Rest in Peace Shayla - Raleigh Pet Photographer

I spent last night with a very good friend Kelly and her sweet doggie Shayla. Shayla had had some unexplained illness for a couple weeks and then two days ago the vet found a large tumor on her spleen. Her prognosis was days. Kelly asked me to come over to take some photos of her as she didn't feel like she would make it through the night.  We spent a lot of time laying with her, petting her, and remembering her silly spirit. I feel blessed to have been able to capture the special bond between Kelly and Shayla. In her last hours as she laid with her mama she was so peaceful and accepting of the love that surrounded her.
Only those that have lost pets know the depth of pain an owner experiences.  Cherish each day with your best friend!

A Parting Prayer

Dear Lord, please open your gates

and call St. Francis

to come escort this beloved companion

across the Rainbow Bridge.

Assign her to a place of honor,

for she has been a faithful servant

and has always done her best to please me.

Bless the hands that send her to you,

for they are doing so in love and compassion,

freeing her from pain and suffering.

Grant me the strength not to dwell on my loss.

Help me remember the details of her life

with the love she has shown me.

And grant me the courage to honor her

by sharing those memories with others.

Let her remember me as well

and let her know that I will always love her.

And when it's my time to pass over into your paradise,

please allow her to accompany those

who will bring me home.

Thank you, Lord,

for the gift of her companionship

and for the time we've had together.

And thank you, Lord,

for granting me the strength

to give her to you now.

Amen.

- © Brandy Duckworth, 1998

Year in review - Photographer-Raleigh-Cary-NC

2011 was an amazing year for me all around. My blessings were great I couldn't have asked for anything more. My photography business grew by leaps and bounds. I am so thankful for all the beautiful clients I was able to work with last year. Getting to know each and every one was as much fun as photographing them. As I've said many times before I have the best job in the world. Many thanks to all my clients who make it possible. Happy New Year! And hope to see you all again soon.

I put together a slideshow of some of my favorite photos from last year. Its also a great way to get a feel for my photography style.

Click here to see video

P Family Photography - Raleigh Photographer Cary

This session went as smooth as they go. The girls were in a great mood, excited for their photos, the weather was perfect and everything and everyone was beautiful. After all these great sessions this fall I'm really loving family photography more and more.

Raleigh Family Child Photographer - Grayson & Baylor

My playdate at Marla Dorrel Kids Together Park in Cary (100 Thurston Ave) I have been photographing this Raleigh family for the last few years. Sometimes luck is with you and the perfect people just fall into your lap. There couldn't be a sweeter family than these guys! I so love working with them. Mom is always a trooper, up for anything during our sessions. She puts her trust in me and never hesitates at any of my ideas or bribery tactics.Though I must say I almost screwed up this time by only bringing one giant lollipop to the session. (those hysterical photos will be coming soon!) Her boys are so well behaved and loads of fun. Come January they will be welcoming their third son yay! Looking forward to meeting him and working with these guys again soon.

I asked him if he would trade eyes with me : ) Gorgeous!

The smartest 15mth old ever! He amazed me. Harvard bound.

Cary Family Photographer | Fall Family Fashion

Loving the rich purple color for Fall family photos this year.

Mommy's Free | Cary Raleigh family photographer

The first time I met these handsome dudes the little one was being carried around by mom in a sling. Fast forward 5 years, the little one is now starting Kindergarten. Where did the time go?Thankfully Mom and I were able to coordinate a shoot to document this exciting milestone. I'm pretty sure mom is looking forward to some extra alone time to concentrate on herself and her thriving small business, YES Career Services(Personal Branding, Executive Coaching, Resume Writing, etc).
During the shoot I made certain to capture some " well-behaved,ideal" looking shots for the wall and then of course we got a little silly singing the diarrhea song which led to some cute and true to life photos of Nolan and Jonah. The best ones were captured when I made mom sing the song. I think that may have been a first for her though she did know all the words, hmmm, surprising!
Tip of the day: Parents should never hesitate to get a little crazy during the shoot. Your kids will get a kick out of it and its 100% guaranteed to eliminate those god awful "cheese" faces.

Look at their faces as mom starts singing : ) much better!

Nolan just loves his dog Shayla. Wanted to make sure we got a few with the two of them snuggling. Love this one!!

Raleigh Durham Cary NC family photographer

Holiday Mini-Sessions 2011 | Raleigh Cary NC family photographer

'Tis the season to start planning those holiday sessions! I've included this year's color palette to help you coordinate your outfits. Looking forward to seeing some new and familiar faces this year.

Project Life - Raleigh Family Photographer

So when my kids were babies I had a very talented, creative neighbor that taught me how to scrapbook. I quickly became addicted and pretty soon had invested lots of money into paper, embellishments, tools,etc. My investments paid off because I now have over 20 albums of my daughters' early years.
About 3 years ago as my business began taking off and life became more hectic, I stopped scrapping. I often look at my albums with the girls and wonder where I found the time to create so many pages! I could never do it now.
I still have a closet full of paper, embellishments, tools,etc., and a lot of guilt that I now do nothing with my girl's photos nor do I do a very good job of documenting their life.
So flash forward....I have another very talented, creative neighbor that introduced me to Project Life. Its still scrapbooking but in a much easier, less time consuming, and cheaper way.
Project Life comes in kits such as this but the kits are currently sold out until Oct. So last night I ordered a Project Life binder through her amazon store and the page protectors so that I can use her method with my old scrapbooking materials that are currently collecting dust.
I'm looking forward to getting back into my old hobby very soon. If you've ever contemplated getting your photos organized or were ever an avid scrapbooker you should look into this.
Here are a few examples from her blog. You can do so much more than just scrapbook with this stuff. Very cool!

M Brothers - Cary, Raleigh, Apex, North Carolina NC Family Photography

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting a good friend of mine in Saratoga Springs, NY. We arranged a quick photo shoot one afternoon of her two adorable sons at the state park. The boys thought they were going to a "real kid park" with playground etc. When they arrived I think they were at first disappointed but by the end of the shoot they were asking to stay and wanting me to "take a million more photos." I think they'd agree that running through the arches, wrestling in the grass and listening to a random guy playing the guitar (all while being photographed) was a fun way to spend an afternoon.











this may be my favorite photo from the shoot.


I have to admit that photographing little boys is very different than photographing little girls! Most boys are very disinterested in the camera. When I have the camera up to my face I can carry on a conversation with a girl and get some great photos while she is interacting with me, the boy on the other hand usually tends to bolt the minute I aim the camera towards him. Girl sessions usually are much faster, and easier, however boy sessions are typically more fun. As was the case with these little guys I had to spend some time watching them play, enticing them to climb trees, silly things like showing me their muscles. Once they have warmed up and become my friend, they give me the opportunity to capture the good shots.
Its work but its rewarding.
Here are some early shots where they were being silly and not interested in our shoot.

In half of the first 20 photos of Ethan he was making this duck face, it was hysterical. Luckily Mom just laughed along with me and pretty soon it got old to him, the duck then turned into more of a smile. Its important for parents to let the kids get away with being silly and play along with their ideas. It keeps the kids in a good mood and lets their real personalities and smiles eventually come out. Telling your kids to pose and act unnatural really makes for boring and fake photos.



how adorable is he?


Mini lesson:
Things not to do... don't tell your kids to go over there and stand next to each other. This is next to each other to them, lol.


Don't tell boys to pretend they love each other. This is how boys show their love by squeezing the crap out of each other. Girls would have hugged/kissed something sweet.


Let them do what they want, In this photo the boys started wrestling I encouraged them and this is what I got.
Love this one!

Photography Lesson: Shooting at Mid-day - Raleigh, Cary, Family Photographer

Read any textbook on photography and you are bound to come across the theory that says you should only shoot early in the morning and 2 hours before sunset. Those are considered the golden hours for photography. Yes its much easier to obtain a better exposed photo at these times of the day because you are not competing with the powerful sun and the shadows it creates. However it is possible to get a great photo at any time of day if you know how to work around the sun.
Here is an example of what I did yesterday to get great photos while on a picnic at 1pm.

This photo shows you what you shouldn't do. Notice the sun is over my(the photographer's) right shoulder. You can tell this because of the sun on the subjects left side of her face. Also notice how she is squinting because she is staring right into the sun. Also look at the background grass how dull and dark it is compared to the other photos below. I always try to brighten up my backgrounds when I shoot.


Second photo, we both spun 180 degrees. I had subject block the sun by holding the umbrella behind her. It created a neat effect with the sun behind it. Of course I edited this one in Photoshop. Photos do not come out of the camera looking like this not even with a $2300 lens! You must know what to do in post processing to fine tune a photo. This is the only photo I edited the rest are straight out of camera so you can see the difference.


The next set of photos I placed her under a tree. There was a large space of shade around the tree. And you can see by the colors in the grass where the shade ended. I shot this one quick standing up just to see it first in my camera.


Next photo I got on my stomach like her and shot straight on, zoomed in to fill the frame with her. Eliminated all clutter of blanket and umbrella. Now she becomes the focus of the photo.



Then I pulled out my really bad jokes to try to get some more natural looking photos. She got pretty silly fast though. She was more interested with playing with her cousins then doing a photo shoot with her crazy aunt


I really wanted a photo of the 3 of them. Knew there was no way they were going to sit for me so we started a contest of hanging on the tree and I got all three of them, no they aren't all looking at me and smiling. But thats not what I wanted I wanted them being the crazy kids they were that day. You just have to figure out ways to make photos fun for kids.

Raleigh Rose Garden - Raleigh Baby Photography

Some photos of the Raleigh Rose Garden I took while waiting for a family to arrive for their session.
There were many prom goers in the garden so I wasn't able to get the whole garden but it is quite impressive.