You know how you wander around the internet, ending up in a place you never meant to go?  Sometimes you find something that makes you stop in your tracks.  That happened to me today.  I was looking at 2011 4th quarter photography winners on WPJA (Wedding Photojournalist Association).  There are some really remarkable images by the way.

From there, I went to look at the past winners from North Carolina and found myself on Tracy Turpin’s website.  Her images are remarkable.  How come I had never heard of her?  I know I would like her.  There’s pure joy her photographs.

Wanting to know more about her,  I headed over to Tracy’s Blog to see her latest work.  I was immediately “greeted” by a very bubbly and warm smile.  Then I read the last post on her blog.  And then I read it AGAIN.  ”This is the last picture Tracy took….Tracy’s pictures always were filled with some sense of emotion. This one is filled with love and I appreciate her for filling me with it.”  Just a simple snapshot.  A double rainbow.

I’m thinking, she’s so young, she couldn’t have retired.  Maybe it meant it was literally the last photo on her flash card before she begins filling cards up at her next shoot.  But no.  This IS the LAST photograph Tracy will ever.

With a simple click of the camera, a lasting legacy of love is made.  And here I was at my desk grumbling a bit, I feeling a bit of stress about silly, insignificant things.

I am blessed.  I am loved.  I am one lucky gal.  I get to pick up my camera.  I get to create a legacy of love.  And I will continue to do so until I too take my Last Photograph!!  And I will be thankful for this gift I have been given.

Please excuse the extreme amount of photos in the post but I just couldn’t resist the temptation.  Brianna and Jeff are one of my all time favorite couples.  You just can’t manufacture love like they have for each other.  Enjoy the photos and please leave a comment.  We love hearing from you.

Invitations and Stationary……….Brianna’s cousin….Cam Turner Design  

The Preparations

The First Look

The Ceremony

The Party

Tongue in cheek. I can tell you all about how skilled I am. How much I’ve studied, how much I’ve perfected my craft. But then I would be lying. Yes, this shot took me years of studying, via workshops with Zach Arias and Neil Van Neikirk. Took me to my limits of expertise. Took me putting an amazing team together. Judy Auger holding the flash behind Brianna and Jeff. Susie holding the flashlight so I could focus my camera. And me understand what all these elements would mean to a photograph. But let me be honest. No matter how skilled I or my team may be, I could not have captured this photography at all…without the passion Brianna and Jeff felt for each other. And that all started long before me and my team. That started with their families. With their mothers and fathers, with their sisters and brothers. It was programmed into their hearts and souls. For I, not matter how skilled I am in photography, could never capture this passion, this love, without the precursor of the families that bought them both into being. Without the love they both must have felt as they were growing into the adults they have become.

God bless this broken road that brings me back to you.

As I was showing Judy some of the images from Ann and Mark’s Proximity Wedding this morning, she suggested I post photos for this little boys so they “Could Remember More” (see previous post).

So here is the story of one wedding, two little boys and the grandpa they adore. Hopefully as they grow older it will help them remember these feelings of pure joy.

My daughter called me today for the third time and I immediately sense a sadness in her voice. In tears she cried. Tomorrow will be the anniversary of her grandmother’s death. I suppressed my natural tendency to try to make it all better, to protect her from pain and suffering and just told her to keep crying. For in those tears of hers was a celebration of Ira Sue Dickinson and the relationship she had with my daughter.

Then my daughter said something that resonated with me. She said “I wish I could remember more”. So tonight, I am going through all the old photos. For those photographs hold our memories even when our minds fail. Moments in time fade from our minds, but having a photograph can bring it all back as if we were reliving it today.

A photograph is … our history
A photograph is … our life
A photograph is … our love
A photograph is … our story

Do not leave those photographs on a disc stuck in a draw. Display them, collect them, write notations on the back of them. Feel their colors, their style, their place in time. Remember the smell, the sound, the love. For through them, one truly can REMEMBER MORE.

I will scan some photos tomorrow and embed them into this post. But I needed to write down my thoughts before I too “wish I could remember more”.

Mark and Ann, Caroline and Grace. A family they became on March 31st. Working with Susan Pardue of EVENTually Yours, the had a perfect small intimate wedding and reception, surrounded by their closest friends and family.

Wedding: Westminster Presbyterian Church

Photography: Becki Dickinson Photography

Event Planning and Coordination: Susan Pardue of EVENTually Yours

Cake: Maxi B’s

Flowers: Botanica

First Dance: Lover’s Waltz violin and piano arrangement

Caterer: Proximity Hotel

Portraits, we all want them but we all hate being in front of the camera. We hold our breath and tense up inside while remembering portraits past. Fear over takes us and all we want to do is run. But done with loving patience and a care to the details, we all can receive images we desire and deserve. Appointments are limited. Call Becki at 336-601-6462 for more details.
Mother/daughter, best friends, sisters.

When I was younger, I never had the overwhelming desire to become a mother. It wasn’t a high priority for me. But at 31, I found myself pregnant, in a less than fulfilling marriage and at a crossroad in my life. It took me years to adjust, for I was an educated, career minded woman and I didn’t know how to achieve satisfaction from changing diapers and scrubbing toilets. But now I am fifty three years old and I can’t imagine never having been given this gift of motherhood. It is the most transformative thing that has ever happened in my life. Taylor came home from college this weekend, and I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed having my daughter home . We went shopping, ate sushi, and took the time to put on makeup and do hair. She helped me pick out photos for my soon to be revealed new website and even pinned me to her pinterest board. Neither one of us stressed. We just went with the flow. She is both beautiful inside and out. I cherish her with all that is me.

My brides want something different so I’m pleased to offer them just that. Here are a few photos I took of Lesley and Greg’s wedding album. I can’t wait to see the expression on her face when she holds it for the first time. It is simply beautiful.

Jackie and Matt:
Fun couple, fun session and afterwards, we shared more time together over beer and wine at Natty Greens in downtown Greensboro.
I’m excited to have them come back over for their viewing session to see the rest of the photos. But until then, here is a sneak peak of a few images.

I can’t wait to photograph their wedding later this year and am especially excited to see what Jackie and the always amazing Leigh Pearce stylize at the reception at the Empire Room.