Free Wedding Photography

So, get over it but this post is going to stay at the top for awhile. I am on a mission - I want to photograph someone's wedding for free. The Lord has richly blessed me, and I'm sharing the love. You will get what I offer to anyone... but there are some criteria:

1. I want to know why you need free wedding photography - what's your story
2. I would love to receive an image of you & your fiance and maybe you blog stalkers out there can help me decide who to choose
3. It must be a 2009 wedding, and the date will have to play well with my other weddings
4. Where is your wedding? (I am willing to travel anywhere, I just need to know where)
5. Either you can nominate yourself, or friends, mom, dad - nominate your bride!

Please email me all nominations: april@evokenc.com I will stop taking nominations 12.08. Also, if anyone out there has any ideas on how I can get this more publicized, please let me know!

Mr & Mrs Hughes

This past Saturday I photographed Kasey & Matt's wedding, and it was the ideal day. I actually met Kasey through her sister Abby when I photographed Abby's wedding about 4 years ago. Now it's almost time to photograph Abby, Danny & baby! Kasey & Matt got married in Winston-Salem, and Kasey really hooked the day up with her own special touches everywhere. I love it when such a huge affair has such a personal feel. It has been such a personal thing for me to photograph everything for Kasey - from engagement & bridal to wedding. Matt, Kasey & her whole family have been such a pleasure!!OK - HUGE recommendation - SEE EACH OTHER BEFOREHAND. I know there's a lot of tradition with seeing each other for the first time as the bride walks down the aisle.. but let me tell you - when you walk down the aisle, there are A LOT of nerves & things just become a huge blur and once you get to the front, all you can do is look at each - no talking, no embrace - it actually limits your emotions. However, if you see each other beforehand, the two of you meet beforehand in an intimate situation - only you & your groom (and me of course). You get to share your nerves, have a special moment, embrace & re-cooperate. THEN, you get all of the formal pictures done beforehand so you can head straight to the party after the ceremony - which is all you want to do once it's over. It can be tough to spend 1-1.5 hours taking pictures when you just want to party! Your ceremony can be traditional, but please consider this because it's way more practical for you. This is exactly what Kasey & Matt did.
Check out that trolley! I was so excited when Kasey told me a trolley would be involved!
My friend, Ken, shot with me on Saturday & once he has this blogged, I know he's going to have some very tasty moody shots too...
This was very special & I didn't realize what was happening until later. Abby revealed the name of her daughter in her speech to Kasey & even not knowing what was happening, it was still enough to get my eyes a little teary!
They had a huge party, and some awesome dancers... I could have blogged 30 awesome dance shots only!! I didn't think that would really reflect the whole day, but the crowd was definitely energetic!
They almost weren't able to leave, because people went COO COO with the streamers & they could barely get out of all of them!! It was the funniest exit I've seen in a very long time! This picture doesn't even represent the massive web that it was..
Congrats you two & I can't wait to hear about Jamaica!

Julie & Bernie

This past Friday, I spent the morning with Julie & Bernie, and for the first time in a long time, I really had to wrap up the shoot within 2 hours!! And amazingly, I almost did everything I wanted to do. There was one more spot I wanted to go to, but I know I still got all their angles!! Julie & Bernie are getting married in November, and it's going to be an awesome affair... You just got to stick around! I really try & warm people up in front of the camera before I get them to really work it, but this is how they started - Yum to the tum!Who knew NC State had so many awesome areas!I'm not sure what these are exactly, but they look hot here!! Or maybe Julie & Bernie make them hot...
Oh yeah.. the action came at the end!! Save the best, right?!

Mamasitas

Two Saturdays ago I had a marathon boudior shoot at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte, NC and it turned out H-O-T!! Obviously I'm not going to reveal but so much, but it was an amazing day. I photographed three girls that are gifting their husbands with some super sexy presents. It may seem like an awkward thing to picture yourself doing, but any three of these girls will tell you that it was not near as terrifying as they thought it would be. In fact, they all walked out feeling incredibly confident. I'm doing another marathon session at the Umstead on June 22nd, so if you want more info or just want in, email me & I'll slide you in!

Stephanie & Dan

Yes... I normally try & blog a day or two after a session, but Woah - it's crazy time in wedding world! So, two weeks later you finally get to see Stephanie & Dan... So, before I photograph a couple I like to do a little research & figure out how to reflect their personalities and make the images their own. Stephanie, Dan & myself talked on the phone before this but between them & me, I don't think they were expecting the immense silliness!! Every crazy idea I had, they were totally on board with & it just got me more & more excited!! Well, the session was an early morning one, so we first met for some bean juice:And then straight into some yumminess
Turn right, and go straight into crazy town
What.. crabs can bite!!
Tasty... the yin & yang of it all-
OK.. I also told them to bring props - anything that would be meaningful to them. Well.. there exists a Valentine's Day gift that Dan gave Stephanie years ago & it's not going anywhere!! Normally one may think of a sweet stuffed animal, rockstar sunglasses like Erin & BC... in this case it was a very old balloon with very old candy still unwrapped. AHHHH!! They were just begging for more silly shots.

And then when there's an opportunity to incorporate signs, I'm on it.. I'm hoping you can see the "Help stop animal cruelty" sticker
We almost kicked some others off this tire in order to get these shots, but the people that were there left & the brute force was reserved for another day..
Ok, so another prop - an old restored gold fan. Dan actually restored it himself, and it's important to them ok!!
Dan brews his own beer, but we didn't exactly have time to photograph that
Another funny story, and oh yes - there are many more than the ones told here!! Dan graduated from UNC & Stephanie graduated from Duke. There is a significant amount of ... uh.. rivalry. It could be called that.. or just complete disgust. Being a NCSU graduate myself, a fight definitely could have broken out.

Help Wanted

I am presently on the hunt for a second shooter at weddings. I need someone that can first & foremost dedicate around 20 or more Saturdays to me per year, and be comfortable in complete chaos 8-9 hours each Saturday. I need you to be extroverted, be teachable & critique-able, come shoot & hand me over your images. Email me if you're interested! april@evokenc.com

Erin & BC

YES - I know I should have blogged this a week ago!! Last Sunday I photographed Erin & BC... who initially had no intention of doing an engagement session. I'm really hoping that they are happy they did it now!! These two are so wonderful together... I mean, just a very subtle "POW". Their dynamics are so tight with each other, and being a less than subtle person, I really admired their interaction with one another. You'll see - it's a beautiful thing!! We started off with their kiddos - the two sweet puppies.
And like everyone, they have their special spots... their priorities..
My sweet friend Ashley let me borrow her dad's Rose Garden for the afternoon-
TASTY RIGHT?!?!
That's just comfy right there-
Rock star sun glasses can really bring that thang-
Being in the field like this, Erin reminded me a lot of Gywneth Paltrowe
This shot really intrigues me, and I'm not even going to explain it
Beautiful sunset to end an amazing shoot. THANKS YOU TWO!!