Durham NC Bridal Portraits | Sweet Life Photo

A Bevy of Beautiful Brides

I guess I could title this post "A Bouquet of Beautiful Brides", but even I have my corny-ness limits.

We're headed away for some much needed R'n'R tomorrow and the office will be closed until Saturday, July 25th. I've been threatened by my kids with tickle torture if I check email too frequently and since I hate to be tickled, I'm going to try to comply with their demands. You can reach me by phone if it's reeeaallly important: 919.389.7274. Until then, I leave you with some of my favorite recent bridal portraits. Enjoy!

Here's Emily:

Amy

Amy made it in twice. Yay, Amy!

So did Erica.

From her Fearless Bridal session.

Angi. Rock that close-up, girlfriend!

Joanna.

Jen.

Stacy.

Kim. I adore bridal portraits in black and white. So classic.

Patricia.

Kendall.

Siobhan. I'm so sad Longview Center is no longer booking weddings. I'll miss those stained-glass windows.

Alysia. I realize that strictly speaking, this is not a bridal portrait since her groom is in it too. But she's the focus.

And it's my blog so I can do whatever I want.

And finally, Brittany. So pretty!

Am I the luckiest photographer ever or what?!?

Jul 17, 2009 | Wedding Photography | 1 Comment »

Pixel Dust goes bridal!

As in, here in no particular order are some of my favorite bridal portraits. Some are very recent; others go back a ways. All of them are beautiful young women who will forever have a place in my heart!

Let's start with Christine...such a classic beauty. We did her bridal portrait at her parents' home in Durham. It was such a pleasure to shoot there -- beautiful rooms, great light and a magnificent staircase!

Oh my goodness...this is my favorite. I know it's not a true bridal portrait, but I love everything about it: the warmth, the veil and hair jewelry, her perfect posture and how you can see the dress whittle away to her tiny, tiny waist. Don't you just know by looking at the picture that when this woman turns around, she's going to be stunning?

Maybe it's the air of mystery that I like so much.

Meet Melissa, a September bride, which meant we were shooting this in the gardens in mid-August. At one point I thought we were all -- me, my photo assistant (Kat), Melissa's step-mom and aunt, not to mention the bride in the dress -- just going to fall out from the heat. I think it was simply that I had a beautiful bride to photograph that helped me keep it together. But, OMG, it was HOT.

I love this portrait so much...I didn't even have to twist her arm too hard to get her to step down on those rocks with her gown mere inches from the water. But see what taking a risk gets you? Pure awesomeness!

Melissa, you are SO the sweetest Southern Belle.

Siobhan, such style, such grace. She and Mario were married at the Longview Center in September. I was so sad to hear that the Longview is closing...I love, love, LOVE those stained-glass windows.

Lindsey held it together even when caught out deep in Duke Gardens when a very tricky rainshower blew up. We thought it would just be one of those little light showers; holy moly, were we ever wrong. We huddled with Lindsey under the wisteria-covered arboretum with nothing but a sheet around her and under her to try to keep the dress dry while we waited for the storm to pass. The dress did get wet, but it was just fine on wedding day. Since the rain shower cut us short at Duke, we took some additional time for fun shots on the wedding day. Here are two favorites:

Back to Duke Gardens and Jefri. She's so tiny and adorable and gorgeous, I just want to squish her! I just loved shooting her wedding to Adam at the gardens in August.

Here's Andrea, another stunning brunette. I just love it when brides leave their hair down. It's such a soft and romantic look.

Kristina married Wesley in December in a wintry-themed wedding: blue and silver were the colors she chose for her wedding. I thought these little blue flowers in her bouquet were so cute!

Patricia, in the bride's room at Highgrove. So gorgeous!

And finally, Kimberly. Her mom told me that when she saw her bridal portraits online for the first time, she didn't believe it was really her because she'd never seen herself looking so glamorous. I thought she was absolutely beautiful!

Apr 06, 2009 | Wedding Photography | 2 Comments »

Michelle’s Bridal Portraits

How I love, love, love the images from Michelle's bridal portrait session. Here's my favorite. I have a giant canvas of it in my new office.

I have to tell you the story behind this bridal session. To say Michelle is a Duke fan is to make an enormous understatement. She not only holds her undergraduate degree from Duke University, but just this Spring she also graduated from Duke's law school. She is crazy about Duke basketball, evidence of which you'll see later in this post. The term "Cameron Crazies" was invented just for Michelle.

(Ok, I made that part up, but they could have invented it just for her.)

Just thinking about how much work it must have been to finish law school, study for the bar exam and plan a wedding all at the same time makes my head explode. Michelle did have a secret weapon...her mom, Karen. Since Michelle was obviously busy this Spring I had more contact with Karen than I usually have with your typical mother-of-the-bride when it came to planning the engagement and bridal sessions. I soon learned that there is nothing "typical" about Karen. I'm pretty much convinced that she could arrange just about anything necessary to give her daughter the wedding of her dreams. This included having Michelle's bridal portrait made not just at Duke Gardens, but also on the Duke Chapel grounds and INSIDE Cameron Indoor Stadium. When Karen first told me that Michelle wanted to have her picture made in front of the chapel, I whipped out my handy-dandy copy of the Duke Chapel Rules and Regulations for Photographers to let her know that on page 670, paragraph three, subsection A, only brides getting married in the chapel may use the grounds for their bridal portraits. Appointments must be made, sometimes months in advance. I was pretty sure that if we showed up unannounced to shoot the session at the Chapel, we would quickly be surrounded by a Duke Swat Team and escorted off the premises. I would have my Duke Gardens permit revoked and Sweet Life Photography would go to the top of the list of photographers NOT allowed to work inside the chapel EVER again.

Of course, that's not what I said. It came out more like, "Umm, I don't think we can do that." (And I'm just kidding about the guidebook. It's only a few pages long and is actually very helpful.) Karen was quiet for a minute, then said, "Let me get back to you."

Karen, if you're reading this (and I know you are), I thought to myself, "Good luck, lady."

Naturally, she called me back a few hours later and said, "We're all set!"

I'm telling you, don't mess with Karen. I'm convinced she can do anything and frankly, I'm just a little bit scared of her.

Anyway...that's how I ended up being able to get this shot (Michelle's pick):

I love the detail on these doors. Michelle's radiant smile is pretty killer too.

Of course, we had to shoot at least a few in the gardens.

Once the light was gone, it was time for the craziest, coolest part of the session...shooting inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. Turns out not only does someone at Duke owe Karen some favors (just kidding, Mom -- can I call you Mom?), but she knows Coach K. He gave the OK himself. Having never done many bridal portraits inside a gymnasium (and frankly, who has?), I was a little nervous about how it would go. My worries were pointless since it turns out that my camera has declared its undying love for Michelle and refused to take a less-than-gorgeous picture of her.

First stop, Krzyzewskiville...or however you say it. According to Michelle, she spent many a night camped out waiting to get her season basketball tickets.

Michelle wanted to try to get an image up in the stands. I loved the idea, so up we went. One thing you should know about the upper deck in Cameron Indoor: it's really not a good place to be with a wedding dress on. I'm convinced there was at least two inches of gunk on the floor. Ewww. But I love this shot!

A blue Cameron Crazies wig in her wedding gown? Seriously, I just love her.

One of the very best things about my job is that it is never, ever boring. Thanks Michelle (and Karen and Coach K) for one of the most original and fun bridal sessions ever.