Archive for June, 2009
Wendy: Maternity
Perhaps I should specify at the outset of this post, this is not my Wendy… this is Wendy who I’ve known at least since we were in middle school together. Wendy and her husband Anthony are expecting their first child in August, and Wendy decided to have maternity photos made as a first Father’s Day present for Anthony. My Wendy and I were more than happy to oblige and, apart from the requisite name confusion (is it bad form to ask your subject to move a light while you photograph them?) we had a great time. Since Wendy and Wendy were both dancers, there was fantastic communication between the two of them about finding graceful poses and lines to help accentuate the beauty of motherhood. Also, Wendy has a well-defined and daring aesthetic sense which challenges us as photographers in the best possible way. Add it all up, and we had a blast. Anthony is a lucky guy.
Although this next photo is probably technically better…
It’s this one that I think captures Wendy’s personality.
his last photo was one of our favorites from the shoot and, as it happens, it’s also one that Wendy chose to have blown up to 16×20. It’s pretty encouraging when that happens.
We’re so excited for Anthony and Wendy and look forward to meeting their little girl in a few months. Also, it’s a little late, but it’s probably a good time to say a Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. Without you, there would be no maternity photos. ;-)
And with that, TEN (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING draws to a close. We hope you’ve enjoyed it, and that you’ll keep checking back to see what we’re up to. Have a great and restful weekend!
Wendy: Maternity
Perhaps I should specify at the outset of this post, this is not my Wendy… this is Wendy who I’ve known at least since we were in middle school together. Wendy and her husband Anthony are expecting their first child in August, and Wendy decided to have maternity photos made as a first Father’s Day present for Anthony. My Wendy and I were more than happy to oblige and, apart from the requisite name confusion (is it bad form to ask your subject to move a light while you photograph them?) we had a great time. Since Wendy and Wendy were both dancers, there was fantastic communication between the two of them about finding graceful poses and lines to help accentuate the beauty of motherhood. Also, Wendy has a well-defined and daring aesthetic sense which challenges us as photographers in the best possible way. Add it all up, and we had a blast. Anthony is a lucky guy.
Although this next photo is probably technically better…
It’s this one that I think captures Wendy’s personality.
his last photo was one of our favorites from the shoot and, as it happens, it’s also one that Wendy chose to have blown up to 16×20. It’s pretty encouraging when that happens.
We’re so excited for Anthony and Wendy and look forward to meeting their little girl in a few months. Also, it’s a little late, but it’s probably a good time to say a Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. Without you, there would be no maternity photos. ;-)
And with that, TEN (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING draws to a close. We hope you’ve enjoyed it, and that you’ll keep checking back to see what we’re up to. Have a great and restful weekend!
Jason & Britt: Married
Today’s post is absolutely packed with photography goodness. Wendy and I have a lot of photos from Britt and Jason’s wedding to edit, so we haven’t had a chance to assemble the slideshow yet. That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are a ton of photos in this post, so without further ado, let’s get started.
Jason and Britt have been two of my favorite subjects since over a year ago when I shot their engagement session. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?
Aw, just look at them. So young. So in love. And now, more than a year later, they’re…well, still so young and so in love, so let’s get to the marrying.
Wendy started out with the girls as they did all the things women do to prepare for an event as important as a wedding.
So while the ladies were getting dressed, making themselves even more beautiful, and seeking God’s favor on the marriage, the guys were…
…playing Rock Band.
You have to understand, ladies, mental preparation is necessary for an event as significant as a wedding.
Wendy rode with Britt over to Holy Trinity Anglican Church, the site of the ceremony and snapped this lovely picture of her in the car.
…and also got this shot of Britt’s awesome bracelet.
Once we all arrived at the church, Wendy and I grabbed shots of some of the other details of the wedding, like the bridesmaids shoes…
…and the groomsmen’s boutonnieres (have to look up the spelling on that one every time).
The flower girls, per regulation, were adorable.
At long last the church was ready…
…Jason was ready…
…and Britt was ready.
…so they got started.
(Jess, when you get married, we hope you’ll either hire us to photograph your wedding or just let us assemble an album from all the pictures we already have of you. We can Photoshop you into a white dress if you want.)
Britt and Jason decided, after they got engaged, to forego kissing until they were married. I’m totally blown away by that. What kind of longing do you think that must create in a couple who obviously love each other as much as these two?
My guess? A lot of longing.
From the church, we all went over to the Westin Poinsett Hotel where Britt and Jason had their reception. Check out this reception hall:
…and this awesome cake:
From there, it was pretty much one amazing party.
Britt, of course, tossed the bouquet…
…but Jason was in for a surprise with the garter toss.
Wendy assures me those are not Britt’s actual underwear.
After that there was still more dancing…
…and still more adorable children.
Before the night was over, we slipped Jason and Britt outside to get a shot of them with the Poinsett in the background. If you saw a guy with a camera lying in a hotel driveway in Greenville that night, thanks for not running me over.
Wendy and I had an amazing time photographing Jason and Britt’s wedding and, while we’re going to miss having them here in Columbia, we’re glad they’re off to a fantastic start to their marriage.
Come back tomorrow for the final day of TEN (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING!
Shayne: Trash the Dress
Two weeks ago Wendy and I went down to Hilton Head to visit with Ethan’s parents, Loren and Betsy. Despite that, there are no pictures of Ethan in this post. I have some self-control.
While we were there, Wendy, Loren and I did a Trash the Dress shoot with Loren’s sister Shayne. In general, a Trash the Dress shoot is where a bride, recognizing that she will in all likelihood never wear her wedding dress again, goes out and gets photographed doing all kinds of things one ought not do in a wedding dress. This wasn’t quite like that. Shayne decided not to trash her wedding dress, but instead to trash a dress she bought specifically for this purpose and on which she got a great deal. I’m absolutely fine with that, and we hope you will be, too.
We played for a while on the playground and let me tell you, Shayne is no slouch on the swings. I would have posted a picture of her in action but somebody would have accused me of doctoring the photo. She’s a daredevil. This shot doesn’t really capture that.
Later on we moved on to more traditional Trash the Dress fare.
Apparently tule lacks the aqua-dynamic properties of say, a wetsuit, so big props to Shayne for not drowning (a big plus for any shoot) and for managing to find a dress that pink.
We kind of fought with the sun for a lot of the shoot, but when it worked with us, it was good.
Loren is a much braver guy than I am when it comes to his gear.
I liked this last shot so much that I slapped our studio name on it. All the cool photographers are doing it.
Thanks for following the TEN (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING. If you’ve stuck with us for the past eight days, tomorrow ought to be one of the big payoffs (assuming Wendy and I can get it ready in time). Remember, comments on posts are always appreciated (as long as they’re glowing praise). See you tomorrow!
Zuleika: Maternity
Zuleika, a friend and colleague of Wendy, is, along with her husband Jose, expecting her second child…right about now, actually. Jose, Zulieka, and their son Maxi came over to document Zuleika’s pregnancy and get a couple of family photos. Here are a few of our favorites:
The affection between Jose and Zuleika was apparent, as was the love they have for their coming daughter.
I know this next shot may be a little cliche, but I don’t care, dogonnit! I like it!
Ladies, if you are thinking about having maternity photos made, may I please humbly suggest a pink tiara? Don’t get me wrong, you have to have the mom-chops to pull it off, but I don’t think there’s any question about that with Zuleika.
Initially, Maxi was absolutely sure that he wanted nothing to do with this whole photography thing. Eventually, though, and after a few minutes of my (awful) juggling, Maxi agreed to get into the frame with his mom. He may not like the camera, but the camera likes him.
You can’t see them, but Maxi is holding my juggling beanbags in this photo. Does it look to you like he’s daring me to come and get them?
This looks like one proud mama to me.
Come back tomorrow as TEN (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING continues with…well, I’m not entirely sure how to tease you with this one. Let’s put it this way: pink taffeta and a swimming pool are involved.
Gabe & Lydia: Married
A few months ago I was talking to my friend Rebekah who is an amazing photographer currently living in Virginia when she told me she was going to be coming down to Greenville in a few months to shoot a wedding. I hadn’t seen her in years, so I asked if she needed any help. I’m guessing she didn’t really need it, but she graciously invited me to second-shoot. This gave me the opportunity to see Rebekah and also to get to meet Gabe and Lydia, both of whom are really cool people, and whose family and friends were delightful to spend time with.
When I arrived at Gabe’s parents’ house, he and the groomsmen hadn’t yet shown up, so I walked around greeting the dogs and the goats (yes, goats) and generally getting a sense of the place. Very shortly though, the guys arrived in this:
I mean, as a photographer can you ask for more than that? Well, I did.
See, there was this trampoline…
Lydia, if your husband was smelly on his wedding night I am really, really sorry. It’s my fault.
One thing that you might notice is that Gabe and his groomsmen are wearing brown patent leather shoes. I’d never seen those before and commented on it. Gabe quickly gave the credit to Lydia for finding them, which I think gives a pretty good indication that they’re going to do very well at this marriage business.
If the Volkswagen hadn’t been enough, it turns out that Gabe’s dad also has a classic Shelby Cobra. Despite the fact that Gabe was angry with the car (it had burned Lydia recently with its exhaust pipe) he agreed to be photographed with it. Let me make this clear, Gabe was angry with the car for harming his bride. Like I said, I think they’re off on the right foot.
Gabe and Lydia opted to see each other before the wedding, so Rebekah went ahead and got a lot of the ‘formals’ out of the way. I snapped this one quickly in order to prove that I could get six children out of a group of seven to completely ignore me.
Mission accomplished.
Do you see what the flower girls are wearing? That’s right. Green tutus. Come on, it’s like they did the work for me!
After the ceremony, Rebekah got the wedding party to traipse out into a field with us for a few more photos. Please note the pink Gerbera daisies that the bridesmaids carried and that made up Lydia’s bouquet. This girl has style.
From the field we all went to the reception which was lovely and where they were serving very good coffee (important when driving home to Columbia after a long day of shooting). The usual festivities ensued, including, of course, the garter toss.
(He looks delighted with his victory.)
I had a great time at the wedding, so big thanks are due to Rebekah for inviting me and to Lydia, Gabe, and their families and friends for being so cool to hang out with. I have no doubt that Gabe and Lydia are going to have a fantastic marriage and I’m really honored to have been a part of its beginning.
Come back tomorrow as TEN (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING continues…
