Just in time for the Holidays!! New Greeting Card Designs!

In the past I have only offered the 5×7 Flat Greeting Cards, but starting in the 2009 Holiday Season I am now able to offer a variety of card styles.  You can order a folded card that shows a photo on the front and your holiday message on the inside, or you may choose to include a photo or multiple photos on the inside of your card. Also available for the first time are Accordion cards that allow you to select either 6 or 10 images depending on the style and size you choose. The Tri-Fold card allows you to use up to 6 images from your portrait session. For a sampling of the designs available see the gallery below. We can also custom design a card for you for a small design fee. These Premium cards are available in sets of 25 only. Call our office  for more information or to order your holiday cards!

New for the Holiday Season! Accordion Photo Books!

Just in time for the holidays!  For clients who purchase over $800 in portrait prints and other products from their photography session, you will receive this adorable Custom Designed 3×3 accordion album with your choice of cover color and photos. It’s the perfect size to fit into your purse or keep on your desk. take it with you to all of those Holiday parties and show off the beautiful photos of your children.  We are currently booking Family Holiday Sessions, so give us a call today to book your session. 

Cheryl+Josh married in Corolla on 09-09-09

After several days of cloudy rainy weather, the skies cleared the morning of September 9, 2009 for the sunrise ceremony of Cheryl and Josh. The day dawned to shine down on the happy couple as they exchanged vows in front of family and friends, as a stiff breeze buffeted the bride’s gown and tresses.

After a few posed shots of the couple watching the sunrise and the bridal party, the lot of us headed to the morning reception at the Good Egg Restaurant in Corolla. After a delicious breakfast the couple cut their cake and the best man brought the entire restaurant to attention (easy enough for this Marine) and gave a rowsing toast that included best wishes to the couple as they head to Hawaii in a few weeks (the bride is also an active duty Marine).

Cheryl and Josh had made arrangements with me for a trash the dress session for the following day, over breakfast we decided to go for it and do it after breakfast today. That decision was fortuitous as the next day was rainy and cool, not at all a good day for camera equipment to be dragged onto the beach!

So it was back to the beach for some shots with their two dogs Arizona and Rochambeau. Rochambeau practically dragged Josh the entire way to the beach and when he caught sight of the ocean darn near dragged Josh into the surf before we could get some posed shots. I was laughing so hard I could barely stand! After we finished with the dogs we drove to the Whalehead Club to get some nice portraits then back to the beach to trash the dress. I have to say it is my all time favorite trash the dress session! We got fun shots as well as some romantic and yes, even some sexy shots worthy of the cover of a romance novel!

Congratulations Cheryl and Josh! I wish you both a long and happy life together!

September brings cooler weather and less JUNK on the beach!

One of the Outer Banks Beautiful Beaches

The first day of September here on the Outer Banks consisted of cool breezes and signs that life is beginning, just beginning, mind you, to slow back down to it’s comfortable off-season pace. School is back in session in many areas of the country resulting in fewer families visiting the Outer Banks. September and October are optimum months for couples with no children and couples with children no longer living at home, to visit the OBX and enjoy the beaches, the cooler more seasonable weather and the shorter waits at the restaurants.

I for one will not miss the mass of debris on the beach on a daily basis. As I may have mentioned in previous postings, one of my pet peeves is people who leave their beach gear (canopies, umbrellas, chairs, toys, kayaks, tents, coolers, towels, etc) on the beach at the end of the day when they have gone back to their cottage or rental for the evening. There are a number of reasons that this bugs me not the least of which is that it makes it difficult for me as a portrait photographer to take advantage of the many beautiful views of the ocean and sand dunes without all of that crap being in the way! It is simply an eyesore, oh yeah and by the way it’s illegal in many towns along the Outer Banks to leave this stuff on the beach at the end of the day and or when you are finished with it. It will only take you another few minutes to take it down and take it home with you.  If you leave it there it can be stolen, washed away by high tide, vandalized, and legally confiscated by town officials.

Just like you, many people come to the Outer Banks because of the beautiful beaches and vistas. Every time I walk up to the beach and see all of that stuff it makes my heart sink.  So come on people pick up after yourselves, this isn’t your backyard.

Kaylyn’s Senior Portrait Session on Currituck’s Outer Banks

Kaylyn is a lovely 17 year old from Northern Virginia, who came to me to have her Senior Portraits done. We had it scheduled for last Monday (August 10th) and it was HOT! It has been a very rainy and seasonably cool summer, but that day (of course) was a scorcher, actual temp was 96 and with the heat index it was 102. But she was a trooper, and with her mom and dad and Aunt Cathy tagging along, we sought some shade to get started.

We were at the Whalehead Club in Corolla and started out in the shade of an ancient tree next to the wooden bridge. First she and I climbed under the bridge into the supports and once we batted away the spider webs and looked around to make sure there were no creepy crawlies to surprise us while our attention was diverted, we got some great images. Then I had Kaylyn lean back on the tree by the bridge and snapped off about a dozen images of her there. We spent about an hour in various settings at the Whalehead Club, on the gazebo, on the pier, on the bridge, then we headed over to the beach to get some shots of her in the dunes and the surf.

I think she looks a bit like Country singer Patty Loveless in some of the photos, I had a great time and I think despite the heat that she did too.

Dinner and Dolphins on the Outer Banks

Dinner on the beach

This past weekend I got a phone call from George Marion,  a sweet man who was planning to celebrate his 13th anniversary with a dinner on the beach. He wanted to have a Profressional Photographer there to document the evening in pictures and create a one of a kind album for him to give his wife Anita, the love of his life! Whether it would really be able to take place was the big question all weekend.  The weather report was calling for a 30% chance of thunderstorms, and since we had been having nightly thunderstorms it seemed likely that the night would be a washout. But Monday morning he called me and said it was on. “God won’t let it rain,” he said. He was right, not only did it not rain, it was a beautiful evening, cooler temperatures than a normal August evening, perfectly comfortable tempertures for a couple in tuxedo and evening gown. The Hilton Garden Inn set up a linen covered table on the beach next to the Kitty Hawk Pier. David, their private waiter, brought them each of the courses of their meal and saw to their every need. Then in the middle of dinner,  I saw Anita point out to sea. Unbelievably, as if on cue by George, there was a pod of dolphins. There were probably about 12. or perhaps 13 of them. They were making their way northward. Then suddenly one of the dolphins leapt into the air, and I captured it on film (so to speak, I use digital), then a moment later two dolphins leapt into the air in opposite directions from each other, back to back. And, yes, I captured that too. It was MAGICAL!  George and Anita were celebrating their 13th Wedding Anniversary, but 13 did not turn out to be an unlucky number for them.

Click on an image below to see a larger picture.

Outer Banks 2009 Trash the Dress Essay Contest

For the 2009 season, Shelley Chamberlin Photography will be running a Trash The Dress Essay Contest.  I will put the essays on my blog to be voted on by my readers. The winner gets a Free Trash the Dress Session on the Outer Banks for themselves or to give away to a friend.

The session will start out as a Fashion Photo Shoot and then get more and more into the Trashing the dress phase. Your dress won’t necessarily be ruined, if you just get it wet it can be cleaned. If you do not have a dress to wear for the session, or are not willing to wear your own dress, I have a selection of about 12 wedding dresses in assorted sizes that you can select from. The session includes a hair stylist and makeup artist to help you to look your very best!

To enter contest: Write a short essay telling why you would like to be photographed in a “Trash the Dress Session”, how messy or wet are you willing to get?  How brave are you?? Do you want to include your, husband, fiance, boyfriend, pet, friend, teddy bear, etc? Be creative!

In the email tell me your name, address and phone number so I can contact you. this personal information will not be placed on the blog with your essay. The winner will be selected based on the number of comments that they receive. Applicants and winner must be 18 years of age to enter and must sign a model release form so the photos from the session can be used on the blog and for marketing purposes. Prints from the session will be available for sale to the winner and the winner’s family. The value of this portrait session is $750. The winner will not have to pay a fee for the Trash the Dress session. The date of the session will be at the discretion of the photographer, Shelley Chamberlin. Photos of the session will be put on the blog within one week of the session. The winner will be announced one week after the deadline for essay submissions.

Email your essay to obxshelley@gmail.com, title the email “Trash the Dress Essay Contest”. The deadline for submissions is September 30, 2009

The quaint town of Duck, North Carolina on the Outer Banks

 

Tommy's Market in the heart of Duck, NC

 

Duck, NC is a shining jewel on the Outer Banks. Unlike the other towns on the expansive range of barrier islands included in the Outer Banks, Duck offers a variety of things to do, places to go, restaurants and shops, that are all within walking distance from your vacation cottage. As I drove through last week on my way to a family beach portrait session in Corolla, I noticed dozens of people strolling along the road to one place or another, but most noticeably I noticed the sound of music coming from a number of restaurants. First was the Aqua S Restaurant and Spa just as you enter Duck from Southern Shores, They have an outdoor Deck overlooking the Currituck Sound, where you can sit and dine and listen to live music. A little farther in, hidden behind shrubs and across from the park, is the Roadside Raw Bar and Grill where you can also hear live music as you drive by. I’m not saying it blasts you when you drive by, just that it sounds like a happening place!

In addition to the restaurants that provide live music, the park also provides free concerts with their summer music series and other special events at Duck Town Park . For more information on the events and great things to do in Duck click here.

Outer Banks Photographer, Shelley Chamberlin – 2009 Weddings

An Outer Banks Bride

It has been beautiful weather for weddings this year, and despite the economic recession, Outer Banks Weddings do not seem to be on the decline. In fact, a destination wedding to the Outer Banks can be a conservative way to have  a Beautiful wedding and splurge on some details. Gas prices are down so a drive to the Outer Banks is an economical alternative to flying to the Caribbean or Mexico.  The Outer Banks offers a wealth of wedding vendors that are the cream of the crop. The locations are beautiful whether your idea is a laid back wedding or an all out Elegant Affair.

Alyssa Belissima!!

Yesterday I photographed six year old Alyssa, an aspiring child model! I began at the house with a few indoor shots, then out to the yard. From there we traveled to Newbern’s Landing to get some waterside shots as she really wanted to get wet. So she changed into this cute polka dot dress. A few minutes after we began, a small fishing boat pulled ashore and two fishermen began to unload. Alyssa asked them if they caught anything, and they showed her the one bluefish they caught. She asked if she could hold it and of course since she charmed them so quickly, they said sure. Then she asked if she could sit on the boat as they pulled it to a piling to tie it up. Again, of course was the response and she hopped on, then back off quickly. She changed out of the polka dot dress and back into the bronze chiffon number her grandma had bought her for her 6th birthday. Our next stop was the beach in Kill Devil Hills at the Sutton Street beach access.  With her ivory parasol she stood atop a dune and looked at the water as I snapped one photo after another giving her directions along the way. Stand there, sit here, look this way, now please smile!! But she was anxious to get into the water. I promised just a few more photos walking along the water with the parasol, then I cut her loose and let her play in the surf! What a fun day!!