Congratulations to Susan and Michael!
Pipe up. Leave a comment!
Congratulations to Mandi & Tim!
Florals: Fresh Affairs Cake: Swank Cake Design Stationery: The Paper Cafe Event Coordination: A Southern Soiree
A perfect day is a good start to describing Sean and Lindsay's wedding. The sun, the breeze the fun people, the awesome venue. Everything came together for an event I would describe as casual elegance. I'm pretty sure I'm not the first to use that description, but if you were there, you know what I mean. If you weren't there, then check out the quick show below.
Congratulations to Dana and Tim who were married May 1st. Ceremony: Edenton Street United Methodist Church, Raleigh, NC Reception: The Capital City Club Florals: Fresh Affairs Event Coordinator: Angie Wright, Chic Details
Ceremony: Tanglewood Manor House, Clemmons, NC Reception: Tanglewood Barn Cake: Ketchie Creek Bakery Florals: Green Bee Design
On location in Charleston, SC
This was one of those weekends where the weather really didn't care about our good intentions. Saturday on the beach was cold and windy. The kids were miserable, and wanted to go get warm in the car. Sunday's Bridal session in Winston Salem was a monsoon, but we still managed to pull it off. Here are a few from the beach. Though I don't photograph kids all the time, when I do, I find myself having to trick them into being themselves in front of the camera. It's like they are trained from birth to look at the camera and give a smile. As a parent myself, I value the images that depict my kids being themselves much more highly than the ones were they are looking directly into the camera with a pleasant smile. Those smiley images are cool too, but not half as cool as when you can see their personality really come through in a photograph. Brooke and Brianna were troopers. They braved the cold which wasn't so bad. It was the cold carried by the wind which was constantly smacking us in the face that was the problem. I generally like wind. Hair flying in faces, creating movement, but this was the kind of wind that your grandma would yell at you about catching pneumonia, so we kept it short. Thanks you two for a fun session!
We tend to receive a lot of solicitation through the contact page of our web site. Everything from people promising to get us of the first page of Google searches, to new photographers looking for advice. This one that came in this morning made us think of the FAIL Blog. Have you ever visited that blog? If you haven't, wait until you're having a bad day and check it out. I promise you'll be rolling around laughing in no time. So this is a direct copy/paste from the message that I received this morning. Nothing was changed, altered, removed, or shortened. Tell me if you would hire this guy. "Hey , I am a freelance writer. Your site is like enchanting.. m truly inspired to collabrate and pen something for teh mesmerising pics on it. Lemme know .. hows that possible Regards" Yeah, let me jump right on that!
Nearly every week we are given the opportunity to share some very special moments with our clients as they are married in beautiful places with touching and highly personalized ceremonies. The thought of creating a compelling visual record of our clients' personal history motivates me greatly and want to take that thought a step further. I am launching a personal project to create warm and engaging portraits of couples who have been married for fifty years or more. For me, there are few things more enjoyable than creating imagery that is inspired by a great story. Any couple who has been through fifty years together has more than enough stories to inspire a great image. They are a generation we can learn a lot from and I would love to show our current clients where they could be in fifty years. So this is a call to action. If you know of a couple who has been married for fifty or more years, tell me about them, put us in touch, get us together. I plan to shoot these sessions at their home and am willing to travel outside of Raleigh. Email is the best way to reach me, but my phone works too. My number is 800-344-4914 so call me. Since this is a personal project, there are no charges associated with these sessions, so there's really nothing holding you/ them back is there?
Shooting Fashion spreads for Weddings Magazine is good time. The process usually begins about four months prior at a yummy lunch where we dream up the theme and look of the shoot. This year's shoot was about as opposite of last year as you can get. Last year we shot to a slightly sarcastic fairy princess theme and had a painter create the whimsical scenes over my photographs. This year there was no running theme, but the look was muted color, a tiny bit gritty, with elegant styling and setting. Huge thanks to the crew for making this happen! Sophie for your flawless makeup and magical abilities with big hair . Nikki and Finley for "workin' it", Robyn for pulling all together and not cutting corners, Maureen for not having your baby during the photo shoot and finally Meridith for helping me be in two places at once.
This is the kind of couple that you describe by licking your finger and making that sizzle sound, cause they're hot! We had a blast on Superbowl Sunday shooting in all my fav spots, and lucky for us it was not freezing, raining or snowing which is a big change from the usual lately.
We even got stopped by the police during the session, but this time because it was a good friend of Carlos' and not because we were breaking the law.
Later that evening we went to a Superbowl party to see the commercials and were annoyed when they kept getting interrupted by a football game! And what was with that half time show? Geesh, The Who is cool and all if you're like 150 years old but I just wasn't feelin' any of it. Maybe it sounded better if you were there?
You may have noticed that the W&W blog has come to a bit of a screeching halt lately. It's not for lack of things to show. We've had lots of sessions, a few magazine features and even a magazine cover that we'll get around to sharing. I have semi, sort of/ kind of, unofficially turned this blog over to my awesome wife Meridith. This time of year my attention usually turns to my personal projects and this year, one of those projects is a new blog. It's not a wedding blog, it's a photography blog. Think of it as the photography version of a man cave, where I can geek out about the kind of stuff that most of our wedding and portrait clients wouldn't care to read about. A place where fellow photo geeks can get together and learn about new stuff, talk about the good old days and yell at each other if they want. It's called: The Beat-up Camera and can be found at www.thebeatupcamera.com Weird name huh? Well, I noticed a long time ago that people who had really nice well cared for equipment in mint condition rarely had many decent images to show. Their camera spent most of it's life in a case because the person was more interested in either the technology or just in the prestige of owning an expensive camera. On the other hand, those whom I've met with outstanding work, the kind of work that makes it obvious that they practice a lot; those people had the kind of equipment that made me wonder how it was held together. How could cameras and lenses that mangled and ugly produce such amazing images? Turns out, it's never been about the cameras or lenses. It's about the eye behind the camera. There is no set schedule or format for The Beat-up Camera blog, but if you want to know what I'm up to, that's a good place to start. Right now I'm talking about assignments that I'm giving my commercial photo students. It even has a Twitter feed so you can keep up with my every move. (stalker!) You should still come back here for all the official W&W information as I won't be cross pollinating content between blogs, but for now, check it out and leave a comment. See you there!
Well, it's official and the word is out. Raleigh Wedding Cars is here and ready to roll! In fact, this past weekend was the official launch at the 2010 Bridal Expo being held Saturday and Sunday at the fairgrounds in Raleigh. The whole thing started with the thought that it would be really cool to be able to photograph our clients not only in beautiful places, but also with really awesome classic cars that reflect their personal style. A few months ago, we happened to be at a wedding in Wilmington and heard that our bride Jennifer had searched high and low for a classic Rolls Royce that could drive her and her Groom Patrick around town for the day. She finally found one that would travel from another town a few hours away. The car was beautiful, classic, and since it was black, made for a fantastic backdrop against her white dress. The other thing I liked was that it looked different from the 1950s style Rolls Royce you see so often at weddings. It looked more modern, but still very classic. I found out later that day that the car was for sale and by the following Monday we had bought it. It's funny how things fall into place sometimes, because a week later, just after I wrapped up a meeting with a local wedding planner I got an email from our friend Joe. It said "Hey, I hear we need to talk, do you have a new project cooking?" It turns out that Joe was in the process of doing the exact same thing but with a very different type of car. Next thing we know we are dreaming up a company that will be supplying the Triangle with the coolest cars available for weddings. There's something for the regal and something for the rock 'n roll crowd. Check out www.raleighweddingcars.com to see what we've been up to.
So before anyone wonders or asks, the answer is no. No, I won't be personally driving the cars on wedding days, no, we won't be offering cars in our photo packages, and no, this will not take any of our attention away from our photography. We have a dedicated manager and she will be running things for us. One fun thing though is that now we have some super cool props for *E* sessions! We plan to add another car by summer and are currently shopping. Do you have a type of car you would like to see at weddings? Give us a shout and we'll give it some thought.
The Rolls is a 1969 Silver Shadow. The image below is from Jennifer and Patrick's wedding day, just three days before RWC was born!
This is our 1966 Lincoln Continental Convertible. It has suicide doors and is almost twenty feet long!
There is nothing quite as refreshing as beginning a new year. It's kind of a magical time for me. The down time that I have the week between Christmas and January 1 has always been precious. I suppose it's mostly because the rest of the year seems like such a blur, but that one week of stepping away from the day to day work activities provides so much clarity and creative inspiration.
Because I'm not a big fan of end of the year recaps or top ten lists of stuff we did, or looking at the past in general, I will not be putting you through any of that with this post. Even though we accomplished a lot of great things in 2009, met many good people and worked with some fantastic clients; I, like a few million other people will enjoy watching the last year of this decade slip quietly into the past.
What I do love most about this time of year is looking to the future! Imagining that there is a blank slate and anything is possible. Coming up with all of the fun and exciting things we'll be doing and talking with others about what they have planned. Every year I go out to the office supply store and get a fresh, clean legal pad to write down all of the things I want to do or try, or get better at doing. I write and write, and eventually a pattern emerges of how I would really like to live my life from that point forward.
So many events can distract or derail our efforts during any given year. External things that we didn't ask for or invite. Situations that are beyond our control or comprehension. People move, get married, change jobs, lose jobs, die, have babies, break down, become famous, lose friends, retire. We had plenty of external distractions last year, but one thing that helped tremendously was to have that written plan in place to be our guide.
I would really encourage anyone to take a few hours to actually write down what you want out of life. Don't type it, don't email it to yourself. The process of writing your own thoughts on a piece of paper with a pen is an experience that seems much more real, much more personal and possible than just tapping out some words on a keyboard. Draw pictures, doodle around your notes, make it about you.
This doesn't have to be formal, that's boring. This process should be inspiring and exciting. To really boil down to what it is I am interested in accomplishing over the next year, I typically start with a blank sheet of paper and at the top write "I WANT". Yes, it's a selfish beginning, but what it allows me to do is think for a moment only about results and outcomes, then I can later fill in the blanks exploring what work I would actually have to do to reach those results. It's at the point where I see most of the dots connected that I can decide if that thing I think I want is worth having.
People often confuse creating goals with making new year's resolutions. I don't make resolutions. I'm terrible at resolutions. Goals are things you want to make time in your life for so that you can accomplish them. Resolutions on the other hand are the way that your guilty conscience will try to create a goal out of an activity that you feel deep down you should have been doing all along. Even though it's an activity you never really wanted to fit into your life in the first place. That's a recipe for failure and failure is not much fun for anybody.
Look out soon for the latest on some cool stuff we are cooking up this year. Heck, I might even blog more, though I have to admit that is not on my goals list for 2010.
Time for something different. Tim wanted to incorporate a baseball theme into part of the *E* Session so we checked out the Durham Bull's stadium and then moved on to something a bit more formal. This was a fun session and I can't wait to work with them again next May for their wedding.
This was the last FOH session before the new pediatric caner center opens at UNC hospital. After we finished shooting, we were treated to a behind the scenes tour of the new building and got to see all of the great new things they have in store for the kids who need treatment. I have such a great time working with these kids and seeing their strength and the magic in their eyes. If you would like to learn more about the Flashes of Hope organization, check out www.flashesofhope.org
There is so much to report to you about this fab wedding. First, Kathy is a UNC alumni and big fan of the Tarheels, so it was a natural decision to have her wedding at the Carolina Inn. Rain threatened to move the ceremony in doors, but when the time came there was no rain in sight and everyone could finally relax a bit. Cara and her assistants from A Southern Soiree kept everything running like a Swiss watch, and designed an amazing reception in the old well room. Of course the flowers rocked because Lyn and his team from Fresh Affairs were on the scene. Touches of blue in the arrangements were a nod to the Tarheels. Kathy asked Lyn to create a modern twist on the traditional Jewish Chuppah using flowers and fabric, he came up with a stunning design. A real one of a kind piece that worked so well with their location. Kathy was pretty nervous about being lifted in the chair. Her expressions throughout the dance were priceless, as was her sigh of relief when it was over. After that, Joe Bunn had the party going for the rest of the night. Donna, the cake genius behind Sweet Memories was given a challenge. The bride wanted a classic wedding cake, the groom likes cookies, they both got what they wanted and were very, very happy. I've been shooting with our couples a lot at night lately. My good friend JMC got me really excited about it and I have tried to do it for each wedding this year with only a few exceptions. It's fun to make the world look differently than you could ever see it in reality.
Midtown Place is the name of our office building and it is located off of Wake Forest Road in Raleigh. Our location is easy to find, but sometimes Mapquest and even car GPS systems have gotten people turned around, so we have some basic directions posted below.
From 540:
Exit 14 – Falls of Neuse Road,
Turn Right toward Raleigh (South)Falls of Neuse Rd will turn into Wake Forest Rd
Travel approximately 5.4 miles
Turn right onto Dresser Ct
Turn right at the dead end onto Benson Dr
Turn right into the second driveway
3708 will be in front of you to the right
From 440:
Exit 10 – Wake Forest Road (North)
2 traffic lights past Duke Raleigh Hospital
Turn left onto Dresser Ct
Turn right into the second driveway (Williamsburg Commons)
This is what you're looking for
Enter through the red doors, turn right through The Paper Cafe and then left down the hallway (we share the building with several other businesses).
Call us if you get turned around, 800.344.4914
Bigger, better and totally organic!* This Blog produces 50% fewer greenhouse gasses than previous blogs.** We're excited about the new found flow with our web site and hope that you come back more often. If you want to see any or all of our old posts you can always check out the old blog. Enjoy! James & Meridith Disclaimers *Claims of this blog being organic have not been confirmed by the FDA **This is actually a load of crap, but it sounds nice, and everybody's doing it.
I’m writing this post to let everyone know that I really haven’t been ignoring everyone for the last few weeks. Well, I guess I have, but there’s a pretty good reason.
Three Wednesdays ago I had just wrapped up a great album design session with Alison and Josh and was ready to dive into more album designs. When I returned to my desk there was a message on my phone from a number I didn’t recognize. It was my Great Aunt telling me that my Grandmother was in intensive care at the hospital in Wilmington (2 hours away from me). I closed and locked my office door, got in the car and drove to Wilmington.
I was on the road about an hour before I got in touch with Meridith to let her know what was going on. I arrived at the hospital and they told me it would be an hour or so before I could see her, so I went out and bought clothes and toiletries enough for the next day or two. I was at the hospital for the next few days and as Saturday approached My Grandmother was telling us that she wasn’t ready to get better, she was ready to go see my Grandfather.
Saturday came and I visited the hospital early that morning, said goodby to my Grandmother and left for my wedding in Raleigh. I knew that would be the last time I would see her, but knowing that she was at peace gave me peace too. about an hour after my wedding ended I received a text from my sister that she had passed. My five year old son brought me a bottle of water and tissues just in case. He’s cool.
The next week was filled with making arragements, receiving family and friends at the house and figuring out what to do with all of the food people brought. The week after that was filled with putting out fires at work and trying to answer as many phone calls and emails as possible.
Now I’m on to this week and my sole mission is to destroy my to do list. Crush it, beat it into submission and all that sort of thing. I’m doing okay so far. Hey, this blog post is on the list, so in just a minute I’ll be one more down and on to the big stuff.
So I’ve waited a while to post about this because I wanted the storm to pass before stirring the pot. A few months ago, we and some of our wedding colleagues were approached by a local news stations to be interviewed on how the “bad economy” has affected the wedding industry in our area. When the day came for the crew to arrive, I decided to split at the last minute because I didn’t have any bad news to report and I got this feeling that the interviewer was looking for a specific doom and gloom angle. Plus the camera makes me look fat.
Sadly, I was right. (on both counts)
When I returned and spoke with the other folks who were interviewed, they confirmed that the interviewer was asking questions specifically related to how bad things were. Any time someone mentioned that in their experience and interactions with their clients, things were not as bad as the media suggests, the interviewer shrugged it off indicating that any possible good news was just not convincing right now. So instead of going out to report the news (which wasn’t all that bad by the way) the people at the news station wrote a story that fed on the public’s fears and went out to find some convincing looking people to support that story regardless of facts. It’s like the news was sponsored by Prozac and their job was to keep people completely depressed.
I don’t watch the news any more. It’s just another reality show gone bad.
If it’s a big story, I’ll hear about it. I heard about Ed, Farrah, Michael and Billy. I’m sure I’ll hear if we go to war with Korea or Iran. Either way I will keep doing what I’m doing and wish the best for everyone. When mom said that everything on TV was pretend, I had no idea it meant EVERYTHING on TV was pretend. Apparently so.