Gaby & Andrew: Part II

 

As promised, more photos from Gaby & Andrew's beautiful wedding day on August 15! Their fabulous reception took place at one of the most elegant venues in the Triangle area and my personal favorite, the Carolina Inn. I always try to step outside for a few exterior shots once the sun has set, but it's not fully dark yet -- that's when you get that beautiful deep blue in the sky.

 

 

 

Some details from the reception, helmed by the always-wonderful Tracy Adams of Adams and Events. (Seriously, call her -- she makes wedding-related stress disappear.)

 

 

 

The couple's grand entrance into the Old Well Ballroom -- there were so many flashes going off, this must be what it's like to be Brangelina.

 

 

 

 

 

The first dance. Gaby's just the right height so that when she looks up at Andrew, her face is at the perfect angle. Just one of those things photographers notice -- and love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The exquisitely-detailed, scrumptious cake from Cinda's Creative Cakes. The inspiration: champagne bubbles!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew's brother Jeffrey kicks off the toasts, while Andrew's mom and dad proudly look on.

 

 

 

 

 

Rather than toss her bouqet, Gaby presented it to her cousin and maid-of-honor, Emily. Gaby gave a wonderfully warm speech about how much Emily means to her. There's always a moment at every wedding where I get a little misty-eyed -- this was it.

 

 

 

 

I love this shot of Gaby's dance with her dad. I've been asked before how I make decisions about which photographs to leave as captured (in color) and which ones to convert to black and white. The answer is both technical and mysterious -- sometimes the color in a photo is perfect and enhances the subject matter, as in the photo below. I love how the colors in the background seem to surround Gaby and her dad.

 

 

 

But in this shot, up close -- I love how deleting the color and going with classic black and white helps to focus on their expressions.

 

 

 

Andrew takes a turn with his mom.

 

 

 

 

 

And then Gaby takes the floor for a spin with her stepfather, Arnold.

 

 

 

 

 

Later, Gaby danced with her mom, Marianne. Love it!

 

 

 

Everyone was having fun. This fine gentleman looks like he can't believe his luck!

 

 

 

Oh how I love to photograph guests having fun at a wedding. Nothing's worse than framing up the perfect shot of a guest having a ball --

then they notice me and turn their back! FAIL!

The talented DJ responsible for keeping everyone on their feet having fun? Mel Manning from Joe Bunn DJ Company.

 

 

 

 

 

But best of all were Andrew and Gaby, thoroughly enjoying themselves. It's too bad Gaby's so unexpressive. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gaby and Andrew met at one of Chapel Hill's most famous nightspots (I won't call it a bar) He's Not Here -- so naturally, the couple gave out cups with the distinctive logo.

 

 

 

Mayhem ensued. Just what was in those cups?

 

 

 

Weddings are also family reunions of a sort, so I'm always happy to take time out from the festivities to capture relaxed group shots like this one

of grandparents and grandchildren. These pictures are so important to get when everyone's together.

 

 

 

All too soon, it was time to call it a night. Last dance.

 

 

 

Off to Paris!

 

 

 

Gaby and Andrew -- words fail me. Thank you for being so wonderful to work with and giving us so much loveliness to photograph! We wish you everthing wonderful and a long life, with plenty of time for rocking on the porch together!

 

Oct 30, 2009 | Wedding Photography | 1 Comment »

Alison and Brent: Married!

Alison and Brent were married way back in May in a beautiful ceremony at Duke Gardens. The day started out heavily overcast and threatening to rain. By the time Alison emerged from the Washington Duke Inn to get into the limo, all traces of gray had vanished from the sky. The rest of the day was just as wonderful. Alison was so calm -- I'll remember her as the Zen Bride. To me, this shot epitomizes how calm she was all day.

"Getting Ready" is one of my favorite parts of the wedding day to document. Shots like this one, with all the bridesmaids gathered around, each one working on some aspect of the process, make me think of all the brides throughout history who've had their close female family and friends around to help them prepare for this day. Back in the days of "Ladies' maids" I guess it wasn't such a big deal -- the simple act of getting dressed in the morning was a pretty elaborate process that required the help of at least one other person. Now that we can just throw on jeans and a T-shirt -- well, it makes the act of getting into what is most likely the single most elaborate dress we'll ever wear even more monumental. Couldn't this same shot (with minor allowances for fashion) have been taken 50, 100 or 200 years ago? I love, love, LOVE that beautiful window light!

 

The end result. Isn't she simply stunning?

 

The guys have it easier...although Frank reports that the button covers flummox at least one of them every time. Here's Brent, working on the tie. Granted, I've never had to tie a tie in my life...so who am I to pass judgement?

A shot of Brent and then one of all the guys...pretty darn spiffy, if you ask me.

One quick note about all the black and white images in this post: Alison and Brent's wedding was so classic and elegant. All day I kept thinking that it could have taken place in any era -- the gown, the tuxes, the details, the setting -- it was just timeless. There was something about so many of their images that just screamed "Convert me to B&W!!!" I don't have a fixed plan or set rules about which images to convert to black and white. There's no percentage of total images delivered that have to be in black and white. It's true that I prefer the documentary images to be in black and white (many wedding photographers call this photo-journalism. I call it documentary because that's what I'm doing -- documenting the details, sights and emotions of the wedding day.) Most of the time it's just a feeling I get about a particular image...maybe it's the composition, maybe it's the ratio of highlight areas to shadow areas, maybe there's just a weird color cast that I don't like in the original (that happens with digital images sometimes). Whatever it is, it's one of the things I like best about shooting digital: having the choice to convert an image to Black and White when I feel like it!

Alison and the ladies, waiting for the word to head down to the lower gardens for the ceremony to begin.

Oh my gosh, how I love a long veil. Such drama!

Alison doesn't know this (at least I think she doesn't) but right before she and her dad began the walk down the steps to the fish pond, a mother mouse and several mouse babies ran right across the pathway. I'm pretty sure her dad spotted them, too -- we exchanged a quick look of surprise (or was it horror?) followed by a shared understanding that we shouldn't react at all. I guess we shouldn't have been surprised -- it was Spring after all and we were in a garden. Still...not something you expect to see right before the bride begins her walk down the aisle!

The energy from their combined smiles as they met at the altar could have powered a small village for the day.

 

 
A detail shot of the sand ceremony. In case you've been hiding out under a rock (or crash weddings nearly every weekend), the sand ceremony is quickly gaining ground on the unity candle as the perfect way to symbolize the act of hitching your life to someone else's for all eternity.  (Although I do wonder what happens the first time you move house -- how do you keep  the sand from getting jostled all around and losing that pretty pattern?) Still, I love it and it makes a lot of sense for an outdoor ceremony -- no worries about the wind snuffing out the candles.

 

Tah Dah! Alison and Brent are MARRIED!!!

 

With every wedding, I try to have at least one shot of the bride and groom that is completely classic...if someone found the image 300 years from today, they wouldn't know when it had been taken. They'd just see two people in fancy clothes and in LOVE.

Some details from the reception at the Washington Duke.

 

 

First dance as husband and wife!

 

I think of this shot as Part II of the first image. :)

Jason, the best man, was a riot. Here he is giving the toast. I think this was right before he told Brent to take Alison's hand and cover it with his own. He then solemnly pronounced: "This is the last time in your married life that you will ever have the upper hand."

Action...

...reaction.

I have a 20x30 canvas of this in my office -- it's one of my all-time favorites.

 

Ken Holmes with Joe Bunn DJ Company did a great job with the tunes. Can't you tell?

A white tent under the mid-day sun...perfect light for portraits!

 

Last shot of a perfectly wonderful day. Thanks to Alison (for always being happy and relaxed) and Brent (for putting up with all the pictures.) We wish you both a long, long life full of love and happiness!

 

 

 

 

 

Dec 15, 2008 | Wedding Photography | 2 Comments »

Mariah and Robert

Mariah and Robert were married November 10, 2007 at St. Mark's United Methodist Church here in Raleigh. Working with this couple has been such a blast, not only because they are great people, but they really love photography. We had so much fun during their engagement session back in the Fall that I couldn't wait for the wedding day. Mariah incorporated so many special touches to make their wedding really personal. Her grandmother is from Puerto Rico and Mariah chose to wear her lovely lace mantilla as a veil. Mariah's hair was spectacular! I love these shots of her with the red rose tucked into all those curls.

Mariah brought her christening gown with her on the wedding day to be photographed with her wedding gown. I loved the sweet little details on the dress and grabbed an opportunity to photograph it with her grandmother's lace mantilla.

Another grandmother's New Testament and Robert's ring, plus a shot of the dress:

Mariah's bridesmaids were so fun!  Here's a shot of all the ladies:

And the guys were a hoot:

Mariah had always dreamed of a candlelight ceremony. The church had recently installed new light fixtures but not dimmers, so when the overhead lights went out, they went OUT. I panicked a little, but luckily, our Canon cameras came through. Canon cameras are the best for low-light situations and one of the main reasons I prefer them over Nikon for weddings. (This ends the product placement portion of the blog post!) I always ask my couples to pause at the end of the aisle for a quick kiss, like this:

(Mariah's gorgeous bouquet came from Kelly Odom.)

After formals, it was off to the reception at Sister's Garden, a Raleigh tradition that is a great place for receptions. Typically, I stay after the formal photos to work with the bride and groom a bit while Frank takes off for the reception site to start photographing details and get room shots. I always stick my car keys in the back pocket of my camera bag. Frank grabbed the bag and took off for Sister's, not knowing he also had my car keys. Fortunately, I was able to grab a ride in the limo with the newlyweds, the best man and maid of honor and caught one of my favorite shots of 2007:

DJ Kent Bloms with Joe Bunn DJ Company did a fantastic job keeping people on their feet for what was a really fun night. The couple's first dance kicked everything off:

I just love it when I catch the groom in a sweet moment! I have to say Robert is one of the nicest people I've ever met. It wasn't long before Michael Jackson's perennial favorite "Thriller" got everyone out of their seats:

Mariah is a dance instructor (hip-hop is her specialty -- go, Mariah), so the dancing at the reception was, at the risk of sounding really uncool, "off the hook." Here's K., showing some flare:

A shot of the yummy wedding cake from Edible Art. The bow on the cake was a copy of the bow on Mariah's dress:

The sparkler departure craze continues, which keeps us on our toes! It's a tough shot to get, but when you do, it's golden:

Check out the flip-flops -- a bride's most useful accessory on her wedding day! Congratulations, Mariah and Robert...we wish you both a lifetime of love and happiness!

 

 

Jan 20, 2008 | Wedding Photography | 11 Comments »