Baby showers are a celebration of the upcoming arrival of a new family addition.  They are great opportunity get family and friends together to share this special moment with the parents.  This shower could not have been any better as it had all the elements: the great Kings Daughters Inn venue next to Duke campus, a very cool cake and other decorations, a yummy spread of food and drinks, special “baby shower” games, and probably the most important element – the wonderful family and friends.  You could feel the love in the room.  Ernestine Benedict did awesome job of coordinating and creating this wonderful experience.  I am so glad she hired me to be the event photographer for this gathering.  I had a blast!

Oh yes! The pickle shot!  

The perfect gift for a new father!  New babies do not come with manuals so a little outside assistance always welcomed.  After meeting the father, I have no doubts they he can manage even without the book. : )

This is so true on so many levels! 

 There was pretty of fun and smiles all around!

The activities were very cool!  In this activity, the guests had to guess the various celebrity baby pictures.  

Everyone decorated their own “one-sy” that was presented to the parents for their new addition. 

The father will soon feel the special father-daughter bond that this father already has. Sons are cool too.  He really like the zebra decorations.

I would love to be part of the child’s first birthday party next year and see these wonderful people again.  The entire collection of images for this baby shower event are located here on my gallery web site!

Back in the 80s, I worked as a DJ at a rock night club in Rocky Mount during the summers of my college years.  Every Wednesday night, we had the “Night of the Jackle” DJ show and I would play music in between sets for the bands on the weekends. Though Rocky Mount, NC was definitely not known for its rock music scene, the club would attract some of the best North Carolina club rock bands.  You may not know these band names unless you were part of the 80s hard rock/metal club scene: Nantucket, Pegasus Rox, PKM, PG 13, Night Watch, Maxx Warrior, Sidewinder, Quadra Nix, and Driver.  If these names ring a bell in your head and you want to see more, check out Ronnie Rogers 80s club band page. 

This past year, I became friends with the wonderful and magnetic Stacey Winn. We talked on several occasions about the 80s music scene.  Apparently, her band Driver was one of the many great bands that played at the club and they still rock today.  This past Saturday,  I saw Driver for the first time(that I can remember : ) ) at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh.  They opened up for the iconic NC Nantucket band.  Though I was familiar with Nantucket, I did not know what to expect from Driver. Man, I was pleasantly surprised.  Wow!  Stacey owned the crowd and the stage as the band plowed through their repertoire of hard rock covers and originals. I can not wait to see them again!

Here are some of my favorite shots from the night.  The entire set can be found on my gallery website. Rock on Driver!

I love this shot! It almost looks like the guitarist Frank Winn(Stacey’s husband) is playing to an audience of one but the place was packed.

Rock on Driver! Rock On!  Rumor has it that there will be a show at Berkeley’s in March.

In my pre-family days,  I played bass guitar in a few rock bands and was active in music scene in Chapel Hill area.  I have always been an avid music fan no matter what genre.  North Carolina definitely offers some great musical talent.  Amy Hancock is no exception.  I have known Amy for almost 30 years now since the time we met at Northern Nash Senior High School just outside of Rocky Mount, NC.   It was such a treat for me that she recently hired me to grab some live performance images to help her to promote her jazz singing career.  In high school, she voted the most talented female in our senior class. If only our classmates could see her now, like a fine wine she and her singing skills have aged well.  Check out AmyHancockMusic.com for more information on this great jazz vocalist.

Amy would be the first one to admit that any great jazz vocalist needs some strong jazz musicians behind them in order to be successful.  Here are some shots of some members in the band that night that provided the music for Amy’s vocals.

Greg Tyson – Trumpet

Ben Palmer:  Bass

Marc Getter : drums  (I appreciate your patience with the flash going off all night. You did not miss a beat!)

Frank Longino:  Piano

Recently, I had the pleasure of working with Heather Swanner who runs a boutique Photography studio called Heather Swanner Photography Studio as second shooter for her clients Brook and Jeremy on their wedding day at the Magnolia Manor.  Heather is awesome photographer and was wonderful to work with also.  Please stop by her website and check out her work.  Thanks again Heather for giving me this opportunity! It is always great to work with other photographers to get new and different perspectives as I continue my photographic journey.  I hope to work with Heather again in the future.

Here are some of my favorite images that I captured on their wedding day!

This series includes some moments during the vows, the prayer, and kiss.

They were a happily married couple!

They were whisked off in a horse drawn carriage like royalty.

This couple was a lot of fun. This shot was taken when Heather was taking the formals.  She asked everyone to be silly for a minute.

If you follow my blog, you know I love kids too.  The flower girl and ring bearer were so animated and fun. 

Here is the ring bearer doing his best incredible Hulk. Here is their entrance into the reception as they were being introduced by the DJ.

See ya soon!

One of things I enjoy about being a family and children location portrait photographer is the getting to know the families.  This is the third portrait session with this family.  We first met in Chapel Hill at Breadmens for breakfast and then headed to the UNC Chapel Hill campus to capture my buddy Campbell.  Man, he sure has changed since I did his new born session almost two years ago.  Both his parents and I are graduates of the university and it was great to roam around our old stomping grounds. 

Campbell loves to play ball!

He is full of personality too!

His father is a professor at the university.  What better place to showcase his son?

Campbell loves his mommy too!

Yea, I coached this one!  They are a cool couple with a cool son!

I could not resist capturing Campbell trying to get into the Alumni Hall! With both parents as Alumni, chances are pretty good that Campbell may enter these doors someday.  I hope to be there to capture that moment.

Here they are sharing a book called “Five Little Pumpkins” with Campbell – a very fitting title for an October family photo session.

I love the Green Shoes in this one!  : 0 …..

Birthday parties are always fun. On Sunday, we celebrated the first birthday of Suhaas.  His parents reserved the courtyard at the Sutherland in Wake Forest for this wonderful event.  What an awesome time at a beautiful venue! The Sutherland will be highly recommended by this Raleigh, North Carolina based portrait and birthday photographer that is for sure.  If only, I can get Suhaas’s parents to plan my next birthday party. :0  They went all out for his birthday.

Prem’s father and mother traveled all the way from India to witness their grandson’s first birthday.  The party was catered, had a special Suhaas slideshow playing, had an awesome DJ, had a very cool bubble machine and piñata, and an incredible cake.  Once you wrap this with some Indian traditions and add some close friends and family, what more can you ask for?   They went out of their way to make me so welcome just like all the guests at the party. They even sent party favors home with me for my girls and invited my family to his next Diwalli get together in the future. I feel like one of the family now. 

Since I specialize in both event and lifestyle portrait photography, this was perfect opportunity to use both skills. We took some time to do a portrait session of the special birthday boy with his parents and grandparents as well as capturing the story of the event.

This cake tasted as good as it looked.  Thanks again for offering me a sample.

Suhaas  is getting some seemingly unwanted help in cutting the cake. : 0 .

We have to let the children play a bit to capture shots like these.  I love the traditional dress.

The proud parents have a watchful eye on the birthday boy.

Here is to three generations of this special family.

This is Suhaas’s other special grandmother. Another very special person in his life.

Grandmother is sharing a moment with two of her grandchildren. This is Suhaas and his cousin.

These bubbles were so much fun! Not sure who enjoyed them more – the children or the photographer.

Everyone had a “go” with the piñata! 

Some even tried to cheat a little bit.

This was not just a kid activity. My friend off-camera did make sure he missed.

Finally, the patience was gone. She wanted some candy!

Prem offered to help her and the children get the sweet treasure.  She was happy about that.

Her friends were too!

Recently, I met a new friend.  He is about to turn 1 year old and his parents commissioned me for his birthday celebration this  Sunday at the Sutherland in Wake Forest, NC.  We decided it would be a great idea to take a few images beforehand and present them at the birthday party in a slideshow.  This past Saturday, I met this wonderful family at the Durant Nature Park and took some shots of their awesome little son.  He is so full of life and personality and has one of the best smiles I have ever seen in awhile.  We had a such a great time!  I love being a Raleigh family portrait and event photographer!  I can’t wait for the birthday party at the Sutherland this weekend.

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Stephanie and Terry had a wonderful wedding in Gold Hill, Colorado recently. This video is dedicated to the start of their new life together and to the friends and family that were able to share the celebration with them. Enjoy!

It was held in a very small “town that time forgot” outside of Boulder, Colorado called Gold Hill.  In fact, she warned us all to print her provided wedding directions because both cell and GPS coverage would be spotty at best. Thank God we took her advice, the GPS did not even pick up the town.

You felt like you stepped into the old west when you arrived in this cozy little town.  The wedding and reception was held at the Gold Hill Inn.  Many guests including the band arrived dressed in full Victorian-era western clothing to match the décor and theme of this wonderful inn. 

Here are some of my favorite images of the day.

The groom and his father.

The couple loves music and the wonderful bluegrass band.

Recently, I received a Facebook event invitation by an old high school friend Robert Hancock to attend a “Amy Hancock and Marc Getter Jazz Night” this past Friday at Loco Lu’s Coffeehouse in Raleigh, NC.  About 30 years ago, I knew both Robert and his wife Amy Hancock (known as Amy Edmundson then) while I was attending Northern Nash Senior High near Rocky Mount, NC.  Back in the day, Amy and my other good friend Sam Tatum were voted “Most Talented” by our senior class.  If you hear her sing just one note, you can understand why. My high school senior class does not lie. Don’t you forget it! LOL.

Today, besides being partners in marriage and parenting, Robert and Amy are partners in fulfilling Amy’s dream of being a jazz singer. Robert performs some management and sound duties and Amy awes the audience with her voice.  You can hear some samples from her Love Affair(2008) CD on her web site or even better come out and hear her live.

This night, she was appearing with some really talented musicians. In fact, some of the best musicians I have seen in a while. They are Marc Getter on drums, Paul Bomar on guitar, Greg Tyson on trumpet, Matt Harris on bass, and Brian Megilligan on the keys.  Check these guys out anytime you can! 

Loco Lu’s is a great little place to hear good music and is family friendly.  This is really important to me because now I have local place where I can bring my kids to hear some great music.