Gwen & Chris' Wedding

This was the most unconventional wedding ever. Not the fault of the bride and groom, but rather the fault of a nasty stomach virus courtesy of our 6 month old son. Friday night when my wife and I were supposed to be at the rehearsal dinner, we were actually in the emergency room trying to get relief for my nausea. The plan was for my wife to fill in for photography duties (not a pretty plan) the next day. This morning I was coming back to life just as she was coming down with. I struggled through the ceremony and got as many pictures as I could before heading home early. Regardless, it was great to be present for the wedding of our good friends and to help them capture the day. Congrats, Gwen and Chris.

The Secret Life of Yellow Jackets

I can’t believe this is my third fall season in North Carolina, and before today I had never experienced the frenzy of “peak leaf season” in the nearby mountains. Jen and I decided to get out of Charlotte for the day to get some fresh air and join a gazillion other folks on the Blue Ridge Parkway. According to the folks at the Northern Trading Post (store along the BRP) these past few weeks are the actual peak time and being that they are expecting a frost tomorrow, we picked the perfect day. We had big plans for the day. We started the day by stumbling across Jen’s beloved childhood camp, Camp Cheerio, and made our way down the BRP from the Virginia border. Our plan was to end in Blowing Rock and grab an early dinner for the ride home. We had a cheap and warm meal at Bluffs Lodge restaurant and got quite a bit of fall color before our plans were foiled, no pun intended. We brought out puppy Tonka with us and I tied him to a fence post as I tried to get a shot of Jen sitting in a tree looking out over the mountains. As soon as I had lifted Jen up, Tonka started going crazy. Barking and rolling around on the ground. This behavior is actually quite normal for Mr. T. It was Jen screaming “Bee! Bee” that jerked me to attention. Mr. T was stung by a bee (or ate one) earlier this year and his face swole up twice the size of his head. After a lot of slobber and a very expensive trip to the vet he was okay. The problem is that we were nowhere near a vet, up in the mountains on a Saturday. He must have gotten into a yellow jacket nest or something. He was covered in them. Both Tonka and I were stung several times but lucky enough we found a Food Lion and got Benadryl in us both. Jenny was saved by the simple fact that she was stuck in a tree and it took her a minute to get down without breaking any bones. Oh well. Blowing Rock another day.

Suzanne & Mike's Wedding Weekend

One of Jen’s best friends Suzanne got married in Palm Springs. While Jen was hard at work doing all of her Matron of Honor duties, I grabbed a few shots and helped out while the girls got ready the day of the wedding. The hotel that they got ready at, The Viceroy, and the reception at Cree Estate were both absolutely beautiful. Those grape leaves that the Tadros family cooked for the rehearsal dinner were pretty amazing too!

Randy & Becky Engagement Shoot

Randy and Becky are two of our best friends. We met out in California when Jen and I worked at the same company as Randy and Becky and Jen became good friends. We were excited to have them with us in Costa Rica this spring when we renewed our vows for our 5th anniversary and even more exited when they got engaged a few months later. During their East Coast extravaganza they spent a long weekend with us and we had a great time shooting some photos for them. These two are obviously head over heels and it was such an easy shoot.

Jamaica

We knew when we went to Jamaica that this would be our last vacation for a while. Three big trips in one year. Can't complain. This was not our normal type of vacation. We stayed at a 5 Star Resort and did very little other than lie by the pool and get pampered at the spa. We did spend one morning visiting the SOS Village nearby. Little did we know that soon we would be adopting our own child. We joked at that time that visiting the orphans may make my wife want to adopt one of the children.

Italia

I must say that Italy was not my first option for a vacation, but Jen was dead set on going. Greece had been my choice, so Italy it was this year. Plus, one of my best friends from college and our California life, is now running his own company out of Florence. How could we pass up a chance to have our own personal tour guide in one of the most beautiful (and photogenic) cities in the world. Out of the ten days we spent in Italy, the most beautiful sights we saw were visiting the thousands of acres outside of Siena that he is working on. Truly stunning.

Aimee & Mason Shoot

Aimee and Mason were really good sports. This was my first real shoot with anyone other than Jenny around town. Thank you so much to you guys for putting up with us as we looked for new locations and learned how to pose people. Aimee still owes me for getting Mason to show that much PDA early on a Saturday morning.