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Posted on May 9, 2013

april and darryl… married… april 20. 2013. april and darryl’s wedding has been a Long time in the making! we’ve gotten to go along with them for about every type session we offer and have loved every single minute we’ve gotten to spend with them! their wedding day unfolded Perfectly! the weather was awesome (which is mega important with an outside wedding!). the venue was beautiful. their friends and family were a Blast! they really couldn’t have asked for a better day! and now for some of My favorites from their day! (april, you better keep on texting me thru all the episodes of the bachelor when it comes back on!!)

venue:  river ridge golf club, raleigh nc      hair: bedazzle, holly springs     food: the gardens on millbrook

flowers:  kelly odom    cake:  megan campbell     dj: stephen scott

they didn’t want to see each other before-hand but did want to exchange gifts near each other!  super sweet!!

their “bridesmaids” pose.  well done ladies!  and darryl!

told ya they were fun!!

yes we drug them out three times for pictures!  gotta love good sports!!  ha!  (it was worth it!)

don’t know this couple below but they get “sweetest looks towards each other” award.  <3

PARRRRTAYYY!!!

Posted on March 4, 2013

Now before all of you film and digital avengers start raining down upon me all of the virtues of both, give me a chance to explain my thoughts on this very subject and then take from that what you will. I feel I need to start with the part of photography that I have a real love for and that would be the cameras. I collect cameras of all types sizes and makers, but I have a real fondness for polaroids and Rangefinder’s. I primarily shoot with a Nikon D700 when Im shooting digital and a Nikon D100 or Nikon FA when shooting 135 film using Kodak Portar 400 most of the time. If I am shooting medium format film aka 120 or 620 I use either a Kowa or Yashica MAT. I tell you that for this reason, to me the camera body I use really makes more of a difference when im shooting digital than when shooting film. All things being equal the bodies on digital cameras are what make the picture what they are far more so than the bodies on film cameras. The digital sensor both in size and capability are really what will create the pictures that you take. Where as the body on a film camera does not do the same thing. The film or the emulsion on the film is what creates the picture that you see. So, can you really see a difference in pictures taken with a digital camera and pictures taken with film….yes you can.
That realization really set in with me earlier this year when a client asked me to create a slideshow of his daughter as she grew up to be shown at her wedding. Gary Todd (our FOB here) sent me a disk with pictures of his daughter Ashley from birth until just a few months before she was to be married. I looked through everything first and then started putting them in order and noticed rather quickly that I could almost tell when Gary stopped using film and started going digital. I found myself going back to pictures he took when Ashley was little and was really taken aback at how much I liked them. The colors, the light, the depth the overall sense I got from them was warm and caring.

He took great pictures of Ashley when he began to go digital but none of them had the same kind of effect. You might say but Richie she was little and cute and of course you feel a little more nostalgic towards them. I thought about that, and thats not the case. The coloring is nowhere near the same. In the digital world we call this “processing” (which ironically is a film term) and without some program or application there is no “processing” just a picture taken with a digital sensor. Where as with film the “processing” is built into the film its called the “emulsion” and every type film and speed of film has a different emulsion which in turn will give you a different “process” or “filter” or color profile. No computer is needed only a photo lab, or if you know how a few chemicals and about 15 minutes. So, is there really a difference….yes there is.
You all know that I shoot digital professionally all of the time. I know exactly what we have to do in order to get our images to “look” like we want them to. We get the technical stuff right in the camera when its taken (focus, exposure, comp) we then go to photoshop and run our on “secret formula” on every image to get the look that we and our clients love. A look that is not so surprisingly like….film. So I decided to really test this theory to really see if I could get a noticable difference by shooting a session with film using my favorite emulsion (kodak portra 400) Our daughter Maegan was turning sixteen and so I did a session with her and my sexy wife Jamie.


The results spoke for themselves and were more than I expected.  All I did was shoot 35mm film in a 30 year old Rangefinder Camera using a light meter for exposure,  and send to a professional lab for development/prints.  No backups, no computers no photoshop, just shoot and send…done.  Is there a difference in film and digital….yes there is.

Now, I know it sounds like I’m trashing digital and praising film, but really thats not how I feel about it. I am simply discovering for myself what the differences are between digital and film. I am exploring my profession in the many ways that can be presented. I truly do want to master my craft and in doing so I must explore without bias (or with as little as is possible) both digital and film in all of the arenas that they are found. In the end whats important to me is not how I got the picture, but rather….the picture itself. If film gives me the feeling and sense of emotion that I am trying to convey then its film. If digital and then the abundant amount of filters and processing that is possible give me that same sense then its digital. The sad truth is that film is a dying technology and is certainly not the future but before it is gone before it is no longer viable, I want to have a far greater understanding of that which got us to where we are today. I want to have a solid connection to that little piece of plastic we call film that has for so many years given us some of the most profound and evocative images we have ever known.

Posted on January 9, 2013

Here’s another sneak peak from one of our fall mini-sessions! this is caitlyn and justin who we married in May 2011! love them!! <3

Posted on November 30, 2012

Courtney and Chris have become some of the best friends that Jamie and I have met since we’ve been shooting weddings and couples. We first met them a year or so ago when Courtney wanted us to shoot her wedding. A potential client had already reserved her date with us and therefore we were not available. Courtney really wanted Jamie and I for her wedding so she, kept checking back with us every week or so to see if the date had opened. I look back now and realize that if not for a strange stroke of luck we would not have been able to know the fantastic people that Courtney and Chris are. Basically, the client backed out and Courtneys wedding date opened…we called her and the rest is history. We went on to shoot their wedding (which still features one of the best most touching first looks we’ve ever done) and become great friends. Fast forward to their one year anniversary this October and she once again asked us to shoot her and Chris as a present to each other since they originally wanted to get married on the beach. So the kiddos and I met Courtney and Chris near Myrtle Beach and had a great time, walking, talking and sharing a great time. Jamie and I are very happy to have them in our lives and look forward to many laughter filled days in the years to come. We love you guys Here are a few of the images that I got for them 1 year after they were married.

Posted on November 30, 2012

several months ago when jen contacted me about doing a session with her horse i Flipped Out with excitement!! i spend a majority of my life on the back of a horse so i was thrilled to get to do a session with a proud owner of a Gorgeous mare! we waited for fall and ended up with a Fabulously gorgeous day! everything was Perfect! i enjoyed this session so very much and have Loved seeing how happy jen is with her images! here are just a few of my favorites….

Posted on September 18, 2012

lynnsy and nick… married… august 11. 202… oh how i Loved this wedding!  and i’ve Loved looking back at their pictures as i have worked on this blog post today!  lynnsy and nick are like THE sweetest people!  so easy to work with, and due to some gorgeous genes, they were SUPER easy to photograph!  they even scheduled Extra time into their day for pictures of them and their whole wedding party!  thats like a photographers DREAM!  every minute of their day was incredible…. lynnsy and nick, it was an honor to be a part of your day!!

hair:  lather hair salon      makeup: MAC crabtree valley     flowers:  MEWS designs     food:  the state club

cake: susan ellis       reception venue:  the state club    band:  the michael clark band

trolley:  olde south trolley       videographers:  bayleaf video     limo:  absolute elegance

yup those bouquet tosses and garter throws can get INTENSE!  lol!

what happened next was AWESOME!!  nick joined the band… and he was INCREDIBLE!!!!

xxoo, jamie

Posted on June 1, 2012

kacia and andrew…. married… may 27. 2012… highgrove, raleigh….  i swear i don’t know how we get such Amazing clients, but here’s ANOTHER couple we just absolutely LOVE!!!  kacia and andy were married this past and i had quite a few firsts with them…. one first was that this was our first wedding at highgrove!  its a really neat venue south of raleigh and i Loved the ceremony area and the new indoor reception room!  and the FOOD…. WOW!!!  really was some of the best wedding food we’ve had!!  another first was that i got to give advice about the bridesmaid dresses and what the guys wore!  its super humbling to have someone ask you your opinion, its WAY HUMBLING for them to actually take your advice!  it was really sweet and i was super flattered!  this was also the first time a groom sang to his new wife!  he redid the lyrics to lee bryce’s song “a woman like you” and he did an AWESOME job!!!!  sooooo sweet andy!  you got major groom points for that!  another first was that at the reception i heard the “north car-o-lina” song (actually called “raise up” by petey pablo) and MAN is it a catchy song!!!  i haven’t stopped singing it since then!  now our two year old runs around the house rapping the name of our state!  it was during this song that kacia says came the quote of the night from me… “kacia… your husband is stripping…”  lol!   i could go on and on about this wedding and how much i loved it and how in love andy and kacia are and how cool it was of mother nature to move those massive storm clouds right around fuquay varina so that their outdoor ceremony could take place as planned!  what kacia and andy have is so special, and so intimate, and i am so happy for them that they reconnected after their time apart and that andy knew he better not let that girl go!  now for the pictures they’ve waited so patiently to see the last five days…..  we love you kacia and andy!  and from now on, any time i hear “north carolina” i will go right to your reception in my mind!  xxoo, jamie and richie

 

 

 

 

 we wish you two many happy nights of cookies and milk…  <3

xxoo, jamie and richie

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