NC Plant

My church, Integrity Church, recently hosted an excellent conference, called 'Vital', at the Greenville Convention Center for Plant NC which is a network committed to planting more churches in North Carolina, to provide support, training, and resources for pastors and leaders. NC Plant is led by Will Plitt and their vision is to plant 30 new churches in the next three years. They asked me to take a few photos for them and I was happy to support anything like that. I fully support the need for healthy churches in North Carolina, especially east of Interstate 95. It was an excellent conference packed with wonderful content that pastors could really benefit from. They heard from Alvin Reid who is professor of Evangelism and founding Baily Smith Chair of Evangelism at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Winfield Bevins who is the pastor of the Church of the Outer Banks. In addition, everyone enjoyed some worship music led by former professional surfer and excellent singer/songwriter Jesse Hines as well as great vendors who could address specific needs for new churches. It was great to have people there like Send RDU, Plantboxx, and sixty1.org. To close everything out they had a panel of guys including Winfield Bevins, Mike McDaniel from Send RDU, Jonathan Aikn from Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, KY, and a gentleman from the SBC. I was happy to attend and these were just a few of the shots I liked from the conference.

Registration, which displayed the incredible graphics designed by Plantboxx. Later, Will introduced Jesse Hines to lead everyone in Worship.

Alvin Reid shared with those in attendance.

Winfield Bevins.

The panel.

Everybody soaking it in.

A Big thank-you to Will Plitt for letting me come and enjoy the conference and his patience with me as I took way longer than I should have to get these photos to Him. I'm encouraged by this ministry. I look forward to seeing Integrity Church be part of planting 30 churches and joining with you in that vision. May God continue to bless your efforts.

Live Integrity

I've been attending Integrity Church for a while now. In fact, you may remember a post I did a while back with images I took for their website. Well, that site didn't really work out so good. So, I suggested to them that they might consider taking some staff photos and re-designing their church website and adding a blog. Well, they took me up on it. So, I took some photos for them and implemented a new website for them as well. It is a very sleek website and I think it fits the personality of our church well. Drop in and take a look at the website and new church blog.

This is the group, three interns and our pastor. Tyler, Ben, Jake and Mitzi.

Here is the killer website thanks to ITDR.

To Integrity Staff: Thanks for trusting me with this. I'm so thankful to be able to be a part of this church and pursue Christ alongside each of you. I'm excited to see what the Lord will do in our city through this church.

Commercial Shoot

Charlie needed some pictures for a brochure he was putting together on his new company. It was a last minute thing as Charlie wasn't going to be in town very long. We ended up doing the shoot at seven in the morning under constant threat of rain at his family farm. All the guys were supper friendly and fun. I want to thank Jeff Mansfield for helping me out on this shoot. Getting up at 6:30 in the morning to lug around lights and help out says a lot to me. You're a true friend. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Charlie: Thanks for trusting us with these important photographs. We loved meeting everyone.

Integrity Church

Sorry, I've been so slow with these pictures . . . several people have been asking me to post them to the blog. So, the world can go back to normal now.

So the story is this: I was asked by my pastor, Ben, to take a few photos for our church website. Our church, Integrity, is a relatively new church plant in the area. It has been exciting to see our church blossom over the last several months. Ben wanted something for the website that looked aged and worn as well as some basic shots of our service. We are a church that focusses on being authentic, relevant and missional. Our family loves living life with these wonderful folks (yup, that sounded country-fied). You can also see these pictures on the website, liveintegrity dot org. Enjoy!

This is Ben. He is pretty cool.

This is Integrity Church.

This is our outdoor Easter Service.

This is just cool. We celebrate with Jaysue!

cool website. It's currently still 'under construction', but you can check it out liveintegrity dot org.

Landscapes

This is probably not what you expect to see when you visit our blog. However, taking photographs of landscapes is what got me interested in photography years ago. In fact I have a separate portal on my website dedicated to 'everything else' that I like to photograph. It's my 'Artsy' stuff'. Check it out. I've always been drawn to an interesting view of a sunset, a mountain ridge, the wide expanses, and beauty of this planet in general. So, when I passed by this home I had to stop and grab a quick photo. I thought it was a perfect image of what I see regularly living in eastern north carolina. It was also a tad creepy. Can we say Freddy Krueger?

Senior-i-tis.

Yearbooks have a way of living forever. Why not submit an image for the school yearbook that won't make you cringe in ten years? By the way, we're opening this up to both High School and College Seniors. Spread the word and Bring it!

Referral Cards

We have been trying to think of a good referral system for our loyal clients. We are slow sometimes. Forgive us. Many of you have been very cool and have referred us to your friends and family already. The highest compliment you could ever give us is to refer a friend. For those who do that going forward, we wanted to do a little more for you than just say 'thank you'. We wanted to add a little ka-ching to the pockets. So, here is what we have cooked up.

If you have been a client of ours, you are eligible to receive $50 credit towards prints and/or sessions for every single family/person you refer that books a session with us. Bottom line, you send someone our way and they book a session with us, we'll give you $50 credit with us for whenever you are ready to spend it. Here is the only rule. (I can hear you groaning.) Whomever you refer, they must give/mail/ship/or hand deliver to us a referral card, at the time of their booking, with your name on it. Thats it. Simple. Easy Money. Potentially, you never have to pay for photography again . . . you just need others to pay. A little basic math gets most people excited. So, here goes. If you refer two families that book with us, you just made $100. If you refer five high school or college seniors and a family, you have $300. Now you're cooking with gas.

So, if you have been a client of ours and want to start getting credit for all the referrals you are sending us, all you need to do is request some referral cards from us and we will mail them out to you ASAP.

Get first dibs . . . join the e-mail "list".

Now you can join our E-mail list. Just click the 'Links" button above and then click on "Join our E-mail List". Type your e-mail in the box that pops up and we will add you to our list. We will not sell or distribute this list. It is just for us.

Why be on "the list" you may ask? So, I did some thinking and I came up with a few reasons why YOU should join "the list".

1. Our "list" will receive advance notice (prior to posting on the Blog) of any offers or specials we run . . . so you get first dibs.
2. We will let you know in advance of any unique sessions we are doing like the Holiday Sessions. . . . so you get first dibs.
3. Because we might do something crazy like offer a free session to the first person who responds to our e-mail letter . . . so you get first dibs.
4. As new and bigger things happen here, you are the first to know . . . so you get first dibs.
5. Because we are just so darn interesting.

Birthday Sale

We are certain that you are frantically shopping for that perfect Christmas gift. So, we wanted to let you know that we have TWO amazing SALES starting NOW until Midnight December 15th for you to consider. Craig's birthday is December 15th and he always feels sorry for December birthdays because, often, they get the shaft. The phrase commonly heard is: "Here is your Birthday gift . . . AND . . . Christmas gift."

{Many of you are thinking at this very moment how strange it is to have a "Birthday" Sale during Christmas time with all the "Normal" Sales taking place. This is precisely my point. It's difficult to break through the Christmas noise to celebrate a Birthday . . . this is where you take pitty on me and leave a nice comment on the blog.}

Well, to celebrate Craig's Birthday {It is weird referring to yourself in the third person} we decided to do a BIRTHDAY SALE where YOU get the gifts. Maybe you wanted that one big image to go over the fireplace, but the wallet screamed for you to stop short. Or maybe you have been wanting a custom photo session with us but have been waiting for the opportune time. So, to celebrate a Birthday we thought we would give all of our amazing clients from '08 the chance to clean up on print orders for family and friends from YOUR photo sessions or stock up on print credit for future sessions. So, from NOW until Midnight December 15th you can buy a discounted session or print credit.

So, What are the SALES you ask?
1. The "BIRTHDAY CAKE SPECIAL" (up to 50% more free).
2. The "CAN I COME TO YOUR PARTY SPECIAL"(get 15% off gift cards).

THE DETAILS

For the "BIRTHDAY CAKE SPECIAL" Buy Print Credit NOW to use on PAST or FUTURE orders with CSM Photography and we'll give you 50% more print credit Free. Buy $200 and get $300, buy $500 and get $750, buy $1,000 and get $1,500. Buy any amount you want. The minimum is $200 and no maximum. Print credit is like pre-ordering prints. Use anytime in 2009. Buy it NOW, use it LATER, save BIG. Taxes and shipping costs still apply. This offer is only available to clients from 2008. The print credit can only be used for either sessions {family, children, maternity, newborn, senior} or prints up to 16x20. Excludes Weddings and Bridal Sessions.

For the "CAN I COME TO YOUR PARTY SPECIAL". When you buy a gift card ($25) I'll give you 15% off. For example, get $200 in gift cards for a full session for ONLY $170, or give a $200 session and $100 (total $300) in print credit for $255. Use anytime in 2009. Buy it NOW, use it LATER, save BIG. Gift cards can be used to purchase sessions {family, children, maternity, newborn, senior, engagement or bridals}, prints, canvases, and any products. Excludes Wedding coverage. Taxes and shipping costs still apply. This offer is available to anyone.

TO BUY

To take advantage of the "BIRTHDAY CAKE SPECIAL" offer simply click HERE and 'make a payment'. Type "BIRTHDAY CAKE SPECIAL" in the memo box and follow the instructions. I'll send you an e-mail with your code within a few days with 50% more cash for you to use anytime you want either now (I'll re-post the images from your session for you to select the ones you want) or for a new session in 2009. Buy it NOW, use it LATER, save BIG.

To take advantage of the "CAN I COME TO YOUR PARTY SPECIAL" simply click HERE and buy up all the gift cards you want (the more you buy, the bigger the discount). I'll send your Gift Card(s) in the mail with the total or in different increments and we might even gift wrap it. Buy it NOW, use it LATER, save BIG.

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.

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!