April 13, 2011

Raleigh Engagement Photographer: Ashley+Rodney

Meet Ashley and Rodney, a very sweet and adorable couple from Zebulon, NC who are planning a wedding for 2012. :) Rodney proposed to Ashley on February 13th of this year and they’re just in the beginning stages of planning… not yet in the throes of planning panic quite yet. ;) Ashley contacted me for an engagement shoot at Perry’s Pond, a quiet little place a little north of Zebulon near Bunn. Her mother had her senior portraits taken here and the local high school still does a lot of senior portraits on this piece of land. Ashley changed high schools before they took their group senior shot here, so unfortunately she wasn’t able to have pictures here… until now! :) And a beautiful woodsy location it is! And although we would’ve loved for the sun to be out, it was at least warm and the rain held off to mere drizzle for 95% of the time, so it was a success!

Ashley has such a sweet smile and gorgeous eyes! And Rodney is such a sweetheart. They’re both really kind, down-to-earth people.

Oh, and meet Brodie too! :) How could we forget him. Here he is, below, smiling for the camera (love those teeth). Brodie is a Peekapoo and nothing, really, but a large ball of the softest fur on planet Earth. He is adorable, fiesty, and easily distracted… and I love him a lot!

For those of you who’ve had a session with me, you know my tendency to walk backward without watching where I’m going and tripping, falling, and generally causing a scene. That said, this was a particularly dangerous location for me with all the rocks and water. ;) But I survived without a scratch!

Quick change of clothes and some drizzle later… my favorite picture of the day!

Ashley and Rodney, you are wonderful! I hope you, your family, and Brodie enjoy the pictures. :)

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April 12, 2011

Raleigh Portrait Photographer: Gregory(baby)+Kuma(dog)+Bella(dog)

Prepare for two really cute two sessions in one! :) A wonderful woman named Melanie called me a couple weeks ago to set up a portrait session for her 11-month old son, Gregory, and her two dogs, Kuma and Bella. Therefore, this is half toddler-portrait-session and half dog-portrait-session… the best of both ridiculously cute and cuddly worlds! :)

We’ll start with Gregory first! Gregory, who is such a photogenic toddler and lover of the camera despite his cold at the time, is the happiest toddler in the world. He didn’t cry or get upset once, even when he was tired! He laughed and smiled the entire time. Even when he finally did get tired, he just sort of rubbed his eyes and looked like, “Uuuggghh… so tired… but I must… keep… posing…”. He’s clearly a baby modeling natural! I loved this little fella!

This is Gregory’s “Blue Steel” face… all CSP clients have one, even the babies.

And enter Bella! Bella is a large (very large) black and furry dog of unknown origin. She is a total sweetheart (her patience exhibited below) and Gregory just loves her.

Bella and Gregory get along. Kuma, ehhh, not so much. :) Kuma gets along with Bella, but not really with kids. She just does her own thing being A REALLY CUTE (but tiny) dog that looks like you took a Husky and shrunk them down with a shrink-ray and made a pocket sized version (technically called the Shiba Inu breed). Look at that face!

Enter Gregory+Kuma+Bella’s incredibly kind and beautiful parents, Melanie and Mark! Melanie is a software architect and Mark is a lawyer, and combined their children will be very smart and professional! Look at Gregory’s face below… he knows how to work it for the camera. :)

Look at this little dog! Ohhh, Kuma, I just want to give you lots of hugs but you kinda just do your own thing by yourself and I respect that.

So Bella originally was supposed to be 40 pounds full grown, but she obviously became much much bigger. No one is sure of her breed… all we know is that she’s very soft, furry, and giant. But she is so cute! I love her ears. She can look pretty wolf-ish sometimes and is just adorable!

I had a great time on this shoot and it was a pleasure getting to know and work with this beautiful family! :)

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April 8, 2011

Raleigh Portrait Photographer: The Stanford Family

Remember the epicness that was the wedding of Valerie and Kenneth?! Well thankfully I was graced with their amazing presence again last week when I was asked to do their family portraits. :) I love this job the most when I get to see my clients again and follow their families along! And trust me, this family (parents AND kids) is easy to photograph. They were awesome at posing at their wedding, and they’re still awesome at posing now, in their own house. Valerie and Kenneth have a very expressive and funky style and both could easily take first place in America’s Next Top Model. They’ve apparently passed these important skills along to their kids, Xavian and Ariyana, who also had great style and that Blue Steel look.

Val and Kenneth wanted their pictures to be casual and take place in their home. Then they wanted them funky and taking place in near Franklin Street in Chapel Hill… complete with sunglasses and a lot of attitude. Both came out equally awesome! Love love love this family! Cocoa, the dog, somehow knew we were taking family portraits and hopped in almost all of them, haha. And pictured below is Mary, Kenneth’s mother, who had some pictures taken with her grandkids. :)

Love these kids! They are so adorable and get along so well. Xavian is 10 and Ariyana is 7.

Get your modeling on, Cocoa.

The picture below pretty much exemplifies the Stanford family. It also shows off Valerie and Kenneth’s modeling skills.

Standford family, when you put out a CD someday, the picture below and to the right needs to be the cover. Needs to. You’d make millions. All I require is credit on the inside jacket, okay?

LOOK AT THIS KID!!! He is amazing.

Ariyana came up with the peace sign pose and, when she releases a CD (which she surely will), this will be her cover.

Seriously, this is the coolest, most suave and well-dressed family of 4 on the planet. And despite their serious model faces, they are genuinely some of the most hilarious people I’ve ever met. Their sense of humor is great.

So in conclusion, remember these faces… because they’re bound to be on radio, television, or some other form of mass media eventually. It’s only a matter of time.

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