Emily+Matthew // Durham Elopement

So happy to kickstart our wedding year season with a fantastic downtown Durham elopement! We hadn’t been to the new courthouse here, and I gotta say, it’s pretty snazzy. Lots of big windows and good light. We met Matthew outside on what had to be one of the coldest days of the winter and waited for Emily. They were so happy to be together that they smiled from the moment they saw each other until the moment we left despite Emily wearing a tea-length dress in temperatures of the low 30s and significant wind. :) They got married, shed a few happy tears, and then donned their gloves and coats to walk around the city with us for pictures. We took off their gloves and coats to significant protest more than a few times but they still didn’t stop smiling even though they were freezing. They are truly adorable and perfect together, whether it’s riding bikes around the city or camping in Virginia (speaking of bikes, thanks to their friends at Seven Stars Cycles for letting us shoot some pictures in the store!). From Florida, they’ve been in Durham for a couple years and just bought a house on several acres. Now that the wedding is over, Matthew’s going to spend his time trying to convince Emily they need a goat. Emily, this video should convince you. You’re welcome, Matthew.

Christena Cleveland // Promos.

We started doing a lot of promo sessions last year and we absolutely love them! They’re a great chance to try some new things and change up the pace a little bit. It’s also fun to meet new people with interesting careers that need photography for promotion or branding of their business. This week it was an honor to photograph our very first author! Christena Cleveland is the author of Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart. Her degree is in social psychology and she specializes in issues of reconciliation and how it relates to the Christian church. She contacted us to do some more casual headshots and promo photos for her speaking engagements and website, and we were happy to oblige. Christena is professional, intelligent, and great to work with – not to mention beautiful and possessing a really great taste in furniture. :) Check out her book on Amazon, her website here, and her promo photos below!

At Home w/ Tiffany+Neal.

Hello, 2016! We’re happy you’re here joining us in another year of photos. :) This year started off with wonderful, familiar faces to us. We photographed Tiffany and Neal’s engagement session way back in 2011. Since then, Tiffany and I have kept in touch over the years as she’s started her own wedding planning business. Then they had a baby! And then we happened to run into them at the Pixies/Robert Plant show! And they told us that they wanted family photos with their little girl and we happily obliged. We took some photos of just the three of them before their families would be joining them at their house for a Christening ceremony with the ever-wonderful Rev. Barbara Lodge. :) Noodle the Cat and Etta the Dog were also present, as well as some furniture that I may or may not have petted to absorb the good design vibes (Tiffany used to work for Herman Miller). And if I have the opportunity to sit a baby in a genuine Eames Lounge Chair, well, I’m gonna do it.