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!

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!

Happy Tuesday everyone! I want to introduce you to a series of blog posts I’ll be doing about what I feel defines S. Carter Studios perspective and style. There are so many wonderful talented photographers out there and many on the horizon. I hope that through these posts you’ll get to know more about S. Carter Studios and what we strive for as you consider letting us be a part of your family for a session, for a wedding or for a life time. I’m calling these posts By Definition. The topics covered will hopefully help you to understand how we define ourselves and why there are some things that we consider standard at S. Carter Studios. We strive for quality with our clients and have a purpose for how we do things because time is too valuable to waste during shoots. I hope you enjoy the series and that it helps you to understand this wonderful gift God has given us!

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By Definition: Kissy Pictures

Who would have thought kissing would ever go out of style? Strangely, it’s true. If you follow blogs of photographers across the industry and all over the country you’ll see what I see and that’s a mysterious lack of kissing pictures. Don’t get me wrong, their blogs are great and the photos are beautiful but overall photographers seem to be nixing the kiss. I once had a person say to me, “Your couples all seem to kiss a lot!” This caused me to smile and reflect… I guess my blog is stacked with photo upon photo of the kiss in its various forms: on the cheek, on the forehead, on the nose, on the hand, right smack dab on the mouth. I began to wonder, hmm, what is it that I seem to love so much about the kiss? Then I realized IT.

Kissing is like sharing a secret. When I committed to marry Josh I agreed to only share my kisses with him. I knew from that moment forward, God willing, that he would be the only man that I would share moments like that with. He and I have a secret that no one else can come close to understanding and that’s the chemistry between us! I love kissy pictures because when a man and woman commit to each other, in that long term rocking chair and gray hair kind of way, they save part of themselves for just one other person. So, why would I only have them stand next to each other, near each other, or across from each other, which they can do with almost any person in the world when I can ask them to joyfully do something they have agreed is just between the two of them? Kissing is romantic and it’s fun and I love it. So, that’s why kissing pictures are part of the S. Carter Studios standard. Here are a few of my favorites from over the years.

Plus, I don’t discriminate, I love engaged kisses

Melanie & Tim

Maria & Mark

Emily & Zach

Gavin & Kelsey

Bryant & Amanda

Jake and Patsy

… and married kisses…

Eric & Traci [we share the same anniversary date of March 13th!]

Mark and Maria

Laura and Ryan

Nate and Bekah

Adriel and Amy (and Papa Joe)

Chase and Kalina

… and family kisses!

The Parks

The Allens

The Mengs

The Oberneders

The Lamontes

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, I hope it helps you understand more about us! Sabrena, and the S. Carter Studios Team

Any real, honest photographer will tell you that when two of their best looking friends get in engaged, the desire to take beautiful pictures of them is hard to deny! Well, here are two such friends of mine and Josh’s: Collin and River. Collin and I met while preparing to take a trip on the Amazon together and I’ve been teasing him ever since. They are quite a pair with aspirations to a Dr. (Collin) and Physician’s assistant (River), helping people in the name of Christ. This session was supposed to happen Sunday but we got rained out and had dinner together instead, it was probably the best dinner I’ve had in a long time. Way to go guys! Thank you for inviting us to share this with you, we are SO happy for you!

We had a fairly epic three part shoot…Part 1: Golden field pictures (a la Gladiator, right Collin?)

This is one of my VERY favorites from the shoot.

Part 2: Ultimate Water Balloon Fight…

Lets pause and dissect this photo, the first throw of the day, well technically second since Josh threw one at me while we were making our way to the field:

a) River’s balloon bounces off Collin, but she makes an awesome throwing face

b) Collin ducks

c) Rogue balloon ends up splash all over my shoulder, camera and lens. (No fatalities occurred in the making of this photograph)

Then we got a little wild

There may have been some wrestling…

Couldn’t help but stack these up…

So very romantic.

Look at those smiles!

Party 3: Downtown…after sloughing off the blades of grass, changing into dry clothes and hunting down the right pair of black shoes (I agree they were worth the extra driving), we went downtown for just a few of what we hope to do a much larger shoot of later down the road. This was Josh’s baby, I’m pretty proud of him!

These are his shots:

and these are mine…very different for me, but I kinda like them!

Thanks for being so adventurous with us guys! It was amazing!

This shoot was just incredible! I thought it would be fun to show all the photos from the painting part of our session so put them to a little diddy and viola, here it is!

Gavin & Kelsey from sabrena deal on Vimeo.

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