Lumos Studio » e-session

Engagement Session: Melissa and Brandon

J.P. — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 20:33:46 +0000

First off, we’d like to wish a very happy Thanksgiving to all our visitors. We have had an amazing 2010, and have more to be thankful for than we can possibly recount here. Leaving aside family, friends, health, safety, awesome television shows, peppermint milkshakes, Snuggies, and pre-cooked, pre-sliced ham, we have the absolute most wonderful, most beautiful clients we could ask for. Furthermore, we have folks like you, who visit us here and who share our photos with your friends. It’s tremendously encouraging that people are visiting our site and enjoying what we do and love. Thank you for being a part of that.

Now on to the photos!

We first met Brandon and Melissa a couple of years ago and, I’ll be perfectly honest here, started thinking about how to get them as clients. True, they weren’t engaged yet, but they were so cute together and so clearly in love that we were pretty sure which way they were headed. Turns out we were right!

The two of them drove down to Columbia on a beautiful and mercifully cool day in October and we got to hang out and photograph them. The clouds were gorgeous, so we tried to make the most of it, as you’ll see below.

We also decided to use the river as a backdrop for a bit, which was great, until a small fleet (fleetlet?) of brightly-colored kayaks came floating by. Well, most of them came floating by; one got stuck immediately behind Brandon and Melissa for a couple of minutes. I’ll spare you the photos.

A kiss to celebrate the kayaker getting un-stuck!

We decided one side of the river wasn’t enough, so we went to the other side.

The sky continued to cooperate nicely.

It was really hard choosing photos for this post because these two have so many wonderful expressions.

Like this laugh!

This next one is one of my favorite shots of the day. I think a bug may have flown into Brandon’s mouth, but he handled it with aplomb.

So there you have it!

We’re looking forward to Melissa and Brandon’s wedding, as well as all our other 2011 weddings! In the meantime, though, we hope that you have a restful, thankful holiday surrounded by lots of delicious food (like sweet potato casserole with pecan, not marshmallow topping), and, of course, the ones you love.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sarah & Kyle: Engagement Portraits

J.P. — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:48:11 +0000

A couple of weeks ago Wendy and I headed up to Spartanburg to photograph Kyle and Sarah’s engagement session. Though we know Sarah’s brother, Matt (Isaiah’s dad), it was our first time meeting her and Kyle. As it happens, it was also our last chance to meet Kyle before the wedding, since he was flying back to his home in California the following day and wouldn’t be back until the wedding.

Now, I can’t imagine what it would be like to be away from your fiancee for more than a month immediately before your wedding, but I think when you see the energy between these two, you’ll get some idea of how they feel about each other, and how much they are already looking forward to being reunited.

I swear at no point did we ask them to look like J. Crew models. They did that on their own.

Oh yeah, apparently looking spookily like Scarlett Johansson also comes naturally to Sarah.

Do you think they’ve gotten used to the camera? Maybe?

It’s always good, when shooting an engagement session, to elicit the occasional “Woo-hoo!” from passers-by.

Kyle and Sarah, it was great meeting you two, and we cannot wait to photograph your wedding!

P.S.- We’ve just added Facebook commenting to the blog, so feel free to tell Sarah and Kyle how attractive they are or just generally say nice things using the power of words.

Professional Photographers of South Carolina: February Midlands meet-up

J.P. — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:26:42 +0000

A few weeks ago Wendy and I went out to 701 Whaley here in Columbia for a meeting of the Professional Photographers of South Carolina Midlands chapter. The get together was a “show up and shoot”, meaning that we, well, showed up and shot…pictures (I feel that I should clarify that for my hunting relatives and friends in law enforcement). Lee Bradshaw of One 27 Media (and one of our amazing wedding photographers) set up the meeting, so a couple of weeks before hand I emailed him and asked if they could use any models. He said that some additional models would be appreciated, so I got in touch with Michael and Katie who had recently gotten engaged and who are a stunningly beautiful couple, inside and out. Wendy and I probably hogged them for way more of the night than we should have, and I hope the other photographers there (like the talented and very sweet Stephanie Seay who we met there) didn’t mind too much.

Anyway, we put together a slide show of some of the photos we took. We hope you like it!

At one point, while I was either hogging Michael and Katie or looking over Lee’s shoulder, Wendy grabbed Megan, who also graciously agreed to pose for us that night, and got these glamorous shots…in the bathroom. Yup, for some reason that’s where they keep the really cool furniture at 701 Whaley.

Thanks to the PPofSC and to Lee for putting this together, to 701 Whaley for having us and providing a great backdrop and to our lovely models Katie, Michael, and Megan. You guys rock!

Amie & Chris: Engaged

J.P. — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:46:31 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, we introduced you to Sir Chubbs II, the pug. Chubbs was all decked out for the wedding of Chris and Amie, his awesome owners. We’re going to be photographing Chris and Amie’s wedding next year, but in the meantime, we got some photos of them to help them celebrate their engagement.

Amie and Chris were an absolute blast to work with. First off, a mutual friend told them about our pet allergies so Amie cleaned the apartment where we took Chubbs’s picture to the point that you’d never know an animal (let alone three) lived there…you know, apart from the animals that were there. Even then, she kept checking with us to make sure that we weren’t having any trouble. She is an absolute sweetie!

Chris is actually the one who, when we first met, let us know that the photograph he had to come away with was Chubbs in a tuxedo. Based on the way Chubbs did (almost) exactly what he said during the photo shoot, he’s clearly spent a lot of time with that dog and the affection runs both ways. (Amie seems to like him pretty well, too.)

After shooting Chubbs, we just went downtown and hung around with these two, who made photographing them wonderfully easy. There’s nothing, as far as I can tell, that makes for better engagement or wedding photographs than a couple who are seriously into one another and these two are seriously into one another. They flirt and play and smile and laugh and generally make getting adorable pictures of them a breeze.

I love this shot. Dancing in a parking lot?

No problem.

(I told you they’re fun.)

(I have no idea what Amie is thinking here but I like that Chris is apparently A-OK with it.)

We wrapped things up on USC’s Horseshoe, with the sun casting a gorgeous golden light…

*ahem*

…with the sun casting a gorgeous golden light…

(That’s better.)

…on this lovely couple.

Photographing Chris and Amie was way more fun than it ought to be and we can’t wait to shoot Amie’s bridals and their wedding!

We hope all our readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Leah & Greg: Engaged

J.P. — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:57:39 +0000

This is an especially exciting post for me because the lovely young lady featured in it was my student the first year I taught high school. Leah and Greg met later, though, while they were both attending Lander University. It’s there that Greg, the big romantic, asked Leah out for the first time via AOL Instant Messenger. (Even now, some of you are reminiscing: “Aw, I remember AOL IM!”) Technological nostalgia aside, however, Leah eventually agreed to go on a date with Greg and it must have gone pretty well, because they’re getting married in Greenwood in January.

Greg and Leah decided to have both their engagement photos and Leah’s bridal photos taken on the same day, and Leah was an absolute trooper posing for us for hours on end. She had a fantastic attitude toward it, though, and it shows in her pictures. (You’ll have to wait for the bridal portraits, but take my word for it, Greg, you’re going to be blown away!)

We started out with some photos on the Horseshoe at the University of South Carolina.

Leah hopped on Greg’s back in front of the McKissick Museum…

…Wendy and I both thought it was a great idea.

After a while, we moved down to the Vista and found this fantastic wall.

I like that Greg cracks Leah up.

I don’t recall the exact instructions we gave Greg and Leah here, but I think they involved the words, “like a model.” They nailed it.

Greg and Leah, thanks for a wonderful day. We’re looking forward to celebrating and capturing your wedding day.

Everybody else, it’s no TEN (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING, but there are adorable baby photos, some unofficial wedding photos, and possibly a Snuggie photo coming up in the next few days. Check back soon!