From Hawaii to Cary

Last weekend I had the opportunity to photograph two recent transplants to RTP via Hawaii. Anne and Bob found themselves back on the continental US about 6 months ago with their massive german shepherd, Storm. They promptly added another sure to be huge german shepherd, Hawk, and called me for a family photoshoot for the holidays.

We met at the Harrison Ave parking lot for Umstead and had a great time during their photoshoot. Storm and Hawk were so sweet, fluffy, lovable and cooperative. Oh, Bob and Anne were pretty swell too.

Here are a few of my favorites.

I love this time of year for all the family photoshoots I get to do. Thank you Anne and Bob for the opportunity to photograph your great family! Welcome to the area!

Liz DiNatale

www.oakcityphotographync.com

Sara and Joe: Great beginnings

Two weekends ago, Chrissy and I enjoyed one of the sweetest, funniest weddings we've ever done. It all started with our first wedding with Jerry and Toya. From their referral, we met Sara and Joe for an engagement shoot in downtown Raleigh and on the 20th of October, we wished them well on their new life together!

Here are a few highlights. 

I enjoyed following the boys around again. They were absolutely hilarious. 

And then these guys had me going during the reception. 

Somehow one of them talked me into taking a "gangster" photo with him. 

I think I need to work on my "gangster" look. Maybe he does too. 

As the night went on, things got interesting. 

And I got photobombed!

I don't think I've laughed so much at a wedding before. Even when I was the guest. Good stuff. 

Thank you, Sara and Joe for letting us be a part of your day! I'll leave you with one of my favorites. 

Thanks for reading!

Liz DiNatale

www.oakcityphotographync.com

Epic Wedding Was Epic - Adrianne & Ricky

This wedding was long in the making and let me tell you, it was worth the wait! On September 1st, Adrianne and Ricky made it official and partied the night away. You might remember them from their engagement photos at the Duke Gardens (still one of my favorite photo shoots). That seems so long ago now but like a fine wine, Adrianne and Ricky just got better.

Adrianne planned the wedding down to the last detail. She knew exactly what she wanted and right there is a photographers dream bride. 

The couple sprung for our full day package so we were able to see everything unfold from the beginning. That was a real treat. 

Gratuitous empty dress photo...

And another, for good measure. 

Adrianne made a beautiful bride and she was so happy. The day was really amazing. 

Beyond the awesome couple, their whole wedding party was fantastic. Jess and I felt so welcome. If it hadn't been for the fact that I'd been on my feet for nearly 12 hours, I would have been tempted to stay for the after party.

Adrianne and Ricky, thank you for another great experience. You two are a good people and you're surrounded by good people. Enjoy your future!

Liz DiNatale

www.oakcityphotographync.com

Cohen is turning 1!

A long, long time ago in a land far, far away called Carystone. Two couples, who were living in sin, became fast friends over their mutual love of dogs, beer and socialization. Plus the proximity was amazing. Since then we've both sold our first homes and moved into our bigger second homes, we've attended each others weddings and my husband and I got to celebrate the other couples new addition almost 1 year ago! So please join me in a premature, but ever so joyful, Happy Birthday to Cohen! 

We had fun this morning in downtown Apex. It's such a small downtown area but it is packed full of awesome. 

I have a great story behind that basket. Lets just say I rescued it from a bad home and gave it much more purpose in life. 

This...this I love. I love this because Kato is an awesome dog and the biggest (literally) teddy-bear dog I have ever met. I love this because it is a clear example that "bully" breeds like Rotties are super trustworthy. I love this because it looks like Kato is saying "mine, no touchy". 

Thanks again to Nate and Veronica for the chance to photograph your family! It's always a pleasure!

Liz DiNatale

www.oakcityphotographync.com

Photo Friday: Dogs

This is too easy. 

The pups, in their element. 

Liz DiNatale

www.oakcityphotographync.com

Photo Friday

The photo Friday for today is "Words" but I don't have any pictures of words and I've been wanting to share the photos I took at Catawba Falls for a while now. So you'll get the Catawba Falls photos and just have to deal without photos of words. I hope you don't hate me for that. 

In the beginning of June Steven and I, and our friends Nate and Matt went to Old Fort for a weekend of riding for them and a weekend of Mountains for me. I did some riding as well but it wasn't my focus. My focus is always "Hey! I'm in the mountains!!" which you would think would get old after countless trips...but it doesn't. 

The morning of the Sunday we left, I went on a hike up to Catawba Falls with Nate while Steven and Matt rode up Kistuma. It was a nice treat to walk with Nate since he is also an avid photographer. He didn't mind me stopping to take random photos. He also helped me capture some unique ones. He had the tripod to make it happen. 

This technique may be overdone but I still think it makes photos look dreamy. This walk was dreamy unto itself. I hope to do it again someday. 

Besides my camera gear, the other essential equipment for this hike: Vibrum Fivefingers

KSO: Trek's are absolutely perfect for this type of hiking. 

Thanks for reading and stay cool this weekend!

-Liz DiNatale

www.oakcityphotographync.com

Photo Friday: Grandeur

Happy Friday everyone! Today's photo is brought to you by the word "grandeur" which is a fancy word for fancy.

I'm going to use this Photo Friday challenge to use another photo from my Italy adventures. While Venice was definitely the most grandiose city that we visited, this photo actually comes from Verona. Verona is littered with fancy wrote iron. While reviews say that Verona is one of the safest towns in Italy now, it must not have been at one point because every window and every door (within reach of the street) were guarded with wrote iron fences and gates. But they weren't ugly, dismissive things. They were intricate and lovely.

And some looked like letters. Behold, the letter S. 

Isn't that just fancy-shmancy. 

I'm in the midst of writing a ranty type blog post about out Italy travels on my other blog, Awesomely Domesticated. If you'd like to hear more about our trip, click through the hyperlink and enjoy!

We're off to Asheville this weekend! Finally going to try Strada and get some good riding/mountain hiking in! Can't wait...going through serious Asheville withdrawal. 

-Liz

www.oakcityphotographync.com 

Photo Friday: Of House and Home

Welcome back to Photo Friday! It's a nasty Friday out right now but I hope the weather at least improves. Or else my House and Home might float away. 

For this Photo Friday I thought I'd share two pictures I've taken recently. The first is from our trip to Italy and features a private Venetian house.  

I thought this home was so truly Venetian. With the bridge to the front door, the canal right there, the gondola and then the ivy was just icing on the top. I thought this house was more beautiful than most of the churches and museums I saw. Mostly because it wasn't over the top. It was beautiful in its simplicity. Less is more. 

The second photo I'd like to share, I took last night after dinner. Gunnar was fat and happy and taking his after meal snooze. This is of my house and home. Dogs laying in the most inconvenient locations. 

Eh, I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Thanks for reading and happy Friday!

-Liz DiNatale
www.oakcityphotographync.com

Celebrating Sydnee

I had a nice walk around JC Arboretum in Raleigh this past Sunday with Sydnee and her parents. Little Miss Sydnee has just turned 1! She was so interested in everything in the arboretum. We'd set her down and immediately she'd start playing with the grass or perhaps a leaf within her reach. Her mind was going a mile a minute. 

As a method of catching her attention I had bought her a Fourth of July pinwheel. What kid doesn't love a pinwheel? I love pinwheels.... Anywho, this is what happens when you dangle a pinwheel in front of a 1 year old. 

  I believe you can translate this look to "Want!" 

I'm ashamed that I've never been to the arboretum before this photoshoot. It was always right down the road from me while I was attending State and I never stopped in. I'm glad I finally went at least. It was quite the garden. I recommend it to anyone who wants to be jealous over other peoples' green thumbs. Oh and I need to grow an artichoke plant now. That thing was epic. 

Back to the topic at hand though. It was nice meeting Sydnee and her parents and capturing this moment for them. Happy Birthday Sydnee! 

I call this one "The Squish". hahaha

Thanks for reading!!

Liz DiNatale

www.oakcityphotographync.com

A Garner Wedding

For my final installment of last weekend, I'm happy to share the teasers for Jen and Will's wedding. Jess and I had a great time laughing with all the guests and wedding party alike. They were all very welcoming and were in great spirits.

After a lovely ceremony they started off the reception with an awesome dance.

Jen was stunning.

And Will didn't look so bad himself. 

Her details were fantastic. 

And it took us all day but at the end of the evening we finally stole a picture of this little lady. She was so tuckered out.  

Congrats to Jen and Will! SOR wishes you many happy years to come!

Thanks for reading!!

Liz DiNatale

www.oakcityphotographync.com

The Darden's: Table for 4!

The cofounder of Shades of Red Photography and my good friend Chrissy, is expecting her second little bundle of joy. I had the honor of photographing her growing belly the last time she was cookin and I'm glad to say I was able to again for baby number two. 

Last Sunday, the Dardens met me at Yates Mill Pond Park before my appointment with the Leckie family and we wandered around looking for snakes and sneaking photos of Mara's outrageous "cheese" face. 

I was told this wasn't her usual "cheese" face. 

In any case, she hammed it up and we all enjoyed the photo shoot. 

Aww, they're gonna be great parents....again. They're looking forward to a baby boy any day now! Mara's a ball of energy by herself, I wonder what a baby BOY Darden will be like!

"Wha??" Hehehe, oh Mara. 

Congrats to the growing family. I can't wait to meet the new addition!

Thus ends my series of photos at Yates Mill Pond. Comining up: A Dunn's wedding!!

Thanks for reading!

-Liz DiNatale

www.oakcityphotographync.com

Busy at Yates Mill Pond!

Talk about a busy, busy weekend! After returning from a week on the road I promptly attended a wedding rehearsal on Friday followed by the actual wedding on Saturday followed by 2 photo shoots at Yates Mill Pond on Sunday! 

Phew, I need a vacation. Good thing I'm going on one next week! *insert evil laugh*

Out of the 3 sets of photos I gathered last weekend I've hammered through one, the Leckie family! The Leckie family is a recent transplant from Winston Salem to Knightdale and contacted me for a family photo shoot. I was glad to be able to sneak them in before my big trip next week. It was great chatting with Kim, Jeff and their kids as we walked around Yates Mill Pond Park. Their son, Brice was super interested in all the things around him except for me and my camera! This is him screaming, "Let. Me. Go. Explore!"

I'm a sneaky one with the camera though and managed to nab a few without him noticing. 

In contrast his sister was all about the camera and was willing to help me out as much as she could. I eventually noticed the occasional reminder from Kim about a "special treat" if she behaved for the photos. Bribery, it works so well. 

I picked up on the idea after a little while of struggling to keep Brice's attention and asked for a toy or something to catch his eye. I was handed a bag of gummies and they worked like a charm! Look at that eye contact!

Haha, I (the gummies) win. 

The Leckie family was so great and I really enjoyed their photo shoot. They listened to my yammering like champs and never questioned the occasional "odd" photo!

Thanks for letting me get to know you behind the lens!

On an unrelated note, CONGRATS to Kate and Robert Stone for welcoming their daughter, Elin, into the world! It's been quite the year for them already and I believe they have a great future to look forward to!

Thanks for reading, the other two groups of photos are to come!

Liz DiNatale

www.oakcityphotographync.com