Katie is a part of my “Baby’s First Year” program, and I am so glad because I get to see this sweet girl and her parents every 3 months! 
Because they are in between houses right now while they are building, we decided to shoot in Lake Carolina. Click here to see Katie’s six month session, in case you missed it!
And here are a few of my favorites!
It meant so much to me to have the opportunity to photograph Karen and Justin’s wedding on Saturday. I have known Karen and her family for YEARS- we go way back! The day was filled with so many sweet moments and laughter. I love it when families have fun together! It is so obvious that Justin just adores Karen! SO sweet!! The children in the wedding (Karen’s niece and nephews) were simply adorable and SO well behaved! Another beautiful wedding! God bless you, Karen and Justin! Here’s to many years of joyful marriage!
Our dear friends were blessed with a healthy baby girl - Naomi Chandler Smith - on July 18, 2009. Justin and I are honored and humbled to be this precious little girl’s God-Parents. What an amazing responsibility that we don’t take lightly! It was also such a privilege to witness and photograph the miracle of birth! All images posted with Mama Amanda’s permission.
Earlier this week I met Kristin and Jeremy in Charleston for their engagement session. After shooting for a while around Waterfront Park, we made the quick drive to Folly Beach for some beach portraits. It was such fun getting to know Kristin and Jeremy better. Can’t wait for their February 2010 wedding!
Now that Kathryn and Ben are married, I can show you a couple from her portrait session!
And below is the one she chose for display at the reception:
A couple months ago, I was approached with the opportunity to be a part of a “Blog Tour” to review a recently published book, “Religion Saves: and 9 Other Misconceptions” by Mark Driscoll. I was thrilled! I have listened to Mark Dricoll’s sermons on podcast for about 2 years now..most often while I’m ”chained to my desk” while I’m editing photos :) So of course I jumped at the chance to read an early release of his latest book. You can read a little more about Mark Driscoll here..but in short, he is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, one of the fastest growing churches in America. He is known for his bold and sometimes “in your face” style of teaching, which I mostly love. I always come away from listening to his messages not only challenged and convicted, but refreshed and wanting more! Even more reason why I was thrilled to have his latest book in my hand!
“Religion Saves: and 9 Other Misconceptions” was birthed out of a sermon series where Pastor Mark set out to answer 9 of the most controversial questions regarding the Christian life. As I opened the book and saw the table of contents, previewing what questions were to be answered in the pages to come, I could not wait to get into the book! About 3 years ago I truly came to know the Lord for the first time in my life. I had been a frequent church attender, but Christ was not at all at the center of my life. Part of the growing process for me has been wrestling with some of these “frequently asked questions” that Mark addresses.
The nine issues that are addressed in this book are: birth control, humor, predestination, grace, sexual sin, faith and works, dating, the emerging church, and the regulative principle. So now for my review:
Overall, this book was an excellent read! The responses to the topics were extremely thorough and had extensive scriptural references to back up his position For me, this book will serve as an excellent reference to go back to in the future when someone asks why I believe what I believe about a particular issue.
Click here to purchase a copy of the book. If you are a Christian looking to get scriptually based responses on these “hot button” issues in the Church today, pick up a copy! I believe you will benefit from it now and for years to come
{If you are looking for Elizabeth Ann & David’s slideshow, scroll down}
Q: I am interested in upgrading to a digital SLR camera so that I can take better pictures of my kids, what would you suggest for a first time SLR?
A: First off, for those of you who don’t know what a “digital SLR” camera is - SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. In layman’s terms- an SLR is one where the lenses are interchangeable. My first digital SLR was the Canon Digital Rebel. CLICK HERE to read more about the camera, or purchase it from B&H Photo (where I get purchase all of my equipment). Now I shoot exclusively with the Canon 5D, which i LOVE!!
Q: How do you get those “blurry backgrounds” in your pictures?
A: When I first got started in photography, I had the same question! I remember wanting that “blurry background” so badly in my images! The blurry background that you see in pictures is actually called bokeh which is a shallow depth of field. This is controlled entirely by what aperture I am shooting at. Aperture is one of the settings on the camera that you change when shooting manual. The lower the aperture, the “blurrier” the background.
For example, in the image above, my aperture was f 1.8. I like shooting “wide open” for shots like this because it really pulls out the subject from the background and gets the eye to focus on the main subject.
Q: I am interested in starting a career in photography, can I come and shoot with you sometime?
A: This is a question I get at least once a week, and it is such HUGE honor that someone would want to come and help me out, even offering for free! I still can’t believe that people think that I have anything at all to teach. I feel like I am still learning and still have SO much to learn. As much as I would love to have each and every one of you come and help me with a wedding, this just isn’t possible unfortunately. I currently have two part-time second shooters that exclusively shoot with me for weddings. Please email me, however, and I will put you on my backup second shooter list!
Q: Where did you get your cute camera strap?
A: Aww, thanks so much for noticing!! The camera strap that is in question is one that is a green swirly design that has “Brooke Turner Photography” embroidered on it. It always makes me smile when I get asked this question, because it was a gift from a sweet photographer friend, Kathy Powell with Moore Photography. I believe she got it for me from Trendy Camera Straps. Thank you Kathy for my awesome strap!
Q: What program do you use to edit your images and for your slideshows?
A: I use Photoshop CS3. When I first got started, I used the consumer photo editing software - Photoshop Elements. But quickly I discovered a ton that I wanted to do was not possible in Elements. For my slideshows, I use a company called Showit.
Thank you so much for your questions! If your question was not answered above, I am saving some for my next edition of “Ask Anything”. Email me questions, or post below! Have a great day!
Elizabeth Ann and David, as well as their friends and family, just overflow with warmth and kindness. Their wedding on Saturday was SO much fun! Both Elizabeth Ann and David went to Presbyterian College, and most of the bridal party too, so there were lots of fun “PC” touches. We even took a few minutes on the way to the reception to get some pictures on campus. It was such a blast getting to know all of Elizabeth Ann’s sweet bridesmaids..I feel like I’ve got a whole new group of friends! Here are a few from their wedding day.
*note* there was a glitch in the slideshow toward the end, causing it to freeze up - but I’ve fixed it now
more images and slideshow on the way from this super-fun wedding!
Also, last call for “Ask Anything” questions! I’ll be posting the answers in a couple days!
For all of y’all blog readers who have been with me a while, you may remember Nina and Jason. I photographed their wedding way back in October of 2007. Now they are expecting a little boy in October! How sweet!! I love reconnecting with previous clients through the different stages of life. We had fun catching up and taking some maternity shots to document this season of anticipation. Can’t wait to meet the little one in a couple months! Here are just a few:
