NYC. Lincoln Center. Engagement session. Maureen and Richard. We shot at Lincoln Center on a day that was cloudy with a strong chance of thunderstorms. Cloudy, I can do. I actually prefer to shoot on cloudy days because it creates a really soft, diffused light that I love. The rain though? Not so much...so I prayed that the rain would hold out and we commenced to shooting. 

Hey everyone! I hope you're doing well. I just got back from a fun and incredibly busy 5 day trip to NYC. As always I jammed a bunch of activity into the small space of that time. I took a trip to the 9/11 museum and memorial, skated at the new Pier 2 skating rink in Brooklyn Bridge Park, visited with family and friends and shot some amazing sessions and events. But most of all, I had the pleasure of spending some quality time with my Mom and my 2 South African brothers that she has hosted for the past 2 summers. 

Let me elaborate. My home church in Brooklyn, (shout out to Emmanuel Baptist Church, aka EBC) has a program where they do a number of things for the Pretoria, South Africa community. This includes the sponsorship of various groups of children from Pretoria. The children are brought to stay in New York for the summer where they participate in a number of activities that encourage educational, spiritual and personal growth. They are each matched up with a volunteer host parent who has been carefully selected and who has a huge heart for children. My mom has been a host parent for about 5 or 6 years now and 2 years ago, she was matched up with not one, but two boys!

Meet Maxwell...

...and Happy...

These two young men stole my heart when I met them last year. Maxwell is rambunctious and full of energy. He is a self-proclaimed business man and knows that success is in his future. Happy lives up to his name. He has a smile that is contagious and is super easygoing. My mom has had her hands full with these two over the past 5 weeks, but she loves it. I know that they have been a blessing to her and for that, I am grateful. 

I think that I've told you all before, but I'm a business student at East Carolina University. (Go Pirates!!!) I'm a distance education student, which means that all of my courses are online. This is really great for me because instead of spending time commuting, I can use that time to focus on learning more about the art of photography, practicing and building up Chronicles Photography as much as I can before I graduate. 

Since I'm entering my senior year, I decided that I wanted to apply for some business related internships. Two opportunities presented themselves and I applied for both. One was more corporate oriented and one was geared more toward photography. While the corporate position was a paid one, there were issues with the environment that didn't sit well with me. The photography internship was unpaid but promised a lot of practical photography and business experience and entrance to a photography conference that I had been wanting to attend. I chose the photography internship at Kelly Martin Photography and have been so blessed by the process!

Kelly is one of the most giving, humble people that I know. She has an intense passion to share her knowledge, even though we are in an arena that is super competitive. She doesn't care! She just wants others to learn as much as they can, which is why she founded the CLIC Conference. CLIC is a conference for any level of photographer who is interested in breaking into the wedding industry. The speakers that she has lined up also have a passion to share and teach and are UH-mazing. I can't wait to be a part of it next month.

Needless to say, I'm so glad that I did not go with the corporate internship. Knowing what I know now, that internship wouldn't have meshed well with the courses I took this summer. I probably would have failed one of those classes had I taken the internship. I'm glad that I listened to God and went with my passion. In the process I've learned so much, met some wonderful people and have had my heart filled beyond measure. This...is living!

There are so many negative images in the media regarding marriage. Terms like "The Old Ball and Chain" and "The Warden" make marriage seem more like jail than anything else. That's why it's such a pleasure to me when I can document a couple who have grown in their relationship and are as vibrant (maybe even more so) as the day they met.

Hi, hi, hi! I'm back with another post about branding Chronicles Photography. Today I'll be chatting about branding the client experience. I've been talking about the steps that I've been taking to fully infuse my personality and style into all aspects of Chronicles Photography. My first branding post was about my creative space. If you missed it, you can read about it here. Now, on to the client experience.

The first thing that I asked myself is what would my wedding client's experience look like? I had a number of questions, including this one: "What would my ideal experience be as a bride who has booked a wedding photographer?" My answer? Information. In addition to them producing beautiful images from my day, I would want to know what to expect from my photographer. I would want information that I could refer back to. And me being me, I'd want that information to be presented in a stylish way. So I put together a beautiful kit that my couples will receive in the mail upon booking my services. It includes my contract, all of the various ways to get in contact with me and a few other tidbits of information. 

The groom is often left out of this part of the wedding planning, so I've even included a little something in the packet for him. Thank me later guys!