Brooks & Chris at Max Patch

I had the great pleasure of photographing Brooks and Chris' intimate ceremony a couple of weeks ago. On a Friday morning, in what HAS to be one of the most beautiful spots in Western North Carolina, Brooks walked across the field to meet her groom. With only the wind and sweet melodies from a fiddle making a sound, they joined hands and were married. As the always wonderful Howard Hanger performed their ceremony, the complete circle of mountains enveloped us with a tremendous peace. It was a pure moment. I am honored to have been a part of it.

Thank you both so much for letting me share in such a moment and as you are "local folks", I look very forward to seeing you around town soon......

4 Legged Fun

My good friends over at Blaze N Skyy Pet Boutique are hosting their very fun Halloween Dog festival in downtown Asheville again this year. Last year was the first one and it was so much fun seeing all the dogs - and some owners - dressed in their fun costumes. As well as being fun, the festival is also a benefit for the Asheville Humane Society.

Asheville is a town that loves it's dogs. Anytime we can get out with them, we do!! My team will do the pet photography again this year. We are planning a very fun area for the dogs to come get their portraits done. There will be fun contests as well. The best in show dog this year will get to be the model dog for next year's poster, created by the awesome Angela Alexander. This year the model was the very adorable BooBoo - an adopted Humane Society dog. Make sure to come by and treat yourself to a little easy fun - and support the Humane Society while you're at it.

Some of last years pics:

Rhonda & Kevin

My good pal Rhonda found the man of her absolute dreams in Kevin. FYI, for all those romantics out there, they met while walking their dogs in their neighborhood. Single ladies..... he could be right there, down the street!! You never know.

He swept her away to Italy in late June for a beautiful wedding just for the two of them. They are a lovely couple and I am so thrilled for them! Of course, there were many waiting here in Asheville and around the country to celebrate with them. They had a party in their beautiful home in Kenilworth on an amazing summer evening in August. Kevin being an architect, no detail was overlooked. The girls from Colorful Palate did a fantastic job on the catering. Italian themed with a just touch of Texas, the party was perfect. Surrounded by their family and friends, they celebrated until late into the night. Rhonda, I'm so glad to know you and could not be more thrilled for the wonderful journey you are on now. I look forward to spending fun times with you and Kevin.

9/11.

I could not let this day go by without posting a thought or two about the significance of September 11. I cannot recall many - if any - events that are defined merely by the mention of it's calendar name. September 11 means different things to different people. For me, it represents that one stand out moment that stole away the innocence of my generation. Every generation has that moment. The one where you know exactly where you were at the time you heard. Being a child of the 80's it's very fair to say my generation was not as innocent as that of my parent's. I suppose every generation changes a bit from the previous one. And even though my generation had scaled down from some of it's indulgence, we still were basking in the light of unheard of prosperity, opportunity and freedom. I think on that day, it changed. In a few short hours, we were changed. We had witnessed a horror we never saw coming. We found ourselves questioning what we thought we knew about prosperity and freedom. However, for a brief moment in the days after we were united.

On this day in 2008, a point where we as Americans are quite divided - in an election season, we hear that the politicians are going to take the day off from mud slinging and unite. While the intention may be noble, I know that tomorrow they'll go back to business as usual and continue to divide instead of unite. In 2001, when the congress stood in unison and sang "God Bless America", I knew it wouldn't last forever, but I was hopeful. I was hopeful that the people would stay unified and hold those in office to account to do the same. I knew that couldn't last forever either.

My post today is not about politics. Today, it doesn't matter to me at all what political party you support, your stance on the war or your thoughts on U.S. foreign policy. Hopefully, we will all take a moment today and remember the 3000 people that lost their lives just doing what they always did. Living their lives. Some never knew what happened, some had to wait in despair and some rushed in and sacrificed their own lives to save others. We are a good people, we Americans. It seems like we soar in the midst of crisis. My hope is we will soar to make our moments count, to treat others as we would like to be treated and that we will not wait for another crisis to be at our best.

O.K., this is my "preachy" moment for the year. Know that I'm preaching mostly to myself. Have a blessed day......

The Nine. Amazing Women. Amazing Photographers

I am so excited and proud to introduce The Nine to the world today!!

www.theninephotographers.com

Composed of myself and the amazing Audrey Goforth, Honour Mann, Regina Holder, Corey Cagle, Jill Schwarzkopf, Katy Cook, Dana Andreasson of Orange Cat, and Brie Castell, we are a unique collaborative. A group varying in styles and background, but a uniform commitment to excellence in craft, we formed at a lunch table with the idea that together we could do something really unique. To be a source of reference for one another, a source of ideas for our clients and a source of support for our community, we realized we were opening the door for a new way to do business as a photographer. I am honored to be a part of such an extraordinary group of photographers.

I look forward to an incredible experience of growth and collaboration with this dynamic group of women!