Sweet Life Photography

Pixel Dust has moved!

Our new and improved blog is up and running at www.sweetlifephoto.com/blog. Please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds so you don't miss anything! You'll be able to subscribe to the new blog to receive automatic updates when there are new posts. I'm so excited about the new format. Let me know what you think!

Out with the old, in with the...

...well, you know.

Don't worry, you're in the right place: Pixel Dust, the Sweet Life Photo blog.  I just felt like changing things up a bit. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

And since a post without a photo is just plain wrong, here's a sneak peek from Kristina and Wesley's December wedding. Kristina's mom Pam was helping her with her jewelry and leaned in to kiss her shoulder. I just about lost it. Don't you just love weddings?

1.20.09: Oh, happy day!

Alysia and Luther: Married!

First off, I have a new blog management strategy. In order to get control of my back-log of blog posts (or should I say back-blog?) and to keep things current, I've decided to blog the most recent weddings and fill in with 2008 weddings when I can. I've got a little break here until high season begins again in April and I'm really going to work hard to catch up.

Alysia and Luther were married on a beautiful November day, the kind of temperate winter day we're so lucky to enjoy in NC. They were married at Millbrook United Methodist Church here in Raleigh. The church is right on the corner of two busy streets and it can be tough to get a good shot of it -- you practically have to step into oncoming traffic! I love this shot Frank got with that gorgeous winter sun peeking around the corner.

Alysia, her mom and bridesmaids started out the day at Primp Salon Bar on West Street in Raleigh. Primp will forever be one of my favorite salon locations to shoot for the simple reason that they have cupcakes from The Cupcake Shoppe that they pass around to their clients (and the occasional wedding photographer.) Strawberry is my favorite flavor...no wait -- make that lemon.

 

Alysia's make-up was done by the talented Rodney Robledo. Rodney's recent move to Raleigh is Miami's loss and Raleigh's gain. I'm such an advocate of having your make-up done by a professional make-up artist for your wedding day. It's a lot of fun, but more importantly, can make a big difference in how you look in your wedding day photographs. Why spend all that money on a dress, veil, shoes, jewelry, hair, etc. and have your face look exactly the way it does every day? A professional make-up artist knows that brows, eyes and lips need special attention to really pop in photograph and photograph. OK, sermon over. Just give Rodney a call. Moving on...

Alysia's mom Ada, her sister and bridesmaids help place her mantilla-style veil in the perfect position.

 

Beautiful window light.

 

At the church, Luther gets a little help with his tie from a groomsmen. As you'll see, Luther has a 1000-watt smile that just electrifies the frame when he lets it rip. 

See that little black book Luther's holding? That's his wedding gift from his bride-to-be -- photos from a boudoir session we did back in the early Fall at the Matthews House in Cary. Having seen the photos, I can tell you -- Luther is one lucky man. Ladies, if you're looking for a wedding gift that he'll never forget, give me a call to schedule a boudoir session! (Love the socks, too.)

Alysia is pretty lucky, herself.

 

Preparations complete, Alysia waits upstairs for the ceremony to begin.

The church was super-strict about photography. Luckily, after we promised to be good girls and boys, we were allowed to shoot if we stayed in the back and didn't go crazy.

 

Extreme temperatures in June meant we had to reschedule Alysia's bridal portrait session not once but twice, so Alysia and Luther decided to swap out that session with a Fearless Bridal session this Spring. I'm so excited about this session, especially since a tight schedule and a wedding beginning at 5:00 pm meant no outdoor couple portraits. Here's a shot of the two of them before heading off to the reception and a close-up of Alysia's stunning bouquet by Stephanie at Wild Bloom Flowers. 

  

The reception was held at the beautiful Capital City Club in downtown Raleigh. I love to shoot here -- it's a lovely location and the staff is terrific. Here's a street-side shot of Alysia and Luther arriving in a Rolls at the reception with the bridal party waiting for them.

A romantic first dance with a great finish:

 

Sometimes we get lucky. I'd like to say that I planned this sequence of Alysia's dad giving his toast with a shot of the couple, her dad's arm lifted in a toast in the reflection and the bride trying to keep her emotions in check...but I didn't. I'm just glad it happened!

I'm sometimes asked if a room full of windows will pose a lighting problem during the reception. My answer is always a qualified "NO" -- especially when you can get cool reflections and capture the lights of the city at the same time. The only time windows are a problem is when Uncle Bob stands behind me and fires his flash straight into the window! Here's a shot of Alysia & Luther's delicious cake, by the always amazing Lorie at Simply Cakes.

 

 

 

The part of the night that never fails to get me all misty-eyed...

Luther got the party started by surprising Alysia's mom Ada with a special request: dancing to"Low" by Flo-Rida. It was a great moment and set the tone for a very fun party! (Isn't Ada's emerald-green dress to-die-for??)

 

 

 

Do I have the greatest job or what?? Getting to photograph gorgeous people in a swanky setting having a great time?

I love this shot of Luther surprising Alysia with an impromptu lap dance before undertaking the traditional garter-removal expedition. My thanks to the guest responsible for that well-timed flash.

 

Mission accomplished!

 

 

All too soon, it was time for the final dance and one last toast.

Alysia and Luther, it was such an honor to be share this celebration with you. We wish you both a lifetime of love and happiness!

Reason #5,299 why I love my job.

Alysia and Luther were married on November 8. Everything about their wedding was so elegant and fun and they are such a great couple. I love this shot of two of them right after their cake cutting -- that spontaneous kiss was so sweet! I'll be blogging about them soon (hopefully), so stay tuned. In the meantime, congratulations you two!

(Some of) My favorite un-blogged images from 2008.

I'll let you in on a little secret: blogging is hard for me. I know there are plenty of photographers out there who have no problem summarizing a wedding or coming up with pithy little captions for their photos, but I'm not one of them. I agonize over what I'm going to write: I'd hate to bore anyone. It's one of the reasons I only post about once a week. I love that there are folks out there who read Pixel Dust and nothing trips my trigger like getting comments (hint, hint), but it's a lot of pressure! Don't get me wrong -- I love the concept of the blog and it's cool that I can quickly get new stuff online. Somehow it always happens that blogging gets pushed to the bottom of the To-Do list. I promise to try to do better in 2009! Being a better blogger is the only New Year's resolution I'm going to make and I'm making it here, so I'll trust my loyal readers to hold me to my promise.

Since there's nothing like New Year's to bring out the list-maker in all of us, I thought I'd make a list of some of my favorite images from the year from weddings, bridals and engagement sessions that haven't made it on to the blog yet. These are images that resonate with me personally -- ones that I'm proud to say are Sweet Life photos. With any luck and some time, you'll see more where these came from in the coming weeks! So here, starting with some engagement photos and progressing through the wedding day are some of my favorite images of 2008.

It usually (but not always) starts with a ring.

Emily and Jonathan, if you only knew how long I've seen this shot in my head. Thanks for going into that cornfield for me!

Two shots from Erica and Allen's e:session made it onto the list. How awesome is the color of that wall they're standing in front of? 

This may be one of my favorite engagement session images ever. E-V-E-R.

I adore this shot of Siobhan's stylish wedges and Mario's Vans. It sums up their personalities...and how crazy they are about each other!


 Ya'll know how I feel about the shoes. There's some gorgeous bridal footwear out there and I'll admit, each time I slip on my clunky black go-shoot-a-wedding-on-my-feet-for-10-hours shoes, I'm jealous.

From simple to holey-moley gorgeous, the flowers this year were amazing. There've been a few times that I've tried to come up with a quick bouquet for a bridal portrait and the results were pretty sad -- so my hat is off to all those florists out there who, every weekend, come up with amazing, gorgeous floral creations like this one.

And this one:

All that getting ready stuff is worth it when you get results like this:

It started pouring rain about 30 minutes into Lindsey's bridal portrait session, so we made sure to get some fun shots on the wedding day. Here's one of my favorites.

 

Just imagine me singing: "Looooovvvvve IT!"

 

Gotta give up a little space for the guys:

 

I must admit: I'm so over the whole "don't see the bride before the wedding" thing. But I love this image and yep, you guessed it, it's the moment Jeremy caught sight of his bride Melissa for the first time on their wedding day. Curse you, Jeremy...there goes my plan to convince all my 2009 couples to see each other before the ceremony so that we have more time for photography!

 

 

Just a few of the wonderful couples we've been blessed to work with:

 

Large bridal parties are always a challenge to shoot creatively...here's one of my "scores" for the year.

I really like the angle of this first dance shot -- it lets you see those adorable white lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Plus, awesome light!

Andrea and her dad. Love, love, LOVE it. This is Frank's shot and I'm so jealous he got it and not me!

Yum...my favorite job perk: cake. Cupcakes were big this year. I love this shot of the cupcakes from Andrea and Nate's wedding. Isn't the color of that orchid amazing?

We got to go to some great parties this year. How lucky am I? I love the colors and motion in this shot from Patricia and Jeff's wedding in July. That's Patricia's dad dancing with her with that great smile on his face.

Sometimes it's the little things; here are a few of my favorite detail shots.

A few dance shots I love:

And then, before you know it, it's over...or just beginning, depending on your point of view.

I think I'm definitely going to have to do a "Favorite un-blogged images: 2008 Part TWO." If you didn't make it into this post, rest assured your day in the Pixel Dust spotlight is coming!

I'll wrap it up by saying how humbled we are to have worked with each and every one of the amazing, wonderful, crazy-in-love couples we've met over the past year, not to mention their families and friends. Not to get too mushy, but I'm so grateful I have the opportunity to witness so many happy celebrations of family, life and love. You have our thanks, love and best wishes. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Alison and Brent: Married!

Alison and Brent were married way back in May in a beautiful ceremony at Duke Gardens. The day started out heavily overcast and threatening to rain. By the time Alison emerged from the Washington Duke Inn to get into the limo, all traces of gray had vanished from the sky. The rest of the day was just as wonderful. Alison was so calm -- I'll remember her as the Zen Bride. To me, this shot epitomizes how calm she was all day.

"Getting Ready" is one of my favorite parts of the wedding day to document. Shots like this one, with all the bridesmaids gathered around, each one working on some aspect of the process, make me think of all the brides throughout history who've had their close female family and friends around to help them prepare for this day. Back in the days of "Ladies' maids" I guess it wasn't such a big deal -- the simple act of getting dressed in the morning was a pretty elaborate process that required the help of at least one other person. Now that we can just throw on jeans and a T-shirt -- well, it makes the act of getting into what is most likely the single most elaborate dress we'll ever wear even more monumental. Couldn't this same shot (with minor allowances for fashion) have been taken 50, 100 or 200 years ago? I love, love, LOVE that beautiful window light!

The end result. Isn't she simply stunning?

 

The guys have it easier...although Frank reports that the button covers flummox at least one of them every time. Here's Brent, working on the tie. Granted, I've never had to tie a tie in my life...so who am I to pass judgement?

A shot of Brent and then one of all the guys...pretty darn spiffy, if you ask me.

One quick note about all the black and white images in this post: Alison and Brent's wedding was so classic and elegant. All day I kept thinking that it could have taken place in any era -- the gown, the tuxes, the details, the setting -- it was just timeless. There was something about so many of their images that just screamed "Convert me to B&W!!!" I don't have a fixed plan or set rules about which images to convert to black and white. There's no percentage of total images delivered that have to be in black and white. It's true that I prefer the documentary images to be in black and white (many wedding photographers call this photo-journalism. I call it documentary because that's what I'm doing -- documenting the details, sights and emotions of the wedding day.) Most of the time it's just a feeling I get about a particular image...maybe it's the composition, maybe it's the ratio of highlight areas to shadow areas, maybe there's just a weird color cast that I don't like in the original (that happens with digital images sometimes). Whatever it is, it's one of the things I like best about shooting digital: having the choice to convert an image to Black and White when I feel like it!

Alison and the ladies, waiting for the word to head down to the lower gardens for the ceremony to begin.

Oh my gosh, how I love a long veil. Such drama!

Alison doesn't know this (at least I think she doesn't) but right before she and her dad began the walk down the steps to the fish pond, a mother mouse and several mouse babies ran right across the pathway. I'm pretty sure her dad spotted them, too -- we exchanged a quick look of surprise (or was it horror?) followed by a shared understanding that we shouldn't react at all. I guess we shouldn't have been surprised -- it was Spring after all and we were in a garden. Still...not something you expect to see right before the bride begins her walk down the aisle!

The energy from their combined smiles as they met at the altar could have powered a small village for the day.

 
A detail shot of the sand ceremony. In case you've been hiding out under a rock (or crash weddings nearly every weekend), the sand ceremony is quickly gaining ground on the unity candle as the perfect way to symbolize the act of hitching your life to someone else's for all eternity.  (Although I do wonder what happens the first time you move house -- how do you keep  the sand from getting jostled all around and losing that pretty pattern?) Still, I love it and it makes a lot of sense for an outdoor ceremony -- no worries about the wind snuffing out the candles.

 

Tah Dah! Alison and Brent are MARRIED!!!

 

With every wedding, I try to have at least one shot of the bride and groom that is completely classic...if someone found the image 300 years from today, they wouldn't know when it had been taken. They'd just see two people in fancy clothes and in LOVE.

Some details from the reception at the Washington Duke.

First dance as husband and wife!

I think of this shot as Part II of the first image. :)

Jason, the best man, was a riot. Here he is giving the toast. I think this was right before he told Brent to take Alison's hand and cover it with his own. He then solemnly pronounced: "This is the last time in your married life that you will ever have the upper hand."

Action...

...reaction.

I have a 20x30 canvas of this in my office -- it's one of my all-time favorites.

Ken Holmes with Joe Bunn DJ Company did a great job with the tunes. Can't you tell?

A white tent under the mid-day sun...perfect light for portraits!

Last shot of a perfectly wonderful day. Thanks to Alison (for always being happy and relaxed) and Brent (for putting up with all the pictures.) We wish you both a long, long life full of love and happiness!

 

Alison and Brent: Fearless!

I'm doing things a bit backwards here -- I'll be blogging about Alison and Brent's gorgeous Duke Gardens wedding later this week, but I just couldn't wait to get a few shots from their Fearless Bridal session up. When we scheduled the session on November 3, we were all really hoping for gorgeous Fall colors to take advantage of, forgetting that here in the South, sometimes those colors don't come out in full force until later in November. We found two little trees in Fred Fletcher park, one orange and one red. Everything else was stubbornly green. Here are a few of my favorites taken in the park:

 

Because there was a wedding scheduled for the park that afternoon, we headed for the Warehouse district downtown. This is the area around Hargett and West Martin streets and I love it -- there's lots of industrial-style doors, lots of bricks and grunge. I think it's the juxtaposition of the bridal gown with the rough-around-the-edges feel of the downtown location. Plus, it's just unexpected, which makes the pictures all the more interesting. I love urban shoots!

I love this one of Alison and Brent cuddling up in front of these cool doors.

We found this spot behind a limo company (how appropriate) right off the railroad tracks. There was this great green vine growing all over the bricks. When I looked at the images later, I realized there was our Fall color -- the great rusty red of the bricks, the muted yellow-green of the vine and the yellow of the sunflowers. Score!

But black and white is always classic. 

I couldn't resist working the railroad tracks in to the shoot.

I love the texture in a brick wall -- not to mention all the color variation from brick to brick.

The last shots of the day as the light was fading. Yep -- I got down in the middle of the road for these next few shots. Brent loves having his picture taken so much that I joked that he wasn't going to tell me if a car was coming. Somehow, I survived...

Maybe my favorite. So romantic.

 I have really enjoyed working with Alison and Brent over the past year. They are definitely one of my all-time favorite couples. Alison's emails always crack me up -- I love hearing from her. And even though Brent hates having his picture taken and he likes to grumble about it, I think he secretly enjoys our sessions. Plus, all he has to do is to look at his bride and he gets what I call the "Look." I think he looks pretty darn awesome. Thanks, you two, for a really fun Fearless Bridal session! I'm gonna miss ya (sniff)!

 

It's time to Rock the Vote!

(Please note: this is a pinned post...scroll down to see the most recent entries.)

I know, I know...the election was weeks ago. I'm not THAT behind (although if you could see my "To Do" list you might beg to differ). I'm talking about voting for your favorite pair of names for the Sweet Life birds. I got lots of emails with suggestions, some of which you can read in the comments section of the original post. After giving it intense consideration :) I narrowed the field down to three. They are:

1. Amor and Vita (Latin for love and life and my personal favorite)
2. Pepe and Sasha 
3. Sonny and Sweetie

On the right, there's a web thingamajigger where you can vote and track the results. Voting will go on until December 31. The winner will receive a free Fearless Bridal session, so if your suggestion was one of the three chosen, tell all your friends to stop by the blog and V-O-T-E vote! Do not however get your computer-genius friend, cousin, sibling, etc. to write a tricky little piece of web code to vote every three minutes or some such...remember I'm married to one of those computer geniuses and we will find out about it and disqualify that pair of names. So keep it on the up-high, people!

Here they are once again...don't let them stay Boy Bird and Girl Bird forever!

 

Edited on 1/1/09 to add: Drumroll, please...the winner of the Name the Sweet Life Birds is Amor and Vita, suggested by Kaitlin and Nick, who were married in September. They are the lucky winners of a Fearless Bridal session. Thanks to everyone who contributed name ideas and voted! I had so much fun checking the stats that I'm definitely going to run contests more often!

Can you imagine the turkey?

Thanksgiving is at my sister's house this year and that's a good thing. I tried to make a chocolate chip pie for Daniel. Chocolate chip pie is about a simple as you get...just six ingredients and the following instructions: "Mix. Put into pie shell. Bake at 325 for one hour." Not a word about needing a deep-dish pie crust, no sirree. Although suspiciously, the recipe did instruct me to put a cookie sheet under the pie. Here's what I ended up with.

(The stuff that spilled over the edge was really good with a scoop of ice cream, though. )

Happy Thanksgiving!