Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona at golden hour is nothing short of magical. Add in a gorgeous bride and groom and 60 of their closest family and friends bathed in the warm desert light and you have something like a dream. Sheri + James said their joyful, tearful “I dos” earlier this month canyon side and I had the honor of being there to capture it all.
Here we are in the heart of a frigid winter (even for us Floridians at times) and I’m dreaming of warmer days. So why not share a peek into Alexa and Jordan’s seaside Sanibel Island wedding from this past summer. Revisiting these images is like a treat! I can almost hear the lull of the waves and the rustle in the palm leaves and nearly feel the sweet summertime sun on my skin…
In reflecting on the last year I took some time to note things that had given me life or drained me in the past. (It’s an effort in aiding in decision making for this “decision fatigued” gal right here. And the idea is all thanks to Emily P. Freeman and her “The Next Right Thing” podcast!) Something that undeniable breathed life in to my work and inspiration was the process of shooting creatively with film. (You can check out my past blog post about the process and love affair by clicking here and here.) So I set out to spend more time behind my film camera pointing it at beautiful things and lovely light by marking down a few “inspired styled shoots” in my calendar. This is the very first of them…
Anna Grace’s Senior Session at Dark Hammock Legacy Ranch was nothing short of a dream…
Just wrapped up editing this gorgeous Senior Session complete with a REAL LIVE Brahman Bull and a full on dip in the lake at sunset. Plus I got to spend the afternoon with one of the sweetest families I know who actually "won" this gift session in the silent auction at Lyndsey's Wish Jeans & Jewels event last fall. Congrats to the Wheelers! And Congrats to the super sweet and stunning 2014 Lake Placid Graduating Senior, Laura!
xoxo,
Caroline
This past weekend these two got hitched! And what a gorgeous, God glorifying wedding day it was. Love is oh-so-good for the heart and soul. Congrats Lisa & Trevor!
xoxo,
Caroline
GIVEAWAY! That's right This is the Day Beginner Photography Workshop is coming up in just over a week and we are GIVING AWAY a seat for the fun filled day (complete with loads of knowledge, hands on learning, creative inspiration, yummy food, never-ending coffee, a goodie bag full of delightfulness and super fun giveaways). Nominate a friend by commenting on this post with their name and why you think they'd love to be there before Monday, April 21st at noon and a winner will randomly be chosen and announced that afternoon (one entry per person). To see more details about the day including a schedule of events visit our site by clicking here.
This is the Day Beginner Photography Workshop Seat Giveaway!
Happy Friday! I just wrapped up my busiest wedding month EVER. With three weddings spanning from a glamorous southern Central Florida backyard affair, to downtown Raleigh, NC romantic stunner, to the sweetest union right here at my home church of Bible Fellowship last month was filled to the brim with love. And the good news for this hopeless romantic is that Caroline Maxcy Photography has many, many more to come this year! So pumped. So excited. And so honored to have been invited in to capture so many sweet love stories in 2014. It should go without saying that adore love, especially that sweetness between an engaged pair. The engagement session is simply one of my favorites. I love getting to know the pair, learning more about their story and getting them in front of my camera for the first time. I especially love it when the setting is as gorgeous and unique as Emily and Josh's recent Sarasota, FL session on the buzzing and beautiful St. Armands Circle. This duo braved the crowds on a Friday afternoon for this romantic engagement session that wound it's way around the circle, down the streets and ended up with a Sangria toast at their favorite restaurant, Colombia.
Thanks for being so awesome in front of the camera and so totally in love, Emily and Josh. I loved capturing such sweetness and can't wait for your Sarasota nuptials this coming fall!
xoxo,
Caroline
Three years ago when I found myself settling in Central Florida and planting a photography business my friends kept mentioning to me this little lady named Sarah Sandel who I "just had to meet". The word was, we were just alike and we would more than likely become fast friends. Sarah had an established and growing photography business in the area doing, well, just what I was doing. And in the spirit of camaraderie and creative collaboration as opposed to competitiveness we decided to meet each other. Our friends were right. Sarah and I became fast friends and began creatively challenging one another while encouraging each of our own strengths and talents, and well, solving the worlds problems too at our coffee shop meetings with one another. One thing we were good at was ideas and it wasn't too long before we heard a common theme in our chats. People wanted to know more about their cameras, how to use them, how to understand their language and ultimately how to better capture their everyday lives. We got questions constantly from clients, from wedding guests, from people in the grocery store. "I just got this nice camera and I was wondering how to (insert technical question of choice here)". And thus, This is the Day Photography Workshops were born. We spent a few months developing content, pulling things together, collecting cool giveaways and creating easy to understand hands on learning tools to help a handful folks with "fancy" and not so fancy cameras alike better capture their own stories. It was a heavenly day and… we are finally doing it all over again. But this time even better. And before things even begin this time around we wanted to give you a little glimpse into the heart behind it all. There is no better place to start than with our original Beginners Workshop.
Now that we are comfortably two days into the month of April this little day of photography fantasticalness is less than one month away and with the seats over half full already (Yay, for our Early Bird Registrants!) we want to make sure you get a spot. But we also want you to be able to wrap your head around what to expect for the day. In a nutshell our Beginner's Workshop is designed to better acquaint folks with their "fancy" camera and the power it holds in order to better capture their everyday lives. You see not everyday is a "sit on a vintage quilt in a field of tall wispy grass at sunset and giggle at each other occasionally drawing your attention and grins in the direction of a lady with a camera" kind of day. Everyday is baseball games, impromptu tea parties and lazy days at the beach. They are dance recitals, steer shows and sitting on the back porch at sunset. They are orange blossoms in bloom, babies first grins and sunrises over the lake. Everyday is that gloriousness that God has granted each and everyone of us called this life, your life, that only you get to live and see and experience and remember.
Fancy cameras aren't meant to pull you away from all that, fiddling with foreign settings and innumerable combinations of f-stop shutterspeed and ISO. They should be pulling you into it. What we hope to do is enable you to be more comfortable, more natural, with your camera in your hands, capture the moment by taking a better picture up front and then set the camera down and get out there and live it! So take a day with us. Come on. Let's hang out together, learn a bit, laugh a bit too and then head back to our lives and start celebrating that everyday that has been uniquely entrusted to us.
The below images our from one of our near and dear to the heart 2011 This is the Day Photography workshop participant, Heidi! And here too are her thoughts on the experience...
"I first started to take an interest in photography because I simply wanted to take "good" pictures of my kids...ones that went beyond a basic snapshot. I took a few basic photography courses - one, an adult education class at the local community college and the other online; but, when I heard about the "This Is the Day" workshop offered by Caroline and Sarah, I jumped at the chance! Not only were they local Sebring girls I was familiar with, but they were talented too!
I always admired Sarah's ability to create images that were vivid and bright and, I felt, she had a particular strength for highlighting the eyes of her subjects. Oh, the eyes...always so striking! Caroline's style was a favorite too as she had such a way of expressing the details...as if she were the invisible photographer standing off in the distance seeing beyond what the average onlooker would see. Then, at just the right moment capturing it.
The "This is the Day" workshop was such a fun and interactive day full of information and then hands-on application. From the basics to editing and everything in between, it was a wonderful reinforcement of the few things I had already learned about photography and having Caroline and Sarah in the room, answering questions and sharing their knowledge and skills was the icing on the cake. I would recommend the workshop in an instant to any beginner or even someone with a little bit of a knowledge base who wants to expand and go deeper in their understanding and practical use of photography. You'll enjoy every minute!" - Heidi Stephens, 2011 This is the Day Photography Workshop Attendee
Heidi lovingly shared with us some images she has captured—since attending our This is the Day Beginners Workshop—while "celebrating the everyday" in her life as a mom of three precious little ones...
Below you get to hear from (as well as see the breathtaking images of) another 2011 workshop attendee, Staci Braswell! Already a skilled amateur photographer, Staci joined us at our 2011 This is the Day Photography workshop to develop her craft and to really expand and grow her knowledge. Now-a-days Staci enjoys utilizing her stellar photographic skills professionally from time to time not only capturing her own life experiences but also instilling timeless memories in the hearts of others around her.
"This is the Day workshop was an excellent opportunity to learn from two of the best in the business in a small group setting! Caroline and Sarah are willing to share their expertise with anyone willing to learn. I appreciated the introduction to camera settings and editing programs. But the most valuable part of the workshop was the opportunity to put the information into action with an afternoon shooting a family. I would encourage anyone interested in photography to sign up for the workshop. I have seen many improvements in my work, thanks to the inspiration and encouragement from Caroline and Sarah! These two ladies have a gift and talent that they are willing to share - don't miss the opportunity!" - Stacy Braswell / 2011 This is the Day Photography Workshop Attendee
Thank you to these two amazing past participants for sharing a little peek into your world! And I can't wait to spend a day with a new group of "fancy" camera toting friends and to watch as our new "alumni" grow.
xoxo,
Caroline
I spent this past Saturday not just photographing a truly sweet and beautiful wedding with some of the most precious and thoughtful details but I also spent the day celebrating two of my dear friends. And while I am still pouring over all the images I couldn't help but share a sneak peek into their day.
Congrats Elic and Amanda! I have loved being a part of your journey towards marriage and look forward to a friendship for many years to come!
xoxo,
Caroline
Elic and Amanda's Sebring, FL wedding with Caroline Maxcy Photography.
There is just something about a sweet spirit that radiants through photos sometimes. Miss Savannah in all her pregnant glory had just that. And my afternoon with her and her family of three (soon to be four) at Lake Istokpoga Park (just days before daddy was deployed to Korea for a year) was simply beautiful, relaxed and the perfect celebration of the miracle of a life in the making! So honored and blessed to capture this sweet time for you all!
xoxo,
Caroline
This past weekend in the heart of Raleigh, North Carolina feels like anything but a blur. From the moment I stepped off the plane and into my rental car for Lauren and Trent's wedding weekend I tried to embrace the reprieve from my day-to-day and vowed to take it all in, one moment at a time. Right off the bat I knew it was going to be good. To my joy, Raleigh was in bloom, my favorite season. I breathed it in. I just so happened to still have my alpaca mittens in my purse to keep me perfectly warm on my surprisingly chilly leisure walk location scouting through Pullen Park. And I pulled up to Hayes Barton Cafe and Dessertery at the exact moment it was opening for the day (I seriously dropped $30 on cake slices that were worth every-lovin'-cent!). By that point I was only 2 hours into my trip and on the road to a dear friend's house with my favorite pizza and delicious cake in tow. The rest of the weekend couldn't have played out any better. Unexpectedly beautiful wedding day weather, celebrating with the sweetest of families, a tear-jerking ceremony, and stunningly gorgeous details filling The Stockroom in downtown Raleigh rounded out the wedding weekend. I really can't wait to share this one with you all. But while I am still pouring over the images from the weekend I've decided to give you all a peak into one of my top two bridal sessions with the lovely Lauren in downtown Raleigh last fall (okay, okay, I have only done two bridal sessions in my existence, both were stunning. Seriously, why don't more brides opt for this??).
Lauren and Trent's were set to get married at The Stockroom on Fayetteville Street in the heart of the city (to give you an idea of the gorgeousness that is coming with their wedding day photos). So what better location could we find for Lauren's bridal session? We stepped into the gorgeous historic building mid afternoon on a Monday and spent the next few hours following the light across the room, stepping out into the street and taking a meandering stroll around Raleigh's capitol building in the height of fall. The results were breathtaking in my book...
xoxo,
Caroline
This past weekend's wedding with Emma & Eric was truly magical. You couldn't have asked for a better day and a sweeter pair. Here is a little sneak peek into the day...
Emma & Eric's Lake Placid, Florida wedding with Caroline Maxcy Photography.
To God be the Glory!
100 Layer Cake has been one of my favorite most "drool-worthy" blogs since I can remember following blogs. Their posts are always filled with beautiful, bright and unique details and ideas. So when they said they would like to feature Daveigh's Tea Party 5th Birthday on their family blog last fall I just may have squealed. And then we waited… for just the right time… when things were in bloom and fragrant spring days were in sight. That time was last week when the images of the light and laughter filled day graced the 100 Layer Cake-let blog. In case you missed my Facebook announcement, head on over to 100 Layer Cake-let to revisit Daveigh's Birthday from coming up on one year ago and gush over all the precious details again. Thanks for the featured 100 Layer Cake!
xoxo, Caroline
Caroline Maxcy Photography and Daveigh's springtime tea party birthday featured on 100 Layer Cake-let.
