Lera + Nate: Married
I am so excited to share this wedding with you! Lera and Nate are the kind of people you meet and you instantly fall in love with, madly, head over heels style. Not to be sappy, it's just true. They are the kind of people who just make you feel cooler by simply being around them (kinda like the fonz). They are also two of the most genuine people I've ever met. And if that wasn't enough they have one of the most romantic love stories ever (you can read all about it HERE if you're curious). So we were totally stoked to get to be the photographers for their wedding in Oak Island, North Carolina.
After my little car accident the night before we flew out to photograph their wedding, one of my best photography friends TimCo flew in from Florida to help me photograph their day, just in case I keeled over at some point lol... Luckily after doping myself up on pain meds just in case I was on cloud nine the whole day lol.
Ok... let's get to the photos, I'll talk while you browse through them...
When I arrived at Lera's parents house the morning of the wedding I was a little early so it gave me lots of time to play around and get some awesome detail shots... so I went a little crazy trying to decide which ones to post...
As usual while I was hanging out with the girls Joey was over chillin with the guys, I love these little detail shots he got!
Lera + Nate decided to do a first look, and take all their photos before the ceremony (which I LOVE) maybe next week I'll do a blog post about all the many reasons I love this idea. This is one of my favorite pictures from the sequence we captured...
After the first look we took off to take photos, Nate was seriously rockin' the shades. I think both him and Lera actually did some modeling when they lived in Japan... and apparently they haven't lost their touch lol...
Let me just say... this is the BACKYARD of their parents house... ummm... yeah... I'm jealous...
I could seriously comment on all of these, so lets just assume above every photo is a comment from me saying "AYKM!?"... How cool is the light in these two portraits of Nate though!? I was just a tad excited when I took them...
Lera was the perfect model...
Every time I see that photo on the left I feel like a little Gucci or Prada sunglasses logo would look so at home on it...
After we had some fun taking photos and took a short break to freshen up, it was off to the ceremony!
I loved everything about Lera's color palette for her wedding...
I love this photo of the ceremony Timco captured for me!
I don't usually post a ton of bridal party pictures, but these came out so cool I just had to post them!
Lera was the master planner and after the ceremony arranged for a trolly service to transport all her guests to the reception location down the street. I love these photos of the bridal party we got of them all on the trolley...
At this point, the light was PERFECT for heading down to the beach to take just a few more pictures before the reception. I love the little reception dress Lera changed into...
I love that photo on the right, somehow it just seems like the quintessential picture of pure happiness to me.
After our little beach session it was off to the reception, which was so gorgeous!
I love all the little unique details they included that were specific to them and their love story.
AYKM!?!?!? Seriously one of the most gorgeous receptions ever, with the perfect sunset too...
And I'll end with these two, you might not already know but Joey and I love ballroom dancing. I'm a little more obsessed than he is and more than anything I think he just goes along with me to see the big stupid grin I get on my face when we take lessons. So I LOVE LOVE LOVE when my couples do little choreographed numbers for their first dance and Lera and Nate's was flawless... it was gorgeous!
And if you still haven't had enough here is a MASSIVE slideshow you can watch with even more photos! It takes a little while to load but it's worth the wait I promise!
LERA + NATE: THE SLIDESHOW
I have to just say too before I end this post what an amazing family both of these two have. The moment I walked into her parents home I felt like one of the family. There was such an outpouring and love and support for these two the entire day that it was beautiful to witness.
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Behind the scenes
Since I had Tim come along we got a few more photos than usual of us doing our thing so I thought I'd post up a couple...
Lera's Dad snapped this one of Joey, Me and Tim at the start of the day (just a reference point to what I looked like in the morning, with all the running around we do I start to look like a catastrophe victim at the end of the day, so it's nice to know I started out looking decent at least lol)
Yes... you are seeing correctly, this is me sitting on Joe's shoulders taking pictures. Over the years it's sorta become our "signature move" lol. In reality it's just WAY easier than carting a ladder around with us everywhere we go!
At the end of the night Joey and I and Nate and Lera and Lera's sister and her boyfriend all shared a slow dance together :) (I love our clients!)
WHEW! That was a long blog post! Thank you Lera + Nate for letting us into your families and into your lives!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
An Effort In Honesty
Having a business blog is sometimes hard, because there's always this line in the sand. You know the line that if you cross it suddenly you are in the TMI zone. A zone most business bloggers avoid like the plague. Apparently it's not very professional to openly proclaim to the world "I got a zit on the tip of my nose the other day that just won't go away and it's driving me freaking crazy" (which is true by the way).
This alone is where a problem arises for me.
Because I live in the TMI zone. Honestly you can ask any of my friends and probably 99% of them will tell you this. Part of me likes to be prideful about it, like I'm just a really honest person... shouldn't everybody be comfortable sharing their deepest darkest secrets with total strangers? And then the other part of me sees that maybe this isn't the most admirable quality at times. Don't get me wrong, I'm not George Washington or anything.... although I really do suck at lying. Seriously, I am horrible at it if truth be told. I can't even play the card game BS without having to smile and giggle the ENTIRE game so nobody can tell when I actually have something. I'm just not very good at it.
So trying to keep a business blog is a bit of a conundrum for me. I can't even tell you how many posts I've written, almost posted and then had my brain kick in right before I pushed the publish button telling me that this isn't the place for that kind of thing.
So this leaves me with a question.... What exactly is this place for!?
Throughout the years I'm been the type of person who does things because she thinks she SHOULD do them, because that's what's EXPECTED of her and to be quite frank, because that's what everybody else said was the right thing to do.
But lately I've come to the profound conclusion that I am not like everybody else. This should have been clear to me way back when I was learning to count and would always count the beans spastically: one (bean on the top right), two (bean on the bottom middle), three (bean on the top left).... you get the picture. This frustrated my mother to no end (since she is a big supporter of counting things methodically in a sensible order). She kept wanting me to get the wrong number in the end to prove to me how flawed my bean counting method was. But in the end I would always get the right number, every time. This should have been my first big clue that my brain just isn't wired the same as everybody else's. And should have also taught me that even though my method was different I got the right outcome in the end. So I'm not sure why it's taken me so many years of my life to realize this about myself. And more than realize it, but actually embrace it, love it, and tell it... "you know... you seem a bit crazy but I think we might actually get along pretty well."
So.... from now on I'm going to pursue honesty and authenticity. Because in the end isn't that what makes us all unique individuals instead of duplicate drones of each other?
So in an effort for honesty I am starting here with my blog. And I honestly don't care if it's unprofessional, because that's not the reason I do what I do. I love photography because I love getting to photograph who people really are, their stories, their joys, their personalties. I love being able to look inside of another human being and put into an image what I find there so that everybody else can see it too. In the end what I do is about relationships, real ones. It's not about putting on a false front for people so they'll think I'm cool (because I am the dorkiest person out there much of the time).
So the buck stops here. If that means some people won't hire me because I mentioned having a zit on my nose, so be it.
I have no idea how to end this rambling post so I'll leave you with a quote from my good friend Dr. Suess who I think sums this all up rather well.
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.
-Dr. Suess
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
I know it's only September but after getting several e-mails from a bunch of different people, I figured maybe I should post something up on the blog lol :) I love that my clients are better planners for this than I am myself lol. Usually I end up a week before Christmas freaking out because I still haven't sent out a single card, let alone taken our yearly family photo to include yet. So this post is for those of you out there a bit more like me who need a gentle bump to remind them that Christmas is coming up and will be here before you know it!
Also this year we are offering custom designed greeting cards that you can purchase with your session, however to be able to get these done in time for you to send out (since we have to shoot the session, edit the images, design and order the card and then get it back from the printers) you'll need to book your session soon. Also I have an amazing client that offered to let me shoot in a gorgeous vineyard close to Tucson, however I hear that to shoot there we'd have to do it before the end of September, so that is another time sensitive option you might be interested in.
All of this to say: book you session as soon as you can so you won't be scrambling like me a week before Christmas!
Here's all the info for the different types of Holiday sessions we'll be offering this year:
Shoot us a note to book your session or find out more info and a la carte options: inquiries@pangburnphotography.com