When you get to do family, headshot and romance vibes all in the same sunset, it makes for a perfect evening for a photographer! The Cleghorns wanted updated photos of them after a few years of marriage and a few headshots for their professional lives. You better believe I snapped a little flirting during the middle of it all. My wedding photography mindset always trickles in, but I don't think anyone's every been mad to be kissed for a hot minute. 

Thank you to Liz and Josh for thinking of me for your short 'n sweet session! (For those of you wondering, I do those short ones in Wilmington!) 

Do you know that famous saying "A lot can happen in a year?" Well that phrase has never rang more true in the year of a worldwide pandemic. Sara and Patrick were the winners of the Covid-Wedding giveaway last Summer where they were awarded a free wedding of their dreams right here in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. The only stipulations for the giveaway was that you had to be an engaged couple whose plans had been curved by the pandemic. Several amazing Wilmington wedding vendors donated their time and spirit so these two could get married by the sea and it was one gorgeous and intimate island wedding.

Fast forward a year, and here I am documenting another milestone: Family photos with their first-born son! Wilder is seven months old and is wayyy too cute for me. I enjoyed seeing a mixture of both his parents in his already booming personality. See below for a photo of this ladies man in the making! HAH. Thank you to the Jacksons for sharing a sunrise with me. 

June 12th was a magical day for Rachel and Pembroke's gorgeous coastal wedding. Thankful that the summer rain subsided just in time for their 5pm ceremony so we could get some golden hour shots that highlighted both the beauty of the sweetest couple and the beauty of their romantic venue on a family friend's private property in Wilmington, NC. Rachel and Pembroke met while in college at Chapel Hill and were actually supposed to get married this weekend last year, but because of Covid-19 pandemic, they opted to postpone a year so they could have all their loved ones there. It was WORTH. THE. WAIT! They also opted for a short 'n sweet ceremony that was orchestrated by their dear friend so it made the wedding that much more personalized. Rachel looked EXQUISITE in her gown and honestly, she was the most laid back bride of 2021. She was barefoot the entire night, which goes to tell you that she's too cool for anyone... except Pembroke of course.

So incredibly thankful to you two for including Sydney and I in the most special day of your life. Here's a gallery of sneak peeks that highlights a few random moments of the day... including some MAGICAL drone shots from Sydney. She whipped out her drone at the last minute when it stopped raining and it really made for some incredible scenic shots. It really is a game changer when you can have two perspectives. Pssst....Engaged couples, if you hire us, you can get drone footage of your wedding too!

More photos to come after wedding edits are complete— in the meantime, hope these sneak peeks will tide you over. Sending love to the Nash's. 

Dream Team: 
​
Venue: The Stallings Home
Coordinator: Annie Schiffmacher of A.Maker Events
Officiant: Scout Thomas
Florals: Thurston at Coastal Succulent 
DJ: Drew Walker,  Acclaim DJ
Catering: Middle Of Island
Alcohol: Total Wine
Dessert: Ashley Pedzwater of Pink Baking Co
Hair and Makeup: Kelly at Wisp Salon
Rentals: L & L Rentals 
Photography: Visuals By Helen and Aerials by What Sydney Sees

The SWEETEST first look that took place in the front lawn of Live Oak Estates. The oak trees provided so much privacy from the arriving guests so they were able to have a moment to themselves before all the wedding craze. 

Okay, y'all are going to be blown away by this, but Anna made her own wedding invitations and menu for the wedding. Yes, she hand glued the butterflies on there and Oh. My. God. I am in love with her talent! Someone tell her to make a career out of stationary design. 

Okay y'all, prepare to be amazed. I love to ask couples during engagement sessions about how they met each other. It usually gets the romance going in an organic way and usually ends in some laughs and funny arguments about who's version is right. Asking questions like these also helps me get to know these couples I'm meeting for the first time at these engagement sessions. By the end of this session, I felt like I had known Anna and Adam for YEARS. What amazing chemistry they have and it all started with an incredible and unique "how-we-met" story, one of the coolest I think I've heard to date and I wanted to share their sweet story with y'all (with their blessing of course). 

Anna and Adam each went to a friend's destination wedding in Las Vegas last October. Anna is attending as a guest & friend of the bride and Adam is a friend of groom and neither of them knew each other prior to this trip. Adam is such good friends with the groom at this wedding, that he dressed up as Elvis and gave a speech for the happy couple. Anna and Adam met during the reception shortly thereafter, and laughed over the silliness and happiness that stemmed from their best friends' nuptials. Needless to say...they hit it off. Fast forward almost a year, with some covid-bonding in the mix, this pair decided to get married on their one-year dating anniversary! How amazing is that? I told you, it's pretty doggone sweet. When you know, you really know. Life is short. What's the point in wasting time?

With both of them living in different states at the time they met, a majority of Anna and Adam's relationship blossomed during covid-19 quarantine at Anna's grandmother's cottage in Wrightsville Beach. Like many Americans, they worked from home at a beautiful place and fell more in love so they naturally decided to do their engagement photos and wedding here. I had a blast with these two at the beach and already can't wait for their wedding at The Atrium in downtown Wilmington, NC in a few short weeks! Congratulations lovebirds. Thanks for giving me such warm reminders of why I love my job and hearing these stories.

Summer isn't over yet guys! We are seeing more and more beautiful families staying on Wrightsville Beach, squeezing out all the good stuff that 2020 has to offer despite a world-wide pandemic. After all, being with our families more is one special thing about quarantine and being at home more right?  The Spears and Gunst Families have a family beach cottage in Wrightsville Beach and reunited from all over the United States so they could have some much needed quality time. Hallie and her husband had a baby girl almost seven months ago and this sweet little nugget was the star of the show. Everyone wanted a photo with this little darling, so surely we all took turns with the Gerber Baby model! Such a sweet session by the sea, and I'm grateful to these families for trusting me to document this occasion! 

Thinking about Wilmington, North Carolina for your portrait session? You should be! There is a reason my husband and I live here: It's one of our most favorite places in the world! Between the historical downtown waterfront booming with character, the small, close-knit, beach town of Wrightsville beach and the incredibly colorful gardens scattered around the city, you really have everything you could possibly want for beautiful photo shoot scenery. If you just want to cut through all the B.S. of research for your upcoming shoot, check out my top four locations in Wilmington, NC that are indeed FREE to the public. Although some may kindly ask for donations! After all, everything has a cost. 

1. Downtown Historical Wilmington, NC
Historical downtown Wilmington, NC gives you a plethora of backdrops. Between the gorgeous bridges, historical buildings, wooden boardwalk, charming mansions, you have a quaint backdrop right out of the Notebook. You can choose to do half of your session walking around the city, then the second half on the boardwalk overlooking the Cape Fear River.

2. Shell Island, the North End Marshes of Wrightsville Beach

Look at all that texture and green! Shell Island is the best place for sunset with a coastal backdrop. If you want to be nestled in with nature, the North end of Wrightsville Beach marsh is the place is for you!

3. The Arboretum
The Arboretum at New Hanover County Garden is a hidden gem just five minutes from Wrightsville Beach that many people prefer if they aren't a sand person or just don't want to deal with that 10mph wind coming off the ocean. This intimate garden features a pond, baby walking bridges, a rose garden and a cute play area for little ones. Want to know the best part? It's FREE! While it is open to the public, you may have some bystanders during your shoot but it has been pretty private almost every shoot I've done there. It may be free, but they kindly ask for donations for park maintenance and care for all the adorable koi fish.

4. South End Beach of Wrightsville Beach, NC
Sunsets, sound, and sea. This is the trifecta that is Wrightsville Beach's South End. You get the blend of the sound and sea and even a bit of marsh textures. Depending on the season, you can even bring your fur babies for easy access and watch all the boaters come in through the inlet.

5.Greenfield Lake Park
Another hidden gem is Greenfield Lake Park. Nestled in the outskirts of downtown Wilmington, this picture-perfect park features a beautiful blue lake with mossy trees, swans, and gazebos. Needless to say, all perfect accents for a photo shoot. 


Now that I've shared with you my top five favorite (FREE) locations in Wilmington to do a photoshoot, which speaks to your heart? Let me know what you think and send me an email when you're ready to get your shoot on my calendar!

I get asked what's in my camera bag A LOT! Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered people think I'm knowledgable about tech stuff so I'm happy to offer insight. So I thought today would be a good time as any to do a detailed post about all my gear and what I use for shooting for Day 14 of the 30 work-day blogging challenge.

At the end of the day, it's up to you to do the research and figure out what you are and aren't looking for. The biggest advice I can offer is going to a Best Buy or local camera shop and hold the cameras themselves to see what speaks to you. See how the body is laid out and if it's easy to learn. Figure out what brand you want and stick with it because it's an investment.  You'll want to gradually buy more and it's easier to buy within brand line. Keep in mind the value is behind the lens, not the camera itself. Lenses are versatile across camera bodies and are made to last several through generations of technology upgrades. For a big bang for your buck, B&H Camera is a good place to shop but price compare all over online no matter what, to make sure you aren't getting ripped off. Retail value is inevitable in the shopping process but surcharges can be avoided.


Camera Bodies: I currently shoot on the Nikon D810 for all my work and have a second D810 body as an insurance policy in case anything happens to my main camera body. I also like to have one camera with a long lens and another with a short so I don't have to spend time switching lens out. It's important to have two camera bodies on me especially after booking important jobs. You wouldn't want to have to cut a shoot short because of some sort of technical difficulties. The reason for two of the same cameras is so that the quality and color is consistent across the board for the images I produce. 

85mm f1.4: The 85mm was the first lens I ever fell in love with and in turn started my obsession with manual shooting a few years ago. When I first purchased it, it didn't come off my camera for months. Even though I have a variety of lenses to choose from, the 85mm is my go-to for portraits because it allows me to not be on top of the person for the up-close look and occasionally for shooting on location when the background is too busy and I need to blur it up a bit to give it that finished look.

35mm f1.2:  The 35mm is another great all-rounder lens for me—it's one step away from being a macro lens so it really gets the wide angle look without the price tag. I find that this lens is on my camera the majority of the time. I love shooting with portraits with it (as unconventional as it may be). The 35mm is sharp 95% of the time, even when you shoot with a wide open aperture of 1.4. I only shoot with a wide aperture for personal work, and usually bump up the aperture to 2 or more when shooting for clients.

24-55mm f1.4: This wide angle lens is a compelling wide-angle perspective combined with an ultra-fast f/1.4 aperture that serves the needs of demanding photographers in exacting conditions like weddings where time is of the essence. This is my 3rd most used lens. It also has VR compatibility so I am able to do some video footage if needed.

70-300mm f4-5.6: This telephoto lens is obviously good for situations where you need to zoom in from a stationary spot. Example, churches with strict photography policies and you gotta prop up in the back and get all the action at the front.

55-300mm f4.5-5.6: More flexibility in this telephoto lens with the extra 15 mm compared to the 70-300mm, and it's also good when you don't want to start out with so much zoom while on shoot.

Speedlight SB- 900: First off, I tried to buy the 910 but with it being ~$800 for one flash, the SB-900 is next best thing. This bad boy has so much lighting power that sometimes you could mistaken a dark day with sunshine just from the light this flash provides. I use this flash on body as well as remotely for strong backlight. ~$300

Speedlight SB-700: Great option when you don't need so much power or light, but just enough to avoid unwanted shadows. This flash also provides a great option for remote flash lighting. ~$350

Induro Tripod: as tiny and insignificant as it looks, this guy is actually well over $400 on a good day —these suckers aren't cheap but they are quality and its sturdiness and light weight will outnumber any other competitor tripods out there. I've been in some sketchy terrain situations and this tripod has never let me down. *Knock on wood.*

D12 Multi-power Battery Pack: Batteries have one constant. They will die. So yes, battery packs are a huge plus. Again, this luxury isn't cheap at ~$425 but it can save your neck. It also offers the option to shoot portrait without having to cock your head sideways.

Memory Cards (not pictured): With long days of shooting, comes a lot of pictures, like thousands so it should come as no surprise that you should invest in several memory cards.  Most of my CF cards are either 16 GB or 32 GB Rugged (temperature and shock resistant). I keep them small to force myself to change out often for a liability reason. The idea of having all my photos on one card gives me so much anxiety if something were to ever happen to them. Card Corruption is a very real occurrence and has even happened to my second-shooters from weddings. If you have a shoot with less pressure, it's good to have a large SD card to allow you a full day of shooting, come home and download and go back to work and not worry about deleting right away. The provides you the comfort of having the original copies until you have the time to double check and make sure that all the images downloaded correctly.

What I take with me. Now, all this gear is super heavy and not always needed for every single shoot. Depending on what I am set out to work on for the day, I pick and choose the gear I need to take with me for the day. The gear that is always in my camera bag includes: 2 camera bodies, all my camera batters + memory cards and all the little extras such as water and food. The gear that I pick and choose what to take with me include: lenses and speedlights. The majority of the time I only take 2 or sometimes 3 lenses that I might need for a day instead of all them, so I don't strain my body when I have to walk around with my camera bag. With all the equipment, it can easily feel like 50 pounds after 5 minutes. After every wedding with two cameras on my body, I always wonder how I'm going to survive it when old age sets in. Between being on your feet for 8 plus hours and carrying 25-30 pounds on you— It's a very physical job so it's important to drink LOTS of water and get a good night's sleep.


Okay, I know that was a lot of words for a picture world so let me know if you have any questions about gear. There's no silly questions either—you don't know if you don't ask.


I know y'all are happy it's Labor Day Weekend so go enjoy it! I will check back in on Tuesday with Day 15 of the 30 work-day blogging challenge.

My mom and  I used to go with my granddad to painting workshops in Beaufort, NC back when I was in middle school (2000's) and we both watched Granddad’s magical acts with his paintbrush and felt inspired to work with an empty canvas. My mom considers herself a dabbler and amateur artist but if you want my (biased) opinion, I have five framed paintings of hers in my husband and I’s house. That’s not amateur, that’s talent! ​With some help from her interior designer friend and my dad, she managed to also redesign an entire building that used to be a franchise restaurant, Western Sizzlin and turned it into Rooster's Southern Kitchen on the Outer Banks. Let me tell you, it's a whole new world in there. 

After yesterday’s blog post I opened up the floor to what today’s blog post should be about. According to the survey, y'all seem interested in what my typical day is like. Y'all— I'm really not that interesting but this question was asked several times so I'm not going to deprive you of your wishes. Keep in mind, I never have the same day twice so this is a rough timeline:

6:30am | Wake up and hit snooze (once or twice admittedly).🤷

7:00am | Actually wake up, feed Belle, drink coffee, and watch the Today show for news and weather. 📺

7:45-8:15am | Answer e-mails from my photography and graphic design e-mail accounts (Yes, I have separate emails for both to better keep up with my separate clients and I have that many to go through that it takes all of 30 minutes). 💻 

8:15-11am | Jam to loud music from Spotify and carefully edit + retouch photos from recent photo sessions or weddings. 🎧
 
11am-12pm | Graphic design work for small businesses I help on a regular basis. 💭

12pm-12:30pm | As marketing director for Rooster's Southern Kitchen, I'll screen for negative feedback to relay to management and respond to positive reviews on Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp + Facebook. 🐓

12:30pm-2pm | Eat lunch (usually dinner leftovers) and do one thing that helps promote my business, i.e. post an ad, print materials, work on blog, etc.🍴

2pm-5pm | More photo editing (I have to spread it out throughout the day so I don’t drive myself crazy because it can get tedious after several hours. For perspective, an 8-hour wedding takes about 16 hours of editing). 📷 Here's my favorite photo I've edited today so far. The color + vibrance reminds me to stop and smell the flowers, literally and metaphorically.

5pm-5:30pm | Work on blog content or schedule a post on social media for my clients and/or myself.

5:30pm | Orange Theory Fitness class or an evening photoshoot depending on day.🏃‍♀️

6:30pm | Grocery store run since store is next door to gym🥫

7-8pm | Shower + Cook dinner. Let's be real, Jess is the master chef and I'm the sous chef. Tonight we're having short ribs, sautéed squash zucchini and onion and mushroom risotto.  🚿

8pm-10pm | Eat and watch Parks and Rec with my husband (Don’t judge us. We like having something funny to watch at the end of the day and neither of us had ever seen it so we started the season together).😂

For today’s self-promotion project (that occurs every afternoon), I started on making some more soft-copy portfolio books to give to potential clients with small businesses in Wilmington. This is a culmination of both my photography + graphic design skills. My goal is to bring these books to small boutique clothing businesses looking to gather lifestyle or product content for their websites, blogs, social media posts, and social media advertising. Those of you that have a small business probably know how important it is to stay relevant to your fans online so by having a whole lineup of professional photos on standby takes almost all the work away for you in the social media realm. You just figure out what product(s) you want to promote that day and roll with it. I got about halfway done with this 20 page portfolio. MY goal is to have this sent to printers by labor day weekend. Crossing fingers.🤞 Down younger is a couple of teasers for you:

To sum it all up, I sit in this desk chair for about 8-10 hours a day and my goal is to get up more often to walk and stretch. We all know sedentary lifestyles aren't good for you so why do we continue to do it?

For tomorrow's blog post, I'm going to talk about all (okay most) of my bad habits so you know I am just as human as you are.

Last Friday, I wrapped up Day 3 of the 30-Workday Blogging Challenge with the question: How does my hearing loss affect my job, much less my everyday life? I promised some embarrassing stories that I’ve accumulated over four years that are a direct result of my hearing loss. My top five is the time I walked in on a half-naked couple in a photo booth...(they weren't taking photos so the flash wasn't going off so I didn't think anyone was in there). Needless to say, they quickly got dressed and ran out... so I ran in and stayed until I stopped blushing. I probably could have avoided moments like this if I could hear. I would've heard kissing sounds or something, but nope, instead I got some PG-13 action at a high-dollar wedding venue instead. 

Here’s the abbreviated version of the rest of my top 5 stories. (All my client names are going to remain anonymous because like I said: it’s embarrassing).

1. In the winter of 2016, I was photographing at a small country club wedding outside Charlotte, North Carolina. The bride and groom wanted to get ready at the “locker rooms” of these clubs, which are basically bathrooms for senators with toilets, showers and changing space all in one room. When it came time to capture the groom getting pretty,  I knocked on the men’s locker room door and didn’t hear anything. Assuming they were distracted and getting boutonnieres on, I just let myself in. Thinking the men's powder room was a similar setup to the ladies—they were in fact the opposite as the men's stalls were right where you walked in. Let me tell ya—it was stinky in there! The grooms friends were laughing and I heard a stern voice from the middle stall:  “Be right out!” I was so caught off guard I actually said “Shit, take your time!” I’m not even the type of person to cuss much less accidentally make a connotation about poop while the man is making a brown egg. 

2. Usually before every wedding, I finalize wedding day itineraries but sometimes little details get left out, like *After formal family photos, we want to do bride+groom photos across street on the beach on a random property then ride over to reception which is also at the beach 2 miles away.* so when they told me, “Let’s do our photos at the beach” after their family photos, I just assumed they meant the beach where their reception was. In hindsight, they said something like the Beckham cottage, but the lightbulb never went off that I didn’t hear them right. Instead, I speed out of the church and hurry to find a parking spot at the reception so I can meet my second-shooter and prepare for their arrival. After about 30 seconds, someone in the family says “Hey, that was fast, weren’t they doing photos with you at the beach?” After connecting the dots, I ran back to my car and back over to the church and see them across the street on beach side looking for me. I was flabbergasted in how I could have messed up so badly, but you live and you learn right? Now I’m extra thorough and ask all the detailed questions in a pre-wedding questionnaire.

3. In the summer of 2017, I booked a 20-person sunset session with a large family I didn’t know. One of the daughters had e-mailed me a few days prior saying there was a divorce in the family and to not ask her mom and dad to be photographed together. Her dad was in town for one night so they could get a family photo taken together. Come the day of portraits, I introduce myself to three different sets of grown-up couples and their children and I misheard the names so what did I do? I asked the mom and her ex-husband to give me a big fat kiss. Well, that tension could have been sliced with a dull butterknife. The mom turned plum red but I promise I was a shade darker.

4. This story is from two weeks ago when I was meeting a potential bride and her mom at a local coffee shop. I had rushed out of the house and forgot my purse, which carries my extra implant batteries. I didn’t think anything of it until my cochlear implant dies halfway through the meeting with them. Trying to win them over and gain their business, I proceeded to rely on lip reading for the next 20 minutes. I just asked them a lot questions so I would always know what the context was. I was scared that that if I told them what was going on, that they would wonder: “What if she shoots our wedding and her implant dies during it and she forgets her batteries and she won’t be able to hear anything. Is she responsible enough?” They are so sweet though so I should have given them the benefit of the doubt. All that lip-reading worked though, I’m happy to report that I’ll be photographing their wedding this Fall with a camera bag full of extra implant batteries.

Having significant hearing loss brings embarrassing moments, sure, but they eventually become great dinner table stories. Having a sense of humor about things like that is SO important if I don’t want to crawl into a dark hole and stay there.  On the same token, my imperfections also helps me in my job sometimes—especially during weddings with a lot of drama or in photoshoots involving divorced couples. The oblivion to the details that most people would get from eavesdropping sometimes helps me stay uninvolved and provide a sense of nonchalance and carefreeness. My oblivion to the temporary reality seems to sometimes helps people feel normal despite their insecurities and worries.

Yes, I wear a hearing device that help me hear so much better, but they aren’t human ears—I don’t hear everything and and I sure don't hear everything perfectly. Because of that, it took me a long time to get over being socially self-conscious about the side effects of my imperfections. My confidence has grown to the point where I’m telling the world about my hearing loss on this blog but there are always days where I wonder what it’d be like to be following along conversations with graceful effort. My husband has asked me why I'm always more tired than him after events and I tell him “Because I have to work harder to listen and make sure I don’t say something completely out of context.” He usually replies with a sweet laugh “It’s usually so funny though Helen, don’t even worry about it.” I literally have wrinkles on my forehead from concentrating so hard on conversations in the last 27 years but I’m just so thankful I can even be a part of conversations. Technology has enriched my entire life and has allowed me to hear my husband and my family say the three most beautiful words in the English language: I love you. One man is responsible for that...Thank you  Dr. William F. House, the inventor of the first cochlear implant for braving skepticism and trial and error to restore a vital human sense. Essentially, his invention has restored the quality of life for 324,000 people and counting.

​Confession: I just put Belle in the video just to brag about how cute she is. She's usually the only company I keep in my everyday work life and she's the best co-worker a girl can have (even though she just sleeps all day). Yesterday, I skimmed the surface of how deaf I am and already got tired of talking about my hearing loss so I’m moving on to the money makin’ stuff. Obviously, my hearing loss limited my job options when I was fresh out of college in 2013. With an economy that had also gone to sh*t, this artsy English major struggled to find a stable job to be proud of. No sense in sugar coating that because I know about 80% of you may relate to that time in your life. After doing some soul searching and teaching art at a school in Atlanta, Georgia for a year,  I decided to move back to the Outer Banks and  gamble on myself by starting my own business. In the Summer of 2014, Visuals by Helen was established. Best decision I ever made.

Creating a generic business name like Visuals by Helen was intentional: I wanted to be able to open myself up to additional visual opportunities beyond photography like graphic design, videography, marketing, etc.  I wanted more than one thing to be passionate about. I had learned some of the ropes from another local photographer on the Outer Banks throughout high school and college and then I dipped into graphic design when I was in Atlanta so that opened a whole new niche I was fascinated with.  After watching You-Tube videos, subscribing to every Adobe software, and taking an online business certification course at the Kenan Flagler Business School at UNC-CH, I was the owner of my own company in three months time.  Now, I label myself as a self-taught photographer, graphic designer, and marketing guru. Funny how that happens right?  I always had the belief: if you make something your homework, it takes all the fun out of it.

The first thing I do when I brand Visuals by Helen? I ordered about 3,000 beer koozies with my logo on it and made a promotional video because koozies and videos make everything look legit right? My theory was everyone likes free stuff and something pretty to look at. After rallying a gorgeous model named Katie, a talented hair stylist named Chelsea, and an amazing videographer named Jess, we went into the marshes of Wanchese, North Carolina and I took bridal portraits of Katie in a wooden rowboat. Looking back on it, it sounds nuts, but it was some of the best memories in my business! That video got me through two years of wedding expos with the Outer Banks Wedding Association —it was the perfect icebreaker with engaged couples I had never met before.

​Check out the video:

So the question of the day: Would I hear you and turn around if you were standing here in the office with Belle and me? Yes. I'm hard-of-hearing, not oblivious. Some days I actually forget that I’m 90% deaf but then little things happen and I’m like oh yeah, my ears don’t work. I have embraced it as a part of who I am and even introduce myself everywhere I go as “Helen... like Helen Keller” because well... I AM almost deaf and have -2.25 vision in both eyes so I basically am Helen Keller. Only not as accomplished since I can’t communicate through sign language or read Braille so definitely not as decorated as her but that’s by personal choice. ​

Let me first say, every hearing impaired child is different— they can have different reasons for hearing loss, different audiograms, different parents, different schools, different lifestyles, different resources, different decisions so every outcome can be unique for each person with the same diagnosis. So for those of you that have hearing loss or have family members with hearing loss, know that you need to take this post with a grain of salt. This is not a success story or a horror story, it’s just story that happens to be mine.

December 1990 was a big month for me—coming into the world and all. A couple months later, the whole chicken pox incident happened.  Mom and Dad say it was pretty bad but of course I don’t remember. It was life-threatening but my immune system won that battle. However, the pox was strong enough to eradicate the hair cells in both ears leading to a progressive loss of hearing over the next six years. This was before hearing screening tests were required for small children so my parents didn’t think too much of my slow response and development as an infant. They were trying not to compare me to what society thought was normal. Then one day, a family babysitter took my brother, sister and me to a parade and noticed how soundly I was sleeping during a marching band performance —triggering some red flags and an eventual conversation with my parents. By the time I was a year old, my young parents had to make a life-changing decisions while working and raising three young kids:

1. How were they going to treat my hearing loss?
2. Was I going to do sign language or learn cued speech?
3. Where was I going to go to school?

They decided to move to Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks because the schools there were supposedly excellent for an Eastern NC town and the undeveloped beach town was ripe with business opportunity. They tried supplementing my residual hearing with hearing aids for a few years but my language and speech development remained stagnant and unprogressive. By the time I was eight,  Mom and Dad decided it was time to try cochlear implants. Because I had “too much hearing,” I was considered a guinea pig for this surgery. Until me, doctors at UNC-Chapel Hill had only performed surgery on individuals that were more deaf than me.

For those of you who don’t know— a cochlear implant is an electronic medical device that was invented in the early 80’s, that helps mimic the function of normal hearing. Unlike hearings aids, which amplify sound (make sounds louder), cochlear implants do the work of the damaged parts of the inner ear (cochlea) and provide sound signals to the brain.  There is a tiny receiver that is surgically placed under the skin in a bony part behind the ear that also has a magnet attached to it. On the outer surface of the head, the individual wears a microphone that harnesses the sound from the environment and transmits the sound as a signal to the tiny receiver underneath the skin and sends the signals down a flexible man-made fiber that’s connected to the cochlea that helps tell the brain: “Hey you just heard that.” I know that sounds terribly scientific and complicated—perhaps a visual video could help explain things better than I can…  I practically failed Bio 101 at Carolina for a reason, your girl is not science-brained AT ALL— so don’t be embarrassed if you have no idea what I Just said. Just know, technology is amazing and I’m genuinely grateful to be born when I was and to be born into my incredible family.


Long story short, technology, my family and my speech therapists have helped me feel as “normal” as I do. My family was a testimony of patience as there was not one single person on the Outer Banks that had my type of hearing loss or cochlear implants when I was growing up. They didn’t have other parents to talk to, there weren't facebook community groups, cochlear counselors, nothing —they had to figure it all out on their own. They eventually introduced me to an incredible speech pathologist named Kathryn Wilson and she literally changed my life. She and her husband even came to Jess and I's wedding this year because she means that much to my family and me. During the language development days, Kathryn helped me identify the way words were supposed to be spoken. Because of my time with her coupled with patient teachers and modern technology, people tell me almost every day “Wow, you don’t have any deaf speech.” Hearing the shock behind their voice when they say this always amuses me. The reason I don’t have “deaf speech” is because I can hear myself well enough and auto-correct my voice.  My husband and mom both say I have a very slight deaf speech and talk more quietly when I take my implant out—which makes sense because I can’t hear myself.

So how deaf am I? Well, let me put it this way, I will enjoy sleeping peacefully at night for as long as I can until babies maybe come into the picture. Until then, my poor husband will wake up every morning to a vibrating alarm clock (click here for a photo of it) that shakes the bed to wake up us both.  That is usually the only time in an average day that I think about the silence around me. Sure phone conversations, loud restaurants and parties are more challenging to me but that’s just part of it—I just tell folks my situation so they know I’m not being a b*tch and ignoring them and people tend to adapt politely.

From my first surgery in 1997 until 2011, I wore a body-worn processor... You'll see it next to my right breast in the above photo from my Camp Trinity days in 2007. I called it my third boob. Technology has evolved significantly in the last ten years that it has drastically changed my lifestyle for the better.

In the Summer of 2011, I had surgery for a second implant on my left side and with that came more modern technology. The one you see in the above photo is called a B.T.E (Behind-the-Ear) cochlear implant. Having the ability to not wear a special bra, not have three boobs and be able to hear was an incredible milestone for an awkward and socially-growing twenty-one year old. It was my first semblance of independence to be able to wear a bathing suit and continue to have conversation. It's the little things that make this beach girl happy.

In the present day, I get goosebumps thinking about how much my life has changed since 1997. Now I wear a magnetic Med-El Rondo that is completely wireless on my head and away from my ears. This device change was crucial for me because my ears would get so sensitive and sore after long hours. Wearing my glasses with my B.T.E. was unheard of because it felt like 10 pounds were sitting on my ears. Being the active person I am, the B.T.E and its batteries could not sustain the sweat I was producing from my workouts. (Sweat weirdly sits around my ears versus in the top of my head). Don't ask me why.

In a nutshell, God knew what he was doing when he gave me a 'fro during puberty so I could cover up my implant even though I have nothing to hide. Sometimes it seems like it would be easier if people saw the implant and would immediately understand that I don't hear well versus having to explain it. But I like feeling like a normal person in society because I am a normal person. Drawing attention to myself is not my cup of tea because that's how my personality is but I'll talk about it any day of the week if you ask. Nothing you ask me can offend me.

So with all that said, it should make sense that I’m in a visual industry. My ears don’t work so I use my eyes.

Tomorrow’s Blog Post: “How do I make a living doing just photos?” Well that’s the thing, I don’t. There’s more to what I do than just photography. I just didn't really broadcast it… until today.

#30dayblogchallenge

Amy McGraw, the coordinator and owner behind Do Me a Favor Weddings had an idea for a styled shoot. The vision behind this shoot was to be unique and out-of-the-ordinary with a confident bridal party. She recruited a team of amazing wedding vendors to bring this idea to life. Between the bridesmaid "bouquets" tied around their ankles, the modern atmosphere from Wrightsville Manor infused with the vintage furniture from Relic Vintage Rentals, the eclectic and colorful yummies from A Thyme Savor, the bow-tie loosely hanging over the groom and the sassy bridal gown from Coastal Knot, Amy wanted to show her future and current clients that you don't have to have a "normal" run-of-the-mill wedding. In fact, you you can have your bridesmaids in shorts or a gorgeous gown that dips so low that your grandma would raise her eyebrows. The fact remains: it's your wedding and it's time to make those dreams come true. One of the biggest regrets couples have after weddings is not having more of a say because they are pleasing so many different family members. Don't have that regret and make your once-in-a-lifetime wedding, a happy memory you'll cherish forever. A big thanks to everyone in the dream team for being amazing to work with!

Dream Team
Coordinator: Do Me a Favor Weddings
Makeup: Do Me a Favor Weddings
Flowers: Do Me a Favor Weddings
Bridesmaid Outfits: Do Me a Favor Weddings
Catering: A Thyme Savor
Rentals: Relic Vintage Rentals
Venue: Wrightsville Manor and Gardens
Dress: Coastal Knot Wilmington
Photography: Visuals by Helen

Carin got herself a sweet 'ol husband on March 24th at the Battleship so it's officially okay to post a few photos from her bridal portrait session. The photos took place at a beautiful lofty space called Belle Vue and all the natural light made her radiate. The coolest thing about this location is that the building is right across the river from the Battleship where she got married so she was able to do some photos in front of her wedding venue as well. Carin is an  absolutely breathtaking bride so the camera loved her of course. Wishing Mrs. Beam a thousand congratulations for her marriage to Mr. Beam!

Kelsey + Rocci are getting married on July 21 and by the looks of these photos, they are so ready! They are so undeniably cute and just treasure each other through their body language. They live in Winston Salem but made a fun weekend out of coming to Wilmington for their engagement photos back in February. How sweet is that? I loved getting to know them through this morning session by the river and feel like we're best friends already! Looking forward to capturing the real thing in July. Congratulations again on your engagement, you two beautiful lovebirds!