Annalisa and Matthew

What a beautiful day we had at Bald Head Island, North Carolina for the wedding of Matthew and Annalisa. Here is their movie poster teaser. More photos are to come later this week.

Steelers 2012

I finally got out and shot some photos for fun!!! Here are some from my 3 year old's soccer game today. Go Steelers!!!

Danielle and Justin

It was so exciting to shoot Danielle and Justin's engagement photos in downtown Charlotte, NC. We had a great time. Thank you so much to Mez at the Epicenter in Downtown Charlotte for allowing us to film in their establishment. I am really looking forward to their wedding in September. Here are a few samples from their engagement shoot.

Mellanie and David

It was such a pleasure to finally get to photograph Mellanie and David's engagement photos. We took a spin around MacGregor Golf Club. Thanks to the Golf Club for loaning us a couple of golf carts. The weather couldn't have been better! I can't wait to shoot their wedding in May at the NCSU Arboretum.

Here is a sneak peek....

Back to Work

I am so excited that I am back to work this Saturday. After a 6 week delay, I am finally able to shoot again marking my debut here in America!!! I will be at MacGregor Downs Golf Club in Cary, NC, shooting Mellanie and David's engagement photos on Saturday evening. It is supposed to be great weather (finger's crossed). Their wedding in Raleigh is coming up quickly and we need to get these photos done!

Thank you to the management at MacGregor Downs for providing us with their hospitality and golf carts!!

Stay tuned for a sneak peek of their photos next week.

New Equipment - First Impressions

Not only was yesterday Valentines Day, it also felt like Christmas.

I received my shipment of my new equipment!!! Most notably was the new Quantum Q-Flash X5d-r. Time will tell but I am missing my old Q-Flash. The new model is lighter weight (good) but with inferior plastic housing and control. The "modeling" light is not a continuous light source but a sickening strobe ??? Still trying to figure THAT one out. However, on the plus side, you can set pre-programmed settings which make switching settings much easier.  I can't wait to use it. I am sure I will warm up to it (I never did use the modeling light much anyway). 

I also got the new Canon ef 70-200 2.8 L IS lens (which replaced my old but trustworthy Canon ef 70-200 2.8 L) Being prone to motion sickness, I am not thrilled with the IS feature, however, I am going to start doing more "fusion" photography which will include some HD video. For this reason alone, I went for the IS model. 

The best gadget, and what I am going to rate as the best gadget of the year is my Custom Brackets rotating camera bracket. It is a flash bracket with a rotating camera plate which allows me to shoot vertically without rotating the flash for more even flash coverage in vertical. Super cool!!!  

Here is the manufacturers photo of the Custom Brackets Digital PRO-E bracket I just bought. 

My biggest concern before I bought is was clearance for a larger SLR. This is not a problem. The only constraint is that with the 70-200 lens on the tripod mount on the lens must be rotated 90 degrees to the side (no biggie) or removed. I opted to rotate the mount.

This is the kit I can't wait to use the most. My first major test will be in a week or so for my big engagement shoot in downtown Charlotte.

 

Now enough playing with my new toys. I HAVE to get back to finishing up wedding albums I have working...

Credit Cards Now Accepted!!

Wow!! We have moved into the modern age of plastic!! Tie the Knot Films and Nikki McKenna Photography now accept Visa, Mastercard AND Discover.

It's engagement season and we are taking bookings like crazy. 2012 is going to be a great year for us!!!

I will be posting some new work in the next couple of weeks so keep a lookout!!