S. Carter Studios
Central Virginia Wedding, Engagement, Family & Event Photography-
March 8th, 2010WeddingI’d been looking forward to their wedding since Kimberly and I first began discussing it in the Fall of 2008! We took their engagement photos over Valentine’s Weekend in 2009 and they were wed in mid January 2010! Their wedding was a true joy to be involved with. It reminded me of mine in many ways which made it that much more fun! And the weather, who could ask for 50 degree weather on January 15th with the bluest skies you’ve ever seen and just snuggled between two of the worst snow storms to ever hit the East Coast! God has been watching out for them over their long engagement and had this day planned especially for them. Enjoy a few of their photos!
PS. Our workflow is different now and there are some who caught a glimpse of these photos RIGHT after the wedding (within three days actually, lol) those lucky people are the Facebook fans of S. Carter Studios. If you’d like to be alerted to the newest content then join up!

I won’t lie, I have a little bit of lash envy!

They opted for a first look after having seen the great photos from Gavin & Kelsey’s and I’m so glad they did!

It gave us lots of time for photos of just the two of them and their really fun bridal party!







I wasn’t kidding about the day!





They were married at a lovely church just a block away from my house!


and after all that waiting, they became husband and wife.

We headed over to the lovely West Manor to celebrate! There were loads of great details, food and dancing.

Kimberly and I joked that she was my first Friday bride, my first red cake and several other firsts. Not too shabby to plan a wedding with such impact!



These were absolutely delicious as were the toppings located just to the left! Gotta love a make your own mashed potatoes bar.








We’ll finish this post with the best garter retrieval of 2010.
Tags: black, Central Virginia Wedding Photographer, Love, Lynchburg VA, Photography, red, S. Carter Studios, Virginia, Wedding, wedding photography, West Manor, white, winter
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February 25th, 2010Take A Look
One thing I truly love about weddings is the food, namely the Cake! My sweet tooth cannot be denied and on days when I do weddings I don’t have to think about what I eat because I need all the fuel I can get. So I’m happy today to get to share about my great friend Jim’s business, Jimmy Cakes! Jim whom you’ve seen before, with his beautiful wife Alisha, is one of the most creative people that I know! I have benefited from his creativity several times and encourage you to do the same! He makes homemade cakes, cupcakes and pies. It’s 100% from scratch and he’ll even go organic for you. Recently he let me help by letting me make the icing for some cupcakes! INCREDIBLE. I think anyone who has had a Jimmy Cake would be happy to attest to the sheer tastiness involved in the experience! I encourage you to follow his blog so you can see even more wonderful creations and read a little about the process he goes through to make them! Now, please be impressed by photos of some of his work. Be sure to read through the bottom if you’re a Lynchburg resident because there may be a special treat in store for you if you comment on this post!

Jimmy Cakes will provide goodies for all types of events: birthdays, bridal showers, weddings, baby showers, rehearsal dinners, holidays and even if you just really want some incredible cake.

A Potterific cupcake cake.




This cake was made for my Josh’s 25th birthday! Go Dawgs!

Homemade peppermint mocha cupcakes!

The texas cake from Stephen & Leslie’s wedding!

The newest and my personal fav: The Grenadenhaver cake (happy-you-had-a-baby-it’s-a-boy-and-also-your-birthday-cake)

This is just the tip of the flavorful iceberg my friends! I love to hook my friends up so it’s time for a little give-a-way. Please comment on this post explaining which of these cakes is your favorite and why. Your name will be entered into a drawing for a dozen free Jimmy Cake cupcakes of the flavor of your choice! You must be a Lynchburg local to be eligible to win this giveaway! The winner will be announced with next Thursday’s take a look post!
Tags: cakes, dessert, Jimmy Cakes, Lynchburg, Photography, VA, wedding cakes, wedding cupcakes, weddings -
February 5th, 2010Photo Booth
This is Beth. We’ve been friends for six years, which if you know me, is pretty impressive because I moved a bazillion times in my life making it difficult to keep friends for longer than a few years. She was a wonderful source of inspiration for my wedding and she’s all around great friend to have. She recently moved to NY for a job opportunity and we thought it would be a great idea to try out version 1.0 of our photo booth. Our signature photo booth is a new launch for 2010 and we’re excited about bringing an opportunity to our brides to capture their guests as crazy as they actually are! The booth will also be available for parties! Contact us for more info! In the mean time, enjoy some photos from Beth’s booth.






I cannot take credit for the props, they were Josh’s idea mostly, with some help from Ashley’s musical storage! Here is a picture of me (well, my arm) and my loving husband. He’s the best.
Tags: Beth, going away party, Lynchburg, Photo Booth, Photography, Portrait, S. Carter Studios
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January 28th, 2010LifeToday I met Kaydence Grace (about 10 hours old now) and Wyatt Mitchell (about 2 weeks old now). I didn’t do much work, my dishes didn’t get done and I wasn’t able to put away all my laundry but I got to spend time with real, wonderful people that I love. It was a very good day.


Tags: babies, Life, Love, Lynchburg, Photography, Virginia
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January 25th, 2010Engagement, Family, Portrait
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!
Tags: Engagement, Family, Love, Love is in the Air, Lynchburg, Mini sessions, Photography, Portrait, S. Carter Studios, spring -
January 23rd, 2010WeddingWell, go ahead and lean back, because this post is going to be a long one. You’ve seen Gavin & Kelsey before, the infamous paint couple! We took their engagement photos on a warm, beautiful summer day and they were married on 12-12-09 a very VERY cold winter day. They didn’t let the chilly weather keep them from having a perfect celebration! There was joy and excitement and awesome facial expressions from Kelsey without pause from the first few minutes I was with them until they left for their honeymoon. I’ll interject a few happy thoughts throughout the post but for the most part I think they speak for themselves!
Kelsey was the only bride I was able to give her ornament to in person. She had such a fun reaction!





She was an absolutely stunning bride!


Gavin and Kelsey chose to do a first look. This gave us lots of time to take photos of them and their wedding party. This was Gavin’s face as he saw his bride for the first time.

and Kelsey’s as she walked toward her groom. PS. First glimpse as those perfect little blue shoes!


You may remember, it was really, really cold this day in Lynchburg so we let Kelsey defrost a little and took pictures of the guys first. They were great!


West Manor was a great location for the photos and their reception!These ladies were amazing, not complaining one bit and looking good while sticking it out!




I could have taken pictures of just these two all day long. Really.


My very favorite from the whole day!

Kelsey, wow, just WOW.

BLING, bling.




I may, have had a crush on her shoes, maybe.

Oh, yeah, there was a ceremony too!

I just can’t get enough of brides on the arms of their fathers! So much significance in this one little moment.




Two noteworthy things about this image: these candles are the same ones that Gavin used the night he proposed to Kelsey, there were over a hundred of them that night! The second is explained by the photo below it.

This is how I know i have the best brides. Kelsey was so chill about this! Oops, oh well.

A brief pause to share some of their great details!


It never gets old
seeing my work at receptions!

Alex, Angi and I with the bride, me reaching toward Solomon who had rapid fired a few shots by this point. Thought it would be a funny addition to the post





This mother son dance had the whole room misty-eyed. Gavin and his mother took turns letting tears slip between laughs and hugs. It was absolutely precious.

Love this photo of Gavin’s mom showing Kelsey’s dad the little birthday cake they gave her after the first dance. So sweet of her to share her birthday with the newlyweds.

there was dancing, lots of really, fun, dancing.



The newlyweds left in a flash of sparklers to their honeymoon in the mountains of TN.

Tags: black, ivory, Love, Photography, S. Carter Studios, tiffany blue, Virginia, Wedding, wedding photography, West Manor, winter
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January 7th, 2010EngagementWhen 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.
Tags: Coleman Falls, Engagement, engagement photos, Green Needles Chrismas Tree Farm, outdoor, Photography, S. Carter Studios, Tim and Samantha, VA, winter
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January 7th, 2010EngagementOh 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.
Tags: Engagement, engagement photos, Friends, Lynchburg, Lynchburg VA, Photography, proposal, S. Carter Studios, Solomon and Angi -
January 3rd, 2010EngagementI’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!
Tags: Engagement, engagement photos, Fall, family photography, Lynchburg, Lynchburg VA, outdoor, Photography, Portrait, S. Carter Studios -
December 28th, 2009FamilyYes, it’s time to continue catching you up on the things you’ve missed while I’ve been finishing out the 2009 year! It was busy at the end but I’m glad to get to have things to share during our down time as well! This post is about the Davies. You’re probably familiar, if you’ve been reading a while, with the Carol and Jordan’s precious baby boy Brinley who I’ve photographed before. They scheduled one of our Fall mini sessions to provide some Christmas gifts and I’m happy to finally be able to share them with you! Enjoy!











Tags: Brinley, Davies, Fall Mini sessions, family photography, Lynchburg VA, outdoor, Photography, portraits, S. Carter Studios
