Charlotte Branding Photographer

Queen Photographers AL Shoot

January 16, 2017

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Queen Photographers AL Shoot

Getting a group of photographers (who typically prefer to be behind the lens) together for a photo shoot isn’t the easiest feat in the world, but when presented with the opportunity to shoot with our fellow Area Leaders for the Queen Photographers organization I think we were all a little excited. Not only did it mean new headshot photos for each of us by the talented Aaron Smalls of Aaron Smalls Photography, but it meant a day of pampering (our great MUAs did their thing!), working together in a studio setting and ending it with some delicious lunch. And I mean any excuse to get together and fellowship over a delicious lunch is a good enough reason for me to walk out of the house.

So what are the Queen Photographer Area Leaders? The ladies in these behind the scenes photos are all a part of the The Queen Photographers organization which is a network for women of color photographers. And the Area Leaders are the women that head up each region in South Carolina, including Greenville, Rock Hill/Charlotte, Columbia and Charleston. Each leader(s) hosts monthly meetings in their respective cities with fellow photograpHERs where we learn and grow alongside one another. It’s what community over competition is all about. Learning from one another and growing alongside like minded individuals that want to see each other succeed. It’s an organization I am proud to be a part of and enjoy leading.

Check out these behind the scenes photos of our day together as well as a couple of the final images by Aaron.

queen photogs

queen photographers
queen photos

A few of the final images from the amazingly talented Aaron Smalls

The Gatson Family | Columbia, SC

January 9, 2017

The Gatson Family | Columbia, SC

A couple of weekends ago, as I was wrapping up the last of my sessions for 2016, I had the opportunity to meet and work with the Gatson family. Mom Judi, reached out to me after a referral from another client and in the span of a week we set up a time, date and location for her family session. The original plan for an outdoor session as the SC State Museum proved to not work out due to a cold front that decided to come through the Carolinas the exact weekend of our shoot. Thankfully she was able to move us indoors at Edventure which turned out to be great! I’m a natural light shooter so thankfully this location worked well with a lot of light flooding in through large window spaces.

Their session began with sons Nicholas and Aiden having fun and capturing candid moments on the carousel! The boys had a great time moving from object to object and looking ever so dapper in their velvet suits.

Afterwards we gave the boys a break as they changed into more casual looks while Judi and Dwayne took centerstage. They were so much fun to work with and I enjoyed watching the playful banter between the two of them. Being able to capture sweet, genuine smiles and laughter between husband and wife and parents and their children makes me love what I get the chance to do. I hope these will be memories that the Gatson family will treasure for a long time to come.

One Word: Dauntless

January 2, 2017

One Word: Dauntless

Coming up with my one word for the upcoming year you’d think would be easy. It’s anything but. As the year winds down and I look back over the last 12 months and think about how the word I chose just a year ago has played out over my life, the task of choosing a new word becomes that much more difficult. I’m a true believer in speaking life over yourself and your circumstances. Does that mean I’m always positive and everything I say about myself is good? Of course not. I’m human and have flaws, but I know that there is power in the tongue. So as I look back over 2016 I can definitely say that the word ‘fruitful’ came to pass. I was most certainly productive in my personal life as well as my business and I’d like to think in some regard I was helpful to those around me. My business thrived like never before and I don’t see it slowing anytime soon.

So as I began to reflect on this year’s word I began to think about what I want 2017 to look like. Words like bold, fearless, risk-taker all flooded my mind. I thought about some of my goals for the next year and it included stepping outside of my comfort zone to connect with other creatives and industry leaders for my blog as well as pushing myself to work harder than ever before. Five years ago when I started this business I set a financial goal that I was allowing myself ten years to achieve. I’m happy (and kind of shocked!) to report that I was able to accomplish it in half that time. In 2017 that goal will be met and it was an act of courage and boldness on my part five years ago that got me to this place.

So for 2017 my word is ‘dauntless’. It means “showing fearlessness and determination.” Now is not the time for me to become comfortable with where I am in my life or career. I need to stay on my toes, continue to take risks, try new things and do it all with excitement. A lot of changes took place in my life this past year and I have a sneaking suspicion that 2017 is going to be greater than even I can imagine!

*Image courtesy of Lavish Moments Photography

Family Holiday In Uptown Charlotte

December 26, 2016

Family Holiday In Uptown Charlotte

We photographers live by a code of ‘whatever it takes to get the shot!’ This mentality usually requires us to lie on the ground and shoot at odd angles, chasing after children or reenacting poses we want our clients to emulate. And every once in a while it means singing Who Let The Dogs Out and barking like a dog for any and all to see and hear. The latter is what happened during this session with Rashida, her boyfriend Brandon and their adorable son Brooks.

Their holiday themed session took place in uptown Charlotte. We originally aimed for an outdoor session, but with the changing temperatures we decided to move the session indoors and boy am I glad we did! Their session started out at One Wells Fargo Center that allowed for light to pour in through the high glass ceiling right down to a gorgeous Christmas tree. It made for a stunning backdrop! And because of all of the beautiful Christmas imagery little Brooks was less interested in what I was doing and more interested in everything else that was going on around us. Bringing me back to Who Let The Dogs Out and my terrible singing abilities. I asked his parents what his favorite songs were when dad Brandon began to belt it out and of course to get Brooks to look my way I had do my best Baja Men impression along with the help of Youtube. But it worked! We got some great genuine smiles from Brooks and even got him to sing and dance along! I had a wonderful time with this beautiful family and I was happy to be a part of their 2016 Christmas memories.

The Crawford Austin Agency

December 19, 2016

The Crawford Austin Agency | Columbia, SC

When Bianca Crawford, of the The Crawford Austin Agency, and I get together it’s ALWAYS a good time! We had such a great connection during our first session together and I was ecstatic when she hired me for a second branding session. This time we moved the session to downtown Columbia, SC and wandered the streets for locations that would make a great backdrop for her.

Thankfully, Columbia offered us just what we needed! It was a quiet (and very, very cold!) Sunday morning in November when we began shooting which was the perfect time of day. My shooting pet peeve is a ton of people milling around in the background of my photos or even worse, bystanders so intrigued by what you’re doing that they decide to stop and watch the session. Unless a client just LOVES attention it usually doesn’t help make them feel at ease which comes through in their photographs.

A couple of quick wardrobe changes made Bianca’s session fresh and different. Whenever working with returning clients I always like to switch things up so that they have an array of images that don’t resemble one another. And what’s great about multiple sessions done within a short time frame is that you then have a lot of choices for the upcoming year when posting to your website and varying social media accounts. I love that Bianca is so invested in her brand and putting her best face forward! I am already anticipating working and creating a little more magic with her on future projects.

Queen Photographers AL Shoot

The Gatson Family | Columbia, SC

One Word: Dauntless

Family Holiday In Uptown Charlotte

The Crawford Austin Agency

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