I got to see Danielle, Trey, and their little Delia the other day at the Arboretum! This isn’t the first time I’ve worked with these guys. First, I shot their engagement session in downtown Wilmington wayyy back in 2008…

Then, there was Danielle’s hilariously fun bridal session in a truckyard near the One Tree Hill bridge in downtown…

Then, of course, their wedding at St Mary’s Catholic Church and the Coastline Convention Center…

Oh, and THEN I shot Danielle’s best friend Whitney’s engagement session and wedding in Wrightsville Beach…

…and now Danielle and Trey have little Delia.

She is ridiculously adorable. At least I’m pretty sure she is – everything from that session is a blur…

No, really – Delia doesn’t sit still. EVER. She has places to go, flowers to pick, jumps that NEED TO BE JUMPED.

I used to shoot sports, and I could barely keep up with her. This kid is FAST.

I did get lucky a couple times…

Oooh, she’s looking at me, she’s looking….oh damn. Too late.

She’s got a real thing for flowers and butterflies… and I’m still not quite sure if “butterflies” are just a type of flower, or a clever ruse that mom and dad came up with to get her attention… but it works. Sometimes.

Here’s one of those moments that I thought, “If I’m fast enough, I’ll catch a great expression on everyone…”

…but it was over, I think right around the moment that Delia realized I was THIS CLOSE to getting a great shot…

Oh well. We’re getting back together at the beach, sometime when the weather rocks and everyone’s in the mood. Since Danielle, Trey, and Delia live in Wilmington it’s easy to do a last minute session around town. Hopefully with fewer flowers and trails to explore, Delia will sit still long enough for me to focus the lens!

This is one cool kid. She’s spunky, and her expressions – when you catch them – are priceless. I can’t wait to watch her grow up!

There is simply no way to describe this session, or these two wonderful people, and illustrate properly how much I admire and adore them. Or how incredible this session was to shoot, edit, and be a part of. Or what a creative force Casey is. Or how sweet, intelligent, and mature Joseph is. Or how much I want my Ellie to meet Joseph and fall in love (um, in a few years I mean). In other words – this session was perfect, these people are perfect, and I’m indescribably lucky to have met and worked with them. And I hope to be doing much more of this in the future. (Bonus: they actually live nearby, and Casey’s a photo FIEND, so I think my wish will come true)

Enjoy these. I think these images are the best family portrait work I’ve done to date. I’m STUPID proud of this session. Like, I am still riding on the high from this edit.

You know how good it feels when another photographer – a real, working, talented photographer – calls and asks you to photograph her family? It feels good. Real good. Validating and awesome, and even after a decade of doing this I got a little nervous about this session. I mean, check out Rae’s website! She does a LOT of family and kid work. Really good stuff. It’s always hard not to compare your own work to the next guy, especially when you’re about to work FOR them!

So Rae lives up north with her family, and the rest of the family members came in from Asheville and Charlotte and I think as far north as Vermont? Somewhere in New England anyway! They were spending Labor Day weekend at Wrightsville Beach for a short family get-together and birthday celebration. They could not have inadvertently picked a worse time to visit – it was the coldest, dreariest, ugliest Labor Day weekend I’ve ever seen in Wilmington.

I arrived at their beach house before the sunrise, and I’m not sure what the temperature was on the beach but it felt like 40 degrees. With wind. And chill. And grey skies. Misery. We did what we could on the beach, and I wasn’t real confident that we could do much more, but Rae noticed some good light on the back deck of the house – and that’s where we found the best images that we made that morning.

I’m really happy she pointed out the new location to me, because I am thrilled with the images we got. I hope these folks come back to the area next year (and that we have better weather!)… they’re the kind of people I want to work with over and over again. Easygoing, witty, and HAPPY.

It’s like 8 degrees with wind in this picture. That’s a gross exaggeration, but still.

Those tears you see in her gorgeous eyes? Tears of cold. She wasn’t even crying or fussing, but her eyes gave away how miserable the weather was out there. (Note: we kept the outside stuff to a bare minimum!)

A few weeks ago, Leslie contacted me about possibly photographing her family on Emerald Isle while they vacationed here for the 4th of July holiday. It’s a bit of a hike from Wilmington, but I do love Emerald Isle, so of course I said yes! We had a great time working together the other evening, and I promised Leslie I would have a few images posted before they went back to Virginia on the 9th, so here’s a very quick sneak peek of the session!

First up, Grandma and Grandpa (without whom, none of this would have happened!)

Leslie, George, and Liam

Jenny, Matt, Austin, and Connor

Nicky, Joe, Emma, and Bella

All the kids, and all their footies

I love how you can see each kid’s distinctive personality in this shot:

Connor. Quiet, intense, sweet, and totally three years old. I can come up with a dozen things he would have rather done on Wednesday than sit for pictures

Austin. Five years old, charming, goofy, and impish.

Charo: “How’s your vacation going, Austin?”
Austin: “Horrible.”
Charo: “Oh NO! But it looks like so much fun, why is it horrible?”
Austin: “Because today.”
Charo: “Because I’m here for the pictures?”
Austin: “Yeah. You’re ruining my vacation.”
Charo: “I’m so sorry.”

Gorgeous Emma. Tall, reserved, elegant, with the prettiest green eyes I’ve seen in years.

Bella. I could photograph this little one all day long and never get bored. Like Connor, she’s a little intense, pretty quiet, all sorts of mischief, and definitely not all about the picture-taking.

And Liam. ROAR!!!

I always try to get pictures of the mommies and daddies, without the kids… because how often do mommies and daddies get any attention once the kids come around? Right?

Leslie and George

Jenny and Matt

Nicky and Joe

Guys, I had a wonderful time working with you, and I’m going to have a blast editing all these photos! Thank you so much for having me up for the evening! And hang tight – when the edit is done, you’ll have a LOT of photos to look at – they’re all so great, I can’t wait to share the whole take with you! Have a safe trip back to Virginia!

Do you know Tom Rhodes? If not, you should. His music is *awesome*, you totally need to buy his CDs, add his dates to your calendar, and be a groupie.

Morgan is a *fabulous* graphic artist – she’s currently working on my new logo for me, and I really could NOT be happier about it – she’s so talented, and intuitive, and everything you want in an artist.

I could not imagine a more perfect couple. I’m not just saying that for free tickets to his shows, either.

We met up tonight at the Cape Fear Fair & Expo here in Wilmington, and just goofed off for a couple hours. Can I just tell you – it is NOT EASY to hold on to a camera, focus, expose AND shoot while going practically vertical on a carnival ride!

Anyway… I had tons of fun with you guys! I’ll see you next week!

(putting on lipstick to take the “what kind of kisser are you?” test at the Mary Kay booth. Tom is a Divine Diva, and Morgan is an Expressionista. I didn’t take the test.)

This was one of the best engagement sessions ever. Lesley and Jon are laid back, funny, and completely irreverent – my kinda people!!! Michael and I had such a great time working with them! We can’t wait for your wedding!

What a delightfully nutty group this was! We spent about two hours together, photographing every combination of groups and kids we could come up with.

Some of the younger kids weren’t 100% into the session, so I let them get behind the lens to see what I could see. I think they got some of the best shots of the day!