Lindsey and Casey

Since posting some of the photos on Facebook and on my website I have gotten rave reviews and tons of questions about the bride in the waterfall. Her name is Lindsey and when I first met with her back in October she told me she wanted to do a Trash the dress before the wedding in a cheaper dress, so I looked forward to it all winter, I love it when people have crazy ideas for shoots! I also almost hate to use Trash the dress to describe what we did, the session was actually quite refreshing and made for some rather elegant images just enjoying a mountain stream and having fun. A few days prior to that we had a cool e-session in Greenville. The wedding was no less awesome as the morning storms gave way to an awesome May Saturday at Lake Lure. Casey's Dad actually married them and promised a big party to follow, which certainly happened at the Rumbling Bald resort. The now famous Aaron Morrell provided his creative eye at both the wedding and TTD session. Best Wishes to Casey and Lindsey who now call the Carolinas home.

see more photo pictures set to music songs here: www.aaronimaging.com/wolf

Best thing since crunchy peanut butter

This post is to introduce you to the new A.I. associate photographer Aaron Morrell. Besides having a cool first name and looking like Moby, he is pretty swift with a camera. I met Aaron back in 92 when he was displaying his visual art nationally. He would photograph scenes and objects then paint them, thus the camera skills. ( see his facebook for some of the artwork) , then last year when I heard he was into video I hired him to do my promo video ( which is ready now, so call me and I'll send you one!) He started doing video and stills at weddings and helping me out a bunch so this is a natural progression. To get the ball rolling and build up a killer portfolio we are offering Aaron for complete wedding coverage + custom album for $1500, so tell all your friends.

Cassidy and Trey

About a year ago, I was browsing Tigernet ( Clemson Sports Website) and one of the fans posted that they were newly engaged, so after Congrats I said hey if you need a photographer....... And so that's how I got to know Trey and Cassidy. They are an awesome couple who have been sweethearts since they were just kids. Aaron Morrell and myself photographed their ceremony in Piedmont SC and then the Rock'n reception at the Turner House in Greer SC. The Tiger mascot made a surprise appearance and it was a great chance to introduce Aaron M to the excitment of Clemson sports. Best Wishes to them as they head off to Virginia to start a new life together!

To view more photos go to www.aaronimaging.com/trey

Incredible music project

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If you haven't seen this yet , you must. What a neat project. It just so happens that one of the musicians is "Grandpa Elliot" who turned up in my little street photo project in New Orleans. Small world!

La' Zendra and Brian's Charleston Wedding

ring shot by Zac n black

The long awaited Charleston Wedding of La'Zendra and Brian was just as spectacular as expected. They tied the knot in a lively ceremony in Northern Charleston, then the wedding party was whisked off in a stretch Hummer to downtown Charleston where a breath-taking ball room awaited for the festive reception. Then they were treated to a horse carriage ride downtown where Zac and I tagged along to create some portraits in the historic district. One thing that sticks out in my mind, is the incredible character of both Brian and La'Zendra and how awesome they were to work with. Our tour guide pointed out an awesome tree that only blooms 1 week per year and it was in bloom and awesome. The only problem was that another wedding party was in the area. Since it was a public square we had every right to create our images there too, but La'Zendra opted to go elsewhere, out of respect for the bride who was already there and may not appreciate seeing other brides. Wow, that's class.

Anyway contributing to the awesomeness was a star studded group of handpicked vendors, many from Asheville. Aaron Imaging ( that's me) captured the stills while being joined by Zac in Black ( aka Zac Thomas). The Enchanted Florist amazed everyone with the crazy awesome florals. The complex ceremony was directed perfectly by the great Lisa McMillan of Exquisite Events and the world class reception was entrusted to the legendary Nicole Rilley of Verge Events. Dylan Skidmore of Blazing Sounds turned in another flawless performance as emcee and DJ of the party despite his basketball injury.

Congrats again to Brian and La'Zendra!

PS Almost forgot see more photos here www.aaronimaging.com/danforth

April 14th

Today is Ericka and I's 13th anniversary. April 14th is also the name of this cool song. Enjoy!

New Date Open

Some have asked about July 18th 2009 for wedding photography, and it is now available, so feel free to contact me about booking this date!

Sarah and Jake

Thanx to Zac in Black Thomas for the fabulous ring shots

As promised below, I wanted to share some photos from Sarah and Jake's Ruston LA wedding. I enjoyed getting to know both Sarah and Jake a little bit as well as thier many friends and family. I also enjoyed seeing former a.i. bride, now wedding planner, Ashley Hall and her husband Ryan who is becoming quite the photographer himself. After a sweet ceremony we enjoyed a lavishly decorated reception with some killer cajun fare. I really dig all the dishes they have with Crawdads and if you know me I cannot get enough shrimp or any shellfish for that matter. After the reception Sarah and Jake were sent off to Mexico with a cool firework display. You can see a slideshow from the big day by clicking right here.

a.i. on da bayou

I was very happy to be part of Sarah and Jakes wedding in Ruston La ( photos coming soon) and I was happy to make my first visit to the Big Easy. New Orleans was as cool as advertised. in fact for a combination of music, art, food, and people watching, it may just have my beloved NYC beat. However it was a sobering trip in many respects, it was obvious that the average person ( such as myself) does not fully appreciate what they went through. I watched the news like everyone else but it wasn't until I talked to the gentleman below that I really started to appreciate what these folks went through. He told us about wading in waist deep water past corpses to fnd shelter at the Superdome, where again he had to avoid dead bodies. He saw women giving birth and he saw people die because they lacked medication. The photo below will inspire me for a long time to remember that night when I finally started to grasp Katrina.

Another image that really I feel strongly about came from the backroads of Mississippi. In a tiny town with one bank and no red lights, we found ourselves the only customers in a mom and pop dinner. We talked with the owner and his wife who are apparently raising their grand daughter. The owner was telling me he used to be a truck driver but wanted to settle down, so he opened up the dinner in what was once a busy little town. Then as he told us about how the town was drying up and times were tough, he started looking out at the empty streets with a look of concern for his family. I didn't ask, I just did what comes naturally, I fired off an exposure , hoping he wouldn't mind. He didn't seem to mind. His grand daughter (?) Seirra not knowing about the recession or the economy or any of sort just jumped around and begged us to play with her and take her photo. I will never forget these images and these people.

To see more of my photo documentary of New Orleans, the happy , sad, and sometimes scary faces of the Big Easy. Click this link www.aaronimaging.com/la then drop by and let me know what you thought.

Castle Ladyhawke

Castle Ladyhawke is the hot new wedding location in the mountains. The Castle sits on a mountainside surrounded by undisturbed forest and pasture, just north of Cashiers. I was fortunate enough to be able to have a photo shoot there a few weeks ago. I was very impressed, to say the least, with the incredible castle and grounds, and the photo possibilities are almost endless. We had Barnabas and Danilelle ( a former a.i. couple) from Cashiers and Nathan ( guitarist with The Great Imponderables) and Hannah from Asheville, as our real life model couples and they did great! Zac helped out and Aaron Morrell of Grae Skye Studios came up to film some video footage. Our awesome flower arrangements were created by the exclusive Blossoms at Biltmore Park. I also want to give a very special thank you to the owners and staff of Castle Ladyhawke for letting us explore this unique venue with our cameras.

The Castle is booking quickly as you can imagine. I can't wait to be a part of some of the weddings that will happen there at the castle.

My slide show from the day can be found here: www.aaronimaging.com/castle

Aaron Morrell's video projects can be found here: http://www.vimeo.com/3520654 and http://www.vimeo.com/3452527