Charlotte Branding Photographer

Yulonda + Teddrick: The Love Story | Rock Hill, SC

April 11, 2016

engagement photography brattonsville

Yulonda + Teddrick: The Love Story | Rock Hill, SC

A few short weeks ago I had the pleasure of working with one of my favorite couples again. A couple of years ago I met Yulonda through my dentist’s office and we hit it off immediately. When I learned she was also a creative entrepreneur on the side we knew we had to work together! From that point forward I did a branding shoot, family session as well as some food photography for her event and bakery business, Simplee Amazing Events.

She contacted me towards the end of 2015 and indicated she and Teddrick would be renewing their vows in 2017 and wanted me to be a part of it all. First stop was their Love Story session which took place about ten minutes from my home in a location I’ve come to fall absolutely in love with! Looming pine trees in a somewhat sparse area was the perfect backdrop to her pop of color skirt.

couples photography rock hill sc engagement photography rock hill sc

As passersby in the area hunting and fishing waved to us as they headed home for the day and even gawked at what we were doing (I’m sure it’s not often they see a full blown photo shoot taking place nearby) it gave the three of us many moments to laugh about. Yulonda and Teddrick have been married for many years and have two handsome young sons to show for it, but the spark between them seems as if they’d only just fallen in love yesterday.

couples photography rock hill sc

I relish the opportunity to work with couples that enjoy being around one another. The authenticity and love radiates through the lens and makes my job so much easier. A small giggle here, a warm embrace there. They were so natural in front of the camera and it made our hour together fly by. I’m looking forward to their vow renewal later this year and I know they will have many, many years of happiness to come!

Kayla R. Senior Session | Rock Hill, SC

April 4, 2016

Kayla R. Senior Session | Rock Hill, SC

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of shooting my first senior session of the year! Seniors are always fun to work with because they have the excitement and anticipation of the their final school year ahead of them as well as looking forward to the next chapter in their lives. It’s fun getting them out of the stuffy school picture environment and to cater a session that is unique to their personality. My cousin Kayla knew exactly what she wanted when we discussed her upcoming senior session. She wanted nothing to do with a park and flowers! That immediately threw out a couple of my go to options. She had a vision of older buildings in a quaint setting. Immediately downtown Rock Hill, also known as Old Town, came to mind. We met at the old Cotton Factory where the red brick buildings made the perfect backdrop for her white dress and Chucks! And can I just go off topic for a quick second by saying how much I LOVE seeing my seniors dress in what makes them comfortable! When I heard that Kayla wasn’t a very frilly type of girl, but wanted to wear a dress to her session the thought of her wearing Chuck Taylors immediately popped into my mind and sure enough that’s what she showed up in. Everything about this session screamed her name and was tailor made just for her.

We finally moved from the Cotton Factory into downtown Rock Hill and managed to beat out the rain while traipsing through the streets and stopping at interesting locations like the Friendship 9 Memorial and the mini lock bridge by Amelie’s French Bakery. I even managed to snap a few shots of Kayla with her youngest sister, Onyx, who is definitely not camera shy!

If you, or someone you know, is looking for a unique Senior Session experience I would love to discuss the session with you! You can reach me via email at [email protected] and we can begin discussing your vision!

Styled Elopement Session | Charleston, SC

March 28, 2016

Styled Elopement Session | Charleston, SC

The final leg of our QPSC Takes Charleston trip found us at the gorgeous Battery on a chilly Sunday morning. Upon arriving at our destination the scene had already been laid out for us by the amazing wedding planner and florist we partnered with to create this stunning elopement backdrop. I’m always amazed by the intricate details of wedding table displays and it was a dream to be able to capture all of it as it was intended.

After capturing the details of the day we moved to the bride and groom (Paola and Uriel who run the blog A Tribe Called Ali) who were great to work with! Our models for the day made our jobs very easy and seemed to be having a great deal of fun with one another which always comes through in the most fabulous of ways on the camera. We started with them posing together and then eventually we broke off into teams of two again taking turns shooting the bride and groom solo.

Once things began to wind down for the afternoon we moved with our bridal model, and fellow photograpHER, Sierra into the streets of downtown Charleston. A smaller group of photographers allowed us to capture more of our style of photography as well as passing the hat to one another on how to direct her. Charleston is such a unique city and I loved seeing the unique and colorful homes, the beautiful trees displayed in full bloom and even a secret garden that looked like it could whisk you away to a magical land.

I hope you’ve enjoyed coming along on this three week journey with me to Charleston! It was so much fun meeting and working with so many other talented creatives and if you find yourself in need of any of the wonderful vendors we collaborated with please reach out to them! And if you would like to discuss your upcoming elopement or intimate wedding I’d love for you to reach out to me at [email protected].

Wedding Gown – Condon’s Bridal Boutique

Bridal Skirt – Whimsy Luxxe

MUA – Addie J MUA

Mini Naked Wedding Cake – Swank Desserts

Flowers – Lush Floral + Event Stylists

Styling – Avila Dawn Events

Invitations – Lauren Perry Studio

Rentals – A Tailor Made Event

Bridal Assistant – Lady In Waiting

Styled Elopement Session | Folly Beach, SC

March 21, 2016

Elopement Session | Folly Beach, SC

I’ve always wanted to capture a beach session, whether it was a wedding or family portraits. The beach has always spoken to me as being a calm and relaxed place for a session. So when the QPSC workshop rolled around and I found out we’d be doing a styled elopement session at Folly Beach I could not have been more excited. But nothing could prepare me for what I would actually see. The trek to our actual destination was quite the workout, but once making it up the sand dunes the view of the lighthouse up ahead could only be described as breathtaking! I’ve never seen a lighthouse in person (and a large piece of me wants to visit New England so badly!) and to finally see one, even though it no longer works, was thrilling for me. Yes, I’m someone that gets excited over the smallest things.

It was a bright, sunny (but very windy) morning so it took a bit of work to get all of the beautiful details together, but with everyone helping things came together flawlessly. We had three scenes set up across the beach so we split into teams of two so that we could capture each individual set up without being in each other’s way. The first scene was a bridal portrait set up with our lovely fellow photograpHER turned model, Sasha. We moved her along the beach and directed her on different poses as we snapped away.

The second setup included a ‘reception table’ and it’s accompanying items. I love shooting details so I was excited to see a plethora of wonderful items to capture. Everything from detailed invitations, to beautiful sea glass name plates to delicious macarons! It all came together beautifully!

Finally our group finished with our models Ashley, owner of Whimsy Luxxe who provided our gorgeous skirts for the shoot and her husband Steven. We shot a ‘ceremony’ surrounded by driftwood and gorgeous greenery, they strolled along the beach and finally rested at the pier. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to kick off our weekend together as a group! Things came together beautifully and I’m so grateful to everyone that collaborated on this project. Please visit the list of vendors below to check out their wonderful products!

Skirts – Whimsy Luxxe

Macarons – Swank Desserts

Styling – MOD Events

Flowers – Miele Events

Sea Glass|Invitations – Lauren Perry Studio

MUA – Addie J MUA

QPSC Takes Charleston!

March 14, 2016

QPSC Takes Charleston!

Charleston, SC is a city that I love to visit. Not only is it beautiful and filled with lots of culture and history, but the food is amazing! Half the reason for visiting is to get some good, authentic seafood. So when I heard there was a photography meetup happening in the holy city I wanted to be a part of it. The ladies of QPSC (The Queen Photographers of South Carolina) teamed up with Sirena White of Aneris Photography to put together a weekend filled with workshops, styled shoots and fellowship. To say this weekend was magical was an understatement!

We kicked things off with a styled elopement shoot at the Folly Beach Lighthouse Inlet. We had a chance to fellowship over breakfast and get to know one another while the models were getting beautified by Addie J of Addie J MUA. Once moving to our shoot location we broke off into teams of two and began to create beautiful works of art. A breeze was going, the sun was shining and the day could not have been more perfect.

We followed up our session with lunch and a workshop at Launchpad Charleston. This space was absolutely amazing! If you’ve never heard of Launchpad it’s an office space that creatives share. You can rent out actual offices, boardrooms or a co-working unit. And because it’s shared by creatives the artwork is so inspiring! Walking the halls there was always something new to discover. My favorite discovery was probably the wine on tap courtesy of Boxxle.

During our workshop we heard from speakers like Michiel Perry of Black Southern Belle who gave us tips on how to get published, Somaya Murphy of LivLane Events who created gorgeous customized stemless wine glasses for each of us and I even got a chance to talk about blogging and how to do it well.

Once the workshop ended we began to prepare for our evening of fellowship, food and wine! We had a wonderful meal at Muse Restaurant + Wine Bar located in the heart of downtown Charleston. We networked, talked about the adventures of the day, upcoming projects and so much more. After taking a moment to visit Mother Emanuel Church and reflect on the tragic events that occurred there not even one year ago, we finally headed to bed to get some much needed rest.

Sunday morning found us back at Launchpad for breakfast (I probably shouldn’t mention that my breakfast consisted of a Cupcrazed cupcake early that morning before setting out for the day), a few quick tips by Sirena on how to be the best entrepreneur we can be followed by a styled elopement shoot at The Battery.

We shot throughout the park and then finally made our way into the narrow streets for a photo walk with one of our models (and fellow photograpHER), Sierra.

This entire trip was more than any of us could’ve even thought to imagine. I’m so grateful to Latoya Dixon and Sierra Collins (who created this great behind the scenes video of our weekend together) for creating QPSC which allowed all of us to come together in the first place. And to Sirena White for putting together this entire workshop from beginning to end! She truly outdid herself. Stay tuned for the next couple of blog posts featuring the styled shoots. I promise you the photos are worth the wait!

Yulonda + Teddrick: The Love Story | Rock Hill, SC

Kayla R. Senior Session | Rock Hill, SC

Styled Elopement Session | Charleston, SC

Styled Elopement Session | Folly Beach, SC

QPSC Takes Charleston!

CATEGORIES

Based In

CONNECT