Erika and I met recently online after  a friend of mine Ed Frazer  posted some spectacular images of Erika from some shoots he had recently done with her. I immediately  could tell she is amazingly talented and I knew I wanted to do a test shoot with her.

A test shoot is when I am either shooting for a personal project or doing a trial run with a model to determine professionalism as well as skill level to gauge what types of shoots they will be fit great in for ad campaigns for various agencies in the area.

When I am doing a trial run with a model I will usually spend 50 percent of my time going for images that I know agencies will want to be able to show potential clients when clients are selecting models for the shoot each are preparing for. Agencies usually want images that show the model as she would probably show up on set when they arrive. They do not care about some amazingly stunning outfit or some insane hair or wig that is the next  new trend. I think you get what I am trying to say.

Erika far exceeded my expectations and when I returned home from the shoot and  tried to narrow down the best images it was quite an effort to narrow my favorites  down to 99. To have 99 images after 2.5 hours is really a testament to the talent of the model. Erika, thanks again for coming out and I look forward to shooting with you again in the future.

Authentic Exposure is a cutting edge photography and video studio specializing in films as well as stunning journalistic and editorial campaigns.

Lisa Patel and I met at Style Night Out Charlotte 2012 at a after party with several photographers and models. We had a great time and I wanted to take some portraits of her that are timeless to compliment her modeling portfolio.

Lisa is the current 2012 Miss North Carolina United States Lisa made it all the way to the final 5 this year in Washington DC in the Miss United States pageant.

For the shoot we met up on the Blue Ridge Parkway in mid October during peak colors of the fall. The wind was quite strong so it was very difficult to use softboxes or umbrellas so we worked hard to make the most of harsh mid-day lighting.

The following portraits are from a excellent session I had with the Pell Family in Huntersville, NC.

The Pell’s were wanting a portrait as their oldest daughter Ashley was heading off this last fall in October of 2010 for a long

mission trip to the Philippines. I was thrilled to be able to capture this special and unique time in the Pell’s journey

I am now glad to know them and call them friends.

Nick and Beth are officially my new favorite couple. Nick has spent the majority of his career serving the Greater Charlotte

working hard building houses with Habitat for Humanity. Beth is a wonderful artist, teacher and full time mom to 7

very talented children. Their house is never dull with 6 of their children still at home, 2 dogs, 2 goats, and several chickens

which produce the eggs for the Pell’s household.

 I was so glad I got to meet the Land family while on my Wells Fargo shoot for 6 weeks this fall. The shoot featured the work of Troutman Chair Co. owned and operated by Champ and Jean Land of Troutman, NC.  My last day of shooting Jean told me that her daughter Allison Land was getting married to the Westley Drum (the plant manager at Troutman Chair) this coming summer. I told her I would love to shoot their daughter’s wedding. Allison, Jean and I met up about a month ago to see if we were all a good fit and we put the date on the books shortly after.

Westley Drum  and Allison Land met on a blind date. According to Westley, he knew when he first saw Allison that he would marry her. Their chemistry is contagious and you can tell even from these images that they will have plenty of fun in their lives together.

We all met this past Sunday on a local farm in Statesville on Beaver Farm Rd to do their engagement shoot.

 You might be able to see from some of these photos that Westley likes to pick up Allison alot. He kept wanting to put her in a tree. Which as you can see he did.

 We were able to get some shots by this 1994 Quarter Horse World Champion at the farm. The folks there were super nice. This is one of my favorite shots of Allison.

 I saw her with this gaze multiple times. I think she likes him.

 This one is for sure one of my favorites.

 I was able to climb up to the upstairs of the OLD barn and get some nice shots from above.

 I have to say, in my mind I kind of imagine them being country music stars and this being the cover of their next cd release. They are too cute together and I am sure will make a fantastic couple. I cannot wait for their wedding.