May 08 2013

duke chapel weddings

Posted in Duke University Weddings, Raleigh Wedding Photographer

It was a great privilege for me to recently be one of the wedding photographers in Raleigh asked to provide a few of my photos for Duke Chapel’s new wedding website. Given that there are just twelve wedding photographs total in the set, to have two of my images selected and be featured amongst some of the area’s most established photographers was a real honour.

With three more weddings booked at Duke already this year, I’m looking forward to working in what is one of my favourite venues again soon! Watch this space!!

by Joe Payne

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Apr 16 2013

raleigh engagement photography ~ cassie and john

Posted in Engagements, Portraiture, Raleigh Wedding Photographer

Hi everyone,

At the end of March, I got together with Cassie and John for a walk around downtown Raleigh for their engagement photography session. We met up at The Oxford, had a couple of drinks and headed out into the city to find the light as the sun was setting.

As always, I tried to do things a little differently from my previous shoots in the area so we mixed things up a bit by shooting solely with prime lenses. Invariably, the fixed focal length forces you to see things differently and this case was no exception. It makes you think a bit more about your composition, which means more work, but that’s definitely a good thing. A good example of how that can work out can be seen in the shot below where the couple are reflected off a glass table top (which just happens to be inside the church Cassie went to as a child). If I’d had a zoom, I’d have probably gone the easy route and composed the shot on the other side of the table.

Anyway, enough banter. Here are just a few of my faves from the sesh.

downtown raleigh engagementartistic engagement photographyreflected embraceraleigh engagement sessiondirectional light photodowntown raleigh engagement photographyraleigh sunset engagement photo

by Joe Payne

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Joe Payne - April 22, 2013 - 19:54

Gracias, Elia!

Elia de la Fuente - April 17, 2013 - 19:32

beautifuuuuuuuulllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Apr 12 2013

carolina inn weddings ~ jessica and bo

Posted in Carolina Inn Weddings, Chapel Hill Wedding Photographer, Portraiture, Wedding Photojournalism

Wedding Ceremony and Reception: The Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill, NC

Wedding Planning: A Southern Soirée, Raleigh, NC

Cake: Simply Cakes, Cary, NC

Florist: Victorian Seasons, Apex, NC

DJ/Lighting: Randy Pulley, Raleigh, NC

Videography: Twenty One Films, Raleigh, NC

Hair: Syeni Salon & Spa, Apex, NC

Make-up: Andrea Cintron, New York, NY

Hi everyone,

Last month, I had the immense pleasure of taking care of Jessica and Bo’s wedding photography at the gorgeous Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, NC. I say immense pleasure as it truly was a fantastic day where I got to work with a lovely couple, surrounded by their closest friends and family, under gorgeous blue Carolina skies and alongside some of the very best vendors in the business.

Kailey at A Southern Soirée did an amazing job keeping everything running smoothly from start to finish and always with a smile on her face. Likewise, The Carolina Inn’s own Melissa was fantastic in her attention to detail and eagerness to please. Thank you ladies!

Phil at Twenty-One Films, thanks for being so great to work alongside for the whole day. I’m looking forward to seeing the first cut of the video! And to everyone else involved, my sincere gratitude for making it such a great day.

Finally, to Jessica and Bo – thanks so much for choosing me to document your day for you! You were extremely fun, gracious and kind all the way through the process. I love my job because of people like you! Best of luck to both of you for a long and happy future together!

Here are a few of my fave wedding photos of the day!

carolina inn make-upcarolina inn wedding preparationswedding shoes on carolina inn pianoboutonierre detailvictorian seasons apex wedding bouquetchapel hill groomcarolina inn courtyard magnolia blossomwedding programsbride and mom at carolina inncarolina inn wedding courtyard shotflower girl gets warmcarolina inn weddingcarolina inn ceremony funny momentgroomcarolina inn groomsmen wipes eyescarolina inn weddings wide angle viewcarolina inn wedding vows exchangedcarolina inn just marriedcongratulating the groom at the carolina inngroomsmen shotfun groomsmen and bride group shotcarolina inn bridesmaidscarolina inn cocktail hourhersheycocktail hour at the carolina inncarolina inn first dancebride watches groom dance with motherbride and flower girlcarolina inn maid of honor speechbride and groom during speechcarolina inn best man speechbest man and groom embrace following speechcarolina inn dance floorgirl dances with mom at weddingcarolina inn chancellorgroomsman and wifebride and friends at weddingbest man back flipcarolina inn at night

by Joe Payne

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Elia de la Fuente - April 12, 2013 - 20:08

Amazing work!

Melissa - April 12, 2013 - 11:26

Wonderful work, Joe! Love that first and third image, especially!

Mar 14 2013

carolina inn weddings ~ image of the week: no 25

Posted in Carolina Inn Weddings, Chapel Hill Wedding Photographer

Carolina Inn Chapel Hill Weddings

This week’s image of the bride getting her make-up done offers a nice contrast to my last post and comes from a wedding I photographed last weekend at The Carolina Inn just down the road in Chapel Hill.

If you’ve read my blog before, you may well be aware that I really don’t like to direct the wedding day at all, but just let it happen and focus on documenting it honestly. With this image, however, I did provide a little bit of direction in order to get the most from the environment we were in. What was the direction? I closed the other blinds in the room and moved the chair 90 degrees and to the side so the bride was lit with some beautifully soft rim lighting and we could get a bit of mood in the image. Once that was done, I could then compose to bring in the elements of the window and the paintings and provide a sense of place.

So you can see that on those rare occasions where I do step in and influence the setup of the image, I do it for a reason and I keep it very minimal. The moments are still real, I just set up the image to make the most of the room and get the best possible picture.

Geek info: Canon EOS 5D Mark III with EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM @ 25mm, f/2.8, ISO 400, 1/50 sec

by Joe Payne

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Joe Payne - March 28, 2013 - 16:16

Hi @[100000696221429:2048:Dawn], thanks so much for your message. You can certainly order prints through my website and have them sent up to you in MI. I will forward you the details to log into the gallery.

Dawn Peterson - March 28, 2013 - 16:03

Joe, this was our sons wedding day. We love this pic u took of Jess. I was in the room when u took it, amazing shot! Is there a way for Bo’s parents to get a pic of this? If so, what size would b available to us? Also could we get it sent to Michigan?

Joe Payne - March 14, 2013 - 20:24

Cheers, Kieran. I do hope that last bit is a typo though. My wife might be concerned! :D

Joe Payne - March 14, 2013 - 20:23

Thanks, Barbara! Hope you’re well!

Kieran Wilson - March 14, 2013 - 17:44

Very Vameeresque Joe. I like a lot how you capture the period with the light and posturing. Great jab Bi Guy!

Barbara Lodge - March 14, 2013 - 16:54

Rembrandt lighting – excellent!

Mar 07 2013

raleigh wedding photographer ~ image of the week: no 24

Posted in Image of the Week, Raleigh Wedding Photographer, Wedding Photojournalism

groomsmen hanging out

One of my favourite wedding photographs from last season is this image from Lisa and Mark’s Raleigh wedding last September. Lisa and Mark were a really lovely couple to work with as they were really into just letting me do my thing and not really at all concerned with stopping to get staged photographs of the bridal party together. Instead, they just let the day happen and the images simply document the story of their day.

One of the unique things about their wedding day was that the bride was in one hotel room getting hair and make-up done with her girls whilst in the room right next door, the boys were chilling out watching a game of football and having a few drinks. Here you can see the groom and his brothers and friends having a laugh while dad looks nervously at his watch as the time to leave for the church approaches.

With this kind of relaxed dynamic with not much going on, it could have been really easy for me to have gone into the room and tried to have set up some kind of clichéd shot of the boys showing me their socks or something else that seems to be the order of the day, but that kind of approach really is not in line with my philosophy or M.O. at all. Instead I just let them get on with it, composed to bring in the elements around the room using a wide-angle lens and waited for a moment to come together. The guys having a laugh is nice enough, but the groom’s dad checking his watch makes a great moment that really brings the image together for me.

Geek info: Canon EOS-1D X with EF 16-35mm f/2.8 @ 23mm, f/2.8, ISO 1600, 1/250 sec

by Joe Payne

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carolina inn wedding photography ~ image of the week: no 25 - March 14, 2013 - 12:24

[...] week’s image of the bride getting her make-up done offers a nice contrast to my last post and comes from a wedding I photographed last weekend at The Carolina Inn just down the road in [...]