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!!!