Charleston and the Karaoke machine

I've been a member of a photography forum called Open Source Photo for a few years. Wedding photographer and entrepreneur David Jay started the community back in 2004 to promote the sharing of ideas between wedding photographers. It has also become a place where you can go to get some moral support. When I left the newspaper world, I knew I would miss the human element of having a day job. OSP has helped fill the void. I've met lots of great people.

So, I offered to help organize this year's Open Source Photo meetup in Charleston along with Jason Tench of Blue Mountain Photo Works in South Carolina and Jill Higgins, a fantastic photographer from Georgia. It was a pretty incredible experience. It was my job to get speakers for the event. I asked several prominent photographers who are regular contributors to OSP - including David Jay himself, Kevin Swan, Carrie Viohl, Nathan Holritz, and Amber Holritz. And I thought I would even try my hand at speaking.

I was nervous as heck, considering the quality of the other speakers. But despite the lack of sleep the night before and some nervous rambling, I thought it went pretty well.

After all the learning, it was time to party! Not only did I rock Karaoke. I turned it into a verb.

I Karaoke.

This is me and the amazing Timothy Beckford of Timco Photography. "Listen all y'all, its sabotage... "


This is me absorbing Kevin Swan into my massive cranium.


The great Matt McGraw on the mic.


Here's me and my beautiful wife, Amy.


My good friend Christobal Perez of Azul Photography also came out to Charleston. He held a lighting workshop and I've heard some pretty rave reviews. Be on the lookout for a future lighting workshop with Chris. He's a magician with a strobe.

Bull City Engagement

Lisa and Joe love downtown Durham. And I can't say I blame them. In the past few years, the city has undergone some dramatic changes. They boast an impressive roster of restaurants, potential haunts and lots of character. Durham is a little bit of a hard luck story, which is why I can identify.

Here are some pics:
























And the slideshow is here.

A town named Oriental

Leah and J. really have great taste. They found a little (and little-known) town outside of New Bern, North Carolina, to throw their party of a lifetime. Oriental is a town wedged between the Neuse river and the intercoastal waterway. With this much opportunity for boating, it's no wonder that beautiful developments like River Dunes are starting to pop up in the sleepy town. Beautiful Charleston-style homes, a dollhouse of a church, and a reception venue that backed right up to a dock for quick escape all provided a beautiful backdrop for this wedding.

Leah had the most pleasant disposition and it was really awesome to work for her. She never stopped smiling.

Enjoy some pictures:





























We also had a lot of fun the next day with a day-after session, which is available as an add-on for select dates.













And a couple from Leah's bridal session... (This is what full-service is all about).







The slideshow is here.