I heard this from the happy couple, “We LOVE our wedding story. We are so excited about some of the amazing shots that you took. My dad’s comment was, “Wow, she is really an artist!” Thank you so much.”

Below is a proof of this 12 x 12 inch book. The plan is to include images from their engagement session, photos of Chapel of the Cross, which is very much a part of the story, photos of Fearrington where they will be wed and, finally, images from Priti’s bridal portrait session. The design in simple and light, with lots of white space for guests to sign.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Here is an update, post-wedding. They ended up with a temperate July day, which nearly never happens. There was a little rain but they were prepared with a tent. Here is what they ended up having at the wedding, in terms of bridal and engagement portraits. I just love to see how clients incorporate their KPO photos into their celebration! I will have their wedding story up at the end of this week. Thank you SOOO much, Matt and Briana, for making us a part of your wedding!

First, would be The Heritage Foundation. They originally came across KPO Photo from a vendor list at The Carolina Club as they were planning an event there. We enjoyed working together so they hired me for another event at the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club. They are working hard to spread their message and get more members by holding events throughout the country. This particular event on July 21st featured question and answer forums with guest speakers Steve Forbes, John Hood and several Heritage staff members. When an organization spends so much time and effort on conducting an event it is so important to have an accurate record of it that shows them in their best light. This is my goal with each story that I do.

Steve Forbes was a great speaker! Although he had just had back surgery last week and had to wear a neck brace, he was able to take complicated subjects, such as the economy, and distill them down to an understandable, even humorous speech. This is one of my panoramas.

Next would be the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise. They have a diverse, wide range of activities and programs. This business story chronicles the Born-Global Entrepreneurship Curriculum in which they are hosting 30 of Bulgaria’s top students for two intense weeks of education about global venture creation. I really enjoy photographing the Kenan Institute as I nearly always learn something from the speakers that I can apply to my own life and business. Here is the story thus far. I will add to it when the event concludes next weekend.

And finally, it is the absolute best when one gets to mix work with friendship. One of my families’ closest friends are the Sato Family. Mas Sato has a furniture business called Inai Inai Ba! I love his work and have some pieces in my studio. His business is really picking up so he decided it was time for a professional photo shoot. When I am working with businesses I try to get a feel for how they see themselves and who their customers are. It really helps me to create images that will support and enforce their brand. Mas and I talked about this at length before we began shooting. We were going for clean images of the pieces so that customers could see every detail before purchasing. We also wanted to create lifestyle images of the furniture in action with the same clean, bright feel. Here is just a preview of what we did in the studio. We have the second shoot later this week. I love where we are going so far!

This is what Mas had to say about the photos thus far, ” Just saw a sneak peak from our shoot with KPO Photo for our new website. They look fantastic. I went into the shoot with a few requirements and a vague idea of what I wanted. Kristin came into it having researched furniture photography and having a strong sense of what the brand was about and captured it beautifully…. I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such a talented friend.”

You will see an obvious bird theme to this wedding as Celia’s childhood nickname is baby bird. How great that their reception site is home to many families of barn swallows? You can see their wedding story by clicking on the image below. To see the WHOLE STORY visit their gallery.

Dark clouds were rolling in as we arrived at Fearrington. The cows didn’t seem to mind.

Ben adjusting his bow tie, was quiet and pensive beforehand. Celia was giddy.

The wedding took place in front of the large, stone fireplace in the garden terrace. How nice that even though it is raining all the guests had a dry, comfortable place to sit and the ceremony still took place amid the lush greenery.

It stopped drizzling right after the ceremony. Everyone was in a jubilant mood as the sun came out.

The two Pyle sisters and their husbands.

The sun had just set as Celia and Ben entered the barn for their first dance. You can tell they love to dance together!

Baby birds as cake toppers. This was the most beautiful cake I have ever seen at Fearrington! You can see more photos of it in the wedding story above.

And some real, live baby birds nesting in the barn entryway.

Celia’s dad had the idea of stringing up even more lights on the barn ceiling. Paired with the incredible flowers it was a gorgeous reception.

The happy couple had many moves which thrilled their guests.

This was the first time I have seen a groom carry his bride all the way out of the reception for their farewell. Congratulations, Ben and Celia!!!

I heard back from Celia about her wedding story. This is what she had to say, “The pictures are fabulous!! You captured all of the funny and fun moments I remembered (and the ones I didn’t get to see!) I cannot thank you enough for all that you did on that rainy Saturday ”

And her mother, Sue, said, “You hit it out of the park, Kristin! You captured the emotion of the day. We’re delighted!”

In this image from left to right going clockwise: a KPO Photo Family Story, which as won by Sarah Shunk. Thanks, Sarah!!! Then the beautiful Vivian family who hosted this event. All guests paid $10 to eat at an incredible buffet and all the children ate free. The children enjoyed getting their face painted by Paint Savvy. A mask and statue set was just one of the interesting things to bid on. Finally, on the lower, right-hand corner is Sarah Kenan Shunk with Piper and Avery.

The bidding was done through the computer, which was a cool way to do it.

After the event the kids and I went home to play. I had the idea of wedging our inflatable pool underneath the slide. What fun! Our neighbor, Cole, was over to help.

Then we headed inside to play. I will do a longer blog post about this later, but we have an amazing dollhouse with a long history. My uncles made it for me and my brother’s and sister when I was 5 or so. This house somehow has survived and my kids are helping to fix it up. My mom saved all the furniture and it was so interesting to see that they set up the rooms in the same way I did when I was little.

JUST CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP.

I also wanted to invite you to come join KPO Photo at a great, kid-friendly, charity auction event this weekend! From 12 to 4 p.m. we will be at Mez Restaurant at 5410 Page Road in Durham to support the Nicholas Wheeler Vivian Foundation. You can already bid on items, including a KPO Photo Family Story, through their web site.

John and Lauren tied the knot in a shady grove at Fearrington Village. Lauren’s bridesmaids wore purple and John’s groomsmen were in the classic- tuxedos with a black tie. The ceremony was followed by a cocktail hour in front of the barn and a reception inside with music by The Maxx, a wonderful band I have seen several times. I don’t think the band had ever witnessed such a crazy, fun group of dancers!

To see their WEDDING STORY just click on the slideshow below. You can scroll down further to see some the highlights. If you want the WHOLE STORY visit their WEB GALLERY.

Sarah got this great shot of the engraved rings with her macro lens.

Lauren was one of the most relaxed, smiley brides I have ever worked with. But right before she walked down the aisle she took a moment.

This is my favorite area in Fearrington for ceremonies. It is quiet and shady and accommodates many guests.

The stately crew.

Their friends insisted on a special entry to the barn.

After their first dance folks were seated to eat. I saw that the sun was beginning to set so I asked Lauren and John to come out to grab a few quick photos. Earlier in the day the cows had been out of site and now they were back. Everyone wants photos with those cool cows!

Spontaneous crowd surfing!

I heard back from Lauren about the photos. Here is what she had to say, “The pictures are AMAZING!!! Completely negated all hopes of productivity these past two days Thanks so much, for everything!”

She came to the studio last week with a variety of outfits and jewelry. We decided it would be best to do a more conservative outfit as well as a more fun one. That way Rose would have different looks for different uses. As with all portaits in the studio, I do a few test shots and then we look at them on the big screen. This really helps me to get a feel for what people want. We photographed Rose against a white and a black backdrop and I persuaded her to go outside at the end to be photographed in front of some roses. That is my favorite photo!

This is what Rose had to say about her experience, “It was great meeting you! Everything was smooth & professional. I loved the opportunity for a shoot outdoors in your beautiful yard & meeting Eve as well.” (Eve is my cat.)

A week after her photo shoot Rose came into the Carrboro office for her consultation. She admitted that she was dreading coming as she was worried that she would dislike how she looked in her photos. This is a very common feeling I hear from women. Rose even said she felt like she was heading to get a root canal. Ouch! But after seeing the first two photos of this blog post she was smiling from ear to ear. She said she is so relieved that she will now always have an image that she is proud of. I was so glad to help, Rose!

To see the WHOLE story click HERE to view their gallery. This is what Priti had to say about her photos, “We received the prints and love them! We already have them displayed in our new house!! We have gotten so many compliments already ”

Libby says that rather than fill the walls of their home with art they are doing a yearly photo collage. They get the same Pottery Barn frame and fill it with a variety of sizes of prints in both horizontal and vertical. They wanted the whole family, the children together and each child alone. We knocked the whole family part out first, as often that is the most difficult. To capture images of Megan, a 16-month-old, I just followed her around as she went about her toddler ways. She went up and down the two stairs in the studio about 100 times, she was nice enough to lick the studio windows clean and we then wandered around the yard looking for the cat.

For Ben, who is a very smart five-year-old, I had to employ different methods- BRIBERY! I had gone to a children’s photography seminar a couple of years ago in which a very well-respected, nationally known children’s portrait photographer instructed us all to bribe children with candy so they would sit still for a photo. I cannot do that in good conscience as I don’t want folks to leave their photo shoot with kids all jacked up on sugar. I am not saying I never will, but so far other methods have worked well. So I bribed Ben with getting to ride a battery-powered truck we have. I told him if he was my “helper” that he would get to learn to use the truck and he happily obliged. When children leave a KPO Photo Family Story I want them to feel like they have just been a fun play date, not a boring old family portrait.

You can see the WHOLE STORY HERE.

You can see the WHOLE story in their GALLERY.