Brooke Turner Photography

My friend Dana of Orange Cat Photo tagged me!  I guess the way this works is that I am supposed to tell y’all 8 things that you probably don’t know about me - and then I tag 5 other photographers.

1.  I love to travel - especially Europe! I studied abroad in Paris in college, and lived for 6 months in Austria in my old corporate life (I was on a finance integration team working on an acquisition).

2.  I used to think I wanted to be the CFO of a Fortune 500 company…you know, climb the career ladder.  It took me less than a year to decide those goals would NOT bring me happiness (only stress and grey hairs instead). 

3.  I am VERY independent and actually crave alone time sometimes.

4.  People tell me all the time I look like Kirsten Dunst - it all started after that hilarious movie "Bring it On" (which I make my husband watch every time it is on TBS)

5.  I think I have the funniest story on how I met my husband. My dad set us up! And at the end of our ‘blind date’ he shook my hand and said "nice to meet you"…not even a hug!  I STILL give him a hard time about that!

6.  I was the biggest dork as a kid - I started my own version of the BabySitters Club in my neighborhood with my friends. We really did some babysitting too!  Every summer I was thinking of ways to start another business. I guess I just have it in my blood. (some were pretty far-fetched though!)

7. To give another example of what a dork I was - one year for Christmas I asked for a typewriter so I could start typing my homework. This was in 4th grade I think.   I was also convinced that I was going to be a writer when I "grew up" and I needed the typewriter to type my novels.  I’m not really sure how I had any friends I was such a nerd!

8. I ran a half marathon in December of 2005. Don’t even start to think I’m a runner though, I suffered the whole way! I think a 10K is my maximum racing distance (and I use the term racing loosely!)

Here are the 5 other photographers I want to tag (sorry if you’ve already been tagged!)

Scarlett Lillian

Jill Higgins

Ruth Rackley

Kathy Powell

Amy Wood

I’ve added a new "Featured Couple" section of my website which showcases a particular couple and their wedding.  Maggie and John are my first couple I’m showcasing on the site - not only because their Charleston wedding was stunning, but I was SO impressed by the love that their friends and family shared, as well as the fun that everyone had!  Check out the site when you get a chance!  I’ll be choosing a new couple every couple months or so.

I’m so excited to offer custom birth announcements! 

Shoot me an email to set up a newborn session.  Newborns are best photographed in the first two weeks of life to get that adorable newborn look :)  Here are a couple samples.  Oh, and I do create them for boys too - it just so happens I’ve photographed many more girls than boys. 

I got the SWEETEST note in the mail last week from one of my March 2007 brides and figured I would post it here.   

Reading this note confirms why I love my job.  It is so rewarding being a positive and calming influence on the wedding day.  I understand how stressful weddings can be!

"Dear Brooke,

I just wanted to take the time out to tell you thank you.  I honestly look at my wedding pictures EVERY day!  I can not express how much I love them!!!  I also loved everything you did for our wedding.  Your patience and attention was more than I even expected.  You went beyond my expectations for a photographer!  I would recommend you to ANY bride who wants a perfect photographer.

Thank you so much!

-Crystal and Jason Nickel"

So, how do you like the new look of the blog?

So, what have I been up to lately?  It seems like now is the time for bridal portraits.  My past two weeks have been full of bridal portraits for my fall brides, along with meeting up with brides for next year.

On a more personal note, my dad retired this week! He’s had two really fun retirement parties that we’ve attended over the past couple of weeks.  Here are some pics from those parties (since I can’t post any of the bridal portraits I’ve been shooting!)  Sorry for the poor quality of pics - they were all made with little point & shoot cameras.

My dad, sister, and I at Retirement Party #1 at Al’s Upstairs-

Sisters at Retirement Party #2 at my parent’s house

My whole fam!  Notice Jon (my sister’s hubby) being silly…I warned him this shot was going on the blog :)  We have so much fun when we all get together! Also notice my cute daddy in his Hawaiian shirt. I guess he’s in retirement mode now!

Oh my goodness! I had SO much fun at the One Light workshop.  Zack Arias was an incredible teacher on the difficult subject of lighting.  He is the only one that has explained the inverse square law of light and it make perfect sense (well, almost perfect sense).  It was intense, but totally worth it… we didn’t adjourn till after 1am on Thursday.  In addition to learning a TON, I got to hang out and meet with some other photographers from across the Southeast.  I made a ton of new friends and can’t wait to see them again. 

We had some gorgeous models working with us from an agency in Greenville.  I knew we’d get along great when I found out they were both Clemson girls too!

Now for a few pics-

Here’s Zack hard at work with one of our models, Christy:

Jenna was getting eaten alive by mosquitos in this one.  The models were awesome - totally willing to do whatever we asked:

This one below was taken outside in broad daylight. Hard to believe, huh?

A twilight shot of Jenna:

I’m back from DC, and now in Greenville tonight and all day tomorrow for the One Light Workshop.  Basically, this is a very intense workshop on how to get the most out of your flash.  As soon as I heard that Zack was coming to Greenville, I signed up! Zack Arias is a renowned music photographer from ATL.  I’m about to head out to go to the welcome reception, and tomorrow will be the hard core day of teaching and shooting….from 9:30 am till after midnight! I think always stretching myself and learning new techniques is so important.

So, if I’m a little delayed on email responses, you’ll know why.

Since Wednesday night I’ve been up here in the DC area….my sister has been living up here all summer while working at ExxonMobil as part of her MBA internship.  We’ve had such a good time! Another treat was that I got to catch up with one of my best friends from college, Micki, who works in DC on the Hill.

Here are a couple of pics from my trip so far. We’re having so much fun!

My cute business-woman sis Elizabeth in front of the ExxonMobil HQ in Virginia. I’m so proud of her!

My sister and I with my college friend, Micki, at dinner in Alexandria: 

Sisters in Alexandria:

Tomorrow we’re going to lunch with Micki, her son Parker, and my sister’s sister-in-law who is ironically named Elisabeth as well. (confused yet?).  More pics to come!

CLICK HERE  for Libby and Adam’s slideshow

Enjoy!

Libby and Adam were married this past Saturday at a sweet ceremony in Union.  The day started out at one of my favorite salons in SC - ‘Being’ which is owned by a guy named Chris. He does SUCH a good job with hair and makeup.  Example-I overheard him asking the bridesmaids before doing their hair - "Is it ok if I give you a more red-carpet look than traditional wedding look?".  Everyone looked stunning! 

The ceremony took place at Grace Methodist Church in Union, and the reception was at the Armory.  Libby and Adam have such sweet families and a really fun group of friends.  Here are some faves from the day (slideshow coming soon!)

Having some laughs at the salon:

All finished! All the lovely hair-do’s:

The dress:

Beautiful Bride and Handsome Groom:

Clemson guys!:

The processional:

Some sweet couple time:

Waiting to be announced:

Adam and his mom dancing:

Sparklers!