Richard Bell Photography Blog

I am so pleased to share with you…..
Maggie & Zeb’s album design!

Check it out here: http://charlestonwedding.com/#/cass/

This past Saturday, I had the honor and privilege of photographing the wedding of two very dear friends, Maggie & Zeb. We have all known each other since my family and I moved to Charleston when I was only 13 years old!!! Maggie and Zeb had an incredibly beautiful and fun wedding. I can’t say enough about how perfectly everything came together, so thank you to everyone who put so much hard work into making such a special day happen.

I had a hard time picking out “just” a few for this blog…so stay tuned for their album design to see all the rest!

I highly recommend the band Soul Fish, by the way! They were just amazing and everyone had SO much fun! They can really keep the party going!
(If you’ve never heard them play, you should…they play often at several different Wild Wings as well as Rooftop at Vendue and others!)

Also…Joyce and Chris attended Maggie’s wedding…aren’t they cute?
They’re getting married VERY soon and guess who will be their photographer?

And Mell got a cute one of the three of us at the very end!

It is time for me (Valerie), Nathan, and Mell to say GOODBYE to Charleston for a week and say HELLO to Las Vegas for the annual WPPI conference!

WPPI  is the largest professional photographers’ event in the country, and it is held in Vegas every year.

After yeeeeeeears of attending WPPI being only a *sigh* “maybe one day” kind of dream….this year it will be REALITY! Words cannot express how excited I am (we all are!!!!)

So tonight, while we wish you all a very Happy Valentine’s Day….we are packing our bags and counting down the minutes.

Here are a three pics I took while touring Vegas about this time last year:
 
 

 

If you are going to be attending the wedding show tomorrow at the Charleston Convention Center….come by our booth and say hi!  We will all be there with bells on!

Nathan, Mell and I will be leaving directly from the show to the airport for Vegas.

And if you call or visit our studio this week, be sure to send all your extra kudos to Steve for holding down the fort for us!!!!

As promised in the {sneak peak blog entry} here are the rest of Emily & Eric’s engagement pictures!

Their super fabulous engagement book design is hot off the press!
CLICK HERE (it will open in a new window)

(Take note of your favorite…and vote at the bottom of this post!)

#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8

.[polldaddy poll=1364257].

Last week, Linsey came into the studio for a last minute maternity session! I (Valerie) say “last minute” because she is 36 weeks (now 37 weeks) and is expecting a baby girl!

There is such amazing beauty in expecting a child! It’s such an honor for me to be the one chosen to capture it with my camera.

Here are my top 3 favorites from Linsey’s shoot:

Also, this is a GREAT time to mention that our studio has decided to start doing FREE maternity sessions! 

*We will also do a free newborn shoot for your baby up to 6 weeks of age!*

So now all you mommies-to-be have no excuses!

 Ladies, meet Damien. He’s 5′ 11” and enjoys long walks on the beach and good Italian food………just kidding. (But only sort of!)

Aaaaaaanyway, Sunday was my good friend Damien’s birthday,  and of all things, I was able to talk  him into letting me take his goodlookin self out for a photo shoot!

We had lots of fun and took pictures all over the downtown area! We had WAY too many good ones to choose from by the end of the evening, but I guess that’s nothing to complain about! Damien was so much fun to photograph…he’s easygoing and relaxed…and c’mon girls you gotta admit he’s also easy on the eyes!

So now I need your help picking the overall favorite!  (There is a poll at the end of this post so go vote!)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7. 
I can’t decide if I like it better in color or black & white!
What do you think?

 [polldaddy poll=1323215]

If you are viewing this post on Facebook, you can click on the poll here: http://richardbellphotography.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/everyone-sing-happy-birthday-to-damien/

I’m always so excited when I post new book designs! Here I am on a rainy Monday afternoon, and I can’t think of much I’d rather do than enjoy being all warm & cozy indoors playing with photoshop and our other design programs. (Yes, I realize how geeky that makes me and I’m cool with it, haha!)

I might say this a lot, but I truly had such a fun time on Gil & Nicole’s engagement shoot! I couldn’t be more thrilled to share more of their photos with you! (And can you blame me…my camera loves them!)

Check it out:http://charlestonwedding.com/#/smirlisengage/

I also posted a few of these for Gil & Nicole’s Facebook-sharing in our 2008 Engagements album!

Earlier today, I (Valerie) had the sheer joy of doing an afternoon engagement session with Emily and Eric. 

I had SO much fun that I had to put up a “sneak peak” for you all to see….and yes, a sneak peak is just a teaser…so hold your horses, people….you will see more in a later blog post! (I promise!)

Being a former newswriter, I could attempt to describe to you in words just how sickeningly cute and head-over-heels-in-LOVE this couple is….

…or I could just show you a picture or three…

They were also game for all my fun and creative, artsy ideas….

And for every serious moment, there were LOTS of fun and silly ones!
(This couple could teach the class on “how to have fun on a photo shoot” – haha!)

Hey now…..calm down, there are LOTS more to share!

So stay tuned!

I (Valerie) had a really fun engagement photo session downtown with Leah and Justin! Their wedding isn’t until July 18th, but since neither of them live in Charleston, we were lucky to squeeze in their session!

We met up in Waterfront Park, but the majority of our session was spent walking around downtown! We walked over to the train tracks, then to the steps of the Customs House, up East Bay Street a bit (where we shot in one of my favorite alleyways!) and ended back in Waterfront Park.

Here are a few favorites from their session:

Last Saturday, I (Valerie) had the privilege of traveling to Greenville, SC for Elizabeth and Skip’s wedding at Mary’s at Falls Cottage (by Falls Park on the Reedy River). Just let me say…what a BEAUTIFUL place for me to enjoy my first wedding of 2009! I met Elizabeth and Skip at Renee & Derek’s wedding that I shot back in the beginning of October.

Elizabeth is an absolutely gorgeous bride. She was so much fun to photograph! I told her when I was a little girl, I played with Barbie dolls…now as an adult, I play with brides. (Joking. Sort of.)  There were SO many fun shots from this wedding, it made choosing my favorites for this blog really tough!

I love the challenge shooting at new locations, especially places as beautiful as Falls Park. Just wow.

I love this shot of Elizabeth! That is Mary’s Restaurant in the background.

And here’s Skip, the handsome groom!

I loved the lighting of the fountains and was excited to get a reflection shot of Skip and his groomsmen:

The harpist, Erin Knight (www.musicbyerin.com) was so sweet to let me sneak in this shot right after the ceremony! She is a really talented harpist (and she travels all over the Carolinas for weddings if you’re looking for good harp music, hint-hint!)

My second photographer was so much fun to shoot with that day….. Everyone, let me introduce my mom, Thoma Schooling!
This was her first time shooting a wedding with me, and she really and truly did a great job!
I am so blessed to have her as my mom and close friend (and that day, 8 hours in the car traveling buddy = AMEN!)

Inside Mary’s, on the stairs…

Right outside Mary’s, overlooking Falls Park on the Reedy River….under a really perfectly placed spotlight:

The ambient lighting of the  park at night was nearly ideal…I had so much fun taking night portraits of  the newlyweds!

One last kiss after the sparkler leave, with Mary’s in the background:

I am currently working on their album and will post it in the next week, so stay tuned!

- Valerie