Biren & Melissa Indian Wedding

Well… Its coming up on almost a year ago I helped second shoot this wedding with Tara Mauldin Photography . (End of May 2011) I have been dying to share this day with you all. It was definitely hands down the coolest (and hottest) wedding I’ve ever shot. Fifteen hours, two outfit changes and grueling 90′s heat. The day started about seven AM and it was late when we finished. I’ve never seen a bride so beautiful, so decked out, so much preparation. I felt like I had to catch my breath over and over at the layers of beauty that they put her in. ah! Everywhere I looked was eye candy. Color, fabrics, bangles, sparkles, beads….. so incredibly lovely. I may have gone a bit overboard on sharing a ton of photos of Michelle. But I’m so sorry, I couldn’t help it..

The Hindu ceremony was not like I would have expected. (t was held at the Rock Barn Golf & Spa in Hickory, NC.)It was very interactive, layers of rituals, tears, joy, and extremely light hearted. I can seriously say I loved it. I may have teared up here and there.  I don’t know how the bride and groom were able to stand the unbearable heat with their apparel but they did. I felt like I could have passed out a few times.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy just a snippet of this extremely long fifteen hours. Be sure to check out Tara’s blog with the two days leading up to the ceremony. Gorgeous!

Thank you Biren & Melissa for letting me share this day with you! ;D I loved it.

These next four were taken with 35mm film.

Jason & Jami’s Wedding

Back in October I had the amazing honor to shoot Jami’s sister’s incredible barn wedding. Here I was super excited when Lauren approached me about shooting her sister’s small intimate December wedding ten days before Christmas. If you saw Lauren’s wedding, you saw her mom’s amazing handy work in making the reception amazing. Well… she did it again!

They chose to get married at the small St Mary’s church in uptown Charlotte. Where pink flowers were blooming all over the bushes. (Crazy for December!) The reception was in the back yard of Jami’s home. Lights decorated all the bushes and trees and shrubs, three or four chandeliers hung from trees, and a tent was pitched in the back yard. Inside the tent was the most beautiful table seating for 50ish people with china, and silver. Every plate was different. It was so incredibly beautiful. Fabulous planning.

I’ve had the best time getting to know Jami and her family the last year or so through shooting her sister’s wedding and having dinners and coffee dates with their family. I’m so glad I got to be apart of their day. I sure love all of them.

Congrats Jami & Jason!!! Love you both!

And a special amazing shout out to my second shooter and one of my closest friends, Colleen Kirk who flew in from Kansas City to help me, shoot with me and love me. She fed me crackers the whole day (making me forget I was in my first trimester of pregnancy

 

 

 

Corey & Katie Engagement

Corey and Katie have such a grace about them, and during this session is it was so evident that they truly love each other.  They made it super easy for me to photograph them. In October I’ll be shooting their wedding, and they actually found me through google images and I can’t say enough how glad I am that I tag my blog posts.

We decided to do their Engagement session at Queens University Campus where they both went to school and met. I haven’t ever been there before, but I really loved the big trees, large old doors and the gorgeous chapel they took me into.

I hope you all enjoy these photos!

Congrats Katie and Corey, I’m excited about your big day coming soon!

 

Matthew & Lauren Engagement

Lauren contacted me about a year ago. She found my photography through my beautiful sister-in-law being on Girl Meets Gown. Lauren, Matt and I met at a coffee shop last summer and chatted about her plans for a barn wedding filled with antiques. She wanted to do a rustic, country, October wedding.  I am really excited about shooting their wedding in October.

The day before this engagement session, Brandon and I went and spent the day with Lauren and her family at the Steeple Chase out near Waxhaw. (I’ll blog my photos from it later!) We had the best time, eating, laughing, sipping sangria’s and watching the horse race. We so enjoyed getting to know Lauren and her family and feeling like we were in the movie “My Fair Lady”. I felt extremely spoiled by getting to watch the horse race from the paddock area.

First week of May we spent a Sunday evening in Waxhaw town, and ventured out in the country to an old general store and massive barn. I was dying, I wanted to shoot everything. The texture was so yummy, and Matt and Lauren were so great to work with. I’m really excited to share these photos. I hope you guys enjoy them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hunsbedt Family

The lovely Hunsbedt family and grandparents…

 

 

 

 

Yellow no more! – New office | guest room

Well… If you haven’t had a chance to see the transformation of my “red kitchen” click here and read the little story about my lovely taste at the age of 20. haha… Now is your chance. Since that blog, I’ve added curtains, 60′s canisters, we transformed our light fixture into mason jar lights, I added a wine rack, and a 60′s yellow clock! Maybe I should update that blog.

I’ve been waiting for a while to get this room done! And I feel like I’m about 85% complete. I want to get a light fixture, pillows for the futon, and some frames full of my photography. (I’m waiting to see some of my new photos I’ve been taking with film) I’m sure I’ll be switching things around and adding things over time. But here is the basics of what we did. I’m really excited to share!

I think this room was much worse then the kitchen. I don’t know what I was thinking when I painted this place four and a half years ago. But… I’m so glad I’ve changed whatever that was in me. Before the transformation I had a bright yellow room with a chocolate brown wall. (I’m sure if I would have worked on this room It could have been better. But I had no motivation with it looking this color)

*The old school desk, my Grandmother gave me. Its from the 20′s I think. It has a place to dip your pen in ink. I have it in my bedroom now. I need some ideas of what to do with it. I love it.

So then I picked Sherwin Williams “Willow Tree” paint for my transformation!

*Ikea curtains $20

*Ikea shelf $40

*Ikea desk $alot

*Ikea futon

*My parents gave this old dresser to me for Christmas. I likey. I’m trying to decide if I should paint it.

*yes, my cat, Miles is decoration

*Recognize the lantern My grandmother gave this to me for Christmas two Christmas ago. It became my logo piece for Tirzah Photography. My sister drew it for me.

*Ladder back chair $4 at Value Village (Its Miles favorite spot)

*yellow chalk board. I made it with chalk board paint. (my husband deserves some credit on it too)

*Hanging photos…. all my favorites of my husband and I with our friends and family.

*Old books are from a small book shop in Cardigan, Wales. And the cotton is from Anne Springs Greenway put in an old medicine jar.

And as a bonus!! I wanted to show you the mason jar lights that my husband, Brandon made for my kitchen a few months back. We took the light we had and hung these from them. I loooove it!

So whatcha think?

Vivian & Esther

Every once in a while you run across something that just takes your brain and rearranges it long enough for you to see different.  In those moments I feel like its important to remember those thoughts. The thoughts we think now are the very thoughts that shape our future. I can’t help but think,  “If think this way now, what will come out of these thoughts and desires in ten years.”  When I look back on this blog, I’ll remember the things that inspired me to go the route that I went.

Last night our neighbor friends came over and shared this video with me. The story of Vivian Maier; I sat in awe of this story. First you need to watch so that I can elaborate.

Am I wrong or is that just freakin’ amazing? I cried this morning when I watched it again. For me deeply I was inspired by her mindset in it all. (Which I can’t say for sure this was what she felt… but this is what I felt through it) Here is someone who has INCREDIBLE talent. Walking the streets, a nanny, she also worked in a sweatshop from what I read. When they got her images, many had not even been developed. She took photos for her heart. It fulfilled something inside of her that nothing else could fulfill. Seeing people, capturing beauty, capturing raw moments. Every photo is full of perfection to me. (I’m such a sucker for black and white film anyways.) She didn’t make a name for herself, she probably never made money from it. She didn’t have a blog, no one could see her work. She did it for her. Heck she did it so much for her that a lot of her film wasn’t even developed. This just inspired me, 1st to shoot for my heart, and 2nd not even so much for money. I think when we come to a place where our work fulfills that itching inside of us to create, it spills over into our work and people can’t help but want to hire us for the heart they see in our images. I’m so over the posed perfection of the industry. I’ve always adored street/photo journalism work. Its my heart, Its where I find my moments of inspiration. Its the one photography issue I cry about more then anything. I just want to create photos where people see other people’s beauty. I want to find the windows to their soul. This video made me want to go walk the streets and looks for the interesting beauty inside the normal mundane life that you and I are so used to seeing.

Next on my favorite photographers/ inspiration, is a girl who travels with Charity Water. Esther Havens is a humanitarian, photo journalistic photographer. She tells the stories of nations getting clean water. More than anyone she gives me language/images for what I deeply desire to do. I’ve always had a pure passion for nations, and when I look at her work I weep. She captures so much spirit in her images.  Capturing the smiles of nations, and the colours of street corners and market places. She is a deep well. I hope someday I can meet her and talk for hours with her. I hope for an opportunity like she has to travel the world and listen to the stories and snap the moment into a memory.

All photos below: Esther Havens Photography

So do me a favor and go through her blog. http://estherhavens.com/blog

Here is a video of her talking about her work… mmm… ilovethis

So with all of this… I think it really all comes down to “heart.” Photography is a window to the heart. If we do what we love, there will be unique passion in our images. I heard this quote from a video I love… “Why on Gods great green earth do we have this insatiable desire to compare ourselves with others? What is this great sickness?” – Zack Arias

I do it all to often in almost everything I do. And for me, I want to break out and explore what fascinates me. No one can do it or say it like you can. I’m tired of comparing and I’m tired of lacking maturity in judging others art so quickly. What is this great sickness? Are we creating for us or for the opinions of people?

<3 me

Joanna Reyburn May- November 2008

I wanted to re-edit these photos just a bit and re-share them.  I feel like they are worth sharing all over again.

I took these election evening in 2008. Shelley Paulson took me out on our first real mentoring session to shoot portraits of our close friend, Joanna Reyburn May. It was a gorgeous November night with tall grass full of golden light (a few of my favorite things!). This session taught me so much about lighting and composition. Joanna, is such a natural model and so full of spirit. After upgrading my camera, and learning so much more since then, these photos still remain to be some of my most favorite.

Check out Joanna’s Wedding that Shelley and I shot in May of this year.