Editing matters. It will take your work from not only good but to jaw dropping. With programs like Lightroom and the knowledge on how powerful the tools really are, opening things in Photoshop can be the rarity rather than the necessity. Every image in this post was edited ONLY in Lightroom. What are the things that separate one artist from another? In large part, it’s their vision and their craft. Naturally, the way we see the world and the perspectives we shoot from are key elements in how we connect to our clients. Do they love a more direct approach or is it the uniqueness of your style that draws them in. For instance, standing at normal height and shooting...
Q. What’s your story? How did you two meet? A. We met on match.com about two and a half years ago. I emailed Brad first and he liked me because I had an Anchorman quote on my page. After a few emails we went out to dinner and a movie. We just hit it off right away. Q. Who proposed to who? How long did it take? Were you surprised? A. Brad proposed to me. He was planning the engagement for about 8 months. I was going on a family vacation to Spain and I invited him to come. He said he couldn’t take off from work. Then while I was in Barcelona sitting at a cafe with my mom...
It was torrentially down-pouring during Charlotte’s bridal session. We had to come up with a quick alternative somewhere in Myrtle Beach, SC that wouldn’t cost a bloody fortune so I took a shot in the dark and called Ripley’s Aquarium and told them of our woes. They totally stepped up, invited us in free of charge, and let us have full run of the joint! This is absolutely one of my favorite images. Charlotte was crouching on the other side of the seahorse tank. I had my assistant lighting her from the left with a Lumecube. The seahorses, of course, followed instructions so well and all gathered on the front left of the tank so I had almost...
One of my favorite types of shoots is, quite honestly, a long one. I love taking time to get my friends (Clients? Subjects? Genie pigs?) to relax, sink into their experience and just have loads of fun while still creating magnificent artifacts of their time with me. We usually start out with a drink or lunch, chat and laugh a lot, then dive head first into our session together. This was absolutely true with Liz and Grant, both of whom are newscasters at WFMY News in Greensboro, NC. I worked with Liz and Grant first for their destination wedding in Cape May NJ at Congress Hall. (I seriously want to shoot there again so let’s make that happen, folks!) We...
Certain sessions have a special place in my heart. It may be the locations we go to, it may the bond the couple and I form, or there could be some other very special aspect – like my son coming along to help me shoot. All three were true of this session. This was the very first time my son Jobe has accompanied me on a shoot and he was freaking amazing! He worked with Victoria and Jared like they were old friends, he had ideas for shots, and he schlepped my gear around like a pro! I’ll never let go of this day. Victoria, Jared and I got extremely close very fast. We joked, laughed, goofed off, and...
When Liz Crawford and Grant Gilmore, famous WFMY newscasters, contacted me about photographing their Cape May wedding, I knew it was gonna be epic. Two super cool people madly in love with each other in a gorgeous location. I probably counted down the days to their wedding as much as they did. Traci: Tell me the one thing you love the most about your Fiancé. Grant: The one thing that I love about Liz is that her beauty truly starts from within. From the love she shares with her family to her ability to connect with any person she meets, her grace never ceases to amaze me. Liz: I love how attentive Grant is. It’s very un-guy like of him....
Traci: What is unique about you as a couple? Courtney: We’re (in my opinion) the perfect example of how everything happens for a reason and if something is meant to be, then it will be. Cody asked Courtney to go to the Batman premier with him several years ago after meeting her at a mutual friend’s house. Courtney said yes. But, as luck or fate or whatever you may believe in had it, the date never happened. Fast forward several years later. Thanks to social media, they began chatting and he asked her out again. This time, it happened…over and over and over again. Before they knew it, he was taking Courtney on an elaborate scavenger hunt in Cozumel,...
When I first heard from this gorgeous couple, the call actually came from Matt and his British accent took me straight back to my joyous time at Oxford. Then when I met him and Kelli, my photographer’s heart went all aflutter. They are beautiful, cool, devoted to one another and absolutely hilarious. And even better, they LIKE being photographed so the walls came down so much quicker. We moved straight into the intimacy of the shoot and were playing and getting the coolest shots right from the start. For their engagement session, we chose the Midwood neighborhood in Charlotte specifically for the crosswalk in the first image in the post. I had seen the graphic painting on a previous trip...
Traci: What’s your story? How did you two meet? Lauren: Brian and I grew up about 10 minutes down the road from one another in Kernersville/Walkertown, but did not meet until we attended college at UNC Charlotte. Brian’s whole life has revolved around baseball, playing for Brevard College, and playing and coaching club baseball at UNC Charlotte. One of my good friends played club baseball for UNC Charlotte, and Brian and I met through him at a baseball party. First, Lauren and Brian are totally gorgeous. I am talking cover model gorgeous. AND they love fine art photography. I’m so glad they stumbled across me on a web search because they were a dream. It’s hard not to talk about...
Allison is a classic beauty and she wanted very classic old world elegance in her bridal session. We chose the OHenry Hotel in Greensboro for it’s beautiful, dark wood lobby and the light was just amazing. We chose several locations throughout the hotel and Allison walked right up to the edge of her comfort level and stopped over that line. Her bravery allowed me to play a little and add a modern twist to some of her images. It was a wonderful collaboration. Congrats to Allison and Matt who married last night at the OHenry!
Things don’t always go as planned. Even at a wedding. Even when you have planned every single last detail. But don’t freak out when it happens! It’s not a tragedy! The change can surprise you. It can actually be for the very beautiful. Lauren and Will’s Grandover Resort wedding was the perfect example of a plan going awry and embracing the change. Their wedding was supposed to be outside. But, it rained. A lot. So, everything was quickly shifted into the Griffin Room. Lauren and Will accepted this change with the exact same excitement as if the weather had been perfect and their wedding had gone off exactly as planned. Because they were just thrilled to be getting married –...
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