I just love outdoor weddings. They are always so charming and beautiful.  Yes, I know it is a little more of a gamble with the weather but it makes it all worth it when it comes together (which it usually does)…   Megan chose a charming country house in the hills of Austin to have her wedding.  The dance floor was covered but had no real walls.  Instead they filled them with the most charming windows suspended from the roof.  I fell in love with them immediately.  But the wedding venue was only the smallest piece of charm to this wedding.  They added so many personal details that made it JUST THEM.  First was a beautiful stain glass circular window that was made by the bride’s brother.  Artist run strong in this family!  Being that Megan and Thomas were married on St. Patrick’s day one of their colors was green so the stained glass window included green as the primary color.  But they didn’t stop there.  The bride created the cutest wall of hanging portraits of all the places the bride and groom has been on their travels together.    She left two open frames for guests to stick their heads in then put a point and shoot camera on a tripod in front so that guests could take pictures of themselves. BRILLIANT!  I loved it.  It was quite a task too as she had to bring it in the house to avoid the weather until the wedding.  (It was not exactly small.)  Another beautiful detail that I notices right away was the beautiful rhinestone broach in her hair.  I recognized it because her brother was married just last november and I photographed their wedding down near Galveston.  Amy her now sister in law wore this same broach on her dress.  I just loved it and it made the perfect something borrowed.  On the tables were pictures of all the places the bride and groom has on their list of places they wanted to visit someday.   On the sentimental side the bride’s bouquet was decorated with rosemary which not only smelt good but also signified remembrance.  The bride’s father pass many years ago and this was a little reminder to us all that even though gone he was still there with us.   Even the minister who presided over the funeral came up from Galveston and out of retirement just to perform the ceremony.  He did the same for her brother just 5 months ago making the union even more meaningful.  And another special touch was the diamond ring Megan wore durin g the ceremony.  It was her Mother’s diamond ring given to her to wear during the ceremony by her sister as a reminder of their mother as she was while they were growing up.  And my favorite part of the wedding???  The Grooms cake!  It had me cracking up.  Megan and Thomas live in Austin which is a college town and so nights of sixth street with great bands or heading out to the many lakes to hang out with friends and have fun are no stranger to part of the Austin lifestyle.  So the groom’s cake is a little note to maybe one or two nights that most of us have had if not more.  ;  )  Regardless I vote for best Groom’s cake ever.  But the best part of the wedding was Megan and Thomas themselves.  They are so cute and having been dating for sometime now and just fit like a glove.  You can see how much fun they have with each other and how in synch they are as well.  They always seeming to be smiling and laughing with each other.  Congrats Megan and Thomas!  It was a beautiful wedding with a beatiful bride and handsome groom.  And I treasured photographing this wedding.  A good day in the world of wedding photography for sure!! I love you guys.   (And if you hadn’t guessed it by now, I am the sister to the bride.)  We have had a busy last 12 months in this family as far as weddings go!

In case you may not be familiar we have two types of logos you may recognize us in various groups, ads, posts etc.  Being a Raleigh based wedding photography company that also specializes in babies and children we like to get a little creative! So if you see any of these below it is us! And you can bet the photography is creative too!  :  )

This has been a crazy last two weeks between head shots for Step Up Ministries for over 45 people, shooting their annual report shots and the life skills class not to mention a weeding in Texas and my latest battle with my computer. I have barely had the time to breath much less anything else.  On a brighter note I lost a few pounds not having time to eat!  I think sometimes the hardest part about being a photographer isn’t about being a photographer at all.  It’s running the business.   When I plan a week to encompass x # of shoots = x number of hours editing then adding in the time to answer emails, meet with brides, blogging, answering questions and posting to Facebook, Pinterest and my blog which are all necessities then you throw in something like computer problems.  So I lose literally 4 days just backing up all my data (mind you this is my business data not my client data since they are on separate drives and backed up on DVD’s) but just to back up my business stuff FOUR DAYS!  Then another 3 days at the computer shop so basically a whole week lost for the most part.  I do at least have a whole separate computer for editing so the actually shooting and editing doesn’t get behind but the coordination of calendar and emails, filing sales and use taxes and about 100 other tiny things that need to be done LOST TIME that has to be made up somewhere.  On a brighter note my wedding in Texas was AWESOME! I got to be photographer and be a guest!  For the wedding photography I just shot the getting ready, ceremony and romantic shots, MY FAVORITES, by the way… Then got to be a guest at the reception so SUPER FUN! I will do a separate  post about this later then I had a killer bridal portrait session on Wednesday at the Capital Club that I WiSH I could blog… but soon!  April 15!   Tuesday and Thursday were doing commercial photography shooting for Step Up’s Annual reports, one of my favorite charities who do AMAZING work and really do change people’s lives.  I had the deepest respect for Myra Bradley and all the co-partners for the incredible dedication to the participants in a highly emotional goal.  And the participants themselves do the hardest work.  Literally having to throw out everything they thought and believed look at and act in a world in a completely different manner.  Re-evaluating their past, confronting their demons and taking responsibility.   Something I am quite sure most of us don’t do on much lesser infractions.  I find their stories so uplifting and make me proud to witness such change.  They have my utmost respect and I wish them all the best in their futures.  Ok… This probably could have been a whole separate blog post but now you see why I love this charity so much.  They REALLY make a difference changing one life a a time.  Emotionally exhausting work but so rewarding in the end.   I will try to post pictures when it isn’t midnight on a Saturday night.  Ciao! Diane

Anna’s Angels is a wonderful organization supporting Downs Syndrome Research.  I have been shooting this event for several years now. I have been personally moved each year mostly by the amazing people, love and support this group shows. But this year I think was the best year but perhaps year after year I just get more attached to the people and the special children they help. This organization founded by Michelle  whose daughter Anna has Down’s Syndrome is such an amazing person, not only for her strenth and perseverence but also for her smile and charming personality. And I would be remiss if I didn’t include her amazing friends. They have supported her in her cause by rasing money, helping to gain sponsor and donations for the gala all with the goal of hitting a landmark of raising 1 million dollars for Downs Sysndrome Reseach. One couple who I feel compelled to make special mention is Kelly and Yom. Good friends to Michelle that you can see after years of photographing this event feel as strongly about the mission as Michelle herself. Each year they fly in for the Gala, have fun and share a glass of wine or two. But not only do they come to support Michelle but they usually end up bidding on one or two auction items but to my utter amazement they have matched the donations raised during the auction for the last two years in a row. What amazing people and I couldn’t write this without mentioning them.

This year’s event included several fabulous guests.  David Friedman Broadway composer, Karen Mason Broadway singer, and Leah Stodden Today Show winner and young adult with Down syndrome. In this segment famous song writer David Friedman creates a special song for the person featured. Well Leah was one of their special features. And as luck would have it this wonderful man took time out of his busy schedule to join the gala. He, Leah and Karen sang the song they created for Leah. Both David and Leah played the piano while Karen belted out a true broadway voice to the tune of Impossible dream.

When Steve Daniels who also is there every year without fail to help MC the event asked Leah’s mother about her experiences, she described exactly what the song embodies. When faced with the impossible, they just turned it around, persevered and overcame the impossible. To all the angels there tonight I commend you and thank you again for letting me be a part of such an amazing organization. You are truly an inspiration.

My husband comes from a very big family at least with his brother having 4 boys and his sister having 3 of their own it makes for a lot of nieces and nephews. Being significantly younger than his brother and sister those nieces and nephews are coming of marrying age although NO RUSH guys! You have been keeping me busy! ; ) Josh the oldest of all the nieces and nephews just got engaged about mid year in 2011. I was so excited for him. And Alberta is absolutely charming. My girls fell in love with her immediately. They both work in the healthcare field, enjoy traveling and share a strong faith. They seem perfectly paired for one another. I love it when I get to shoot the nephews photo sessions since I get to play a little more… It always give me new ideas and places to shoot so not only is it fun but productive too!

Alberta and Josh, I wish I was already booked for the wedding but I know you are in GREAT hands with Gillian. Heck she’ll probably do a better job than I will but I am glad I at least got to do your engagement photography session! Congrats and love you guys!

I put a little post of up Baby E and her cute little propensity for sticking her tongue out at me. But here are the images that don’t have her tongue out. In or out she is absolutely adorable! I know I say it all the time, I LOVE MY JOB. In photography the hours are tough, it’s hard on the body and when you calculate how many hours you actually put in I sometimes wonder if I we make more than minimum wage but I still love it! And baby E is one of those baby sessions that makes it all worth while. How can you not love that precious little baby smile. Welcome to the world Baby E! I hope to see you back to take more fun photos in my studio soon!

I am in the process of editing little Baby E but she has been cracking me up the whole time.  She has such a GREAT smile.  You can’t take a bad picture of her.  But I have been laughing because she is sticking her little tongue out at me in half of them! ha ha! Even my own children in 7 years haven’t stuck their tongue out at me this much.  I just had to take a break and share.  Enjoy! I know I did!!!  Thanks Baby E for making my job so AWESOME!!!

The whole family has been sick for the last two days with one thing or another.  We literally all piled in my bed yesterday and stayed most of the morning there.   But I did manage to squeeze in some photography business activities.  I watched a benchmark survey of how photographers are doing across the country and am happy we are still in business as many have folded.  It was also a reality check to keep my expenses under control.  I am lucky that people like my work and I have no problem getting photography assignments but expenses that is a whole other thing!  I just love a new lens or when a new camera comes out it is SO tempting… Right now my latest thing I covet is the Nikon D800.  Oooo how I want that camera.   But I am going to be good – FOR NOW.  But there was some great feedback on how much your cost of goods sold should be in comparison with your revenues and what percentage your general expenses should be as well.  As artists we don’t exactly like working with or even paying attention to numbers.  But alas my goal this year is to get my arms wrapped around this and go on an expense diet!  So I have a 61 page report to go through to help me better run my business.   I KNOW you are wishing you were me right now huh?

So now that I have bored you with the REALITY of owning your own business let me move on to some thing a little more fun!  Friday we had out baby duck and baby chic shoot and they were so darling so I am posting a few images here.

As for a few more things on the home front, half of the house is now hardwoods and the hideous carpet that was hideous even when we moved in is gone…   Although it is pretty funny to see the girls and the dog all sliding around on them since they are new to them!

Ta ta for now!

Diane
(FYI… Four days later I got the pictures in so I could post this finally!)

I wanted to share with you a business I have used here in Raleigh for over five years.  The business is called Sitter Connection http://sitterconnection.net  Amanda the owner started the business when she was in college at Meredith.   She compiled a babysitting list of competent college babysitters that she sold to clients to use when they needed a night out on the town or just a free day to run errands.  It has grown over the years and Amanda is a now full time business owner.  She does everything from regular weekly placements, one time placements and of course her fabulous babysitting list.  I have used about all of them now.

My new Mommies from my infant portraits may find this particularly helpful.  Sitter connection has both older sitters from the Grandma type to college students with a LOT of experience.  I remember my fear of leaving my child for the first time with someone and Amanda always sent me great sitters who usually became friends.  The girls still see them even though they have graduated and moved on to the business world.

My husband threw me a birthday party at the Cardinal Club one year and we hired several babysitters and they entertained the kids in another room for us so the ADULTS could PLAY!   We had a ball and so did they!  This would be GREAT for weddings.   I know some of my brides don’t necessarily want kids at their weddings where as some of them love it.  For those of you who may not love it so much but have family who can’t attend unless the kids can come this is a GREAT solution.  You can have a sepearate room for the kids with KID food (also less expensive usually) and games to keep them all entertained while you can enjoy your big day!

So check them out at http://sitterconnection.net!

Where to start?   I am not even sure where I left off except I can say I have had several photography projects.  One of my favorite charities STEP UP was in sore need for some headshots for their website.  Something I highly recommend any business owner or non-profit do with their websites and other promotional material.  It personalizes you from a business into a relationship.  Everyone I shot was awesome although we are only 1/2 way through.  They have accomplished so much and grown so much since I started shooting for them 5 years ago.

Next I had my baby duck and chic shoot. I look forward to this every year and thankfully my good friend calls me every year when she is about to hatch chics to see if I want to shoot them.  (And I do mean PHOTOGRAPH them not SHOOT them!) ha ha!  Lucky me she got some ducks this year too. They were SO cute.   Lots of fun and lots of super cute pictures of the kids and the ducks/chics! Can’t wait to post! Hopefully tomorrow.  :  )

Saturday I spent some time showing one of my photographers more of the heavier side of retouching.  Mostly how to put her logo on her pictures, sizing them for web, how to lessen wrinkles and fine lines and of course how to make everyone look just a little skinnier or more flattering in their portraits!

And Saturday night I took some ME time and went out to PieBird Restaurant with friends which was INCREDIBLE! I had the tomatoe and goat cheese special and YUMMY cherry pie!   Definitely go if you get a chance.  Laugh of the night?  And I can’t believe I am writing this down but it was SO funny.  I turned the corner to find the bathroom and saw a waiter in a black outfit out of the corner of my eye then asked her “where is the bathroom?’ Um… It was me.  In the mirror.  Needless to say we laughed till we cried over that one! ha ha! OH and for the record I only had WATER at dinner!

The rest of the weekend I spent spring cleaning both my email inbox and my house!  But I am oh so clutter free in my closets and pantries! I feel like a whole new woman.

Check out some of the fabulous people at Step Up in their new website corporate head-shots. : )