jessica and bob

Jessica and Bob are married! I’ve spent most of today recovering from yesterday’s wedding. It was a very long day for me – and I’m sure it was much longer for Jessica and Bob. It was a grand wedding – both in size and beauty. This was probably the largest wedding I’ve ever photographed – which caused me quite a bit of stress leading up to the big day. But thanks to their extraordinary directors, Mary Beth Harper (wedding) and Chris Phelps (reception), everything went off without a hitch.

The bride and bridesmaids started their day at Shear Magic where Mary did their hair and some of their make-up. It’s not easy being beautiful – but it sure is fun to be pampered. Jessica seems to attract children. There was always a child in her lap – or very close by. Mary had to work around Camden while applying Jessica’s make-up.

Weddings are all about the details. And the details in this wedding were amazing. The flowers were gorgeous – as was expected since Jessica’s mother, Linda Humphrey, owns one of my favorite florists (Forget-Me-Not). I loved the beautiful, bright colors in the bouquets and table arrangements.

Jessica and Bob were both very excited to be getting married. And, they looked great! Jessica was drop-dead gorgeous and Bob had a huge smile on his face all day.

When I mentioned that this wedding was the largest I have ever photographed, that includes both the number of guests and number of attendants in the wedding party. There were so many bridesmaids and groomsmen, I was worried that I would have trouble getting them settled and pictures taken. But that was not the case at all. This was a tremendous group to work with. In fact, they were SO good, we finished our pictures ahead of schedule – which is rare.

And what is a wedding without a wedding cake? This cake was not only beautiful – it was delicious. Cathy Canby makes the most wonderful cakes. I try to never leave a reception without a piece of Cathy Canby cake!

It certainly appeared that everyone was having a blast at the reception. The band played music that got lots of people on the dance floor – and kept them there. The food was plentiful and delicious. And the formalities were kept to a minimum. Bob and Jessica had their first dance together and you could feel the love. When it was time to throw the bouquet, the floor was crowded with unmarried ladies. The same cannot be said for the garter toss. It’s always a little harder to get the guys on the floor – and harder still to get them to actually try to catch the garter.

After the bouquet and garter toss, we left the bride and groom alone to enjoy their guests. When we left, the party was going strong. I hope by now Bob and Jessica are sitting on a tropical beach enjoying their honeymoon. They deserve it!

jessica

Jessica and Bob got married today – and it was a great wedding! But this post is all about Jessica. I’ve been waiting, not so patiently, to share portraits from her bridal session. Her portraits were done just after Labor Day, so I’ve had several weeks to wait – and it has nearly driven me crazy. Patience is certainly a virtue – just not one of mine.

Jessica was an absolutely gorgeous bride. She simply glowed. And she was so down-to-earth. Luckily I’ve never come in contact with a bridezilla. And it’s a very good thing since I would have no patience at all with their antics. Jessica was the exact opposite of a bridezilla. She was very laid back and was extremely easy to work with. The most trouble I had with Jessica was getting her to make a decision about which portrait she liked best.

This is Jessica’s favorite.

And this is the one Jessica’s mom, Linda, picked out to have a canvas gallery wrap made of.

And here are a few of my favorites.

There were quite a few more in Jessica’s gallery that I liked, but I’ll stop here. Tomorrow I’ll download flash cards and begin the long and sometimes painful process of editing hundreds of pictures of the wedding. Hopefully, I’ll blog the wedding tomorrow, but it could be a little later. So check back often to see pictures of one of the prettiest weddings I’ve ever seen. And Bob will play a bigger role in my next blog article.

lily

Last night I had the pleasure of going to the beach with Tee, Erin and Lily. I’ve known Tee since he was a little boy – growing up in the same neighborhood. I didn’t really get to know Erin until a little over 3 years ago when she and Tee were planning their wedding. Thankfully, they chose me to shoot their engagement pictures, Erin’s bridal portrait and their wedding. And what a marvelous wedding they had! I took so many pictures that day my trigger finger was sore.

Tee and Erin live just around the corner, so I was able to get to know Lily when she was born last year. I spent more time with Lily last night than ever before – and she totally charmed me. You just can’t help but laugh when Lily is around. Lily is a vivacious, adorable little girl who talks incessantly. The only problem . . . the language she speaks is all her own! Truly, we were in the car for over an hour and she was NEVER quiet. She doesn’t fuss – she babbles, coos, talks, sings, and makes great noises. And she entertains herself with little input from the adults around.

When we got to the beach Lily didn’t mind having her picture taken – as long as we didn’t expect her to sit quietly. I just let her play and took a picture now and then. She loved my white wicker chair – she just didn’t want to sit still. But why would you sit still when there are shells and birds to play with? The only thing Lily didn’t like about the beach was the ocean. She was very vocal if the ocean got a tad too close for comfort.

I enjoyed spending a couple of hours with Tee, Erin and Lily. And, I look forward to watching Lily grow up.

savannah

Savannah truly wanted her senior pictures done on the beach, but we were both worried about the wind. The last two times I’ve shot at the beach, the wind has been horrendous. So, Savannah and I decided to try some shots downtown. We went to three different locations, but ran out of light before shooting much at the 3rd. I was shooting with two cameras to make the shoot go quickly, but I was having so much fun the time just slipped away.

Savannah has a modeling background, so posing was no problem for her. And, she has a great serious look. Some people (me included) don’t do serious well. I just look like I’m mad at the world when I’m not smiling. Others, when I ask to give me a serious look, break out in giggles. But Savannah has the whole serious thing down. Seriously! It was hard to pick just a few pictures to blog because I like so many from this session. But, I have other work to do before finishing the edit, so I just clicked on a few and those are the ones I’ll show.

In honor of Jenne

Today, my mother-in-law peacefully passed away after a long and often difficult illness.  She was christened Jennette, but her grandchildren called her Jenne so it didn’t take long before we all called her Jenne.   Although we will all miss her terribly, we know that she has gone to a better place – a place where she can not only walk, but run.  And a place where she will spend eternity with her beloved Ding.

Watching Rusty care for Jenne over the past 5 years has made me realize over and over that I made the right decision 35 years ago.  He has been an amazing son in every way.  Here’s a picture that was taken a few years ago of Jenne with our daughter, Megan.  These are my husband, Rusty’s, two favorite women.  I think I’m a distant 3rd

I’ll close with a quote I found tonight that I think perfectly describes mothers.

Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds.  Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, comrades and friends – but only one mother in the whole world.  ~Kate Douglas Wiggin

Dana

Finally . . . after two weeks of not clicking the shutter a single time, I had a senior portrait session last night and it appeared that the weather was going to cooperate. We knew it would be breezy at the beach but we certainly didn’t expect such BIG wind. Those who read my blog with any regularity know I am constantly complaining about the wind at the beach. I truly do love the beach, but this year the wind has been horrific. And Dana got a taste of that last night – literally! Even down on the hard-packed sand close to the water – sand was blowing down the beach with enough force to sandblast anything that stood in its way. Dana’s long, blond hair was blowing in every direction. In fact, several times all we could do was laugh. But, after driving out to the beach we decided to stick it out and see if we could get any decent pictures. And, I think we really did. Dana was such a good sport. She sat on wet sand, walked in the water, got her white pants wet and dirty, and probably ate a bit of sand in the process. But take a look at a few pictures from this session.

This just goes to show, everything doesn’t always have to be perfect to get good pictures.  It just takes a little perseverance – and a beautiful model.

Slow blogging!

I truly haven’t had much to blog for the past couple of weeks. Since I returned from my mini-vacation, I’ve been very busy at school, the weather has been most uncooperative, and I’ve had a vile stomach virus. I’ve actually only shot one session and that was nearly two weeks ago. And the one session I shot was a bridal portrait session. I don’t normally blog bridal portraits because I want everyone to see the bride in her gown for the first time when she walks down the aisle – not on my blog. But, I’m going to make an exception since this has been a slow blogging week – and because I absolutely love these portraits. The bride is dazzling, her gown is exquisite, and her flowers are magnificent. Even the weather cooperated for once! I can’t even choose my favorite because I like so many of them. But, I’m only going to show one portrait. Come back on September 30th to see more from this session. And you’ll be able to see a few from the wedding by then too, I hope.

If the weather cooperates, you’ll get to see some senior portraits and a family session or two in the next couple of weeks.  As badly as we need rain in eastern NC, I hate to wish it away.  But, I have some catching up to do and a brand new camera to try out.  So, I need some sunshine and wind-less days.