I met Laura last year and from the get go she was beaming with excitement over the wedding venue. I could see from pictures she showed me that is was beautiful, but it is even more impressive in person. On the wedding day, I arrived a little early to capture some of the romantic beauty that Rose Hill has to offer. When Laura arrived, the first thing she said to me was, “I told you!”

The night before the wedding was my first opportunity to meet Laura’s groom. Jon, a Navy SEAL, is a great compliment to Laura. Where Laura is animated, Jon is calm and very humble. It was a pleasure to have met them and watch them interact with each other throughout the day. Jon was very gentle with Laura… he let her shine. One moment I recall was just before the reception was ready to begin, I spotted a wooden fence resting in the path of the setting sun. I politely asked Jon if he would mind standing back for a moment so I could photograph Laura against the fence. He said yes absolutely, she is gorgeous, this is her day. Now how sweet is that?

 I also want to thank Erin McLean Events for all their hard work. And a special thank you to Valerie!

I met Jill, mom, and Kami (wedding coordinator) at the State Club for an afternoon of fun! Although I was a bit under the weather, Jill was absolutely stunning in her wedding gown and rocking some gorgeous jewelry!

Congratulations Kristen and Dan!

Here are a few of my favorites.

Here are just a few of my favorites!

We greeted Sabrina and Chris as they departed the cruise ship in the morning and traveled by car to Jalousie Plantation on the southern end of the island. This was a first for me and I hope to return some day soon. Maybe a second honeymoon! The staff were so helpful giving us a tour of the resort, bringing refreshments and organizing every little detail of the day. The original plan was to have the ceremony on the beach, but because there were so many onlookers, the decision was made to move it to the top of the hill. I think it was the right decision, now we had a view of the Pitons and the surrounding cove. Not to mention it was much more intimate.

Chris was so nervous as his bride emerged from her room with her father. He looked up at the sky almost the entire time. But once he laid eyes on her, he could not contain his emotions. I even was choked up, and that rarely happens. After the ceremony we gathered the couple for portraits hoping to squeeze them in before the looming rain clouds arrived. Well, we almost made it. But Sabrina and Chris didn’t let the rain dampen their day!

Congratulations Sabrina and Chris, and thank you for letting me tag along. It was an absolutely wonderful day!

We started along the bike path which passes Boat Road and leads you directly to the Philadelphia Art Museum. We managed to fight through tourists taking their picture next to the Rocky statue and headed up the steps, yes, those steps. The sun was just starting to set and cast a gorgeous light on the stone pillars.

As we traveled around the city, we talked about their relationship and how they arrived at this point. Shannon and Mike spent much of their early relationship splitting time between Philadelphia, where Mike worked, and New York, where Shannon worked at the time. Many of their hello’s and goodbye’s were spent at 30th Street Station, so naturally that had to be one of our backdrops for the session. Parking was tough, Mike pulled up curbside, we all jumped out and ran into the station. We figured we had 10 minutes before the car would look suspicious, so we worked quickly and got some fantastic shots!

Afterwards we headed just down the street for a few night shots with the city as our backdrop. It was very windy and very cold, but the sky was just perfect!

It was a little darker than I had hoped by the time we arrived back at Boat Row, but the illumination from the houses still made a great backdrop.

I drove in Friday night to photograph the rehearsal dinner and as my car wound down the mountain, I was awestruck as the mountain range cleared and before me was a gorgeous lake surrounded by several antique shops, the Inn and off in the distance a small gazebo. I honestly felt as though I had just entered another country!

I got up extra early wedding day to photograph panoramas of the Lake and surrounding areas. When I was done I headed back down the mountain to the Inn to meet with Kelly at Johnny’s Cabin, you guessed it, the very one seen in the movie. Now, I must admit, I have not seen Dirty Dancing in ages, but from what I can recall, it seemed pretty much the same. Fast forward to the ceremony. Kelly and her fathered arrived in style as a horse-drawn carriage escorted them from the Inn to the ceremony location about a half mile away. Ashley waited patiently as his bride made her way to the top of the aisle. He face says it all.

Congratulations Kelly and Ashley!

I hope you enjoy and please pay a visit to the Carolina Tiger Rescue if you can. It truly is a great experience!

This is Sabastian. He is an adult male lion who was used as a prop in a Halloween haunted house for years before being rescued. Can you imagine walking through a dark room and seeing this guy pop out at you? Sabastian had quite the personality, that is for a lion.

Sabastion spends most of his days hanging around with his two lady companions.

He is so cute, but I know given the chance, I would be a nice meal for him.

More Sabastian!

He has just seen the trainer with the food bucket

Meet Sheba. She is an adult female who was featured in Animal Planets "Growing Up Lion". Of the three lions in the pen she is definitely the dominant personality.

Sheba relaxing in the afternoon sun.

This was a rare treat... every year after the Holidays, donated Christmas trees are given to the large cats. We were lucky enough to be there today to see this annual event. The trainer sprayed Obsession perfume on the tree and as you can see the lions loved it. In fact, they all dive bombed the tree when they first entered the pen.

Meet Rajaji. He is an adult male Bengal Tiger who was very friendly, despite his mean scowl in this image. There are only 3200 Bengal Tigers left in the wild today. There are more in captivity in Texas alone than there are in the wild.

Yes, he is actually falling asleep in front of us

Meet Jellybean. He is an adult male white tiger. Gorgeous cat! For all you Star Wars fans, did you know that Chewie's groan is that of a tiger? Jellybean groaned several times for us and I swear, it sounded just like Chewie.

Yawn

I cannot for the life of me remember this Bengal Tiger's name, which is sad because he was my favorite. He came here with his brother Apache who died this past August from a cancerous sore on his mouth. His brother, seen here, was lost without him for weeks. What makes this truly sad is that this little guy is blind and depended greatly on his brother to get around the pen. The trainer explained that he is doing much better now!

Meet Lucky. He is the largest Bengal Tiger on site weighing in at around 500 lbs. He is a gorgeous boy who shares his pen with a female named Carmelita. We didn't see much of her because Lucky gets very aggressive with her when food is around.

At the Carolina Tiger Rescue they rate each animals aggressive eating habits based on a scale from 1 to 4. All large cats are a 4.

Meet Bandit. He is a Caracal and is a funny little guy. He hissed constantly when food was around. Surprisingly though, he is only a level 2 on the aggressive scale.

I can't remember this little guys name either, but he is an Ocelot. Beautiful coat.

Meet Bok. I love this little guy. Very gentle in nature and comes in as a 0 on the aggressive scale. He mostly eats bananas but is considered a carnivore because he has carnivorous teeth.

Meet Elvis. He is a Serval. I can't remember too much right now about this little guy other than his eye lids blink really fast. I was happy I captured a shot with his eyes open.

Meet Colins. You guessed it, he's a bobcat. Most of you probably know that it is illegal to own a wild animal indiginous to North Carolina as a pet. So based on that logic, can I own a Tiger? The answer is yes. Shocking isn't it?

After the ceremony, guests gathered outside on the terrace for Meghan and Roddie’s first dance as man and wife. Followed by a yummy dinner, cake cutting and night of fun!

Congratulations Meghan and Roddie!