Norfolk Botanical Gardens Photography
Posted on March 18, 2008
I love the results from photography at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. There are just so many different places to produce great wedding and portrait photography that it never gets stale. To get the best results, when I do engagement portrait sessions at the Botanical Gardens, I ask the couples to plan for around 90 minutes to 2 hours to really get around the gardens and hit the best locations.
Tim and Tiffany drove up from Charlotte N.C. for their engagement session this past Saturday and I was a little concerned about the weather turning bad before we got started, but thankfully that storm we had didn’t impact this portrait session at all.
The first location chosen was in a field of daffodils. This one is a bit abstract below, but I liked the look.
Then we headed over to Renaissance Court and then the Perennial Gardens. Photography is these areas is amazing regardless of the time of year. I’ve done many weddings in both of these areas.
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Here’s two more engagement portraits below from Renaissance Court.
The last place we chose was the bridge near the Rose Gardens. They’re obviously not blooming yet this early in the year, but the bridge and dogwood trees in the background were very nice.
I will normally shoot 200 or more pictures during an engagement session at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. Tim and Tiffany were up there at the norm! If you’d like to see a slide show of their session, you can view it by clicking here Tim and Tiffany are getting Married this May at Kiln Creek.
If you would like to view more wedding and portrait photography taken at Norfolk Botanical Gardens there a few more posts below:
Steven and Ashanti’s Norfolk Botanical Gardens Wedding - Japanese Gardens
James and Janeene’s Norfolk Botanical Gardens Wedding - Renaissance Court
Jesse and Liz’s Norfolk Botanical Gardens Wedding - Rose Gardens
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Virginia Beach Family Portraits
Posted on March 15, 2008
When the weather starts to warm up as it did this week I generally find myself down at the beach with couples, brides or famlies to shoot beach portraits. This week was stellar weather wise, and I had two sessions this week on the best weather days.
I typically shoot beach portraits at sunset, because this is the best light. I ask that my portrait clients meet me on the beach around 30-45 minutes before sunset. The best time to do these portraits obviously changes as the days get longer through the summer. I use the US Naval Observatory Web Site to calculate the best time to ask portrait clients to meet me at the beach.
Here are some beach portraits of Lindsay and Mike taken on Thursday of this week.
I usually take around 200 images during a beach portrait session. Sometimes we see dolphins, sometimes we see pelicans, sometimes it’s just a gorgeous sunset, and sometimes it’s not. I just never know what God has in store for me on any given day, but that’s what makes life so much fun.
It’s easy to book your own Virgina Beach Portrait Session, just use the contact form at Bill Murray’s OnOn Digitography or give me a call, the number is listed on the site too.
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Chateau Belle Vie Wedding Photography - Brandon and Laura
Posted on March 3, 2008
I had the pleasure this past weekend of traveling to Chateau Belle Vie in Fuquay-Varina North Carolina (say THAT three times fast) to photograph the wedding of Brandon and Laura on March 1st, 2008. They’d first contacted me at the very end of January about this wedding. I sent them a contract at their request, didn’t hear anything for a while, and on the 28th of February I got the confirmation that we were a GO. Needless to say, that took some juggling on my end. I had appointments to move around and hotel reservations to make, gear to pack and batteries to charge up.
I went down on Friday to check it out since the wedding was early Saturday morning and it was a 212 mile drive. I’d never been there before, and I couldn’t find anything online about this venue, so I had NO idea what I was in for.
I was pleasantly surprised by Chateau Belle Vie. It was simply off the hook incredible. There are actually two houses that make up the Chateau, and this wedding was in the small house. The large house is complete with on site catering, tents, chairs, and everything needed to make a storybook wedding. The smaller Chateau was no different. All the fixtures and furnishings were imported from France. It is amazing.
I could go on and on about it, but it’s probably best to just show you.
This was how the dining area was setup for the brunch that followed the wedding ceremony. Gorgeous setup, furnishings, linens, view, flowers, the whole nine yards.
Brandon and Laura exchange their wedding vows in the large foyer of the house. The guests were seated in the dining room with full view of the ceremony. Piano was in the great room to the right.
Brandon and Laura exchange rings during their ceremony.
Brandon and Laura behind the house in a HUGE gazebo. I shot pictures of them alone for around 20 minutes after the ceremony. Some great images I’m sure they’ll enjoy.
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At the end of the brunch reception, Laura put her Cowboy boots back on. During preparations, I found that Brandon and Laura are going to Dublin in October to run the Dublin Marathon. So, they decided to do a little training. 
To see a slide show of 118 more images from Brandon and Laura’s wedding at Chateau Belle Vie in Fuquay-Varina Click Here for the wedding slide show.
I’d drive back to shoot a wedding there anytime! Congratulations Brandon and Laura!
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