I'm back....many things to come...promise.

Well hello there world. :)

I know, I know....it's been two solid weeks of no blogging....more details on that at a later point.

I have a lot of great things to share in the coming weeks - a wedding, an engagement session, an actual engagement, a couple bridal portraits, some life happenings, and....finally....our new blog! Yes, it's true....it's finally happening. Stay tuned.

For now, I leave you with a little preview from the engagement Geoff and I shot a couple of days ago.

Dom and Francois - Engaged

It was the late summer/early fall of 2006 that I met Dom. I was newly engaged and had just moved up from Clemson, SC to begin working at Davidson College. Dom was on the student staff in Residence Life - the department that I worked for. As the year went on, the more I got to know her as she often came into my next door co-worker's office to tell us the latest happenings of her social life, as well as tidbits of Francois. And the more I got to know her, the more I liked her. :)

She eventually graduated and went on to medical school in Texas. Around the same time, I left the college to pursue photography full-time. And then, this past summer....I got an email from her telling me that she was engaged to marry Francois and that she wanted Geoff and I to shoot her Baton Rouge, Louisiana wedding in December. And so, we did. :)

Geoff and I flew in two days early so we could shoot their engagement session the day before the wedding in downtown Baton Rouge. Many thanks to Dom's nana and sister for coming along to help with watching Pilot and Putnam (Dom and Francois' pups).

Pilot - their first born. :)

And there's Putnam on the right. Let me tell you, I quickly became infatuated with this animal....he makes the most ridiculous (but adorable) sounds...I guarantee you've never heard a dog make the sounds that Putnam does - he sounded much more like a dinosaur than a dog.

Oh, I LOVE this.

And this would be the moment right after Dom snuck a double wet willy on Francois. Amazing.

Wedding pics coming soon. :)

Amy and Andrew - Engaged - Charlotte Wedding Photographer

Since Amy and Andrew, I've decided that shooting actual engagements is totally my favorite thing ever to shoot. I've been dying to post these. So, here's how it went down.

Back in August, web/graphic designer and aspiring photographer Andrew contacted me to let me know he was in the beginning stages of planning his proposal to his then girlfriend - Amy - and wanted to book a session to have it photographed. Over the course of the next couple months, we schemed up a great plan for this to happen.

Amy and Andrew are from Raleigh, so the first thing was getting them to Charlotte. Andrew worked it out to be in for a weekend to visit friends, which would be followed by an opportunity for Andrew to come shadow me photographing an engagement session on Monday morning (at least, that's what he told Amy). Once Monday morning rolled around, I picked up the phone to call Andrew and unfold the plan......

Andrew relayed the message to Amy - the engaged couple for the session had cancelled on me because of the weather (lies......all LIES!!! :), but if they wanted, I could go ahead and just photograph the two of them, as Andrew would still be able to learn a lot being in front of the camera. Amy took the bait and the pair headed to meet me.

I started out the shoot like I would any shoot...but talked out loud at what/how I was shooting and why - just to keep Amy on the trail that this was a learning experience for Andrew.

I had told Andrew beforehand what I was going to say that would be the cue for him to drop to his knee......

"One thing I'll do sometimes to encourage interaction is to have the couple face the opposite ways from each other and when I say "go", I'll have them turn around and run toward each other into a hug. So, let's go ahead and do that. Amy, go ahead and face that way, and Andrew, you face the other way."


Amy turned around, Andrew dropped to his knee, and my heart about stopped I was so dang excited!


"Okay, GO! Turn around!"


And this is what she saw. BEST. MOMENT. EVER.

It was pretty freaking awesome. And here is the ring!

From there, we continued on with our session....which truly, was a lot of fun.

One more ring shot...

Their only request was to get a shot of the "i love you" sign that they flash to each other every morning from their opposite cars on their way to work. Cute, if you ask me. :)

Quite often I would drive by the Trader Joe's and see the red carts....and I couldn't WAIT to inact what was in my head for a shot. After spending some time with Andrew and Amy, I knew they would be down for it. :)

Congratulations on your engagement Andrew and Amy and THANK YOU for allowing me to share this awesome moment with you. :)))

Neera and Dave - Engaged - Charlotte Wedding Photographer

Neera and Dave drove all the way from Atlanta for their engagement session. We are more than looking forward to their April wedding at the Biltmore in Asheville. They'll be having a traditional Indian ceremony, followed by an American reception.

Love this one....I think it's cute. :)

Small things make me happy....like this....

....and this. :)