Bella Rose Photography Blog

September 3, 2009 - 10:53 PM

posted by Lisa | filed under: weddings

Katie and Albie's wedding was a complete tour of the 'best of Wilmington'! They incorporated the classic traditions of an elegant wedding with the laid back 'beachy style' that is Wrightsville Beach. Not too easy to pull off but they did it right! Katie has great style and it was evident from the flowers, to the bridesmaid dresses, their fabulous cake, and in all of the little details. We had such a great time with Katie and Albie! What a perfect couple! Congratulations you two!

September 1, 2009 - 10:02 PM

Wedding ~ Julia and Andrew

posted by Lisa | filed under: weddings

One of my favorite movies from a few years back is, 'Practical Magic', with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock. There is a line in the movie that I have never forgotten. The scene shows Sandra Bullock dancing around the family room with her husband and two daughters while she says, "Today is our third anniversary and all I have to show for it are two beautiful daughters and a husband that I can't stop kissing." To me that sounded perfect and the way things should be. Julia and Andrew are that couple. Perfect together and they can't stop kissing. What a great wedding! We were privileged to be a part of it! Congratulations Julia and Andrew!

August 20, 2009 - 05:50 PM

What I've Been up to Lately....

posted by Lisa | filed under: weddings

Wedding editing has consumed my every waking moment lately. Here are a few images of the large stacks of wedding proofs getting ready to be packaged for my brides! Boxes seem to be delivered almost daily! I currently have 7 weddings ready for pick up! We shot 17 weddings back to back this spring and summer- so, needless to say, it has been a huge amount of work!

For those interested, here's a little bit of the process. After each wedding the memory cards are all downloaded into individual folders on a huge hard drive and backed up to DVD. This usually takes a full day because all of the images are shot in the RAW file format. Most of you probably haven't heard of that term before. It is the largest, purest file format that a professional SLR camera can take. Each file is about 12MB and has 12 million mega pixels. A lot of photographers shoot in the JPG format and the size and quality of the image can vary greatly. Many shoot in a medium JPG file format to save disc space and time, but they sacrifice quality. If you wanted to enlarge one of the images to any substantial size, you would see a lot of grain. I shoot in a large file format for all of my images because I think it is worth it to spend the extra time to do things the best way possible. When I edit the RAW images in the computer, it is almost like I'm adjusting the controls of the camera when I make adjustments to the images. It is the purest way to get the best image possible. The color is better and the files are not corrupted with extra filler that gets added with the JPG format. It is your wedding day after all, and I think every bride should have the best!

Then all of the photos are combined into one large folder, sorted into the proper order and renamed. Then the editing process begins! This is a lengthy process because we usually shoot between 2000-2500 images at each wedding. I have to start narrowing down the numbers to choose just the very best images. Each image must be color corrected because they are not the proper color straight out of the camera. The photos are cropped, horizon lines are straightened, dust and lint are removed, and then images are individually worked on in photoshop to remove a variety of things including people in the backgrounds and other distracting items. Skin is smoothed, softened and shine is removed. Shine is a major issue, especially in humid North Carolina. Foreheads are shiny- even in December! My goal is for each image to be 'print worthy' before the couple even sees their photos. I make sure to give each wedding the attention it deserves to make sure all of the images are perfected to meet the level of quality that my clients expect.

This is an artistic process, so some weddings take longer than others depending on the size of the package and the amount of photoshop time required.

Next the images are saved into the JPG format, categorized and uploaded to Pictage for online viewing and ordering. I try my best to get the images online for each couple approximately 90 days from the date of the wedding. The bride and groom are the owners of the site, so they see all of the images first and then they release the site for their friends and family to view. We collect the guests' email addresses at the wedding reception and I enter them in the website for the couple. Next the 4x6 proofs are uploaded to my photo lab, printed, shipped to me, packaged and available to be picked up by the bride and groom to enjoy! My goal is to complete one wedding per week, but this is sometimes not possible because I have to complete engagement sessions, bridal portraits, make orders, complete album orders, meet magazine deadlines, just to name a few of the demands placed on me each week.

I hold my work to a very high standard, so I appreciate everyone's patience with this process. I promise the wait is worth it!

P.S. Please pass this information along to parents too! A lot of them don't meet with me in the beginning stages of the process, and I get a lot of phone calls the week after the wedding asking why the photos aren't online.

2009 Weddings

Meredith and Patrick ~ Completed
Laura and Jason ~ Completed
Beth Ann and Ray ~ Completed
Julia and Andrew ~ Completed
Jenny and James ~ Completed
Katie and Albie ~ Completed
Jodi and Lee ~ Completed
Melissa and Chuck ~ Completed
Misty and Matt ~ Completed
Julie and Jeff ~ Currently working on this wedding
Michelle and Alex
Annie and Brian
Jennifer and Cullen
Kelly and Rob
Leah and Brad
Morgan and Joel
Sarah and Sam
Hollis and Wyatt
Ian and Alyssa
Kathy and Mike
Jennifer and William

August 4, 2009 - 06:33 PM

Wedding ~ Jenny and James

posted by Lisa | filed under: weddings

Another great wedding we photographed this spring was for Jenny and James in Atlantic Beach. They chose a beautiful historic church for their ceremony and then they were transported via double-decker bus to the Coral Bay Club for their reception. I have to say the bus was a fun experience. We rode on top and were definitely wind blown- but we got some cool shots- so it was worth it! It was a fun and relaxed day with a great group of friends. It is so much fun to be a part of such exciting and meaningful celebrations! Congratulations Jenny and James!

Here we are on the top of the bus! Wind blown is an understatement!!!

July 28, 2009 - 11:29 PM

Wedding ~ Beth Ann and Ray

posted by Lisa | filed under: weddings

With so many weddings this spring and summer, we have had a hard time keeping up with our editing let alone our blog features. Stay tuned, because we will be going back in time to show all of the 'fabulousness' we have experienced so far this year and there will be a lot of new weddings showing up on the blog shortly!
We are blessed to have the best brides and grooms! Beth Ann and Ray are no exception. They were married at St. Mary's Church in Wilmington and had their reception at the Holiday Inn on Wrightsville Beach. What a beautiful wedding with tons of family and friends! And can I just say- I have never seen a wedding dress with such a tiny, small waist! Wow, Beth Ann- you go girl! Some weddings are just full of anticipation and excitement and this completely describes the wedding of Beth Ann and Ray. They are a perfect match and we were pleased to have the opportunity to capture all of these great moments and memories for them! Congratulations Beth Ann and Ray!

July 17, 2009 - 06:15 PM

Wedding ~ Laura and Jason

posted by Lisa | filed under: weddings

Laura has a contagious laugh and everyone is instantly drawn to her. I'm sure that was one of the first things Jason noticed when they met and fell in love. Laura and Jason were married in 'epic' style at the stunning and magnificent, Duke Chapel, on the Duke University Campus in Durham, North Carolina. Getting married at the chapel is quite an experience. The bride walks down the longest aisle I've ever seen to the loudest organ music- it really is an entrance fit for a queen! Just what every girl deserves on her wedding day! The beautiful flowers were designed by the talented ladies at Floral Dimensions. We especially loved the halo of flowers for the flower girl's hair and the little pomanders for the children to carry down the aisle. So cute!

Laura and Jason had a fantastic party at the Hope Valley Country Club where everyone danced the whole night to music provided by the fabulous, Mr. Joe Bunn, of the Joe Bunn DJ Company. Seriously, he rocked it! It was incredible! We loved being able to document this beautiful day for Laura and Jason! Congratulations!

June 27, 2009 - 07:29 PM

Bridal Portrait ~ Jennifer

posted by Lisa | filed under: Bridal Portraits, weddings

Our cute bride Jennifer got married this June so we wanted to share her fun bridal photos with you. Jennifer arranged to take her bridal portraits at a historic home in her home town of Oxford, North Carolina. What an adorable place!!! Generations of her family have lived in Oxford. They have so many friends in town that a collection of admirers gathered to watch and, lucky for us, help out. We always love extra assistants. Samantha, her dog, was a special addition to her portraits. We especially loved Jennifer's hot pink Kate Spade shoes!

June 15, 2009 - 05:20 AM

Engagement ~ Hollis and Wyatt

posted by Lisa | filed under: Engagement, weddings

If you are looking for a cute guest book to have at your wedding, take a look to this engagement shoot. Hollis and Wyatt wanted something more personal than the traditional blank pages of a guest book. So they decided to use their engagement shoot to get some awesome photos that look like they could have been collected over time from different events. They brought a bunch of outfits and we hit a few different locations. They were such good sports and they will have an awesome guest book at their wedding next month.

June 11, 2009 - 06:06 PM

The Dessert Divas!

posted by Lisa | filed under: Fun, Magazine Features, weddings

We would like to congratulate our good friends, The Dessert Divas, on their article in the latest Wilma Magazine! They make the most delicious cakes imaginable! At a recent event, I overheard a woman exclaim after one bite of cake, "Oh! This is simply divine!". What an excellent description! Their cakes and desserts are divine! I had the pleasure of photographing the Divas and one of their cakes for the magazine article. We had so much fun, so I thought I would showcase the article. Take a look at the other cakes the Divas have made recently on their blog and don't forget to call them for cakes for any occasion! (910) 399-6276 or (910) 599-1290.

May 22, 2009 - 05:20 AM

Wedding ~ Meredith and Patrick

posted by Lisa | filed under: weddings

We started off the wedding season this year with the beautiful wedding of Meredith and Patrick. The wedding took place in Meredith's home town of Warsaw, NC and the reception was held at the Boar's Head Restaurant Banquet Hall in Wallace. The wedding guests were long time family friends, so the party was a major focus of the day. Meredith and Patrick wanted to spend as much time as they could enjoying their guests' company. The reception was decorated in a very elegant way with flowers designed by Wendy of A Beautiful Event.