Power of Passion | Raleigh, NC Portrait Photographer

Today, exactly one week after getting back home from a wonderful vacation in Florida, I'm finally sharing with you all about the fabulous day trip to Raleigh that took place earlier this month. Sorry for the delay, but this week was pretty packed. My brother came to visit for part of his Spring Break (and much fun was had) and then I had a beautiful bridal shower to decorate and attend. All of that to say - it's taken me longer than intended to post these photos, but better late than never, yes? Yes.

So, on March 9th I headed to Raleigh with my friend Riette to attend Sandy Puc's Power of Passion Tour, featuring guest speaker Jerry Ghionis. It was an absolutely incredible 5 1/2 hours of learning, laughing and being encouraged by two massively talented professionals. We both gained a ton from the short conference (they pack a lot of great stuff into one evening) and I'd highly recommend catching this tour in a city near you, before it's over. Definitely worth the money and you're only committing to one evening. Great combination!

Since we were driving 2 1/2 hours to get there, though, Riette and I decided to make a day of it. So, we gave ourselves time to explore Raleigh for a while before heading to the conference.

It was a chilly day, but there were just enough evidences of Spring to bring some color and make for some lovely photos.

There were some cute buildings downtown, too.

We, of course, had to spend a little time at a local coffee shop. After googling our options and reading some reviews, we chose The Morning Times, and greatly enjoyed our lattes and the free internet. :)

We then ran into this guy....

Riette tried to befriend him. Not sure it worked.

And then, of course, what else would two photographers do but take some quick portraits of each other? Riette is lovely and it was easy to get some great shots even with just a few minutes of shooting,

We spotted this cool church and had to make it another quick-stop location, even though it was nearing time to head to the conference.

I lovvve the color of her eyes. They just pop so vibrantly!

Sooo gorgeous.

It was such a great day. I'm grateful for photographer-friends like Riette who are willing to go off on day-trip adventures and explore new cities, and for conferences led by amazingly talented photographers who help you see your profession and your passion in a new light.

(Posts about Florida will be coming soon!)

Personal | Florida here I come!

While I had all of the best intentions today of blogging about the photography conference I went to this week, it's officially going to have to wait until next week. Yesterday and today have been insane trying to get a number of different life and business projects done before I leave. Because, in fact, in just two hours I'm hopping on a plane with my husband and heading down to Ft. Lauderdale for much welcomed time in the warmth and sun and with family. It's working out so wonderfully that we get to spend the first few days with Aaron's family, and then I get to join my sister, cousin and grandparents for the rest of the week while Aaron attends a work retreat. It's going to be genuine fun in the sun, and I couldn't be more ready for some relaxation and good fellowship with my loved ones.

So! Have a fabulous week and stay tuned for the many posts that will follow upon my return. :)

Featured | Jeremy & Anastasia's Summer DIY Wedding

This has been a rather busy Thursday. I was gone all day yesterday at a photography conference with a friend (which I plan to blog about tomorrow, so stay tuned!) and I'm leaving tomorrow to go to Florida for a week of fun in the sun! But, unfortunately for this sandwiched-in-between day, there's a ton to get accomplished...

However, a very welcomed bright spot was seeing that the wonderful ladies over at Love and Lavender (a new favorite blog to browse) have featured one of my favorite weddings from last year. Both the bride and the groom are friends of mine, which always makes it extra enjoyable for me, and their style was a dream to photograph. Anastasia did an incredible job with all of the details, on a budget you wouldn't even believe. That girl is so incredibly talented and resourceful.

But don't just take my word about all of the prettiness. Click the link above and check it out!

Weddings | The Dilemma of Indecision

I'm quite possibly in the world's top percentage of indecisive people. Making swift decisions has always been tough for me, and the narrowing-down process can be brutal, stressful, and time consuming. At least when it comes to artistic endeavors that will result in a finalized finished product that will be archived for years and years to come. Like, for instance, scrapbooks. I love scrapbooking and used to spend a good deal of time putting together creative, artistic, sentimental scrapbooks, especially for 4-H (for which I took home the Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion titles several times). Yes, I know, it was just 4-H. But that was often the highlight of my summer and winning at something that I put painstaking time, effort and stressful decision-making into was rather gratifying. My dad still jokes about the many hours that I would just sit at the kitchen table with my scrapbook stuff strewn about, a mock layout all set-up....and just stare at it all, trying to decide if I liked it enough to start permanently sticking things to the page. Permanently, people! Talk about pressure! Once those photos were cropped and matted, there was no going back...

Well, oddly enough I've found myself in that same sort of situation as I've been trying to narrow down the photos to put together for a Studio Sample wedding album to show to clients. My wonderful friend and album designer, Janet, has been ever sooo patient (and even good-naturedly encouraging) through this drawn-out process, but even so, it's crunch time. I need to just pick some and know that, in the end, there's no right or wrong. And all of the photos that I can't fit into the album can always be put on my much-needed-to-be-updated website. So what's the big deal, right? It's just all of this self-made pressure that tells me I have to pick the perfect photos...the best of the best...or this sample album won't be all that it can be. But, you know what? When you work with as many good-looking couples as I do, I think I've decided that you just can't go wrong. So, I just thought I'd share a few of my favorite photos...that I've been staring at over and over for the past week...as I hit the final stage of making these tough decisions. And to my dear brides and grooms...thanks for being gorgeous enough to make this process so tough for me. You're all fabulous. :)

So! Wish me luck as I make my final decisions between all of these and even more favorites... :P