On March 31 Jackie and Raf were married at the Morningstar Lutheran Church Chapel in Matthews, NC.  The reception took place at Bonterra Dining and Wine Room and it made for the perfect, intimate setting for the happy couple to share this experience with their closest friends and family.  I first met them a year ago when they were first looking for photographer for their wedding.  They came out to one of my very first promotions and were the first couple to ever book me for a wedding on my own.  Over the course of this year, its been an absolute pleasure to get to know them and become friends.  They are so much fun to be around, and their love for each other is evident for all to see.  Watching them get married I felt so happy for them, and felt so honored to be there and share their day with them.  I wish them nothing but the best and a very long life together!

Flowers by Starclaire Flowers
Cake by Tastee Cake Creations

Earlier this week I had the amazing opportunity to shoot jewelry photography at Bardy’s Estate Jewelry and Diamonds in Greensboro, NC.  Their pieces are absolutely stunning.  I just had to do a quick blog post this week to show you all some of these images.  I also can’t stress enough how wonderful the staff is in the store.  If you are looking for a unique piece of jewelry that will leave your friends breathless, this is the place to go!

Last week I was able to meet up with a super fun couple, and good friends, in Belmont to shoot their maternity photos.  Joely and Chris are some of the funnest people you’ll ever meet, and you can’t help but enjoy being around them.  They are so excited to welcome their new baby boy Carson to the world, and I can’t wait to meet him either!

Last week I was invited to shoot with Christi Falls Photography at The Warehouse in Hickory, NC for an inspiration shoot that she had put together with Wildflowers Florist & Events by Design.  I also have to give a huge bit of compliments to Mimi, our amazing model!

The Warehouse is an absolutely surreal venue that is an oasis of beauty in an otherwise industrial area of town.  If you blink while driving down the road, you’ll miss it.  But, once you step in inside, its impossible to forget.  Jill from Events by Design did an amazing job and the floral work from Wildflowers Florist were perfect.  I hope you all enjoy looking at these images as much as I enjoyed making them!

This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to photograph Jamie and Rodney’s engagement photos.  We met up at Freedom Park in Charlotte and braved the storms to get some amazing photographs!  It rained on us twice, once in the middle, and once when we were leaving.  It was totally worth it though because we had a blast doing it!  When you are around these two you can’t help but have fun, and you just know they were meant for one another.

Courtney and I have been incredibly secretive about this whole process, so when we informed our families over the last couple of days, it absolutely blew their minds!  We have been trying to get pregnant for about a year now, but we found out that we’d have to go through a fertility specialist to get there.  We’ve been through many fertility treatments since around August of last year, and it honestly felt like we would never get there.  Then, about a month ago we got the most amazing news you can ask for … we got a positive pregnancy test!!  I remember Courtney waking me up first thing in the morning so excited and showing me, I’ll never forget that moment.  Of course it was an absolutely amazing moment, but in the back of our minds we were both terrified that something would happen.  It was a crazy time between that test and our ultrasound that would confirm for us that everything was good.  On Monday of this week we went to our specialist and had our ultrasound done.  Going in to the ultrasound on Monday, both of us were scared to death that we’d get bad news. The best way to describe the moments that happened next … silence.  My jaw left wide open, Courtney involuntarily saying “oh shit,” and even our doctor saying “oh,” left only the nurse to proclaim “its triplets!”

So far, we know that its highly likely that we have a set of identical twins, and then one fraternal; however, we will be figuring that out for sure over the next few weeks.  Our due date is October 19, but with triplets they always come early, so they anticipate they will arrive somewhere around the middle of September.  We won’t know their sex for another couple of months though!

I am unbelievably excited, but also still a little shocked.  I can safely say though, Monday was definitely one of the best days of my life.  To see them moving their little arms and feet, and seeing those heartbeats … definitely brought tears to my eyes.  Its amazing how one minute you don’t know they exist, and the next you can’t imagine life without them.  I am truly a lucky man!

Here are our first family photos!!!!

Earlier this week I had the delightful opportunity to work with some amazing vendors to take part in an inspiration shoot at The Arbors Events.  It was an absolutely beautiful day and everyone involved did an amazing job!

Here is a list of vendors who took part:

Bella Grace Florals
Blush Weddings and Events
The Arbors Events
Banana Republic
Trulu Couture
Christi Falls Photography
LunahZon Photography
MRM Photography

A big thanks to our models: Kija, Sarah, Brittany, and Matthew!

Here are some of the images from the day!

Last Saturday (March 10) I competed in the Riverbound Race Series held at the US National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC.  This was the first 5k I’ve ever ran, and wow, what a way to get started.  When I showed up, I anticipated it being tough.  Just due to it being a trail run I knew it would be harder than a normal 5k over the road.  I’ve been training for 2 months, but I assure you, I was no where near ready for this.  Couch to 5k is great, but its designed to get you ready for those nice and easy road 5k races.  On the road its so much easier to pace yourself, you don’t have to constantly look for roots and rocks, and the uphill and downhill parts are generally a nice progressive bit.  Out in the woods, you are constantly watching where your feet hit, sliding in loose dirt / mud, and the up and down hill parts happen in a matter of steps sometimes.  Its absolutely impossible to set a decent pace for yourself without loads of practice.  In a word, its grueling.

I finished with a time of 46:17.  To many people you will see that time and think, “dang, you could almost walk that pace.”  Good luck.  I started out on a really good pace and hit the first 1k in just over 5 minutes.  Little did I know that I just set myself up for a hard crash.  My 2nd k was just over 10 minutes.  After that I steadily got quicker and the last k was 8 minutes.  I now know what its like and came home and immediately signed up for the next race in May.  My goal next race … under 40 minutes.  I plan on getting over to the trail and running on them once a week until then.  Starting next week I’m going to go on a pretty strict diet.  I feel myself slipping out of the comfortable mode of dropping size and running for exercise, and now I’m entering a competitive mode.  I’m not competing with the other runners, I’m competing with myself.  I have to improve.

Here is a picture of me post race with the event t-shirt.  I must also say why this is so awesome … its the first event t-shirt I can remember getting that actually fit!

This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to shoot Catherine and Matt’s maternity portraits!  They were so much fun to be around, and you can just tell by being around them that they are over the moon excited about their new little addition!

We met up in downtown Belmont for the shoot and it turned out to be the perfect location.  I hope you all enjoy!

Tomorrow will mark the last day of my first week of being completely on my own with photography.  I’ve survived the first week!

I have to be completely honest and just tell you that its been a roller coaster of emotion.  I go from absolute elation when I book a new client, or go shoot a client, to absolute terror when I go too long without booking someone.  I just paid myself my first week’s “salary,” which means I transferred it to my wife to pay the bills!  We’ve come to a weekly agreement and I have my target that I have to hit each and every week.  Its going to be VERY hard, but I’m up for the challenge.  If this is what I truly want for the rest of my life, I have no other option.  I simply have to make this work.

Which leads me to what I wanted to say next, THANK YOU.  I have some of the most amazing people as clients and I thank the heavens everyday that I have been blessed enough to spend time with you all and get to know you.  I’ve gotten so much support and you don’t realize how much your kind words mean to me.  The part I love about my job the most is knowing that I am helping people remember the most important moments in their lives,  everyone deserves to have those memories captured beautifully.  Just knowing that 15-20 years from now, someone will go through a pile of pictures and see an image I took and it will make them smile, cry tears of joy, or just be in that moment one more time … that means everything to me.  That is why I do this.  So, thank you all for your support you’ve given me, and for even considering me to be your photographer.  I am truly honored each and every time someone books me for a shoot!

In other aspects of my life I’m also nailing goals and creating a new life!

Goal shirt one ... check!

I just tried on my first goal shirt for this year.  Whoo hoo! It fits! Sorry about the quality of the image, it was with my iPhone in a hurry! Just to give you some perspective, when I tried this shirt on in December, it looked like a muscle shirt.  I had a very serious concern that buttons were going to go flying!  It was super awesome to have the feeling of knowing it fits.

My scale has dead batteries, so I can’t tell you exactly the pounds that I’m down, but I know its at least 23 because that’s the last weigh in I got before the batteries died.

My first 5k race is this Saturday, March 10.  I’m getting a little nervous about it, but I’m up to running that distance 2-3x a week now so it shouldn’t be that bad.  Its just always a little nerve wracking to do the first race. My goal is just to finish without walking, and a secondary goal to finish in under 30 minutes.  I’ll definitely post pictures and times and all that stuff once it happens!

I hope you all are having a wonderful week and I can’t wait to photograph each and every one of you again!