Chaffin Family

Yeah, I disappeared for a while there....

School started about two weeks ago, and for the entire week before school starts, I go into teacher mode and the rest of my life pretty much has to shut down in order for me to get ready for the upcoming year. For some reason that is beyond me, we also decided to move that same week! Needless to say, I have literally had NO time until now to sit down and edit pictures. I'm finally hitting it really hard this week. And without further ado, here is some of what I've been working on...

I got to meet up with the Chaffin family back in August, and they were such a fun group! They all met up here in the mountains for a family vacation. I took their pictures on the last day of their trip and we had such a blast! I hope you guys enjoy these. Sorry for such a large share, but ya'll have been so patient in waiting for these that I wanted to put several on here. Enjoy!

Batman and Snow White

I got to visit my friends Jen and Brian's house the other day and take pictures of her adorable kiddos, Abram and Alden. They are such fun kids and I love hanging out with them. They are pretty used to me, so it didn't take long for their goofy sides to come shining through. We set up the background stand in Jen's living room and just let the kids play. I think they had a good time, but I'm not sure if they had as good of a time as Jen and I had watching them :) We got some great funny face pictures and they also dressed up in their halloween costumes. It's not every day that I get to meet such celebrities as Batman and Snow White. Enjoy guys!

Christmas in July Special Ending Soon!

The Christmas in July Special will be ending Friday. Don't forget to book your upcoming family session and save 20% on your future order. Book today and save!

Hannah's Bridal Shoot

While I was visiting my mom in Charlotte, I got to meet up with Hannah to take her bridal pictures at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens. It was quite possibly one of the hottest days in recorded history. Despite the weather, we had such a blast! Hannah is such a fun gal, and she was hamming it up for the camera like she was an old pro. I mean honestly though, if I was as tiny as she is, I would be showing the camera some love too :)

My charger officially bit the dust this week. I am not kidding, I actually made sparks fly out of the thing on more than one occasion, which is just never what you want. So, thanks to my good friend Gianna, whose charger is the same kind my computer uses, I was able to get enough of a charge to open a few images of Hannah to add to my blog.

I hope you like this small sneak peek Hannah. Thanks for being so much fun!

I am so in love with this picture. I love the shape of her dress, I love the parasol, I love the way the sun is shining down on her, and of course I'm absolutely head over heels in love with this arbored walkway.

She jumped into one of the fountains without hesitation (we of course had to wait until the gardner that was following us around had left so we didn't get into trouble). I think her mom thought I was crazy when I asked her if she wanted to do it, but I love it and I'm glad it turned out the way it did.


These were taken in the orchid garden (aka: the hottest and most humid builing on the face of the planet). I love the way the flowers look in these. Is she not just the cutest little thing ever?!?

Carter Family

Last week, I got to meet up with the Carter Family for a photo shoot at Deep Creek. They were on vacation here from Florida. I think it was a little bittersweet for them because their oldest son is getting ready to leave for a two year mission and their second oldest son is leaving for college in the fall. Becky and Fletch have six (that's right, I said six) of of the coolest kids! You could really tell how much all the members of the family loved each other. I love this picture because you can really get a sense of who they are as a family. I had a blast with you guys, and I hope you enjoy your quick little sneak peek!

Elizabeth + Eddie

I couple of weeks ago, I was able to shoot Elizabeth and Eddie's wedding in Stecoah. They have a beautiful house out there and were able to have their adorable garden wedding, right there at home. It was such a wonderful wedding with all their closest family. I was so honored to be a part of their special day! Here are a few quick shots from the wedding. Enjoy guys!

My Cool Name Art

I finally finished our name art from when were on vacation! I know you've all been dying to see my finished product :) I'm doing them as 4x6's and then framing them each individually so I can put them up in our house however I want. It might change again, I'm not 100% convinced that these are the pics I want to stick with. I took a lot of different options for each letter, so we'll see what I end up with when I eventually get them printed. Maybe this will inspire you guys to get out there and do your own version!

Luna Family

I had the pleasure of meeting the Luna Family about a week ago. They are all the way from Alabama and were vacationing here with their adorable family. I loved getting to play around with them and take some really cute pictures. Here is the first quick look at Deacon and Penny. I loved the location they were staying at, and can't wait to use this cool old fire truck in some future pictures. I hope you enjoy your quick sneak peek Jill and Ryan!

Miley Mania!

While we were on vacation in Tybee Island, Miley Cyrus was filming a Nicholas Sparks' movie called "The Last Song." They had just gotten down there the week we were there. The day before we left, we were on the beach, doing our own beachy thing, and we noticed that they had set up a fake carnival on the beach, closed down the pier, and people were obviously getting ready to do something. Come to find out, they were going to start filming that day and they eventually made everyone clear out of this one section of the beach - which was also the section of the beach we were on. It also happened to be the busiest section of the beach in Tybee Island, so everyone getting moved was quite an experience to see. Thanks so my sister-in-law, Meggan, we were able to get a pretty good spot to watch them film. Of course, I had my camera out and was snapping away as fast as humanly possible. I don't have a telephoto lens, so the quality on these isn't fantastic since I had to zoom in and crop them on the computer.

So, watching this whole filming experience was pretty interesting. They had people working down there for quite a while. You could tell when the "important people" got out there because they had security following their every move, and that was when everyone was made to get off the beach. In fact, right when those very important people walked by, my friend's daughter Rose (who is very much two right now) had just woken up from her nap and was in the process of changing into her swimmy and bathing suit. Any of you who have ever changed a two year old know there is a point where there's going to be some nakedness happening. Well, they walk by, and she's butt-naked. To add to it, she had also decided that was the perfect time to pee. My friend just apologized and laughed because what else are you going to do with a toddler in that situation?!? It was classic...

You'll notice in these pictures that there are lots of people still on the beach where Miley is. Don't be fooled! These were all extras that were brought in. I felt bad for them too. There were quite a few people that had to ride on those carnival rides for about four hours. Others had to stand in the ocean, and the people that got it the worst were the ones that just had to walk back and forth carrying beach gear. What was really fun was trying to see how many people would try to casually walk past the security guards and the cops to try to get to the part of the beach where they were filming. They tried to act like they had no idea why there was a horde of people forming a very definite line on the beach, and then why there was all this equipment everywhere. One lady actually let her twin girls just run to see if they could get to where Miley was! It was insanity!

They had poor Miley out on the beach in scorching heat in a full black outfit with a sweater and boots! Apparently, she's a bit of a weirdo in the movie, because I've never known anyone to dress that way at the beach, especially not on a hot Georgia day. I felt bad for her for about five seconds, but then I remembered that she's making more money than I'll see in my lifetime, and I didn't feel so bad anymore...

Anyway, after that insanely long post, enjoy these pics :)



Here is the entire view of that last picture. This is all the movie equipment that had to be up in order to film her for about an hour simply walking back and forth. Seriously, all that effort was put into filming her walking. All this stuff was needed just for that. I couldn't imagine having to pay all these people...



And alas, it was all over as soon as it started. Miley was whisked off in her golf cart. When she left, the majority of the crew did too. All that was left were a few camera guys and Miley's body double. You'll notice that they are both in this picture, and I've pointed them out with red arrows. They were dressed exactly the same, and from a distance they looked a lot alike. The body double had to stay and do all the work that didn't involve Miley's face. They filmed just her feet and stuff like that. Poor girl, all the work and no recognition :(



I hope you enjoyed my little brush with fame. This is as close as I will ever get I'm sure! :)

Christmas in July Special...Yay!

I know, I know...it's only July. Why in the world am I mentioning Christmas already?!? Last year I started my business in October, and I wasn't quite prepared for the response I was going to get. I was so blessed to have so many people that believed in my photography so quickly, and I started booking up slots very fast. In fact, I got sooooo swamped it was ridiculous! It obviously wasn't the smartest move to start my business right before Christmas when people were going to be wanting Christmas pictures, but I honestly didn't think I would get the response that I got. I also didn't want to turn away clients since I was just starting out my business, and so I quickly got busier than I could handle. Last year, I learned my lesson and will not put myself into a crunch like I did before.

Because of this, the cutoff for booking Christmas pictures this year will be Sunday, November 15th. This is the last day I will guarantee that your pictures will be done and delivered to you in time for Christmas. I am setting this date very early because so many people want pictures to send out on cards or give as gifts, and this still allows for them to be done by the beginning of December - plenty of time to send them out as cards or give as gifts. Of course, you can book after that date, but I am not guaranteeing that your pictures will be ready in time for Christmas. If you do not care if your pictures are done in time for gifts or cards, and you just want pictures of your family, then you may book anytime after that date as well.

I am also running a Christmas in July special right now! If you book your family session anytime between now and Friday, July 31st, you will receive 20% off your order! This can apply to prints, cards, canvases, digital collections...anything you want to order! As an added bonus, the first person to contact me (afreshour@gmail.com) with a booking will receive double that amount - 40% off their order!

Here's the fine print:
- Session must take place before December 31, 2009
- Session fee must be paid by July 31st in order to book your date and receive the discount

****Update*****
I've already had my first person respond, so the 40% off is taken. I've also had a couple of people already sign up to get the 20% off as well. Slots fill up quickly, so be sure to sign up before they're gone! Just drop me an email with the date you want. Thanks to those who've already gotten their spots :)

Hunting in Savannah

I wasn't hunting big game in the middle of Savannah, I swear :)

I love the photos of letters you can get at various stores, and I've wanted to do our last name for a while now. I just can't bring myself to buy them when I'm a photographer and can certainly do them myself. Now, needless to say, Bryson City is definitely lacking in its architectual prowess (no offense to my lovely little town, but it is). So, I vowed while we were on vacation to try to find the letters to spell out our last name. While we were in Savannah today, I was able to find almost all of them! I was so excited! Of course, once again, I looked quite odd photographing the cover of a manhole and the wrought-iron of a fence. But hey, I love them! I think it's cool that I will be able to say where all the letters came from and how each will have its own little story. Chad wants to go back another day this week, so I'm hoping I can find two R's and an E that I like, since those were the only ones I couldn't find that I really liked. Here's what I have so far, let me know what you think!

Ahhh....vacation....

This has been my view the past few days :)

It's my first time at Tybee Island, but I'm totally digging it so far. Word on the street is that Mylie Cyrus is filming a Nicholas Sparks movie here right now. This little 3-mile island is quite abuzz with all this celebrity...

I prefer to just chill on the beach, lay on the ground like a crazy person, and take pictures of shells. I kept finding small shells stuck in my cellulite all day long after this, I guess this picture explains why, since this is what I was laying on top of :)

Niblo Wedding

Awhile back, I posted about a wedding I did. I know you all have been just dying to see more of the pictures from that wedding. Don't lie, you know you've been losing sleep over it...

Well, here are the two lovebirds I had the pleasure of capturing that day! Bill and Lisa had such a fun, intimate wedding at the Andon-Reid Inn in Waynesville. I loved being a part of their day, and I loved how their pictures turned out. Check out the rest of their wedding slideshow by clicking here.

A little late posting this...

I had such a great time with Becky and her family a couple of weeks ago. I'm really late posting this, but I wanted to give them something to look at over the next day or two while I finish their pictures. I just wanted to put these of the three boys because they show their personalities so well :) I hope you guys like them!

New Stuff!

I just wanted to do a quick post about my brand spanking new product guide! I worked on it over Christmas break, and then never really got to finish it up. It's still not completely finished with everything I want to add, but for now it will do, because I probably will not have time to work on it again until school is out for the summer. I've got a lot of packages and other fun stuff in the works, and I'll be sure to post on here when I get more added to it. So here it is! You can also access it through my website under the pricing section.

For those really observant ones out there, you'll notice that I also added pricing for event photography. I get lots of requests for birthday parties and reunions. These types of events are different because of the amount of pictures involved. It's not a traditional portrait session, and I had to change my pricing for these a bit. I'm compensating a little bit by offering huge discounts on discs with all the images included. I know if I was having a photographer come in for a birthday party, I wouldn't be able to choose and would want all the images I could get my hands on. Just email me if you want more info about booking a party or other special event!

Just one from a wedding today...

Today was my first official paid wedding that I've done as a photographer. I had a blast! Lisa and Bill are such a fun couple, and with only 20 or so guests, it was just a nice intimate gathering. The inn keepers at the Andon Reid Inn in Waynesville were wonderful hosts. Here is just one quick sneak peak. This is one of my favorite shots of the day. We snapped this really quickly during the reception. Red was their color, and I think the red shoes were such a cool touch!