TAR HEELS!!!!

JB and Kristi have had a busy year to say the least. Both graduating from UNC, planning a wedding and oh, JB played on this year's basketball team for UNC....so they have had a lot to celebrate! Needless to say, there were touches of Carolina Blue everywhere and beautifully so. God help you if you were a Duke fan at this celebration. Undeterred by the youthful exuberance that comes from college years, the fan fair of team spirit and basketball, this was an amazing celebration of the genuine affection these two people have for one another. They were an absolute joy to work with and I was so proud to document this moment as they made the passage from from one momentous point in their lives to another.

Bethany and Zach Engagement Session

I had such a great time photographing Bethany and Zach's engagement session several weeks ago. We shot on the amazing Queens University of Charlotte campus, where they are both students. They are awesome subjects. I was so glad we got to play a bit and catch their youthful spirit.

I am looking forward to the wedding in Charlotte in just a few weeks. We just shot Bethany's bridal portraits a couple of weeks ago. She is an amazing muse and her portraits are stunning and I can't wait to post them after the wedding.

Sometimes....a girl needs two!

Since I was in a blog deficit end of last year, I'll take two posts for the price of one! I think the on site studio at Tana and Brad's Grand Bohemian reception deserves it's own place. Again......Honour, it's a privilege. Honour and I have been working on our studio concept since last year and every one is tailored to the event itself. We have a great time with it and the guests are always happy to ham it up for us. BIG kudos for Honour bringing the grandparents into the studio. This series was my favorite of all the studio!!!

Studio images by Honour Mann. Extra thanks to Liz at The Purple Iris for hooking us up with the very cool boas. They went perfectly with our masks!

Tana & Brad christen Grand Bohemian Hotel

After months of watching this amazing structure rise in Biltmore Village, it is finally open - and GRAND it is. Eclectic and incredibly elegant, the hotel exceeds expectations. Tana and Brad are an amazing couple - he a pilot and she a vet - and they christened the new hotel with a wedding reception as grand as the hotel itself. The amazing Shay Brown Events collaborated with Stacey Brown of The Bloom Room and designed a stunning scheme for the ballroom and salon. Guests were treated to a bountiful antipasto buffet with cocktails on the terrace and then on to an elegant dinner in the ballroom, then dancing, dancing and more dancing. We were all so excited to be a part of the first wedding at the hotel. The staff is incredible and a joy to work with.

This crowd knew how to throw down a party and they celebrated until the very end - they even thought to bring some props of their own to embellish their dancing. They had such an amazing time! My always exuberant colleague, Honour Mann joined me to create and shoot the on site studio. As always, many, many shout outs to my amazing associate Crystal Anderson. Girl, it's on, you're awesome and I'm excited about the possibilities.......

Cucina 24 Shoot

I love editorial shoots! They are an interesting orb of creative energy married with a demanding timeline. This one was no exception. A collaborative shoot between myself and fellow "Nine" photographer Honour Mann, we had merely two hours to get a rather large shot list and be cleared out so a local downtown restaurant could be ready to open their doors for dinner. The shoot was staged at local red-hot restaurant Cucina 24 on Wall Street. I'm not sure these dear folks knew what they were getting into until the flurry of floral designers, set designers, hair/make up, models, photographers with large cameras and light set ups besieged their lovely restaurant. They were very gracious hosts. The talents of Shay Brown, Michael Hofman of Hofman Studios, Aria Floral Design, Brown's Floral, Flora, Brooke Priddy, Jade makeup and Roberto Coin came together so wonderfully and we got some really lovely work. Can't wait to see the final results!! Big thanks to Peter and Luke of Blend Photography for being our boy "accessories". You guys were awesome models!


Honour Mann preps model Amanda for shoot.










The AMAZING pottery of Michael Hofman. I am such a huge fan!!!

Portraiture work at Palettes

I was so excited when Shay Brown of Palettes of Perfection pitched the idea of having a fine art gallery devoted to photographers personal work in her new space. While I love weddings, I also want a place to show other work as well. Of course, there is plenty of wall space at Palettes for weddings as well!! Here are the pieces I chose to show this show.







A special thanks to Honour Mann of HH Fine Arts for her collaboration in styling the chicken image. We had such a great time on a fall afternoon shooting together. BIG thanks to our muse Katherine who dealt with a bit of chicken poop, but remained a trooper!!

Special Portraits. Special Books.

I love when people think outside the box!!! A client and friend came to me for a special photo session she wanted to do as a gift to her husband for Valentine's Day - not necessarily outside of the box in and of itself. Margo, however, is fearless and really wanted to push herself and create something very intimate and special. We collaborated and did a fantastic shoot together. The images had just the vintage feel we wanted. When it came to a vehicle to contain these images, I knew a hand-crafted book was the only way to go. Asheville is an art town, if you want something made, someone here must certainly does it. Through some investigating, I found the perfect artist for the project. I am so thrilled to have met local book artist Annie Fain of A. Fain Books . Her work is amazing. I appreciated not only her expertise, but her enthusiasm for what we were wanting to do. She crafted a book that had the same intimate feel as the images themselves. It was the perfect complement and the result was a complete art piece. Thank you Annie for your hard work and I look forward to working with you again.

And most certainly, thank you Margo for being so comfortable with yourself and your relationship with your husband. Thank you also for trusting me with your vision.