Last year was such a huge one for us. We met some amazing people, tackled some tough challenges, and grew closer together through all of it.

When we think about 2013, this shoot is one of the milestones that stands out.

When Patricia Hoffman, the editor of the German fine art wedding book Hochzeitswahn, contacted us and asked us to shoot this project, we were honored but a little overwhelmed.

We knew to get the right look we’d have to leave our digital cameras behind and shoot exclusively on film.

The concept for our shoot was a bride getting ready for her big day with a bridal boudoir session mixed in.

We have nothing against boudoir but wanted to make sure it fit our “style.” We wanted to keep it elegant & timeless.

With the help of an absolutely amazing team, we were able to do just that.  We can’t say thank you enough to the selfless people that helped make our vision a reality. Their credits are listed at the end of this blog.

It’s a testament to the beautiful power of film, to our lovely model, and our hair and makeup team that we can say these required no retouching.

Thank you again to Patricia Hoffman for inviting us to take part.

We’re so happy to be able to finally share, having photographed this back in August 2013. You can purchase Hochzeitswahn here.

“Getting Ready für den Großen Tag: Ein Moment der Ruhe”

Virginia Boudoir Photographers | Coastal Virginia Boudoir Photographers | Boudoir in Hampton Roads

Credits:

Hochzeitswahn Editorial “Getting Ready für den Großen Tag: Ein Moment der Ruhe”

Location: Bay Tree Manor

Styling, dress & lingerie: Shop Gossamer

Hair: Hair by Alice

Makeup: Theresa Little Makeup Artistry

Floral: Storybook Events

Vintage Rentals: Shelley’s Shabby Shack | Meghan Blair Vintage

Film developed by Richard Photo Lab

Assisted by: Jonas Mueller & Meagan Abell

Best bridal boudoir photographers in Virginia in Hampton Roads and Williamsburg. 

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It’s been a slower month for our photography, but it’s important to take the time to get out and shoot.

Now’s the perfect time to try new things – like new film stocks.

I had the pleasure of capturing some portraits on Fuji Reala 100 with my Contax 645 the other day in Yorktown with Rachel. Overexposed 1-2 stops.

<3 enjoy,

Mike

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Hair cuts, hair color, hair styling, hair accessories. There is no end to it – Michael can attest to my recent obsession. <3

And there is definitely no day that HAS to be a good-hair-day more than a girl’s wedding day.

This is the day she hopes to look her very best. She wants to look like a bride.

How many months do brides spend today stalking Pinterest and going back and forth between their favorite hairstyles?

I was totally there.

Except, there was no Pinterest when I got married, “all the way back in 2011…”

I just knew I wanted curls. Because my hair is completely straight and you always want what you don’t have, right?

Even though I am married already, I am still always on the hunt for a new hairstyle to try.

Number one priority: it needs to make you feel absolutely beautiful.

Our brides have amazing style. And I love that they aren’t all going for the same hair-do. Their hair totally work with their personalities and wedding themes.
Whether you are still looking for your perfect bridal hairstyle or your new everyday favorite hairdo – be inspired by our lovely brides. <3

All-up: This is a classic hair-do which is perfect for ballroom and traditional weddings. Lindsay is rockin’ that look! Also love a little sparkle…

All-up for super long hair: Leanne has Rapunzel-hair which works perfectly for these amazing braids, one of our favorite designs from our friend, Alice of Hair by Alice:

Low all-up: Megan’s fall wedding was very romantic. Her hairstyle fit right in. She chose to put a daisy in her hair…which made it magical.

Half-up: Another favorite of brides. Michael always says that if you can’t decide between two, pick both (don’t worry, he’s usually joking when he says this, because it usually has something to do with $$$$ photography gear).

I think this style is a great combination of casual and formal. It’s both romantic and playful. A great way to make this style “you” is to add a litle “oomph” to it. Adding a bridcage, a veil or a braid makes it walk-down-the-aisle-worthy. Morgan, one of our fall brides, showed off her trendy ombre hair with her half-up hair-do. For Miko it was all about simplicity. A few pinned back strands gave her a really soft look. So many options…

All-down: Some girls just want to show off their gorgeous hair and let it all down. Loose curls and lots of shine mist will make this look a winner. This look is very romantic and sexy. Rachel is the girl to pull it off!

Sophisticated:  Let me introduce you to Lianne. Everybody gasps when she shakes her head. Alice worked her magic and came up with one of the most sophisticated hairstyles I have ever seen. This incredible braid-within-a-braid will make you speechless.

By the way, the amazing hair stylist -no, artist – who did most of hairdos displayed  is located here in Hampton Roads! Her name is Alice (Hair by Alice) and she is pretty much AAAAAAmazing! (she did Lianne’s, Brooke’s, Leanne’s and Yae-Wen’s - not to mention MY hair!).

Other hairstylists: Spring Wiley (last picture, all down, Rachel), Robbie Miller Master Paul Mitchell Hairstylist (long, curly up-do, Alicia), Drew from Shear Envy Hair Salon (ombre, half-up, Morgan), My Moblie Salon Inc. (short curly half-up, Pilar)

xoxo, Carina

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Road Hair Stylists | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers 

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Portraits of Tracy. Simple and elegant.
We’ll let her pictures do the rest of the talking

xoxo, Michael & Carina

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Right around 2009 is also when I noticed what seemed to be a new trend in photography, (at least I think it was new)… a movement of young artists who solely for the sake of fun and expression were creating an entirely original look of what I would call surrealist photography. Much of it focused on self-portraiture.

Artists such as Brooke Shaden and Joel Robinson  weren’t just capturing the world around them, they were creating new worlds with their photography.

Even though my photography journey took me down another path, I still love admiring the worlds these artists create.

I was absolutely thrilled to learn that one of those artists lives right here in Yorktown, less than 5 minutes away!

Carol of Carol Persons Photography has  a passion for for what she does.

She creates art with photography.

Her photography is influenced by both surrealism and fashion photography, but she is always thinking up new and interesting ways to be original.

She arrived at a beach on the York River at 6:30 in the morning to meet me.

As a personal exercise on an overcast day, I decided to shoot mainly film.

Shooting slower with film allowed for her to practice her passion.

She set up her camera on a tripod and using a remote shutter release and a timer took self-portrait after self-portrait.

I couldn’t help but admire that…

There I sat, next to my Pelican case filled with gear, two cameras in hand…

And watched her with one camera, one lens, one tripod, and one remote trigger, creating art.

That was really inspirational.

She inspired me to get back even more to the basics of what it is I love about photography, which can even be translated into wedding photography…

And that’s not snapping away… but looking for that one special image…

One that really captures your imagination.

Here’s one of Carol’s self-portraits taken in Yorktown, mixed with a little bit of Photoshop wizardry..

Thanks for inviting me to capture these portraits of you, Carol!

film: fuji400h // contax 645 // developed by Richard Photo Lab

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We had the idea to go shoot an editorial…

at the Williamsburg Winery…

If we could pull this off, then we can do anything we thought…

And somehow…

With the help of so many wonderful vendors…

We pulled it off…

And our editorial was just published in Virginia Bride Magazine!

So many thanks to:

The Williamsburg Winery
Kirstie Fals- MUA
Spring Wiley – Hair stylist at Shear Dimensions
Ivory of Storybook Events- Floral (indoor & courtyard)
Williamsburg Floral (vineyards and outdoor)
Rachel Faulkner – Model bride
and Angela at The Bridal Boutique of Gloucester- accessories!

Richmond Wedding Photographers | Virginia Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

(these links return you to our homepage!)

Virginia | Richmond | Williamsburg | VA Beach | Yorktown | Hampton Roads | Engagement + Wedding Photographers | Michael and Carina Photography

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Alice is based out of Virginia Beach! Be sure to check out her FB too!

Shot on Fuji400h film, developed by Indie Film Lab.

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A few weeks ago we joined up with another photographer who invited us to a film shootout in Richmond.

Marek K was nice enough to organize everything for us. Thanks Marek!

Rules were simple – no digital cameras allowed!

We met up at a beautiful park in the middle of Richmond and were lucky enough, despite rain warnings, to have relatively mild June heat and beautiful evening sunlight.

Now one of the drawbacks of the Contax 645 is that it is a battery-eater. It consumes roughly one $10 2cr5 battery per 7 rolls of film (roughly one photoshoot), and that’s WITHOUT using autofocus (we always focus manually). Yea… it kind of stays hungry…

We tried out a rechargeable battery for this shoot, hoping to save money… meh… did not work out so well.

Our cameras were acting totally strange, so we dug around the bottom of a bag and found a used battery which we had almost thrown away from the shoot before.

We were worried the photos would not turn out well…

Luckily, it worked fine…

Annika and Kelsey were the gorgeous models who took the time to come pose out and for us…

We shot on a mix of Portra 400 and Fuji400h …

These are, in keeping with the spirit of the shoot, uncorrected & unedited, and developed by Indie Film Lab.

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I’ve been aching to get my hair cut for quite a while now. After all, my last hair cut was more than a year ago!!!
I had grown so sick of my super-long locks; I hardly ever wore them open anyways. I just couldn’t think of any cool things to do with them.
So I wore them in a bun and a ponytail. That’s about it How boring…

Definitely time for a change! After putting together pages of inspiration photos (I know…I figured my hairstylist would end up hating me…), I finally got a makeover!!!
I am super excited about it, Lauren from Shear Style Salon in Yorktown did such an amazing job!!! Even better than what I had hoped for!!!
So I will spend tonight going through my hair and trying out new hair styles in front of the mirror Something I very rarely did the past year…

PS: PLUS, I am thrilled that my hair won’t accidentally dangle in front of the camera lens at weddings or photo shoots anymore, haha!

Yorktown Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

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Virginia | Richmond | Williamsburg | VA Beach | Wedding Photographers | Michael and Carina Photography

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Seth did an excellent job!

It’s great to see someone you’ve worked with a long time grow creatively. Seth mainly shot 35mm film… I’m looking forward to seeing his shots!

Natalie is an aspiring model from New York who lives in Virginia Beach. She’s really energetic and loves to play with the camera.

It was all about having fun.

Seth was also nice enough to hold some off camera lighting behind Natalie towards the end and I got a chance to practice the AMAZING capabilities of Canon’s relatively new 600EXs.

Thanks to both of you for coming out!!

-Michael

Virginia Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg Wedding Photographers

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