Here’s a little shout out to my friends at The Roanoker who are coming out with a brand new wedding magazine that exclusively showcases weddings in Roanoke and Southwest Virginia. I invite any of my clients who had weddings in Roanoke or points westward to enter their wedding in bridebook. Once you have completed your entry, all you have to do is contact me with a list of the images you wish to submit and I will prepare them for publication and submit them directly to bridebook.

The information they sent me states that they are looking for:

• Weddings that occurred between January 1, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2012
• Weddings that took place in Roanoke or a southwest Virginia location
• Weddings that used the services of local photographers, florists, wedding planners, caterers, venues, etc.

There is no cost to submit your wedding for consideration but, if selected, there is a fee for the design and production of your registry pages.

bridebook debuts in May 2013.  Deadline for submissions is Feb. 1, 2013. Their editors will notify the lucky brides on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.

More than 12,000 copies of bridebook will be beautifully printed and elegantly designed. Every Roanokermagazine subscriber will receive a copy and it will be on sale at Barnes & Noble and newsstands across the valley. Brides will receive 10 complimentary copies for family and friends.

As a very busy year was winding down, I was able to have a little fun with an editorial shoot back in October. Beautifully styled by Amy McArthur with a timely Hobbit Wedding theme, all the elements came together for a gorgeous shoot. Perfect weather especially for late October.  It was also a first for me as prior to this I have never worked with a pony…or an equine of any kind for that matter. At least not at a wedding. i loved it. I MUST do that again so if you are getting married on a horse or even if your wedding has a horse or pony in it, I want to be a part of it!

A BIG HUGE THANKS to the following people who offered their amazing talents and expertise to make this so beautiful.

Patty and Tom Trostle who provided Sundara, one of the most gorgeous places on Earth to get married
Jolina Goad and Tammy Carswell of Les Cheveux Salon and Day Spa who did the perfect job on hair and makeup
The awesome Mark Frye of Creative Occasions Events Flowers & Gifts (who can even decorate a pony!)
AmRhein’s Brides & Formals for that perfect dress
Healing Strides an amazing organization that brought us the charming and lovable Warrior
Charlotte’s Web Antiques Mall and Primitive Gatherings for set furnishings and props

And a special thanks to the beautiful Abby Broughton who was the most perfect model ever for this shoot.

When we think about our parents, especially those of us who no longer have one or both of them, there are always certain things we will forever associate with them. A lot of those are material things, simple keepsakes or perhaps heirlooms. They are things we can look at that instantly conjure an image of them or give us  that feeling that  they’re here with us despite the fact they are not. Maybe it’s a piece of furniture,  or something they used in the kitchen or out in the shop. Sometimes it is something very simple, yet permanently tied to our memory of them and therefore cherished.

My mom’s stationary box was just one of those things. As far back as I can remember I have been fascinated with intricate geometric design, and for the most part the more complex and symmetrical the design the more I like it. I love beautiful handmade rugs and tapestries and fabrics with these designs. Pool trim tiles always catch my eye and I am amazed whenever I get a chance to see a quilt show. So, her stationary box naturally attracted my eye. It was just a nicely made cardboard box, nothing particularly fancy but well done, embossed printing with an intricate repeating design on gold foil paper. And it was around for as long as I can remember. Once depleted of the stationary it came with, it was the keeper of paper scraps that I cannot describe other than an assortment of odds and ends that still had some useful purpose. But, it was always around. Never discarded. And for forty some years it sat there where my mom held highest office at household command central. Then I came along with a renewed and now sentimental interest in it.

At first I thought I would just use it to make some type of graphic as a background for my website, but that didn’t really work out. I scanned it and manipulated it every way I could but it just didn’t pan out as I had intended. So, the box just sat on the shelf in my office where I would occasionally pick it up and admire it but was never quite sure what to do with it.

About a month ago I had the annual clean out the office day where all the junk I accumulate is usually discarded. I’m not a hoarder…for long. When I came to the stationary box I once again wondered what I could possibly do with it. I just didn’t want to put it in a box or a closet where it would never be looked at again. I wanted to USE it in some meaningful way where I could remember my mom and admire its familiar design. I put it aside and came to a box of frames that I had laying around and that is when it came to me! I would make the box into a photo mat and in it I would put a photo of me and my mom that I had always loved. It was the one with my dad’s ’41 Chevy pickup in the background. We were out in the back yard in a baby pool and he was home for lunch and snapping a few pics of his new kid. Perfect.

So, this is what happened to my mom’s stationary box. Despite being on the creative side, I’m not a very crafty person so I was rather pleased with myself. It was a the prefect project ending for a simple piece of family memorabilia and the photo that makes it even more special.

Here’s a few shots, the first one showing the scanned box lid, with all its worn edges from nearly a half century of use.

And the finished piece.  I chose a simple black frame and a white undermatting to set the box top mat apart from the photo. I was very careful to preserve the symmetry of the design as best I could, cutting the opening so that it was centered in the design repeat. I love it!

I had a few scraps of material left over that I couldn’t part with so I fashioned a little box that holds all my CF cards waiting to be downloaded. Ok. Maybe I AM a little crafty :o)

The day before their wedding I touched base with Ellie just to check in since they had traveled to Roanoke from Texas and were taking care of some last minute details. Ellie did have a special favor to ask. It seems that Bryan REALLY wanted to have an old fashioned straight razor shave just to make this day a little more special. He had spent a good part of the week just trying to find a place that still did them since it appeared the straight razor shave had gone the way of a two bit haircut.

Well, he finally found Esquire Barber Salon, an old-fashioned barber shop on 11th Street that still did them and he really wanted this part of his day photographed. Could I possibly oblige? Seemed like fun to me, so I prepared for the day a little earlier than usual and headed over to the shop just as the groom’s entourage was arriving.

The shave went really well, and Bryan seemed to enjoy a bit of groom pampering. That is, until the end when he got a little wake up call from the alcohol rub on his freshly shaven face. As for me, I loved photographing this little ritual. I was just a wee bit nervous at the beginning when I looked down as the straight razor was about to start its glide right above Bryan’s jugular. It was apparent that Bryan’s barber was just a wee bit shaky being photographed on the job. Nevertheless, he insisted that we continue to document this special part of the day and he did a stellar job. Bryan lived to tell with minimal blood loss.

I was over at a shoot for my friends at Firefly Media who were having a grand opening at their new digs in Grandin Village. Of course, no eventness on Grandin Road would be complete without James Tarpley and James was there to help cut the ribbon. I never really had the privilege of meeting James, but he came over to me just to say how much he appreciated how hard I was working and we struck up a little chat. At the end, he eagerly agreed to a little portrait shoot and I thought this was the shot that captured him best. What a wonderful person, and a such a handsome guy. I loved the hat.

It was a gorgeous day way back in the spring when I photographed Abby and Jack’s beautiful Primland wedding, and it was a family affair. All three of the kids were ready to show everyone how to have a good time and each had their place in the wedding party, just slightly anxious to take their role in the ceremony. And so it was, on a cliff overlooking the beautiful expanse where Primland commandingly reigns as far as the eye can see, Abby and Jack were married with a gentle wind and the setting sun.

Once upon a time there was a little girl whose daddy was building a great big building, the biggest for miles around. And she used to climb up to the very tip top with him and look out over the fair land below. She spotted a magical place not too far away where she dreamed one day she would marry her prince. She begged daddy to fix the old place up and make it beautiful for her, so he granted her that wish…with a little help from the Virginia Tech Foundation. And so it was, one day the little girl had her dream come true, and a beautiful wedding took place in the fairest land of them all.

A little sneak peek, but I must get back to reality as life without Photoshop only takes place in fairy tales.

Certainly three of my favorite images from the year. Bree is a gorgeous bride and Bunny makes a stunning Dog-of-Honor. Or was it Best Dog? I’m not quite sure.

Ahhh, finally! It’s that time of year when I have just a wee bit of time for personal projects. Albums from last year’s weddings are pretty much designed and done. 2012 weddings and portraits won’t start for a couple of more weeks. Now is the time when I can do a few things that I’ve been putting off for a while.

This year I’m working on some books and the first one I want to get done is a jaunt I took to Asia back in 2006. I can’t even believe that it’s been over five years since that trip so I’m thinking it’s actually time to go back and visit a few places I missed.

I’ve started this project a couple of times. The cover is designed. A lot of the images have been prepared. But, there’s still some work to be done and then I have to put it all together. In going back through the photographs it’s kind of interesting how time changes your perspective on things. You forget some things and thankfully we have photographs to pull a little bit on the memory and bring things back. Forgotten but not gone so to speak. And then there’s the photographs that really didn’t speak much to me when I first edited them shortly after returning from the trip. I’m seeing some of them in a different way and I’m actually glad I let a little time go by before I finished this project.

Anyway, here is one of my favorites from that trip. It was taken in a market area in Hanoi, but this little area was tucked away from the craziness that exists in most of these markets. It was a quiet little courtyard with beautiful light and I’m sure that the vendor enjoys this little place where they prepare their foods for sale out on the street.