April & Wesley...

A few shots from April and Wesley's wedding in June....

Another Wedding Collage...

The last few months...

I've been kind of MIA with my blog for a few months so I wanted to post a few photos from some of the weddings Sonya and I have been shooting.

More to follow....

Dollars Days at Grandfather Mountain

I took advantage of the $1 admission price for local residents this past Saturday and hiked the Grandfather trail to the top. It was a beautiful day to be on the mountain.

Honey and CoCo With My New Tamron

I was driving down Buck Mountain Circle yesterday evening just looking for something to snap some photos of with my new Tamron 18-270 VC lens, when I saw a couple horses running around their corral. I could tell right away they were pets because they galloped right over to check me out. A few minutes later the owner of the horses pulled in the drive and stopped to chat with me. She told me their names and how much they loved attention. Everytime I looked down to check the image on my camera, Honey (right) would pull on shirt trying to get me to pet her.

CoCo

Skyler

I was in the studio with Sonya Saturday morning and we were experimenting with some different lighting set-ups before a shoot. I needed to snap a few quick shots to check it out before the clients arrived and fortunately Sonya's daughter, Skyler, was there and agreed to agreed to model for me.

I had my Canon flash set-up as my master and background light with a gobo on one side to reduce any spill, and had the studio light to Skyler's left at a 45 degree angle firing as a slave. I also had a silver reflector a few feet to her right. So it was basically a two light set-up. I'm hoping to figure out a good way to add a hairlight pretty soon, I think that's really all that is missing.

March Madness....

...(or rather March/April Madness) hasn't gone quite the way my bracket projected it to go. The last I checked I was in 67,423rd place on Facebook's bracket challenge. My lone redeeming pick is the 'Heels winning it all in Detriot, and if that happens 67,423rd place will be just as good as 1st.

Brian and Dawn II

The rain let up for just a few minutes Saturday afternoon and we were able to get a handful of shots outside the church, well pretty much outside.

I'm praying for good weather for all our weddings because shooting outside produces such better results........and who wants rain during your wedding anyway?

Brian and Dawn

Sonya and I photographed Brian Edwards and Dawn Miller's wedding this past Saturday in Laurel Springs. I spent much of the day with Brian as he was preparing for the ceremony. I was amazed at how relaxed he was, in almost every shot I got he was either laughing or grinning about something. Both he and Dawn seemed genuinely happy to be with each other.

More Snow Before it Melts...

Snow Angel

Elijah and Harley

UNC's #1 Fan!

Yes, this past Friday Patti Sweeney, my awesome co-worker, was the Tarheel's biggest fan. See, Patti is usually a Duke fan, but because of a wager she and I made on Wednesday's UNC/Duke game, she had to wear a Tarheel's shirt, and shout "Go Tarheels" everytime the phone rang. She was a great sport about it, but I'm sure she's spent the whole weekend working on a plan of action to exact revenge. I just hope the 'Heels keep on winning.

Visiting America

My brother Josh's brother and sister-in-law came down from PA for a visit over the weekend, and brought their two-month-old daughter, America Lynn. This was the first time much of the family has had a chance to see her, so I brought my camera along to get some shots. I was using my on camera flash (external flash is being repaired) and the preflash made America's eyes go all funny. This photo was my favorite.

Logan and Addison

More Studio Work...

This time I used a real studio. Sonya Tedder and I will be working together on weddings, commercial and portrait photography effective February 1st, so I will have access to her professional studio for indoor portrait work. I shot these of the family on Saturday afternoon as a gift for my Mom and Dad's anniversary.

My "Studio" Apartment

Actually it's a one bedroom, but I turned my living room into a "studio" to get some headshots of Charlotte shooting my Canon Speedlite through my new Westcott 43" Umbrella. All of the photos were taken with the umbrella at camera right anywhere from a 45 to 90 degree angle, and a 24" X 36" piece of white foam board propped up immediately to Charlotte's left acting as a fill card. The Westcott has removable black backing so I shot the first and third photos using it as a shoot-through diffuser, the second and fourth photos were with backing on and shooting into the umbrella. I also added a CTO gel to the flash to warm up the light a bit on all but the last shot.

I hope to add a second light to the set up soon. We'll see how that goes.

i love the snow...

I'm hoping it stays cold this weekend 'cause I have a pair of skis and a snowboard propped up against the wall in my apartment just begging to go out again.