Laters, MJ

Ok, so I didn't watch the memorial yesterday, but nonetheless I have been a Michael Jackson fan since I was a kid. I got an autographed photo while I was working in the industry in LA and even made Thriller my song of choice when making that silly (and still embarrassing) video from one of last year's workshops...

Fireworks on the 4th

I'm not so into fireworks as to make an event out of seeing them, or dealing with the crowds and such, but when my friends Nicole and Ian said I could watch them from their driveway, well, that sounded easy enough. I was late getting there and I only took a few hand-held shots. Here's one of the few that was ok:

I like weddings...

As you might expect from someone who has chosen to dedicate his life to capturing the special bonds witnessed at weddings, I have an acute appreciation for a fine pairing. In this case however, it is one of the most elegant couplings to which I'm referring... the marriage of Jaeger LeCoultre and Aston Martin. Two of my favorite brands. Here's the latest offspring from the union:




Sadly, I've also recently learned of a disappointing new venture that Aston is said to be taking on... a mini. Hmm. A "luxury commuter concept". Bad idea, you silly Brits.

Janet and Thomas at the Bohemian!

Amber here :)

There are a lot of people in the world... good ones, bad ones, dumb ones, funny ones... Sometimes I think I must be the luckiest girl alive, because even in the midst of ALL of those people, the most amazing ones always seems to pick me to photograph their lives. That's how I feel about Janet and Thomas. I can't imagine two more amazing people. We connected immediately at their engagement session, and have had a wonderful relationship since!

I was blessed to have my friend Ian hanging out and shooting with me for the day. It was SO nice to have a second shooter to provide a second viewpoint of the day, and to help me be in two places at once. At this wedding, we needed that often. It was a crazy busy day!

We started off the morning at the salon with Janet and about three thousand of her family and friends.

From there, we moved to the amazing Grand Bohemian (possibly my new favorite place to photograph... there's SO much character!) to spend the rest of the day leading up to the Ceremony.

I love getting ready images...

These shots prove that having two shooters is amazing. I love seeing two perspectives of the same moment :)

I love how good Thomas was in front of the camera. He was awesome!

And Janet was just stunning. I cannot get over how beautiful she is!

The ceremony was perfect. The weather was beautiful. I hadn't had the opportunity to photograph at The Ramble at Biltmore Forest, and I was pleasantly surprised at how lovely it was. Digital Video Memories captured the ceremony for Janet and Thomas as well, you can watch their ceremony highlight video here.

The new couple... Janet and Thomas are insane about each other, and it shows in every image!

Loved the light and the atmosphere in the Bohemian for the reception. We had SO much fun shooting in there.

LOVED the party atmosphere!

A final image of the lovely couple. I'm so proud to have experienced this day with them!

Huge thanks to the amazing Tara Jordan for pulling off an incredible event. She was a pleasure to work with, as always!

Another huge thanks to Ian for working so hard and providing so many amazing images. I can't wait to shoot with him again!

Janet and Thomas, thanks SO much for letting us hang out... We enjoyed you guys SO much! I hope that you love your slideshow.

much love

-amber

No photos allowed!!! ...for the photo contest?!?

Ahh the irony...

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For real?

I'm not convinced this wasn't staged, but I thought you might enjoy it either way...

Dell and Bari in LA

A few weekends ago, I (Amber) had the opportunity to photograph a beautiful wedding in sunny California. When Corey McNabb asked me to photograph his friend Dell's wedding, I was both honored and terrified. Of course, I wanted to do it, but I was also super nervous to photograph a wedding that someone I respect so much would be a part of.

The day came, and my nervousness dissipated. Bari was a stunning bride, Dell was a wonderful groom, the bridal party and family treated me like a special guest. It was a wonderful experience. I think the relationships formed over that weekend truly allowed me to capture the intricacies of the day.

I don't think LA has ever seen such a clear and beautiful day. I know I've never seen anything like it. It was supposed to rain, but rather than rain, the sun shone and a cleansing breeze blew over Stephen S. Wise Temple. I didn't even know there were mountains in LA until the wedding day!

Here are a few images to give you an idea of how wonderful the day was! 

I loved being a part of their rehearsal dinner and the following Shabbat service. This image of the couple lighting the Shabbat candles was one of my favorite. 

On Saturday, the girls went to the salon to have relaxing manicures and pedicures. 

I even got to join in the fun! I love this image of Bari's Aunt Tobi enjoying a bit of pampering.

A few wedding day details:

Bari and Dell are in the film industry, so as a tribute to that, they had their wedding party read 

famous lines from movies during their ceremony. I thought this was a super cool touch.

A beautiful dress.

Fun images of Bari getting ready. I love capturing people watching the action.

One of my favorite First Look images ever!

A few portraits:

I cannot get over this amazing view...

The ceremony was beautiful.

And the reception was a blast!

And of course, I must share a few images of Corey in action. 

He was a wonderful addition to the day, and was constantly making me laugh with his antics. 

I can't wait to see what images he captured!

Corey and Jill, thank you for your love and support. Corey, thanks for trusting me! I love you guys.

Dell and Bari, I can't express how at home you both made me feel. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope you love your slideshow, and I hope we always remain friends!



hugs

-amber

Leigh Ervin and Will

I had the best time at Leigh-Ervin's and Will's wedding! They're such a genuinely happy couple! I guess just about all couples are on their wedding day, but these two had a little something extra. It was also super fun to have had the help of my friends Amber and Bob Davis. Amber was only able to help for a little while as she had her own wedding to cover that day, but Bob and I had a blast... from early morning golf and spa to late night fireworks on Biltmore's South Terrace. Bob (for those who don't know him, he shot Selma Hayek's, Eva Longoria's and Eddie Murphy's weddings) was gracious enough to fly in from Chicago to help out! THANK YOU, BOB! ...and to his dear wife, Dawn, and his kids Bobby and Alli, for letting me borrow him for a couple of days! Tara, with Weddings with Tara, once again did an amazing job. Paul at Four Seasons worked his magic too. Of course the Bloom Room and A Fine Line both did amazing work as well. Classic Event Rental provided this glorious tent. Here's a quick quote of what Leigh-Ervin and Will had to say... "Corey McNabb was THE most amazing, professional, photographer we could have ever dreamed of working with and his photography speaks volumes towards his ability. I would highly recommend him to absolutely any bride and groom! I still get so excited to watch our slideshow, it always puts a huge smile on my face!! ...BEST PHOTOGRAPHER EVER!!!! :)" Leigh-Ervin and Will

Here's Paul's awesome clip:

Last minute seat opened up!!

Hi all! We just had a seat open up for next week's 5-Day McWorkshop, so if you've been debating, or weren't able to get a seat before, now's your chance to jump on it! Give us a call at 828.254.4954 or email us at sarah@coreymcnabb.com to sign up. Check out www.mcworkshops.com for some more info. Hope to see you next week!

Ansley and Jay: Engaged

Amber again... I'm trying to get caught up on stray blog posts before the insanity of the workshop and summer weddings creeps up on us. 

Ansley and Jay are amazing people. They drove all the way to Asheville from Pennsylvania. Ansley had a horrible cold. Traffic was bad, and they got a late start. And yet, despite all these obstacles, they were in amazing spirits for their engagement session. This is an amazing example of two people in love. 

Ansley and Jay needed no prompting from me... they were naturally engaging and interactive. And the Biltmore Estate is beautiful. Honestly, this session almost felt like cheating, it was so easy :) 

I can't wait to photograph their wedding in June! 

I love that they brought Elmer with them. He's so adorable that he stole the show a couple of times... 

I've always wanted to see Biltmore when the tulips were in bloom. Tulips are my favorite flower, and this display did not disappoint.  It was absolutely amazing.

Elmer again... He's seriously cute.

My favorite view of the house. The light back here was just amazing. 

Thanks so much Ansley and Jason for hanging out with me. I'm super excited about your wedding day. I think we're going to have a blast! 

-amber

 

What's all the Skype about?

You iPhoners out there... check out the new app from Skype. I'm sure a lot of you already have a Skype account, so it's a cool addition to your phone.... talk, chat, etc. over wifi. Pretty cool! It's new today, so we'll see how practical it ends up being, but it sounds promising.

~Corey

How sad!

I was very sad to learn this morning that the Richmond Hill Inn burned down last night! It was a gorgeous, historic home! Such a shame. I'd shot many a wedding there, and the Inn was also a commercial client of mine. I took the majority of the images for the Inn and their restaurant, some of which can be seen on their website here: http://www.richmondhillinn.com/

I think the fire was set, but what do I know. They were rumored to have been in severe financial troubles. And in 1995 an 'unsolved arson' burned part of an addition to the inn when they were having issues at that time. Very sad.

Here's the paper's story: http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990319003

Is for fun...

Hello everyone, Jeremy here.

I'm always trying to find new ways to keep my photography fresh and the other day I stumbled across this gem. I hesitate to share it with my fellow photographers but it's really only a matter of time before these ideas catch on anyway.

My Ideas For Staged Photos Set Me Apart From Other Wedding Photographers.

Since I have yet to implement any of these in my own photography I figured I'd take this opportunity to slip in two of my favorite sequence images. They have nothing to do with the elaborate and slightly disturbing staged photos we'll all be shooting soon per the above list but Cristin's dad makes me laugh every time I see this so I figured since we're already smiling...

Workshops, Antics, and Shenanigans!

Goodness... I debated pretty hard about posting this video. Certainly there's nothing wrong with it at all, in fact quite the opposite... it's fun, but oh so embarrassing. It's from a 4-Day workshop in Kansas called Keep N it Fresh where I was the featured photographer. We had a great group of photographers and we all learned a ton of information... and had fun doing it. So why the hesitation in the posting? Because never before have my dancing 'skills' been publicly on display... I worry now that I'll be getting too many calls from recruiters wanting me to be a backup dancer for Justin Timberlake. I'm already just slammed as it is.

Here are a few shots from the workshop too...

Chris Smith shooting...

Darrin Hackney and a couple of background chimpers ;)

Nicole Goddard sporting a cool shooting pose..

The talented Brett Schauf, co-host of the workshop, holding my SB-900 for the above photo.

And as I've had so many requests from other photographers to add some technical info as to exactly how I get some shots, I'd thought I'd start here. I've added the exif data to the below image... as you can see it's a bit dull looking as is. I purposely underexposed it on what was otherwise a cloudy, but bright day. That way, when I added a single, gelled, hand-held SB-900 from the side, it provided a nice warm, almost sunsety kinda look. 

Exposure and camera settings didn't change for this photo from the above. I just added the flash. 

The result:

One night we went out to shuffleboard! Super fun!

My skills were nearly unmatched! Although I still lost... to a girl. ;)

A few of the shooters. Thanks everybody, for such a great workshop!

Seems a bit higher than normal...

I returned this week from a wonderful, exciting, and exhausting trip to Las Vegas for the 2009 WPPI Convention. More on that later, but just wanted to mention that I came back into the studio this morning to find over 3000 emails waiting for me. I got back with as many of you as I could while out of town. I just wanted to let you know that there might be a slightly longer than normal delay in responding to many of you, but as always, I do my best to reply to everyone. Thanks for being understanding. You might get a faster response if you email sarah@coreymcnabb.com for questions. I'm excited to share my WPPI experience with you soon! Thanks again!
-Corey