Tomahawk + Laurabird

Birds of a feather flock together.

Sometimes living in the mountains has its perks like living close to the perfect apple orchard. In between yummy apple cider donuts, apple picking and apple slushies, I just had to take advantage of photographing these little love birds. They let me use them as models while I tried my new camera (yay!) before my big wedding gig. Thank you Laura + Tommy for being the most naturally photogenic couple! You both are so beautiful inside and out.

More apple orchard pictures to come!

JOSEPH + KATIE

The mountains - the beautiful backdrop for a beautiful kind of love.

Joseph and Katie met and fell in love with these mountains as their backdrop. It was only appropriate to take some photographs of them in celebration of their engagement. One sunny morning they dressed up, slipped their Chacos on and we took off to Pretty Place and Lake Sudie of Camp Greenville. Aren't they a beautiful couple?

The mountains are a beautiful place and it is wonderful watching love grow from them. Here's to Joseph and Katie, my wonderful camp friends. I love that even with their fancy button ups, dresses, dressy shirts and one heck of an engagement ring, they are still rockin' the Chacos. Yeah, definitely camp folk :)

Andrew + Nicole | A Day At Pullen Park

And the cutest couple award goes to...

But seriously. We kind of had an impromptu photo shoot at Pullen Park because let's face it, I could not help myself but take photos of these adorable cats.

I show my Mom these photos and go, "Aren't they just adorable?"
and she replies, "Don't worry honey. You'll find someone one day."

Gee, thanks Mom?

Anyway, I am trying to build my Couples Photography Portfolio, so if you and your cutie pie want an impromptu photo shoot, contact me and we can get started :) It's too beautiful of a season to not get awesome pictures you can frame and post all over our Facebook. Am I right?

See more photos here! Be sure to like The 25th Hour on Facebook.

PHIL + MELISSA (& ANGEL, TOO)

A few weeks ago, my friends Phil and I asked me to snap some photos of them for their Christmas cards and of course I said yes! We took a quick stroll through the Fred G. Bond Metro Park in Cary before heading off to a Christmas party and for me, a night downtown.

Are they not one of the most good looking couples... ever? Yeah, my friends are pretty cute. Plus, they have an awesome puppy named Angel! All three, I mean four, of us are on the hunt for a house to rent in the next couple months! I just can't wait to live with these three knuckleheads.

Oh, and they chose the last one for their Christmas card, where Angel looks like she is actually behaving ;) Angel refused to wear her holiday dress. Oh well. There is next year's card :)

In other photography news, I recently got hired to shoot a wedding next September! I couldn't be more nervous and excited... more so excited. I have high hopes for expanding my camera collection and invest in some lenses. Do you have any SLR camera recommendations? I am thinking of switching to Canon, but I have been a Nikon D60 kind of lady for so long now. Any advice is welcomed!

If you are in or near the Raleigh are and interested in a photo session, do not hesitate to contact me!

My email is m.ashleyvega{at}gmail.com. I'd love to work with you :)