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

Photo Friday: Through my window

I love Friday mornings. I know I don't have to go to work tomorrow, I know I can stay up at night because I can sleep in the next morning and most of all, I get my Friday morning coffee date with Steven. Mmmm cinnamon dolche latte goodness. 

This Photo Friday picture comes to you from the great town of Asheville, North Carolina. I feel like I talk about this place too much. Do I sound like a heartsick teenager? Don't answer that...

Anywho, this is the best picture I could come up with for Through my Window:

This was a bitter cold day in Asheville in February. There was ice on the hood of the Subaru and ice falling from the sky that felt like daggers. While I sat warmly in my heated seat, Steven braved the wind to check the oil of the Subaru and I snapped this photo through the windshield. Yes, I'm a wuss when it comes to the cold now. My blood has long since thinned from my years in Upstate NY. Unless I see snow...for some reason that's all I need to withstand the cold with a smile. 

But that's neither here nor there because now we're well into spring which means summer, mosquitoes, sun burns, heat exhaustion and humidity is on its way. 

I think I'll enjoy the mild weather while I can. So nice. Everyone enjoy their weekend and thanks for reading!

Liz DiNatale

www.oakcityphotographync.com

Can't get enough of Anne!

Somewhere between editing Anne and Allan's wedding photos and Anne's "Company Casserole", I decided that I just hadn't gotten enough. Not to mention my newest associate, Jess Hawn, and I needed a photoshoot to practice on before she joined me for a wedding in April! Luckily I managed to convince Anne to lug her beautiful wedding dress around for a couple more hours. And I'm so glad I did...

We had originally planned on going to the Duke Gardens in Durham but picked what turned out to be the busiest day so far this spring. Luckily, Duke campus is right next door and is just as gorgeous.

We enjoyed playing with a prop veil I made for this occasion. Love cathedral veils...

Jess did great and will make an excellent addition to the SOR line up! Thanks to Anne for being the best guinea pig ever! It was pretty funny hearing everyone ask if she was getting married soon or telling her congratulations. I got a laugh out of it. 

Thanks for reading. I'll be back Friday with a Photo Friday!!

Liz DiNatale

www.oakcityphotographync.com

Photo Friday: Unwind

Where do you like to unwind? Most people would say the beach. I'm not a huge fan of sand or salt water and would have to say that I prefer the mountains and forests. Plus, I feel like the best breweries are located in mountainous regions and having a good beer on a cool mountain day sounds like the best way to unwind to me. 

For that reason, I've chosen another photo from my recent trip to Asheville for this Photo Friday. A lot of people say the sound of rushing water soothes their soul. I could go either way but I did think this particular area was especially peaceful. 

I hope everyone finds a way to relax and unwind this weekend. I know I'll be tense tonight. Go Wolfpack!!

Thanks for reading!

Liz DiNatale

www.oakcityphotographync.com

Photo Friday: Floral

In my other life as an engineer, I've been busy with week long training in Asheville the last couple of months. My boss, bless him, is focused on getting me through all 4 levels of the Rosgen stream restoration training. The classes have been intense: hours of lecture, hours of field work, tons of data. I'm loving it. Granted a lot of why I'm loving it is because the last two have been hosted in Asheville, NC. That town makes my heart go pitter-patter.

This last training week we stayed in a cute 2 bedroom house on a tiny lake right behind the Asheville mall. Driving into the neighborhood is rather bizarre. At one moment you're surrounded by tons of shops, people and cars and the next you're in the middle of the woods driving around a quiet serene lake. I found this house on VRBO.com and I'm certain we'll be back. It was perfectly quaint. The owners did a nice job dressing up the property with a fire circle and deck off the lake. They've also sculpted a trail down to the stream that the lake flows into. It was perfectly peaceful with a moss covered walkway, trickling stream, old wooden bridges and cute tiny flowers. Which brings me to this Photo Friday: Floral.

Can I go back now? Actually we might be going back next weekend! We're excited about the opening of our friend's newest restaurant, Strada! Opening in Asheville early next week! Yay! While I was very sad to see Fiore's close, I know Anthony will do amazingly well in his new venture, can't wait! The website isn't quite ready yet but here it is, http://stradaasheville.com/ it will be located at 27 Broadway in downtown Asheville.

As for this weekend, I'm going to hope and pray that it doesn't rain so I can wash my filthy car, plant bushes and enjoy the mild weather before the bugs start taking over again. Oh and maybe I'll find some green beer, Happy Saint Patty's Day!!

Liz DiNatale
www.oakcityphotographync.com

Photo Friday: Blaze

Good Friday morning! I sincerely hope everyone took a moment this morning to enjoy the beautiful day because it is about to get ugly. Our dogs thought they were getting a treat this morning when we took them on a short bike ride around the neighborhood. What they don't know is that is the last time they're getting out for an extended period of time today. I'm sure they'll make us pay for their boredom. 

I'm switching it up a bit today and actually writing about next week's Photo Friday challenge. This week's was "inner city" and I had nothing for it but next week's is "blaze" and I have the perfect picture. Say "hi" to Camp MacKall's resident pup:

She has a good story behind her. According to the Captain we were talking with, she was dropped off one day, full of puppies and terrified of everything. It took her months to warm up to anyone enough to be pet. Even today she is easily startled and collapses in a heap of whimpering poochie if she thinks she's going to be hit. I think she is a classic case of owner abuse. She's been at Camp MacKall (an Army training base) for about 3 years I think. She is still terrified of going indoors but otherwise seems to really enjoy people now. She was so intent on getting my pets then she kept nudging my hand when I would pause. 

Camp MacKall was quite possibly the awesomest base I've ever been on. It is an animal haven complete with chickens, goats, sheep, cows, a horse and the fattest pot bellied pig I've ever seen. He was hilarious, I literally busted out laughing when I saw him walking. The best part is, all the soldiers on base love these animals and take time out of their day to take care of them. They've rescued almost all of them and given them a safe and free life. It was really enjoyable to see. 

Wow I got off tangent, sorry. The reason this photo is what I chose for "blaze" is because of the markings on this pup. You see that white line down the middle of her face? That's a blaze, and her's is perfectly solid. Plus she was a sweetheart and this picture was taken with my new 5D which I'm still in love with. 

I  hope you all have a splendid weekend. The hubs and I are off to Asheville for another week of Rosgen training (for me). This time we're bringing our growlers and stopping at the breweries on the way in (no I won't bring a growler to class...though that would make things pretty interesting). Hopefully we'll have better weather and I'll get more pictures while we're there. 

As always, thanks for reading!

Liz DiNatale
www.oakcityphotographync.com