The Michael Blog ™

Black Hawk Down!

Michael — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:55:03 +0000

So I am sure everyone here has seen those commercials for those little Air Hog helicopters that can do all of these stunts and tricks? Well tonight Denise and I went out to dinner and came home to find that Jake and Sally busted out of their kitchen prison (we had been slowly experimenting with letting these devil dogs roam the house while we are away…project aborted!) and decided to take an Air Hog for a ride. The only problem is this is what they did with it…here is a before picture:

and this is what I came home to find (black and white for effect):

the suspects:

the CSI style investigation:

Can you spot the guilty dog? Dilated pupils, evil look in HER eyes and a tongue licking up the last of the doomed helicopter….

Tomorrow will reveal the true culprit, as most of the styrofoam surrounding the fuselage has been devoured by one of these two foul beasts!

Welcome to the Gun Show!

Michael — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:34:52 +0000

Everyone, meet Lisa Weber. Lisa is a librarian accountant fitness guru based out of Cary. Lisa and I met through a modeling site and she was in need of some pictures for a fitness contest…well, who am I to say no? So off we went to Bond Park in Cary and we spent a few hours and hit a couple of locations. In all, I think the shoot went well, Lisa seemed to have a good time and I managed to not step in all the duck “stuff” that seemed to litter the entire dock!!

Anyhow, here are some pics

*edit* I had to add Mr. Quackers…after all he (or she) was the prettiest duck on the lake!

Marcus and Yulanda

Michael — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:54:21 +0000

Marcus and Yulanda tied the knot Saturday, May 24th at 4pm at the Peach Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, NC. The gorgeous ceremony was followed up by an outdoor tented reception, live music, gorgeous scenery, great food and great people…what else could you ask for?

Here are a couple of sample shots from Saturday:

Meghann and Jim

Michael — Tue, 06 May 2008 01:07:24 +0000

Saturday was a great day, I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of Meghann and Jim at White Memorial Presbyterian Church. The ceremony was beautiful, the weather was in full cooperation and the people were…well…the people were FUN! The reception was held at The Second Empire Restaurant in Downtown Raleigh. As soon as everyone arrived, the place went wild as it was clear that these people like to let their hair down and party! After a busy day documenting their beautiful day, I had a couple of drinks myself on the porch of this gorgeous restaurant before heading home for some much needed rest and relaxation. Here are a couple of shots that I snapped during my time with the Yakopic and Smits clan.

Nature Weekend?

Michael — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:25:12 +0000

So yesterday I was called upon to help rid the neighborhood of a pesky snake…turned out it was a 10″ garden snake, but man the commotion was unreal. After many shouts of “kill it, kill it” I captured said snake, took some pictures and let him go away in a new snake friendly habitat. If you look closely in the second picture, you can see the outline of my big ‘ol head. Hint, it’s near the bright part of the eye (which was the sun).

*edit* I was holding the snake right behind the head, so I cut out my fingers!!

Tent Caterpillar Gone Wild

Michael — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 17:02:56 +0000

So I was out with the dogs today and noticed a few caterpillars in the grass. I was able to snap a couple of quick shots, while holding the dogs back as they wanted a caterpillar snack….sigh.

Notice how his mouth is open in all of it’s slimy majesty!!

Cory and Robert

Michael — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:40:37 +0000

Today I headed out to Duke Gardens to take some engagement shots of Cory and Robert. I had a really good time shooting this couple, as they just kept joking around and seemed to be having the time of their lives.

Cory and Robert are getting married in August at the Preston Woodall House in Benson, NC. I haven’t had the opportunity to shoot there, so I am really looking forward to it. The pictures of the house and gardens from their website look amazing and I am excited to be visiting good ‘ol Benson soon (it’s only 30 mins from Raleigh..but I never get out that way much).

Anyhow, here are a couple of pictures from today’s shoot.

Another wedding, another rainy day

Michael — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 01:58:24 +0000

So yeah, that’s two rainy weekends in a row…but….we really needed the rain so I can’t complain too much. A rainy day for some, the most romantic day of their lives for others. Dana and Brian were married at 1pm today at Saint Francis of Assisi Church in Raleigh. This great couple had to move their date up unexpectedly from June, as Brian is a Marine and received orders to deploy to Iraq in June. So this couple had to bear down and re-arrange their entire wedding in just over three weeks!! I must say, it went off without a hitch. The ceremony was gorgeous, the food was delicious and the cake…err…hrmm….I didn’t get a piece!! Well, the cake looked great, but alas…I will never know.

I took the picture below in San Diego about two years ago and hereby dedicate this image to Brian. Be safe!

Brianna - 7 Weeks Old

Michael — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 01:38:22 +0000

This evening I had the pleasure of photographing little Brianna. Her mom and dad made sure that she had a nice nap before I arrived and she had her diaper changed and was fed…well she was ready to rock the house! I can’t wait to visit them again in June for round 2, from what I have heard there is a good chance that this little girl will be doing the jig when I get there as she is already showing signs of standing (with support of course!).

Hannah and David Spence

Michael — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:18:19 +0000

Hannah and David had planned to be married on the dock of a lake at Pine Lake Pavilion in Mebane, NC but Mother Nature had other plane. The good thing…Hannah had a back up plan and once it was sprung into action, everything fell into place. The wedding was gorgeous and after a few minutes no one even noticed it was raining outside. Here is a sneak preview of some of the pictures!!