#alwayshustlin

Checking out and stepping up

As of writing this, we have been home from a much-needed camping trip to Hot Springs, NC. We were lucky enough to have Wes, Whitney, and Acston  ( no way I spelled that right lol) join us for some campsite shenanigans. We had cameras out everywhere acting a fool and just kicking back. It was just what I needed to regroup and come back swinging. We came home Sunday, and I immediately showered and got dressed for a session on the ever enchanting Carvers Gap. That session we danced among the trees and into the creeks below as the sun peeked thru the trees tops toward us. That alone would be enough to write about, but the following day I was off to another session. This time I asked my clients to join me at The Beauty Spot, and seeing as how they trust me and have never been, they agreed. I am so glad they did. The sun was still higher than I preferred but you work with what you have and that's one of my favorite parts of photography. The ever-changing light, scenery, and weather make every session special. This led to me shooting directly into the sun for the first 15 minutes which created images a little lighter than usual, but then we found our way into the shade and tall grass. We ended with silhouettes against a magnificent blue sky. Man, I LOVE MY JOB. Its currently after 11 pm on Friday the 13th, and we are mostly packed up for another adventure. I will have cameras in tow as always and phone on standby to book that next session, although squeezing them in is starting to get interesting with Fall fast approaching! I don,t need sleep though, so let's shoot! Below I will simply leave a few images from the sessions mentioned above. Follow me on Instagram HERE and our new Company HERE to see more and to catch some BTS footage too. Until the keys click for the next entry, thanks for being here.-J

The wind was working against, and also for us at times.

The wind was working against, and also for us at times.

Bays Mountain Hiking

Lilly Pads around the lake at Bays Mountain Planetarium

Lilly Pads around the lake at Bays Mountain Planetarium

I'm still on vacation as this hits the site and should be relaxing in the sun or something but here I am. I don't relax well, and I never stop working. Whether that's thinking about blog topics, looking for locations, editing, learning new techniques, or approaching new people. Being a small business owner is hard. Very hard, but I still love spending time doing thing's I love and doing that with people I care about so last weekend we decided to take the kids hiking. We love overnight trips, and the kids are showing interest in joining us so we are "training" for a longer hike. We loaded them up with light packs and headed to Bays Mountain Park.  Bays Mountain is special to us, as Natasha and I were married here but love to take the kids to see the animals and hike the trails surrounding the lake.  This is exactly what we did. I'm not writing much, but here are the images from our day.  All images were taken with my Fuji Xpro2 and my Xf16mm lens. #onelensandgo

Correction, the wifi ended up being so slow that I decided to wait until I was back home to upload this post. I just got in a few hours ago from second shooting a wedding with the brilliant Katy Sergent and uploading some pictures from the beach and remembered it was time to post this. So here it is.

This is not a perfect image, but this is the spot where Natasha and I were married so this means more to me than all the perfect lighting in the world. Amazing how things have changed Sweetpea.

This is not a perfect image, but this is the spot where Natasha and I were married so this means more to me than all the perfect lighting in the world. Amazing how things have changed Sweetpea.

In case you notice my tee shirt and new stickers, I thought I would share that I am currently an ambassador for AwakeThe Soul. Their moto is "Stay positive, be happy and live free", and they share passion for the outdoors and adventure as well. Go check them out.