In the spirit of back-to-school, I began reminiscing my own "first day of school" memories. Photographing a special "last first day of school" for the senior class of a Raleigh high school yesterday had me thinking deeply about milestones in general. It's a special privilege to be able to see what the past looked like through photographs—both to celebrate it and to dream about the future. Some of these image highlights got me a little teary inside as they transported me back to my own "last firsts."

Event, SeniorsAmberAugust 16, 2016Longleaf School of the Arts, Raleigh, Downtown Raleigh, event, Event Photography, Raleigh Senior, High SchoolComment

Longleaf School of the Arts | Class of 2016 Senior Breakfast

On Monday, I had the pleasure of being introduced to the Longleaf School of the Arts senior class at their Senior Breakfast. It's the school's first senior class EVER and the excitement was certainly in the air. Seeing the students, parents and staff mingle with one another was so neat—they are truly a unique, tight-knit little family. Cheers to their first full week of classes being completed and best of luck in their last year of high school! Here are a few "paparazzi" highlights from their event.

Event, SeniorsAmberAugust 21, 2015Longleaf School of the Arts, Raleigh, event, Event Photography, High School, Raleigh Senior, Downtown RaleighComment

Setting The Trend On Glenwood South

Last week, through the course of a few fortunate circumstances, Chad and I were so honored to be the photographers at a Raleigh community event in the Glenwood South district. Several of the businesses there—restaurants, boutiques, salons, a new apartment complex, a car dealership, and countless other service-based businesses—were rallying together to show people what they have to offer. They threw a fun, free event for locals complete with live music, dancing, a fashion show, vendor booths, the unveiling of a few fancy Mercedes cars, and plenty of giveaways & drawings.

Check out more of the story, those involved and these fun event highlights...

Chad & AmberAmberOctober 22, 2014Raleigh, Fashion Show, event, communityComment

the giant swing

Chad & AmberAmberMarch 4, 2011event, personalComment

spirit from the stage

Last weekend, I had the honor of spending three days at Green Lake Conference Center for our church's annual Middle School Winter Retreat as their photographer.

With 10 different churches represented this year and nearly 200 students, this retreat is a very big deal—lots of planning goes into the whole event. But the coolest part is, it's so much more than just another "cool event". God receives SO much glory!

As the photographer for this event, I get to capture stills of all of the students and leaders during games, activities (indoor and outdoor in the snow), main sessions, team challenges in the gym, and more. Over the course of the weekend, I snapped over 1000 photographs and sorted & edited nearly 300 while I was there. They get uploaded to a site where the students can access them soon after they get home from the retreat.

AmberFebruary 14, 2011event, photographyComment