Engagement | JJ Horton Photography

March 15, 2019

Favorite Dresses

It’s no secret I love a pretty dress. My closet reveals my sickness…. hoards of dresses, fancy, casual, work… I love a good dress. I also LOVE it when my clients select a perfectly feminine dress for their shoot. This could be an engagement, maternity or family session! I am a firm believer you do NOT have to wear a “maternity” dress for a maternity session (I didn’t!). You’ll open yourself to so many more options if you don’t limit yourself to what stores like Destination Maternity want to sell you. The two in the top right corner could be stunning for maternity sessions. The lighter pink one also comes in blue, but it is sold directly through the brand site, here. These would also be wonderful for beach sessions. I’m already booking folks on vacation this summer in the Wilmington area (Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, Wrightsville Beach, Ocean Isle, Oak Island, Bald Head Island) if you want to jump on my calendar, email me! What makes these favorites? 1. The patterns are perfectly proportioned, and won’t overwhelm you. 2. They almost all have sleeves. If you have insecurities about your arms (many women do!) I would encourage you to wear a dress with a sleeve, or a cute jean jacket! 3. They all give you a defined waist! This will make you appear skinnier. If you select a very lose dress or top, it can make you appear larger than you are because it has no shape. Anyone remember What Not To Wear? Clinton and Stacey always looked for tailored clothes, treat this no different! All these dresses are linked, just click on the one you want to purchase! (not affiliate links… I’m not cool enough ha!) Put your guy in a pair of navy pants and a white shirt…. done! See you on the beach, k?!

March 6, 2018

Engagement | Jessica & Ryan

It’s zero secret that I love the beach, and maybe even more… I love shooting at the beach!! Year round, clouds or sun, it’s my happy place. Because of our house location at Carolina Beach, I tend to shoot there 95% of the time (or Kure, or Fort Fisher… all are on the same island, if you aren’t familiar). When Ryan and Jessica came to town from Texas for a weekend of planning for their August wedding at Wrightsville Manor, I suggested we change it up a bit, and head over to Wrightsville Beach. It’s the island just north of us, and just a few minutes up the road. It never ceases to amaze me how every beach along our state is so different. When I lived in Wilmington, I spent many afternoons on Wrightsville and had forgotten just how lovely this beach is. We met up at the very south end of the island, where there are wide beaches, and rolling dunes for days. Because of the time of year, the beaches were virtually empty…. perfect for pristine beach backdrops. See guys, winter on the beach is LOVELY… even if you’re dodging a few raindrops 🙂 90% of this session is film. Shot on a mix of Ektar 100, rated at 400 and pushed 2 stops and Portra 400, developed at The Find Lab.

January 16, 2018

Proposal | Josiah & Jenna

Every photographer has a bucket list, things, events, places, people, etc. you’re itching to shoot… mine has pretty much included a small handful of things, a wedding in the Caribbean (thanks Alan & Ashley!) and a proposal. On Christmas Eve, I happily got to cross the second one off my bucket list. Josiah explained that his girlfriend, Jenna would be in town visiting from Michigan over Christmas and wanted to propose at the business school on Elon’s campus, where they’d ended their first date. We worked through the, ahem.. minor details.. of getting into a locked school building, climbing out a window, hiding, sunlight, etc. and when the moment arrived, I was giddy. Josiah had me meet his brother and sister with a borrowed key card to get me into the building, it was a little chilly, so we hung out inside the building until several minutes before our go time. We started crawling out the window on to the balcony a little early, and his brother spotted them, so we basically slid into place at the last second before Jen saw us… phew!!! Staked out around the corner, muffled by the sound of a large hvac unit, I could snap away obliviously while Jen’s jaw hit the floor! After happily accepting, we did lots of photos around the business school! It was one of the sweetest moments, and I’m so thankful I was there to witness it. Enjoy a peek into Jenna’s “yes” to Josiah! View their entire gallery here.

January 3, 2018

I’m baaaaaaack!!!

Hello!!!!! Remember when I was sooooo good at blogging every.single.Tuesday. ?? Yep. Me too. Well, since I’m officially back at the day job today, we’ll just dive right back into blogging each Tuesday (yes, I know it’s Wednesday… but Monday was a holiday, so….) . And yes, Kate is now in daycare… OMG! Where did the last 4.5 months GO?! I miss her like crazy, but am excited to get back to productivity and for her to have more social interaction time. It’s a little like the last 4.5 months were a dream, even though I did work quite a bit… just a measly FOURTEEN portrait sessions and a wedding since October! So yeah… I have lots to blog about! But today, let’s just do a little recap of all my wonderful clients in 2017! *photos of us and some of Kate, by Lauren Jolly Photography

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