My talented friends Jose Villa, Jesh de Rox and the Image is Found duo just opened registration for their BLEND workshop, specializing in all things wedding photography, to take place this March 24th-26th in Santa Fe, New Mexico. You can see all the details at their site, blendworkshop.com. I am so excited to be joining this world-class group to present a special clinic having to do with working with multiple shooters and, y'know .... very cool wedding photography stuff ;) FYI - since registration just opened this morning, and I'm a bit late posting this, check it out soon if you're interested, as I am guessing that they will probably close out quickly...

I wanted to share with you all this wonderful new family of three... such a loving and beautiful family... Amy and Todd are such naturals. Enjoy! :)

Sweet Brecken in his first few weeks...

Smiles at just a few weeks...

One of my personal favorites... :)

Hello feet!

I *love* how Todd is looking at Amy in this image...

Photographing Kim & Angelo's wedding was quite a lot like attending the ultra swanky party that you hear other people have but don't quite get to go to very often. Take two gorgeous, successful people who have been in love for a long time and put them together with a fantastic coordinator (Ms. Ivy Robinson), some really stunning party details, nearly the entire Buffalo Bills football team, or seemingly so (Angelo plays for them - and there were a lot of very well built humans there.) That was the other cool part of this event - I have several friends who are diehard Bills fans and asked me to look for this person and that person, all of whose names went out the window for me in the thick of shooting and meeting such fun, smart, hilarious people throughout the day and evening and late, late night - we shot until around 2:30am ... a seriously good party. We started out in downtown Charlotte, where the girls and guys got ready separately in competing suites ;)

I love the swooshy feel of this random capture of the girls making their way to the limos....

Moments like this make me smile - when a beautiful woman knows just how good she looks on such a big day and there's a split second where it shows just how much and how her friends love her for that. In a society where many judge themselves more harshly than they ever, ever should ... I *love* this image. She truly looked so beautiful in this moment (and all the other ones I've seen her in!).

If I had to title this image, it'd be: Downtown Ladies, Bringing It

One of my very favorites....

Angelo, who nearly always had a smile on his face every time I saw him, and a sweet moment with his coach, just before the wedding.

Some alternatingly sweet, tender and funny moments during the ceremony :)

Cannot say which of these *immediately after* moments I like better.

How much do you love this little lovely ring bearer??

Wait - what?? - what's happening here? Am I photographing a groom or a model for GQ??? I just can't tell! :) :) :)

The party was at CenterStage and the girls got the star ready just in time for her grand entrance :)

Kim & Angelo's entry into the reception was crazy - they were so feeling it and then there was a huge smashing of the guests up onto the dance floor, crowding around them, so happy for them and so excited for the night's festivities. It was a rush of really amazing energy.

In the midst of the huge crowd of their friends and family around them, Kim & Angelo still had many moments just like this, where they might as well have been dancing in a quiet room all alone.

(Daddies & Daughters. Sigh.)

What a wedding! Thank you so much, Kim & Angelo. I loved being invited :)

There's just something so lovely about a small wedding. One of the things I love most about photographing weddings is the privilege of being able to slip so quickly and easily into the emotion of such a big day. I get swept up in it, and sometimes at the end of an intense eight hours of shooting, it feels odd to just pack up and head home. A bit like watching a movie that so draws you in that you experience a real jolt when the credits suddenly appear. This was my first view of Emmie's sister Eloise's home, where everything took place this day. As you can see, there's nothing small about this house, and yet I found it incredibly warm and inviting, which I suspect has everything to do with the nature of their large, close-knit family.

Before I could even step inside, Emmie's beautiful sons stepped away from the Virginia Tech/UNC football game--no small gesture for three teenage boys--and came outside to welcome me.

When Emmie first began talking to me about her wedding and telling me about her sister Eloise (a very talented artist), I knew right away that there were going to be some beautiful details to photograph. This shot is of the exterior of the Carriage House, where dinner was held.

Emmie and Mike. I can't not smile when I see photos of the two of them together. It's just so obvious that they each know how lucky they are to have found the other.

This was fun. We piled Emmie and her four sisters into the bed together. (Emmie, you are the coolest bride for going along so enthusiastically with this!) It seemed like such a natural thing to do, and even after the photos were finished, they all sort of hung out there for a few minutes longer.

This was just the opening their brother needed to jump in and crash the party.

Eloise...

...and her painting that I am completely in love with. The first time I set foot in this room, it stopped me in my tracks.

Emmie's beautiful mother

Congratulations, Emmie and Mike! Thank you for welcoming me into your lovely day and treating me like family--a real honor!