtown Durham – shoot location 3

Abby, Brent and I met in Manteo NC. An interesting little town on the edge of the island near the Outer Banks. This location was chosen by the couple as they have many happy memories and wanted to capture some more. We walked around the Elizabethan Gardens on the island, which I have to say was pretty cool. I know, I know, I’m English and all. But truly, the gardens are a quiet little retreat from the beach craziness. After the gardens, we moved to downtown Manteo. Walking around near the waters edge and the docked boats. Soon after, driving over the bridge to a beach near Kitty Hawk. They have the coolest pier, as it is the most bent out of shape I think I’ve ever seen a pier. Made me wonder how it was able to stay standing up.

With the bright sun, the shaded areas, the windy afternoon and a playful couple. This engagement session is surely one to remember!

Link
Gallery – to view images and buy professionally enhanced prints
The Elizabethan Gardens
Manteo
Kitty Hawk
The Outerbanks

Jessica, Brendan and I met in downtown Raleigh to photograph their engagement session. The session started at a Raleigh Park and then after a change of clothes we finished up on Fayetteville St. They have a beautiful little dog that came along for the session. I have quite a few clients with dogs and I always encourage them to bring all the family along to their engagement session. Even a bridal session!

Fayetteville St and locations nearby have plenty to offer, with bright street lights, neon signs and cobbled streets. I really enjoy finding reflections, color and shadows. Using a breeze to give more movement to the brides hair.

The couple were up for anything, making for a very creative and enjoyable session.

Links
Gallery – to view images and order professionally enhanced prints
Raleigh

Jenny, her friend and I met at the Hilton in downtown Savannah, Georgia. It was actually quite an extraordinary sight to see a beautiful bride sitting in the huge lobby area, in her Vera Wang wedding dress and Louis Vuitton high heels. We started the bridal session at the intriguing Bohemian Hotel right next door to the Hilton. The Bohemian Hotel has the most amazing furniture and interior design that I’ve seen in a long time. Photographing in the lobby area, using the furniture, natural light and reflections. One shot that I discovered during the lobby portion of the session was a reflection of Jenny on a glass divider. This glass divider has a women etched into it, which when combined with the reflection and the details behind the glass made for a very interesting composite. Completely caught in the camera and no photoshop enhancement. The women etched into the glass looks ghostly, adding to the haunting rumors of the hotel. As it is apparently haunted!

The hotel offers a great view of Savannah with the roof top restaurant and bar. With the strong sun hitting the roof, it’s perfect for some cool lighting effects on the bride and in partial shadowed areas. One image that presented itself was the red wall shot on the roof. The wall was mostly in the shade except for some light that looked like an arrow head. I positioned the bride to the left of the arrow shaped light on the wall, moving her into the shadow. With a large arrow head pointing at the bride, it highlighted her pose perfectly.

We moved around the city, walking and driving to different locations. Once we were finished downtown, we had one last place to photograph her in. We drove to a location discovered last year called Old Sheldon Church. A burnt down church near Beaufort SC. Driving on HWY 17 from Savannah to Charleston you’ll soon discover Old Sheldon Church. It is a spooky location late in the afternoon, with the sunlight falling quickly.

Links
Gallery – to view images and order prints
Savannah
Bohemian Hotel
Forsythe Park
Old Sheldon Church

Caroline, Logan and I met down in Savannah, Georgia at their hotel to get started on their engagement session. I’ve always found it best to meet at the clients hotel when doing any destination session. With Savannah being quite a sizable city, this was going to be no exception. After meeting up, we drove downtown, parking the car near the historic cobbled street. Engagement sessions are a special time, as the couple are excited about life, their future and just want to have fun. During their session, we wondered around the city, capturing both their love for one another and the charm of Savannah.

Links
Gallery – to view images and order prints
Savannah

Jennifer, Raaid and I met in downtown Wilmington, NC for their engagement session. The weather was perfect for their session and such a lot of fun. They’re a dynamic, hip and cool couple. Eager to have fun and really get into creating a cool collection of art. Portraits they’ll love for many years to come.

Interesting, during the start of their engagement session, filming for a movie was taking place. Unknowingly, we were walking down the same street they were about to film a car u-turn scene. We ducked out of the way towards the Copper Penny pub and watched from a far. Pretty neat to see movies in production.

Links
Gallery – to view images and order prints
Wilmington

Joanne, Mike & I met at Duke Gardens to photograph their engagement session. Duke Campus has a lot of memories for the couple and so was the perfect location for their session. Going to specific locations that have meaning allowed the couple to express how they feel about each other and not feel intimidated by the camera. As with all engagement sessions, I suggested the couple brings a couple of outfits, one semi causal, the kind of thing you would wear to go out in the town in and then second should be jeans or similar. I think when a couple dresses up a little it looks pretty amazing when they’re portrait is against a beat up building or somewhere that doesn’t require any kind of clothing. It’s unexpected and therefore more noticeable.

We finished the engagement session at Gloria Jeans coffee at Cary Town Center mall. Some years ago, Mike worked there and had served Joanne coffee. Forgetting her coffee, mike rushed out after her to ensure she got it. Impressed by this, Joanne and Mike started something very special and the rest is history! I always love it when a couple thinks through locations that have meaning to them and suggests the places they want to have their engagement session. It will definitely have more meaning to them for the rest of their life’s.

Links
Gallery – to view and order prints
Duke Gardens
Duke University
Gloria Jeans

Holly & Bryan had what I feel was a very unique wedding, but one that completely captured who they are at heart. They rented a huge beach house in Corolla NC. With access only by 4-wheel drive vehicles along the extremely long beach road, getting to the wedding was very different for us. After a very scenic drive to the Corolla, we met up with Holly’s mother and friends to get a ride in their huge pickup truck. Wow, I want one of these. I don’t know why yet, but they are so much fun and they made driving on the sand an easier challenge. Apparently it’s possible to keep driving on this beach road all the way to Virginia.

The wedding was a dream, with clear skies, a nice ocean breeze and plenty of sun. The ceremony took place on the property, using a staged area beyond the swimming pool. A board walk over the pool was constructed and covered in white material earlier in the day. Having Holly and her sister walk down from the house, over the pool to the stage where Bryan was waiting.

Once the ceremony was completed, the couple opted for casual family portraits and mainly focused on having the reception/party captured. Very relaxed and a huge amount of fun.

Links
Gallery – to view and order prints
Corolla – beach rentals for the ceremony and reception