Devon & Billy – Uptown Wedding – Charlotte Wedding Photographer

She sent her BFF a very simple text “Last night I kissed Billy Birch.”  A text so simple, yet so powerful that it resulted in an immediate phone call.:-)  And the rest is history.  Devon & Billy knew each other in high school, and even went to college together at NC State, but this legendary text wasn’t sent until 4 years after college when they ran into each other in Charlotte.  Their friends could tell this was going to be something special, and on Saturday, August 21st, they made that something special permanent. I thoroughly enjoyed shooting this wedding with Tish Mackay Photography – thanks to Devon & Billy for letting us be a part of such an awesome day.

The day began with hair & makeup by the talented Genc Bugija at Modern Salon & Spa Uptown.  Devon is absolutely BEAUTIFUL, and Genc managed to bring out her natural beauty fabulously!

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Bride + mustache?  Probably not what Billy was expecting to see, but still cute.:-)

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The finishing touches almost brought some tears – almost – thank goodness for waterproof makeup!

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After a few hours of XBox, the guys made their way over to the church in typical guy fashion – horseplay.  I love Billy’s expression in this shot – he was clearly thrilled to be marrying the love of his life, and you couldn’t wipe this HUGE smile off his face.:-)

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The flowers were beautiful, and the handkerchief on the bouquet was her “something old.”

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I had never been inside St. Peter’s Uptown, and I was just floored by the architecture.  Older churches like this are just gorgeous – the lighting gives photographers fits, but it’s just hard to beat the atmosphere a church like this provides.

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A special guest was there to greet Devon & Billy after they walked down the aisle – Bailey, the show-stealing pup from their engagement session.  It was pretty clear from the furry smiles that Bailey was thrilled to see her parents tie the knot.:-)

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St. Peter’s has these AMAZING red doors on the front of the church – LOVE that pop of color as a backdrop!

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More red doors and a little fun with the whole group…

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Go Wolfpack!!

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I had so much fun with the macro lens I rented for this wedding that I had a hard time picking the perfect ring shot – the green bokeh in this one was a lot of fun to play with!

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First dance – I just love the way Billy’s looking at Devon here…

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After the wedding I tweeted “Paul wins the award for Best Man Ever – he owned that dance floor!”  I wasn’t kidding or over exaggerating!  He was amazing, and this pic doesn’t even begin to do him justice – you go Paul!

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Congrats to Billy & Devon and thanks for an AMAZING night Uptown.  Hope you had a great time on your honeymoon to Hawaii and best wishes on your future together!

Wells Fargo Volunteer Kick-off Event | Charlotte Event Photographer

Red K Photography has had the opportunity to shoot several Wells Fargo/Wachovia events this year – ranging from DJs and Stagecoaches to Yankee Stadium, but this Volunteer Kick-off Event was by-far the most exciting of 2010.  The Atrium Uptown was packed with non-profit organizations from around the Charlotte area, and anyone walking through couldn’t help but be drawn into the pure excitement surrounding them.  Ronald McDonald House, American Red Cross, YMCA, Second Harvest Food Bank and more than 25 other organizations were on-hand to recruit volunteers and share their story.  You could feel the community spirit as you walked around to visit the tables.  Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day, including my new favorite inflatable mascot from Community Blood Centers.  He was only there for the first half of the event, and once I noticed him missing I said to the event planner, “We lost the blood!” And she responded, “Only a drop.” Ba dum ching.:-)

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Shoe Affliction

There are very few things that make me happier than a new pair of shoes.  And I’m not talking about just really expensive shoes – I do not discriminate – I love ALL new shoes that belong to me.  Chuck Taylors, Reef flip flops, Crocs with a furry lining, if it’s a shoe, it’s for me.  New shoes have that new shoe smell that reminds me of a shoe store. :-)A shoe store with rows and rows of shoes in my size just waiting to be tried on.  I know, it’s a little bit crazy, but I know exactly where it comes from – my Mother.  She introduced me to the wonders of shoes at a very early age.

The top shelf of my Mother’s closet has always been reserved for shoes.  She keeps all of her shoes in their original boxes, organized by color, then style.  For example, there’s a section for black and in that section you might find 3 boxes – flats, pumps, and sling backs.  A similar section exists for navy, tan, etc.  You get the idea.  Brilliant organization method in my opinion.  I can remember watching my mother select shoes for work and thinking “One day maybe I’ll have that many shoes.”  A girl can dream!:-)  When Off Broadway shoes opened, my Mother and I decided to swing by and take a look.  When we walked through the door she said, “Oh Kelli, it’s heaven.”  And I totally agreed.  It’s just in my blood.

So when a package from Zappos arrived on my doorstep this afternoon, my heart began to race and I opened it at once.  Best. Wednesday. Ever.  After the package was opened, the smell was smelt, and the shoes graced my feet, the next most logical thing to do was obvious – tweet about it.:-)  I posted “Oh happy Wednesday! I just love seeing this logo on my doorstep:-)#iloveshoes ” (with a photo of the package attached).  It seriously made me smile all afternoon just thinking about it.  And then a friend replied “my wife has a similar affliction.”  I seriously laughed out loud.  An affliction?  I’d never thought of it that way!  Well if you’re going to have an affliction – best affliction ever!!  And then I started thinking about it – maybe I am a little too obsessed?  So I looked backed through some of my pics for the last few months…I’ll just go ahead and say it – My name is Kelli and I have a shoe affliction.

Here’s a photo I took of the last amazing delivery from Zappos in March.  A bright, shiny new pair of red Chuck Taylors. :-)Totally photo-worthy.

And here’s a photo of shoes on my feet from February – I do not own these shoes, but for some reason I felt the need to capture the moment of having them on my feet. What was I thinking???

This time no feet in the shoes – but this composition kind of makes you grateful that you’re able to bask in the glow of these amazing shoes.  They participated in the Cooper River Bridge Run this year, so they didn’t have to be on my feet to get their photo taken.:-)

After finding the last 3 pics in my files I thought “I bet I took a shoe pic on vacation.”  Sure enough – but this time I made my husband participate.  Here are our feet/shoes on a cruise ship.  Okay, I confess, it’s an affliction, but I embrace it proudly.:-)

And BTW – for those of you wondering what was in the Zappos package today – 2 new pair of flip flops.:-)  My shoe affliction has always pretty much centered on flip flops, and these new additions were welcomed into my closet with open arms and reserved placement right next to the other flip flops of similar color/style.

August 27, 2010 - 11:36 am

tish - I totally need some new flats and maybe a new pair of gray chucks. On the must buy list. Nothing wrong with shoe love. Congrats on the new pairs of flippy-floppies.

Macro Madness!

I recently rented a 105mm f/2.8 macro lens from Lensrentals.com for a wedding shoot.  WOW!  Lenses are a huge expense for photographers, and it’s an investment I don’t make lightly.  There are some lenses you can hear about and without a doubt think – “yep, I’ll have one!”  I was totally unfamiliar with macro photography, so I wanted to play around a little before I dove in head first.  I just can’t say enough good things about this lens, but I can tell you that the UPS man had to pry it out of my hands for return. :-)  So as a tribute to my new favorite toy that somebody else owns, here are a few of my fave macro shots from the last few days.

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I totally lucked out on the day the lens arrived – it was pouring rain!  I stood on our front porch taking pictures of every rain drop I could find.:-)  This s a bud on a crepe myrtle tree in front of our house – in real life it’s about 1 cm big!

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I recently got a new Cannondale bike – I love this thing so much I could ride it all day, so I decided it needed a little blog love too.:-)

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This little flower grows right next to our garage.  It’s only about 1 inch in diameter!!!  Check out the little fuzzies on the petals.  Love it!

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This is a rubber band ball!  Crazy, I know (me and the ball):-)!

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Uptown Wedding – Sneak Peek – Charlotte Wedding Photographer

Just a quick sneak peek from the wedding I shot this weekend with Tish Mackay Photography.  Great weather, BEAUTIFUL church and an amazing bridal party!  Can’t wait to share more….

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