Tenth Avenue North . . . again.

Back in October I invited some friends of mine to play a conference I was helping to plan. Their band is called Tenth Avenue North. I met Tenth Avenue North three years ago when they agreed to play our conference then (you can view images from one of those conferences HERE). Since that time they have played the conference for us every year since . . . mainly because they are simply nice guys who are willing to help (they deserved a lot more than we could pay them and they still did it . . . again). I took some pictures of Mike, the lead singer, as he led our conference in worship. I posted some for you to enjoy below. I think their sound is unique, but if I had to pin them down to a style it would be similar to Chris Tomlin. If you like him, then you'll love this.

A lot of times I can't help but wonder if some Christian bands are really "Christian" in their devotion to the Lord or just to the music industry. I can personally attest to these guys and their genuine love for the Lord. They have a unique ability to communicate their passion for the Glory of God. If you want to hear their hearts about this click here. I feel like I have this strange gift of being able to pick out music that is going to top the charts. Their single "Love is Here" is going to be big, as well as "Hold My Heart". You can check their website out here. You can listen to their music on itunes here. So, I'm a big fan and wanted to share them with you. Enjoy.

Ava Turns Three

While Craig was out of town we had a birthday party celebration at our house. One of Caleb and Lydia's friends, Ava was turning 3 and all of her friends live here in Greenville. Ava's mom, Aimee, did a great job decorating and having all the "little details" covered. She had all the things Ava would love - balloons, party hats, cupcakes, pizza, candy, noise makers and trains. You know, most every child has one thing they fixate on. For Caleb, it's drums. For Lydia, it's Little Rabbit Foo Foo. For Ava, it's trains. I took a few shots at the party and wanted to share them with you.

I'm not real sure how Lydia ended up with the RED cupcake - but she did. We laughed because she looked like Betty Boop with big red lips. I wish I had gotten a straight on shot but oh well. . .

Ava took a break to play with the party favor trains. It looks like she's in her own little world. Choo-choo.

Getting a group shot of kids age 3 and under is hard - someone is always moving. However, I like how the movement shows Ava's excitement. She's as sweet in person as she looks on camera. And yes, that is Lydia on the end on the left - we had to disrobe her due to the cupcake mess.

Aimee: great party! Ava will be talking about it for months I'm sure. I'm so glad yall came to spend the weekend - it was wonderful having some face time together.

Browning Family

Mary-Courtney called us a few weeks ago to book a session for her family. She loved our style and couldn't wait to get her family together in front of our lenses. So, we met at a park to capture some of the beautiful fall colors and then we headed out for a more urban style setting. The shoot involved Mary-Courtney and her husband Jason, her brother John and his fiancee' Laura, her sister Elizabeth and their mom, Barden. This family is close-knit, full of laughter and we could tell that they really enjoy being together. They were creative and brought blankets, coffee mugs, and a thermos to show that it was cold outside . . . and it actually was. Too bad there was no real hot cocoa inside because we all could have used some. Despite the cold weather, we had fun and I think they did too.

Here is mom with her kids. I love how they are all laughing.

John and Laura are engaged to be married in August. I'm sure their wedding will be gorgeous as it is planned to be held overlooking the NC mountains.

We found this awesome purple door and just had to get it in a few shots.

Mary-Courtney and Jason are also ECU Alumni and big Pirate fans!

I love this image.

Thanks to all six of you for being troopers and galavanting around town to get these shots. Thanks for being willing to try something new and different.

Warren Family

The Warren Family came to us a year ago to photograph their daughter, Aubrey. We had so much fun that they came back again for us to capture their newest addition, Luke. As I have said many times before, repeat clients are always the highest compliment. As you can see below, they wanted the focus of the shoot to be on the children. What beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes these two have! Aubrey, age five, was as full of life as she was a year ago and she absolutely adores her little brother. There were many hugs and kisses exchanged. Luke was a very happy baby and if I recall correctly, there were no tears shed during this shoot. For a six month old, that is very rare. We did capture a few of Lee and Stephanie with their children because as parents, we know how much those images mean to us as we look back over the past few years.

This is a classic childhood memory, swinging on a beautiful sunny day with no worries.

Aubrey is full of love for her family. The hugs just kept on coming. I hope it's always this way.

These expressions say it all. Aubrey is one fun little girl!

I love the lighting in the photo on the left. The colors burst forth as the rest of the family peeks thru in the back. The one of Luke on the right is rockin'.

I'm diggin' these.

Lee and Stephanie: thank you for choosing us once again to capture the smiles of you and your family. I had a blast and I hope these images will take you back to this point in time as you look at them in the future.

Our State Magazine

Sometime back in August I received a call from Our State Magazine. They wanted to know if I would do an assignment for their November issue. Of course, I was honored to have been asked by such a reputable magazine and one that pride's itself on great images. Our State is basically THE magazine for North Carolina. It chronicles all the interesting flavor and unique angles of our beautiful State. I was asked to visit a unique store in Jamesville, NC called Mackey's Ferry Peanuts. These guys sell peanuts, brittle, awesome peanut butter, chocolates, cookies . . . pretty much everything you want to over-indulge in. If you haven't heard of this place, you need to visit their website. They offer some sweet tasting products for Holiday Gifts and all of it is made in their store. So, once there, I met the owners, Sharon and Chris. By the end of our photo session they had me carrying a big brown bag of 'samples' out the door. It was awesome. In the end, Our State published two of my images. I thought it was pretty cool. What do you think? So, go buy a copy of Our State Magazine and read the entire article and check out all their beautiful images. They are available at news-stands TODAY!