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Edenton, North Carolina Family Photographer | Cullipher

sheenamariebean — Sun, 05 Oct 2014 17:14:52 +0000

Elizabeth City North Carolina Engagement Session | Chris & Jill

sheenamariebean — Thu, 29 May 2014 17:55:09 +0000

Ok, this engagement session was nothing short of adorable. Everything about it was just straight F. U. N. I don’t we stopped smiling and laughing from the first frame to the last. I am so so so so excited to watch this stellar couple tie the knot this this weekend!!! Get a load of these lovebirds, they’re sure to bring a smile to your face…

Elizabeth City Family Photographer {The Janz Family}

sheenamariebean — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 18:38:53 +0000

I love meeting new clients, and this awesome family was so easy to enjoy! Their adorable blonde girlies were as easy to shoot as can be, especially their amazing posable two year old! I’ve shot A LOT of two year olds over the years, but Miss A takes the cake by a long shot. She was incredible. If I ever need a two year old model, I know just who to call! I’m so excited for the Janz family to be welcoming their third daughter this summer <3

Eastern North Carolina Photographer {Families: Feeney}

sheenamariebean — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 01:20:07 +0000

I’ll never forget the first time I had a “stranger session.” I was living in Hawaii and a girl who lived in my neighborhood had seen me shooting pictures for another family and asked me to do a session for her. I was so nervous. Like, hyperventilation, rapid pulse, sweaty palm nervous. All I could think about was “will they like me,” and “what will be talk about,” and “what if they hate the pictures.” That was about 6 years ago. I’ve come a long way since then, but I still feel an added pressure when doing a session for a new client to be on my game.

When Roxanne called me and told me about her 4 children, two of which, you will see, are 6 month old twins, I started getting excited. I have this thing for shooting large families and I knew that the age dynamic in this crew would make things challenging, but I love a challenge. Mister T and Miss M were absolutely perfect to work with. At 7 and 5 years old, they are in that golden age window where they are super childlike and spontaneous, but still able to follow directions, do specific poses, ect.

Baby A and her sister E, with their big blue eyes, stole my heart from the second I met them! These amazing miracle babies were born at 29 weeks gestation and have come a long way in the last 6 months. While they haven’t quite caught up to the normal 6 month old milestones, but did a great job smiling for the camera, looking into the lens and being perfectly happy smiley girls. I loved seeing how big bro and big sis were so attentive and helpful to the little ladies. I bet that Roxanne and David enjoy having that extra help!

I’m sure it will be a treat to you as much as it was to me to meet this awesome family. The kids were so wonderfully well behaved and their classic styling is as good as it gets. A BIG HUGE thank you to the Feeney family for allowing me to spend the evening with you guys!

Eastern North Carolina Photographer {Children: Banyan}

sheenamariebean — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 17:15:48 +0000

I wanted to share this pictures with you guys because it’s a great example of what a mini session is like. I shot this little collection in a 7 minute window this morning after dropping Noa off at school. Granted, sometimes it’s hard to get this many keepers in that short of a time, but in this case, it worked great. If a full on photo session isn’t in the budget, don’t be afraid to ask about booking a mini session. Mini’s run at $100.00 and last for about 30 minutes or until I get 15+ keepers, whichever comes first. If you just want updated pictures of the kids or a photo for your annual Christmas card, a mini session is a great way to get pictures without the time or financial constraint.

Twice per year, in the spring and fall, I do my “official” styled/thematic Mini Sessions. This fall, they are on November 9th and I am so excited about the “back-to-school” set and the retro Christmas set that I’m going to be using. Mini sessions usually book up super fast and this fall was no different. Spring session will be here before you know it, though, and I am working on something super special.

Anyhow, here are some pictures from this mornings little mini shoot with Mr. Banyan. Being 3 years old, his attention span for pictures is pretty short anyways, so a mini session works perfectly to get shots of him. I took Banyan for a haircut yesterday evening, because his mullet style was getting a little out of control. Banyan used to HATE HATE HATE haircuts, but my sweet friend Alyson took him last time he needed one and ever since, he has been a total peach….go figure. Noa, after seeing his little bro’s transformation had this comment to make, “Mommy! Banyan is so stylin’ now! He is, like, REALLY handsome.”

Are you sick of seeing this alley way yet?

He looks so much like his daddy here. When we found out we were having a boy we decided that his middle name should be Arvin,after his paternal great-grandpa. As things would go, our middle child got his daddys and great-grandaddys blues eyes <3

Eastern North Carolina Photographer {Children: Ben, Isabel, and Charlotte}

sheenamariebean — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 19:15:28 +0000

It’s funny how things tend to go in cycles when it comes to photography locations. I feel like I was shooting in fields all summer, but now it’s fall and so many people have been asking me to do their sessions downtown. Although there are many things that I wish Elizabeth City had more of, as far as photography locations are concerned, I am thankful that we have a cute historical downtown area that is very photogenic. For this session, we went for a little walk around a few blocks and found no shortage of great little spots to take advantage of. Ben and Isabel, the older children, are cousins and are only three days apart in age! They are definitely cut from the same cloth, because they were both giggly, excited, silly little gooses who kept me on my toes the whole time. Baby Charlotte, on the other hand was a complete angel the whole time and and happily stayed close to mamma to watch her older compadres act like monkeys. This is the 4th time I have had the blessing to shoot this gorgeous family and I am so thankful and appreciative of return clients who trust me to capture their precious moments again and again.

Miss Charlotte was in baby dream land when they arrived for our session. I had to get a few shots of her sweet sleepy self <3

Eastern North Carolina Photographer {Teens: Moriah}

sheenamariebean — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 15:28:08 +0000

Since I already took the time to talk about my sweet subject in the previous post, I wanted to use this one to, of course, show you more pictures of Moriah, but also to talk about my approach to teen/senior sessions. The majority of photo sessions I shoot are family sessions. Probably because I have young children, and because most of my friends are in the same stage of family life as I am, most of my clients are young families. Every so often, though, I get a chance to do an adult/teen/senior session and I really do enjoy them so much. Part of it, for sure, is just being able to have a subject who can follow directions, sit still, ect, but I also really love the relationship and conversations I get to have when shooting older clients.

We did this session in the downtown section of Elizabeth City. Living in a small town definitely has it’s perks, but one of the downfalls is that it can be hard to find new locations that haven’t been overused by every other photographer in town. While going for a walk with the kids last week I happened upon a little alley that, upon further exploration, turned out to be a little hidden gem. The setting sun just pours into it and I will definitely be using this spot again. Besides all the poison ivy that we had to watch out for, it was a great place to shoot. I also noticed last week that some builders had torn down a building and exposed this fun mint colored brick wall. I filed it away in my “locations” folder and was glad that we were able to get some shots by it before it gets repainted or covered up.

I shot this session, as I do most of my outdoor sessions, in the hour or so before sunset. Photographers (and maybe other people too) call this the “Golden Hour.” It really is the best time to shoot pictures and I try to emphasize that to my clients when planning for a photo shoot. While it’s definitely not impossible to shoot at other times, the evening light just has a way of bringing out colors and textures that you can’t get at other times of the day; if you are thinking about scheduling a photo session soon, keep this in mind, because it can be the difference between “ho-hum” and “incredible.”

The many faces of Moriah <3

As a general rule, I don’t hand my camera to clients at the end of a session and let them snap away. Hey, rules are meant to be broken. Thanks for this special shot, Moriah! You rock!

Eastern North Carolina Photographer {Just Because Session: Moriah} !!Sneak Peek!!

sheenamariebean — Sat, 07 Sep 2013 01:14:00 +0000

How do I even begin to explain how much I love and admire this incredible teenager. Anyone who comes into contact with her will first be smitten by her illuminating smile. After being bowled over by her infectious personality and her energizing laugh, you would probably be captured by her caring and genuine spirit. As if that wasn’t enough, this girl loves Jesus with all her heart. She is smart, funny, spontaneous, and doesn’t take herself too seriously at all. If you can’t tell by now, I absolutely and completely adore this gorgeous young woman.

The first time I met Moriah, she was this teeny little skinny kid running around our church’s elementary wing and giving these amazing hugs to all the little toddlers who followed her around. She just has this way with people….babies, toddlers, kids, her peers, adults….it doesn’t matter. Everyone. Loves. Her. That includes me. And my kids. Yep.

So, about 2+ years ago, Moriah asked me to do a photo session with her. Maybe I asked her. I don’t remember. The point is, we have been meaning to do this for a really long time. For whatever reason, it just never worked out. I have to say, though, I’m glad it didn’t work out sooner, because tonight was just meant to be. The weather was amazing. The little downtown was buzzing with activity. She looked adorable. It really was photographic perfection.

This is just a sneak peek, because there were way too many pictures to choose from. I’m going to work on editing through them tomorrow, because the rest of them are just as fantastic as these ones. This girl doesn’t take a bad shot. Nope.

Moriah, I love you, girl!

I don’t usually process my images very heavily. At least I don’t think I do. This one, though, I had some fun with. It just felt good.

Eastern North Carolina Photographer {Seniors: Brittany}

sheenamariebean — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 14:15:01 +0000

Ok, so this wasn’t technically a senior session, because Brittany had graduated the year before, but I am going to go ahead and call it one for catigorizations sake. This session was a great thing for both of us, because she wanted some sweet pictures to give to her beau and I had some adult session ideas I wanted to try out and she was perfect. Sometimes I get bummed out thinking we have a lack of fun and unique locations to shoot, especially urban type stuff, but I found some really colorful and textural hideaways for these pictures and I was really happy with the outcome.

Eastern North Carolina Photographer – Couples – The Stevens

sheenamariebean — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 18:17:27 +0000

I love when I shoot a couples session and you can just tell right away that they are the “real deal.” You know what I mean, there are those couples that just “get” each other and it’s obvious to everyone around them. These two were like that. They had that sweet way of exchanging a look, a smile, a secret and they would both just look at each other with that look. I did this session a couple years ago, and since then, Clay and Casie have moved out of town and started new ventures in life. Clay has (sadly) sold the motorcycle, so I think it’s a good thing that he brought it along for these pictures so Casie could always remember her studly man on his studly bike.

Eastern North Carolina Photographer – Couples – Lauren and Kyle Hurt

sheenamariebean — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 16:55:44 +0000

I’m sure all photographers feel this way, but I seriously think I have the most beautiful clients. They are always game for all my crazy ideas and are willing to trek around such random locations to get the shots that I am envisioning. Kyle and Lauren are this adorable young couple who were totally all-in when I told them that I wanted to do their engagement session in a derelict old boat shed. Kyle is in the Navy and had just come home from a deployment when we did this session, so I’m sure Lauren was extra full of happiness to have her fiancee home at last.

The location we used is this boat shed off the side of the road that is quite literally, falling into the river. It’s definitely not OSHA certified safe, and it’s amazing none of the wood we were walking on gave out. I always tell my clients, when i’m shooting near the water, that if I start falling in, be ready to catch the camera! I can swim and have insurance. It does not. That said, nobody fell in the water and these pictures ended up being an engagement session that I was really satisfied with. The colors in the wood and metal have become so rich with aged patina and being near the water seems to make any session just a little bit more special.

This is an older session, but I wanted to put some engagement/adult stuff up here for you guys to check out. Kyle and Lauren are now married (their wedding pictures are super adorable too!) and living in Virginia. Maybe I will get to do some baby pictures for them someday

Eastern North Carolina Photographer – Families – Zinsmeister Family

sheenamariebean — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 01:59:33 +0000

This is the second time I have had the fortune to work with this adorable little clan, and it was so much fun! After realizing our shared Coast Guard connection, we had a great time talking and walking around downtown Elizabeth City. Skip, Robin, and their fun little girl, Abby, were great models and even better company. One of my all-time favorite images came from this session. See if you can guess which one it is! A BIG HUMONGO thanks to the Zinsmeister family for the privilege of spending the evening sharing their love and laughter with me.