This isn’t the big final farewell post that I’ll have on this wedding… but it’s been a couple of weeks and the bride deserves a teaser! The way I’m working this one though, it REALLY a tease… just a bit of the start of their day; the beginning. I can’t wait to get the whole gallery up for everyone to see. It was a very special day for us. And I’m so glad we were able top share it with Jocelyn & Arron.

If a bride wants a dream place to get ready, the Bentley in Kinston is perfection. Light is gorgeous!

…about to enter her happily ever after.

This poor couple has had to wait through our family vacation, camp week and my bout with food poisoning this past weekend before getting a teaser up! My heartfelt apologies for keeping them on pins and needles! Hopefully, these few shots will show them how beautiful they were and how awesome the full set will be! We loved this day so much and felt like part of their family by the end of the night. Such a laid back group who kept us laughing. You know we love those!

And a very special thank you to Jordan’s parents, who were celebrating their 28th anniversary the day their daughter married!

For months now, we’ve had some exciting things happening, business wise. Some of you have heard whispers here and there, and so we felt it was time to make the announcement officially official. After 12 years as a professional photographer, we will be closing the doors to Fresh. This has been a HUGE decision, and not one that we’ve taken lightly. Aside from the handful of clients who are in the final stages of having their products ordered and delivered, along with the two weddings we have left to shoot in 2012, we will be stepping back from this side of the industry that we’ve come to love.

But there is good news! Through our time creating, planning and teaching our national photography workshop, Genesis, we have developed a passion for mentoring. With our years of ultimate highs, as well as a few with debilitating lows, we have learned so much about what it takes to do what we do; both through great choices AND through poor ones. This experience led to the creation of Genesis, and ultimately, to the creation of our new venture, Clarity.

Clarity will be a communication-based business that works with other photographers in a personal, one-on-one fashion, helping them weed through the writing of their web content and client correspondence, while also providing insight into conflict resolution as it arises. It’s where I hope photographers will go when they need help getting through the parts of the business that aren’t so creative and fun. I’ve already been blessed with clients ready to move forward on their communication needs, and have watched as they have taken advice from Clarity and seen amazing results. It’s been a huge indication that this is the direction we need to be headed.

I want to thank all of you who have worked with us over the years… those who have been with us for as long as our doors have been open… those who have hired us from hundreds of miles away and flown us to your homes… those who have been gracious during my health concerns over the last two years, and those who have been encouragers as we have searched for how to best transition into this new season of our lives.

God began a good work in me all those years ago when I first took a picture of Parker and Peyton for our family Christmas card. He grew a heart for helping others have images they could be proud of; that focused on the essence of their family’s relationships. It’s been humbling to hear back from these clients and know that we gave them something to cherish. I’m now excited to go help other photographers accomplish the same thing… to be the best photographer they can be, so that even more families can hang wonderful, emotion-filled images on their walls.

Jeff and I find it bittersweet to see a chapter close… but we’re confident that in doing so, we’re following the path we’re meant to walk. At our “Grand Opening” of the storefront, I read from a passage in 1 Chronicles 17. It seems fitting to repeat it here…

“Who am I, Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, my God, you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant… And now, Lord, let the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house be established forever. Do as you promised, so that it will be established and that your name will be great forever.”

-Mel & Jeff

PS – Now, keep an eye out for the Clarity launch! Here’s our new website! www.communicationjunkie.com

I haven’t been able to pull my Genesis thoughts together in a coherent way since returning from Las Vegas… so until that happens, here’s a happy little shot of Jeff and me from the Instructor Shoot-Out on day one! Much thanks to Genestudent Susan Judge for grabbing this for us! It’s the only shot of us together from the whole week! But it captures our personalities perfectly.

When Suzanne called to see if we could book an Adventure session for the Spring (which we did!), she also wanted to check on doing a Quick Shoot while her dad and his wife were visiting from Tennessee this month. Of course, there’s rarely anything picturesque about Eastern Carolina in the winter, so we had to have a little fun with our clothing options in order to give this session the personality that the Ballards deserve… cause they are FULL of personality. Since a 20 minute portrait session isn’t enough time to highlight all of their collective fun (that’s what the Adventure shoot is for!), we let some coats and hats and scarves do most of the talking.

As a side note, we almost had to let a big ol’ black eye do some talking, too! But thanks to Tricia Overton at the Mac counter in Greenville’s Belk store, Mama’s beautiful face was saved! Ahhh, the life of a house full of silly girls tossing things through the air… it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt, right? Just didn’t expect it to be mom! Thanks, Tricia! I knew sending her your way was the right decision!

Thanks, Ballard Family!! I had fun with y’all today! Can’t wait to meet up and plan the big ADVENTURE coming up in April!!

So, winter is a photographer’s slow time. And even though we don’t have tons of images to post, it doesn’t mean we’re not accomplishing amazing things! Today, I’m gonna highlight my own personal accomplishment! I started the Dukan Diet back on July 18th. And as of January, have lost a total of 62 pounds! Isn’t that insane?! I have never, in my adult life, been a size 8… so this is HUGE. So huge. I am incredibly excited to see how this affects my shooting. I was already willing to get on the ground and climb into a window to get the shot, but maybe now I can do it more easily and look less silly trying.

While many photographers are posting their year-in-review images, we’ve been sitting over here excited for what 2012 is going to look like for us. It’s no secret that I struggled this past year and a half with a severe postpartum diagnosis that limited what we were able to do, photographically. There were days I thought I’d never pick up a camera again. And there were days when the camera was my only link to sanity. Funny how that worked. With this new year, though, comes a renewing of who we are and what we offer. The year 2012 is poised to be the best year yet… and not because we’re booked to high heaven (which used to be our criteria for success). It’s going to be the best simply because we’ve narrowed down our focus… narrowed down what we intend to offer… what we intend to shoot… and will be putting a “fresh”, more creative foot forward.

In 2011, we introduced our Adventure sessions as the replacement for the traditional family shoots we’d done in years past. Not only were they wildly enjoyed by the families who took part, but Jeff and I felt fully alive again! We were now shooting in a way that was out-of-the-box and highly catered to the client who wants something unique and special… not just another session that can be gotten anywhere else. We have a clear vision of how these will progress in the next few months, and the new packaging has been pulled together in a way that showcases who we are as photographers… storytellers. We can’t wait to tell yours.