S. Carter Studios

I’m not sure if you can feel it on days like today (Noah may be floating past my house some time soon) but we’re on the verge of a beautiful spring season. Now, I know, verge might be a bit of a stretch but I’d like to start ringing in the Spring with a celebration of Love. It’s fitting that Valentine’s Day is just three weeks away. So, I’d like to make it easy for you to surprise your special someone or someones (or nudge them to surprise you) with an S. Carter Studios Love Is In The Air mini session. I’m happy to help celebrate dating love, married love, the love between parents and even sibling love. I’m just a sucker, a lover of loving love if you will.

The session fee for our special is $40 and will come with an online gallery of your images. Sessions must take place on Thursday February 11 between 2 and 4 pm or Saturday February 13th between 1pm and 4 pm, contact us to get priority scheduling! We look forward to celebrating with you!

When Tim and Samantha contacted me about their session which we scheduled for the beginning of December I knew the perfect place to take them. They mentioned loving the outdoors and animals and really wanted greenery incorporated in their photos. If you’re familiar with my blog you know this isn’t generally a problem, however, at the beginning of December it was a no brainer. The only place with greenery that I could think of was Green Needles Christmas Tree Farm. It’s owned by some very wonderful friends of ours who were more than happy to host us as we tromped around in the freezing cold weather. Tim and Samantha were flexible and excited, it helps that they are very much in love and comfortable around each other. Enjoy some shots from their engagement session as they look forward to their wedding tihs May!

I couldn’t get over how natural and simply beautiful Samantha was. She wasn’t aware of it but I think Tim is!

Evidence that Tim was…

It’s very clear that she’s fond of him too.

Oh I do love, love. It’s the most wonderful, exciting, inspiring and beautiful thing. There are two things that I’ve really hoped to be a part of : a live proposal and a wedding: as a bridesmaid. God has given me two in one as Angi and Solomon got engaged in December! I posted about them earlier but here is a slideshow I made to a Dave Barnes diddy that shows a lot more of the process and event!

Solomon & Angi – Perfect Proposal – S. Carter Studios from sabrena deal on Vimeo.

I’d like to introduce you to Kyle and Kristin. Well, you probably already know Kyle, he’s oh so famous. Yes, his face and sweet drum moves graced the jumbo screens at Liberty for several years. Really, I like to give him a hard time. We went to Brasil together, I know, there were 18 of us, you’re bound to read about many more of our teammates, just like you have about Julie, Naomi, Collin, and Travis. Kyle, Collin and I shared a few special memories when Kyle severly sprained both ankles and Collin and I carried/dragged him half a mile in the Brasil heat. As you’ll be able to tell from this post, he’s recovered well and God’s given him a beautiful wife-to-be in Kristin. She’s wonderful and a great match for him. I hope you enjoy these photos as much as we did taking them!

I wracked my brain over and over trying to think of something special to do with these guys. I was thrilled to find exactly what I needed just an hour before the shoot was scheduled to begin: two 1970’s Samsonite suitcases, his and hers, delivered to the DAV just one day before. Perfect! We got some crazy looks as we hauled them around but I’ve got to say that they were worth it! Also, please note their matching shoes!

I love when a shot you have in your mind comes out exactly as you hoped it would!

We did not haul them everywhere, I promise.

A short cameo for Kristin’s ring which a friend aptly described as a bracelet for her finger. It’s big, beautiful and sparkly, aka every girls dream! She said it was a perfect combination of all three ring types she’d looked for. I’d say, “well done Kyle.”

Another fun fact about Kyle and Kristin is that they are getting married on mine and Josh’s 1st anniversary. March 13 is a lovely day to tie the knot!

It’s been one of the most highly anticipated moments since Ross and Rachael kissed on friends, since n since New Moon came out and I would venture to say even more anticipated then the coming World Cup. Solomon asked Angi to marry him. Angi is one of my very best friends and favorite people. She’s a good part of the reason I didn’t go crazy while I was planning my wedding and she stood next to me on the day I said my vows. Solomon was one of the first internationals to win me over during college and his friendship has been steady and faithful as we’ve both gone through a couple of Bachelors and Masters degrees! They’d been dating for about 3.5 years across two continents and both had plans to serve full time at Global English School in Bangkok, Thailand as of next year. BUT he hadn’t asked her to marry him yet. I was spinning my wheels trying to be discreet about letting Solomon know that I would love to be there for them in any way to help facilitate the event. It may have been primarily selfish but I just really love them and knew how special that moment was going to be! You can imagine the girls-only-reach-this-pitch scream I let out as he called me last Tuesday night to let me know the ring was on its way and he’d pop the question on Thursday if it came in before. I prayed my little heart out and God must have heard the prayers of mine and of many, including Angi, because the ring came in and the plans were set! Solomon’s brothers, our friend Sam and I went out to West Manor to get things together. And then they came. She was blindfolded and pretty sure she was about to get a puppy, not a ring.

She was pretty confused and disoriented, until he got down on one knee.

Naturally, she got down on hers and enthusiastically said, “Yes! Of course I’ll marry you.”

There was lots and lots and lots of hugging and laughing.

And, a beautiful sparkly ring of course.

I talked them into letting me take a few shots of them around the location. I mean, you really only get one engagement day!

It’s perfect for her and fun to hear her discover all the places that diamonds are extra sparkly, like in the snow.

I love that I got to be there and see them being so ridiculously happy.

Team engagement photo:

Angi was there when I got engaged, listening through a thinly insulated wall and I am so glad I got to be there for her in the middle of nowhere in the cold weather! Love you both!

What a combo. James is strong and attentive. Johnna is radiant when he focuses his attention on her and her sweet, bubbly personality makes you feel like you’ve been friends for years.  They have a comfortable, steady love that’s been developing for years. Literally, for 6.5 years! Finally, in 2010 they are tying the knot! I am so excited to work with them, they were wonderful at our session! Just to leave you with the other details they are excited to share with me, so you can really understand what a special couple this is: “By God’s amazing love and guidance we have been blessed with a healthy and pure relationship for 6.5 + years. We are so excited about getting married…God is so good! The Lord has blessed us in so many ways, and we are so thankful.” That is truly something to be celebrated. Thanks for inviting me to be a part of it!

How James proposed: He interviewed all of their family and close friends, asking them why they loved Johnna. He compiled the interviews into a video and had her watch it. At the conclusion of the video, he told her why he loved her and proceeded to ask he question. She said yes and all of their family and friends, who had been hiding in the basement, came upstairs to share the special moment with them. Well done James!

The best part about all these kissy pictures is that she still giggles when he kisses her. I love it!

Jake and Christy made me nervous. Christy had called with the challenge of finding very original locations in Lynchburg. For those of you who don’t know, Lynchburg is super saturated with very talented and curious photographers. Finding places inside Lynchburg that aren’t on at least four other photography blogs is a pretty tall order. So, I thought, okay, this is an opportunity to grow and to push myself. They were the perfect couple for this adventure! I picked four locations (much more than usual, but like I said, I was nervous) that I had always thought about shooting at but had never made it to and we set off! I couldn’t have asked for a better couple to be challenged by. They were fun, energetic, sweet and just the right amount of nervous too. We had a great time and came up with a lot of great images. I’m happy to say they were very pleased with the locations! Enjoy a few from their engagement session as they look forward to their April wedding in Connecticut!

I think this one is my favorite. Probably because I had my reception in the building behind them!

Kristina is one of those girls who makes you smile just because she’s in the same room. I think Ryan would agree! I love that I know her because she is one of my best friend’s, best friends from high school. Not sure if you follow there, but essentially there is a person we both love very much and that has a way of bringing people together. A wonderful thing about love! Anyway, back to Ryan and Kristina, they were fantastic on our shoot pretty much doing anything I asked them to including climbing up into some brush on the underside of a courtyard! I hope you enjoy these photos from their session and look forward to their wedding photos (12-19-09) coming soon!

I really loved the contrast here…and her shoes!

Hello big beautiful eyes!

Julie and I met in college while we were training to go on a trip to Brasil! You may remember several other people on this blog who went on the trip with us like Travis, Collin, and Naomi! During Julie and Stephen’s session we ran through the list and of 17 of us over half are married or engaged! We’re pretty sure there is something special about that black Amazon water! I was so happy to celebrate with her when she got engaged and can’t wait for their September wedding! Really, it’s going to be a great wedding filled with rich details and bold colors. I wouldn’t expect anything less from this gator hunting girl! I hope you enjoy a few photos from their engagement session!

If someone were to ask me, what is your ideal bride like, I’d have to answer with a bride like Alisha! When we met to discuss the details of her wedding to Kent she excitedly discussed their relationship and at the same time asking me about my experiences as a bride and about how I met my wonderful husband. She is flexible and fun, great to communicate with and adventurous! Josh and I only got to hang out with her and Kent, who is visiting for a short four days while on break at from his studies at Full Sail University, for about 40 minutes today until the session had to be cut short due to inclement weather.  Kent is just as wonderful, caring to hear about our lives and getting to know us better, even while sloshing around in the wet leaves. Hopefully we’ll be able to steal a few more minutes of their precious time together on another of Kent’s visits to grab some more great shots. Until then, enjoy a few from their great session!

I’m going to flip back and forth with some of these shots, before the rain, during the rain. This was during the rain, after an exciting leaf fight which I think Kent clearly won as evidenced below, when they happily laid down in wet leaves, just because I asked them to!

One of the first shots of the session, just look at their chemistry!

To leave you with my favorite shot of the session. Cheers!

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