S. Carter Studios

Well, it’s been OVER a months since I posted. I know, that’s quite unusual but the truth is,  the past 6 weeks have been too! Three dear friends decided to get married within the same five weeks! For Kristen’s wedding I was a second shooter and a number 2 in both Angi and Jenna’s weddings. I love them all dearly and, as those of you whose weddings I’ve had the pleasure of working know, I can’t do anything halfway. I also celebrated my 25th birthday, was asked to return to teach at Liberty & recaptured newlywed spirit with my wonderfully talented husband. I was able to keep our Fan Page updated regularly so some of this won’t be news to any of you who are already fans but we’ve got some AMAZING sessions coming up on this blog! Here are previews of the beauty to come!

Collin & River’s Indiana Wedding

Steve & Breanne’s lovely Lynchburg wedding & Trivium reception

John and Kristen’s Barren Ridge Vineyard wedding

Kent & Alisha’s Roanoke wedding & rooftop celebration

Solomon & Angi’s Avanel wedding

& their wedding photo booth

Emily’s bridal portraits

Daniel & Emily’s challenging & rewarding Phenix, VA wedding

and finally, the icing on the cake, all the way in Alaska!

Lane and Jenna’s engagement session

and Inn at Tern Lake wedding in the rain

Do you feel tired yet? haha. We so look forward to sharing about these events with you!

It’s time for the truth, there’s another man in my life. He’s a little too young for me but that doesn’t keep me from laying kisses all over his cheeks, fingers and toes! This summer I became part of Ezra’s life on a regular basis and I couldn’t be more thankful for the perspective he brings. I knew we’d be busy this summer and the temptation when you’re busy with weddings and editing weddings and looking at other people’s photos from weddings is to get caught up in a world that isn’t realistic and certainly doesn’t encourage any selflessness. So, God hooked me up with the best distraction ever: Ezra. As a secret project for his parents I brought my camera with me a few times to capture his silly faces and little glimpses of his life as a brand new 1 year old.

A normal day: I get there early and we play.

Then, when he gets a little grumpy he crawls up to me and this means its time to eat.

I mean really, look at that face!

Part of the reason I can’t eat bananas like I used to.

Then we get down and do some crawling.

We do this until we get grumpy again and then it’s time for lunch.

I promise, he’s teething, I’m not torturing him but just look at that expression. Have you ever sen anything so sad?

George ( a throwback from his dad’s time) keeps us company.

But the truth is, Ezra is a messy eater.

So somtimes lunch time is also followed by bath time.

Which is followed by nap time.

Nap time is very helpful for renewing.

Just one standard, 1 year photo session shot. Which is now hanging on my fridge.

I’m sure it won’t be long until he can crawl up in that chair all by himself, but until then, I’m thankful I get to be there to help!

We’ve been super busy, as you may have seen on our Facebook fan page, but not too busy to take a little bit of time and share another Hand Picked project with you! I got this idea from a project on my friend Jamie’s site Julia’s Poppies. I LOVE monograms. It’s a little taste I picked up during my time in the South. So, as I was looking to decorate for Spring I came up with this handy little project which I realized would be great for the right wedding too!

Supplies: Monogram letter ($2.50 at ACMoore), ribbon ($1.50 at ACMoore), hot glue gun, one glue stick, recycle fabric (old shirt ruined by a rogue post-it note in this case).

Step 1: Draw two different sized circles on the fabric, these are about an 1.25 in & .75 in. Cut out.

Step 2: Place smaller circles inside larger circles.

Step 3: Pinch together, add glue to desired location on monogram.

Step 4: Place the “point” of the flower into glue, then twist the flower in the glue to desired shape.

Step 5: Cut ribbon to desired length, apply to back of monogram with hot glue.

Step 6: Install! This one lives on our front door and it makes me smile each time I walk in!

What a day indeed. You may remember Emily’s bridal portraits and how we were battling rain, the same was true on her wedding day! Off and on we were showered putting her outdoor Winridge Manor wedding & reception in jeopardy. It worked out in the end and yes, we were all a little damp but I think everyone there would agree that it was worth it. I’ve never been to a wedding that was so obviously crafted by the bride and her family. Emily’s mother made the bridesmaid dresses, Emily handcrafted Michael’s tie. From peacock feathers to hydrangeas Emily’s stamp was all over her wedding. It was a delightful combination of sweet & sassy! I’ll let the photos speak for themselves!

My, oh, my, how I was LOVING this vehicle!

See the picture below: a groom tearing up as he waits for his bride. Well, it was beyond welling, for both of them! Full on tears from start to finish. Emily’s started before the wedding when she accepted a phone call from him and through a tear smile relayed to her bridesmaids, “He’s just so good to me.”

The mist turned into a drizzle but I really don’t think Emily or Michael had a clue. They were pretty wrapped up in each other. It was just lovely.

It was beautiful and brief and then just like that they were husband and wife!

There weren’t many tears after that, just big joyful smiles.

Props to my intern Julie who lined this shot up!

Just a few horses in a pasture with mist rising up off of it, no big deal!

Loved their moms who held hands several times and celebrated God’s goodness together.

a sparkling exit

in the classic car

so classy. Thanks for letting me be a part of your celebration Emily & Michael It was such a pleasure to be there!

I know it’s been a while since I posted but it’s certainly not because we haven’t been busy. If you like to stay on top of our new content then I would encourage you to become a Facebook Fan, you’ll get a chance to see the latest content first! There are about 8 sessions/weddings on there that have yet to debut here. I know it’s sad but we’re working on it! So, anyway! Let me introduce you to Devin & Katelyn. They are some of the best clients a photographer can dream of. Not only did they really come ready for anything but they trusted me completely and even agreed to a sunrise session! I hadn’t really thought they’d take me up on it when I offered but I am so glad they did. We had a great time wondering around taking beautiful pictures before most people even brush their teeth. We finished our photo date off with breakfast at Market at Main.

Between lots of laughing & comments about hairspray we talked about our families, challenges of married life and what we hoped God would do with our lives. It was like being with old friends! So, please feast your eyes on S. Carter Studios first ever sunrise engagement session! Seriously, leave them some love for being this good looking at 6:30 am.

If you found yourself driving over the overpass into Lynchburg and wondering who those crazy people on the side of the road were taking pictures, well, proudly I’ll answer, it was US. I think they’d agree it was totally worth it.

After a quick outfit change (which was clever to pull off at 7:30 am in Lynchburg) we were back in action at a more relaxed location.

one of my VERY favorites!

Bling, Bling.

We went down by the water and I asked them to just go and have fun, this is what I got in return lol

Take a look at the slideshow for more photos from this awesome session!

Devin & Katelyn – Engagement Session from sabrena deal on Vimeo.

It was such a pleasure to spend time with you guys. Thanks for letting me celebrate with you!

Sometimes my couples will call me, on the verge of purchasing a pocket cam (industry code for camera that fits in the pocket as opposed to massive thousand dollar cameras and lenses hauled around at weddings/events), and ask what I suggest. So I thought I’d go ahead and do this week’s take a look on that very subject. We’ll get the first part out of the way and say that I always, always recommend Canon cameras. My very first digital camera was a Powershot and I’ve been ever so brand loyal since! I’ve even gotten my family to purchase three or four as well as several friends. Wait, there’s got to be a way that I can start making money off this…. I have several Canon DSLR’s but it’s my Canon Powershot SD880 that is always at arms length! Let’s show off a few images taken with this camera before I do some serious bragging.

This one taken in Mystic Connecticut (thanks for the extra day Jen & Matt)

This one of our little house of love taken during storm 2 of Snowpacolypse 09-10

This one taken to show texture and in celebration of a trip to Georgia to see our family.

Fireworks last 4th of July.

Virginia Tech monument to those who were killed April 2007.

So what are the things I love about this camera? Well, it has facial recognition, image stabilization, 4X optical zoom, video capabilities, 10 megapixels (really anything over 6 on a pocket cam is just silly), selective color shooting (picking only blues to show in color and everything else in gray scale , etc) and a sweet 3 in LCD screen & can go up to ISO3200.  Another reason that I love it is that it’s resiliant. I’ve had the camera for 2.5 years and in that time it’s travel all along the eastern coast as well as down to Brazil where it took the photo below.

The battery life on this thing is incredible, if I used it daily, I would only need to recharge it once a month! I don’t use it every day so I recharge it about every 2 to 3 months. Now, for the best reason of all: one day it took a swim inside my purse. Let me explain, I carry water bottles around with me. One particularly sad day my water bottle tipped over. This wouldn’t be a problem except that I’d forgotten to properly screw the top on and it flooded my purse. You can imagine my distress as I fished my wallet, iPod, cell phone and camera out of the bag. Even after being submerged & then left alone to dry for three days in a bag of rice, this little camera just keeps on kicking! We had actually bought a new one and took it back once Frankenshot was resurrected!

I haven’t seen them in Best Buy (which is where I originally purchased mine) but here’s a link to a few you can purchase from Amazon.com! They come in silver or gold, but do yourself a favor and get the silver! It was a graduation gift to myself but was also the camera we took on our honeymoon. I promise you won’t regret it if you go with any of the Powershot cameras.

So, here’s one final picture, taken recently (months after the disaster) of me and our new intern Julie, she’s the cute blonde one, lol!

Nathan and Courtney were the first couple to sign up for our engagement mini sessions & they came with ideas & style! I loved that they took so much ownership during their session and were flexible and completely trusting of my ability to help them celebrate this crazy time in their relationship. That’s really a win win combination for anyone! I always get a little nervous when shooting for another photographer but was excited to be able to encourage & discuss the biz with Nathan! Enjoy some photos from their session!

Courtney didn’t wear shoes at any point of the session which turns out is how she normally rolls and usually Nathan doesn’t either so we had him take them off. I  love this image, it just makes me think, “All you need is love.”

Congratulations you crazy kids, I think you’ve got what it takes to make it!

Today is a slightly sad day in S. Carter Studios history. We’re saying goodbye to our very first intern: Jenny. I remember the first time that she emailed me, about a year and a half ago, just asking if we could get together for coffee and a few questions. I’m not sure that either of us knew what God had in mind from there but I can tell you that looking back, I’m not sure what I would have done without her! Instead of having some photos of her (because she’s asked me for a rain check ont hem) I’ve decided to encourage you take a look at some of her work!

Just take a look at what she’s done over the past year: edited over 15,000 photos, packed and repacked camera bags and batteries, helped pack and move an entire office, swept the office floor, gift wrapped albums, organized random props, seen me get a speeding ticket, slept in a king size bed with me, done my dishes, dealt with irritating mothers of the bride, battled demanding priorities, moved bookshelves into the creepy basement, entered hundreds of receipts, started a new company, entered the blogging sphere, carried gear, done your first wedding by yourself, began to twitter, and developed a complete identity for paper napkin photo!

She’s pushed me to be a better photographer, to be a clear communicator, to not take anything for granted, to really live the things that I say I believe and to be organized and focused. I’ve been encouraged by her joy, hard work, commitment, sense of humor, willingness to try new things, ability to rise to meet the challenges put before her, humility, and love for other people!

I have seen her grow so much in shooting, editing, and professionalism. I am proud to suggest her to potential clients because I know that they can trust her to do her very best and I know that you’ll honor the Lord with the talents and gifts that he’s given her.  So, Jenny, you’re officially an S. Carter Studios internship survivor and I couldn’t be more proud to be able to say that I was a part of your journey!

I’ve known Brenton for a while, we marathoned it in his little truck on the way back from Nate and Bekah’s wedding! That was a long but fun trip, plus it ended with fireworks, literally, so how can you beat that. After that I’d see him around, always with this bubbly young lady who I anticipated, after a while, would end up being Mrs. Brenton some time in the future. They got engaged earlier this year and when we started scheduling our engagement mini sessions I was hoping it would work out for us to celebrate their engagement together! Everyone should have engagement photos, or at least that’s my opinion. It was a pleasure to hang out with them on just one of a few weekends before they tie the knot! As it turns out my wonderful intern (though sadly not after tomorrow) Jenny is taking their wedding photos so you can keep your eye on her site for some pictures after they say I do!

He makes her laugh, I believe this was the story about discussing a mammal of the donkey family in 4th grade. I had to laugh at that one too.

Just 5 days until they tie the knot! Best of luck to you both!

Angi grew up in Poplar Bluff, Missouri with her mom, step-dad, three brothers, a sister, and a dog.  Solomon grew up in Nonthaburi, Thailand with his parents, two brothers and a sister. How in the world would these two end up meeting, becoming friends, dating, falling in love and finally preparing to be married? Well, Liberty University played a key roll as did soccer, ministry, thai food, thai language & Global English school. She helped him through heart break and he helped her through a broken toe. The rest is three and a half years of history! Angi and I became true and wonderful friends while she spent the year in Thailand. She was there the day I got engaged and I was so thankful to be there when Solomon popped the question to her! I love how he makes her laugh, how he takes such great care of her & really anyone else who happens to be around him. I love how she makes him feel special, loved and important and how she cooks thanksgiving dinner for him, even in April. They are a pretty good pair if I do say so myself, so Josh and I couldn’t help but go all out on their engagement photos! This is a long one so buckle up, but enjoy photos from their 3 part engagement session!

Part 1: Cute & casual

Part 2: Ode to soccer roots

Part 3: Cuddly & Cozy Picnic…inspired by one of their favorite and frequent dates

a plate full of this month’s DIY, button flowers!

We waited a long time for this bling!

Can’t you just imagine how great looking their kids are going to be? Seriously.

That’s all for now but it’s surely not the last you’ll see of these two as we prepare for their end of July wedding!

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