My brother is getting married!

My brother Zac is getting married this October to the very sweet and beautiful Carla!  I'm looking forward to the wedding festivities that will start in July with her bachelorette party!  I was very happy to take engagement pictures for them.  Some of you might be thinking it could be weird to take engagement pictures of your own brother.  But let me tell you, Zac is not one bit camera shy and he  knows how to work the camera.  He had a very brief modeling stint in high school.  Someone scouted him in the mall.  He did one photo shoot for his modeling card, and he never pursued it any further.  Too bad!  I had fun tagging along to that one photo shoot and watching!

Congratulations Zac and Carla!

Roscoe came along for the photo shoot too.  Although he really doesn't like to look at the camera.  He was more interested in finding the biggest stick possible to carry around.  He found this tree limb, that was over 8 feet long, and he wanted to carry it everywhere we went.  Zac had to keep telling him to "leave it."  He also managed to find an old tennis ball in the woods!  It was really funny!

These next two images are some of my favorite of the session.  I like how comfortable Zac and Carla seem, and I like the light pouring through the leaves in the background.  

Here's Zac goofing off with a piece of grass in his teeth.  

I have to give a shout out to Ann who works at the Bobbi Brown counter at Neiman Marcus, SouthPark.  She did my make-up for my wedding, and she did Carla's makeup for the engagement pictures (which means she will be doing it for her wedding!).  Ann is awesome and super friendly.  If anyone in the Charlotte area needs makeup for an event, you should go see her!

A Dog & A Diamond

I photographed my brother's engagement pictures yesterday, and I can't wait to show you him "working the camera."  Haha!  We had a great session yesterday, but for now I will leave you with 2 teaser images : )  I hope everyone has a Happy Easter with their families tomorrow!

Gearing up for Weddings!

I am so excited about my 2012 wedding clients!  This couple was briefly introduced here.  Their wedding will be this summer, and I'm looking forward to seeing some familiar faces.  It's going to be a fun day celebrating a sweet, thoughtful, loving couple.

We did their engagement session at Brady's neighborhood pond from high school - yes they are high school sweet hearts!  They had many fond memories of hanging out together at the pond, and it is also where Brady proposed to Katie.

I think Brady looks very GQ-esque in this picture with his gaze : )

Aren't they soo cute together?

They are working on their dips - I'm looking forward to their first dance!

I gave them a little workout, and made them hold this dip a little bit longer than normal - thanks Katie and Brady!

So I had a vision of them doing something similar to this picture below, and when I asked if Brady could pick-up Katie and do an almost Dirty Dancing type move their response was one for the books !  Katie said, "oh yeah, Brady you can do this, it's like what we practice!"  They actually look comfortable doing this, it was so awesome!

Shooting near any sort of water source when the sun is setting is awesome.  The light reflects off the water, and it had this awesome warm glow!

Katie and Brady, I hope these pictures brought back warm memories from your early dating years!  I'm looking forward to July!

Hans is a growing boy!

Hans is still growing like bamboo (trust me my neighbors have it in their backyard, and they say it grows a couple feet a day in its growing season).  And Hans has pretty much been my life the past few weeks (aka - that's my pitiful excuse for not having a new blog post for you).

So here is his weekly growth progress for you for weeks 11 through 13...

Meet Hans

Our little boy is growing up so fast, and there's nothing I can do about it!  Sam and I might have a new profession of dog portraits at our hands if we continue with our weekly photos : )

Oh my goodness he was a cutie around 8 weeks, weighing about 10 lbs.  The first day we got him his left ear stood up all day and his right ear flopped over.  I was sad to see his floppy ears go.  

At 9 weeks, Hans is sporting the "teepee ears."  I seriously do not know how he grew so much in one week!  He weighed in at 15 or 16 lbs at 9 weeks.

The difference between weeks 9 and 10 aren't as noticeable (thank goodness, he's breaking my heart by growing up so fast!).  His ears are growing at a faster rate than his body right now. 

I'll keep you posted with Hans updates!  

Dreaming of Warm Weather

As I sit on the couch in my long johns with my warmest blanket on top of me and soak in the heat my laptop is giving off to me, I'm dreaming of Florida.  Temperatures in the 70's and 80's, humid ocean air, and the beach...aaahhh.  Why Florida?  Well this lovely couple will be getting married there in April!  I'm looking forward to joining them to photograph their wedding!  

Kelly and Dave live in Pennsylvania, so I know they will be ready for a warm vacation as well.  Now you're asking how did I meet a couple living in Pennsylvania who is getting married in Florida....  Well, Kelly's stepmom, Anne, watched me grow up in my old childhood neighborhood of Coulwood (in Charlotte).  Coulwood is where I have memories of winning the 4th of July Parade's Best Festive Outfit/Bicycle Decorations and one year I even won the "get the greasy watermelon out of the pool the fastest" (also a 4th of July game).  The Coulwood pool holds most of my childhood memories from that neighborhood, and Anne her family lived right beside the pool.  I was thrilled when Anne recommended me to Kelly. 

I actually met Kelly and Dave in Asheville for their engagement session.  We went to the North Carolina Arboretum, a beautiful spot in Asheville.  I hope to spend more time there this year!  Kelly and Dave were fun to work with, easy-going, funny, and smitten with each other.  What more could I ask for?!

These two were so "head over heels" for each other! 

I love this picture!  The softness of the long grass, the changing color of the leaves, and the sunlight are all gorgeous.  And then you have Kelly and Dave just completely comfortable and wrapped up in each other's arms who are also beautiful!

We then hit the Blue Ridge Parkway, which has an entrance right by the NC Arboretum.  

And we'll end with a kiss!

We're Getting a Puppy!

Ashley you win!  Sam and I are counting down the days til we get our puppy!

4 Days, 13 hours to go!

Meet the puppy (no name yet, so feel free to leave a suggestion in the comment section).  It's a German Shepherd, and it's a boy!