new blog

I am excited to finally launch my new blog! My friend Christine and her wonderful husband Mike have been so helpful in getting it together. All new posts will be at www.reginaholder.com/blog. Please update your reader or bookmarks! I hope to see you over there!

kirstan and robert - hilton head

Kirstan and Robert were married at The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort and Spa. I drove down Friday afternoon to do a couple portrait session with them on the beach and ended up going to their ceremony rehearsal. We did their engagement session in Atlanta in February after several times trying to plan a trip to Hilton Head because the weather was not cooperating. Click here for the engagement slideshow.

The weather on Friday was perfect - in the 70s with a cool ocean breeze. Saturday was a different story with a storm looming overhead. It sprinkled a little at the end of the ceremony and we were afraid to go too far out on the beach. No "trashing the dress" before the reception!

Kirstan and Robert had hired me over the telephone, but we seemed to instantly "click". Kirstan has the most infectious laugh - you can't be around her long without having fun for sure! Robert is part of a huge family and such a nice guy. They all had a way of making me feel like family really quickly.

Both of Robert's parents and Kirstan's mother had passed away, so there was a lot of emotion that day. I asked Robert if he noticed all the guests watching from their rooms and he said that once he saw Kirstan all he saw was the tears in his eyes. They lit memorial candles before the cake cutting and I love the photo of Kirstan wiping his tears. Then, during the father/daughter dance, it was Kirstan's time to cry.

I don't normally go back to the room with the couple - I wasn't the only one there! BUT they had such a fantastic view off their balcony. It was hard trying to capture them and the ocean in complete darkness, but I love the shots we got in the end. Robert's nephews are 2 floors down yelling up to them. I'm sure at least one wing of the Westin knew which room they were in.

Thank you so much Kirstan and Robert for such a wonderful day. I enjoyed hanging out with you and your families and friends. Much love to you!



A casual and relaxed Robert hanging out with his nephews.


Cheers!


















First kiss.


3rd or 4th kiss!



















Here's where I was afraid of Robert's back going out.




They love these pelicans that are all around the Westin. This is their favorite because they said it looks like the are getting married. Kirstan shared her bouquet for a few.


The best wedding party entrance EVER!




Ummm....I think this is called....

CHEATING!

I wonder if she has a ring yet?





Robert's nephews were hilarious!




Go Robert! Go Kirstan!

may pug and my birthday

Last Tuesday night was our monthly Pictage User Group (PUG) meeting, which is held in the conference room upstairs from my studio. Charlotte photographer Critsey Rowe was our guest speaker. Critsey is a partner of Indigo Photography and has recently launched her own boutique style company. She has been published in many local and national magazines and had her first international magazine feature in the current issue of UK’s “You and Your Wedding”. She photographed Carolina Panther Thomas Davis’ wedding that will be featured on the WE channel show Platinum Weddings and published soon on the cover of a local magazine. Critsey talked about how she stepped up marketing her business and meeting with event planners outside NC. She founded The Next Set, a group of photographers networking to high end vendors. She photographed celebrity planner David Tutera in his NYC apartment last month. Critsey and Thomas Geist from Germany just recently got married. It was great having them up for the PUG and dinner afterwards.











So, my birthday was the day after the PUG, last Wednesday. I had thought that Mexican would be a good choice for dinner - because it is my favorite. Then, I had the most embarrassing birthday experience ever in a restaurant. They came to the table singing with a red sombrero that they plopped on my head and started sticking a spoon of whipped cream in my face. Thinking it would make the guy stop, I finally let him put the spoon in my mouth - only to end up with whipped cream up my nose. What was I thinking!!! Please God, don't let any cell phone photos show up on the internet!

I had arranged a lunch at 12 Bones with Critsey, Thomas and a few other friends from the DWF forum, which is how we all met. Much to my surprise, Critsey, Corey Cagle and Honour Hiers had arranged for a lot of other photographers and vendors to come. 12 Bones always has a long line and so as I walked up - 1/2 the line started singing! They went all out decorating and even got an awesome cake made with Reese's cups.

My beautiful cake from Chez Nous.

Woodward + Rick (Brian and Gry)

Surprise! - 1/2 the line starts singing.

Brian, Corey McNabb and Thomas

More singing - 3rd time!

The whole gang!

Karen from Brown's Floral Design

Jill Schwarzkopf and Corey McNabb

Shay Brown and Brian

Kelly Giezentanner, Gry and Audrey Goforth

Critsey, Me and Brie Castell

My friend Christine from TX did a wonderful blog post for my birthday and you will get to see my new pimped out present soon!

I got a ton of birthday wishes on Facebook, my new internet obsession, and an awesome email from my friends Gene Higa and Ann Hamilton from San Francisco with a hilarious series of photos. Bogie was asleep so he is partying in photo form.





THANK YOU SO MUCH to all my friends for making me feel so special!

belinda and dr. h

I've made some major accomplishments in the last couple of weeks, so I am happy to finally take some time to blog about one of the absolute most fun weddings ever!

Belinda and Dr. H's wedding was the last wedding for me in 2007. They were married at the chapel at Lake Junaluska on a cold and rainy December afternoon with the reception following at Crest Center. A few things that I learned about Dr. H very quickly - he is passionate about food, he LOVES music and his goal in life is to make Belinda happy. On Friday night at the rehearsal dinner at The Sunset Inn, after a magnificent meal prepared by Chef Vincent, H presented Belinda with a limited edition signed lyrics to one of the last songs written by John Lennon. The next afternoon, the bride walked down the aisle to the same song, "Grow Old with Me".

Dr. H's daughter, Leigh, and Belinda put together a winter wonderland theme and Stacey at The Bloom Room absolutely transformed The Crest Center. It was the most elaborate decor I have seen and was wonderful! The tables were named with the words "I love you" in many different languages.

And now the fun part! They had an Elvis performance during the reception. It was top secret, only a few people knew it was happening ahead of time. After dinner was served and Dr. H and others made a few toasts, the lights went down low. The band with the full horn section came on stage. If you ever saw Elvis perform or on TV, you know the song!!! The drums did the famous, intro beat and as the room went dark, H was so excited he was bouncing in his seat! The spotlight hit Elvis and it was magical. The next hour and half was just FUN!!! Lou Vuto doesn't really impersonate Elvis - his performance is more of a salute to Elvis. Of course Belinda got the first scarf and kiss, but it was the scarf and kiss to H's mother as she stood at the edge of the stage that was one of my all time favorite wedding moments!

Check out the slideshow!



I just love the snowflakes and white roses. Stacey always does beautiful work!








Yet another beautiful cake by Cakes by Jane!


I think the signature drinks were a huge Elvis hint - very "Blue Hawaii".








This is actually Lou's son on the drums.
















LOVE IT!!!


Check out Lou at The Memories Theatre in Pigeon Forge.

Special thanks to Mike McKinney for passing along my info to Dr. H and to Corey Cagle for 2nd shooting with me.

bridal portrait in the orchard

I LOVE the bridal session that I did recently with one of my summer brides. I can't wait to be able to share all of them, but I am just teasing one image. It was so beautiful with the trees in full bloom and the buttercups in between. A huge THANK YOU to Jane and Bennie Arrington for use of the orchard. They own Pinnacle Mountain Farms and the Barber Orchard Fruit Stand, where National Geographic and Southern Living recommend the apple cakes.

kelly and dan

Kelly and Dan were married on a super rainy April morning. They were supposed to have their ceremony and reception at the Wyche Pavilion in Greenville, but it is open to the elements. Instead, they had to move inside Larkin's on the River, who caterers for and coordinates the Pavilion. We were lucky that the rain cleared enough to do some nice couple shots at the end of the day.

Dan sang Kelly down the aisle to "Hallelujah". It was so sweet! They radiated happiness all day. During the toasts, Kelly put her head on Dan's shoulder and it was just a beautiful moment.

The beautiful and talented Vanessa Renee, performed the couple's first dance song. Dan is a huge fan of Vanessa's and they were so excited to have her perform during the reception. Dan and Kelly are quite the dancers!

Click here to see the slideshow. Special note: It is actually Dan singing on the first song and then Vanessa. How cool is that!

Special thanks to Jarrad Lister for helping me photograph Kelly and Dan's wedding. I am excited to have Jarrad working with me on several weddings this year.

Here's the link to Dan's blog!

wedding party photos

For years, I just did the basic line up boring shots for the wedding party. Occasionally, I would have a bride ask me to do something different and thought that some of them were fun. Now, I give the couple a list of the common ones, such as wedding party walking arms linked, groomsmen "sopranos" type pose, etc, and let them tell me the specific ones that they want. Sometimes, the bride puts "yes" on the groomsmen jumping shot and doesn't so much tell the guys. LOL! So, when I say, "jump" - they really aren't so sure. I just had to share this shot from Courtney and Mannings wedding last Sunday. At first, reluctance but as guys do, things got a bit competitive and look how high they got! I love the shadows, too. Check out the guy on the right - he bent his knees. And yes, that is the groom's dad catching some air! So fun!

las vegas

I have some really important things that I am working on for clients, so I always feel guilty taking time to blog. I marked 2 major projects off my list this week, so I am going share my trip to Las Vegas.

One of the coolest things about being a photographer is the friendships and relationships with other photographers. Many people seem kind of shocked that as photographers we are great friends with our competition. WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) hosts a convention in Las Vegas every year. This year, there were 11,000 photographers there! From Asheville, Corey Cagle, Corey McNabb and I went out for the convention. Corey Cagle and I traveled and roomed together at the Paris hotel. In addition to the speakers, there is a tradeshow and lots of parties. I got to see so many friends from all over the country and meet some of the photographers who are great inspiration to me.


Gene Higa is an incredible photographer from San Francisco that travels to exotic locations all over the world. We met last year in Orlando and I just love him dearly!


Jose Villa takes the most gorgeous photos and in a digital world still shoots film. One of my goals for this year is to take his Mexico workshop.


Rachel from LaCour, myself, Corey, the world famous Timco and Christine from TX at the Flosites and Pixel2Canvas party at the Palms.




Corey and me with the beautiful and talented Jules Bianchi at the Pictage party. I mentored with Jules almost 2 years ago and again last year. She is a huge part of where my business is right now and a super cool chick!


With Robert Evans in the Pictage booth. Robert is famous for photographing the Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston and the Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes weddings and has started Photography Mentor to educate photographers - joined the first day.

On Wednesday night, the Coreys went to see Elton John in concert at Cesar's Palace. My friend Christine Tremoulet from Houston and I went up in the Eiffel Tower, which is 1/2 the size of the one in France, towers 460 feet above the strip, and one leg comes down into the hotel casino. We saw two water shows from the Bellagio across the street. Then, we went down to the Venetian with Jamie also from Houston. Of course, we got there right after the gondola rides closed.





















Thursday night after the desert shoot Corey and I went for walk around the block over to Bellagio, seeing the light show from a totally different perspective. It's amazing how high the water shoots up - you can hear blasts from it in the Paris rooms.











I came home exhausted and really sick! The worst thing about Las Vegas is the cigarette smoke. We had to walk through the Paris and Bally's casinos to go to the convention. I thought I just had bronchitis but I haven't had a fever over 102 in years. It took me about 3 weeks to finally feel back to normal. Corey was super sick, too.

In the new American Photo magazine, Gene, Jose and LaCour were named in the top 10 wedding photographers in the world! Very exciting!