i’ve happily shot for the downtown raleigh alliance a lot this year and was very excited to document the first day of their shop downtown campaign for them (second one is on the 11th! make sure to check it out). the DRA, partnering with local businesses, brought shoppers downtown to explore the world of free parking, major discounts at the shops and boutiques downtown, christmas carolers, and free tastings from a bunch of the tasty local restaurants. i was excited to get to go inside a bunch of my favorite stores and photograph them, while geoff was happy to come along and pick up the free food. ;) here are some faves of the day (including one i got of mayor meeker shopping in stitch – BONUS POINTS!):

father and sons father and sons holly aiken stitch holly aiken stitch marbles childrens museum raleigh event photographer raleigh event photographer raleigh carolers artspace raleigh christmas decorations shop downtown raleigh father and sons raleigh stores downtown raleigh art downtown raleigh boutique downtown raleigh art

raleigh shopper

sir walter raleigh says "merry christmas"

raleigh

i photographed my second farmer’s market for the downtown raleigh alliance recently, but this time the toyota farm-to-table tour was present! toyota picked a handful of farmer’s markets across the country and organized various local chefs and farmers, paired them together, and had the chefs create dishes based on the ingredients from the local farmers. they then handed out free samples (yum!) while attendees had the opportunity to test drive a prius and receive free cutting boards from toyota. :) it was pretty awesome that they chose raleigh for one of their stops!

raleigh event photographer raleigh downtown farmer's market toyota farm to table tour

the kids made vegetable puppets after the veggie puppet show and it was just about the cutest thing i’ve ever seen. who doesn’t want to put googly eyes and straw hats on vegetables?!

raleigh farmers market raleigh farmers market happy dog

this was one of the chefs from the busy bee cafe preparing some of the samples. diggin’ his salt tattoo on his left arm. paired with his picture is the samples of yellow tomato soup that the mint handed out.

toyota farm to table tour pumpkins farmers market raleigh event photographer toyota farm to table tour

also – don’t worry. most conferences with our mayor don’t end up like this. i think.

mayor meeker raleigh event photographer toyota farm to table tour

the band american aquarium played at this farmers market and was awesome. i already liked them, but then they did a cover of thunder road and i was totally won over.

american aquarium

farmer’s market ends at the end of october for the year, so make sure if you’re out and about on a wednesday downtown that you stop by and visit them!

i love shooting for the downtown raleigh alliance! they’re a great group of people who do awesome work for the city. last week i shot grazefest 2010 for them, a special event happening at the raleigh downtown farmers market. this amped up their weekly farmers market (every wednesday from 10am-2pm) to include an ice cream eating contest, local music by the old habits, and an “eggstravaganza” egg race for the kids. it was good times! i met a lot of awesome and interesting people selling everything from fresh flowers, fruit, and veggies, to shirts, earrings, and cupcakes shaped like farm animals. :) i highly recommend going down on a wednesday to check it out!

downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market downtown raleigh farmers market